Willingness to undergo HIV testing in the Kintampo districts of Ghana

Background: HIV testing is currently a major prevention intervention and remains an entry point to early treatment, care and support. Uptake is  however low and alternative approaches are currently being adopted.Objective: An HIV module was incorporated into the routine survey of the Kintampo Health and Demographic Surveillance System (KHDSS) to assess the willingness of adults living in the Kintampo North and South districts to undergo HIV testing.Design: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional household survey.  Univariate and multivariate analysis were used to identify predictors of the willingness to undergo HIV testing.Participants: Respondents were community members aged 15 to 49 years and selected from randomly generated household listings from the KHDSS.Results: A total of 11,604 respondents were interviewed, 10,982 (94.6%) of respondents had good general knowledge on HIV/AIDS. Among those with knowledge about HIV/AIDS, 10,819 (98.5%) indicated their willingness to get tested for HIV. Rural residents were more willing to undergo HIV testing than urban dwellers Odds ratio=1.42 (95% Confidence interval:1.03, 1.96; P-value=0.031). Respondents with primary education were more likely to go for testing relative to those without any education OR=2.02 (95% CI: 0.87, 4.70; P-value=0.046).Conclusion: Expressed willingness to test for HIV is high in this population. Exploring community and population-based interventions to HIV testing and counseling could increase uptake of HIV testing services and should be considered. The underlying motivations need to be explored in order to translate willingness into actual testing.Key words: HIV/AIDS, Routine survey, Willingness to test, Logistic regression, Ghan

Performance of the Tariff Method: validation of a simple additive algorithm for analysis of verbal autopsies

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Verbal autopsies provide valuable information for studying mortality patterns in populations that lack reliable vital registration data. Methods for transforming verbal autopsy results into meaningful information for health workers and policymakers, however, are often costly or complicated to use. We present a simple additive algorithm, the Tariff Method (termed Tariff), which can be used for assigning individual cause of death and for determining cause-specific mortality fractions (CSMFs) from verbal autopsy data.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Tariff calculates a score, or "tariff," for each cause, for each sign/symptom, across a pool of validated verbal autopsy data. The tariffs are summed for a given response pattern in a verbal autopsy, and this sum (score) provides the basis for predicting the cause of death in a dataset. We implemented this algorithm and evaluated the method's predictive ability, both in terms of chance-corrected concordance at the individual cause assignment level and in terms of CSMF accuracy at the population level. The analysis was conducted separately for adult, child, and neonatal verbal autopsies across 500 pairs of train-test validation verbal autopsy data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Tariff is capable of outperforming physician-certified verbal autopsy in most cases. In terms of chance-corrected concordance, the method achieves 44.5% in adults, 39% in children, and 23.9% in neonates. CSMF accuracy was 0.745 in adults, 0.709 in children, and 0.679 in neonates.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Verbal autopsies can be an efficient means of obtaining cause of death data, and Tariff provides an intuitive, reliable method for generating individual cause assignment and CSMFs. The method is transparent and flexible and can be readily implemented by users without training in statistics or computer science.</p

Task-shifting HIV counselling and testing services in Zambia: the role of lay counsellors

BACKGROUND: The human resource shortage in Zambia is placing a heavy burden on the few health care workers available at health facilities. The Zambia Prevention, Care and Treatment Partnership began training and placing community volunteers as lay counsellors in order to complement the efforts of the health care workers in providing HIV counselling and testing services. These volunteers are trained using the standard national counselling and testing curriculum. This study was conducted to review the effectiveness of lay counsellors in addressing staff shortages and the provision of HIV counselling and testing services.METHODS: Quantitative and qualitative data were collected by means of semistructured interviews from all active lay counsellors in each of the facilities and a facility manager or counselling supervisor overseeing counseling and testing services and clients. At each of the 10 selected facilities, all counselling and testing record books for the month of May 2007 were examined and any recordkeeping errors were tallied by cadre. Qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions with health care workers at each facility.RESULTS: Lay counsellors provide counselling and testing services of quality and relieve the workload of overstretched health care workers. Facility managers recognize and appreciate the services provided by lay counsellors. Lay counsellors provide up to 70% of counselling and testing services at health facilities. The data review revealed lower error rates for lay counsellors, compared to health care workers, in completing the counselling and testing registers.CONCLUSION: Community volunteers, with approved training and ongoing supervision, can play a major role at health facilities to provide counselling and testing services of quality, and relieve the burden on already overstretched health care workers

Factors affecting awareness of emergency contraception among college students in Kathmandu, Nepal

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In Nepal, Emergency Contraception (EC) could play a critical role in reducing unintended pregnancies, but very few people aware about it. This paper aims to investigate the level of awareness and factors influencing awareness of EC among college students.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study was carried out in April-May 2006. Structured self-administered questionnaires were administered to 1,137 college students (573 males and 564 females) in Kathmandu valley. The association between awareness of EC and the explanatory variables were first assessed in bivariate analysis using the Chi-square test. The associations were further explored using a multivariate logistic analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Only about two-thirds of college students (68%) had ever heard about EC. Bivariate analysis shows that males were more aware (72%) of EC than were females (64%). Similarly, the awareness level was significantly higher among younger, unmarried youth who were from outside Kathmandu Valley, who lived with friends, and who had received reproductive health (RH) education in school/college. The study also found that students' sex, permanent place of residence (district), and RH education are significant predictors of awareness of EC. Males are 1.5 times more likely to be aware of EC compared to females. Furthermore, students who lived in Kathmandu Valley were 41% less likely to be aware of EC than were students from outside Kathmandu Valley. On the other hand, those students who received RH education in school/college were almost nine times more likely to be aware of EC compared to those who did not receive such education.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Awareness of the EC is low among college students in Nepal. Health education initiatives should target students as they are more likely to be sexually active. There is a need to further educate students about EC which can help to reduce unintended pregnancies, many of which result in unsafe abortion and take a large toll on women's health.</p

Role of Condom Negotiation on Condom use among Women of Reproductive Age in three Districts in Tanzania.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: HIV/AIDS remains being a disease of great public health concern worldwide. In regions such as sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where women are disproportionately infected with HIV, women are reportedly less likely capable of negotiating condom use. However, while knowledge of condom use for HIV prevention is extensive among men and women in many countries including Tanzania, evidence is limited about the role of condom negotiation on condom use among women in rural Tanzania. METHODS: Data originate from a cross-sectional survey of random households conducted in 2011 in Rufiji, Kilombero and Ulanga districts in Tanzania. The survey assessed health-seeking behaviour among women and children using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. A total of 2,614 women who were sexually experienced and aged 15--49 years were extracted from the main database for the current analysis. Linkage between condom negotiation and condom use at the last sexual intercourse was assessed using multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Prevalence of condom use at the last sexual intercourse was 22.2% overall, ranging from12.2% among married women to 54.9% among unmarried (single) women. Majority of the women (73.4%) reported being confident to negotiate condom use, and these women were significantly more likely than those who were not confident to have used a condom at the last sexual intercourse (OR = 3.13, 95% CI 2.22-4.41). This effect was controlled for marital status, age, education, religion, number of sexual partners, household wealth and knowledge of HIV prevention by condom use. CONCLUSION: Confidence to negotiate condom use is a significant predictor of actual condom use among women in rural Tanzania. Women especially unmarried ones or those in multiple partnerships should be empowered with condom negotiation skills to enhance their sexual and reproductive health outcomes

Sustainable development of a GCP-compliant clinical trials platform in Africa: the Malaria Clinical Trials Alliance perspective

BACKGROUND: The Malaria Clinical Trials Alliance (MCTA), a programme of INDEPTH network of demographic surveillance centres, was launched in 2006 with two broad objectives: to facilitate the timely development of a network of centres in Africa with the capacity to conduct clinical trials of malaria vaccines and drugs under conditions of good clinical practice (GCP); and to support, strengthen and mentor the centres in the network to facilitate their progression towards self-sustaining clinical research centres. CASE DESCRIPTION: Sixteen research centres in 10 African malaria-endemic countries were selected that were already working with the Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) or the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV). All centres were visited to assess their requirements for research capacity development through infrastructure strengthening and training. Support provided by MCTA included: laboratory and facility refurbishment; workshops on GCP, malaria diagnosis, strategic management and media training; and training to support staff to undertake accreditation examinations of the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP). Short attachments to other network centres were also supported to facilitate sharing practices within the Alliance. MCTA also played a key role in the creation of the African Media & Malaria Research Network (AMMREN), which aims to promote interaction between researchers and the media for appropriate publicity and media reporting of research and developments on malaria, including drug and vaccine trials. CONCLUSION: In three years, MCTA strengthened 13 centres to perform GCP-compliant drug and vaccine trials, including 11 centres that form the backbone of a large phase III malaria vaccine trial. MCTA activities have demonstrated that centres can be brought up to GCP compliance on this time scale, but the costs are substantial and there is a need for further support of other centres to meet the growing demand for clinical trial capacity. The MCTA experience also indicates that capacity development in clinical trials is best carried out in the context of preparation for specific trials. In this regard MCTA centres involved in the phase III malaria vaccine trial were, on average, more successful at consolidating the training and infrastructure support than those centres focussing only on drug trials

Distribution of causes of maternal mortality among different socio-demographic groups in Ghana; a descriptive study

BACKGROUND: Ghana's maternal mortality ratio remains high despite efforts made to meet Millennium Development Goal 5. A number of studies have been conducted on maternal mortality in Ghana; however, little is known about how the causes of maternal mortality are distributed in different socio-demographic subgroups. Therefore the aim of this study was to assess and analyse the causes of maternal mortality according to socio-demographic factors in Ghana.METHODS: The causes of maternal deaths were assessed with respect to age, educational level, rural/urban residence status and marital status. Data from a five year retrospective survey was used. The data was obtained from Ghana Maternal Health Survey 2007 acquired from the database of Ghana Statistical Service. A total of 605 maternal deaths within the age group 12-49 years were analysed using frequency tables, cross-tabulations and logistic regression.RESULTS: Haemorrhage was the highest cause of maternal mortality (22.8%). Married women had a significantly higher risk of dying from haemorrhage, compared with single women (adjusted OR = 2.7, 95%CI = 1.2-5.7). On the contrary, married women showed a significantly reduced risk of dying from abortion compared to single women (adjusted OR = 0.2, 95%CI = 0.1-0.4). Women aged 35-39 years had a significantly higher risk of dying from haemorrhage (aOR 2.6, 95%CI = 1.4-4.9), whereas they were at a lower risk of dying from abortion (aOR 0.3, 95% CI = 0.1-0.7) compared to their younger counterparts. The risk of maternal death from infectious diseases decreased with increasing maternal age, whereas the risk of dying from miscellaneous causes increased with increasing age.CONCLUSIONS: The study shows evidence of variations in the causes of maternal mortality among different socio-demographic subgroups in Ghana that should not be overlooked. It is therefore recommended that interventions aimed at combating the high maternal mortality in Ghana should be both cause-specific as well as target-specific

Accuracy of Rapid Tests for Malaria and Treatment Outcomes for Malaria and Non-Malaria Cases among Under-Five Children in Rural Ghana

BACKGROUND: WHO now recommends test-based management of malaria across all transmission settings. The accuracy of rapid diagnostic test (RDT) and the outcome of treatment based on the result of tests will influence acceptability of and adherence to the new guidelines. METHOD: We conducted a study at the Kintampo hospital in rural Ghana to evaluate the performance of CareStart, a HRP-2 based RDT, using microscopy as reference. We applied IMCI treatment guidelines, restricted ACT to RDT-positive children and followed-up both RDT-positive (malaria) and RDT-negative (non-malaria) cases over 28 days. RESULTS: 436 children were enrolled in the RDT evaluation and 391 (children with haemoglobin >8.0 gm/dl) were followed-up to assess treatment outcomes. Mean age was 25.4 months (s.d. 14.6). Sensitivity and specificity of the RDT were 100.0% and 73.0% respectively. Over the follow-up period, 32 (18.5%) RDT-negative children converted to positive, with 7 (4.0%) of them presenting with fever. More children in the non-malaria group made unscheduled visits than children in the malaria group (13.3% versus 7.7%) On all scheduled follow-up visits, proportion of children having a temperature higher than that recorded on day 0 was higher in the non-malaria group compared to the malaria group. Reports of unfavourable treatment outcomes by caregivers were higher among the non-malaria group than the malaria group. CONCLUSIONS: The RDT had good sensitivity and specificity. However a minority of children who will not receive ACT based on RDT results may develop clinical malaria within a short period in high transmission settings. This could undermine caregivers' and health workers' confidence in the new guidelines. Improving the quality of management of non-malarial febrile illnesses should be a priority in the era of test-based management of malaria. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00832754