IntroductionGlobally, overweight and obesity were estimated to cause 3.4 million deaths, 3.9% of years of life lost and 3.8% of disability-adjusted life years in 2010. Despite the fact that obesity and overweight is a problem of high-income countries, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), in particular urban settings of sub-Saharan African countries, face the challenge of an increasing trend. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis will be to determine the prevalence of obesity and overweight individuals in sub-Saharan Africa and to help guide policy planners in the decision-making process for the increase in non-communicable diseases in Africa.Methods and analysesA comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies on the prevalence of obesity and overweight in sub-Saharan Africa will be conducted. A computerised internet search using Medline/PubMed, Google Scholar and EMBASE databases and reference lists of previous prevalence studies and detailed search strategy and cross-checking of reference lists of published peer-reviewed articles will be conducted to identify all epidemiological and/or clinical studies published in English and French. We will use the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) statement for reporting. The overall effect (pooled estimated effect size) of the prevalence of obesity and overweight will be analysed using the Der Simonian–Laird random effects meta-analysis (random effects model) and the obesity proportion (with 95% CI) will be measured.Ethics and disseminationThe underlying work is based on systematic reviews of published data and thus doed not require ethical review approval. The findings of the systematic review will be disseminated in different conferences and seminars and will be published in a reputable and refereed international peer-reviewed journal.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42017064942.

Predecessor research suggests that anything from 37% to 53% of hospitalized service users are readmitted within 12 months of discharge. This cycle of frequent admissions represents a serious challenge to clinicians and service users alike. Critically, much of the research in this field has relied exclusively on professional attributions for readmission with little acknowledgement of service user or patient viewpoints. This paper reports on a phenomenological study which used multiple data collection approaches to explore service user and clinician attributions for frequent hospitalization to an identified psychiatric unit over a 24-month index period. Methods included a retrospective review of multi-professional case notes, clinician and service user semi-structured interviews, and focus groups. Service users cited 'situational circumstances', rather than medically accepted relapse indicators such as 'non-adherence with prescribed medication' as the main reasons for readmission. Notable disagreement existed between clinician and service user data sources. Hospitalization is a complex, individually determined experience. Clinicians and service users have differing perspectives on the causal risk factors and this presents complications for those developing relapse prevention strategies. However, a shared appreciation of the multiple realities paves the way for the development of a conceptual risk-factor identification model which may serve as a guide to practitioners in relapse prevention.

BackgroundUnwanted teenage pregnancies have a notable detrimental impact on the learners’ trajectory and have been associated with jeopardising the students’ educational progress and future career prospects. These pregnancies are mostly unplanned and unintended and many are terminated, either legally or illegally.AimThe aim of this study was to explore the contributory role played by the knowledge, attitude and practices of female college students with respect to the utilisation of emergency contraceptives.SettingThree tertiary institutions in Dessie, Ethiopia.MethodsQuantitative self-administered questionnaires were used to collect descriptive data from 352 female college students.ResultsThe study revealed that there was a high percentage (78.3%) of unwanted pregnancies amongst those engaging in sex. Significantly, nearly half (43.3%) of these unwanted pregnancies resulted in abortion. Only 10% of the students sampled admitted to ever having used emergency contraception. Even though more than half (69.9%) of the students knew about emergency contraception, only 27% of them felt confident that they understood when it was most effective.ConclusionThese and other observed findings confirm the need for improvement of female college students’ knowledge and timely utilisation of emergency contraception.

The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) can be traumatic, not only for patients, but also their closest relatives, especially spouses. Within Botswana, a developing country with very few ICUs and not so sophisticated machinery or a generalised lack of counselling for relatives, the ICU experience can be more traumatic. This study reports on the proportion of spouses who continued to experience mental distress, including the incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder, at six months after the discharge of their spouse from an intensive care unit. Mixed data collected approaches were used on a convenience sample of 28 spouses of patients who had been hospitalised at the Princess Marina Hospital ICU, Gaborone, Botswana, in the six months prior to the interview sessions. Participants were interviewed six months after the discharge of their spouse from the Intensive Care Unit using the PCL-S (PTSD Checklist). All the patients had been mechanically ventilated and had been hospitalised in the ICU for more than three days. Fifteen spouses reported intrusive memories of ICU and avoided reminders of the experience six months later. Ten spouses reported feeling anxious for a short while after their spouse's discharge but that they had come to terms with the experience. In order to mitigate the trauma experienced by spouses the study suggests that pre- and post-counselling for close relatives, especially spouses, should be implemented at the point of hospitalisation, during admission, and after discharge for a period of at least six months.

BackgroundDisclosure of one's HIV status to a sexual partner can have significant health implications. From a health promotion point of view, disclosure is seen as a cornerstone for the prevention of HIV transmission between partners. Despite its importance as a strategy for controlling the spread of HIV, there are challenges that inhibit voluntary disclosure.ObjectivesIn exploring factors associated with disclosure of HIV status, the study had two complementary objectives related to: (1) investigation of participants’ views about HIV-positive status disclosure to sexual partners; and (2) a broader identification of factors that influence disclosure of HIV-positive status.MethodThe study explored factors associated with disclosure of the HIV status of people living with HIV to their sexual partners. Purposive sampling was used to select 13 participants living with HIV who attended a wellness clinic. Primary data were collected via an in-depth interview with each of the participants.ResultsThe exploration showed that male participants were notably more reluctant to disclose to their sexual partners for fear of rejection; and secrecy was commonly reported around sexual matters. Female participants (who were in the majority) were relatively more willing to disclose their HIV status to their sexual partners. Despite the complexity of disclosure, all participants understood the importance of disclosure to their sexual partners.ConclusionThere is a need for HIV prevention strategies to focus on men in particular, so as to strengthen disclosure counselling services provided to people living with HIV and to advocate strongly for partner testing.