The study was conducted to report on the scope and prevalence of occupational health related-problems experienced by dentists, dental therapists, and oral hygienists in their practice of dentistry. Background: Professional practice and dental training have many risk factors, and the dental team should be able to recognize these factors to protect themselves. The prevalence of conditions related to the musculoskeletal system, stress, percutaneous injuries, ears, and eyes are of concern. The dental team should also not forget hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV as risks in practice. Dental practitioners should protect themselves by self-recognizing risk factors and by maintaining proper working conditions. Methods: The study targeted all empirical research, case studies, and systematic literature reviews written in English. All articles selected were subjected to a data analysis process. Data were captured on an Excel spreadsheet and reported in a comprehensive table. Results: The literature addressing occupational health among dental practitioners included mainly cross-sectional studies and review papers (2001-2016). Forty-nine studies were included in the review. Musculoskeletal disorders remain the most researched occupational health-related problems in dentistry. Eye protection compliance was low among practitioners. Percutaneous injuries especially among young dentists and students were still a concern. Conclusion: Occupational health-related problems are still prevalent in current dentistry practice, despite changes in equipment and surgery design. The reported prevalence of occupational related-health problems and other findings of investigative studies highlight the need for continuous professional education and a need to improve clinical practice aspects of dentistry curricula.

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Limited infection control practices exist in clinics in a high TB burden setting in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. These practices need to be implemented more widely to minimise the spread of TB to non-infected patients and health care workers in primary health clinics.

Objectives Unregulated use of pesticides continues in developing countries in the presence of illiteracy and limited safety training and practices. This paper describes training and safety practices when mixing and spraying pesticides, and acetylcholinesterase levels among women farmers in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Methods A cross-sectional study conducted in women working in small-scale agriculture in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa in 2006 assessed pesticide training and safety practices using a questionnaire survey and measured acetylcholinesterase levels in 803 women. Three components of safety behaviour were identified through principle component analysis and described. Results The mean age of participants was 41.8 years (range 18e82 years) with a mean of 6.9 years (range 1e12 years) of education among school attendees. Among the 803 women included, 366 (45.6%) were the primary sprayers on their farm. Only 16.4% of the sprayers had ever attended a pesticide training course and only 18.0% reported ever reading pesticide labels. Of the women using some form of protective equipment, 56.7% and 54.9% reported doing so when mixing and spraying pesticides, respectively. The mean acetylcholinesterase level corrected for haemoglobin among study participants was 28.9 U/g Hb (95% CI 28.4 to 29.4). Conclusion Women working in small-scale agriculture in rural KwaZulu-Natal with limited access to pesticide training observe few safety practices when mixing and spraying pesticides.

Background Adolescent childbearing has numerous consequences on maternal health, child health and the well-being of society. Because of the high-risk nature of adolescent pregnancy, a multidisciplinary team (MDT) approach is recommended to achieve satisfactory pregnancy outcomes. Aim The aim of this study was to explore nurses’ perceptions of the MDT approach in the continuum of care for adolescent mothers and their children. Setting The study was conducted in a local district hospital in Ugu, KwaZulu-Natal. Methods An explorative and descriptive qualitative study design was used. The first author and hospital staff (clinical midwives and the clinical manager of obstetrics and gynaecology) collaborated on the development of the focus group discussion (FGD) guide to explore nurses’ perception of the MDT approach of care for adolescent mothers and their children. A total of three FGDs were conducted. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results Six overarching themes emerged from the data analysis which included professional benefits of adopting the MDT approach of care for adolescent mothers and their children, barriers to the multidisciplinary collaboration, clinical benefits of adopting the MDT approach of care for parenting adolescent mothers, problems and needs of adolescent mothers, and nurses’ reasons regarding their willingness to participate in a multidisciplinary collaboration in the care of parenting adolescent mothers. Conclusion In the opinion of nurses, the MDT approach of care for adolescent mothers and their children is an important strategy to improve maternal and child health outcomes. This study has important implications for the design of an intervention.

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BackgroundAdolescent repeat pregnancy is of importance in public health because the birth of a second child to an adolescent mother compounds the adverse medical, educational, socio-economic and parenting outcomes. Repeat pregnancy in adolescence is not only an international phenomenon but also a local concern as it also occurs in South Africa. The prevalence of adolescent repeat pregnancy in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, was reported as 17.6% in 2013.AimThis review aimed to gather relevant information from national and international sources to inform practice and to provide an understanding of what is known about the risk factors of and the interventions for adolescent repeat pregnancy.MethodsA scoping review was undertaken using the Arksey and O’Malley framework. An electronic search was conducted using PubMed, Medline, Science Direct, Ebscohost, Sage and Wiley Online and Google Scholar.ResultsThe search identified 3032 citations. After a review of the full text articles, 26 articles met the inclusion criteria. Risk factors pertaining to adolescent repeat pregnancy are categorised according to individual factors, partner relationship factors, family factors, peer factors, and social and community factors. Interventions to reduce adolescent repeat pregnancy have been largely influenced by the ecological framework. Across studies, adolescent mothers who received medical, psychosocial, educational, and family planning support experienced lower rates of repeat pregnancy.ConclusionA single ‘one-size-fits-all’ intervention for adolescent repeat pregnancy prevention is unlikely as different strategies were employed by the intervention programmes in this scoping review.

Background. Maternal depression is a major public health concern as it affects both mothers and their children. Antenatal depression, which is often underdiagnosed, has been associated with preterm labour, low birth weight, and intrauterine growth restriction. Research has demonstrated that postpartum depression is associated with mother-infant bonding impairment, child abuse, child neglect, maternal substance abuse, and self-harm. Globally, the prevalence of depression in pregnant and postpartum adolescents varies. This paper reports on the findings of the prevalence of depression and its associated risk factors among pregnant and postpartum adolescents in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Methods. Data were generated by means of a descriptive cross-sectional study that was conducted between June and November 2017 utilizing a sample of 326 adolescent females accessing maternal health services in a medium-sized rural peripheral district hospital in Ugu, Southern KwaZulu-Natal. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale questionnaire was used to screen participating pregnant and postnatal adolescents for depression. A cut-off score of ≥13 was used to identify pregnant and postnatal adolescents with symptoms of depression. The data were analysed using R software. Results. The prevalence of depression among the pregnant participants was 15.9% (21/132), whereas it was 8.8% (17/194) among the postpartum participants. Antenatal depression was associated with physical violence (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 6.47, 95% CI 1.36-30.53, p=0.01) and verbal abuse (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 4.8, 95% CI 1.5-15.16, p=0.006). The pregnant participants who indicated they received a lot of support from their partners were 0.93% less likely to have depression. Postnatal depression was associated with physical violence (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 7.32, 95% CI 1.66-29.44, p=0.005), verbal abuse (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 4.3, 95% CI 1.03-15.79, p=0.03), and intimate partner violence (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 9.58, 95% CI 1.58-48.82, p=0.008). Conclusion. The prevalence of antenatal depression was higher than postpartum depression in the study sample. In light of the findings, maternal healthcare professionals are cautioned to consider the mental health of pregnant and postpartum adolescents who seek their services at health facilities.