The relevance of knowledge, perception, and factors that influence contraceptive use among married women living in Uaddara Barracks, Ghana

Background: Contraceptive use has many advantages for personal growth and societal advancement, but there is still the problem of unmet needs for women, which highlights the gap between women\u27s reproductive intentions and contraceptive use. This study investigated knowledge, perceptions, and factors that influence contraceptive use among married women living in a military base in Ghana. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 350 married women between the ages of 20 and 58 years at the Uaddara Barracks, Kumasi. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information on the background, knowledge, perceptions on contraceptive use, and contraceptive methods used by participants. Data was entered into an Excel sheet and analysed using R version 4.2.1. Results: Most of the participants were between the age range of 36 and 40 years (25.5%). Almost all study participants (97.4%), had heard about contraceptives with 80.6% showing a high level of knowledge on contraceptives. The majority of the women (84.6%) had previously used some form of contraceptives and 53.1% presently do. More than half of the participants (69.4%) had a positive perception of contraceptive use; 80.6% responded it was their own decision to use contraceptives, and 80.3% had the support of their husbands. Husbands\u27 support of contraception resulted in a 5 times higher usage of contraceptives among women (aOR = 5.35; p \u3c 0.001) while women who were married to military men were 45% (aOR = 0.45; p = 0.007) less likely to use contraceptive when compared to civilian wives. Demographic characteristics like being above 40 years (aOR = 0.25; p = 0.014), being a housewife (aOR = 0.42; p = 0.043) and working in the private sector (aOR = 0.33; p = 0.015) were significantly linked with less contraceptive use. Conclusion: The study showed that women used contraceptives at a rate that was much higher than the national norm at the Uaddara Barracks, demonstrating the beneficial influence men had on women\u27s contraceptive use. This thereby underscores the need for interventional policies that prioritized the male as much as women, while emphasizing the benefits of contraceptive use to the family and not just as an awareness program only

ACCESS TO LIBRARY FACILITIES AND RESOURCES BY STUDENTS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT AT UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, WINNEBA.

This case study focused on how students with visual impairment access library facilities and resources at the University of Education, Winneba. Data were gathered through focus group interviews from 48 out of 99 undergraduate students with visual impairment. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the participants for the study. Data were analyzed thematically using color coding for the categorization of themes. The results indicated that students with visual impairment had some difficulties accessing the physical infrastructure of the libraries. It was revealed that learning materials of the University libraries were not in accessible formats, and the braille library only produced chapters of books for students with visual impairment. The results further indicated that students with visual impairment in the University wanted the management of the University to purchase assistive devices for them for personal and independent use. The study recommended that the management of the University’s libraries should ensure the provision of more technological devices that will produce learning materials in accessible formats for students with visual impairment to promote the use of library resources

The relevance of knowledge, perception, and factors that influence contraceptive use among married women living in Uaddara Barracks, Ghana

BackgroundContraceptive use has many advantages for personal growth and societal advancement, but there is still the problem of unmet needs for women, which highlights the gap between women's reproductive intentions and contraceptive use. This study investigated knowledge, perceptions, and factors that influence contraceptive use among married women living in a military base in Ghana.MethodsThis cross-sectional study involved 350 married women between the ages of 20 and 58 years at the Uaddara Barracks, Kumasi. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information on the background, knowledge, perceptions on contraceptive use, and contraceptive methods used by participants. Data was entered into an Excel sheet and analysed using R version 4.2.1.ResultsMost of the participants were between the age range of 36 and 40 years (25.5%). Almost all study participants (97.4%), had heard about contraceptives with 80.6% showing a high level of knowledge on contraceptives. The majority of the women (84.6%) had previously used some form of contraceptives and 53.1% presently do. More than half of the participants (69.4%) had a positive perception of contraceptive use; 80.6% responded it was their own decision to use contraceptives, and 80.3% had the support of their husbands. Husbands' support of contraception resulted in a 5 times higher usage of contraceptives among women (aOR =  5.35; p < 0.001) while women who were married to military men were 45% (aOR = 0.45; p = 0.007) less likely to use contraceptive when compared to civilian wives. Demographic characteristics like being above 40 years (aOR = 0.25; p = 0.014), being a housewife (aOR = 0.42; p = 0.043) and working in the private sector (aOR = 0.33; p = 0.015) were significantly linked with less contraceptive use.ConclusionThe study showed that women used contraceptives at a rate that was much higher than the national norm at the Uaddara Barracks, demonstrating the beneficial influence men had on women's contraceptive use. This thereby underscores the need for interventional policies that prioritized the male as much as women, while emphasizing the benefits of contraceptive use to the family and not just as an awareness program only

Putative factors influencing knowledge and behavioural practices of health science undergraduate students towards COVID-19 infection ahead of re-opening universities in Ghana

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) virus is a global pandemic affecting daily activities and delaying the reopening of several institutions such as universities. As a result, precautionary and preventive measures are being implemented to curtail the spread of the virus. However, knowledge and compliance measures are essential for adequate preparedness to reopen the universities amidst the pandemic. Methods: This cross-sectional study evaluated knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) along with factors influencing Health Science undergraduate students toward the COVID-19 infection pandemic in Ghana. A total of 606 students provided information regarding KAP of COVID-19 infection using an online questionnaire designed via Google forms. Results: Majority of the students \u27mostly\u27 obtained information on COVID-19 infection from social media (69.4%) followed by Television/radio/newspaper (60.4%). Majority of the students\u27 population had adequate knowledge (92.7%), showed a good attitude (90.9%) and positive cues (90.8%) towards COVID-19 infection. Students that more often obtained information about COVID-19 infection from the news media were 2.86 and 4.01 increased odds of having a positive attitude and good practices towards COVID-19 infection, respectively. Those who obtained information from social media were significantly more likely to have adequate knowledge [OR=2.32 (1.10-7.19] but non-significantly less likely to have good practices [OR=0.57 (0.22-1.51)]. Male students had 0.53 decreased odds of having adequate knowledge of COVID-19 infection compared with female students. When compared with the sixth year students, students in the first year [OR =0.25 (95% CI: 0.10-0.62)] and second year [OR =0.33 (95% CI: 0.14-0.81)] were significantly less knowledgeable about COVID-19 infection. Students from urban settings were significantly associated with higher positive attitude towards COVID-19 infection [OR =2.04 (1.29-3.23)]. Conclusions: Increasing public health education on COVID-19 infection would increase knowledge and awareness, and create an opportunity for compliance with precautionary measures, thereby ensuring continuity of university education amidst the pandemic

Association of wrist circumference and waist-to-height ratio with cardiometabolic risk factors among type II diabetics in a Ghanaian population

The study determined the association of wrist circumference (WrC) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) with cardiometabolic risk factors among diabetics in a Ghanaian population. This cross-sectional study involved 384 diabetic patients at Begoro District Hospital, Ghana. Blood pressure, anthropometrics, and biochemical indices were measured. The overall prevalence of dyslipidaemia, metabolic syndrome (MetS), and hypertension was 42.4%, 76.3%, and 39.8%, respectively. The optimum cut-off range of WrC to identify individuals at increased cardiometabolic risk was 17.5 to –17.8 cm for men and 16.0 to 16.7 cm for women while that of WHtR was 0.52 to 0.61 for men and 0.53 to 0.59 for women. WrC for women was a significant independent predictor for MetS [aOR = 3.0 (1.39–6.72), ] and systolic blood pressure [aOR = 2.08 (1.17–3.68), ]. WHtR was a significant positive predictor for triglycerides [aOR = 3.23 (0.10–3.82), ] for women. Using Framingham risk scores, 61% of the subjects had elevated 10-year risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), with no significant difference in gender prevalence. WrC [aOR = 6.13 (0.34–111.4), ] and WHtR [aOR = 2.52 (0.42–15.02), ] were associated with statistically insignificant increased odds of moderate-to-high risk of developing CVDs in 10 years. The use of gender-specific cut-offs for WrC and WHtR may offer putative markers for early identification of CRFs

Nexus between constructs of social cognitive theory model and diabetes self-management among Ghanaian diabetic patients: A mediation modelling approach

The promotion of Diabetes Self-Management (DSM) practices, education, and support is vital to improving the care and wellbeing of diabetic patients. Identifying factors that affect DSM behaviours may be useful to promote healthy living among these patients. The study assessed the determinants of DSM practices among Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients using a model-based social cognitive theory (SCT). This cross-sectional study comprised 420 (T2DM) patients who visited the Diabetic Clinic of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Kumasi-Ghana. Data was collected using self-structured questionnaires to obtain socio-demographic characteristics, T2DM-related knowledge, DSM practices, SCT constructs; beliefs in treatment effectiveness, level of self-efficacy, perceived family support, and healthcare provider-patient communication. Path analysis was used to determine direct and indirect effects of T2DM-related knowledge, perceived family support, and healthcare provider service on DSM practices with level of self-efficacy mediating the relationships, and beliefs in treatment effectiveness as moderators. The mean age of the participants was 53.1(SD = 11.4) years and the average disease duration of T2DM was 10 years. Most of the participants (65.5 %) had high ( \u3e 6.1mmol/L) fasting blood glucose (FBG) with an average of 6.93 (SD = 2.41). The path analysis model revealed that age (p = 0.176), gender (p = 0.901), and duration of T2DM (p = 0.119) did not confound the relationships between the SCT constructs and DSM specified in the model. A significant direct positive effect of family and friends’ support (Critical ratio (CR) = 5.279, p \u3c 0.001) on DSM was observed. Self-efficacy was a significant mediator in this relationship (CR = 4.833, p \u3c 0.001). There were significant conditional indirect effects (CIE) for knowledge of T2DM and family and friends’ support at medium and high levels of belief in treatment effectiveness (p \u3c 0.05) via level of self-efficacy on DSM practices. However, no evidence of moderated-mediation was observed for the exogenous variables on DSM. Diabetes-related knowledge of T2DM, family and friends’ support, level of self-efficacy, and belief in treatment effectiveness are crucial in DSM practices among Ghanaian T2DM patients. It is incumbent to consider these factors when designing interventions to improve DSM adherence

Predictors of noncompliance to antihypertensive therapy among hypertensive patients Ghana: Application of health belief model

This study determined noncompliance to antihypertensive therapy (AHT) and its associated factors in a Ghanaian population by using the health belief model (HBM). This descriptive cross-sectional study conducted at Kintampo Municipality in Ghana recruited a total of 678 hypertensive patients. The questionnaire constituted information regarding sociodemographics, a five-Likert type HBM questionnaire, and lifestyle-related factors. The rate of noncompliance to AHT in this study was 58.6%. The mean age (SD) of the participants was 43.5 (±5.2) years and median duration of hypertension was 2 years. Overall, the five HBM constructs explained 31.7% of the variance in noncompliance to AHT with a prediction accuracy of 77.5%, after adjusting for age, gender, and duration of condition. Higher levels of perceived benefits of using medicine [aOR=0.55(0.36-0.82),p=0.0001] and cue to actions [aOR=0.59(0.38-0.90),p=0.0008] were significantly associated with reduced noncompliance while perceived susceptibility [aOR=3.05(2.20-6.25),

Effect of the Growth Assessment Protocol on the DEtection of Small for GestatioNal age fetus: process evaluation from the DESiGN cluster randomised trial

BACKGROUND: Reducing the rate of stillbirth is an international priority. At least half of babies stillborn in high-income countries are small for gestational-age (SGA). The Growth Assessment Protocol (GAP), a complex antenatal intervention that aims to increase the rate of antenatal detection of SGA, was evaluated in the DESiGN type 2 hybrid effectiveness-implementation cluster randomised trial (n = 13 clusters). In this paper, we present the trial process evaluation. METHODS: A mixed-methods process evaluation was conducted. Clinical leads and frontline healthcare professionals were interviewed to inform understanding of context (implementing and standard care sites) and GAP implementation (implementing sites). Thematic analysis of interview text used the context and implementation of complex interventions framework to understand acceptability, feasibility, and the impact of context. A review of implementing cluster clinical guidelines, training and maternity records was conducted to assess fidelity, dose and reach. RESULTS: Interviews were conducted with 28 clinical leads and 27 frontline healthcare professionals across 11 sites. Staff at implementing sites generally found GAP to be acceptable but raised issues of feasibility, caused by conflicting demands on resource, and variable beliefs among clinical leaders regarding the intervention value. GAP was implemented with variable fidelity (concordance of local guidelines to GAP was high at two sites, moderate at two and low at one site), all sites achieved the target to train > 75% staff using face-to-face methods, but only one site trained > 75% staff using e-learning methods; a median of 84% (range 78–87%) of women were correctly risk stratified at the five implementing sites. Most sites achieved high scores for reach (median 94%, range 62–98% of women had a customised growth chart), but generally, low scores for dose (median 31%, range 8–53% of low-risk women and median 5%, range 0–17% of high-risk women) were monitored for SGA as recommended. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of GAP was generally acceptable to staff but with issues of feasibility that are likely to have contributed to variation in implementation strength. Leadership and resourcing are fundamental to effective implementation of clinical service changes, even when such changes are well aligned to policy mandated service-change priorities. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Primary registry and trial identifying number: ISRCTN 67698474. Registered 02/11/16. https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN67698474