Knowledge, attitudes and practices of infertile couples on male participation in infertility management at the Kenyatta National Hospital

Objective: To determine knowledge, attitudes and practices of infertile couples on male involvement in the management of infertility.Design: Hospital based cross-sectional study.Setting: Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya.Subjects: One hundred sixty three infertile couples attending the gynaecological and infertility clinics at the Kenyatta National Hospital.Main outcome measures: Knowledge, attitudes and practices of infertile couples on male participation in infertility management.Results: A total of 163 infertile couples(with only 34 men accompanying their wives in this study period) were recruited into the study. Sixty nine point nine percent(114) of the women who participated in this study were ever accompanied to the clinic by their spouses, but only 20.9%(34) were accompanied during the study period. Couple awareness on male participation in infertility was 61.8% by the men and 67.5% by the women but they all agreed that it would improve the care given. The male partners who came to the clinic were more involved in the care of their partners, in terms of paying hospital bills, having investigations performed on them, participating in the decision making process and accepting treatment (p<0.05). On multiple logistic regression, it was found that male partners of accompanied women were paying the medical bills (p value = 0.017, OR=3.0[1.2-7.4]), being investigated (p-value=0.011, OR=3.1[1.3-7.5]), helping decide the treatment the partner receives (p-value = 0.04, OR=2.5[1.0-5.9]) and accepting treatment if found to have a problem (p-value=0.005, OR=4.0[1.5-10.5]).Conclusion: Male participation in infertility management was low 34(20.9%) and structures need to be put in place to improve male partner participation in infertility management

Socio-cultural factors impacting male involvement in the management of infertile couples at the Kenyatta National Hospital

Objective: To determine socio-economic and cultural factors that may influence male participation in the management of infertility.Design: A hospital based cross-sectional descriptive study.Setting: Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), Nairobi, Kenya.Subjects: One hundred and sixty three infertile couples attending gynaecological and infertility clinics at the Kenyatta National Hospital.Main outcome measures: The socioeconomic and cultural factors that may influence male participation in the management of the infertile couples attending the KNH Infertility Clinic.Results: A total of 163 women and 34 men were recruited into the study. At least 114 (69.9%) of the women who participated were ever accompanied to the clinic by their spouses. There was no statistical significance between accompanied and unaccompanied women in terms of education and employment. Majority of the male participants (55.9%) had received pressure from the community to get children.Conclusion: There is need to address the negative pressure from family and community about a couple’s childlessness

Mobile phone text messaging for promoting adherence to anti-tuberculosis treatment: a systematic review protocol

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In 2010, there were approximately 8.8 million incident cases of tuberculosis (TB) worldwide. The treatment of TB is at least six months long and may be complicated by a high pill burden. In addition, TB patients often do not take their medication on schedule simply because they forget. Mobile phone text messaging has the potential to help promote TB treatment adherence. We, therefore, propose to conduct a review of current best evidence for the use of mobile phone text messaging to promote patient adherence to TB treatment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This is a systematic review of the literature. We will preferably include randomized controlled trials (RCTs). However, non-randomized studies (NRS) will be considered if there is an inadequate number of RCTs.</p> <p>We will search PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, CENTRAL, Science Citation Index, Africa-Wide Information, and WHOLIS electronic databases for eligible studies available by 30 November 2012 regardless of language or publication status. We will also check reference lists for additional studies, identify abstracts from conference proceedings and communicate with authors for any relevant material.</p> <p>At least two authors will independently screen search outputs, select studies, extract data and assess the risk of bias (using separate criteria for RCTs and NRS); resolving discrepancies by discussion and consensus. We will assess clinical heterogeneity by examining the types of participants, interventions and outcomes in each study and pool studies judged to be clinically homogenous. We will also assess statistical heterogeneity using the chi-square test of homogeneity and quantify it using the I-square statistic. If study results are found to be statistically homogeneous (that is heterogeneity <it>P</it> > 0.1), we will pool them using the fixed-effect meta-analysis. Otherwise, we will use random-effects meta-analysis. We will calculate risk ratios and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals for dichotomous outcomes, and mean differences for continuous outcomes. For other outcomes without quantitative data, a descriptive analysis will be used.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Our results can be used by researchers and policy-makers to help inform them of the efficacy of mobile phone text messaging interventions to promote patient adherence to TB treatment.</p