Quality of life of breast cancer patients in Amhara region, Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study.

BackgroundAlthough breast cancer has a markedly higher incidence in developed countries, seven out of ten deaths occur in developing countries, including Ethiopia. However, there is a limited information on the quality of life (QoL) among breast cancer patients in Ethiopia, notably in the Amhara region. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the QoL and its associated factors among patients with breast cancer in the Amhara Region, Ethiopia.MethodsAn institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted from 25th March 2019 to 7th July 2019. A systematically selected sample of 256 breast cancer patients were participated in the study. A standardized interviewer-administered Amharic version questionnaire was used to collect the data. We used the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality of life questionnaire core 30 (EORTC QLQ C30) and breast cancer supplementary measure (QLQ-BR23) to measure QoL. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 23. A binary logistic regression model was fitted to identify the predictors of QoL. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was reported to show the strength of the association.ResultsSixty-eight percent of breast cancer patients had poor QoL (68.4%; 95% CI: 62.5-73.8). The mean score of QoL was 70.6 (standard deviation (SD) ±13.9; 95% CI: 69.0-72.4). All functional component scores were less than 75 on the symptom scale. Diarrhea (11.6), constipation (17.5), and dyspnea (24.7) were less noticeable symptoms. Being out of marriage (AOR = 2.59, 95% CI: 1.32-5.07), being poor (AOR = 2.39, 95%CI: 1.32-5.03), being non-housewife (AOR = 3.25, 95% CI: 1.16-7.22), and being complaints of dyspnea (AOR = 3.48, 95% CI: 1.79-6.79), and insomnia (AOR = 2.03, 95% CI: 1.05-3.91) were significantly associated with QoL.ConclusionsThe proportion of poor QoL among breast cancer patients was high. Health care professionals should give attention to breast cancer patients who are out of marriage, poor and non-housewife while offering the recommended treatment courses

Predictors for a Cure Rate of Severe Acute Malnutrition 6-59 Month Children in Stabilizing Center at Pawe General Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia: Retrospective Cohort Study

Malnutrition (over and undernutrition) is a major public health problem across the globe, especially undernutrition is responsible for one-third of the death of children in underprivileged populations. Each year more than 25 to 35 million under-five children have suffered from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). The sub-Saharan African countries account for the lion's share of this case fatality rate. The case in Ethiopia is not different from other countries. This study's main aim is to assess predictors for the cure rate of Severe Acute Malnutrition in 6-59 month Children in stabilizing center at Pawe General Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia. A retrospective cohort study. Methods: Hospital-based retrospective cohort study was employed among 454 admitted under-five SAM children from Januarys1st 2015-to December 30, 2019. Data were cleaned, coded, and entered into Epi-Data 3.1; then exported to STATA/SE- 14/R for analysis. Survival analysis was used to check each variable's proportional hazard assumption and no variable Schoenfield test <0.05. Variable with AHR at 95 % CI at P-value less than 0.05 considered as significant. Final model adequacy was checked by Nelson Alana and Cox Snell residual plot test. Result: Totally 454 (90.4%) individual data were included for final analysis; Sixty-five percent of 65.4% (95%CI: 50.1- 69.2) admitted children declared as cured, 16.52 % of them defaulted and 11.5% of children reported as dead. The median age and median cure time of SAM children were found at 2.2 years and 13 days (±7), respectively. Children diagnosed marasmus (AHR=1.56: 95% CI 1.08--2.2, p<0.018), with No nasal-gastric intubation (NGT) during admission (AHR= 1.31: 95%CI (1.04 --1.67, P<0.029) and taking F-100 milk (AHR=5.42 95% CI (2.92--9.85, p<0.001) were associated with treatment cure rate. The conclusions: The overall treatment cure rate of this study was remaining low at 65.4% compared to the sphere standard sets reference (i.e., >75-77.9 %). Concerning associated factors addressing F-100 milk, making SAM under-five children with no NGT and increased treatment cure rate was independently associated with treatment cure rate