Background Breast cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer in Ethiopia of all female cancers. It is considered to be a progressive disease with a poor prognosis if detected late. Breast self-examination is an important prevention method of breast cancer. This study was aimed at assessing practice and associated factors of breast self-examination (BSE) among female Debre Berhan University students in Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015 among 420 using self-administrated questionnaire. Multistage sampling technique was used to select the study participants. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were done. Results Majority of the study participants, 338 (84.5%), were between 20 and 24 years old with the mean age of 21.1 ± 1.65. Only 14 (3.5%) had family history of breast cancer. Two hundred fifty-six (64%) of the participants had heard about BSE and 30.25% had good knowledge about BSE. Mass media were the most common source of information about breast cancer. Few of the participants (28.3%) had performed BSE. Lack of knowledge on how to perform BSE was cited as the main reason for not practicing BSE. Knowing how to perform, when to perform, and position to perform BSE and having a perception that BSE is important and useful to detect breast cancer were significant predictors of practices of BSE. Conclusions This study revealed that most of the participants had low knowledge and practice of BSE. Therefore, it important to develop health educational programs in the university to raise awareness about BSE and breast cancer so as to practice self-breast examination.

Introduction Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging respiratory infections and is known to cause illness ranging from the common cold to severe acute respiratory syndrome. At present, the disease has been posing a serious threat to the communities, and it is critical to know the communities’ level of adherence on COVID-19 prevention measures. Thus, this study aimed to identify the predictors of adherence to COVID-19 prevention measure among communities in North Shoa zone, Ethiopia by using a health belief model. Methods Community-based cross-sectional study design was employed. A total of 683 respondents were interviewed using a structured and pre-tested questionnaire. The data were collected by using a mobile-based application called “Google form.” Logistic regression was performed to analyze the data. Estimates were reported in adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CI) and a significant association was declared at p-value of less than 0.05. Result The overall adherence level of the community towards the recommended safety measures of COVID-19 was 44.1%. Self-efficacy (AOR = 0.23; 95% 0.14, 0.36), perceived benefits (AOR = 0.35; 95% 0.23, 0.56), perceived barriers (AOR = 3.36; 95% 2.23, 5.10), and perceived susceptibility of COVID-19 (AOR = 1.60; 95% 1.06, 2.39) were important predictors that influenced the adherence of the community to COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Conclusions In this study, the overall adherence level of the community towards the recommended safety measures of COVID-19 was relatively low. It is vital to consider the communities’ self-efficacy, perceived benefits, perceived barriers and perceived susceptibility of COVID-19 in order to improve the adherence of the community towards the recommended safety measures of COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Sexual satisfaction is an essential component of overall health related quality of life. However, the epidemiology of sexual satisfaction among Ethiopian women is largely unknown. Hence, the present study was undertaken to investigate the sexual satisfaction and its associated factors among married women.METHODS: Community-based cross-sectional study with mixed approach was conducted from March 1 to April 30, 2019 in Kewot District, Northern Ethiopia on a sample of 397 married women. Quantitative data was collected on a face-to-face interview using a pre-tested questionnaire while qualitative data was collected using in-depth interviews. The new sexual satisfaction scale was used to assess sexual satisfaction of the women. Descriptive statistics and ordinal logistic regression analysis were performed using SPSS version 23.RESULTS: The findings showed that half of the participants (50.4%) expressed moderate sexual satisfaction, and only 39% of the participants reported greatest sexual satisfaction. Poor partner communication (AOR = 0.30, 95% CI; 0.11- 0.79], poor sexual self-esteem (AOR = 0.17, 95% CI; 0.08 - 0.36), absence of social responsibility (AOR = 6.52, 95% CI; 3.32 - 12.80), poor sexual function (AOR = 0.36, 95% CI; 0.21 - 0.61), no previous information about sexuality (AOR = 0.06, 95% CI; 0.00 - 0.62) and perception of sexual talk as taboo (AOR = 7.15, 95% CI; 3.86 - 13.26) were significantly associated with sexual satisfaction.CONCLUSION: Several factors could affect sexual satisfaction of married women. Therefore, development of educational programs, pre-marriage counseling and continuous education should be conducted.

Introduction: Opportunistic infections are an illness that exists more frequently and is more severe in people with HIV. In HIV/AIDS patients, opportunistic infections still cause morbidity and mortality even after the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and most patients die as direct or indirect complications of opportunistic infections. This study was aimed to identify the determinants for the occurrence of opportunistic infections in HIV-positive patients having HAART follow-up in DBRH, Debre Berhan, Ethiopia. Methods: A total of 339 study subjects were involved under institution-based unmatched case-control study design and simple random sampling technique. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were entered using Epidata version 3.1 and analyzed for descriptive and logistic regression models by SPSS version 21. A P-value of less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: After adjusting potential confounders, drinking alcohol (AOR=3.12, 95% CI: 1.07-9.06), BMI <18.5 (AOR= 3.36, 95% CI: 1.49-7.55), previous history of opportunistic infections (AOR= 2.96, 95% CI: 1.51-5.8) were independent predictors of opportunistic infections in people living with HIV/AIDS on HAART. Conclusion:In this study, the poor clinical and biochemical status, and behavioral factors were being the predictors of the occurrence of opportunistic infections. HIV/AIDS patients must be assessed and screened for opportunistic infections.

Background. Dental caries (decay or cavities) is a breakdown of teeth as a result of bacteria. Dental caries is one of the preventable oral health problems and the most common chronic diseases in childhood. Poor dental and oral health affect the quality of children’s life. Objectives. To estimate the prevalence of dental caries and its associated factors among primary school children in Alem Ketema, North Showa, Ethiopia. Methodology. An institution-based quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted on 422 primary school children, from February 9 to March 8, 2020. Pretested structured questionnaire and oral examinations were conducted by using the WHO criteria (DMFT) index to collect the data. The data were entered into Epi-Data 3.1 software, and analysis was carried out using SPSS version 23 and variables with P value ≤0.05 in the multivariable binary logistic analysis were considered as a cut-point to declare statistical significance. Result. The prevalence of dental caries was 46.9% (95% CI: 42.1, 51.7). The mean Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth (DMFT) index was 1.28 (±1.21). Being male (AOR = 1.975, 95% CI = 1.067–3.66), lack of parents’ insistence (AOR = 2.052, 95% CI = 1.079–3.902), lack of oral health education program (AOR = 4.753, 95% CI = 1.69–13.38), history of dental aches (AOR = 2.88, 95% CI = 1.55–5.32), and poor habit of mouth wash (AOR = 4.74, 95% CI = 2.55–8.79) were found significantly associated with dental caries. Conclusion. The prevalence of dental caries was higher and a common public health problem among school children. Lack of parent’s insistence, sex, dental ache history, poor practices of mouth wash, and lack of oral health education were significant predictors of dental caries. Therefore, oral health education program and parents encouraging their children to practice oral hygiene are important to prevent dental caries.

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BackgroundAccording to available evidence, one in three married women in Ethiopia tends to avoid multiple children. On the other hand, women using Long Acting and Permanent Contraceptive Methods (LAPMs) are just 5 %. So, we aimed at identifying the factors associated with the utilization of LAPMs.MethodsWe conducted a community based unmatched case control study among married women living in the rural areas of North Shoa zone, Ethiopia, in March 2015. The cases were married women using LAPMs, while controls were married women who were using modern short term methods. We recruited a total sample of 406 married women for this study on a 1:1 case to control ratio basis. We collected the data through interview using a pre tested questionnaire, and then a logistic regression model was fitted to the data to examine factors associated with the utilization of LAPMs. Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with the corresponding 95% confidence interval was computed.ResultsIn our study, women whose husbands were daily laborers [AOR; 95% CI: 4.4(1.23,15.72)], who had $85–$140 monthly household income [AOR; 95% CI: 1.8(1.10,3.14)], and who were aged less than 20 years and below when they gave the first birth [AOR; 95% CI: 1.78, 4.90) were more likely to use LAPMs compared to women whose husbands were government employees, who had less than $85 monthly household income, and who were aged 20 years and above when they gave first child.ConclusionWe found that husbands’ characteristics were more important than their wives characteristics in influencing women’s utilization of LAPMs though such husband characteristics considered in this study were few in number. So, we recommend further research to examine the different characteristics of husbands responsible for women’s utilization of LAPMs.

Background While the prevalence of obesity is increasing worldwide, the growing rates of overweight and obesity in developing countries are disquieting. Obesity is widely recognized as a risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Available evidence on whether obesity has been more prevalent among higher or lower socioeconomic groups, across regions and urban-rural women’s are inconsistent. This study examined magnitude of and trends in socioeconomic, urban-rural and sub-national region inequalities in obesity prevalence among non-pregnant women in Chad. Method Using cross-sectional data from Chad Demographic and Health Surveys (DHSs) conducted in 1996, 2004 and 2014; we used the World Health Organization (WHO) Health Equity Assessment Toolkit (HEAT) to analyze socio-economic, urban-rural and regional inequalities in obesity prevalence among non-pregnant women aged 15–49 years. Inequalities were assessed using four equity stratifiers namely wealth index, educational level, place of residence and subnational region. We presented inequalities using simple and complex as well as relative and absolute summary measures such as Difference (D), Population Attributable Risk (PAR), Population Attributable Fraction (PAF) and Ratio (R). Results Though constant pattern overtime, both wealth-driven and place of residence inequality were observed in all three surveys by Difference measure and in the first and last surveys by Ratio measure. Similarly, including the recent survey (D = -2.80, 95% CI:-4.15, − 1.45, R = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.23, 0.50) absolute (in 1996 & 2014 survey) and relative (in all three surveys) educational status inequality with constant pattern were observed. Substantial absolute (PAR = -2.2, 95% CI: − 3.21, − 1.34) and relative (PAF = − 91.9, 95% CI: − 129.58, − 54.29) regional inequality was observed with increasing and constant pattern by simple (D) and complex (PAR, PAF) measures. Conclusion The study showed socioeconomic and area-based obesity inequalities that disfavored women in higher socioeconomic status and residing in urban areas. Prevention of obesity prevalence should be government and stakeholders’ priority through organizing the evidence, health promotion and prevention interventions for at risk population and general population.