Socio-Demographic Factors Associated with Alcohol Abuse among Egerton University Students in Njoro-Kenya

The main objective of higher institutions of learning in Kenya is to provide education and growth experiences for its students but alcohol abuse has continued to be a problem in the university campuses that is slowing down their progress and the Kenya vision 2030 that envisages a healthy population free from the impact of alcohol abuse through the reduction of the prevalence and the impact of alcohol abuse disorders in order to attain the highest possible level of physical, social and mental health. Despite the growing problems of global alcohol abuse, accurate information on the prevalence of alcohol abuse among university students in Kenya is still inadequate. The study therefore aimed to determine the socio-demographic factors associated to alcohol abuse among the Egerton University students. This was a cross sectional study among 355 students of Egerton university Njoro campus. Stratified random sampling was utilized to select the study sample and a questionnaire was used to collect the data. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data with an aid of SPSS version 18.0. Data presentation was done using frequency tables, charts and in narratives. The study was cleared by the Kenyatta National Hospital and the University of Nairobi ethics board. The study found significant association between the prevalence of alcohol abuse and the year of study, marital status, family's economic status and  the living arrangements (with whom). There was no significant association between the prevalence of alcohol abuse and age, programme of study undertaken and place of residence. It was concluded that alcohol is associated with year of study, marital status, family economic status and living arrangement. Based on the findings of this study, there is need to detect, strengthen various policies and programmes and accordingly make changes to address the factors that contribute to socio-demographic factors associated with alcohol abuse in the institutions of higher learning in Kenyan. The findings of the study will help Commission of University Education (CUE) to better understand the current situation and accordingly make changes to address the factors that contribute to alcohol abuse in these institutions. Keywords: Alcohol, Prevalence, Alcohol abuse, Socio-demographic factors

Home versus in-patient treatment for deep vein thrombosis

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Extending the R number by applying hyperparameters of Log Gaussian Cox process models in an epidemiological context to provide insights into COVID-19 positivity in the City of Edinburgh and in students residing at Edinburgh University

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on University students has been a topic of fiery debate and of public health research. This study demonstrates the use of a combination of spatiotemporal epidemiological models to describe the trends in COVID-19 positive cases on spatial, temporal and spatiotemporal scales. In addition, this study proposes new epidemiological metrics to describe the connectivity between observed positivity; an analogous metric to the R number in conventional epidemiology. The proposed indices, Rspatial, Rspatiotemporal and Rscaling will aim to improve the characterisation of the spread of infectious disease beyond that of the COVID-19 framework and as a result inform relevant public health policy. Apart from demonstrating the application of the novel epidemiological indices, the key findings in this study are: firstly, there were some Intermediate Zones in Edinburgh with noticeably high levels of COVID-19 positivity, and that the first outbreak during the study period was observed in Dalry and Fountainbridge. Secondly, the estimation of the distance over which the COVID-19 counts at the halls of residence are spatially correlated (or related to each other) was found to be 0.19km (0.13km to 0.27km) and is denoted by the index, Rspatial. This estimate is useful for public health policy in this setting, especially with contact tracing. Thirdly, the study indicates that the association between the surrounding community level of COVID-19 positivity (Intermediate Zones in Edinburgh) and that of the University of Edinburgh’s halls of residence was not statistically significant. Fourthly, this study reveals that relatively high levels of COVID-19 positivity were observed for halls for which higher COVID-19 fines were issued (Spearman’s correlation coefficient = 0.34), and separately, for halls which were non-ensuite relatively to those which were not (Spearman’s correlation coefficient = 0.16). Finally, Intermediate Zones with the highest positivity were associated with student residences that experienced relatively high COVID-19 positivity (Spearman’s correlation coefficient = 0.27)

Characteristics and Outcomes for Secondary Breast Cancer in Childhood, Adolescent, and Young Adult Cancer Survivors Treated with Radiation.

BackgroundRadiotherapy is used to treat many adolescent and young adult (AYA) and childhood cancer patients and is a risk factor for secondary breast cancer. While premenopausal breast cancer is inherently more aggressive, no studies to date have evaluated the characteristics and breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) of premenopausal secondary breast cancer after radiotherapy in AYA and childhood cancer survivors.MethodsFemale patients ages 12 to 50 diagnosed with primary breast cancer from 1988 to 2014 (n = 107,751) were obtained from the California Cancer Registry and compared with similar aged patients with secondary breast cancer who were treated with radiotherapy for their primary tumor (n = 1,147) from ages 12 to 39. We examined BCSS using multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression.ResultsThe secondary breast cancer cohort was more likely to be Hispanic or Black, be 35 to 45 years of age, have earlier stage tumors, be higher grade, have no lymph node involvement, and be hormone receptor negative. All women showed worse BCSS for large tumor size, lymph node involvement, and hormone receptor-negative status. BCSS was worse for women with secondary breast cancer both overall (hazard ratio, 1.98; 95% confidence interval, 1.77-2.23) and in all subgroups considered. Associations were most pronounced in Hispanics, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and younger women, as well as those with earlier stage, lymph node-negative, and hormone receptor-positive disease.ConclusionsBCSS is significantly decreased among all survivors of childhood and AYA cancer treated with radiotherapy that develop a secondary breast cancer, including women with good prognostic features.ImpactTherefore, we may need to consider alternative and even more aggressive treatment in what were considered low-risk populations previously