No abstract

The use of various forms of contraception in Ghana gained prominence after the government resorted to investing more in family planning programs when maternal mortality was declared an emergency in the country. In Ghana, the intention to use and actual usage of contraceptives is influenced by many factors, which may lead to non-usage or discontinuation. This quantitative study was conducted to determine risk and protective factors impacting on the intention and usage of contraceptives. Survey data from the Ghana 2014 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) ( n = 9396) was used. A sub-sample of 7661 women in their reproductive age were included in this study, who reported being sexually active within the last year. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to test the association between a broad range of risk and protective factors including religion, early sexual intercourse, frequency of sex, number of lifetime sexual partners with intention to use contraception. We controlled for income, educational attainment, and age. Overall ( n = 3661; 47.8%) reported no intention of contraception use. Logistic regression analysis revealed that no formal education (OR = 1.49; 95% CI, 1.29–1.72; p < 0.001), and primary school as highest educational level (OR = 1.19; 95% CI, 1.04–1.25; p < 0.001), Islamic religion (OR = 0.73; 95% CI, 0.59–0.90; p < 0.001), not currently employed (OR = 1.50; 95% CI, 1.34–1.69; p < 0.001), husband opposing contraception use (OR = 2.19; 95% CI, 1.42–3.46; p < 0.001), and currently pregnant (OR = 1.30; 95% CI, 1.09–1.54; p < 0.001) were also positively associated with no intention of use. Engaging religious leaders for advocacy in the community was identified as an approach to address barriers and increase awareness on contraceptive use. Targeted family planning programs should intensify public education on safe sex behaviors.

IntroductionSustainable diets and their overall impact on the environment and human health have garnered global attention. Environmental impact, human nutrition, and affordability are three relevant dimensions for assessing overall sustainability of diets. Using a relative sustainability score, we compare the Mediterranean, paleo, ketogenic, vegetarian, and vegan diets, along with the World Health Organization dietary guidelines in order to evaluate which diets are most sustainable.MethodsEnvironmental, nutrition, and price data on individual food items were collected and used to analyze diets. Using an online meal- prep program, one week's worth of meals standardized at 2,000 kilocalories per day was generated for each diet. Estimates of greenhouse gas emissions, eutrophication, land use, water withdrawals, nutritional quality, and affordability were calculated. Ultimately an overall relative sustainability score based on these metric averages were used to compare diets.ResultsOur model indicates that vegan, Mediterranean, and vegetarian diets are the most sustainable across all metrics while meat-heavy diets, such as the ketogenic diet, have the greatest negative environmental impact. A diet based on the World Health Organization's dietary guidelines performed poorly with regards to affordability, environmental impacts, and nutritional quality. Diets with higher nutritional quality included the vegan, paleo, and Mediterranean diets. Diets that eliminate meat were the cheapest both by total cost and by cost per gram of food.DiscussionDiets with the highest overall sustainability score share a common characteristic: they all suggest that consumers committed to sustainability should prioritize ‘plant-forward' diets. In contrast, diets rich in meat and animal products perform poorly overall but especially in terms of environmental sustainability.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to examine the association between several country-level systemic indices and the deaths from COVID-19 across African countries.Method: Regression analyses were conducted to test the association between selected indices and deaths from COVID-19 across African countries. All tests were run at the α = 0.05 level of significance.Result: We found a statistically significant correlation between total COVID-19 deaths per million and Stringency Index (p-value &lt;0.001) and Human Development Index (p-value &lt;0.001). Multiple regression analysis showed that Stringency Index was the only variable that remained significant when other factors are controlled for in the model.Conclusion: Countries in Africa with poorer governance, inadequate pandemic preparedness and lower levels of development have unexpectedly fared better with respect to COVID-19 deaths mainly because of having a younger population than the countries with better indices.

Depression affects over 17 million American adults yearly and has been identified as the leading cause of disability in people between the ages of 15 and 44 years. There is evidence that feeling neglect or a lack of parental attachment during childhood is associated with depression. One construct that has been overlooked is love from a parent. The purpose of this study was to analyze the association between individuals who felt not wanted/loved during adolescence and lifetime depression and to examine this association by gender. We examined 5114 participants aged 24–32 years at Wave IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) public use dataset. We used logistic regression analysis to determine the association between an individual feeling not wanted/loved by their parent/caregiver prior to age 18, covariates, and lifetime depression. We then stratified by gender and ran logistic models for both men and women separately. Overall, 16.2% ( n = 827) reported lifetime depression diagnosis, while 16.5% of the participants reported feeling not wanted/loved “often,” while 29.8% reported it as “sometimes.” Feeling not wanted/loved “often” was associated with higher odds of depression (AOR = 3.00; 95% CI, 2.45–3.66; p < .001) versus “sometimes” (AOR = 1.59; 95% CI, 1.31–1.90; p < .001). When stratified by gender, feeling not loved/wanted was associated with depression among both men (AOR = 3.70; 95% CI, 2.60–5.25; p < .001) and women (AOR = 2.73; 95% CI, 2.13–3.48; p < .001). Feeling not loved or wanted by a parent/caregiver during adolescence has serious implications, for both men and women. Future studies should further examine this construct and identify family-based interventions that focus on parent/caregiver and child relationships.