Introduction Health care professionals are at higher risk of developing stress-related problems during outbreaks, due to the overwhelming clinical workload, fear of contagion, and inadequate protective gears. So, in order to monitoring mental health issues and to understand the factors evidence-based interventions is important. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess perceived stress and associated factors among health care professionals working in the context of COVID-19, Southern Ethiopia. Methods Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted among 798 health care professionals from the 1st May to 1st June 2020. The study participants were selected using simple random sampling technique after allocating a proportion to each health institute based on the size of health care professionals. A pre-tested and structured interviewer-administered questionnaire using KOBO collect survey tool was used to collect data. A total score of >20 points was considered as the cut off for experiencing perceived stress based on perceived stress scale. Both bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis were performed to identify associated factors. The level of statistical significance was set at a p-value of less than 0.05 in multivariable logistic regression. Result Nearly two-thirds 61.8% (95% CI: 58.4%, 65.2%) of HCPs had perceived stress. Not having COVID-19 updated information (AOR = 2.41, 95% CI: 1.31, 4.43), not at all confident on coping with stress (AOR = 9.94, 95% CI:3.74, 26.41), somewhat confident in coping with stress (AOR = 4.69, 95% CI:2.81, 7.84), moderately confident on coping with stress (AOR = 2.36, 95% CI: 1.46, 3.82), and not getting along well with people (AOR = 4.88, 95% CI: 1.42, 16.72) were positively association with perceived stress. However, feeling overwhelmed by the demand of everyday life (AOR = 0.52 95% CI: 0.35, 0.77) and worrying about what other people think about them (AOR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.24, 0.81) were negatively associated with perceived stress. Conclusion COVID-19 update, confidence in coping with stress, getting along with people, worrying about what other people think about them, and feeling overwhelmed by the demand of everyday life were factors significantly associated with perceived stress. The provision of COVID-19 update to HCPs along with wider strategies to support their psychological wellbeing is vital.

Introduction: In Ethiopia, only one in ten reproductive-age women use long-acting reversible contraceptives. Evidence on the utilization of these methods and associated factors among sexually active reproductive-age women in the pastoral area of Northeast Ethiopia is limited. Thus, this study aimed to assess the utilization of long-acting reversible contraceptives and associated factors among sexually active reproductive-age women in the pastoral community of Northeast Ethiopia. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 1 to 30 April 2021 among 572 reproductive-age women selected by a systematic random sampling method. Data were collected using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire and entered into Epi-info version 7 and then finally exported to Stata version 16 for further analysis. Bivariable and multivariable binary logistic regression analyses were done to identify factors affecting the utilization of long-acting reversible contraceptives. Odds ratio with the corresponding 95% confidence interval were computed and the statistical significance of the explanatory variables was declared at p-value < 0.05. Results: Overall, the utilization of long-acting reversible contraceptives was (24.3%; 95% confidence interval = 20.9%–28.0%). It was also revealed that being Orthodox (adjusted odds ratio = 4.10; 95% confidence interval = 2.20–7.65) and Protestant (adjusted odds ratio = 7.86; 95% confidence interval = 1.26–18.97) religion followers, attending higher education (adjusted odds ratio = 3.31; 95% confidence interval = 1.37–7.98), and having a husband who attended higher education (adjusted odds ratio = 4.37; 95% confidence interval = 1.98–9.67) were associated with an increased odds of using long-acting reversible contraceptive methods. Besides, having a good (adjusted odds ratio = 6.69; 95% confidence interval = 2.64–16.95) and moderate (adjusted odds ratio = 3.03; 95% confidence interval = 1.06–8.56) knowledge, and positive attitude (adjusted odds ratio = 3.65; 95% confidence interval = 1.90–7.01) toward long-acting reversible contraceptives were also associated with the utilization of these methods. Conclusion: Less than one-fourth of sexually active reproductive-age women in the study area were using long-acting reversible contraceptives. Thus, improving women’s and husbands’ education and women’s knowledge and attitude toward long-acting reversible contraceptives is important to scale up the uptake of these contraceptive methods.

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Background The placenta and umbilical cord have been considered as significant contributors to the perinatal outcome and have contributed to some degree to neonatal mortality. The placenta has a very crucial role in normal fetal development. After about four weeks of gestation, the only link of the fetus to the placenta is the umbilical cord. Very little is known about placental and umbilical indices in Ethiopia. This study was aimed to determine placental and umbilical cord indices and their association with fetal distress in Hadiya zone public hospitals, southern Ethiopia. Methods This study included 249 placentae with the attached umbilical cord from normal singleton live birth with known gestational age. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression was used, and variables with p < 0.25 in the bivariable analysis were entered into a multivariable logistic regression to identify the independent factors for the outcome variable. Odds ratios with 95% confidence were computed, and statistical significance was declared at p-value <0.05. Results Three-fourth (75.9%) of diameter of studied placenta was in normal range and 18.1%, 6.0% below and above normal range, respectively. About one-third (32.9%) of umbilical cords were short, 61.8% normal, and 5.2% long. Newborns with thin placenta [AOR = 3.43; 95% CI: 1.25, 9.40], short cord length [AOR = 3.43; 95% CI: 1.66, 7.09] and long cord length [AOR = 7.55; 95% CI: 2.07, 27.53] were significantly associated with fetal distress. Conclusion In this study, deviation of umbilical cord length from the normal range and placental thickness were significantly associated with fetal distress. In addition, fetal distress was also associated with gestation age and sex of the newborn.

Background: Measuring portal vein diameter (PVD) is a feasible method of detecting portal vein hypertension, which is a primary and fatal complication of chronic liver disease (CLD) and is usually diagnosed very late. However, there is a paucity of morphometric information on portal vein diameter in the Ethiopian population. Hence, it is important to determine the portal vein diameter among adults with and without chronic liver disease. Purpose: The study aimed to identify how PVD is affected by age, sex, and anthropometric measurements in patients with and without CLD. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 220 participants (110 CLD patients and 110 controls) who have visited the radiology unit at selected Hospitals. Patients with CLD were selected consecutively as they present while controls were selected by a systematic sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Correlation and independent t-test were used to assess the relations. A statistically significant association was declared at P-value <0.05. Results: Mean portal vein diameter for CLD patients was 17.03±1.97 mm with a range of 12.8−20.8mm and 10.79±1.27mm with a range of 7.70-13.25mm for the control group. Age, weight, and body mass index had a positive correlation with portal vein diameter in both groups. The mean portal vein diameter increased by 21.34% during deep inspiration in the control group. Conclusion:The mean portal vein diameter among patients with CLD was higher than that of the control group. A significant gender-based difference was recorded in the portal vein diameter of the control group only. Ultrasonography is a non-invasive, readily available diagnostic tool for portal vein pathology. Recommendation: It is recommended for clinicians to take into consideration age, sex and anthropometric measurements while measuring PVD.