Objectives: Globally, novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly since it was first identified and challenging the provision of essential services for low-resource countries. Healthcare workers involved in providing care are at high risk of developing mental health problems. The aim of this was to determine the prevalence of depressive symptoms due to COVID-19 and associated factors among healthcare workers in the West Guji zone in public health facilities, southern Ethiopia. Methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted in public health facilities found in the West Guji zone. A simple random sampling technique was employed to select 283 study subjects. This study was used to assess the prevalence of depression symptoms using Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21, a depression subscale. Descriptive statistics, binary and multiple logistic regressions were used. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with 95% confidence interval will be estimated to assess the strength of associations and statistical significance will be declared at a p-value < 0.05. Results: Out of 283 eligible healthcare workers, 275 respondents had participated in this study with a 97.2% response rate. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 21.5%. The independent predictors associated with depressive symptoms due to COVID-19 were age (adjusted odds ratio = 2.35, 95% confidence interval = 1.126–3.95), family size (adjusted odds ratio = 3.56, 95% confidence interval = 1.09–11.62), alcohol use (adjusted odds ratio = 4.31, 95% confidence interval = 1.76–10.55), medical illness (adjusted odds ratio = 9.56, 95% confidence interval = 3.71–24.59), having training on COVID-19 (adjusted odds ratio = 0.37, 95% confidence interval = 0.17–0.81), and lack of knowledge on COVID-19 (adjusted odds ratio = 15.34, 95% confidence interval = 6.32–37.21). Conclusion: The prevalence of depressive symptoms among healthcare workers due to COVID-19 was high. Factors associated with depressive symptoms were age, family size, alcohol use, medical illness, having training on COVID–19, and lack of knowledge on COVID-19.

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Background The COVID-19 pandemic caused a dramatic loss of life around the world and has caused mental and social problems that affect every country in the world. Healthcare workers involved in providing care are at high risk of developing mental health problems as they face heavy workloads, life-and-death decisions, and the risk of infection is high. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of COVID-19-related anxiety and stress and their associated factors among healthcare workers in Southern Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted in public health facility located in the West Guji district. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 283 study participants. Descriptive, binary, and multiple logistic regression statistics were used. Odds ratios adjusted with 95% CI were used, and statistical significance was declared with a p-value of < 0.05. Results A total of 275 participants were included, with a response rate of 97.2%. The prevalence of anxiety and stress were 25.5% and 9.1%, respectively. Factors associated with anxiety symptoms were age, psychoactive drug use, alcohol use, and monthly income, and stress symptoms were alcohol use, medical illness, and knowledge of healthcare workers due to COVID-19 pandemic. ConclusionThe prevalence of anxiety and stress among healthcare workers due to COVID-19 were an average compared with studies in low-income and high-income countries. Health institutions must focus on the well-being of healthcare workers during the fighting for COVID-19 and comprehensive psychological assistance to support the mental well-being of healthcare workers by giving different training.

BackgroundEarly initiation of breast feeding (EIBF) and exclusive breast feeding (EBF) are the cheapest, feasible and simplest nutritional interventions for infants. Effects of maternal education on EIBF and EBF are not consistent across studies. This study assessed the effects of maternal education on EIBF and EBF.MethodsA cross-sectional study was done based on data collected for phase 7 Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in 16 sub-Saharan African countries from 2015 to 2019. Data of the last-born children younger than 6 (n=19 103) and 24 (n=75 293) months were analysed to assess associations between maternal education and EIBF and EBF practices, respectively. To assess the associations, X2 test and logistic regression were done. Adjusted ORs (AORs) and their 95% CIs were used to declare statistical significance of the associations.ResultsAfter controlling for all other potentially confounding variables, mothers who completed primary school were 1.29 (95% CI AOR: 1.24 to 1.34) times more likely to initiate breast feeding within the first 1 hour of delivery compared with mothers without education. However, mothers with secondary (AOR: 1.01; 95% CI: 0.96 to 1.06) or higher (AOR: 0.96; 95% CI: 0.87 to 1.05) level of education were not significantly different from mothers without education concerning EIBF. Similarly, mothers educated to primary school were 1.37 (95% CI AOR: 1.27 to 1.48) times more likely to exclusively breast feed compared with mothers without education. However, mothers educated to secondary (AOR: 1.07; 95% CI: 0.98 to 1.17) or higher (AOR: 1.07; 95% CI: 0.89 to 1.27) level of education were not significantly different from uneducated mothers regarding EBF practices.ConclusionsEffects of maternal education on EIBF and EBF depend on the level of educational attainment. Future studies should look for reasons for the lower rate of EIBF and EBF among mothers with higher educational status.

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