ABSTRACT Background: Cervical cancer is the most common cancer among women in Ghana and the leading cause of cancer mortality among women in Ghana. Health care professionals are important predictors of the use of cervical cancer screening, however, there is no evidence of how health workers use cervical cancer screening services. General Objective: To assess the knowledge, perception and practices of cervical cancer screening and prevention among female doctors and nurses in Korle Bu Teaching...
ABSTRACT Background: Optimal gestational weight gain is an important factor linked with positive outcome for both mothers and their infants. Women who gain inadequate weight during pregnancy are at risk of bearing a baby with low birth weight whereas those who gain excessive weight are at increased risk of preeclampsia and gestational diabetes. In developing countries, data on gestational weight gain and its determinants are scarce as it is difficult to collect the information throughout the ...
ABSTRACT. Buruli Ulcer is becoming a Public health problem in tropical Countries prompting the establishment of a Global Buruli Ulcer Initiative by the WHO in 1998. The objectives of the study are to assess the community perception and knowledge of BU and the health-seeking behaviour of Patients. Quantitative and qualitative data were obtained by interviewing patients with this disease and control subjects in the Ga West Municipality Area. Common perceived causes were attributed to drinking f...
ABSTRACT Background: Hepatitis is a disease defined by the inflammation of the liver and it is characterized by the existence of inflammatory cells in the tissues of the liver leading to fibrosis or cirrhosis. Viral hepatitis has become a global public health threat affecting millions of people yearly, causing disability and mortality. There are an estimated five hundred million people who are chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) or Hepatitis C virus (HCV). Reliable data is requi...
ABSTRACT Background: Adequate serum vitamin D levels in children has been proven to improve bone health, reduce the risk of type 1 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and many other diseases in life. The serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D is the best biomarker in measuring vitamin D status in the body. It is able to reflect both vitamin D levels that the body receive from sunlight and dietary sources. Little is known about the vitamin D status of the population in Ghana especially among school age child...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Sudden cardiac arrest is a gradually emerging global public health issue. Prompt administration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by a bystander is pivotal to improve the already slender chances of surviving cardiac arrest which occurs outside the premises of a health facility. In response, many nations have focused efforts on promoting CPR in the community to increase bystander CPR. Tertiary institutions are considered ideal settings for CPR promotion and training...
ABSTRACT A functional maternal referral system is important in minimizing maternal related challenges associated with antenatal care, labor and delivery; and postnatal services at primary, secondary and tertiary levels of care. The study sought to evaluate maternal referral pathways in the La Dade Kotopon Municipality by using La General Hospital and Police Hospital as cases for the study. The study adopted the Three Delays, Access Model and the System Thinking Approach to inquire into the is...
ABSTRACT Background: Blood transfusion is a life-saving practice in medicine but serves as a major route for spreading infections. It is therefore necessary to adopt sensitive screening technologies to guarantee the safety of blood. In Ghana, most districts and regional blood bank laboratories are limited in resources and resort to the use of rapid kits; a method less sensitive and liable to errors compared to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay as the gold standard. This study seeks to determi...
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Exclusive breastfeeding has been known to contribute to child survival. Despite the high rates of exclusive breastfeeding on discharge from health facilities in the Asuogyaman District, nursing mothers often discontinue the practice at home and resort to inappropriate infant feeding practices. There has been no recent study on the factors influencing exclusive breastfeeding practices in the Asuogyaman District. The study sought to describe the exclusive breastfeeding prac...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Ghana is an emerging market with high demands on its health, especially to achieve universal health coverage while maintaining quality of care. Quality of care is a standard that is measurable from different perspectives, including the patients’ perspectives. The government is pushing for private public partnership in all areas of the economy including the health sector where the state owned health facilities are inadequate to mop up all the cases reporting for health...
ABSTRACT Background: The growth of the aging population is known to lead to an upsurge in problems for the older people and to the society. A considerable proportion of older adults are experiencing added challenges in maintaining their health. With the eroded traditional family support systems and no formal institutions to take care of the elderly, it is not known what self-care interventions if any exist in the community and if so what factors influence their presence or absence. Self-care ...
ABSTRACT Modem Eye care in Ghana is making progress in prevention of blindness from cataract, onchocerciasis and trachoma, but stuck with glaucoma that remains the leading cause of permanent blindness in Ghana. This project addresses issues on the epidemiology of glaucoma by determining the magnitude of the burden of Primary Open Angle Glaucoma by a prevalence study in the Akwapim South district of Ghana. It looks at the factors related to advanced damaging effect on vision, socio-cultural an...
ABSTRACT Background: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is among the life-long disabilities that result from maternal alcohol exposure. The growing incidence of FAS globally has become a public health concern and the lack of awareness and knowledge about the condition was noted among the key drawbacks for the slow progress in its prevention. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study that used a quantitative approach was undertaken to examine pregnant women’s knowledge on fetal alcohol syndrome....
ABSTRACT Background: Gentamicin (GM) administration generates reactive oxygen species that have long been identified with nephrotoxicity. Cocoa flavanols are powerful antioxidants that have free radical scavenging capacity in reactive oxygen species (ROS) -mediated inflammatory processes such as from GM usage. Aim: This study investigated whether regular ingestion of natural cocoa would protect renal structure and function in rats with GM-induced acute kidney injury (AKI). Methodology: Thirty...
ABSTRACT An ethnobotanical survey was conducted among residents of Gboko and Kastina Ala local government areas in Benue state located in the middle belt of Nigeria.