Stunting in infancy is associated with decreased risk of high body mass index for age at 8 and 12 years of age
Background: Effects of early-life stunting on adiposity development later in childhood are not well understood, specifically with respect to age in the onset of overweight and obesity. Objectives: We analyzed associations of infant stunting with prevalence of, incidence of, and reversion from high body mass index-for-age z score (BMIZ) later in life. We then estimated […]
Point-of-care virologic testing to improve outcomes of HIV-infected children in Zambia: A clinical trial protoco
Introduction: In the absence of early infant diagnosis (EID) and immediate antiretroviral therapy (ART), some 50% of untreated HIVinfected infants die before age 2. Conventional EID requires sophisticated instruments that are typically placed in centralized or reference laboratories. In low-resource settings, centralized systems often lead to result turnaround times of several months, long delays in […]
Impact of a health system strengthening intervention on maternal and child health outputs and outcomes in rural Rwanda 2005-2010
Introduction Although Rwanda’s health system underwent major reforms and improvements after the 1994 Genocide, the health system and population health in the southeast lagged behind other areas. In 2005, Partners In Health and the Rwandan Ministry of Health began a health system strengthening intervention in this region. We evaluate potential impacts of the intervention on […]
Prevalence, progress, and social inequalities of home deliveries in Ghana from 2006 to 2018: insights from the multiple indicator cluster surveys
Background: Delivery in unsafe and unsupervised conditions is common in developing countries including Ghana. Over the years, the Government of Ghana has attempted to improve maternal and child healthcare services including the reduction of home deliveries through programs such as fee waiver for delivery in 2003, abolishment of delivery care cost in 2005, and the […]
Developing a task-sharing psychological intervention to treat mild to moderate symptoms of perinatal depression and anxiety in South Africa: a mixed-method formative study
Background: Symptoms of depression and anxiety are highly prevalent amongst perinatal women in low-resource settings of South Africa, but there is no access to standardised counselling support for these conditions in public health facilities. The aim of this study is to develop a task-sharing psychological counselling intervention for routine treatment of mild to moderate symptoms […]
Determinants of periodontal health in pregnant women and association with infants’ anthropometric status: a prospective cohort study from Eastern Uganda
Background: Preterm-low birth weight delivery is a major cause of infant morbidity and mortality in sub Saharan Africa and has been linked to poor periodontal health during pregnancy. This study investigated predisposing and enabling factors as determinants of oral health indicators in pregnancy as well as the association between periodontal problems at 7 months gestational […]
Early infant feeding practices in three African countries: The PROMISE-EBF trial promoting exclusive breastfeeding by peer counsellors
Background: Immediate and exclusive initiation of breastfeeding after delivery has been associated with better neonatal survival and child health and are recommended by the WHO. We report its impact on early infant feeding practices from the PROMISE-EBF trial. Methods: PROMISE-EBF was a cluster randomised behaviour change intervention trial of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) promotion by peer […]
The Impact of Undernutrition on Cognition in Children with Severe Malaria and Community Children: A Prospective 2-Year Cohort Study
Background: The frequency of recovery from undernutrition after an episode of severe malaria, and the relationship between undernutrition during severe malaria and clinical and cognitive outcomes are not well characterized. Methods: We evaluated undernutrition and cognition in children in Kampala, Uganda 18 months to 5 years of age with cerebral malaria (CM), severe malarial anemia […]
Companionship during facility-based childbirth: Results from a mixed-methods study with recently delivered women and providers in Kenya
Background: Research suggests that birth companionship, and in particular, continuous support during labor and delivery, can improve women’s childbirth experience and birth outcomes. Yet, little is known about the extent to which birth companionship is practiced, as well as women and providers’ perceptions of it in low-resource settings. This study aimed to assess the prevalence […]
Health disparities across the counties of Kenya and implications for policy makers, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016
Background: The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2016 provided comprehensive estimates of health loss globally. Decision makers in Kenya can use GBD subnational data to target health interventions and address county-level variation in the burden of disease. Methods: We used GBD 2016 estimates of life expectancy at birth, healthy life […]
