Prevention of Occupational Hazards Among Sanitary Workers: Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Survey in Bulehora, West Guji Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia

INTRODUCTION

The production of waste is due to the result of commercial activities, consumption, and utilization of products or materials. It is further believed that mainly solid waste includes non-harmful waste which may be from households, mainly kitchens, and even from organizations and institutions, shops and various types of markets, and manufacturing industries. Solid waste handling, management, and accurate and appropriate disposal is a hot topic relating to public and environmental health concerns.

METHODS

A cross-sectional quantitative study design was incorporated to assess knowledge, attitude, and practice and associated factors regarding prevention of occupational risks and health hazards among sanitary workers in Bulehora University, a government organization in West Guji Zone, Ethiopia. One hundred and ninety-one solid waste handlers found to be working in this institution were included in the study.

RESULTS

The response rate of samples in the present study was found to be 94.4%, of which the majority were females, which accounted for 79.7%. The median age of the study samples was 29 years. It was found that 64% of study samples stated good knowledge of the prevention of occupational health risks. About 76.4% of solid waste collectors had a good attitude and only 8.9% showed good practice regarding prevention of occupational health hazards. Job dissatisfaction was found to be a statistically significant factor along with the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in implementing good practice work patterns among sanitation workers, even though they had been provided with basic personal protective equipment.

CONCLUSION

The study concluded that there is a need for development of plans on implementation of basic occupational health services while enforcing the provision of personal protective equipment and supervising solid waste collectors.

Assessment of factors affecting practice towards COVID-19 among health care workers in health care facility of West Guji Zone, South Ethiopia, 2020

INTRODUCTION

health care workers are at greatest risk to being infected with COVID-19 in health care facilities. This study is focused on assessing the level of practice and factors affecting practice towards COVID-19 among health care workers in health care facility of West Guji Zone, Oromia region, Ethiopia.

METHODS

health facility based cross-sectional study design was carried out from December 1st to 30th 2020 among health care providers in West Guji Zone. The simple random sampling technique was used in study and total sample size for this study was 281. The data enter into Epi Data version 4.4.3.1 and SPSS Version 25 used for analysis. The descriptive statistics and logistic regression are needed. The cut point for statically significance settled at p < 0.05.

RESULTS

the response rate in this study was 97.8%. Of all study participants, 50.2%, 8.4%, and 6.5% had traveling history, chronic illnesses, and contact with COVID-19 confirmed cases. Too much working, lack of training, and shortage of protective equipment were reported by 54.5%, 50.9%, and 29.1% respectively. About 36.4% and 38.2% of health care providers had poor level of knowledge and prevention practice towards COVID-19. Working at hospital (AOR= 0.156, 95% CI=0.033-0.741), awareness of the action during suggestive symptoms and signs of COVID-19 developed (AOR= 0.038, 95% CI=0.002-0.817), hand washing (AOR= 0.043, 95% CI=0.008-0.238), not going to crowded place (AOR= 0.001, 95% CI=0.001-0.030), applying physical distance (AOR=0.091,95% CI=0.041-0.579) adherence to triage and isolation protocol (AOR=0.317,95%=0.039-0.577)and knowledge level of COVID-19 (AOR=2.378,95%CI=1.523-6.322) were factors significantly associated with prevention practice of COVID-19.

CONCLUSION

in this study, the knowledge level and prevention practice gap was identified. Type of facility, awareness of the action during suggestive symptoms and signs of COVID-19 developed, hands washing to the standard, not going to crowded place, keeping physical distance, adherence to triage and isolation protocol and having good level of knowledge about COVID-19 were factors associated with good prevention practices. Adequate supply of personal protective materials; provision of continuous on-job training and guideline for prevention of COVID-19 must be given to all health care facilities.

Influence of Lost to Follow Up from Antiretroviral Therapy Among Retroviral Infected Patients at Tuberculosis Centers in Public Hospitals of Benishangul-Gumuz, Ethiopia

Background

Broadening access to healthcare (ART) antiretroviral therapy has led to a 19% reduction in the death rate of people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus. This study would also describe the status and deciding factors of ART in (TB) tuberculosis centers in public hospitals of Benishangul-Gumuz, Ethiopia, for (LTFU) lost follow-up among (RVI) retroviral infected patients.

Methods

Hospital-based, unrivalled analysis of the case management (3:1) design was conducted. A total of 752 study participants (563 controls and 189 cases) Picked by systematic random sampling methodology, and where reviewed their charts from TB Centers. Data were entered and cleaned using Epi data version 3.1.1 and then exported to SPSS version 22 for analysis. To analyze the statistical relationship between the outcome variable and independent variables, binary logistic regression was used. Relevance was declared at a p-value <0.05.

Results

A total of 1122 (25.3%) were LTFU. Among index cases with male cases, there were higher odds of lost to follow up (AOR= 1.68, 95% CI; 1.085, 2.609), 15-24 old age group have no formal education, civil servant were also having high comparatively. In index cases with identified parents, the risk of LTFU up had lower HIV status (AOR=0.5; 95% CI; 0.24, 0.997). Rest all variables showed low odds to LTFU.

Conclusion

A large number of patients enrolled in ARTwere missing from follow-up at TB centers, but unfortunately did not make the next appointment reported. The absence of prophylaxis was accepted as an independent determinant of LTFUfor ART.

Determinants and Prevalence of Impotence among Diabetic Patients in Northwestern Hospitals of Nefasit, Eretria

BACKGROUND

Impotence incidence in patients with elevated glycemic index valuesis 30%-69.01%. While impotence is very prevalent among diabetic men, the condition is mostly left unaddressed and needs assessment and care. Impotence can influence the quality of social, mental, leisure, and sexual life, and can contribute to broken relationships, depression, and reduced self-esteem. The goal of the present work was to research the commonness and determinants of impotence among diabetic patients in hospitals in the northwestern region of Nefasit .

METHODS

A cross-sectional hospital analysis was done of 239 patients with diabetes mellitusin five of six hospitals in Nefasit by means of systemic random sampling. methods. Data were collected for 2 months from Februaryto April 2019.

RESULTS

The mean age of participants was 43.32 years and mean duration of diabetes 8.7 years. Impotence prevalence was found to be 74.2%: 36.1% mild, 34.2% moderate, and 5.8% serious sexual dysfunction. Statistical analysis showed that impotence was considerably associated with being elderly (AOR 14.21, 95% CI 3.22-70.00), prolonged diabetes (AOR 4.1, 95% CI 1.22-11.16), and lower monthly income (AOR0.279, 95% CI 0.133-0.614). There was no association found with BMI, comorbidity, sugar control, or intake of alcohol.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of impotence in the present study was quite high. Very few patients (5.1%) had been screened for impotence. Care of impotent patients in hospitals for diabetes should be a regular health protocol during follow-up care.

Prevalence of occupational exposure to HIV and utilization of HIV post-exposure prophylaxis among health staff at Bule Hora General Hospital, Bule Hora, Ethiopia

Introduction

occupational risk of HIV and low utilization of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) among nurses has become a global public health concern. According to the International Labor Organization estimates, 2.02 million people die each year from work-related accidents or diseases. More than 317 million people suffer, and there are an estimated 337 million fatal and non-fatal work-related accidents per year. WHO report indicates, more than 59 million health care workers around the world are exposed to biological hazards and about 10% of HIV among health workers is the result of needle stick injury. This study focused on assessing the prevalence of occupational exposure to HIV post-exposure prophylaxis among nurses at Bule Hora Hospital.

Methods

institutional based cross-sectional study design was conducted from March 2019 to April 2019. In this study, 306 study participants were involved in the study data was collected using a structured and semi-structured questionnaire. The cleaned data (edited) was entered into Epi-Data version 4.4.3.1 and exported to SPSS Statistics Version 20 for analysis.

Results

high incidence (61.6%) of occupational exposure to HIV was found in this study. The two leading types of exposure were blood splash 40.5% and needle stick 37.8% injury followed by giving injection 27% and uncooperativeness 21.6% subsequently. About 35.1% of nurses were found to be not using personal protective equipment’s while being exposed to HIV infection while on work.

Conclusion

occupational exposure to HIV is quite common among nurses in Bule Hora Hospital. Blood splash exposure and exposure to needle stick injury are believed to be the commonest types of workplace risks. Nearly 29.7% of nurses have no training on infection prevention and management while at work. Nearly 50% of the exposed nurses didn’t report the incident to the concerned authorities. One fourth of the sources of exposure were unscreened and among the screened sources of exposure 42.9% were found to be HIV positive.

Effect of Planned Teaching Programme on Knowledge Regarding Cardiac Rehabilitation among Staff Nurses

With a view to improve cardiac rehabilitation, an evaluative study was undertaken to assess the impact of planned teaching programme on 40 staff nurses of a hospital in Belgaum (Karnataka). The findings indicated that there was significant improvement in knowledge of staff nurses along various parameters after administering planned teaching programme.