College of Health Sciences

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    UNINTENDED PREGNANCY AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN ATTENDING ANTENATAL CARE IN MEKELLE CITY PUBLIC HEALTH FACILITIES, TIGRAY REGION, ETHIOPIA, 2025
    (Mekelle University, 2025-04-28) TSEGA WELEGEBRIAL
    Unintended pregnancy is an important public health problem for women of child - bearing age, because of its negative impacts on health and social for both mothers and children. Unintended pregnancy causes maternal mortality and morbidity. Worldwide, although unplanned pregnancies seem to be decreasing, 38% of pregnancies are unintended. In sub-Saharan Africa, unintended pregnancy accounts for more than a quarter of the 40 million pregnancies that occur annually. In Ethiopia, about 17% and 8% of pregnancies are mistimed and unwanted, respectively. But, there is lack of information particularity post-conflict recovery in the study area on the prevalence of unintended pregnancy and its associated factors. To assess the prevalence and associated factors of unintended pregnancy among pregnant women attending antenatal care in Mekelle City Public Health Facility, Tigray region, Ethiopia, 2025. A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 394 Pregnant women attending ANC in Mekelle City Public Health Facility. A simple random sampling technique was used to select study health facilities and a systematic random sampling technique was used to select study participants. Data was collected via face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire. Data were entered into SPSS version 25 for analysis. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate logistic regression analyzes were used to identify the association. Variables that showed a P-value of less than 0.25 during the bivariate analysis were used and were entered into a multivariate logistic regression model to identify their independent effects. Odds ratio with a 95% CI & p value of less than 0.05 were computed to assess the presence and degree of statistical association between dependent and independent variables. The overall magnitude of unintended pregnancy was 32.7% with 95% CI (27.9, 38.1). Of those, 89.1% were mistimed and 10.9% were unwanted. The multiple logistic regression results revealed that, age group from 15 to 24 (AOR=4.702,95% CI 1.948,11.348). The women and husband’s decision in the family planning (AOR=0.292,95% CI 0.155,0.551), family size of 3-5(AOR=2.730,95%CI 1.512,4.930) and family size of≥6(AOR=3.967,95%CI 1.228,12.817), no formal education (AOR=3.336, 95%CI 1.340,8.308) were significantly associated with unintended pregnancy. There is no single factor accounted for the relatively high of unintended pregnancy rather many factors were interwoven to affect the event. Efforts should be made to scale up shared decision-making power in family planning services and there is the need to promote family planning services and awareness to minimize unintended pregnancy.
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    Assessment of Schistosoma mansoni Infection and Associated Risk Factors Among Elementary School Children in Gembella and Feleg-Daero, Mekelle City, Ethiopia
    (Mekelle University, 2025-04-25) Abeba Teklu
    Schistosomiasis is a widespread parasitic infection transmitted through contact with contaminated water, posing a major global public health challenge, particularly in developing countries. It affects individuals of all ages, with children being among the most vulnerable. Identifying the prevalence, associated risk factors, and high-risk populations is crucial for designing and implementing effective prevention and control strategies. This study aimed to assess Schistosoma mansoni infection and the associated risk factors among elementary school children in Gembella and Feleg-Daero (Adis Alem) elementary schools, in Mekelle City, Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to September 2024, employing a purposive sampling technique to select schoolchildren. A total of 308 stool samples collected from elementary school children aged 7 to 20 years were examined using the wet mount and Kato-Katz techniques. A pre-tested questionnaire was utilized to gather socio-demographic information and associated risk factors. The data was coded, entered, and analyzed using descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression and the significance level was set at p < 0.05 with 95% confidence interval. The overall prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni infection was 51.0% (157/308), with a median infection intensity of 192 eggs per gram of stool (EPG) among infected individuals. Among the infected children, 26.1%, 49.7% and 24.2% had light, moderate and heavy infections respectively. Significant risk factors for Schistosoma mansoni infection included swimming (AOR: 4.89; 95% CI:1.35, 17.75, P<0.001), washing clothes in rivers or streams (AOR:3.72; 95% CI: 1.12,12.37, P<0.001), engaging in irrigation activities (AOR:1.03;95%CI: 0.28,3.77, P<0.022), and bathing in river (AOR: 2.19,95% CI, 0.17-28.76, P< 0.001) and water contacts with flowing river (AOR:1.41; 95%CI: 0.23, 8.50, P<0.001). Schistosoma mansoni infection among children in this study was alarmingly high, with nearly half of the infected cases classified as having moderate intensity. These findings underscore the urgent need for targeted interventions, including health education, improved access to safe water, and regular deworming programs, to effectively reduce the disease burden and its associated risks.
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    A Study on Electroencephalography (EEG): Its Indications, Findings, and Predictors of Abnormal Results In Pediatrics Age group at Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Mekelle, Northern Ethiopia
    (Mekelle University, 2024-10-01) Freweini Gebremeskel (MD)
    Background: Electroencephalography, often referred to as EEG, is a non-invasive electrophysiological imaging technique used to record the brain’s electrical activity. In Ethiopia, particularly Tigray, there is no study a specific study on EEG study among pediatric age group, its indications, and findings at Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital (ACSH) in Mekelle, Northern Ethiopia. Objective: To study the indications for EEG, the prevalence of abnormal EEG results, and identify predictors of EEG abnormality in pediatrics age group at ACSH. Methods : A cross-sectional study was carried out on 439 pediatric patients who underwent EEG study at ACSH for a range of neurological disorders from October 2019 to September 2024. Data were collected using a checklist, with the data source being electronic EEG records. The ODK collect mobile application was used for simultaneous data collection and entry. After exporting data to SPSS 27, both descriptive and inferential statistics were applied. Binary logistic regression was fitted to identify predictors of EEG abnormality. A p-value less than 0.05 was used to declare statistical significance. Result: The mean age of the study participants is 7.9 years and about two-third (63.6%) were male. More than three-fourths (77.0%) were right-handed and the most common clinical diagnosis wa generalized epilepsy (62%) and 89% of the participants had seizure history. The most prevalent EEG finding was generalized epileptiform (43.1%). Overall, two-thirds (66.5%) of the EEG studies exhibited abnormality. The odds of abnormal EEG findings were almost five times higher in children not on remission (AOR=4.6, 95% CI: 1.9 to 11.2, p=0.001). The odds of abnormal EEG were seven times higher in children with history of seizure (AOR=7.0, 95% CI: 3.4 to 14.3, p<0.001). The odds of abnormal EEG findings were found to increase by 20% as duration of epilepsy rises by one year (AOR=1.2, 95% CI: 1.1 to 1.4, p=0.001). The odds of abnormal EEG results were 12.6 times higher among children who had no febrile seizures than their counterparts (AOR=12.6, 95% CI: 1.4 to 111.3, p=0.022). Conclusion and Recommendations: In the present study, the prevalence of abnormal EEG results was higher compared to other Ethiopian studies due to different reasons. Factors remarkably related to EEG abnormality are duration of seizure/epilepsy, febrile seizure, seizure history, and remission status. Therefore, more emphasis should be given to children with an ongoing seizure (not on remission) and long history of seizure. Further research on the relationship between EEG abnormality and febrile seizure should be conducted and supported by concerned bodies.