Abstract:Background: Malaria still imposes an enormous burden in terms of morbidity and loss of life. It is assumed that school based health education can help to promote community wide awareness and prevention of malaria. But, evidence is limited on the extent to which school children are equipped with appropriate and scientific information about malaria and communicate with their parents. Objective: To assess malaria related knowledge and child to parent communication regarding prevention and control of malaria among primary school students. Methods: Institution based cross sectional study was conducted in three selected Woredas of Jimma zone, south west Ethiopia from march, 15 to 30, 2014. The study recruited 432 samples of school children in 10 selected schools from the three woredas. A multi stage sampling method followed by simple random sampling was carried out to select the samples. The data were collected using pretested structured questionnaire adapted from similar studies. EPI-DATA version 3.1 was used to enter the data and data was exported to SPSS version 20.0 for further statistical analysis. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used. Adjusted odds ratios and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals were used to assess the association between individual variables with the outcome variable in the multivariate analysis with a p-value of (< 0.05). Result: The mean score of students for comprehensive knowledge related to malaria was 6.13+ 1.88. The major source of information was radio (42.2%). Nearly half (49.5%) of students communicate with their family about malaria and the major areas of communication were concerning symptoms and prevention and control methods. Age [AOR, 95% CI, 1.18 (1.04, 1.34)], comprehensive knowledge [AOR, 95% CI, 1.34(1.19, 1.50)] and perceived parental readiness to learn from children [AOR, 95% CI, 2.09 (1.43, 3.06)] were independent predictors of child to parent communication. Conclusion: In this study comprehensive knowledge about malaria was found to be high among the students. However, knowledge gap about the cause and transmission were also observed among the students. Malaria health education should be strengthened in the schools to advance malaria knowledge and foster communication behavior of the students and health facilities should give attention for schools through equipping teachers with information about malaria prevention and control strategies so that such knowledge could be passed on to students.

BackgroundThough the incidence of Testicular cancer among young is rising, little attention is given to promoting testicular self-examination which is recommended for its early prevention in developing countries. This study aimed to assess testicular self-examination and associated factors among Bahir Dar University students using integrated behavioral model.MethodsCross sectional study was conducted among Bahir Dar University students in September, 2016. Systematic sampling technique was used to select 884 participants. Data was collected using self-administer questionnaire, entered into EPI Data 3.1 and exported to SPSS 21 for analysis. Path analysis was done using STATA 14.2 to check causal effect of integrated behavioral model constructs on testicular self-examination. Internal reliability of the items was checked using Cronbach’s alpha. Multivariable linear and Logistic regression were used to predict the role of independent variable on Intention and TSE respectively. Findings with p-value <0.05 at 95% confidence interval were considered as statistically significant in the final model.ResultsOnly 11.8% of the students practiced testicular self-examination in the previous year. Experiential and Instrumental attitude, Perceived control and Self-efficacy were significantly predicted behavioral intention with β coefficient 0.33, 0.12, −0.08 and 0.36. Students’ academic unit [OR = 0.31, 95% CI: 0.15–0.63], educational status of student’s father AOR = 2.25; CI: 1.15–4.44] and [AOR = 3.00; CI: 1.36–6.64], Intention [OR = 1.2, 95% CI: 1.1–1.31], Know-how of TSE [OR = 3.35, 95% CI:1.94–5.80] and knowledge [AOR = 3.93; CI: 2.30–6.72] were the significant predictors of testicular self-examination. The finding of path analysis also demonstrated as Experiential and Instrumental attitude, Perceived control and Self-efficacy have significant effect on intention with path coefficient of 0.33, 0.12, −0.07 and 0.36. Intention, Knowledge and Know-how have effect on testicular self-examination with path coefficient of 0.2, 0.36 and 0.22 respectively.ConclusionsMagnitude of testicular self-examination is low among university students and it is a product of the type of the college, family educational status, intention, Know-how and knowledge. So, behavior change communication strategy that focus on these behavioral factors should be designed and implemented to improve students’ regular practice of testicular self-examination.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-017-3935-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background Maternity waiting home (MWH) is a direct strategy to improve newborn and maternal survival. The utilization of MWH, however, remains very low in Ethiopia. Men involvement in maternal health programs is a key strategy to increase utilization of maternal health services, including MWH. This study defines men involvement in-terms of men’s participation in deciding to admit their spouse to an MWH, accompanying their spouse to an MWH, providing financial support, availing food at an MWH, and taking care of the home or children. Thus, the current study aims to identify factors affecting men’s involvement in MWH utilization. Methods A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from October 1st to December 30th, 2018. Four hundred three men were involved in the study. Data were analyzed by the statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 23. Independent predictors were identified by a multivariable logistic regression model. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were reported. Results Men’s involvement in MWH was 55.6% (50.71, 60.45). Age (AOR = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.82–0.94), knowledge about MWH (AOR = 4.74, 95% CI = 2.65–8.49), decision-making power (AOR = 4.00, 95% CI = 1.38–11.57), and receiving counseling about MWH during spousal antenatal care visits (AOR = 9.15, 95% CI = 3.34–25.03) had statistically significant associations with men’s involvement in MWH utilization. Conclusions Nearly, half of the male partners were involved in MWH utilization. Men’s age, MWH knowledge, decision-making power, and receiving counseling were factors affecting their involvement in MWH utilization. Interventions targeting to improve male involvement in MWH utilization should focus on building men’s knowledge about MWH, increasing male involvement in ANC with an appropriate level of counseling about MWH, and changing patriarchal thinking in society with appropriate behavioral interventions such as community-based health education.

Background Ending preventable maternal, and neonatal morbidity and mortality cannot be achieved without quality care interventions during the intrapartum and postpartum period. Poor quality care during the intrapartum and postpartum period contributes high burden of maternal and neonatal morbidity. Therefore, the current study aimed to assess the quality of intrapartum care and its associated factors in public health facilities in North Achefer District, North West Ethiopia. Method A mixed-type institution-based cross-sectional study design was conducted from November 7 to December 6, 2019. Simple random sampling and purposive sampling were used to select study participants for quantitative and qualitative studies respectively. Data were coded and entered into Epi data version 4.4.2 software and exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis. Variables with a p-value of less than and equal to 0.25 were entered into multivariable regression analysis and variables with p values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant factors of the quality of intrapartum care. The qualitative data were analyzed by using thematic content analysis. Finally, qualitative findings were used to supplement the quantitative result. Result The finding showed that, 27.3% (95% CI: 26.6–28) of mothers received good quality intrapartum care. Presence of long-distance (AOR = 0.19; 95% CI = 0.06, 0.66), health care facility (AOR = 0.07; 95% CI = 0.02, 0.20), and partograph utilization (AOR = 4.9; 95% CI = 1.82, 13.14) were factors associated with the quality of intrapartum care. Conclusion The proportion of intrapartum quality care was low. Distance, partograph utilization, and type of health facility were factors associated with quality of intrapartum care. The district, zonal health offices, and regional health bureau should provide capacity building and follow up on partograph utilization, and increase the accessibility of ambulances.

Background Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, indicating great clinical attention. However, much less attention has been given to metabolic syndrome in the study area. Objective The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its associated factors in the adult population of West Gojjam zone, Ethiopia. Methods A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in West Gojjam from September 15 to October 20, 2018. A total of 627 participants were randomly selected. The data were collected using the WHO STEP-wise approach for non-communicable diseases by contextualizing the instrument based on the study questions. The collected data were entered into and analyzed in SPSS version 20. Binary logistic regression was used to identify predictors of the dependent variable. The odds ratio was used to measure the strength of association between variables. For all statistical significance tests, the cut-off value set was p < 0.05 with CI of 95%. Results In the studied region, high prevalence of metabolic syndrome at 17.3% is documented. In the final model, age (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.02, CI: 1.01–1. 05), occupation (AOR = 2.97, CI: 1.25–7.04), a moderate or high level of physical activity (AOR = 0.28, CI: 0.14–0.56 and AOR = 0.42, CI: 0.18–0.97) and type of oil used for cooking (AOR = 2.62, CI: 1.87–7.86) are significantly associated with metabolic syndrome. Conclusion The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in this study is high, and it is determined by age, occupation, physical activity and type of oil used for cooking. Designing an intervention which focuses on promoting a healthy lifestyle like physical activity and using oils which are liquid at room temperature to prevent the risk of major non-communicable diseases is needed.