ABSTRACT Introduction Accurate medication adherence and self-efficacy to properly adhere to treatment is essential for every hypertensive patient. Poor adherence to hypertensive treatment regime is the most important single reason for disease complications such as cardiovascular and renal failures. Method The study was a cross-sectional study involving 350 hypertensive patients attending Ridge Hospital. The Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, health and facility related tool was used to obtai...
ABSTRACT Hypertension is a global public health problem in high, middle and low income countries. Management of hypertension involves both pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches. Self-management is an important non-pharmacological approach that facilitates blood pressure control. Self-management practices in hypertension include medication adherence, lifestyle modifications and self-monitoring of blood pressure. There is paucity of literature on self-management practices among hyp...
ABSTRACT Substance abuse is a maladaptive use of a drug, resulting in impairment of functioning or distress, as manifested by a failure to perform adequately at home, school or work. In Nigeria, a large number of the population mostly the youth buy drugs without any physician‟s prescription. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of the youth on the substances they abused in Gawon Nama area of Sokoto, Sokoto state, Nigeria. An exploratory descriptive qualitative design was use...
ABSTRACT Background: Exposure to pesticide and its associated health effects in farm children is a major global public health issue. Several studies published in the developed countries have associated pesticide exposure in farm children with acute respiratory infection. However, no data on this subject is available in farm children in Africa. Objectives: This study investigated the prevalence of acute respiratory infection (ARI) defined as acute lower respiratory tract infection (ALRI) and u...
ABSTRACT HIV and AIDS was discovered as far back as 1981, however a cure for it is yet to be found. The only remedy to treat the disease is Adherence to Antiretroviral therapy. Over the years, non-adherence to ART has become an important issue in HIV and AIDS treatment. In this regard, the study sort to assess facilitators and barriers to antiretroviral therapy adherence among HIV and AIDS clients seeking care at Sunyani Regional and Municipal Hospitals. The key purpose guiding the study was ...
ABSTRACT Background: For an effective behaviour modification in dietary habits, an understanding of the association between an individual’s personality traits and food habits are of much significance. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between personality traits and dietary habits among undergraduate students of the University of Ghana. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted and students were recruited by systematic sampling. A questionnaire was used to...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Antenatal Care Attendance (ANC) is a very vital issue to consider when dealing with matters of maternal mortality. Maternal mortality, a possible consequence of infrequent or lack of antenatal care attendance. Ghana‟s maternal mortality rate is still unacceptably high, 319 deaths per 100,000 live births. Women receiving antenatal care from a skilled provider has increased steadily over the past two and a half decades from 82% in 1982 to 97% in 2014. But how much of th...
ABSTRACT Malaria is highly endemic in the Northern part of Ghana with seasonal variabilities in the cases of malaria reporting. The highest numbers of cases are reported during the rainy season. IRS can contribute to the elimination of malaria if rigorously applied (World malaria report, 2013). Every year, since indoor residual spraying implementation in the East Mamprusi district there has been spraying exercises conducted between April and May. This period falls within the rainy season when...
ABSTRACT In Ghana. utilisation of maternal health services has seen marked improvement in the last decade. According to the GDHS (2014) births occurring in health facilities also increased from 57% in 2008 to 73% in 2014. Also, births attended to by skilled personnel increased from 59% to 74% in 2008 to 2014, respectively. Despite these marked increases skilled delivery still remains a major challenge to the health sector in Ghana. This study was intended to explore the factors that influence...
ABSTRACT The study examined culture-specific coping and quality of life among Ghanaians living with chronic illness such as mental illness and chronic kidney disease. A sample size of 150 was used comprising of 50 mentally ill patients, 50 Chronic Kidney Disease patients and 50 healthy controls. Participants were sampled from the Accra Psychiatric Hospitals, Pantang General Hospital and the Korle-Bu teaching Hospitals respectively. The concurrent mixed method design was used which comprised a...
ABSTRACT Introduction: In resource-limited settings like Ghana, conventional smear microscopy with low specificity and sensitivity is the most commonly used diagnostic tool for detection of tuberculosis (TB). The Ghana 2013 TB Prevalence Survey findings indicated that TB is four times higher compared to previous World Health Organization (WHO) estimated number and the proportion of smear negative and culture positive pulmonary TB was higher than the routine report. The increment in prevalence...
ABSTRACT It is essential to recognize the relative importance of the various barriers to the utilization if effective health services are to be delivered. This study set out to find the factors leading to the observed underutilization in health facilities in the Assin District. It involved the administration of questionnaires to one-hundred household heads of selected communities of Assin District. Focus group discussions were also conducted with community members. In-depth interviews were c...
ABSTRACT This study assessed the quality of neonatal care in health facilities in the Ho Municipality by focusing on availability of adequate and skilled human resources for neonatal care; equipment and care processes; and the perceptions of mothers of newborns on neonatal care in health facilities. Adopting the qualitative method, the study used a purposive sampling to collect data from midwives of 4 health centres as well as staff in the paediatric and maternity wards at the regional and mu...
ABSTRACT Background: Every day, 720 children die of malaria which can be prevented or cured if presented early. The private health sector is a major institution in the response to treating malaria globally and nationally. In 2017, about 30% of health facilities were privately owned and contributed significantly to the management of malaria in Ghana. Given the importance of the private health sector to the malaria management, it is prudent to assess the cost of managing malaria in private heal...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Buruli Ulcer (BU) is an environmental pathogen found in poor rural communities of tropical and sub-tropical regions. BU, caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans infection, is a debilitating disease of the skin and underlying tissues which starts as a painless nodule, oedema or plaque and could develop into painful and massive ulcers that might result in severe and permanent functional disabilities, if not treated well. Methods: This cross-sectional exploratory study examined l...