Background: Antenatal care is an operational public health intervention to minimize maternal and child morbidity and mortality. However, for varied reasons, many women fail to complete the recommended number of visits. The objective of this study was to assess antenatal care utilization and identify the factors associated with the incomplete antenatal care visit among reproductive age women in Ethiopia. Methods: The 2019 Ethiopian Mini Demographic and Health Survey data were used for this study. Multilevel logistic regression analysis and two level binary logistic regression models were utilized. Results: Around 56.8% of women in Ethiopia did not complete the recommended number of antenatal care visits. Women from rural areas were about 1.622 times more likely to have incomplete antenatal care compared to women from urban areas. Women who had no pregnancy complication signs were about 2.967 times more likely to have incomplete antenatal care compared to women who had pregnancy complication signs. Women who had a slight problem and a big problem with the distance from a health center were about 1.776 and 2.973 times more likely, respectively, to have incomplete antenatal care compared to women whose distance from a health center was not a problem. Furthermore, women who had ever terminated pregnancy were about 10.6% less likely to have incomplete antenatal care compared to women who had never terminated pregnancy. Conclusions: The design and strengthening of existing interventions (e.g., small clinics) should consider identified factors aimed at facilitating antenatal care visits to promote maternal and child health related outcomes. Issues related to urban–rural disparities and noted hotspot areas for incomplete antenatal care visits should be given special attention.

(1) Background: Tuberculosis is a bacterial disease mainly caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is one of the major public health problems in the world and now ranks alongside human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as the leading infectious cause of death. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential risk factors affecting the time to death of TB patients in southwest Ethiopia using parametric shared frailty models. (2) Methods: A retrospective study design was used to collect monthly records of TB patients in three selected hospitals in southwest Ethiopia. The data used in the study were obtained from patients who took part in the directly observed treatment, short-course (DOTS) program from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2019. The survival probability was analyzed by the Kaplan–Meier method. Log-rank tests and parametric shared frailty models were applied to investigate factors associated with death during TB treatment. (3) Results: Out of the total sample of 604 registered TB patients, 46 (7.6%) died during the study period and 558 (92.4%) were censored. It was found that the median time of death for TB patients was 5 months. Hospitals were used to assess the cluster effect of the frailty model. A Gamma shared frailty model with Weibull distribution for baseline hazard function was selected among all models considered and was used for this study. It was found that the covariates, age, initial weight, extrapulmonary type of TB patient, patient category, and HIV status of TB patient were significant risk factors associated with death status among TB patients. (4) Conclusions: The risk of death was high, especially with cases of HIV co-infected, retreated, and returned-after-treatment categories of TB patients. During the treatment period, the risk of death was high for older TB patients and patients with low baseline body weight measurements. Therefore, health professionals should focus on the identified factors to improve the survival time of TB patients.

Background: Pregnant women who are infected with malaria usually have more severe symptoms and negative health outcomes than women who are not pregnant, with higher rates of miscarriage, intrauterine demise, premature delivery, low-birth-weight neonates, and neonatal death. Based on evidence from the 2016 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey, this study assessed the variation in insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) usage and its associated factors among pregnant women in Ethiopia. Methods: Data from a total of 1122 women who were pregnant at the time of the survey were included in the final analysis. Bivariate and multilevel analyses were conducted. Multilevel modeling with fixed and random coefficients was used to estimate the variation in pregnant women’s ITNs usage across communities (residence areas) and regions of Ethiopia. Results: Out of the total 1122 pregnant women, 58.37% slept under a net and 41.63% did not sleep under nets. Significant variations were observed in pregnant women’s ITNs usage across communities (residence areas) and regions of Ethiopia, with between variations in pregnant women’s ITNs usage across communities (residence areas) and regions. In addition, the region, place of residence, wealth index, educational level, and age of the women as well as whether they believed that mosquito bites cause malaria were significant factors in pregnant women’s usage of ITNs. Pregnant women in Ethiopia had moderate usage of ITNs with varied risk factors at the individual, community, and regional levels. Conclusion: Based on the factors identified, there is a need to implement and/or strengthen programs (e.g., regular sensitization) that intensify high coverage of ITNs for effective malaria prevention in Ethiopia, especially among pregnant women who do not use ITNs.

Objectives: The main objectives of this article were to answer (1) what is the trend of under-5 mortality from 2000 to 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey? (2) What are the correlates that contribute to under-5 mortality in Ethiopia? Methods: The data used in this study were obtained from 2000, 2005, 2011, and 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey data. We used multivariable three-level logistic regression model to predict under-5 mortality, with sex of a child, preceding birth interval, birth order, place of delivery, weight of child at birth, and plurality as first-level variables; mother’s education level, wealth index, mother’s age at first birth, and sex of household head as second-level variables; and residence and survey time as third-level variables. Results: The under-5 mortality declined from 166 deaths per 1000 live birth in 2000 to 67 deaths per 1000 live births in 2016. The odds of under-5 mortality among children with rural residence were 2.81 times greater than among children with urban residence. Moreover, the odds of under-5 mortality were higher among mothers who gave birth with preceding birth intervals of less than 24 months. A child whose preceding birth interval was less than 24 months had a 0.235, 0.174, 0.143, and 0.107 predicted probability of dying in the years 2000, 2005, 2011, and 2016, respectively. Conclusion: Child mortality varied across time in Ethiopia. Understanding both the time-varying nature of the correlates and changes in the type of their associations can help to explain some of the decreases in child mortality rates. Direction and/or presence of a relationship between these correlates and child mortality significantly interacted with time. Therefore, to mitigate the burden of under-5 mortality, the concerned body should provide awareness to the community.

BACKGROUND:Multiple sexual partnerships were one of the public health issues in the spread of high rates of sexually transmitted infections in sub-Saharan regions. An increase in the number of non-marital sexual partners can lead to a loss of satisfaction as well as other mental health repercussions such as greater rates of anxiety, depression, etc. This study examined the predictors of multiple sexual partners among men in Ethiopia.METHODS: This study used 2016 nationally representative data which was conducted using a multistage stratified cluster sampling method. Multilevel binary logistic regression models were employed to estimate the predictors of multiple sexual partners among men in Ethiopia with the assistance of the STATA software.RESULTS: In this study 6778 participants were considered with an overall prevalence rate of multiple sexual partners of 6.5% during the 12 months preceding the survey. The findings showed that older-age, urban-resident, inconsistent use of a condom, exposure to any media, abuse of alcohol, early-time first-sex, and religion were predictors of multiple sexual partners among men in Ethiopia.CONCLUSIONS: The findings revealed that the prevalence rate of men's multiple sexual partners in Ethiopia was very high. Therefore, the country needs to re-examine the behavioral change strategies periodically to adapt to the contextual realities and engage relevant stakeholders. Specifically, health sectors and religious organizations should develop strategies to create awareness in society on the risk of having multiple sexual partnerships. In addition, we highly recommend stakeholders prepare risk reduction interventions that take the significant predictors of multiple sexual partners.

This study examined the acceptability of the COVID-19 vaccines and measured adherence to non-pharmaceutical interventions among employees in public transportations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In a public transportation company-based cross-sectional study, a self-administered questionnaire or a structured face-to-face interview was used to obtain information about willingness to get vaccinated, adherence to recommended non-pharmaceutical interventions, and source and quality of information about COVID-19 vaccines. Overall, 23.8% of 412 responding employees were willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. A majority (75.2%) never used facemasks, had poor knowledge about COVID-19 vaccines (82.3%), and had the opinion not to be susceptible to COVID-19 (81.1%). Better education increased the odds of being willing to get vaccinated (OR = 3.28, CI: (1.24–8.63)), male sex (OR = 2.45 (1.08–5.58)), history of chronic disease (OR = 3.01 (1.38–6.56)), watching TV for information on COVID-19 (OR = 14.79 (2.53–86.62)) or considering COVID-19, a severe disease (OR = 9.12 (3.89–21.35)). In addition, the opinion that vaccination can prevent COVID-19, trust in the vaccines, and assuming COVID-19 has an impact at the workplace increased the odds to accept vaccination significantly. In contrast, poor knowledge about the COVID-19 vaccines reduced accepting vaccination significantly (OR = 0.20 (0.09–0.44)). Acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines among public transportations workers in Addis Ababa is very low, which may be due to insufficient knowledge about the vaccines, cultural factors, religious beliefs, and a lack of or distorted information about the disease. Therefore, stakeholders should provide credible and tailored information to transportation workers on the severity and impact of COVID-19 and inform them about the effectiveness of the vaccines.

Background: Among the cancers, next to cervical cancer, in Ethiopia, breast cancer is the second common cancer health problem for women. This article aimed to identify the potential risk factors affecting of time-to-first-recurrence of breast cancer patients in southwest Ethiopia: Jimma Medical Center, Bedelle hospital, Mizan-Aman hospital, and Mettu hospital and Karl hospital. Methods: The data were taken from the patient’s medical record that registered from January 2012 to January 2019. The study considered a sample size of 642 breast cancer patients. Different non-parametric and parametric shared frailty survival models employed. Results: Out of 642 breast cancer patients, about 447 (69.6 %) recovered/cured of the disease. The median cure time from breast cancer found 13 months. The lognormal parametric shared frailty survival model predicted that treatment, stage of breast cancer, smoking habit, and marital status significantly affects the time to the first recurrence of breast cancer. Conclusion: Treatment, stages of breast cancer, and marital status were improved while smoking habits worsen the time to first cure of breast cancer. To mitigate breast cancer diseases awareness should be given for the community on identified factors

Background: Breast cancer is one of the non-communicable diseases and the main origin of the loss of life in the world. In Ethiopia, breast cancer is the second common cancer health problem for women. The main objective of this study was to identify the potential risk factors affecting the survival time of breast cancer patients in Southwest Ethiopia. Study design: A retrospective study design. Methods: The data were taken from the patients’ medical records that registered from January 1, 2015, to January 31, 2020. A retrospective study design was used in this study. Different shared frailty survival models were employed to analyze the dataset. Results: Out of 642 recorded breast cancer patients, 447(69.6%) cases died during the study period, and 195 (30.4%) patients lost follow-up for unknown reasons. The median time to death for breast cancer patients was 10 months, and hospitals were used as a cluster effect. The result revealed that women with no smoking habit had about 3.35 times higher survival time than patients who had a smoking habit, and as breast cancer patients age increased, the survival time decreased by 0.99. Moreover, breast cancer patients in rural areas had about 0.14 times lower survival time, compared to breast cancer patients who were urban residents. Conclusions: Age, place of residence, treatment taken, stage, histologic grade, tumor size, oral contraceptives, and smoking habits led to a shorter survival time. To reduce the burden of breast cancer, awareness should be given to the community.