BackgroundThe practice of giving prelacteal feeds deprive a newborn of valuable nutrients and expose the newborn to risks of infection. Despite its negative health outcomes, prelacteal feeding prevails in Ethiopia. Therefore, the current study was undertaken to assess the prevalence of prelacteal feeding practices and its associated factors in a rural community in south Ethiopia.MethodsWe conducted a community based cross-sectional study of 597 mothers of children aged less than six months. Mothers were selected using a multistage cluster sampling technique from Hawela Tula, a rural catchment under Hawassa City Administration. Newborns exposed to any foods, substances or drinks other than human milk before the initiation of breastfeeding or during the first three days of birth were regarded as receiving prelacteal feeds. Descriptive summaries were done to present the main findings; bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were undertaken to identify variables associated with prelacteal feeding practices.ResultsAmong the total infants, 25.5% (95% confidence interval [CI] 23.5%, 27.5%) were found to be exposed to prelacteal feeds. Boiled water (36.8%) and fresh butter (32.2%) were the top two prelacteal foods. The prevalence of prelacteal feeding was higher among infants whose mothers are housewives, and among infants born to mothers aged between 21 and 34 years. Almost two-third (64.3%) of mothers who exposed their newborn to prelacteal feeds did so with advice from their parents. Mothers who had poor knowledge on breastfeeding were nine times more likely to practice prelacteal feeding compared to those with good knowledge (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 8.9, 95% CI 4.2, 18.7). Lack of knowledge on the risks associated with prelacteal feeding (AOR 6.8; 95% CI 2.6, 17.8) and misconceptions about breastfeeding (AOR 8.1; 95% CI 3.9, 16.6) were associated with prelacteal feeding. However, mothers’ place of delivery and attendance at breastfeeding counseling sessions showed no association with the practice of prelacteal feeding.ConclusionsPrelacteal feeding is commonly practiced in the study area. Raising women’s awareness on the consequences of prelacteal feeding is warranted. Involving parents of women when promoting optimal infant feeding practices should be emphasized.

Background: Adolescence is a period of high developmental changes in physical, mental and social conditions. In this period the adolescent youth fails to control their emotions, listen to parents' advice and begins to indulge them in unhealthy behavioral activities. In general, the age group from 10 to 19 years is classified as adolescent. Many adolescents often lack strong and stable relationships with their parents to openly discuss about reproductive health concerns. Similarly, about 55.7% of the secondary and preparatory school students were not discussed on SRH issues.Objective: To assess the barriers of discussion among adolescents concerning sexual and reproductive health issues among Preparatory Schools students of Hawassa City, SNNPR, Ethiopia.Methods: -Descriptive cross sectional survey design was conducted among Addis Ketema and Tabor preparatory schools students in Hawassa City, from December to June 2016. Then a multistage sampling technique was employed to select 344 eligible study participants, the data were collected by using closed ended questionnaire and analyzed.Result: -The majority (61%) of respondents did not discused sexual matters with their parents. The results of binary logistic regression revealed that, the adolescents who follow social media (B=1.497, p< 0.05), use condom (B=2.296, p< 0.05), father education (B=2.398, p< 0.05) and mother education (B=1.582, p< 0.05) have positive and significant effect on discussion between the parents and adolescents on SRH issues. Culture of adolescents and parents regarding sex related issues whereas, ever had experienced sexual pleasure (B=-1.466, p< 0.01), amount of money the adolescent got monthly (B= -2.127, p< 0.01), talk to friend about sex related issues(B=-2.361, p< 0.01), and feel shame to talk to family about sex related issues (B=-0.868, p< 0.05) have negative and significant effect on discussion between the adolescents and parents regarding sex related issues. Conclusion:The major factors that hindered parent-adolescent discussion were ever had experienced sexual pleasure, follow social media, use condom, parent education, amount of money given to adolescents, talk to friends about sex related issue, and feel shame. Furthermore, parents had limited access to sexuality information which could perpetuate beliefs, taboos and negative attitudes that hindered them from discussing sexual matters with adolescents.

Background Persons with disabilities experience significant barriers to accessing health care. These barriers may be more serious in countries such as Ethiopia. In this study, we aimed to assess the prevalence of accessibility and associated factors among physically disabled people visiting physical disability associations in Hawassa. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 345 randomly selected physically disabled people who visited disability associations in Hawassa. Data were collected from February 1 to 28, 2020 through face-to-face interview using a semi-structured questionnaire. Data analysis was done by SPSS version 23. Statistically significant test was declared using statistical cut-off point of P-value < 0.05. Results Accessibility to healthcare services among respondents was 83 (25.4%). About three-quarters of these respondents (74.6%) experienced at least one access barrier to healthcare services; 61.5% experienced physical barriers, 62.7% reported barriers related to medical equipment and 59.3% had communication barriers. Male participants (AOR = 3.19, 95% CI: 1.70, 6.99), married individuals (AOR = 2.95, 95% CI: 1.59, 5.49), people whose costs for healthcare services was covered by NGOs (AOR = 3.23, 95% CI: 1.39, 7.51) and participants with no experience of discrimination when accessing healthcare services (AOR = 5.84, 95% CI: 3, 11, 10.95) had more access to healthcare services. Conclusion Accessibility to healthcare services among people with disabilities was poor in the study. It is related with various factors. Therefore, it is important to strengthen inter-sectoral collaboration, promote community health insurance and strengthen the economic capacity of persons with physical disabilities in order to overcome barriers.

Background: As the World Health Organization situation report of November 14, 2021, globally there were over 252 million confirmed cases and over 5 million deaths attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. How COVID-19 is transmitted put health care professionals (HCPs) at higher risk of contracting the disease because of their work conditions. Information regarding knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) towards the disease among HCPs are of higher importance to devise interventions that will tackle the pandemic.Methods: A facility based cross-sectional study was conducted from September 29 to October 07, 2020, among randomly selected 422 health care professionals. Epi-data and SPPS software were used for entry and analysis of the data respectively. Frequencies, percentages, and charts were used to describe the KAP of HCPs towards the disease. Binary logistic regression was conducted to identify factors that are associated with the KAP of HCPs. Variables with a p-value less than 0.05 were declared as significantly associated.Results: 406 HCPs have participated in this study. Less than half (45%) HCPs had sufficient knowledge about COVID-19. HCPs aged 30 or more years, working in health centers, and HCPs that received an orientation or training regarding COVID-19 had significantly higher knowledge. About 77% HCPs had a positive attitude towards COVID-19. Educational level and knowledge about COVID-19 were significant predictors of attitude. About three-fifths (59%) of study participants had good practice towards COVID-19. Types of health facilities, work experience, and orientation or training status were significantly associated with the practice.Conclusion: This study found a low proportion of HCPs having sufficient knowledge about COVID-19. About four in ten HCPs had poor practice towards COVID-19. Training, monitoring and supervision, knowledge and skill-sharing activities should be given due emphasis to tackle the pandemic in the region.

Background Maternal undernutrition is one of the commonest public health problems in many low and middle income countries where generally more than 20% of women are undernourished. It is more common in rural areas due to unclear factors. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of undernutrition in general and in subgroups and determine risk factors among pregnant women in rural Ethiopia. Methods A community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted from April 30 to May 30, 2019 on 550 pregnant women who were randomly selected from six districts in southern Ethiopia. Trained and experienced nurses measured undernutrition using mid-upper arm circumference and collected other data. We used multilevel mixed-effect logistic regression to identify factors associated with undernutrition among pregnant women. Results The prevalence of undernutrition among pregnant women was 38%; 95% CI: (34.2–42.3). The odds of undernutrition was higher among women who got pregnant previously (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 1.66; 95% CI: 1.02–2.71), who had a history of miscarriage (AOR: 3.18; 95% CI: 1.77–5.70), who practiced food taboos (AOR: 2.23; 95% CI: 1.47–3.39) and who did not get any nutritional counseling during pregnancy (AOR: 2.97; 95% CI: 1.79–4.95). The prevalence of undernutrition among pregnant women who had multiple risk factors was estimated to be 95%, corresponding to an OR of 6.95 (95% CI: 0.80- 60.41). Conclusion The prevalence of undernutrition among pregnant women in rural Ethiopia was high. It was very high among women with multiple risk factors. Healthcare providers should be aware of the risk factors associated with undernutrition, and should be ready to intervene in these subgroups.