Knowledge and Associated Factors of Medical Students Regarding Radiation Exposure from Common Diagnostic Imaging Procedures at the University of Gondar, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Physicians’ knowledge about radiation exposure and risks was previously reported as inadequate. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess knowledge and associated factors regarding radiation exposure among medical students from common diagnostic imaging procedures at the University of Gondar.METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess knowledge and associated factors regarding radiation exposure among medical students. A total of 473 medical students (first through sixth years of study) completed a structured questionnaire. Univariate and multi-variable binary logistic regression was used to see the factors associated with knowledge of medical students on radiation sources, exposure and risks. Variables with p-value < 0.2 during the bivariable binary logistic regression were tested in the multivariable binary logistic regression. P-value<0.05 was used to declare significant association at the final model.RESULTS: Response rate was 100%. Two hundred fifteen (45.5% 95% confidence interval (CI )(41.0%-50.3%)) participants had good knowledge regarding radiation exposure from diagnostic imaging procedures. Only 177(37.4%) participants correctly knew that Computer Tomography (CT) use X-ray. However, subjects incorrectly named magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as if it used x-ray (12.1%) and source of ionizing radiation (19.5%). Being female [Adjusted-odds-ratio (AOR)=1.57,95% CI(1.05,2.36)], 18-20 years of age [AOR=2.18, 95% CI(1.26, 3.76)], and 1st to 3rd year of study [AOR=3.64, 95% CI(2.23,5.95)] were predictors of knowledge identified.CONCLUSION: The results highlight that medical students need to be trained well with sufficient radiological education that enable them later to adhere to safe practices

Indoor Culturable Fungal Load and Associated Factors among Public Primary School Classrooms in Gondar City, Northwest Ethiopia, 2018: A Cross-sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Fungi are heavy threats to public health in indoor environments, particularly in residential buildings, offices, and schools where people spend a lot of time indoors. This study was conducted to investigate the load of culturable fungi and associated factors in a school indoor environment.METHODS: Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted in eight public primary school classrooms in Gondar City from March to April 2018. Settle plate technique was used to determine the culturable fungal load. Log transformed linear regression analysis was employed. The beta-coefficient with a 95% confidence interval was used to determine the degree and direction of the association with a p-value less than 0.05.RESULTS: The highest and the lowest mean culturable fungal loads recorded were 1140.29 CFU/m3 and 211.25 CFU/m3, respectively. Aspergillus, Mucor, Penicillium, Candida, Microsporum, Trichophyton, Rhizopus, Alternaria and Fusarium species were isolated. Age of buildings (b= -0.122, 95%CI -0.238,-0.007), area of classroom (b= 0.639, 95% CI 0.285, 0.993), temperature (b= -0.189, 95% CI -0.325,-0.047), humidity (b= - 0.023, 95% CI -0.043, -0.002) and PM10 (b= -0.01, 95% CI -0.015,- 0.005) were associated with culturable fungal load.CONCLUSIONS: High culturable fungal load was found in school classrooms in Gondar City. Age of buildings, area of classrooms, temperature, humidity, and PM10 were predictors of the culturable fungal load. Therefore, proficient corrective methods are needed to combat the problem of indoor air quality in a school indoor environment by controlling factors contributing to growth of fungi.

Prevalence of diarrheal disease and associated factors among under-five children in flood-prone settlements of Northwest Ethiopia: A cross-sectional community-based study

BackgroundDiarrheal illnesses are a long-standing public health problem in developing countries due to numerous sanitation issues and a lack of safe drinking water. Floods exacerbate public health issues by spreading water-borne infectious diseases such as diarrhea through the destruction of sanitation facilities and contamination of drinking water. There has been a shortage of studies regarding the magnitude of diarrheal disease in flood-prone areas. Therefore, this research aimed to evaluate the prevalence of diarrheal disease and its predictors among under-five children living in flood-prone localities in the south Gondar zone of Northwest Ethiopia.MethodA community-based cross-sectional research was carried out in flood-prone villages of the Fogera and Libokemkem districts from March 17 to March 30, 2021. Purposive and systematic sampling techniques were used to select six kebeles and 717 study units, respectively. Structured and pretested questionnaires were used to collect the data. A multivariable analysis was performed to determine the predictors of diarrheal disease, with P-value <0.05 used as the cut-off point to declare the association.ResultThe prevalence of a diarrheal disease among under-five children was 29.0%. The regular cleaning of the compound [AOR: 2.13; 95% CI (1.25, 3.62)], source of drinking water [AOR: 2.36; 95% CI: (1.26, 4.41)], animal access to water storage site [AOR: 3.04; 95% CI: (1.76, 5.24)], vector around food storage sites [AOR: 9.13; 95% CI: (4.06, 20.52)], use of leftover food [AOR: 4.31; 95% CI: (2.64, 7.04)], and fecal contamination of water [AOR: 12.56; 95% CI: (6.83, 23.20)] remained to have a significant association with diarrheal diseases.ConclusionThe present study found that the prevalence of the diarrheal disease among under-five children was high. Routine compound cleaning, the source of drinking water, animal access to a water storage site, vectors near food storage sites, consumption of leftover food, and fecal contamination of water were significant predictors of diarrheal disease. Therefore, it is advised to provide improved water sources, encourage routine cleaning of the living area, and offer health education about water, hygiene, and sanitation

The burden of unintentional drowning : global, regional and national estimates of mortality from the Global Burden of Disease 2017 Study

Background Drowning is a leading cause of injury-related mortality globally. Unintentional drowning (International Classification of Diseases (ICD) 10 codes W65-74 and ICD9 E910) is one of the 30 mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive causes of injury-related mortality in the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. This study's objective is to describe unintentional drowning using GBD estimates from 1990 to 2017. Methods Unintentional drowning from GBD 2017 was estimated for cause-specific mortality and years of life lost (YLLs), age, sex, country, region, Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintile, and trends from 1990 to 2017. GBD 2017 used standard GBD methods for estimating mortality from drowning. Results Globally, unintentional drowning mortality decreased by 44.5% between 1990 and 2017, from 531 956 (uncertainty interval (UI): 484 107 to 572 854) to 295 210 (284 493 to 306 187) deaths. Global age-standardised mortality rates decreased 57.4%, from 9.3 (8.5 to 10.0) in 1990 to 4.0 (3.8 to 4.1) per 100 000 per annum in 2017. Unintentional drowning-associated mortality was generally higher in children, males and in low-SDI to middle-SDI countries. China, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh accounted for 51.2% of all drowning deaths in 2017. Oceania was the region with the highest rate of age-standardised YLLs in 2017, with 45 434 (40 850 to 50 539) YLLs per 100 000 across both sexes. Conclusions There has been a decline in global drowning rates. This study shows that the decline was not consistent across countries. The results reinforce the need for continued and improved policy, prevention and research efforts, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries.Peer reviewe

The burden of unintentional drowning: Global, regional and national estimates of mortality from the Global Burden of Disease 2017 Study

__Background:__ Drowning is a leading cause of injury-related mortality globally. Unintentional drowning (International Classification of Diseases (ICD) 10 codes W65-74 and ICD9 E910) is one of the 30 mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive causes of injury-related mortality in the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. This study's objective is to describe unintentional drowning using GBD estimates from 1990 to 2017. __Methods:__ Unintentional drowning from GBD 2017 was estimated for cause-specific mortality and years of life lost (YLLs), age, sex, country, region, Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintile, and trends from 1990 to 2017. GBD 2017 used standard GBD methods for estimating mortality from drowning. __Results:__ Globally, unintentional drowning mortality decreased by 44.5% between 1990 and 2017, from 531 956 (uncertainty interval (UI): 484 107 to 572 854) to 295 210 (284 493 to 306 187) deaths. Global age-standardised mortality rates decreased 57.4%, from 9.3 (8.5 to 10.0) in 1990 to 4.0 (3.8 to 4.1) per 100 000 per annum in 2017. Unintentional drowning-associated mortality was generally higher in children, males and in low-SDI to middle-SDI countries. China, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh accounted for 51.2% of all drowning deaths in 2017. Oceania was the region with the highest rate of age-standardised YLLs in 2017, with 45 434 (40 850 to 50 539) YLLs per 100 000 across both sexes. __Conclusions:__ There has been a decline in global drowning rates. This study shows that the decline was not consistent across countries. The results reinforce the need for continued and improved policy, prevention and research efforts, with a focus on low-and middle-income countries

Effects of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) education on childhood intestinal parasitic infections in rural Dembiya, northwest Ethiopia: an uncontrolled before-and-after intervention study

Abstract Background Soil-transmitted helminthes (STH) infections are among the most common infections worldwide and affect the most deprived communities. Adequate water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) prevents environmental contamination, thereby preventing transmission of STH. Cognizant of this, WASH education was implemented in rural Dembiya to reduce intestinal parasitic infections. This study was, therefore, conducted to assess the impacts of the intervention on households’ WASH conditions and prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections. Method An uncontrolled before-and-after intervention study was used. Cross-sectional studies were done before and after the intervention. Two hundred twenty-five and 302 under five children were recruited randomly at the baseline and endline, respectively. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and observational checklists. Direct stool examination and Kato-Katz methods were used to identify parasites in the stool. We used percent point change and prevalence ratio (PR) to see the effects of the intervention on WASH conditions and prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections respectively. Pearson chi-squared and Fisher’s exact tests were used to test for statistically significant percentage point changes of WASH conditions. The effect of the intervention on intestinal parasitic infections was statistically tested on the basis of PR with 95% confidence interval (CI). Results The baseline prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections was 25.8%, and the endline prevalence was 23.8%. The prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections was not significantly decreased at the endline compared with the baseline [PR = 0.92, 95% CI = (0.62, 1.38)]. Ascaris Lumbricoides was the most prevalent parasitic infection both at the baseline and endline. The proportion of children who had good hygienic condition increased from 1.3% at the baseline to 34.4% at the end line (p <  0.05). The percentage of mothers/care givers who washed hands at different pick times was significantly increased from 24.4% at the baseline to 68.2% at the endline (p <  0.001). The proportion of households who practiced home-based water treatment was significantly increased from 7.6% at the baseline to 47% at the endline (p <  0.001). The proportion of households who used sanitary latrine was increased from 32% at the baseline to 49% at the endline (p <  0.05). Conclusion This before-and-after intervention study found that households’ WASH performance was significantly improved at the endline compared with the baseline. The endline prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections was slightly lower than the baseline prevalence; however, the reduction was not statistically significant. The local health office needs to strengthen the WASH education program, mobilize the community to construct WASH facilities, and support the community to sustain households’ WASH performance

Self-Reported Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disturbance and Its Associated Factors among Medicine and Health Science Students at the University of Gondar

Introduction. Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is characterized by dream-enacting behavior (shouting, punching, and falling out of bed) related to unpleasant dreams and loss of normal rapid eye movement (REM) sleep muscle atonia. Rapid eye movement sleep enhances learning and memory by regulating neuronal synapses, and if it is undesirable, it can lead to cognitive impairment and poor academic performance and may end up with death. To the best of our searching databases, there is no such study conducted in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study is aimed at determining self-reported symptoms of RBD and its associated factors among the University of Gondar medicine and health science students (2019). Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional study from June 1 to July 2019, among medicine and health science students at the University of Gondar using a simple random sampling technique. A self-reported RBD screening questionnaire was used to collect the data. We used Epi Info™ 7.0.8.3 and Stata 14 for data entry and statistical analyses, respectively. Descriptive statistics (frequency with percent and mean with standard deviation) and adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% uncertainty interval (UI) were computed. In a multivariable binary logistic regression, variables with a p<0.05 were declared as significant. Results. Three hundred and eighty-seven students took part in the study. The mean age of participants was 20.81 (±1.83) years. The prevalence of self-reported RBD was 46.25% [95% UI (41.26%-51.24)]. Physical exercise immediately before sleep (AOR=2.50, 95% UI (1.24-5.02)), using Facebook immediately before sleep (AOR=1.93, 95% UI (1.18-3.15)), having daytime sleepiness (AOR=1.92, 95% UI (1.16-3.19)), and self-reported depressive symptoms (AOR=2.40, 95% UI (1.45-3.99)) were significantly associated with self-reported RBD. Conclusion. The current study revealed a high prevalence of self-reported RBD. This remarkable problem suggested a need to design strategies to prevent RBD symptoms among university students through targeting screening of depression, daytime sleepiness, and adjusting bedtime routines such as physical exercise and internet use immediately before going to bed

Waste to Energy: Response Surface Methodology for Optimization of Biodiesel Production from Leather Fleshing Waste

Background. The demand for diesel fuel is constantly increasing, requiring its alternate that could be sustainable, technically feasible, price competitive, and ecologically acceptable. Biodiesel is one of ecologically acceptable substitute for the conventional fuels. Methods. Sufficient lime fleshing waste was collected from Addis Ababa tannery share company. The limed fleshing waste in the wet condition was delimed using boric acid, dried, chopped, and subjected to Soxhlet extraction using petroleum ether solvent. The oil was treated by orthophosphoric acid and distilled water to remove gums. The pretreated oil was subjected to homogeneous base catalyzed transesterification. Response surface was used to optimize the process variables. GC-MS was used to see composition of the biodiesel produced. Result. The oil yield of the goat, hide, and sheep delimed fleshing wastes were 23.08%, 12.05%, and 26.7%, respectively. The conversion to biodiesel by KOH-catalyzed transesterification was achieved above 96% under optimum conditions: a methanol-to-oil molar ratio of 6:1, catalyst amount of 1 % w/w, and reaction temperature of 60°C for an hour reaction time. Conclusion. It was proven that fleshing wastes from tanneries whose storage and disposal are both troublesome and costly could be transformed to a fuel with low emission values and a performance close to diesel fuel

Factors Associated with Occupational Injury among Hydropower Dam Construction Workers, South East Ethiopia, 2018

Background. Occupational injuries pose a major public health and socioeconomic developmental problems. Globally, 160 million people encounter occupational injuries; the International Labour Organization estimates that the cost is 4% of the global gross domestic product (GDP) or 1.25 trillion United States Dollar (USD). The second-largest number of occupational injuries was reported from the construction industries. There are limited studies about the prevalence and factors associated with occupational injuries among dam construction workers in Ethiopia. Hence, this study was undertaken to determine the prevalence and associated factors of occupational injury among Genale Dawa hydropower dam construction workers. Method. Institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Genale Dawa 3D hydropower dam construction project from April 1 to 22, 2018. Four hundred and five workers were included in the study. An Oromiffa version pretested, semistructured questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were entered into Epi-info version 7, and analysis was done using SPSS version 20 software. Bivariable and multivariate binary logistic regression was used to see the association between predictors and the dependent variable. The 95% CI and adjusted odds ratio with a P value of 0.05 was used to fit the final model. Results. The prevalence of occupational injuries in the earlier 12 months before the study was 57.8% with (95% CI (52.8, 62.7)). Age, educational status, alcohol consumption, job stress, work shift, and working hours per week were factors significantly associated with occupational injury. Conclusion and recommendation. Occupational injuries were common among dam construction workers. Conducting regular monitoring of substance abuse, avoiding overtime work, rotation of the work shift, and considering age and the educational status during employee recruitment can be effective to decrease the prevalence of occupational injuries

Knowledge and associated factors towards diabetes mellitus among adult non-diabetic community members of Gondar city, Ethiopia 2019.

IntroductionDiabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder resulting from either loss of insulin producing cells, insufficient insulin action, or both. Knowledge can play an important role in preventing diabetes mellitus and its complications. There is limited information regarding knowledge and related factors regarding diabetes mellitus among non-diabetic adult community members in the study area. Therefore, the current study aimed to determine knowledge and associated factors towards diabetes mellitus among non-diabetes community members of Gondar city.MethodsCommunity-based cross-sectional study was conducted on non-diabetic community members from July 1-29, 2019 in Gondar city. The participants were selected randomly from each households. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. EpiData version 3.1 was used for data entry and SPSS version 20 was used for data processing and analysis. Descriptive statistics were calculated for most variables. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify the associated factors. A variable was considered significantly associated at p-valueResultA total of 633 study subjects participated in this study with a mean age of 36.12 (± 12.87) years. Of these study participants, 572 had awareness about diabetes mellitus and 51.4% (95% CI: 47.4%, 55.8%) had good knowledge. Being male [Adjusted odds ratio = 1.62 (95% CI: 1.05, 2.48)], monthly income of 3000-5000 birr [Adjusted odds ratio = 1.88 (95% CI: 1.03, 3.41)], monthly income of ≥5001 birr [Adjusted odds ratio = 2.37 (95% CI: 1.17, 4.78)], previous training on diabetes mellitus [Adjusted odds ratio = 4.37 (95% CI; 3.04, 7.37)], being grade 9-12 [Adjusted odds ratio = 3.1 (95% CI: 1.09, 8.66)], having college and above educational qualification [Adjusted odds ratio = 3.70 (95% CI: 1.26, 10.85)] were significantly associated with good knowledge towards diabetes mellitus.ConclusionThe level of knowledge regarding diabetes mellitus was low among study participants which indicates a need for health education intervention. Previous training on diabetes mellitus, educational status and average monthly income and being male were the factors associated with good knowledge of participants about diabetes mellitus