The trend of change in cervical tumor size and time to death of hospitalized patients in northwestern Ethiopia during 2018–2022: Retrospective study design

Abstract Background and Aims Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cause of cancer‐related death in the world. The objective of this study was to determine factors that affect the longitudinal change of tumor size and the time to death of outpat Methods A retrospective follow‐up study was carried out among 322 randomly selected patients with cervical cancer at the University of Gondar Referral Hospital from May 15, 2018 to May 15, 2022. Data were extracted from the patient's chart from all patients' data records. Kaplan–Meier estimator, log‐rank test, the Cox proportional‐hazard model, and the joint model for the two response variables simultaneously were used. Results Among 322 outpatients with cervical cancer, 148 (46%) of them were human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive and 107 (33.3%) of them died. The results of joint and separate models show that there is an association between survival and the longitudinal data in the analysis; it indicates that there is a dependency between longitudinal terms of cervical tumor size and time‐to‐death events. A unit centimeter square rise in tumor size, corresponding to an exp(0.8502) = 2.34 times, significantly raised the mortality risk. Conclusion The study showed that HIV, stage of cancer, treatment, weight, history of abortion, oral contraceptive use, smoking status, and visit time were statistically significant factors for the two outcomes jointly. Implications As a result, adequate health services and adequate resource allocations are critical for cervical cancer control and prevention programs. Therefore, the government should provide adequate funding and well‐trained health professionals to hospitals to sustain screening programs with appropriate coverage of cervical cancer patient treatments

Longitudinal modeling of fasting blood sugar with diabetes: A case study of Adama Hospital Medical College, Ethiopia

Abstract Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the change in fasting blood sugar (FBS) over time and its determinants in diabetic patients. Methods A longitudinal data analysis retrospective‐based study was considered with a sample of 312 patients, and the linear mixed effect model was applied. Results Based on the linear mixed model, the 3‐month change in time decreases the average FBS level by 0.0111. An increase of one unit of body mass index (BMI) increases the FBS level by 0.0434. Similarly, an increase in blood pressure (DBP) per unit increased the average log FBS level by 0.0005. Secondary and higher education levels lower log FBS levels by 99.41% and 99.45%, respectively, compared with noneducated individuals. Conclusion The study showed that hypertension history, type of diet, age, status of education, type of drug, body mass index, diastolic blood pressure, and time were statistically significant factors. Implications According to the study, eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy body weight, and a low blood sugar level are essential to controlling blood sugar and preventing long‐term complications. The government should build an educational institution proportional to the population and open programs to increase awareness about the prevention mechanism of diabetes in communities