Anaemia has prevailed as a mild to severe public health problem in Ethiopian women of reproductive age. Many studies carried out on anaemia have been limited to subnational assessments and subgroups of women. The effects of potential factors thought to affect anaemia and severity levels of anaemia have not been well considered. Therefore, this study identifies individual, household and community level factors associated with anaemia among women of reproductive age in Ethiopia applying multilevel ordinal logistic regression models. Proportional odds assumption was tested by likelihood ratio test. About 35.6% of the variation on anaemia was due to between household and community level differences. Pregnancy (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 2.30, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.82, 2.91), HIV (AOR = 2.40, 95% CI: 1.76, 3.25), giving birth once (AOR = 1.2, 95% CI: 1.05, 1.40), giving birth more than once (AOR = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.19, 1.71), living with five or more family members (AOR = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.05, 1.47), living in poorest households (AOR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.2, 1.61) and rural area (AOR = 1.57, 95% CI: 1.28, 1.92) were associated with greater odds of more severe anaemia compared with their respective counter parts. Secondary and above education (AOR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.70, 0.97) and use of pills, implants or injectable (AOR = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.59, 0.77) were associated with lower odds of more severe anaemia. Anaemia prevention and control programmes need to be strengthened for women living with HIV/AIDS and during pregnancy. Household poverty reduction and social protection services need to be strengthened and integrated in anaemia prevention and management activities in women.

Introduction The widespread use of face masks by the general public may help to prevent the spread of viruses. Face masks are thought to be a good strategy to protect against respiratory diseases such as the Coronavirus. Identifying student knowledge, attitude, and practice about the use of face masks is crucial to detect vulnerabilities and respond rapidly to avoid the spread of the infection. This study aimed to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practices of face mask utilization and associated factors in the COVID-19 pandemic among college students. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed from February to March 2021 among 764 students from Wachemo University, Southern Ethiopia. A multistage sampling technique was used in the study. The sample size for each department was allocated in proportion to the number of students in that department, and each respondent was chosen using a simple random sampling procedure. Data were collected using a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 26. To predict the relationship between the predictor and outcome variables, a logistic regression model was used. At a p-value of 0.05, statistical significance was declared. Results The study showed that the overall knowledge of the students was 223 (29.2%), their attitude was 673 (88.1%), and their practice was 684 (89.5%). The students from the college natural and computational sciences (AOR: 0.23; 95%CI: 0.13, 0.40) and students having good knowledge (AOR = 4.40; 95%CI; 2.13, 9.14) were found to be independently associated with face mask utilization. Conclusion When compared to other researches, the knowledge about the usage of face masks in this study was low, but the attitudes and practices were high. Authorities in areas that are in danger of a COVID-19 pandemic should plan and implement public awareness and education initiatives.

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Background Co-infection of tuberculosis and HIV has a significant impact on public health. TB is the most common opportunistic infection and the leading cause of death in HIV-positive children worldwide. But there is paucity of studies concerning the predictors of mortality among TB-HIV co-infected children. This study aimed to determine the predictors of mortality among TB-HIV co-infected children attending ART clinics of public hospitals in Southern Nation, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR), Ethiopia. Methods A hospital-based retrospective cohort study design was used among 284 TB-HIV co-infected children attending ART clinics at selected public hospitals in SNNPR, Ethiopia, from January 2009 to December 2019. Then, medical records of children who were TB/HIV co-infected and on ART were reviewed using a structured data extraction tool. Data were entered using Epidata 4.6 and analyzed using SPSS version 23. The Kaplan Meier survival curve along with log rank tests was used to estimate and compare survival time. Bivariable and multivariable analyses were conducted to identify predictors of mortality among TB/HIV co-infected children. Adjusted Hazard Ratio with p value < 0.05 and 95% confidence interval was considered statistically significant. Result A total of 284 TB/HIV co-infected children were included in the study. Among these, 35 (12.3%) of them died during the study period. The overall mortality rate was 2.78 (95%CI = 1.98-3.99) per 100 child years of observation. The predictors of mortality were anemia (AHR = 3.6; 95%CI: 1.39-9.31), fair or poor ART drug adherence (AHR = 2.9; 95%CI = 1.15-7.43), extrapulmonary TB (AHR = 3.9; 95%CI: 1.34-11.45) and TB drug resistance (AHR = 5.7; 95%CI: 2.07-15.96). Conclusion Mortality rate of TB/HIV co-infected children in selected public hospitals in SNNPR, Ethiopia was documented as 2.78 per child years of observation as a result of this study. Moreover, Anemia, drug resistant tuberculosis, extrapulmonary TB and poor adherence to ART drugs were identified as the predictors of mortality among these children.

Objective: Preconception care is aimed to promote optimal health in women before conception to reduce or prevent poor pregnancy outcomes. Although there are several published primary studies from sub-Saharan African countries on preconception care, they need to quantify the extent of preconception care utilization, the knowledge level about preconception care, and the association among women in the reproductive age group in this region. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the pooled utilization of preconception care, pooled knowledge level about preconception care, and their association among women in the reproductive age group in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods: Databases including PubMed, Science Direct, Hinari, Google Scholar, and Cochrane library were systematically searched for relevant literature. Additionally, the references of included articles were checked for additional possible sources. The Cochrane Q test statistics and I2 tests were used to assess the heterogeneity of the included studies. A random-effect meta-analysis model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence of preconception care, knowledge level of preconception care, and their correlation among reproductive-aged women in sub-Saharan African countries. Results: Of the identified 1593 articles, 20 studies were included in the final analysis. The pooled utilization of preconception care and good knowledge level about preconception care among women of reproductive age were found to be 24.05% (95% confidence interval: 16.61, 31.49) and 33.27% (95% confidence interval: 24.78, 41.77), respectively. Women in the reproductive age group with good knowledge levels were greater than two times more likely to utilize the preconception care than the women with poor knowledge levels in sub-Saharan African countries (odds ratio: 2.35, 95% confidence interval: 1.16, 4.76). Conclusion: In sub-Saharan African countries, the utilization of preconception care and knowledge toward preconception care were low. Additionally, the current meta-analysis found good knowledge level to be significantly associated with the utilization of preconception care among women of reproductive age. These findings indicate that it is imperative to launch programs to improve the knowledge level about preconception care utilization among women in the reproductive age group in sub-Saharan African countries.

Background: Severe pneumonia is still the greatest infectious cause of morbidity and mortality in children under the age of five around the world. Each night spent in the hospital raises the chance of bad drug responses, infections, and ulcers by 0.5%, 1.6%, and 0.5%, respectively. In Southern Ethiopia, as well as the research area, little is known regarding death and recovery time from severe pneumonia and their determinants. Objective: To determine time to recovery from severe pneumonia and its predictors among children 2-59 months of age admitted to pediatric ward of Nigist Eleni Mohammed Memorial Comprehensive Specialized Hospital. Methods: A facility-based retrospective cohort study was conducted among children 2-59 months of age. Three years' medical records, from January 2017 to December 2020, were reviewed. A total of 280 children with severe pneumonia were included. In the case of survival time, median was calculated. Kaplan Meier survival curve was used to estimate recovery time from severe pneumonia, and the independent effects of covariates on recovery time were analyzed using multivariable Cox-proportional hazard model. Results: The median time to recovery was 4 days (interquartile range = 3, 5). The incidence rate of recovery was 24.16 per 100 person-days. Underweight (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.38-0.80), age group 12-35 months (adjusted hazard ratio= 2.0, 95% CI=1.30-3.30), treatment with ampicillin and gentamicin (adjusted hazard ratio= 0.35, 95% CI: 0.13-0.80), and antibiotic change (adjusted hazard ratio= 0.34, 95% CI = 0.21-0.53) were statistically significant predictors of time to recovery from severe pneumonia. Conclusion:The median length of stay in the hospital was short (4 days [interquartile range =3, 5]). Time to recover from severe pneumonia was significantly influenced by being underweight, age, antibiotics administered first, and antibiotic change. Measures such as providing nutritious meals to children and ensuring that underweight children are properly managed should be bolstered.

Introduction little is known about antenatal care (ANC) utilization difference among food secure and food insecure household pregnant women and factors contributing to inequities in antenatal care use in developing country including Ethiopia. To determine the disparities in the utilization of antenatal care that exists between pregnant women in food secure and food insecure household women. Methods a community based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in Gombora District, Hadiya zone, southern Ethiopia. Data were collected from February 25 th to March 25 th , 2015, using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Pregnant women were selected by a simple random sampling method. The data were entered using EpiData 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 21 for analysis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was done to compare antenatal care utilization among food secure and insecure household women at 95% confidence interval (CI). Statistical tests were done at a level of significance of p<0.05. Results two hundred sixty-seven (34.5%) of the respondents received at least one antenatal care visit on current pregnancy. Forty-nine-point one percent of food secure and 23.3% of food insecure household women utilized ANC from health professionals. Factors associated with antenatal care utilization included being from a food secure household (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]= 2.54; 95%CI: 1.79-3.59), having attained secondary or higher education (aOR=3.76; 95%CI: 2.32-6.1), good level of knowledge of antenatal care (aOR= 2.42; 95%CI 1.34-4.33) and being from a wealthy household (aOR=2.10; 95% CI: 1.34-3.28). Conclusion: this study showed a significant variation in the use of ANC in food secure and food insecure household pregnant women. Interventions to improve ANC utilization should prioritize women from poor socio-economic and low educational background.