American Journal of Public Health Research

Background: Recent surveys suggest that adolescents and young adults in Southeast Asian nations are at great risks of sexual reproductive health issues. This study explored factors associated with risky sexual behavior (RSB) among unmarried most-at-risk young people in Cambodia. Methods: A two-stage cluster sampling method was used to select 1,204 boys and 1,166 girls aged 10-24 from 252 hotspots in the capital city and seven provinces. A five-item scale was constructed to measure RSB. All variables were entered simultaneously in multivariate logistic regression models if they were significantly associated with RSB in bivariate analyses. Results: Of total, 37.7% of boys and 18.5% of girls had sexual intercourse in the past three months; of them, 69.6% of boys and 52.5% of girls were involved in commercial sex. Only 43.3% of boys and 6.5% of girls reported always using condom with unpaid regular partners in the past three months. Among sexually active girls, 43.5% reported having been pregnant and of them, 42.4% reported having induced abortion as a result of their most recent pregnancy. After adjustment, boys with higher levels of RSB were significantly more likely to live in an urban area, to have completed ≥ 9 years of formal education, and to be not currently living with parents. In contrast, girls with higher levels of RSB were significantly less likely to have completed ≥ 9 years of formal education and to have both parents alive. Both boys and girls with higher levels of RSB were significantly more likely to be in the age group of 20-24, to be not currently in school, to be employed, to becurrent alcohol drinkers, to becurrent heavy alcohol drinkers, to be current illicit drug users, and to have been tested for HIV. Conclusions: Unmarried young people in this study are exposed to several sexual reproductive health problems such as HIV and sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancy, and unsafe abortion. These findings suggest the need for research and prevention programs for these key populations taking into account risk factors identified in this study.

American Journal of Public Health Research. 2014, 2(5), 211-220. DOI: 10.12691/ajphr-2-5-5
Pub. Date: November 16, 2014

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Dyspnea in Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy and Its Impact on Quality of Life in Northern Greece

by Maria Lavdaniti, Maria Tsiligiri and Sofia Zyga

Original Research

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess dyspnea in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and to determine whether dyspnea affects patients’ quality of life. Method: This study was descriptive and non-experimental. Two scales were used for the selection of the sample. Subjects were assessed for their dyspnea based on the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS) and for quality of life using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G). Data collection was carried out during the third cycle of chemotherapy. Results: The mean age of patients was 58.95 ± 9.95 years. The majority of patients were male and married. 30% of patients belonging to the sample examined suffered from dyspnea. A percentage of 33.3% frequently experienced shortness of breath. With respect to severity, 31.7% replied that the symptom was severe; it was quite distressing for 21.7% of the sample and somewhat distressing for 18.5% of all patients. Logistic regression analysis showed that the statistically significant factors influencing dyspnea are age (p = 0.004) and gender (p = 0.030). Conclusions: Dyspnea is a symptom appearing in cancer patients during chemotherapy and it affects patients’ quality of life. This finding is very significant for Greek nurses seeking to recognize and assess this symptom in clinical settings. The recognition and evaluation of the symptom by nurses can lead to increased continuity in nursing care and to planned interventions to alleviate it.

American Journal of Public Health Research. 2014, 2(5), 205-210. DOI: 10.12691/ajphr-2-5-4
Pub. Date: November 10, 2014

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The Evaluation of Patient Safety in Oral and Dental Health Centers

by Aygul Yanik and Hulya Cetin

Original Research

In our study, we aimed to determine the levels of patient safety and reporting adverse events in the healthcare employees of oral and dental health centers and to evaluate the effects socio-demographic characteristics on patient safety. The study performed in November and December, 2012 and included the medical staff of oral and dental health centers in the Thracian Region of Turkey. Data was collected using the survey. Using the random sampling method, the sample has been chosen from the population of 200 healthcare personnel and 150 completely answered surveys have been evaluated. The SPSS for Windows 15.0 software was used for analyzing data. Hospital safety, team work, security gap, system quality and the management assistance of healthcare employees was high but their adverse events assessment was determined to be on a moderate level. It was identified that sociodemographic characteristics of healthcare employees have an influence on patient safety.

American Journal of Public Health Research. 2014, 2(5), 198-204. DOI: 10.12691/ajphr-2-5-3
Pub. Date: October 29, 2014

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The Current States of Male Involvement on Family Planning and Factors Correlated with among Male Factory Workers in Bahir Dar City

by Yeshareg Walle and Zelalem Alamrew

Original Research

Background: Men often play dominant role on decisions crucial to reproductive health but still they are at the back seat. In the past family planning programs have focused primarily on women because to free them from excessive child bearing. The aim of the study was to assess the involvement of men in family planning practices among male factory workers in Bahir Dar city. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in July 2013 among 306 male factory workers using simple random sampling technique. A pre-tested interview questionnaire was used to collect the data. The data were analyzed using bivariate and multivariate analysis with SPSS version 16 soft ware package. Results: The study revealed that 25.5% of male factory workers were involved in family planning practices. The study declared that educational status was a significantly predicts involvement on family planning (AOR=1.53, 95% CI: 1.08-11.14, 1.8= 95% CI: 1.31- 9.220, and 2.01= 95% CI: 1.51-7.76). Besides, respondents who stayed in marriage from 4 to 13 years were about 18 times more likely to be involved on family planning compared to respondents stayed more than 22 years (AOR= 18.06, 95% CI: 1.79-58.68). Moreover, number of living children in a family was associated with an outcome of interest (AOR= 11.01, 95% CI: 1.13- 106.9 and AOR= 7.40, 95% CI: 1.49- 36.64) respectively. Conclusion: Only one out of four respondents involved in family planning. Besides, educational status, number of years in marriage, number of living children, and joint decision on the number of children were statistically significant predictors of male involvement on family planning. Therefore, ministry of health and all sectors concerned on reproductive health issues need to work on male involvement on family planning to regulate fertility and rapid population growth.

American Journal of Public Health Research. 2014, 2(5), 188-197. DOI: 10.12691/ajphr-2-5-2
Pub. Date: October 16, 2014

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Maternal Mortality among Women Seeking Health Care Services in Kisii Level 5 Hospital

by Osoro AA, Ng’ang’a Z, Mutugi M and Wanzala P

Original Research

Background. Maternal mortality has continued to escalate in Kenya inspite of all the efforts being made by the government, non-governmental organization and the community. The purpose of the study was to establish the antecedent factors predisposing women to maternal death using the three delays model. Methodology: Retrospective 72 maternal death cases which occurred between January 01, 2009 and June 30, 2010 were reviewed by an independent gynecologist/obstetrician. Interviews were conducted with kins of the deceased women using a confidential questionnaire for female death based on distal as well as proximal factors that may have had a bearing on maternal death. Health care workers were likewise interviewed using a formulated questionnaire to assess the ability and readiness of the hospital to offer emergency obstetric care. Results: A record of 72 maternal deaths occurred during the study period thus between January 1, 2009 and June 30. 2010. Out of 72, 42 maternal deaths were as a result of direct obstetric complications which include hemorrhage, post-partum sepsis, pre-eclampsia and abortion. Post partum hemorrhage was the most common complication which contributed to maternal deaths. Again out of 72 maternal deaths, 33 were as a result of indirect causes with peritonitis, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, anemia, and convulsive disorder respectively. Delayed access to transport, lack of money for user fees, and hospital distance were challenges that led to delay in accessing care. Hospital experiences included; delay in service provision by staff, delayed quality emergency obstetric care and delayed care while at the hospital, unavailability of blood for transfusion, and lack of money for drugs, were reported as major challenges which attributed to maternal death. Conclusion: The study suggests maternal mortality occurs as a result of lack of access to quality healthcare facility poor health seeking behavior and poor socio-economic factors.

American Journal of Public Health Research. 2014, 2(5), 182-187. DOI: 10.12691/ajphr-2-5-1
Pub. Date: September 23, 2014

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