Background Considering its pandemicity and absence of effective treatment, authorities across the globe have designed various mitigation strategies to combat the spread of COVID-19. Although adherence towards preventive measures is the only means to tackle the virus, reluctance to do so has been reported to be a major problem everywhere. Thus, this study aimed to assess the community’s adherence towards COVID-19 mitigation strategies and its associated factors among Gondar City residents, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods A community-based cross-sectional study was employed among 635 respondents from April 20–27, 2020. Cluster sampling technique was used to select the study participants. Data were collected using an interviewer-administered structured questionnaire. Epi-Data version 4.6 and STATA version 14 were used for data entry and analysis, respectively. Binary logistic regressions (Bivariable and multivariable) were performed to identify statistically significant variables. Adjusted odds ratio with 95% CI was used to declare statistically significant variables on the basis of p < 0.05 in the multivariable logistic regression model. Results The overall prevalence of good adherence towards COVID-19 mitigation measures was 51.04% (95%CI: 47.11, 54.96). Female respondents [AOR: 2.39; 95%CI (1.66, 3.45)], receiving adequate information about COVID-19 [AOR: 1.58; 95%CI (1.03, 2.43)], and favorable attitude towards COVID-19 preventive measures were significantly associated with good adherence towards COVID-19 mitigation measures. Whereas, those respondents who had high risk perception of COVID-19 were less likely to adhere towards COVID-19 mitigation measures [AOR: 0.61; 95% CI (0.41, 0.92)]. Conclusions The findings have indicated that nearly half of the study participants had poor adherence towards COVID-19 mitigation measures. Sex, level of information exposure, attitude towards COVID-19 preventive measures, and risk perception of COVID-19 were factors which significantly influenced the adherence of the community towards COVID-19 mitigation measures. Therefore, it is crucial to track adherence responses towards the COVID-19 preventive measures, scale up the community’s awareness of COVID-19 prevention and mitigation strategies through appropriate information outlets, mainstream media, and rely on updating information from TV, radio, and health care workers about COVID-19.

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) caused by occupational-related factors continue to place huge burdens on global workforces. Significant numbers of workers report potential adverse health outcomes related to the condition, such as physical injury, disability, and decline in quality of life. Occupational-related MSD also poses additional burdens to healthcare services and diminishes productivity at work. The condition usually worsens in informal sectors where the work environments are often poorly designed. This paper explored occupational and physical environmental factors that induce work-related neck and/or shoulder pains among self-employed tailors in Gondar city, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods: We conducted across-sectional survey from April to May 2019 on 422 tailors selected with systematic random sampling technique. Nordic Musculoskeletal questionnaire was used to measure pains in neck and/or shoulder, and the questionnaire was pretested and administered by interviewers. Work-related factors such as working posture, rest break, training in safety and health, and the availability of adjustable chairs at workplaces were assessed. The significance of associations was set at a < 0.05 p-value and adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with a confidence interval (CI) of 95% were used to determine strength of associations. Results: A total of 419 tailors participated with a response rate of 99.3%. The mean age and mean years of experience were 29.23 (SD ± 7.03) and 1.48 (SD ± 0.50) years, respectively. The study found that the prevalence of pain in either neck or shoulder or both sites in the last 12 months was 66.6% (N = 279) [95% CI (62.1, 71.1)]. Pains in shoulder and neck were observed in 72.1% (N = 302)[95% CI (67.8, 76.4)] and 68.3% (N = 286) [95% CI (64.0, 72.6)] of the interviewees, respectively. The majority, 78.1% (n = 218) of those with pains indicated they were prevented from doing normal daily activities. Work

Background. Prenatal care refers to services a pregnant woman receives during pregnancy to ensure a healthy outcome for herself and her newborn. However, only limited studies have so far been done to assess the quality of prenatal care in the study area. Thus, this study is aimed at assessing the quality of prenatal care and associated factors at public health facilities in Wogera district, northwest Ethiopia. Methods. An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Wogera district from March to April 2019. A total of 465 pregnant women were interviewed using a semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire; consecutive sampling was used to select the participants. The binary logistic regression analysis model was fitted to identify the potential predictor variables. Variables with <0.2 p values were fitted into the multivariable logistic regression analysis model; <0.05 p values and an adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to declare factors associated with the quality of prenatal care. Results. The overall quality of prenatal care was 32.7% (95% CI: 28.1, 37.2). Four or more prenatal care visits (AOR=2.3; 95% CI: 1.2, 4.7), high maternal education (AOR=2.9; 95% CI: 1.03, 7.93), over USD 175.5 monthly household income (AOR=2.8; 95% CI: 1.1, 7.8), and the availability of maternity waiting areas (AOR=2.4; 95% CI: 1.2, 5.0) were positively associated with the quality of the care. Conclusion. The overall quality of prenatal care in this study was low. Therefore, promoting focused prenatal care and increasing infrastructure, encouraging maternal education, and compensating for the healthcare costs for women with low household income might enhance the quality of the care.

BackgroundKnowing the factors for patient satisfaction is an important and direct indicator of quality of health care which is essential for providers to fill their gaps. Although few studies have been conducted on patient satisfaction in Ethiopia; but there is limited evidence for comparing patient satisfaction and associated factors in the public and private wing of the health services. Thus, this study aimed to investigate factors of patient satisfaction in adult outpatient departments in the private wing and regular services at public hospitals of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.MethodsA comparative institution based cross-sectional study was conducted from March to April 2018. A total of 955 systematically selected patients were interviewed by using an interviewer-administered structured questionnaire. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed. In the multivariable logistic regression analysis p value < 0.05 and adjusted odd ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to identify the associated factors.ResultsThe overall patient satisfaction was 89.3% (95% CI: 87.2–91.2). At the regular and private wings of outpatient departments it was 88.3% (95% CI: 85.4–91.2) and 90.4% (95% CI: 87.6–93), respectively. At regular service OPD, patient satisfaction was affected by female sex (AOR: 7.78; 95% CI: 2.89–20.93), long waiting time (AOR: 0.22; 95% CI: 0.07–0.73), information on the prevention of recurrent illnesses (AOR: 14.16; 95% CI: 4.58–43.83), and information on drug use and side effects (AOR: 0.22; 95% CI: 0.08–0.63). In private wing, it was affected by being in the age group of 38 to 47 years (AOR: 22.1; 95% CI: 2.39–203.6), attended elementary school (AOR: 4.69; 95% CI: 1.04–21.26), availability of drugs (AOR: 0.14; 95% CI: 0.04–0.58), and the accessibility of latrines (AOR: 6.56; 95% CI: 1.16–37.11).ConclusionsPatient satisfaction at the private wing and regular adult OPDs’ of public hospitals had no statistically significant difference. Female sex and information on the prevention of recurrent illnesses were factors positively affected patient satisfaction at regular services, whereas at private wing OPDs’ age, attended elementary school, and accessibility of latrines were factors that positively affected patient satisfaction.

Purpose Self-medication is the use of medicines by individuals to treat self-recognized illnesses or symptoms without any medical supervision. Such practices may cause antimicrobial resistance, which causes treatment failure, economic loss, serious health hazards, missed diagnosis, delayed appropriate treatment, drug dependency, and adverse drug effects. However, empirical evidence is limited to the current status of its practices and associated factors among university students. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the magnitude and associated factors of self-medication practices among medicine and health science students at the University of Gondar. Methods An institution-based cross-sectional study was employed from February to March 2017. A total of 792 randomly selected students were surveyed with a self-administered structured questionnaire. Epi Info version 7 and SPSS version 20 were used for data entry and analysis, respectively. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed. In multivariable analysis, P-value <0.05 and adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to identify associated factors. Results Self-medication practice was found to be 52.4% (95% CI: (49%, 56%)) among university students. For most students, the major reason for using self-medication was taking the illness as less serious (71.1%). Females (AOR: 1.48; 95% CI: 1.08–2.01), income category (USD 44.01–175.87) (AOR: 0.47; 95% CI: 0.29–0.78), sixth year students (AOR: 8.71; 95% CI: 4.04–18.77) and health officer students (AOR: 2.36; 95% CI: 1.20–4.63) were found to be significantly associated with self-medication practice. Conclusion More than half of the students practiced self-medication, which is moderately higher than other findings. Gender, income, year of study, and field of study were the major factors that affected self-medication. Therefore, interventions that can halt the high magnitude of self-medication and factors associated with it are crucial. Special attention should be given to students who stay in the university for longer years.