Background: The healthcare needs of under-fives and infants create major public health and development challenges in Ghana. Though some level of progress has been achieved in the area, there still exist several challenges to be addressed with regard to the survival and development of these vulnerable age groups. One module used in this domain is to monitor, assess, and evaluate the healthcare needs of infants and under-fives in healthcare facilities. Although the literature has dealt greatly with child healthcare in Ghana very little has been done in the area of modelling and forecasting the prevalence of infant and under-five outpatients’ healthcare needs across hospitals in the country. Purpose: This study was conducted to assess, model, and probably predict the outpatient performance variable for infants and under-fives in the University of Cape Coast Hospital. Methodology: Quantitative methods and a longitudinal research design were used in this study. Monthly data of infant and under-five outpatients covering January 2012 through December 2021 was sourced from the District Health Information Management System (DHIMS II) constituting a total sample size of 120 observations. The classical Box-Jenkins method of applied univariate statistical modelling was used to analyze the data. Findings: This unbiased study revealed in its findings 100 competitive models for the data. A seasonal autoregressive moving average model SARIMA (2, 0, 3)(1, 0, 1)12 emerged as the best fitting model for the data with the lowest AIC value. The Ljung-Box Q-test for serial correlation indicated p-values > 0.05 meaning that the model exhibited white noise in its residuals. The findings revealed seasonality but no trend with seasonal peaks in March, July, and November every year. Unique contribution to theory and practice: A seasonal autoregressive moving average model SARIMA (2, 0, 3)(1, 0, 1)12 emerged as the best fitting model predicting under-five and infant visits to the outpatient department. This model will logistically guide the management of the hospital to prudently and effectively allocate human and material resources to the paediatric unit of the hospital. Further studies are recommended to investigate why there are seasonal peaks in the months of March, July, and November every year so that appropriate public health interventions can be applied to mitigate the situation.
Background: Access to a doctor, nurse, or a midwife during childbirth is key to the global effort to reduce maternal mortality ratios. Ghana has recorded significant improvements in maternal care over the past three decades. However, despite many policies aimed at improving health care for pregnant women such as the free maternal care policy, many Ghanaian women still deliver without a skilled birth attendant present. This systematic review, therefore, sought to identify the various factors affecting utilisation of skilled birth attendance in Ghana. Methods: PubMed Central, African Journals Online (AJOL), CINAHL Plus with Full Text (EBSCO), and Science Direct were searched for studies from January 2010 to December 2020. A broad range of search terms was used. Studies included had diverse designs, were conducted among Ghanaian pregnant women, and had skilled delivery as an outcome of interest. The quality of studies was assessed. Due to the diversity of types of studies included in this systematic review (including qualitative, descriptive, and evaluative studies that ranged from simple bivariate analyses to complex multivariate modelling), a meta-analysis was neither possible nor appropriate. We, therefore, conducted a narrative synthesis of the search findings. Results: Twenty-four (24) studies met our inclusion criteria for this review. Included studies comprised sixteen (16) cross-sectional studies and eight (8) qualitative studies. The sample size of the included studies cumulatively was 86,998 participants. The emerging themes were: health system factors (10); maternal and family factors (5); and sociodemographic factors (9). Conclusion: In general, health system factors; maternal and family factors; and sociodemographic factors were found to influence skilled delivery services in Ghana. Therefore, in order to ensure that there is a skilled birth attendant present at every birth, efforts should aim at addressing social and cultural factors which have been identified as key determinants to utilisation of skilled delivery in Ghana.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.