Maternal malnutrition is a worldwide public health problem affecting a high proportion of pregnant women. This study aimed to determine the magnitude and determinants of malnutrition among pregnant women in eastern Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 1731 pregnant women selected by a cluster random sampling method. Data on maternal anthropometry and other factors were gathered by trained data collectors. Mid-upper arm circumference < 22 cm defined malnutrition. Mixed-effect, multilevel logistic regression was used to control clustering effect. On average, 19.06% of subjects were malnourished, while 23.3% study participants were underweight (body mass index < 19.8 kg m(-2)). In the final adjusted analysis, the risk of malnutrition was more than twofold higher in pregnant women with low (adjusted odds ratio = 2.47, 95% confidence interval = 1.41-4.34) and medium (adjusted odds ratio = 2.74, 95% confidence interval = 1.40-5.35) autonomy of household decision-making than those who had high level of autonomy in household decision-making. Husband illiteracy and not owning livestock were associated with increased risk of malnutrition. Women in the second and third trimester had a 66% and nearly twofold increased risk of malnutrition compared with their counterparts in the first trimester, respectively. Women who improved their eating habits had a 53% lower risk of malnutrition than those who did not. The risk of malnutrition was 39% lower in respondents who received prenatal dietary advice than in those who did not. Malnutrition affects at least one of every five pregnant women studied, calling for priority attention. Interventions that improve maternal involvement in household decision-making autonomy and provision of prenatal dietary advice are recommended.

BackgroundAnemia affects a high proportion of pregnant women in the developing countries. Factors associated with it vary in context. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and predictors of anemia among pregnant women in the rural eastern Ethiopia.MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study was done on 1678 pregnant women who were selected by a cluster random sampling technique. A pregnant woman was identified as anemic if her hemoglobin concentration was <11 g/dl. Data were collected in a community-based setting. Multilevel mixed effect logistic regression was used to determine the adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the predictors of anemia.ResultsAnemia was observed among 737(43.9%) of the 1678 pregnant women studied (95% CI 41.5%–46.3%). After controlling for the confounders, the risk of anemia was 29% higher in the women who chewed khat daily than those who sometimes or never did so (AOR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.02–1.62). The study subjects with restrictive dietary behavior (reduced either meal size or frequency) had a 39% higher risk of anemia compared to those without restrictive dietary behavior (AOR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.02–1.88). The risk of anemia was increased by 68% (AOR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.15–2.47), and 60% (AOR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.08–2.37) in parity levels of 2 births and 3 births, respectively. Compared to the first trimester, the risk of anemia was higher by two-fold (AOR, 2.09; 95% CI, 1.46–3.00) in the second trimester and by four-fold (AOR, 4.23; 95% CI, 2.97–6.02) in the third trimester.ConclusionIn this study, two out of five women were anemic. Chewing khat and restrictive dietary habits that are associated with anemia in the setting should be addressed through public education programs. Interventions should also focus on the women at higher parity levels and those who are in advanced stages of pregnancy.

PurposeThe aim of this study was to determine the bacterial profile of urinary tract infection (UTI) and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern among pregnant women attending at antenatal clinic in Dil Chora Referral Hospital, Dire Dawa, Eastern Ethiopia.Patients and methodsAn institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted from February 18, 2015 to March 25, 2015. Clean-catch midstream urine specimens were collected from 186 pregnant women using sterile containers. Then, culture and antimicrobial susceptibility tests were performed by standard disk diffusion method. Patient information was obtained using pretested structured questionnaire. Data were entered and cleaned using EpiData Version 3 and then exported to Statistical Package for Social Science (Version 16) for further analysis.ResultsThe prevalence of significant bacteriuria was 14%. Gram-negative bacteria were more prevalent (73%). Escherichia coli (34.6%), coagulase-negative staphylococci (19.2%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (15.4%), and Klebsiella spp. (11.5%) were common bacterial isolates, where most of them were resistant against ampicillin, amoxicillin, tetracycline, trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole, and chloramphenicol. Multidrug resistance (resistance in ≥2 drugs) was seen in 100% of the isolated bacteria. A majority of the bacterial isolates were sensitive to ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, erythromycin, and gentamicin.ConclusionThis study found a number of bacterial isolates with very high resistance to the commonly prescribed drugs from pregnant women with and without symptoms of UTI. Therefore, the early routine detection of causative agents of UTI and determining their drug susceptibility pattern are important for pregnant women to avoid complications in mother and fetus. Ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, gentamicin, and erythromycin can be used with great care for the empirical treatment of UTI.

Background. Malaria remains a major cause of mortality and morbidity in the world, and particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Objectives. The aim of this study was to determine ownership and utilization of ITNs among households with children under five in the previous night. Methods. A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in Gursum district in Eastern Ethiopia. A total of 335 households were surveyed using a pretested structured questionnaire administered though house-to-house interviews. Results. Household ownership for at least one mosquito net and use of nets were 62.4% (95% CI 57.2–67.6%) and 21.5% (95% CI 17.1–25.9%), respectively. Households who received or were told about ITN in the last 6 months were three times more likely to have used it than those who were not (OR 3.25; 95% CI 1.5–7.10). Households whose heads were engaged as a farmer (adjusted OR 0.137; 95% CI: 0.04–0.50) and housewife (OR 0.26; 95% CI: 0.08–0.82) were less likely to use ITN than those of other occupations. Conclusion. The findings indicate low ITN ownership and utilization among the households. Intensive health education and community mobilization effort should be employed to increase the possession and proper utilization of insecticide treated bed nets.