Effects of dietary and health factors on nutritional status of children in pastoral settings in Borana, southern Ethiopia, August–October 2015
Background: Childhood undernourishment is a major public health problem globally, and being responsible for higher mortalities in children and enormous health costs in sub-Saharan Africa. However, scarcity of data on the magnitude of malnutrition and its underlying causes, especially in the pastoral system, limits the effectiveness of potential interventions. This study addresses the nutritional status […]
Drought and child undernutrition in Ethiopia: A longitudinal path analysis
Background The increase in the frequency of extreme events due to climate change poses a serious challenge to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 2 of ending hunger by 2030. While evidence exists on the impact of drought on under-five children, its effect during late childhood and early adolescence remains less investigated. Objective This study estimates […]
Adherence to prenatal iron-folic acid supplementation in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC): A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis
Background: Daily iron-folic acid supplementation reduces anemia and various adverse obstetric outcomes such as preterm delivery, low birthweight, hemorrhage, and perinatal and maternal morbidity and mortality. However, its supplementation has not been successful that attributed to several determinants including poor adherence. Therefore, we aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on the prevalence and […]
Timing of first antenatal care contact, its associated factors and state-level analysis in Nigeria: a cross-sectional assessment of compliance with the WHO guidelines
OBJECTIVES: To assess the compliance of WHO guidelines on the timeliness of antenatal care (ANC) initiation in Nigeria and its associated factors and to provide subcountry analysis of disparities in the timing of the first ANC in Nigeria. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Nationally representative data of most recent pregnancies between 2013 and 2018 in Nigeria. PARTICIPANTS: […]
Attendance at antenatal clinics in inner-city Johannesburg, South Africa and its associations with birth outcomes: Analysis of data from birth registers at three facilities
Background: Antenatal care (ANC) clinics serve as key gateways to screening and treatment interventions that improve pregnancy outcomes, and are especially important for HIV-infected women. By disaggregating data on access to ANC, we aimed to identify variation in ANC attendance by level of care and across vulnerable groups in inner-city Johannesburg, and document the impact […]
Contextual factors associated with health care service utilization for children with acute childhood illnesses in Nigeria
Objective To examine the independent contribution of individual, community and state-level factors to health care service utilization for children with acute childhood illnesses in Nigeria. Materials and methods The study was based on secondary analyses of cross-sectional population-based data from the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (DHS). Multilevel logistic regression models were applied to […]
Text messaging for maternal and infant retention in prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission services: A pragmatic steppedwedge cluster-randomized trial in Kenya
Background: Timely diagnosis of infant HIV infection is essential for antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation. In a randomized controlled trial, we found the Texting Improves Testing (TextIT) intervention (a theory-based text messaging system) to be efficacious for improving infant HIV testing rates and maternal retention in prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) programs. Using an implementation […]
Prevalence, predictors of low birth weight and its association with maternal iron status using serum ferritin concentration in rural Eastern Ethiopia: a prospective cohort study
Introduction: Low birth weight (LBW) is one of the major predictors of perinatal survival, infant morbidity, and mortality, as well as the risk of developmental disabilities and illnesses in future lives. The effect of the nutritional status of pregnant women on birth outcomes is becoming a common research agenda, but evidence on the level of […]
Decomposing socio-economic inequalities in antenatal care utilisation in 12 Southern African Development Community countries
Although many countries are making progress towards achieving the global sustainable development goals, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) lags behind. SSA bears a relatively higher burden of maternal morbidity and mortality than other regions despite existing cost-effective interventions. This paper assesses antenatal care (ANC) service utilisation among women in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, one […]
Is the decline in neonatal mortality in northern Ghana, 1996-2012, associated with the decline in the age of BCG vaccination? An ecological study
Objective To examine the association between early Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination and neonatal mortality in northern Ghana Methods This ecological study used vaccination and mortality data from the Navrongo Health and Demographic Surveillance System First, we assessed and compared changes in neonatal mortality rates (NMRs) and median BCG vaccination age from 1996 to 2012 Second, […]
