This study determined noncompliance to antihypertensive therapy (AHT) and its associated factors in a Ghanaian population by using the health belief model (HBM). This descriptive cross-sectional study conducted at Kintampo Municipality in Ghana recruited a total of 678 hypertensive patients. The questionnaire constituted information regarding sociodemographics, a five-Likert type HBM questionnaire, and lifestyle-related factors. The rate of noncompliance to AHT in this study was 58.6%. The mean age (SD) of the participants was 43.5 (±5.2) years and median duration of hypertension was 2 years. Overall, the five HBM constructs explained 31.7% of the variance in noncompliance to AHT with a prediction accuracy of 77.5%, after adjusting for age, gender, and duration of condition. Higher levels of perceived benefits of using medicine [aOR=0.55(0.36-0.82),p=0.0001] and cue to actions [aOR=0.59(0.38-0.90),p=0.0008] were significantly associated with reduced noncompliance while perceived susceptibility [aOR=3.05(2.20-6.25), p<0.0001], perceived barrier [aOR=2.14(1.56-2.92), p<0.0001], and perceived severity [aOR=4.20(2.93-6.00),p<0.0001] were significantly associated with increased noncompliance to AHT. Participant who had completed tertiary education [aOR=0.27(0.17-0.43), p<0.0001] and had regular source of income [aOR=0.52(0.38-0.71), p<0.0001] were less likely to be noncompliant. However, being a government employee [aOR=4.16(1.93-8.96), p=0.0002)] was significantly associated increased noncompliance to AHT. Noncompliance to AHT was considerably high and HBM is generally reliable in assessing treatment noncompliance in the Ghanaian hypertensive patients. The significant predictors of noncompliance to AHT were higher level of perceived barriers, susceptibility, and severity. Intervention programmes could be guided by the association of risk factors, HBM constructs with noncompliance to AHT in clinical practice.

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Despite the availability of several homogenous LDL-C assays, calculated Friedewald's LDL-C equation remains the widely used formula in clinical practice. Several novel formulas developed in different populations have been reported to outperform the Friedewald formula. This study validated the existing LDL-C formulas and derived a modified LDL-C formula specific to a Ghanaian population. In this comparative study, we recruited 1518 participants, derived a new modified Friedewald's LDL-C (M-LDL-C) equation, evaluated LDL-C by Friedewald's formula (F-LDL-C), Martin's formula (N-LDL-C), Anandaraja's formula (A-LDL-C), and compared them to direct measurement of LDL-C (D-LDL-C). The mean D-LDL-C (2.47±0.71 mmol/L) was significantly lower compared to F-LDL-C (2.76±1.05 mmol/L), N-LDL-C (2.74±1.04 mmol/L), A-LDL-C (2.99±1.02 mmol/L), and M-LDL-C (2.97±1.08 mmol/L) p < 0.001. There was a significantly positive correlation between D-LDL-C and A-LDL-C (r=0.658, p<0.0001), N-LDL-C (r=0.693, p<0.0001), and M-LDL-C (r=0.693, p<0.0001). M-LDL-c yielded a better diagnostic performance [(area under the curve (AUC)=0.81; sensitivity (SE) (60%) and specificity (SP) (88%)] followed by N-LDL-C [(AUC=0.81; SE (63%) and SP (85%)], F-LDL-C [(AUC=0.80; SE (63%) and SP (84%)], and A-LDL-C (AUC=0.77; SE (68%) and SP (78%)] using D-LDL-C as gold standard. Bland–Altman plots showed a definite agreement between means and differences of D-LDL-C and the calculated formulas with 95% of values lying within ±0.50 SD limits. The modified LDL-C (M-LDL-C) formula derived by this study yielded a better diagnostic accuracy compared to A-LDL-C and F-LDL-C equations and thus could serve as a substitute for D-LDL-C and F-LDL-C equations in the Ghanaian population.

Background: Postpartum preeclampsia has been implicated in increasing hospital re-admissions, maternal morbidity, and mortality worldwide. The knowledge of the risk factors of postpartum preeclampsia would be helpful in formulating strategies to aid in the prevention, early diagnosis, and timely treatment of this disorder. Thus, this study aimed to identify the risk factors associated with the development of new-onset postpartum preeclampsia and persistent postpartum preeclampsia in the Ghanaian setting. Methods: This case–control study was conducted at the Obstetrics and Gynecology units of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and the Kumasi Regional Hospital, both located in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. A total of 65 postpartum preeclamptic women (33 new-onset postpartum preeclampsia and 32 persistent postpartum preeclampsia) and 65 normotensive postpartum mothers were recruited from 48 h to 6 weeks post-delivery. Questionnaires were administered to assess the socio-demographic, lifestyle, obstetric characteristics, and past medical history of the study participants. Results: Physical inactivity ( p < 0.0001), infrequent antenatal visits ( p < 0.0001), analgesic use ( p < 0.0001), and cesarean delivery ( p = 0.021) were significantly associated with both the new-onset postpartum preeclampsia and persistent postpartum preeclampsia. Contraceptive use was significantly associated with the development of new-onset postpartum preeclampsia ( p < 0.0001) while women with low-birthweight babies are also at high risk of developing persistent postpartum preeclampsia ( p  < 0.0001). Conclusion: Physical inactivity, infrequent antenatal visits, analgesic use, contraceptive use, and cesarean delivery are major predisposing risk factors for the development of postpartum preeclampsia. Screening using these risk factors, close monitoring and follow-up observation of women after delivery would be beneficial in identifying and managing postpartum preeclampsia.

Background: This study determined awareness and occupational exposures to needlestick injuries (NSIs) and its associated risk factors among healthcare workers (HCWs) in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among a total of 540 HCWs from three selected tertiary hospitals in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed. Results: All the study participants were aware of NSI and NSI-associated hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus, or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) acquisition. Most of them (63.6%) were trained on the safety use of sharps devices and the majority of them preferred safety-engineered devices (79.8%). A greater proportion of the participants has had HBV vaccination (85.9%). The prevalence of NSIs was approximately 47%. NSIs were highly ranked to occur at patient's bedside (28.5%) and clinical laboratories (24.6%). Handling of needles/sharp objects before usage (27.7%) and during usage (34.0%) ranked the second and first cause of NSIs among health workers, respectively. Compared with those with less than 5 years working experience, having worked at the health facility between 5 and 10 years (prevalence rate ration [PRR] = 2.07 [1.39–3.11], p = 0.0004), 11–15 years (PRR = 4.32 [2.14–8.73], p &lt; 0.0001), and &gt;15 years (PRR = 5.73 [2.40–13.70], p &lt; 0.0001) were associated with increased events of NSI. Conclusion: Despite the high awareness of NSIs and its perceived risk of infection acquisition, the prevalence of NSIs was high among HCWs. There is, therefore, the need for employers to enforce the universal precaution practices, provide regular training and education, and ensure adherence of HCWs to safety precaution of needle usage disease.