BackgroundDietary diversity has long been recognized as a key element of high quality diets. Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD) is the consumption of four or more food groups from the seven food groups. Globally, only few children are receiving nutritionally adequate and diversified foods. More than two-thirds of malnutrition related child deaths are associated with inappropriate feeding practice during the first two years of life. In Ethiopia, only 7 % of children age 6–23 months had received the minimum acceptable diet. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to determine the level of minimum dietary diversity practice and identify the associated factors among children aged 6–23 months in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.MethodsA health facility based cross sectional study was undertaken in the three sub-cities of Addis Ababa from 26th February to 28th April, 2016. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to sample the 352 study participants or mothers who had children aged 6–23 months. Data were collected by using a structured and pretested questionnaire, cleaned and entered into Epi info 7 and analyzed using SPSS 24 software. Logistic regression was fitted and odds ratio with 95% confidence interval (CI) with p-value less than 0.05 was used to identify factors associated with minimum dietary diversity.ResultIn this study, the overall children with minimum dietary diversity score were found to be 59.9%. Mother’s educational attainment and a higher household monthly income were positively associated with the minimum dietary diversity practice. Similarly, mothers’ knowledge on dietary diversity and child feeding was positively associated with minimum dietary diversity child feeding practice, with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.98 (95% CI: 1.11–3.53).ConclusionIn this study, the consumption of minimum dietary diversity was found to be high. In spite of this, more efforts need to be done to achieve the recommended minimum dietary diversity intake for all children aged between 6 and 23 months.

Background. Occupational injuries pose major public health and socioeconomic developmental problems. However, efforts towards investigation of determinants among factory workers are very minimal in developing countries. Thus, this study aimed at to identify determinants of occupational injury among textile factory workers in Amahara regional state in Ethiopia. Methods. A case control study was done among 456 textile factory workers (152 cases and 304 controls). Self-reported data from workers and document review from factories clinics were used to ascertain occupational injury status within one-year period. Data was collected using pretested and structured questionnaire by trained data collectors. Odds ratio with 95% confidence interval was used to assess level significance. Results. Young age (<30 years) (AOR 1.90, 95% CI (1.22, 2.94)), male gender (AOR 2.54, 95% CI (1.58, 4.07)), health and safety training (AOR 1.85, 95% CI (1.17, 2.91)), sleeping disturbance (AOR 1.99, 95% CI (1.30, 3.04)), and job stress (AOR 2.25, 95% CI (1.15, 4.41)) were significant predictors of occupation injury. Conclusion. Lack of training, sleeping disturbance, and job stress increased the risk of occupational injury. So, providing basic health and safety training with special emphasis on younger and male workers, reducing stressors, and providing sleep health education were recommended.

BackgroundRefuse collectors are at a high risk for fatal and non-fatal occupational accidents. This is more intensified in developing countries, like Ethiopia, due to physically demanding nature of the job. However, information on occupational injuries and related factors are almost non-existent in Ethiopia. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of occupational injuries and its associated factors.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among municipal solid waste collectors in four zones of Amhara region from February to May 2015. Computer generated simple random sampling technique was used to select the samples. Interviewer administrated questionnaires were used for the data collection process. Binary logistic regression was used to assess the association between outcome variables and explanatory variables.ResultsIn this study, the annual prevalence of at least one occupational injury among solid waste workers was 34.3 % (95 % CI: 29.52, 39.10). Of these, 50.7 % of them were visited health facility to receive health care. The independent predictors of at least one occupational injury were shorter service years, low monthly salary, history of job related stress, and sleeping disturbance related to the job. Being illiterate, having lower monthly income, and those who reported sleeping disturbance were significantly and positively associated with severe occupational injuries of solid waste collectors.ConclusionThe magnitude of occupational injuries among municipal solid waste collectors is lower than other similar studies conducted in Ethiopia. Based on the finding of this and other studies, job rotation among work components, improvement of employees’ income, job specific guideline regarding maximum production limits, and replacement of bags and bins with wheeled containers are an interventions expected to cope with the problem. There is also a need of specific periodic health surveillance (PHS) for refuse collectors to detect early signs of work related complaints and to monitor work ability.

Purpose: Foodborne illness is a major public health problem worldwide. The supply of safe and healthy food is crucial to prevent foodborne illness. However, evidence regarding food safety knowledge and handling practice is limited in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess food safety knowledge, handling practice, and its associated factors among food handlers in Debre Markos Town, North West Ethiopia. Patients and Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 408 randomly selected food handlers at Debre-Markos town. A structured questionnaire and an observational checklist were used to collect relevant data. The main outcome of interest was food safety and handling practice. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify the factors significantly associated with food safety knowledge and food handling practice. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25. Results: In this study, only 34.1% of food handlers had good food safety knowledge and nearly 54% of food handlers had good food handling practice. Level of education (AOR = 0.23 (0.14-0.57)), training on food safety (AOR = 5.13 (3.57-7.82)), and favorable attitudes towards food safety (AOR=2.54 (1.52-4.25)) were the factors associated with knowledge of food safety. Similarly, training (AOR=2.05, 95% CI=1.31-3.19), a good level of knowledge (AOR: 1.68, 95% CI: 1.40, 3.17), and work experience (AOR = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.10-2.81) were positively associated with good food handling practice. Conclusion: In this study, the level of food safety knowledge and handling practices were relatively low. Therefore, the concerned bodies should work on the identified factors to improve food handlers' knowledge of food safety and practice level. Continuous training for food handlers should be given.

BackgroundHepatitis B virus (HBV) remains a major global health problem. More than three-quarters of HBV infection occur in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at risk of acquiring HBV, hepatitis C (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections via exposure to patients’ blood and bodily fluids. HBV infection is a recognized occupational hazard, and non-immune health professionals are at risk of acquiring the infection from their work. This study was intended to assess the level of HBV vaccination status and factors affecting the vaccination status of health care workers in Shashemene Zonal Town.MethodsInstitution based cross-sectional study was conducted and a simple random sampling technique was used to select study subjects. A total of 423 HCWs were enrolled in the study. A structured and pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect the required information through a face to face interview. Finally, data were processed and analyzed using Epi info version 7 and SPSS version 21. Both bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to assess the effect of the various factors on vaccination status of HCWs. p value ≤0.05 at 95% CI was considered statistically significant.ResultsOverall, 53 (12.9%) respondents were found to be fully vaccinated. The multivariable logistic regression showed that, those respondents who are female, had ≥10 years of work experience and those working at governmental health care institutions were significantly associated with vaccination status (AOR = 3.84, 12.51, 2.45 respectively).ConclusionOur study revealed that vaccination status of subjects was below the WHO’s estimation of vaccination rate among HCWs in developing countries and was very poor when compared with other countries. This is a serious public health problem and challenge for a country with high prevalence of hepatitis B infection.