ABSTRACT Over the years, the meaning of health seeking behaviour (HSB) has gone beyond just the use of health care facilities to include understanding what social and cultural factors influence a person’s decision to utilize a healthcare facility. Although most STIs are treatable, a range of social and cultural factors prevent access to healthcare treatment and this contributes to the burden of untreated infection. An important tool in effective sexually transmitted infection (STI) control...
ABSTRACT Female occupation is very crucial in this contemporary era where there exist several advocacy groups calling for involvement of women in decision making at all levels and particularly at the time where economic hardship has considerably reduced men’s ability to take on the breadwinner’s role. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between female occupation and fertility in Ghana. The levels of fertility for the various categories of occupation are derived t...
ABSTRACT Acute respiratory infection (ARI) is a major public health problem globally that require greater efforts for prevention through research and policy-making. It is reported that ARI is a leading cause of death, morbidity, and disability among children under- five years in many developing countries. Several studies have tried to link the association between biomass fuel use and respiratory infection, morbidity and mortality, yet the association of type of cooking fuels and incidence of ...
ABSTRACT The study examines trends in the proximate determinants of fertility (sexual activity, contraception, and postpartuminfecundability) in Ghana over a decade (from 1998 to 2008) with a view to finding out their contributions to fertility decline and explaining the factors responsible for fertility decline in the country . The study was mainly based on data collected from the Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys carried out in 1998 2003 and 2008. Four thousand eight hundred and forty th...
ABSTRACT The study aimed at exploring the double burden of nutrition being underweight and overweight in Ghana. There have been changes towards increased consumption of processed foods, fast foods, sugary and oily foods, reduction of physical activity and increase in sedentary lifestyle. The associated negative implications are type II diabetes, hypertension and stroke, reduction in labour force, low productivity and increase in health budget. The purpose of the study is to provide informatio...
ABSTRACT High infant and maternal mortality rates are major public health concerns in developing countries including Ghana. Most of these deaths are caused by pregnancy related complications. In Ghana, about 57 percent of women in their reproductive ages had Facility Based Deliveries (GSS, 2008) as against 95 percent who received antenatal care. This is therefore not enough to achieve MDGs 4 and 5. Currently maternal mortality is estimated to be 350 death per 100 000 live births meanwhile, th...
ABSTRACT Infant mortality has declined globally, however, sub-Saharan Africa still experiences high rate of infant deaths. Despite efforts made to reduce infant mortality in Ghana, the rate is still high. This study examines the trends and differentials in infant deaths in Ghana using the six successive Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys (GDHS). The general objective is to examine the trends and differentials in infant deaths in Ghana from 1988-2014 using 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003, 2008 and 20...
ABSTRACT Infant mortality has declined globally, however, sub-Saharan Africa still experiences high rate of infant deaths. Despite efforts made to reduce infant mortality in Ghana, the rate is still high. This study examines the trends and differentials in infant deaths in Ghana using the six successive Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys (GDHS). The general objective is to examine the trends and differentials in infant deaths in Ghana from 1988-2014 using 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003, 2008 and 20...
ABSTRACT Physical aggression, psychological mistreatment and sexual abuse against women in intimate unions are public health concerns globally. They constitute infringements on human rights, and are a huge economic burden to nations. Research suggests that individual level factors and women’s subordinate position to men predispose them to male-perpetrated intimate partner violence (IPV). In sub-Saharan Africa where marriages are near universal, little is known about the cultural context wit...
ABSTRACT Abstract Worldwide, the proportion of aged and chronic diseases are increasing. In Ghana, rapid urbanization and social change makes disability a problem. This study seeks to identify factors associated with disability in Ghana. The WHO Study on Global AGEing and Adult Health (SAGE) Wave 1 2007-2010 dataset was used. The mean age was 60 ±13.9 years. About 33.6%, 33.7% and 33 % reported none, mild and severe disability respectively. Also, 11.9%, 11.4%, 3.4% and 1.9% were living with ...
ABSTRACT The epidemiological and demographic transitions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and the accompanying health and economic challenges have resulted into a high burden of disease particularly on households. Urbanisation and poverty are two major drivers of the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Drawing on the concepts of cost-of-illness and biographical disruption, this thesis investigates the burden of NCDs on urban households in the context of poverty. Cross secti...
ABSTRACT Reports that emanated from the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey indicated that anaemia among women in the country stood at 59 per cent, making it a severe public health problem based on the classification of the World Health Organisation. Majority of studies on the aetiology and determinants of anaemia among Ghanaian women were community based and did not permit an understanding of the problem among women of different socio-demographic groups residing in the larger spatial un...
ABSTRACT The literature suggests an important linkage between inter-spousal decision making and contraceptive use. Decision making in a spousal relationship helps to support spousal growth as compromises can be reached on sensitive topics, especially those regarding fertility preference, the type of contraceptive method to adopt, and other reproductive health issues that affect the woman’s overall health and well-being. However, the effect of decision making on contraceptive method choice...
ABSTRACT Knowledge on the factors that determine a woman‟s autonomy in health care decision making is necessary for her improved health outcome. This study sought to identify some demographic, socio-economic and cultural factors that have an influence on women‟s autonomy in health care decision making in Ghana. Some characteristics of the women‟s husbands or partners were also included in the study (husband/ partner‟s education and employment status). The study used the Ghana Demogra...
ABSTRACT The right to food is one of the most consistently mentioned international human rights to date. Unfortunately it is also one of the most spectacularly violated in recent times. Little attention has been given to food security particularly among the urban poor. This study seeks to examine the relationship between the household demographic and socio-economic characteristics of urban low-income population and its implication for food utilization with an emphasis on dietary diversity. T...