Purpose: Non-communicable diseases impose a significant social, economic and health burden. Hypertension, the leading contributor to the global burden of disease and a growing public health problem worldwide, is one of the most serious non-communicable diseases. In Ethiopia, empirical evidence on the economic burden of hypertension is limited. Therefore, this study aimed to measure the cost of hypertension and associated factors at the University of Gondar comprehensive specialized hospital, northwest Ethiopia. Patients and Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 442 adult hypertensive patients using a semi-structured questionnaire to estimate the direct and indirect costs of hypertension. The human capital approach was used to calculate indirect costs. A generalized linear model was fitted to identify factors associated with the cost of hypertension at a 95% confidence level and <0.05 p-value. Results: A total of 442, 56.3% female and 64.3% stage one hypertension patients were included. The total cost of hypertension was ETB 2510.32 ($91.72) ± 2152.80 (78.65) per patient per year; The direct medical and non-medical cost constituted 60.81% and 12.17% of the total cost of hypertension, respectively. Hospitalized (exp(b)=1.87, p<0.001), using multidrug (exp(b)=1.32, p<0.000), high socioeconomic status (exp(b)=1.41,p<0.000), college and above education(exp(b)= 1.35, p<0.016), government employment (exp(b)= 1.30, p<0.012), retirement (exp(b)= 0.71, p< 0.001) and co-morbidity (exp(b)= 1.20, p<0.004) were factors significantly associated with the cost of hypertension. Conclusion: The total cost of illness of hypertension is high, and direct medical cost has the highest component of the total cost of illness. Hospitalization, using multidrug, co-morbidity, attending college and above education, highest socioeconomic status and government employment were factors significantly associated with the high cost of hypertension. Therefore, prevention and early detection of complications and co-morbidity are essential to reduce hospitalization and the number of drugs to reduce the direct medical and indirect costs.

Purpose Health System Responsiveness is the key objective of the health system used to fulfil patients’ universal legitimate expectations. However, the health system’s responsiveness to HIV/AIDS was not assessed in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing the health system responsiveness of HIV/AIDS treatment and care services and associated factors in the public health facilities of Shewarobit town, Ethiopia. Patients and Methods An institution-based cross-sectional study was employed from 15 February to 15 April 2020 in the public health facilities of Shewarobit town. The data were collected among 416 randomly selected Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) users using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Responsiveness was measured using 27 Likert scale questions across seven responsiveness domains. A binary logistic regression model was fitted. A p-value of less than 0.05 and AOR with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to declare the associated factors in the final multivariable logistic regression analysis. Results The overall health system responsiveness was 55.3% (95% CI: 50.6–59.8). High performance of responsiveness was found on confidentiality, respect, and communication domains, whereas poor responsiveness was achieved in prompt attention and choice domains. Participants aged 50+ years (AOR:2.48, 95% CI, 1.12–5.54), perceived good health (AOR: 3.10, 95% CI: 1.75–5.48), patients’ satisfaction with care (AOR: 2.98, 95% CI: 1.35–6.54) and history of visiting traditional healers (AOR: 2.50, 95% CI:1.51–4.17) were factors associated with health system responsiveness of HIV/AIDS treatment and care services in the study area. Conclusions Unacceptable responsive performance was found in choice and prompt attention domains. Participants’ age, perceived health status, history of visiting traditional healers, and patient satisfaction were factors that affect responsiveness in the study area. Thus, providing training, frequent supportive supervision, improving community awareness, and incorporating traditional healers in the modern health system would enhance the health system responsiveness in Ethiopia.

Background: Diabetes mellitus, which has a wide range of effects on the physical, social and psychological aspects of the well-being of a person, is a common and challenging chronic disease that causes a significant rate of morbidity and mortality. However, studies in our country, by and large, focused on the impact of the disease in terms of mortality and morbidity alone. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and associated factors of diabetic patients at the University of Gondar referral hospital, Ethiopia. Methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted at the University of Gondar referral hospital from April to May 2017. A generic World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire was used to measure the HRQOL. The data were analyzed by Stata version 12. Multiple Linear Regression analysis with P-value 0.05 was used to measure the degree of association between HRQOL and independent variables. Results: A total of 408 patients with Diabetes Mellitus were included in the study. The HRQOL scores for physical, psychological, social and environmental domains were 50.9, 54.5, 55.8 and 47.3, respectively. Diabetes-related complications had a significant association with all except the psychological domain. Higher HRQOL was associated with exercising, following the recommended diet, foot care, sensible drinking and the absence of co-morbidities. However, old age, unemployment and being single and widower had a significant association with lower HRQOL. Conclusion: The environmental and physical domains of HRQOL scores were the lowest compared to the social and psychological domains. Old age and living in rural area had a significant association with a lower HRQOL, whereas the absence of diabetes-related complications, exercising, general diet and foot care had a significant association with better HRQOL of patients. Therefore, strong advice on the recommended lifestyle is important, and old patients and rural dwellers should get due attention. In addition, the prevention of diabetes-related complications is important to improve the patient HRQOL which is an important outcome measurement from the patient's perspective related to the impact of the disease. Therefore, including HRQOL assessment as part of routine management is necessary.

Background Micronutrient (MN) deficiency among children is recognised as a major public health problem in Ethiopia. The scarcity of MNs in Ethiopia, particularly in pastoral communities, might be severe due to poor diets mitigated by poor healthcare access, drought, and poverty. To reduce MNs deficiency, foods rich in vitamin A (VA) and iron were promoted and programs like multiple micronutrient powder (MNP), iron and vitamin A supplements (VAS) and or deworming have been implemented. Nationally for children aged 6–23 months, consumption of four or more food groups from diet rich in iron and VA within the previous 24 hours, MNP and iron supplementation within seven days, and VAS and >75% of deworming within the last 6 months is recommend; however, empirical evidence is scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the recommended MN intake status of children aged 6–23 months in the emerging regions of Ethiopia. Methods Data from the Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey 2016 were used. A two-stage stratified sampling technique was used to identify 1009 children aged 6–23 months. MN intake status was assessed using six options: food rich in VA or iron consumed within the previous 24 hours, MNP or iron supplementation with the previous seven days, VAS or deworming within six months. A multilevel mixed-effect logistic regression analysis was computed, and a p-value of < 0.05 and Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with 95% Confidence Interval (CI) were used to identify the individual and community-level factors. Results In this analysis, 37.3% (95% CI: 34.3–40.3) of children aged 6–23 months had not received any to the recommended MNs sources. The recommended MNs resulted; VAS (47.2%), iron supplementation (6.0%), diet rich in VA (27.7%), diet rich in iron (15.6%), MNP (7.5%), and deworming (7.1%). Antenatal care visit (AOR: 1.9, 95% CI: 1.4–2.8), work in the agriculture (AOR: 2.2, 95% CI: 1.3–3.8) and children aged 13 to 23 months (AOR: 1.7, 95% CI: 1.2–2.4) were the individual-level factors and also Benishangul (AOR: 2.2, 95% CI: 1.3–4.9) and Gambella regions (AOR: 1.9, 95% CI: 1.0–3.4) were the community-level factors that increased micronutrient intake whereas residence in rural (AOR: 0.4, 95% CI: 0.1–0.9) was the community-level factors that decrease micronutrient intake. Conclusions Micronutrient intake among children aged 6–23 months in the pastoral community was low when compared to the national recommendation. After adjusting for individual and community level factors, women’s occupational status, child’s age, antenatal visits for recent pregnancy, residence and region were significantly associated with the MN intake status among children aged 6–23 months.

Objective Diabetes, a rising global health problem, requires continuous self-care practice. There are limited studies about self-care practice, and most of the studies conducted in Ethiopia focused on some parts of the recommended self-care practices. Therefore, this study aimed to assess diabetes self-care practice and associated factors among diabetic patients attending at University of Gondar Referral Hospital, Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia. Results The study revealed that 51.86% (95% CI 46.95–56.72%) of the patients have poor self-care practice. Unable to read and write (AOR = 3.36; 95% CI 1.42–7.90), primary level of education (AOR = 2.62; 95% CI 1.20–5.70), living in rural area (AOR = 3.33; 95% CI 1.61–6.88), having strong social support (AOR = 0.31; 95% CI 0.15–0.62), having diabetes related complication (AOR = 2.20; 95% CI 1.12–4.30), and poor socio-economic status (AOR = 2.16; 95% CI 1.17–3.98) were factors significantly associated with poor self-care practice of patients with diabetes. The study indicates that the prevalence of poor self-care practice was high. Education, residence, socio-economic status, complication and social support were significantly associated with poor self-care practice. Therefore, strategies should be developed to support patients with information, glucometer, and enhance patient’s social support.