ABSTRACT Tuberculosis (TB) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) are the two leading causes of death from infectious diseases globally. The World Health Organization has recommended integration of TB-HIV services in the management of the syndemic. However, scaling up of integrated TB-HIV services remain sub-optimal in Ghana, despite a nationally accepted collaborative policy. This study, therefore explored issues surrounding TBHIV services integration towards effective management of the synd...
ABSTRACT In the past few years, public health incidents have occurred that have caused some alarm in Canada. These include communicable disease outbreaks such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Influenza and Influenza-Like-Illness (ILI) and water-borne diseases such as Escherichia coli 0157:H7 (Ecoli) and gastroenteritis. There were also environment incidents that occurred such as those caused by Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, furans, and microcystine. On the global scen...
ABSTRACT Breast Cancer (BC) is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide and the third most commonly diagnosed cancer among women. Early detection through screening has been shown to improve the prognosis and survival among female presenting with BC. Few studies exist on knowledge, attitude and practice of Breast Self-Examination (BSE) among female apprentices in Nigeria, probably due to their level of education. This study was therefore designed to assess the knowledge, attitude and ...
ABSTRACT Undertaking University education in Nigeria may be fraught with stress. The bulk of previous studies on stress among university students had focused on undergraduates, leaving stress and coping mechanisms among postgraduate students inadequately investigated. In this study the stressors and the coping mechanisms adopted by postgraduate students of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria were identified. A cross-sectional survey involving a 3-stage random sampling technique was adopted in ...
ABSTRACT Infertility is a public health problem that is characterised by serious social and psychological consequences. It is considered as a major life crisis that has the potential to threaten the stability of individuals and relationships, especially infertility among married men. Apart from the magnitude of the problem, management of infertility has focused more on women with little attention paid to men. The study was therefore designed to explore knowledge and perception of married men...
ABSTRACT Auto-artisanship plays a critical role in the economy of Ghana. It forms a large size of the informal economy in Ghana. The occupational health and safety of auto-artisans is therefore of exceptional concern because of their potential exposure to toxic chemicals, the tools and methods they apply, and the unregulated settings in which they operate. Even though some research work has been done to examine the safety of auto-artisans at the Suame magazine enclave, such studies focused on...
ABSTRACT Adolescent pregnancy is an important public health problem on the increase in Nigeria. Few studies have investigated the circumstances and factors associated with parental decisions taken following an adolescent pregnancy, in spite of the implications of these on the adolescent. This study was designed to assess factors influencing parents‟/guardians‟ decisions on adolescent pregnancy. A mixed method study involving the use of Key Informant Interviews (KII) and semi-structured ...
ABSTRACT This study is a cross-sectional survey conducted in the Cape Coast Metropolis in the Central Region of Ghana in 2013 among 308 adults who were 65 years and above. The main objective was to investigate the domestic health hazards of the elderly with structured interview schedule. The descriptive analysis revealed that 64% of the sample had medium level of awareness on Domestic Health hazard (DHH) and fire source was the leading DHH (63.0%). It was also revealed that the elderly suffer...
ABSTRACT Reporting of notifiable diseases is essential for control and prevention of outbreak of diseases. In Nigeria, reporting of Notifiable Diseases by health workers has not been adequately documented. This study was conducted to assess health workers knowledge, practices, and factors influencing disease reporting in urban and rural communities in Oyo State, Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey was carried out among the 210 health workers who were responsible for disease reporting at their ...
ABSTRACT Meat and offal obtained from cattle and goats sold in open markets serve as sources of protein, but may be susceptible to heavy metal contamination due to illicit disposal and emission in the environment. Consumers‘ knowledge on the possible exposure to heavy metal contamination in meat and its associated health risks is low. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing heavy metal levels in these products. A cross-sectional study design with observational and laboratory analysis comp...
ABSTRACT The determination of Health-Related Quality of Life (HR-QoL) is useful for assessing the impact of health and illness on people’s physical, psychological and social functioning. In Nigeria, the HR-QoL of students (who are mostly adolescents) with physical and sensory impairments has not been adequately researched. There is need for scientific basis for comparative description of the experiences of Students with physical and sensory impairments (SwPSI) in special schools (SS) and i...
ABSTRACT Background: For effective outcomes of Anti-retroviral therapy (ART), people who are diagnosed of HIV and linked to care must remain in care and subsequently go through each step of the care continuum. However, persons are lost to follow-up at each stage of the continuum due to reasons including psychological, socioeconomic and health systems ineffectiveness. This study determined the factors associated with Retention of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in care at Pantang Hospital. Meth...
ABSTRACT Family planning is a cost effective health intervention that has immediate benefits for women, children and families. However, in the Bomfa subdistrict for the past five years, 1997-2001 the family planning acceptor rate has never exceeded 5%. The objective of this study was therefore to determine the factors accounting for this low acceptor rate. A descriptive cross sectional study was carried out over a four-week period. A total number of 170 persons, 76% females and 24% males wer...
ABSTRACT Background: In 2017, there were 425 million people living with diabetes globally, while in Ghana, the number of adults with diabetes was 518,400. The International Diabetes Federation revealed that patients with diabetes have health expenses of 673 billion USD annually. In Ghana, financial and non-financial cost associated with diabetes accounts for over two-thirds of household‘s income. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine out-of-pocket payments and financial co...
ABSTRACT Background: Childhood tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health problem worldwide, especially in developing countries. Despite clear evidence that isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) can reduce the risk of progression from TB infection to disease in TB contacts, uptake of IPT in children is low and IPT delivery is a challenge in many resource-limited settings with high TB-burden. Furthermore, the IPT initiation rates amongst child TB program implementation settings in Cameroon h...