ABSTRACT Background: Infants who are not exclusively breastfed during the first six months of life are given a wide variety of other foods or drinks during the period to complement or replace breast milk, these food items are termed Breast Milk Substitutes (BMS). Inadequate Exclusive Breastfeeding (EBF) is associated with increased infant morbidity and death. In Ghana about one-third of infants under six months old are not exclusively breastfed suggesting reliance on breast milk substitutes (...
ABSTRACT Background: Infants who are not exclusively breastfed during the first six months of life are given a wide variety of other foods or drinks during the period to complement or replace breast milk, these food items are termed Breast Milk Substitutes (BMS). Inadequate Exclusive Breastfeeding (EBF) is associated with increased infant morbidity and death. In Ghana about one-third of infants under six months old are not exclusively breastfed suggesting reliance on breast milk substitutes (...
ABSTRACT HIV/AIDS is one of the most challenging pandemic globally. More than two-thirds of adults infected with HIV live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Adherence to Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) is a key factor that determines the success or failure of treatment, while non-adherence is a major cause of HIV drug resistance and subsequent immunological and clinical failure. Social support is a significant resource for individuals undergoing stress, and has been found to improve adherence among patie...
ABSTRACT Globally, an estimated 2.7 million deaths, approximately 45% of under-five deaths occurred in the neonatal period in 2015. This trend led to the inability of many countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goal four (MDG 4) by 2015; hence the introduction of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Many studies have concluded that poor newborn care accounts for high levels of newborn deaths in low-middle income countries. This study therefore investigated the determinants of Es...
ABSTRACT In Ghana, cervical cancer constitutes about 57.8% of all gynaecological cancers. It is the second most common cancer in women with an estimated incidence of 26.4 per 100,000. HPVs are aetiological agents of cervical cancer. Genital HPV are the most common sexually transmitted viruses in human. The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence and genotypes distribution of HPV 6, 11, 16 and18 among women attending the Family Planning and Human Papilllomavirus screening centre...
ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION Recent studies have linked periodontal disease in pregnancy to poor pregnancy outcome such as low birth weight, pre-term delivery and still birth. These outcomes are of public health concern since low birth weight and pre-term infants stand the risk of feeding difficulty, thermal instability and delayed brain development. They may also suffer from chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart and kidney diseases later in their lives. Hormonal changes coupled with poor oral hy...
ABSTRACT Adequate, frequent and appropriately intensity physical activity is an effective means for the primary and secondary prevention of many of today's leading health outcome like overweight, obesity, depression and other chronic diseases. Adolescent overweight is on the increase worldwide. It is estimated that the proportion of overweight school-age children will almost double by 2010. Ghana’s National Health Policy (2007), notes that non communicable diseases are increasing in Ghana a...
ABSTRACT Background: Variable fetal biometric values are common in normal fetuses and it is natural to assume that ethnicity might influence this. There is the potential danger of misinterpretation of such observed normal variations. Aims: The study aim was to determine whether differences in ultrasound-measured fetal biometry exist among pregnant women of the Akan, Mole-Dagbon, Ewe and Ga-Adangbe ethnic groups in Accra. Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional study involving 448 wome...
ABSTRACT Background: Optimal gestational weight gain is an important factor linked with positive outcome for both mothers and their infants. Women who gain inadequate weight during pregnancy are at risk of bearing a baby with low birth weight whereas those who gain excessive weight are at increased risk of preeclampsia and gestational diabetes. In developing countries, data on gestational weight gain and its determinants are scarce as it is difficult to collect the information throughout the ...
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Introduction ............10-16 2 Review of literature .............17-26 3 Materials and methods ....................27-34 4 Results .......................35-57 5 Discussions ............................58-64 6 Summary /Abstract ..........................65-69 7 Conclusion .............................70-74 8 Contribution to knowledge ...............................75 9 Suggestion for future research .....................................76 10 References ...........
ABSTRACT Background: Exclusive breastfeeding is essential for optimal survival, development and growth of infants. World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund recommend that infants are exclusively breastfed from birth up to six months of age to achieve its benefits. However, exclusive breastfeeding rates across the world and in Ghana are below the recommended targets. This study’s aim was to investigate the socio-demographic factors, socio-cultural factors as well as ide...
ABSTRACT Background: Cardiovascular related diseases and its deaths have increased over the years with hypertension being a precursor to these diseases. Proper management of the condition has proven to increase the life expectancy of patients. Adherence appears to be one of the important factors that influence the outcome of therapy greatly. Poor medication adherence is associated with poor disease outcomes, waste of health care resources and contributes to reduced blood pressure control. Obj...
ABSTRACT Background: Unhealthy diet, smoking, physical inactivity, overweight/obesity, impaired glucose tr' ", "ce nGT) and/or impaired fasting glycaemia (JFG) result in diabetes mellitus. The hyperglycemic condition in diabetics leads to the development of some complications driven by both modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors. This study therefore seeks to determine the risk factors and associated complications in patients with diabetes mellitus at the Maamobi General l-! " " '~l 'r. ,...
ABSTRACT Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease that occurs when the human body is not able to produce enough of the hormone insulin or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced. It is estimated that 6.3% Ghanaians are affected with diabetes of which 90 – 95% are with Type II diabetes. In Ghana however, there are limited trained staff as well as inadequate equipment to provide quality care to people living with diabetes. This study therefore explored the challenges of nu...
Abstract In a retrospective study in a small community in Ga District, Southern part o f Ghana it was discovered, that majority of women (94.1%) received antenatal care and that eighty three per cent o f them delivered under the supervision o f recognised-trained medical personnel. Supervised deliveries took place in Government health facilities as well as in the private sector. The majority of the women (86%) had more than four antenatal care visits. Cost, cultural factors or age seem...