Fertility Status of Married Women and Its Determinants in Ethiopia

This study investigates determinant factors of fertility among married women in Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa with rapid population growth. The data used for the analysis was obtained from the 2014 Ethiopia Mini Demographic and Health Survey which was carried out by the Central Statistical Agency. A generalized linear model (GLM) analysis was carried out to investigate the effect of socioeconomic and demographic factors on the number of children ever born by a married woman of age 15-49 years. High fertility was independently associated with residing in urban areas, increased household economic status, younger age at first birth and not using contraceptives. Current age and media exposure, household head gender and media exposure, household head gender and regional state, mother’s education and, regional state and media exposure and regional state were found to jointly affect fertility level

Prevalence and associated factors of TB/HIV co-infection among HIV Infected patients in Amhara region, Ethiopia.

Background: Tuberculosis is one of the world\u2019s most common causes of death in the era of Human immunodeficiency virus. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and associated factors of TB/HIV co-infection. Methods: Hospital based retrospective studies were conducted among adult HIV-positive patients. Logistic regression method and Chi square test were applied. Results: A total of 571 HIV positive study participants were enrolled. Of these, 158 (27.7%) were found to have pulmonary tuberculosis. Lower baseline CD4 count<200cell/\u3bcl, patients who drunk alcohol, patients who were ambulatory at the initiation of ART, patients whose marital status was single were significant predictors for increased risk of tuberculosis in PLWHIV (P <0.05). Non smoker patients, patients in WHO clinical stage I, patients in WHO clinical stage II and ownership of the house had significant protective benefit against risk of TB (P <0.05). Conclusion: The prevalence of TB/HIV co-infection in adults on ART in our study was moderately high. Having advanced clinical status and presence of risk factors were found to be the predicting factors for co-infection. The health office should open TB/HIV co-infection units in the hospitals and health workers should be cautious when a patient has an advanced disease

Correlates of time to microvascular complications among diabetes mellitus patients using parametric and non-parametric approaches: a case study of Ayder referral hospital, Ethiopia

Socio-demographic and clinical factors have been known to affect the time to microvascular complications and survival probabilities of diabetes mellitus patients. The objective of this study was to identify risk factors and estimate average survival times for the time to the development of microvascular complications of diabetic patients under follow up at Ayder referral hospital from February 2011 to January 2014. A retrospective follow up study was conducted on diabetic patients during this treatment period of 3 years. Using simple random sampling a total of 277 patients were included in the study. Cox and Weibull proportional hazards models were used to identify risk factors for the time to microvascular complications. Results showed that the prevalence of microvascular complication during the follow up period in the studied population was 42.6% and was more prevalent in women. The estimated overall median survival time was 425 days. Factors associated with increased risk of microvascular complications among the sampled diabetes mellitus patients as identified by the Weibull model were older age (HR=1.025, 95% CI: 1.008-1.043, p=0.003), female sex (HR=1.531, 95% CI: 1.063-2.206, p=0.002), Type 2 diabetes (HR=2.320, 95% CI: 1.121-4.799, p=0.023) and fasting blood sugar (FBS) (HR=1.006, 95% CI: 1.003-1.008, p=0.0000). The results suggest strongly that to minimize the risk of diabetic complications it is necessary to treat blood glucose aggressively.Keywords: Diabetes Mellitus, Microvascular complications, Survival Analysis, Weibull proportional hazards model, Ayder Referral Hospita

International Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences and Technology Determinants of Low Birth Weight among Children Aged 0 to 59 Months in Ethiopia

Abstract: Low birth weight is one of the critical issues in Ethiopia that causes many babies short-term and long-term health consequences and tend t

Factors influencing desired number of children among Ethiopian women: Application of count regression models

The number of children wanted in one’s lifetime is one of the major factors influencing population dynamics. Knowing the factors influencing the desired family size is crucial in regulating the population growth of a nation. This study assesses the desired number of children and its determinants among Ethiopian women. The study used the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) data where samples were selected using two stage stratified random sampling. A total of 13,941 women with complete information on the study variables were considered in the study. Generalized linear model was used to identify determinant factors for the desired number of children among women in Ethiopia. The average number of children desired per women was 4.9. The random intercept negative binomial regression model was found to best fit the data. The model identified that women’s age, household head, contraception, wealth index, women’s education, religion, marital status, husband’s work, family size and age at first marriage were significantly associated with women’s desire for children (p < 0.05). Women who had attained a higher level of education preferred a smaller family size compared to women with no formal education. Desire for more children was high among mothers from rural areas, women in the poorest economic level and women having no work. Educating women and engaging them in income generating activities should be among the priority policy agendas

Rural children active trachoma risk factors and their interactions

Introduction: Trachoma is a serious public health problem in rural Ethiopia. The aim of this investigation was to provide in-depth statistical analysis of the risk factors associated with active trachoma among children of age 1-9 years of Kedida Gamela district, in Ethiopia. Methods: A community based cross-sectional survey of trachoma was conducted in six selected rural kebeles of Kedida Gamela district, in Ethiopia from June 10-25, 2014. A total of 377 children (ages 1-9 years) were included in the study using two stage cluster sampling. All children were examined for trachoma by nurse data collectors supervised by ophthalmic supervisors using the WHO simplified clinical grading system. Ordinal survey logistic regression model was used to identify risk factors. Data analysis was done using SAS version 9.3. Results: The best fit proportional odds model was identified to be the main effects and two-way and three-way interactios. Keeping cattle in the house was found to have a protective effect (OR=0.138, p-value=0.0003). The household wealth will have a more protective effect if the child attends school. Washing face with soap and water once a day has equivalent protective effect as washing face three-or-more times a day with water only. Conclusion: The 2-way and 3-way significant interactions effects unfolded some of the controversies derived from similar studies on trachoma risk factors. The findings would suggest integrated effort to address two or three factors simultaneously is more fruitful than any novel intervention targeted to address a single risk factor.Pan African Medical Journal 2016; 2

Spatiotemporal Trends and Distributions of Malaria Incidence in the Northwest Ethiopia

Understanding and extracting noticeable patterns of malaria surveillance data at the district level are crucial for malaria prevention, control, and elimination progress. This study aimed to analyze spatiotemporal trends and nonparametric dynamics of malaria incidences in northwest Ethiopia, considering spatial and temporal correlations. The data were analyzed using count regression spatiotemporal models under the Bayesian setups, and parameters were estimated using integrated nested Laplace approximations (INLA). The region had a declining linear trend, and the average annual malaria incidence rate was 24.8 per 1,000 persons between 2012 and 2020. The malaria incidence rate was decreased by 0.984 (95% CI: 0.983, 0.986) per unit increase in months between July 2012 and June 2020. Districts found in the western and northwestern parts of the region had a steeper trend, while districts in the eastern and southern parts had a less steep trend than the average trend of the region. Compared to the regional level trend, the decreasing rate of malaria incidence trends was lower in most town administrations. The nonparametric dynamics showed that the monthly malaria incidence had a sinusoidal wave shape that varied throughout study periods. Malaria incidence had a decreasing linear trend changed across districts of the study region, and the steepness of trends of districts might not depend on incidences. Thus, an intervention and controlling mechanism that considers malaria incidences and district-specific differential trends would be indispensable to mitigate malaria transmission in the region

Seasonal and spatial variations of malaria transmissions in northwest Ethiopia: Evaluating climate and environmental effects using generalized additive model

The impacts of climate change and environmental predictors on malaria epidemiology remain unclear and not well investigated in the Sub-Sahara African region. This study was aimed to investigate the nonlinear effects of climate and environmental factors on monthly malaria cases in northwest Ethiopia, considering space-time interaction effects. The monthly malaria cases and populations sizes of the 152 districts were obtained from the Amhara public health institute and the central statistical agency of Ethiopia. The climate and environmental data were retrieved from US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The data were analyzed using a spatiotemporal generalized additive model. The spatial, temporal, and space-time interaction effects had higher contributions in explaining the spatiotemporal distribution of malaria transmissions. Malaria transmission was seasonal, in which a higher number of cases occurred from September to November. The long-term trend of malaria incidence has decreased between 2012 and 2018 and has turned to an increased pattern since 2019. Areas neighborhood to the Abay gorge and Benshangul-Gumuz, South Sudan, and Sudan border have higher spatial effects. Climate and environmental predictors had significant nonlinear effects, in which their effects are not stationary through the ranges of values of variables, and they had a smaller contributions in explaining the variabilities of malaria incidence compared to seasonal, spatial and temporal effects. Effects of climate and environmental predictors were nonlinear and varied across areas, ecology, and landscape of the study sites, which had little contribution to explaining malaria transmission variabilities with an account of space and time dimensions. Hence, exploring and developing an early warning system that predicts the outbreak of malaria transmission would have an essential role in controlling, preventing, and eliminating malaria in areas with lower and higher transmission levels and ultimately lead to the achievement of malaria GTS milestones

Students’ perception of service quality and its impact on their satisfaction in Amhara Region, Ethiopia

This paper was aimed to assess the impact of service quality of higher education institutions on students’ satisfaction in Amhara region, Ethiopia. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among undergraduate students of government universities in the Amhara region who graduated in the academic year of 2014/15. A total of 552students were selected for the study using multistage sampling technique.  Cronbach’s alpha was used to check the reliability of the questionnaire used for data collection. Chi-square test was used to test the association between students’ satisfaction and service quality dimensions. Ordinal logistic regression analysis was used to examine the effects of service quality dimensions on students’ satisfaction. The results showed that reliability, responsiveness and empathy have a significant impact on students’ satisfaction while students’ university, tangibility andassurance have no significant impact on students’ satisfaction. The findings of the study revealed that students’ satisfaction was much better than what was expected at their university. The results of the Chi-square test revealed a significant association between service quality dimensions and students’ satisfaction. The ordinal logistic regression analysis revealed that reliability, responsiveness and empathy are significantly related with students’ satisfaction and students who felt that the reliability, the responsiveness and the empathy. The quality of teaching methodologies, tasks with a friendly attitude of teaching, and the quality of learning environment were the key factors affecting the academic environment of an institution. The physical appearance of educational institution is not a matter instead the essence of students’ satisfaction lies in the quality of teaching and learning, experienced faculty, knowledgeable and liberality teachers. Universities are recommended to develop strict quality control and screening mechanisms while recruiting teachers.Key words: Higher Education Institution, Service Quality, Students’ Satisfaction, Ordinal Logistic Regression, Ethiopia