ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to assess diabetes self-care practice and associated factors among diabetes patients attending Felege-Hiwot Referral Hospital, Bahir Dar, Northwest Ethiopia.ResultPrevalence of desirable self-care behaviors toward Diabetes Mellitus was 28.4% (95% CI 24.0–32.7%). There were significant association between the combined treatment modality of tablet with insulin (AOR: 2.72; 95% CI 1.01, 7.40), primary and secondary education level (AOR: 4.82; 95% CI 1.88, 12.35 and AOR: 3.08; 95% CI 1.26, 7.53, respectively). A considerable number of the patients had poor self-care practice, especially lack of social support and treatment modality, which have critical roles in controlling diabetes. Therefore, attention should be given to improve self-care practice.

Background: Birth asphyxia leads to about 4 million neonatal deaths every year around the globe. But, the pooled prevalence of asphyxia was not yet collated in East and Central African countries. Hence, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine the pooled prevalence of perinatal asphyxia in Central and East Africa.

IntroductionKhat is a well-known natural stimulant and is widely used in Ethiopia, particularly in Bahir Dar city. Khat chewing is linked with risky sexual behaviors.ObjectiveThe study was aimed to determine the prevalence of chewing khat and its relation with risky sexual behaviors among residents of Bahir Dar City administration, Northwest Ethiopia.MethodsA community based cross-sectional study was conducted from January to February, 2016. The data were collected using an interviewer administered structured questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was applied to assess association between dependent and explanatory variables.ResultsThe proportion of lifetime and current chewing khat among the study participants were 25.7 and 19.5%, respectively. Males (AOR 5.0; 95% CI 3.0–8.2) than females, merchants (AOR 4.9; 95% CI 2.6–9.3) than government employees, and those with average monthly income of ≥ 3001 Ethiopian birr (AOR 2.4; 95% CI 1.2–4.8) than ≤ 1000 had an increased current chewing khat prevalence. Having lifetime history of chewing khat was significantly associated with ever had sexual intercourse, having extra sexual partners, watching pornographic film and self-reported sexually transmitted infections.ConclusionChewing khat is associated with increment of having risky sexual behaviors and self-reported sexually transmitted infections. Harm reduction measures are needed to prevent the community from engaging in khat use and risky sexual behaviors.

The contemporaneous effect of natural and anthropogenic factors involved in a watershed contribution to the seasonal and spatial variation of diatom community composition is widely discussed in the scientific literature. Yet, there is a paucity of scientific evidence indicating the effect of these factors on diatoms in tropical African regions characterized by distinct dry and wet seasons and season associated human activities like rainfed agriculture are commonly practiced. We applied multivariate techniques to determine the spatio-temporal drivers of diatom assemblage and diatom species richness in human influenced rivers and streams in Ethiopia. We simultaneously collected water and diatom samples from 24 sampling points during the wet (July) and dry (February) seasons. Both water and diatom samples were processed following standard procedures. We identified 169 species belonging to 45 genera in the studied lotic systems. We found that both season and land use factors were important in defining diatom composition (PERMANOVA, p<0.05) and species richness (ANOVA, p<0.05) patterns. Diatom community composition was driven by conductivity, dissolved oxygen, pH, and turbidity parameters (Monte Carlo permutation test, p<0.05). Besides, diatom species richness was driven by dissolved oxygen, soluble reactive phosphorus, and turbidity (GLMM, p<0.05). The study highlighted physicochemical parameters influenced by seasonal variation and human activity determined the composition of diatoms. This implies that the unique feature of heavy rain during the rainy season in the region followed by extensive flooding aggravated by the steep slope from the highlands to the lowlands plays a major role in shaping the diatom autecology in the region. Therefore, in applying biomonitoring in such regions considering the effect of runoff and dilution is imperative.

Difficulty in adhering to the recommended diet is a common problem in individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM). Dietary non-adherence among diabetic individuals leads to diabetes related complication and death. As far as our search established, there is a scarcity of scientific evidence of dietary non-adherence of individuals with diabetes to the recommended diet in Ethiopia, specifically in the Northwest part of the country. Hence, this study aims to assess the dietary non-adherence and associated factors among individuals with diabetes at Felege-Hiwot Referral Hospital, Bahir Dar city, Northwest Ethiopia. An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 385 systematically selected individuals with diabetes following their treatment from March to April 2017. Quantitative data were collected using a pre-tested and structured questionnaire. The dependent variable association with explanatory variables was determined using logistic regression. Statistical significance was considered at p-value <0.05 with 95% CI. The overall proportion of dietary non-adherence among participants was 46.8% (95% CI: 41.1–52.0). Living rurally (AOR = 3. 75; 95% CI: 2.12–6.63), duration of diabetes less than 5 years (AOR = 2. 81; 95% CI: 1.22–6.50), did not receive nutritional education (AOR = 5. 88; 95% CI: 3.30–10.48), poor social support (AOR = 3. 84; 95% CI: 1.74–8.46) and did not make choices when eating out (AOR = 3. 49; 95% CI: 2.09–5.81) were significantly associated with dietary non-adherence. Nearly half of the individuals with diabetes involved in this study did not adhere to the recommended diet. This problem could be addressed through the provision of nutritional education and strengthening social support to adhere to diabetes dietary recommendations. Therefore, health professional and nutritional educators should take appropriate action to increase the proportion of dietary adherence of individuals with diabetes.