ABSTRACT Background: Several neonatal deaths have been reported in developing countries such as Ghana despite a marginal decrease over the years. Majority of these deaths occur due to inappropriate or poorly practiced newborn care specifically safe cord care, optimal thermal care and early and exclusive breastfeeding. There is limited information about the quality of essential newborn care practiced by mothers in the Greater Accra region. This information is needed to inform policy makers an...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Behaviours established during youthful and early adult life such as risky sexual behaviours (RSBs) have undesirable effects on the future wellbeing and overall health of adolescents and young adults. Engaging in risky sexual behaviours such as early sexual initiation, multiple partner sexual relationships, unprotected sex, and sex in exchange of money or gifts often lead to undesirable consequences such as contracting sexually transmitted diseases or having unintended ...
ABSTRACT Background: Cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is on the rise. However, the availability of antiretroviral drugs has to a larger extent increased the survival of these patients in recent times. The increased survival often presents challenges to the quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) mainly due to adverse drug effects and or the prevailing socio-economic and cultural challenges associated with the disease condition...
ABSTRACT Occupational exposure to HIV by health workers is a major issue globally. It is more prevalent in the low-income countries especially, in the Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Yet it seems that there is very little information on occupational exposure to HIV by health workers and how they cope in Ghana. The study explored the occupational exposure to HIV and how health workers cope with it. The exploratory descriptive qualitative research design was used to explore and describe the occu...
ABSTRACT Background: Societies in sub-Saharan Africa have always depended on religion as an important resource in addressing matters of health and wellbeing, especially, in addressing various healthcare challenges. The aim of this study is to explore how church-related social support contributes to the health and well-being of the elderly in Achimota, Accra Metropolitan District. Methodology: Three churches within Achimota were purposively selected and the elderly above 60 years and above we...
ABSTRACT Warfarin (vitamin K antagonist) is effective for the management of thromboembolic disorders. However, continued use of warfarin is challenged by its complex pharmacology and inherent risk of adverse outcomes which needs drug monitoring to ensure safe and effective therapy. The purpose of the study is to examine the knowledge of anticoagulation and its relationship with international normalized ratio control among patients, after discharge from hospital. A cross sectional survey was ...
ABSTRACT Background: Mercury is commonly used in Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) to amalgamate gold. Mercury use in ASGM is a global public health problem, since it is the world’s fastest source of mercury contamination. Mercury is toxic even at low concentration and exposure is of great concern since it is a potent neurotoxicant. Mercury poisoning among small scale gold miners has been observed in many small scale gold mining regions across the world. ASGM is a rapidly growing in...
ABSTRACT Introduction Influenza is a major cause of morbidity and mortality globally especially during pandemics. For this reason countries have set up surveillance systems to continually monitor Influenza like illnesses (ILI) for early detection of outbreaks and rapid response. However, in sub-Saharan Africa, specifically Ghana where medication can be purchased over the counter, it is more likely that people might have taken some antipyretics before reporting to the health facility. This...
ABSTRACT The study is a community-based study to determine the factors contributing to the delayed arrival of women with pregnancy-related complication to the health facilities in the Assin District of Ghana. The women with pregnancy-related complications in the district often arrive at the health facilities in the district so late, that this makes the outcome of the management poor with resultant high maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. The study aimed at finding the factors whi...
ABSTRACT Background: Natural cocoa powder (NCP) has been recognized to possess significant amounts of procyanidin flavonoids, methylxanthines, catechin and epicatechin with healthful effects. Stimulus for this work was to validate claims that NCP was a healthful product best for the aged with cardiovascular health problems and also for daily consumption for all age groups as a preventive measure. Literature review does not show any work done in healthy adult Ghanaians involving the long term...
ABSTRACT Background: Overweight and obesity among children is a major public health concern globally. Childhood obesity is likely to persist into adulthood. Little is known about the prevalence and determinants of overweight and obesity among school-age children in Ghana. Knowing the determinants of overweight/obesity among basic school pupils is important for obesity intervention design. Objective: To determine overweight and obesity prevalence and its risk factors among basic school pupi...
ABSTRACT Cervical cancer is an abnormal growth or tumour of the cervix, often predisposed by Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and other factors. Cervical cancer is the third most frequent cancer among women globally with about 527,624 cases diagnosed and 265,672 mortalities annually. It is the leading cause of cancer death among women in Ghana. Women living with cervical cancer are affected psychologically, physically, socially, sexually, spiritually and in many forms, after they are diagnosed wi...
ABSTRACT A study on assessment of X-ray radiation among X-ray workers and associated potential health problems in Owerri was carried out with the thermolumolunescent dosimeter between 12th April to 30th December 2011. A total of 50 workers were used for the study. Comprising 24 male X-ray workers and 26 female X-ray workers. The mean X-ray dose below permissible doses is 9.4.7 the T-test is -4.29; the P-value is 0.000. The mean exposure factor is 20msv upto six test which involve 3 male x-r...
ABSTRACT Background: Earlier investigations have demonstrated that the accuracy of foetal weight estimation is significantly higher if several ultrasonic foetal parameters are measured, because the total body mass depends on the size of foetal head, abdominal circumference and femur length. Aim: This study aimed to determine the best ultrasound regression models that use the common foetal biometric measurements in predicting foetal weight for normal singleton pregnancies in ClearVue 350 ultr...
ABSTRACT Introduction: HIV and AIDS is one of the major public-health problems worldwide which affects mostly people who are at the utmost productive stage of life. Out of the estimated 36.7 million people living with HIV and AIDS globally as at the end of 2015, 71% live in sub Saharan Africa. Antiretroviral therapy averted 5.5 million deaths in low- and middleincome countries during the peak in 1995 until 2012. Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for most of those lives saved; it keeps people pr...