Healthy Options: Study protocol and baseline characteristics for a cluster randomized controlled trial of group psychotherapy for perinatal women living with HIV and depression in Tanzania
Background: Perinatal women accessing prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services are at an increased risk of depression; however, in Tanzania there is limited access to services provided by mental health professionals. This paper presents a protocol and baseline characteristics for a study evaluating a psychosocial support group intervention facilitated by lay community-based health […]
Female adolescents’ reproductive health decision-making capacity and contraceptive use in sub-Saharan Africa: What does the future hold?
Introduction Given the social, economic, and health consequences of early parenthood, unintended pregnancy, and the risks of HIV infection and subsequent transmission, there is an urgent need to understand how adolescents make sexual and reproductive decisions regarding contraceptive use. This study sought to assess the association between female adolescents’ reproductive health decision-making capacity and their […]
Global, regional, and national disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for 333 diseases and injuries and healthy life expectancy (HALE) for 195 countries and territories, 1990-2016: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016
Background: Measurement of changes in health across locations is useful to compare and contrast changing epidemiological patterns against health system performance and identify specific needs for resource allocation in research, policy development, and programme decision making. Using the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016, we drew from two widely used summary […]
Impact of community-based health insurance on health services utilisation among vulnerable households in Amhara region, Ethiopia
Background: Ethiopia piloted community-based health insurance in 2011, and as of 2019, the programme was operating in 770 districts nationwide, covering approximately 7 million households. Enrolment in participating districts reached 50%, holding promise to achieve the goal of Universal Health Coverage in the country. Despite the government’s efforts to expand community-based health insurance to all […]
Secondary analysis of retrospective and prospective reports of adverse childhood experiences and mental health in young adulthood: Filtered through recent stressors
Background: Evidence has identified the detrimental effects that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have on outcomes across the life course. We assess associations between prospective and retrospective ACEs and mental health in young adulthood and the influence of recent stressors. Methods: Secondary analysis of a sample of 1592 young adults from the Birth to Twenty Plus […]
Derivation and validation of a chief complaint shortlist for unscheduled acute and emergency care in Uganda
Objectives Derive and validate a shortlist of chief complaints to describe unscheduled acute and emergency care in Uganda. Setting A single, private, not-for profit hospital in rural, southwestern Uganda. Participants From 2009 to 2015, 26 996 patient visits produced 42 566 total chief complaints for the derivation dataset, and from 2015 to 2017, 10 068 […]
Intimate Partner Violence and Depression Symptom Severity among South African Women during Pregnancy and Postpartum: Population-Based Prospective Cohort Study
Background: Violence against women by intimate partners remains unacceptably common worldwide. The evidence base for the assumed psychological impacts of intimate partner violence (IPV) is derived primarily from studies conducted in high-income countries. A recently published systematic review identified 13 studies linking IPV to incident depression, none of which were conducted in sub-Saharan Africa. To […]
Mortality transition over a quarter century in rural South Africa: findings from population surveillance in Agincourt 1993-2018
Background: Mortality burden in South Africa since the mid-1990s has been characterized by a quadruple disease burden: HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB); other communicable diseases (excluding HIV/AIDS and TB), maternal causes, perinatal conditions and nutritional deficiencies; non-communicable diseases (NCDs); and injuries. Causes from these broad groupings have persistently constituted the top 10 causes of death. However, […]
Correlates of antenatal care utilization among women of reproductive age in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from multinomial analysis of demographic and health surveys (2010–2018) from 31 countries
Background: Despite a global reduction of about 38% in maternal mortality rate between 2000 and 2017, sub-Saharan Africa is still experiencing high mortality among women. Access to high quality care before, during and after childbirth has been described as one of the effective means of reducing such mortality. In the sub-region, only 52% of women […]
Association between experiences of intimate partner sexual violence and cigarette smoking among women in union in Papua New Guinea: evidence from a nationally representative survey
Background: Intimate partner sexual violence (IPSV) is a prevalent public health problem affecting millions of people each year globally, particularly in developing countries like Papua New Guinea (PNG). Although over two-thirds of women in PNG are estimated to experience some form of sexual violence in their lifetime, empirical evidence is limited on the association between […]
