The relationship between sexual violence and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among women using voluntary counseling and testing services in South Wollo Zone, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Gender based violence affects the health and wellbeing of women across the world on an epidemic scale. While women remain more vulnerable to both sexual violence and risk of HIV infection, they are less able to access health and other welfare services than men. These vulnerabilities are further compounded by social factors, including the low status of women in many communities and their lack of decision-making power, both within the household and in wider society. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between sexual violence and HIV infection among clients of voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) services in South Wollo Zone, Ethiopia. METHODOLOGY: A facility based cross sectional study was conducted using quantitative methods on a sample of 647 people living in seven selected districts of South Wollo Zone, Amhara Regional State. RESULTS: The study revealed that sexual violence is significantly associated with the risk of HIV infection. The prevalence of lifetime sexual violence, lifetime partner violence, and last 12 months partner violence were 34.6%, 32.3% and 10.5% respectively. Both partner violence and lifetime sexual violence by another perpetrator were associated with HIV. The overall prevalence of HIV among VCT users was 21.5%. Both before (crude analysis) and after the results were adjusted for selected variables, women who experienced sexual violence in the last 12 months by their intimate partner or by another perpetrator is significantly associated with their HIV status. The chances of having HIV was 1.97 times higher among women victims who have a history of lifetime partner violence when compared with women who are not victims; crude odds ratio (COR) = 1.97, 95% Confidence Interval (CI), (1.34 - 2.90). CONCLUSION: The study revealed that sexual violence is significantly associated with the risk of HIV infection. Empowerment of women can be used as an important tool to reduce both sexual violence and HIV. More importantly policy issues must be set by all actors to take action on the mediating variables that interacted with violence to aggravate the transmission of HIV

Frequency of Specimen Rejection and A ssociated F actors at St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa Ethiopia

Clinical laboratory diagnosis is an integral part of the clinical decision of health care service. while every phase is error prone, different literatures showed that more than 70% of errors in clinical laboratory occur in the pre analytical phase. The purpose of this study is to determine the frequency of specimen rejection and associated factors at st. Paul’ s Hospital Millennium Medical College, addis ababa, ethiopia

Socio-demographic and Haematological Determinants of Breast Cancer in a Tertiary Health Care and Teaching Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

AbstractBackground: Breast cancer is the major cause of cancer deaths among women globally. Socio-demographic and haematological characteristics are among the determinants of breast cancer, and these characteristics are supposed to be monitored during early diagnosis and treatment of cases.Objective: The objective of this study was to assess socio-demographic and haematological profile of patients with breast cancer at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital.Methods: Case controlled study was conducted among 230 cases and 230 controls from May 2018 to June 2019. Descriptive analysis was made to assess socio-demographic characteristics and independent sample t- test was performed to compare the mean haematological parameters.Results: The mean age was 42.8 + 12.1 years and 39.3 + 11.1 years for cases and controls, respectively. About 43.5% of the cases and 14.8% of the controls were not able to read and write. About 76.1% of the cases and 67.4% of the controls were married. The mean values of Haemoglobin, Red Blood cell, Packed Cell Volume for the cases were 13.1 + 1.6g/dl; 4.6 + 0.54x1012/L; and 38.7 + 4.5 %, respectively. These were significantly lower than those of the controls (14.0 + 1.3g/dl, 4.8 + 0.47 x 1012/L, 40.5 + 3.5%, respectively). Mean platelet count was higher among the cases, whereas total White Blood cell count was almost similar.Conclusion and recommendations: Majority of the cases were less than 40 years of age and were not able to read and write. Most of the RBC parameters of cases were significantly lower than the controls. Therefore, attention should be given for exposed groups and those with the designated haematological abnormalities. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2021; 35(2):125-132]Keywords: Breast cancer, Haematological parameters, Socio-demographic factors, Ethiopi

Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice about Biomedical Waste Management and Associated Factors among the Healthcare Professionals at Debre Markos Town Healthcare Facilities, Northwest Ethiopia

Background. Healthcare activities restore health and save lives at the same time; however, they can generate hazardous biomedical wastes to a human being or the environment. Generation and disposal of biomedical wastes have become an emerging problem worldwide. Objective. To assess knowledge, attitude, and practice about biomedical waste management and associated factors among healthcare professionals in Debre Markos town healthcare facilities, northwest Ethiopia. Methods. A cross-sectional study was employed, and data were collected through structured self-administered questionnaire and observational checklist. Data were entered into the Epi-data 3.1 software and exported into SPSS version 20 for analysis. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were computed. Variables with a P value of <0.05 in the multivariate logistic regression analysis were considered to explain the presence of statistically significant associations. Result. Among 296 healthcare professionals studied, 168 (56.8%), 196 (66.2%), and 229 (77.4%) had adequate knowledge, favorable attitude, and adequate practice score, respectively. Regarding associated factors, MSc and MD+ (AOR: 4, 95% CI: (1.37, 149.52)), BSc holders (AOR: 2.53, 95% CI: (1.47, 4.38)), and availability of color-coded bins (AOR: 7.68, 95% CI: (3.30, 17.89)) were identified more likely to contribute for adequate knowledge, favorable attitude, and adequate practice scores, respectively. Conclusion. The level of knowledge, attitude, and practice scores were not satisfactory. Majority of the healthcare professionals did not access biomedical waste management training. Educational level, use of visual aid, and availability of color-coded bins in the department were identified as a factor for biomedical waste management. Regular training should be given to healthcare professionals

Clinical chemistry laboratory errors at St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College (SPHMMC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract Objective This study was aimed to determine the magnitude of errors in clinical chemistry laboratory tests at different phases of the assay of clinical chemistry laboratory unit. Results From the total 1633 clinical chemistry laboratory tests done, overall, 541 (33.1%) errors occurred which accounts that 392 (72.3%), 45 (8.3%), and 104 (19.2%) were pre analytical, analytical and post analytical phases of errors, respectively. Incomplete clinical data of patient was observed on 1185 (72.6%) of CLL tests. Name, gender, and age of patients were missed on 8 (0.5%), 190 (11.6%), and 257 (15.7%) forms of the requests, respectively. The physician’s name existed only on 248 (15.2%) and signature on 1137 (69.6%) of the request forms. An essential patient data were incomplete, which needs emphasis on awareness creation. Such practice improves laboratory data interpretation and thereby prevent misdiagnose and mistreatment of patients

Errors in the Hematology Laboratory at St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract Objective The objective of this study was to determine the magnitude of pre-analytical, analytical and post-analytical laboratory errors in hematology tests. Results A total of 2606 hematology requests were studied. Out of the total, 562 (21.6%) pre-analytic, 14 (0.5%) analytical and 168 (6.4%) post-analytical errors were recorded which contribute a total frequency of 75.5, 1.9 and 22.6%, respectively. The name of the physician requesting the test was not provided on 2215 (85%) of request forms and 1827 (70.1%) of the request forms were unaccompanied with proper clinical details of the patient. Essential information required on the request forms was often missed. Close communication between clinicians and laboratory personnel is the key to improve laboratory quality in general