IntroductionNutritional anemia is a major public health problem throughout the world, particularly in developing countries. Iron with folic acid supplementation (IFAS) is recommended to mitigate anemia and its resulting complications during pregnancy. There has been limited study on IFAS adherence of pregnant women in the study area. The aim of this study was to assess adherence to IFAS and its associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care service in Debre Tabor General Hospital, Ethiopia.MethodsAn institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from January 9 to April 8, 2017, at Debre Tabor General Hospital. A total of 262 study participants were included and selected by systematic random sampling. The entire interviewed questionnaire was checked and entered into EpiData version 3.1 and then exported to SPSS version 20 for windows for analysis. IFAS adherence status was defined as, if pregnant mothers took 65% or more of the IFAS which is equivalent to taking IFAS at least 4 days a week during the 1-month period preceding the study. Regressions were fitted to identify independent predictors of IFAS adherence. A P-value of less than 0.05 was used to declare statistical significance.ResultsA total of 241 pregnant women were included (92% response rate), of which 107 (44%) were adherent to IFAS. Only 39% received IFAS counseling, and 52% had some knowledge of IFAS. Gravidity (AOR = 2.92 95% CI (1.61, 5.30)), gestational age at first ANC visit (AOR = 3.67, 95% CI (1.94, 6.97)), pregnant women who got advice about IFAS (AOR = 2.04, 95%CI (1.12, 3.75)), current anemia (AOR = 2.22, 95%CI (1.45, 4.29)), and had knowledge about IFAS (AOR = 3.27, 95% CI (1.80, 5.95)) were statistically associated with adherence to IFAS among pregnant women.ConclusionOverall, IFAS adherence among pregnant women was low. The associated factors with adherence of IFAS were counseling and knowledge, early ANC attendance, pregnancy history, and current anemia diagnosis. IFAS counseling by health workers was low but, when given, was associated with improved IFAS adherence. Health workers and health extension workers should consistently counsel on IFAS benefits during ANC visit, to improve IFAS adherence during the current and subsequent pregnancies.

BackgroundAdolescent girls have a higher risk of anemia due to an increased requirement, low intake of hematopoietic nutrients and low intake of a nutrient that enhance absorption of these hematopoietic nutrients. Adolescent girls living in refugee camps are more vulnerable to anemia. The study aimed to determine the prevalence of anemia and associated factors among adolescent girls aged 10–19 years in Aw-Barre refugee camp, Somalia regional state, Southeast Ethiopia.MethodsA cross-sectional study design was employed. Study participants were recruited using a simple random sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Hemoglobin level was tested using HemoCueHb 301 from 10μl finger prick blood samples. Adolescents with a hemoglobin level of <12.5gm/dl after altitude adjustment were classified as anemic. Data were entered using Epi Info version 7.0 and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Binary logistic regression was used to explore the association of independent variables with anemia. Variables having P—value ≤ 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.ResultsFour hundred thirty-seven adolescent girls participated in the study with a response rate of 95.83%. The prevalence of anemia was 22% (95% CI (17.6, 26.1)). Late adolescents were 2 times more likely to have anemia as compared to early adolescents (AOR: 1.95, 95% CI (1.09, 3.47). Those who stayed ≥8 years in the camp were 3 times more likely to develop anemia (AOR: 2.92, 95% CI (1.14, 7.50)). Those who ate heme iron food sources less than one time per month were 11 times more likely to develop anemia compared to those who ate more than twice within a week (AOR: 11.42, 95% CI (3.42, 38.18)).ConclusionsThe prevalence of anemia among adolescent girls was a moderate public health problem. Education and awareness on adolescent nutrition with special attention of late adolescents and duration in the refugee camps is warranted. Moreover, promoting the intake of foods rich in heme iron is suggested.

Introduction Diabetes mellitus is a global public health emergency in the twenty-first century. Diabetes patients who had to adhere to good self-care recommendation can prevent the complication associated with diabetes mellitus. Self-care management of diabetes mellitus in Sub-Saharan Africa was poor including Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to assess factors influencing diabetes self-care practice among type 2 diabetes patients at Debre Tabor General Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia diabetes clinic follow up unit. Methods An institutional based cross-sectional survey was conducted on systematically sampled 405 type 2 diabetes patients at Debre Tabor General Hospital diabetes clinic from June 02/2018 to June 30/2018. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression was fitted to identify independent predictors of diabetes self-care practice. A p value of less than 0.05 was used to declare statistical significance. Results A total of 385 type 2 diabetes patients participated with a response rate of 95%, of which 243 (63.1%) study participants had good self-care practice. The mean ± SD age of the respondents and the duration of diagnosed for diabetes mellitus was 52.28 ± 12.45 and 5.09 ± 3.80 years respectively. Type 2 diabetes patients who had a glucometer at home (AOR = 7.82 CI (3.24, 18.87)), getting a diabetes education (AOR = 2.65 CI (1.44, 4.89)), and having social support (AOR = 2.72 CI (1.66, 4.47)) were statistically associated with good self-care practice. Conclusion Despite, the importance of diabetes self-care practice for the management of diabetes and preventing its complications, a significant number of type 2 diabetes patients had poor diabetes self-care practice. So, to enhance this poor practice of diabetes self-care, provision of diabetes self-care education and counseling on self-monitoring blood glucose should be promote by health care providers during their follow up.

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Dietary diversity score indicates that the intake of general nutritional adequacy. Low dietary diversity is a major problem among poor populations in the developing world due to consumption of monotonous staple diet consumption. Therefore, it has various consequences on the health and wellbeing of the family, communities, and nation at large. Overall, there are limited studies on this major issue and its contributing factors among lactating mothers.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> Institution based cross-sectional study was employed among 419 participants who were selected by using a systematic sampling method. The data were collected using a pretested structured questionnaire. The collected data were checked for completeness, cleaned, coded and entered into EPI info version 7 and exported into SPSS version 20.0 software for further analysis. The degree of association between dependent and independent variables were assessed by using odds ratio with a 95% of confidence interval and variables with p≤0.05 were considered significant after fitting into logistic regression.  </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> The average dietary diversity score±SD was 4.94±0.76. The magnitude of low dietary diversity score was 25% (95% CI: 22.1, 30.4). Women’s, being government employer and having meal 2 times per day were the factors associated with low dietary diversity score among lactating mothers.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> One-fourth of the lactating women were had poor dietary diversity and age of the women, meal frequency, and respondent occupation were the determinant factors. So, appropriate counseling during maternal care are very important to halt this problem.</p>

Background Adolescence is a critical time of life stage with a continuum of physical, cognitive, behavioral and psychosocial changes. It is also a period of physical growth, reproductive maturation and cognitive transformations with the highest nutrient requirements. Among the macronutrient deficiencies, stunting and thinness are the most common nutritional problems in many parts of the world but the highest burden is in developing countries with the highest number of adolescents and the displaced population. Overall, there is a scarcity of studies on refugee adolescent girls stunting, thinness, and contributing factors. Therefore, this study aimed to fill this identified gap. Method Cross-sectional study design was employed. A total of 423 adolescent refugee girls were selected by using simple random sampling technique. A structured & pre-tested questionnaire was used after translating into the Somali language to collect the data. The physical measurement of the height and the weight were done as per the standard. Descriptive statistics were employed. Variables were considered for multivariable logistic regression if a P -value was ≤0.2 during univariate logistic regression. The odds ratio with a 95% CI was calculated and a P-value of ≤0.05 was considered to declare the statistical significance of variables after fitting into the multivariable logistic regression. Result A total of 415 adolescent girls was included in the study with a response rate of 98.1%. The overall prevalence of stunting and thinness was 9.7% (95% CI: 7.0, 12.3), and 15.2% (95% CI: 11.8, 18.9) respectively. The older adolescent girls were 2 (AOR: 2.10, 95% CI: 1.12, 3.93) times more likely to develop stunting as compared to younger adolescents. The pre-menarcheal adolescent girls were 64% (AOR: 0.36, 95% CI: 0.12, 0.75) less likely to be thin as compared to post-menarche. Conclusion The prevalence of stunting and thinness among adolescent refugee girls was a low and moderate public health problem respectively. The stunting was significantly associated with the age and thinness was associated with the menarcheal status of the adolescent girls. So, stakeholders should enable intervention to encourage and increase the intake of calorie-dense food adapted to adolescent’s girl’s age and menarcheal status.

Background: Adolescents are among the nutritionally vulnerable group due to their nutritional demand for pubertal spurt. At this age, adequate nutrition, nutritional education, and counseling are very important to halt the consequence and its impact on this segment of the population. So, the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and its associated factors of nutritional status among high school adolescents aged 10-19 years in Debre Tabor Town, South Gondar Zone, and North central Ethiopia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from September to October 2017. A total of 349 high school adolescents were selected by using simple random sampling. Data were collected through face to face interview and physical measurement. The data were entered into Epi info version 7 software and then exported into SPSS version 20 software for further analysis. A p-value < 0.2 was used to select independent variables for multivariable logistic regression. A p-value ≤0.05 was used to declare the statistical significance. Also, odd ratios were calculated with a 95% of the confidence interval to check the existence of the association. Result: A total of 327 adolescents participated in this study with the overall response rate of 93.69%. The magnitude of stunting and thinness was 15% (

The authors have advised that there is an error with the AOR of the independent variable physical activity throughout the paper.

Introduction: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a highly contagious viral infection that has spread to every corner of the world. Lack of knowledge among healthcare providers (HCPs) about diseases such as COVID-19 may delay the diagnosis, disease spread, and produce poor infection control practices. Hence, this systematic review aimed to summarize the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of HCPs toward COVID-19 during the first months of the pandemic.Methods: A systematic review was conducted according the PRISMA guidelines, and the protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42020191742). A relevant article search was performed on EMBASE, PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, and the Google Scholar database. The methodological quality of studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. The median percentage of HCPs with good KAP was computed.Results: Twenty studies involving 12,072 HCPs were included in the review process. Median percentages of 75.8% (IQR: 69.3–87.7%), 74.6% (IQR: 54.4–74.6), and 79.8% (IQR: 67.0–79.8%) of HCPs had good knowledge, and positive attitude and practice, respectively. Although the reported risk factors were inconsistent among studies, age, gender, level of education, experience, infection prevention training, and sources of information were associated with knowledge of HCPs. In addition, being elderly, having a high level of education, absence of chronic illness, and good knowledge and practice were significantly associated with the attitude of HCPs. Further, types of profession, experience, age, level of education, use of personnel protective equipment, and gender were significantly associated with the practice of HCPs.Conclusions: Approximately, three-fourths of HCPs had good knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward COVID-19 during the first months of the pandemic, although the percentage of HCPs was inconsistent in different study settings. In addition, associated factors of KAP were inconsistent among studies; hence, stake holders should target locally identified risk factors to design relevant education packages and infection prevention training to halt the rapid transmission of COVID-19.Systematic Review Registration:https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42020191742, identifier: CRD42020191742.