Food Safety Practice and Associated Factors of Food Handlers Working in Food Industries in Bahir Dar City, Amhara Regional State, Northwest Ethiopia, 2021

Background: Food safety has emerged as one of the 10 threats to global health. Ethiopia is among the developing countries with many food industries in recent times. Poor food handling procedures, a lack of basic infrastructure, lack of potable water, lack of financial resources to invest in safer equipment, and lack of training for food handlers have all been reported. Objectives: To assess food safety practices and associated factors among food handlers working in food industries in Bahir Dar city administrations. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to February 2021 among 422 food handlers working in food industries in Bahir Dar city, Ethiopia. A random sampling technique was used to select food industries and study participants. The sample size was proportionately allocated to the selected food industries. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and observation methods using interviewer-administered questionnaires and an observational checklist respectively. Data was entered into Epi-data v 3.1 and exported to SPSS v 23 for analysis. Bi-variable binary logistic regression was carried out to identify candidate variables at p -value <.2 and was entered into the final multivariable binary logistic regression model to control the effect of confounding. Variables with p -values of less than .05 were declared as statistically significant and an odds ratio of 95% CI was used to measure the strength of the association. Result: Food safety practice among food handlers working in food industries was 47.6% (95% CI: 42.8, 52.5). Sex [AOR: 2.92 (CI: 1.77, 4.82)], monthly salary [AOR: 2.02 (CI: 1.18, 3.44)], health supervision [AOR: 3.43 (CI: 1.97, 5.97)], working unit [AOR: 2.44, (CI: 1.45, 4.13], food safety training [AOR: 6.16 (2.97, 12.77)], attitude [AOR: 3.55 (CI: 1.14, 11.05)] were factors significantly associated with food safety practice. Conclusion: Food safety practice among food handlers was low. Sex, working unit, monthly income, regulatory supervision, food safety training, and attitude toward food safety were factors associated with poor food safety practices. In-service training on good hygiene practices, good manufacturing practices, hazard analysis, critical control point, food safety management systems, and supportive supervision should be strengthened

Quality of life of breast cancer patients in Amhara region, Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study.

BackgroundAlthough breast cancer has a markedly higher incidence in developed countries, seven out of ten deaths occur in developing countries, including Ethiopia. However, there is a limited information on the quality of life (QoL) among breast cancer patients in Ethiopia, notably in the Amhara region. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the QoL and its associated factors among patients with breast cancer in the Amhara Region, Ethiopia.MethodsAn institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted from 25th March 2019 to 7th July 2019. A systematically selected sample of 256 breast cancer patients were participated in the study. A standardized interviewer-administered Amharic version questionnaire was used to collect the data. We used the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality of life questionnaire core 30 (EORTC QLQ C30) and breast cancer supplementary measure (QLQ-BR23) to measure QoL. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 23. A binary logistic regression model was fitted to identify the predictors of QoL. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was reported to show the strength of the association.ResultsSixty-eight percent of breast cancer patients had poor QoL (68.4%; 95% CI: 62.5-73.8). The mean score of QoL was 70.6 (standard deviation (SD) ±13.9; 95% CI: 69.0-72.4). All functional component scores were less than 75 on the symptom scale. Diarrhea (11.6), constipation (17.5), and dyspnea (24.7) were less noticeable symptoms. Being out of marriage (AOR = 2.59, 95% CI: 1.32-5.07), being poor (AOR = 2.39, 95%CI: 1.32-5.03), being non-housewife (AOR = 3.25, 95% CI: 1.16-7.22), and being complaints of dyspnea (AOR = 3.48, 95% CI: 1.79-6.79), and insomnia (AOR = 2.03, 95% CI: 1.05-3.91) were significantly associated with QoL.ConclusionsThe proportion of poor QoL among breast cancer patients was high. Health care professionals should give attention to breast cancer patients who are out of marriage, poor and non-housewife while offering the recommended treatment courses

The magnitude of mortality and its predictors among adult patients admitted to the Intensive care unit in Amhara Regional State, Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract Despite mortality in intensive care units (ICU) being a global public health problem, it is higher in developing countries, including Ethiopia. However, insufficient evidence is established concerning mortality in the ICU and its predictors. This study aimed to assess the magnitude of ICU mortality and its predictors among patients at Tibebe Ghion specialized hospital, Northwest Ethiopia, 2021. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted from February 24th, 2019, to January 24th, 2021. Data were collected from medical records by using pretested structured data retrieval checklist. The collected data was entered into Epi-data version 3.1 and analyzed using R version 4.0 software. Descriptive statistics computed. A simple logistic analysis was run (at 95% CI and p-value < 0.05) to identify the determinants for ICU mortality. A total of 568 study participants’ charts were reviewed. The median length of ICU stay was four days. Head trauma and shock were the leading causes of ICU admissions and mortality. The overall mortality rate of the ICU-admitted patients was 29.6% (95% CI: 26%, 33%). Admission in 2020 (AOR = 0.51; 95%CI: 0.31, 0.85), having altered mentation (AOR = 13.44; 95%CI: 5.77, 31.27), mechanical ventilation required at admission (AOR = 4.11; 95%CI: 2.63, 6.43), and stayed < 5 days in the ICU (AOR = 3.74; 95%CI: 2.31, 6.06) were significantly associated with ICU mortality. The magnitude of the ICU mortality rate was moderate. Years of admission, altered mentation, mechanical ventilation required at admission, and days of stay in the ICU were the predictors for ICU mortality. This finding underscores the importance of interventions to reduce ICU mortality