BackgroundPneumonia, which is a form of acute lower respiratory tract infection, affects the lung parenchyma and destructs alveolar air space. Pneumonia is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in under-five children. It was estimated that pneumonia kills 900,000 under-five children each year worldwide. Approximately 172 deaths per 1,000 live births occur in sub-Saharan African countries, with pneumonia being the major cause. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and determinant factors of pneumonia inunder-five children in southern Ethiopia.MethodologyAn institutional cross-sectional study was employed. A total of 239 child–caregiver pairs were included. Data were collected by trained nurses using a semi-structured questionnaire. The collected data were checked for completeness, coded and entered into EPI data version 4.6, and exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis. Results were reported as the mean, frequency, and percentile. Logistic regression was employed to assess statistically significant predictors of pneumonia. Variables with a p-value <0.05 were considered statistically significant factors of pneumonia.ResultThe prevalence of pneumonia in the study area was 30%. Among the factors assessed, place of food cooking—inside the living room [adjusted odd ratio (AOR) = 5.79, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.47–13.58], nonexclusive breastfeeding (AOR = 3.26, 95% CI: 1.42–7.52), vitamin A supplementation status (AOR = 5.62, 95% CI: 2.65–11.94), and vaccination status (AOR = 3.59, 95% CI: 1.49–8.66) were significantly associated with the occurrence of pneumonia in under-five children.ConclusionThis study showed that the prevalence of pneumonia was relatively higher in Arba Minch town than other parts of the country. Place of food cooking, nonexclusive breastfeeding, vitamin A supplementation status, and vaccination status of children were significant factors of pneumonia among under-five children. Enhancing caregivers’/mothers’ awareness of predicted factors was needed to reduce the incidence of childhood pneumonia and to enhance children's quality of health.

Background: The use of contraceptives has become prevalent among women in Ethiopia. Oral contraceptive use has been suggested to trigger changes in glucose metabolism, energy expenditure, blood pressure, and body weight, among the various populations and ethnic groups. Objective: To elucidate the pattern of fasting blood sugar (FBS), blood pressure and body mass index (BMI) among combined oral contraceptive (COC) pills users, taking into account other confounding factors including socioeconomic conditions and physical activity status. Methods: An institution based cross-sectional study design was employed. A total of 110 healthy women using pills were recruited as cases. Another 110 healthy women not using any hormonal contraceptives were recruited as matched controls. A study was conducted between October 2018 and January 2019. Fasting Capillary blood sample was collected from the study participants for the estimation of the FBS level. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were measured and means arterial blood pressure was calculated for each participant. Body weight and height were measured to compute body mass index. Data obtained was entered and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 23 software packages. Results: FBS level in users was significantly increased compared to controls (88.55 ± 7.89 vs. 86.00 ± 9.85 in users and controls respectively, P = 0.025). There was a significant difference in mean arterial blood pressure of users compared to controls (88.2 ± 8.48 vs. 86.0 ± 6.74 respectively, P=0.04). The mean weight and body mass index of users were significantly increased (P = 0.03 and P = 0.003, respectively). Changes in mean fasting blood sugar level and mean weight of users were independent (P = 0.27 and P = 0.46) to the duration of use (3-12, 13-24 and ≥ 25 months). On the other hand, changes in mean body mass index and mean arterial blood pressure of users were dependent of the duration of use (P = 0.03 and P = 0.000 respectively). Conclusions: Overall, oral contraceptive pills use appears to cause a 2.9% increase in fasting blood glucose level, a 2.5% increase in mean arterial blood pressure and a 3.9% increase in body mass index among the users.

BackgroundThe use of contraceptives has become prevalent among women in Ethiopia. Oral contraceptive use has been suggested to trigger changes in glucose metabolism, energy expenditure, blood pressure, and body weight, among various populations and ethnic groups.ObjectiveTo elucidate the pattern of fasting blood glucose, blood pressure, and body mass index among combined oral contraceptive pills users compared to controls.MethodsAn institution-based cross-sectional study design was employed. A total of 110 healthy women using combined oral contraceptive pills were recruited as cases. Another 110 healthy age and sex-matched women not using any hormonal contraceptives were recruited as controls. A study was conducted between October 2018 and January 2019. Data obtained was entered and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 23 software packages. One-way ANOVA was used to identify the variation of variables in relation to the duration of use of the drug. The P-value of < 0.05 at the 95% confidence level was statistically significant.ResultsFasting blood glucose level among oral contraceptive users (88.55 ± 7.89 mg/dl) was higher than fasting blood glucose level among oral contraceptive non-users (86.00 ± 9.85 mg/dl) with a p-value of 0.025. The mean arterial pressure of oral contraceptive users (88.2 ± 8.48 mmHg) was relatively higher than their counterparts (86.0 ± 6.74 mmHg), with a p-value of 0.04. Comparatively the body weight and body mass index among oral contraceptive users were 2.5% and 3.9% higher than non-users with a p-value of 0.03 and 0.003, respectively(5). Utilization of oral contraceptive pills for prolonged period of time seemed to be a significant predictive factor for higher mean arterial pressure and body mass index with p < 0.001and p < 0.05 respectively.ConclusionsUse of combined oral contraceptives was associated with higher fasting blood glucose (+2.9%), mean arterial pressure (+2.5%), and body mass index (3.9%) compared to controls.