BackgroundOlder adults are disproportionately affected by hypertension, which is an established risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Despite these facts, little information is available with regard to old age hypertension in Ethiopia. Thus, this study assessed old age hypertension and associated factors among older adults in rural Ethiopia.MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study design was employed among 418 selected permanent residents of Chiro town aged 50 years and older using simple random sampling technique. Data were collected face to face using a structured questionnaire which is adapted from the WHO Stepwise approach to surveillance of non communicable disease instrument, and was used to collect data on risk factors. Physical measurements were taken as per WHO STEP guidelines. The data were entered into Epi Data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS Version 20 for analysis. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis were conducted and statistical significance was declared at a p-value ≤0.05.ResultsThe overall prevalence of old age hypertension was 41.9% (95% CI: 37.2–46.6). Age ≥70 years (AOR: 1.91; 95% CI: 1.12–3.27), low intake of fruits (AOR: 2.45; 95% CI: 1.55–3.86), overweight/obese (AOR: 4.29; 95% CI: 2.48–7.42) and family history of hypertension (AOR: 2.95; 95% CI: 1.70–5.12) were significantly associated risk factors of hypertension.ConclusionThe prevalence of hypertension among older adults was high. Older age ≥70 years, low intake of fruits, overweight/obese and having a family history of hypertension were significantly associated with hypertension. Consideration should be given for community-based screening of hypertension among older adults. In addition, fruit consumption habits and maintaining normal weight should be encouraged.

IntroductionAlthough there has been a remarkable decline in under-five mortality through the decades, it is still highest in socio-economically disadvantaged countries, including Ethiopia. The benefits of reducing under-five mortality have been highly emphasized in the ambitious target of Sustainable Development Goals. The risk factors of under-five mortality have not been exhaustively researched in Ethiopia using recent nationwide survey data.ObjectiveThis study aimed to determine the risk factors of under-five mortality using the recent nationwide survey data.MethodThe data source for this study was the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted and statistical significance was declared at p value < 0.05.ResultsThe data for a total of 10,641 under-five children were analyzed and the under-five mortality rate was 67 per 1000 live births in this study. In the final model, rural residence (AOR=2.0, [1.20, 3.30], P=0.008), mothers who gave birth with preceding birth intervals of shorter than 24 months (AOR=2.12, CI=[1.72, 2.61], P<0.000), multiple births (AOR=4.74, CI=[3.34, 6.69], P<0.000), very small size of child at birth (AOR=1.43, CI= [1.10, 1.85], P=0.007), and being male (AOR=1.30, CI=[1.07, 1.57], P<0.008) showed significant association with under-five mortality compared to their counterparts.ConclusionUnder-five mortality was significantly associated with place of residence, preceding birth interval, plurality, size of child at birth, and sex of the child. Thus, special emphasis should be placed on children with rural residence, preceding birth interval of shorter than 24 months, very small size of the child at birth, and male children.

Background: In Ethiopia, large scale health care efforts had been done to promote infant health and survival. However, nationwide data is lacking on the survival status and proximate determinants of infant mortality in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was aimed to identify the survival status and determinants of infant mortality in Ethiopia using Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS). Methods: The data source for this study was the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey. Records of all 10, 641 live births and survival informations of all 2826 infants born 5 years before the survey were reviewed. Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards regression model were employed to identify the proximate determinants associated with the infant mortality. Results: The results of Kaplan-Meier estimation showed that the highest infant deaths occurred in the early months of life immediately after birth and declined in the later months of follow-up time. About 65% of infant deaths occurred during the first month's of life. Using the Cox proportional hazard model we found that: mothers' level of education, preceding birth interval, plurality, size of child at birth and sex of child as significant predictors of infant mortality. The risk of dying in infancy was lower for babies of mothers with secondary education (RR = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.56-0.98), higher education (RR = 0.51, 95% CI:0.45-0.80), for preceding birth interval longer than 47 months (RR = 0.51, 95% CI: 0.27, 0.92) and higher for birth interval shorter than 24 months (RR = 2.02, 95% CI:1.40-2.92), for multiple births (RR = 4.07, 95% CI: 1.14-14.50), for very small size of infants (RR = 3.74, 95% CI:1.73-8.12), for smaller than average size infants (RR = 3.23, 95% CI: 1.40-7.41) and for female infants (RR = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.01-1.56) compared to the reference category. Conclusions: A significant proportion of infants died during the study period of which nearly two third of deaths occurred during the first months of life. Thus, close monitoring and supporting reproductive age mothers to increase the uptakes of family planning and antenatal care and follow-up is highly recommended to increase the infant survival.

Infection by the human immune deficiency virus (HIV) is the strongest risk factor for latent or new infection of tuberculosis (TB) through reduction of CD4 T-lymphocytes and cellular immune function. Almost one-third of deaths among people living with HIV are attributed to tuberculosis. Despite this evidence, in Ethiopia, there is a scarcity of information regarding the incidence of tuberculosis for children living with HIV. Thus, this study assessed time to develop and predictors for incidence of tuberculosis in children attending HIV/AIDS care in public hospitals: North West Ethiopia 2021. Methods. A facility-based retrospective cohort study was conducted among 421 seropositive children on antiretroviral therapy in two hospitals between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2020. EPI-DATA version 3.2 and STATA/14 software were used for data entry and analysis, respectively. Tuberculosis-free survival time was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier survival curve. Bivariate and multivariable Cox regression model was fitted to identify predictors at a P value <0.05 within 95% CI. Results. In the final analysis, a total of 421 seropositive children were included, of whom, 64 (15.2%) developed tuberculosis at the time of follow-up. The mean (±SD) age of the children was 10.62 ± 3.32 years, with a median (IQR) time to develop TB that was 23.5 ( IQR = ± 19 ) months. This study found that the incidence of tuberculosis was 5.9 (95% CI: 4.7; 7.6) per 100 person-years (PY) risk of observation. Cases at baseline not taking cotrimoxazol preventive therapy (CPT) ( AHR = 2.5 ; 95% CI, 1.4-4.7, P < 0.021 ), being severely stunted ( AHR = 2.9 : 95% CI, 1.2-7.8, P < 0.03 ), and having low hemoglobin level ( AHR = 4.0 ; 95% CI, 2.1-8.1, P < 0.001 ) were found to be predictors of tuberculosis. Conclusion. A higher rate of tuberculosis incidence was reported in our study as compared with previous studies in Ethiopia. Cases at baseline not taking cotrimoxazol preventive therapy (CPT), being severely stunted, and having low hemoglobin (≤10 mg/dl) levels were found to be at higher risk to developed TB incidence.

Background Determining the extent of seropositivity of SARS-CoV-2 antibody has the potential to guide prevention and control efforts. We aimed to determine the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibody among individuals aged above15 years and residing in the congregate settings of Dire Dawa city administration, Ethiopia. Method We analyzed COVID-19 seroprevalence data on 684 individuals from a community based cross-sectional survey conducted among individuals aged above 15 years and residing in congregate settings in Dire Dawa from June 15 to July 30, 2020. Data were collected using interview and blood sample collection. Participants were asked about demographic characteristics, COVID-19 symptoms, and their practice of preventive measures. Seroprevalence was determined using SARS-CoV-2 IgG test. Bivariate and multivariate multilevel mixed effects logistic regression model was fitted and statistical significance was set at p value < 0.05. Result The estimated SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence was 3.2% (95 % CI 2.0–4.8) in the study region with no differences by age and sex but considerable differences were observed by self-reported practice of COVID-19 preventive measures. The cluster effect is not significant (P = 0.396) which has suggested no evidence of heterogeneity in SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among the clusters. The odds of SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence were higher for individuals who were employed and work by moving from home to work area (AOR; 9.73 95% CI 2.51, 37.68), reported of not wearing facemasks when leaving home (AOR; 6.4 95% CI 2.30, 17.66) and did not practice physical distancing measures (AOR; 10 95% CI 3.01, 33.20) compared to their counterparts, respectively. Our estimated seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 among participants who reported not to have practiced social distancing measures was 12.8 (95% CI, 7.0, 19) and 1.5 (95% CI, 0.5, 2.5) among those who reported of practicing them. More than 80% of study participants reported of implementing infection prevention measures (face masks and physical distancing recommendations). Conclusion The detected SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among the study participants was low at the time of the survey indicating higher proportion of population yet to be infected. COVID-19 preventive measures were associated with reduced seroprevalence and should be promoted to avoid transmission to the uninfected majority.