Background: Neonatal sepsis is known to result in 26% of mortalities in children below the age of five worldwide, countries in Sub-Saharan African recording the highest deaths. Although the deaths of neonates have red...Background: Neonatal sepsis is known to result in 26% of mortalities in children below the age of five worldwide, countries in Sub-Saharan African recording the highest deaths. Although the deaths of neonates have reduced world over up to 3.6 million counts, Chilenje General Hospital continues to register significant numbers of neonatal sepsis. This study aimed at investigating the factors associated with neonatal sepsis at Chilenje General Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia. Methods: An institution based cross-sectional study design was conducted at Chilenje General Hospital. Data were collected by the use of a researcher designed questionnaire and analysed using SPSS version 25. Frequencies were used for descriptive analysis while bivariate analysis was used to establish association among risk factors and outcome variables. Variables with significant association at 5% level were further subjected to multivariate analysis at α ≤ 0.05. Results: The study showed that out of 156 neonates, 40.4% (63/156) developed neonatal sepsis. Maternal factors that projected the incidence of sepsis amongst neonates were distance to nearest health facility [AOR: 6.3 (95% CI: 1.8 - 21.3), p = 0.003], occupation [AOR: 5.8 (95% CI: 1.2 - 27.6), p = 0.026], number of antenatal visits [AOR: 6.3 (95% CI: 1.9 - 21.6), p = 0.003], number of vaginal examinations [AOR: 10.8 (95% CI: 2.8 - 42), p = 0.001], and pregnancy induced hypertension [AOR: 5.4 (95% CI: 1.4 - 20), p = 0.013]. Neonatal risk factor which projected the incidence of sepsis was Neonate’s age [AOR: 18.8 (95% CI: 4.9 - 72.5), p = 0.000]. Conclusions: The chance of developing neonatal sepsis was strongly correlated with both mother and child variables, according to the study. In order to lower the chance of the neonate acquiring sepsis, encouraging maternal antenatal care use would assist to detect risk factors during prenatal, perinatal and postnatal care and apply the proper therapies.展开更多
Background: Vaginal stenosis is an important adverse effect of brachytherapy for cervicalcancer. This study aimed to determine attitudes and practices contributing to vaginal stenosis following brachytherapy at the Ca...Background: Vaginal stenosis is an important adverse effect of brachytherapy for cervicalcancer. This study aimed to determine attitudes and practices contributing to vaginal stenosis following brachytherapy at the Cancer Diseases Hospital in Lusaka—Zambia. Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study design was employed, where 163 respondents were randomly selected after meeting inclusion criteria. A researcher-administered questionnaire was used to collect data and SPSS version 25 was used for data analysis. Results: Out of the 163 women enrolled in this study, 42.3% had developed vaginal stenosis while 57.7% did not with age range 15 - 60+ years. 76% exhibited good practices to measures against vaginal stenosis while majority (93.9%) of the respondents demonstrated poor attitudes towards measures to prevent the condition. Women with poor practices versus good practices (OR = 1.07, CI = 0.52 - 2.21, p = 0.855), poor attitudes versus good attitudes (aOR = 1.28, CI = 0.29 - 5.71, p = 0.746) and those employed versus unemployed (aOR = 1.76, CI = 0.73 - 4.27, p = 0.210) had increased odds of vaginal stenosis. However, these increasing effects were not significant at 5% level of significance. Although length of brachytherapy showed no significant effect independently, the odds of having vaginal stenosis were over 2 times higher for women who had been on brachytherapy between 6 and 12 months compared to those on brachytherapy for less than 6 months (OR = 2.45, CI = 1.03 - 5.82, p = 0.042). Conclusions: Failure to practice recommended measures and poor attitudes towards therapy contributes to vaginal stenosis. Efforts should be channeled towards overcoming religious, traditional, cultural and personal impediments contributing to vaginal stenosis in women with cervical cancer receiving brachytherapy.展开更多
文摘Background: Neonatal sepsis is known to result in 26% of mortalities in children below the age of five worldwide, countries in Sub-Saharan African recording the highest deaths. Although the deaths of neonates have reduced world over up to 3.6 million counts, Chilenje General Hospital continues to register significant numbers of neonatal sepsis. This study aimed at investigating the factors associated with neonatal sepsis at Chilenje General Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia. Methods: An institution based cross-sectional study design was conducted at Chilenje General Hospital. Data were collected by the use of a researcher designed questionnaire and analysed using SPSS version 25. Frequencies were used for descriptive analysis while bivariate analysis was used to establish association among risk factors and outcome variables. Variables with significant association at 5% level were further subjected to multivariate analysis at α ≤ 0.05. Results: The study showed that out of 156 neonates, 40.4% (63/156) developed neonatal sepsis. Maternal factors that projected the incidence of sepsis amongst neonates were distance to nearest health facility [AOR: 6.3 (95% CI: 1.8 - 21.3), p = 0.003], occupation [AOR: 5.8 (95% CI: 1.2 - 27.6), p = 0.026], number of antenatal visits [AOR: 6.3 (95% CI: 1.9 - 21.6), p = 0.003], number of vaginal examinations [AOR: 10.8 (95% CI: 2.8 - 42), p = 0.001], and pregnancy induced hypertension [AOR: 5.4 (95% CI: 1.4 - 20), p = 0.013]. Neonatal risk factor which projected the incidence of sepsis was Neonate’s age [AOR: 18.8 (95% CI: 4.9 - 72.5), p = 0.000]. Conclusions: The chance of developing neonatal sepsis was strongly correlated with both mother and child variables, according to the study. In order to lower the chance of the neonate acquiring sepsis, encouraging maternal antenatal care use would assist to detect risk factors during prenatal, perinatal and postnatal care and apply the proper therapies.
文摘Background: Vaginal stenosis is an important adverse effect of brachytherapy for cervicalcancer. This study aimed to determine attitudes and practices contributing to vaginal stenosis following brachytherapy at the Cancer Diseases Hospital in Lusaka—Zambia. Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study design was employed, where 163 respondents were randomly selected after meeting inclusion criteria. A researcher-administered questionnaire was used to collect data and SPSS version 25 was used for data analysis. Results: Out of the 163 women enrolled in this study, 42.3% had developed vaginal stenosis while 57.7% did not with age range 15 - 60+ years. 76% exhibited good practices to measures against vaginal stenosis while majority (93.9%) of the respondents demonstrated poor attitudes towards measures to prevent the condition. Women with poor practices versus good practices (OR = 1.07, CI = 0.52 - 2.21, p = 0.855), poor attitudes versus good attitudes (aOR = 1.28, CI = 0.29 - 5.71, p = 0.746) and those employed versus unemployed (aOR = 1.76, CI = 0.73 - 4.27, p = 0.210) had increased odds of vaginal stenosis. However, these increasing effects were not significant at 5% level of significance. Although length of brachytherapy showed no significant effect independently, the odds of having vaginal stenosis were over 2 times higher for women who had been on brachytherapy between 6 and 12 months compared to those on brachytherapy for less than 6 months (OR = 2.45, CI = 1.03 - 5.82, p = 0.042). Conclusions: Failure to practice recommended measures and poor attitudes towards therapy contributes to vaginal stenosis. Efforts should be channeled towards overcoming religious, traditional, cultural and personal impediments contributing to vaginal stenosis in women with cervical cancer receiving brachytherapy.
