Background Tungiasis is a relatively frequent ectoparasitosis in low-income settings, yet its morbidity and social impact are still not well understood due to the scarcity of information. In Rwanda, data on the magnitude and conditions leading to the tungiasis is rare. This study sought to determine the prevalence and factors associated with tungiasis among primary school children in Rwandan setting. Method A descriptive cross-sectional study utilising systematic random sampling method was adopted to select 384 children from three primary schools. From July to October 2018, data were collected on socio-demographic characteristics of children, parents, and households. Logistic regression was applied to analyse socio-demographic factors associated with tungiasis with a level of significance set at P -value< 0.05. Results Prevalence of tungiasis among three primary schools was 23%. Factors associated with tungiasis included walking barefoot (AOR: 78.41; 95% CI: 17.91–343.10), irregular wearing of shoes (AOR: 24.73; 95% CI: 6.27–97.41), having dirty feet (AOR: 12.69; 95% CI: 4.93–32.64), wearing dirty clothes (AOR: 12.69; 95% CI: 4.18–38.50), and living in a house with earthen plastered floor (AOR: 28.79; 95% CI: 7.11–116.57). Children infected with tungiasis attended class less frequently (AOR: 19.16, 95%CI: 7.20–50.97) and scored lower (AOR: 110.85, 95%CI: 43.08–285.20) than those non-infected. The low school attendance and poor performance could be partly explained by difficulty of walking, lack of concentration during school activities, and isolation or discrimination from classmates. Conclusion Tungiasis was a public health challenge among school going children in a rural Rwandan setting. This study revealed that children affected with tungiasis had poor hygiene, inadequate housing environments and consequently poor school attendance and performance. Improving socio-economic conditions of households with special emphasis on hygiene of family members and housing conditions, would contribute to preventing tungiasis. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-7481-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
BackgroundGlobally, interns and residents face significant challenges with respect to research activity. Despite this, they are motivated and have an interest in undertaking research. To date, there has been no research regarding the perceived attitudes towards research activities amongst Rwandan residents and interns.ObjectivesThe primary objective of this study was to describe the perceived attitudes regarding the educational benefits and barriers surrounding research activity amongst interns and residents, and to identify any differences between these groups. The secondary objective was to describe the research methods used by interns and residents in Rwanda.MethodsA cross-sectional descriptive study of interns and pediatric trainees at the University of Rwanda. An online questionnaire using Likert scale questions was sent electronically to eligible participants.ResultsA total of sixty participants (38 interns and 22 pediatric residents) responded to the survey. Both groups acknowledged the educational importance of undertaking research, with interns reporting this more than residents. Both groups identified the following as barriers to research: faculty lacking time to mentor, lack of funding, lack of statistical support, and lack of faculty experienced in conducting research. Interns (87%) were much more likely to have undertaken retrospective research than pediatric residents (14%). Few interns or residents submitted their research for publication (27%).ConclusionsBoth interns and residents understood the importance of research, but many barriers exist. Increasing the time available for experienced faculty members to supervise research is challenging due to low faculty numbers. Novel solutions will need to be found as well as expanding the time for trainees to perform research.
Introduction Research is essential in all areas of health development. However, medical students and residents frequently lack the time and training on performing research. This is especially prevalent in resource-limited settings. We aimed to compare the word counts of undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations with published projects in Rwanda, and to identify the proportion of postgraduate pediatric research projects that have been published since 2012. Methods Retrospective, cross-sectional study of undergraduate and postgraduate research dissertations at the University of Rwanda. Dissertations were then compared to randomly selected published papers of Rwandan research. Each IMRaD (Introduction, Methodology, Results and Discussion) section word count was compared using Student's t-test. Results 19/190 (10%) undergraduate dissertations and 22/41 (54%) postgraduate dissertations, were available in electronic format for word-count analysis. The mean total word count for postgraduate dissertations (5163 words) was significantly longer (p<0.001) than the randomly selected peer-reviewed journal articles (2959 words). Each section of the IMRaD structure of postgraduate dissertations was significantly longer than those of the control group. Undergraduates used a similar number of words to published papers, but used significantly more tables and figures. Of the 41 postgraduate dissertations, only four (10%), were published in peer-reviewed journals. Conclusion This is the first study to assess the writing style of Rwandan medical students and pediatric postgraduate residents. A simple step to increase dissemination of research findings would be for institutions to modify academic regulations so that students write-up in manuscript form rather than dissertation format.
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