A facility-based study of lipids, glucose levels and their correlates among pregnant women in public hospitals of northern Ethiopia

Background Lipids and glucose concentrations in the blood rise during pregnancy period. Poor control of these analytes results in cardio metabolic dysfunction. Despite this, there are no documented studies which investigate lipids and glucose among pregnant women in Tigrai, northern Ethiopia. Objective The objective of this study was to assess lipid and glucose levels and identify their correlates among pregnant women in Tigrai, northern Ethiopia. Method We conducted a facility-based cross sectional study comprising of systematically selected 200 pregnant women from July to October 2021. Those who were severely ill were excluded from the study. We used a structured questionnaire to collect socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of pregnant women. Lipids such as triglycerides, low density lipoprotein, cholesterol and blood glucose were also measured using Cobas C311 chemistry machine from plasma samples. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 25. Logistic regression was performed and statistical significance was declared at p-value Result Proportion of pregnant women with cholesterol, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein and blood glucose levels above the upper limit of the normal range used for clinical decision were 26.5%, 43%, 44.5% and 21%, respectively. Pregnant women’s income > = 10,000 ETB (AOR = 3.35; 95%CI: 1.46–7.66), age (AOR = 3.16; 95%CI: 1.03–9.68), gestational age 29–37 weeks (AOR = 8.02; 95%CI: 2.69–23.90) and having systolic blood pressure greater than 120 mmHg (AOR = 3.99; 95%CI: 1.64–9.75) demonstrated statistically significant association with raised levels of lipids. Conclusion and recommendation Proportion of pregnant women with out of normal range values of lipids, particularly triglycerides and low density lipoprotein, is high. Gestational age is a strong predictor of increase in blood levels for both lipids. Provision of life style related health education and dietary intake to pregnant mothers matters. Moreover, monitoring lipid profile and glucose level during antenatal care period is essential

A facility-based study of lipids, glucose levels and their correlates among pregnant women in public hospitals of northern Ethiopia.

BackgroundLipids and glucose concentrations in the blood rise during pregnancy period. Poor control of these analytes results in cardio metabolic dysfunction. Despite this, there are no documented studies which investigate lipids and glucose among pregnant women in Tigrai, northern Ethiopia.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to assess lipid and glucose levels and identify their correlates among pregnant women in Tigrai, northern Ethiopia.MethodWe conducted a facility-based cross sectional study comprising of systematically selected 200 pregnant women from July to October 2021. Those who were severely ill were excluded from the study. We used a structured questionnaire to collect socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of pregnant women. Lipids such as triglycerides, low density lipoprotein, cholesterol and blood glucose were also measured using Cobas C311 chemistry machine from plasma samples. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 25. Logistic regression was performed and statistical significance was declared at p-value ResultProportion of pregnant women with cholesterol, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein and blood glucose levels above the upper limit of the normal range used for clinical decision were 26.5%, 43%, 44.5% and 21%, respectively. Pregnant women's income > = 10,000 ETB (AOR = 3.35; 95%CI: 1.46-7.66), age (AOR = 3.16; 95%CI: 1.03-9.68), gestational age 29-37 weeks (AOR = 8.02; 95%CI: 2.69-23.90) and having systolic blood pressure greater than 120 mmHg (AOR = 3.99; 95%CI: 1.64-9.75) demonstrated statistically significant association with raised levels of lipids.Conclusion and recommendationProportion of pregnant women with out of normal range values of lipids, particularly triglycerides and low density lipoprotein, is high. Gestational age is a strong predictor of increase in blood levels for both lipids. Provision of life style related health education and dietary intake to pregnant mothers matters. Moreover, monitoring lipid profile and glucose level during antenatal care period is essential

Armed conflict and household food insecurity: evidence from war-torn Tigray, Ethiopia

Abstract Background Exposure to armed conflicts result in strongly adverse and often irreversible short- and long-term effects which may transmit across generations. Armed conflicts directly cause food insecurity and starvation by disruption and destruction of food systems, reduce farming populations, destroying infrastructure, reducing resilience, and increasing vulnerabilities, disruptions in access to market, increasing food price or making goods and services unavailable altogether. The objective of the present study was to determine the status of household food insecurity in the armed conflict affected communities of Tigray in terms of Access, Experience and Hunger scale. Method Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted to assess impact of armed conflict on household food insecurity among households with children with under one year. FHI 360 and FAO guidelines were used to quantify household food insecurity and Household hunger status. Results Three-fourth of the households had anxiety about food supply and eat undesired monotonous diet due to lack of resources. Households were obliged to eat few kinds of foods, eat smaller meals, eat foods they do not want to eat, or went a whole day without eating any food. Household food insecurity access, food insecurity experience, and hunger scales significantly increased by 43.3 (95% CI: 41.9–44.7), 41.9 (95% CI: 40.5–43.3) and 32.5 (95% CI: 31.0-33.9) percentage points from the prewar period. Conclusions Household food insecurity levels and household hunger status of the study communities was unacceptably high. The armed conflict has significant negative effect on food security in Tigray. It is recommended that the study communities need to be protected from the immediate and long-term consequences of conflict-induced household food insecurity