Background: Cervical cancer remains the major public problem worldwide and the most common gynaecological malignancy in the developing world, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.Aim: To determine the prevalence of abnormal cervical cytology amongst women with and without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and examine the association between HIV and histological grading.Setting: The study was conducted in Limpopo province, which is the northernmost province of South Africa. The province has five district municipalities with one tertiary, five regional and thirty four district hospitals.Methods: We retrospectively reviewed cervical cancer cases in Limpopo province (LP) of South Africa, using data collected routinely by the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS). The data on smears submitted for cytology between 2013 and 2015 were extracted from the Central Data Warehouse (CDW) database.Results: A total of 84 466 women were screened for cervical cytology smears. Their mean age was 39.8 ± 13.6 years, with range from 15 to 113 years; 77.2% were in the age group 30 years and older and 19.6% had an abnormal cervical cytology result. Overall, 46.4% of the women screened for cervical cancer were HIV infected. A significantly higher proportion of HIV-positive women had abnormal cytology than HIV-negative women (31.8% vs. 9.2%).Conclusion: The prevalence of abnormal cytology amongst HIV-positive women is relatively high, and the risk appears to be significantly greater in all age groups. This finding highlights the need to ascertain HIV status of all women presenting with cervical cancer.

The use of technology in healthcare settings was identified as a crucial priority in many countries to provide quality healthcare services. eHealth or digital health technology is found to have a positive influence on improving the efficiency and quality of healthcare services. It has been proven to provide opportunities to strengthen health systems. This study aims to assess eHealth literacy, pre-existing knowledge and the nursing students’ perceptions and attitudes towards eHealth. A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional survey was used in this study. The population of this study comprised 266 nursing students in the undergraduate programme of the Department of Nursing, among which 244 consented to participate in the study. A standardised and self-administered tool was utilised to collect data from nursing students across the four levels of study. Results showed that students in level four exhibit high scores of knowledge in the use of eLearning technology as compared to first-entry university nursing students. Nursing students used the internet frequently, especially to access social media and search for health and medical information for their study. Attitudes towards eHealth and technology were also found to be positive. The study recommends that digital literacy should be enhanced in the nursing education curriculum in other to further strengthen the knowledge and skills towards the use of eHealth and health technology among nursing students.

Background: Job satisfaction has become an area of relevance and debate in public health as it is directly linked to staff absenteeism, retention and turnover of the workforce and as such, influences the organisational commitment of the workers and the quality of health services provided. It is therefore essential to discern what drives healthcare professionals to remain working in the public health sector.Aim: This study aimed to determine job satisfaction and its associated factors among healthcare professionals.Setting: North-West province South Africa.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 244 healthcare professionals of different categories in three district hospitals. A self-administered structured questionnaire with 38 questions to measure job satisfaction was used to collect data. The chi-square test was used to compare groups, and a p-value 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Overall, 62% of the participants were not satisfied with their job. The most common factors that participants were not satisfied with include job security (52%), standard of care (57%), opportunity to develop (59%), payment or wages (76%), workload (78%) and working environment (89%). Job satisfaction was significantly influenced by age, job category and years of service.Conclusions: The predictors of job satisfaction include age, category of employees and years of service. Interventions are required to improve the degree of job satisfaction among health care professionals.Contribution: Findings of this study will assist informing plans that are geared towards enhancing healthcare worker job satisfaction, retention and consequent health systems strengthening.

Background: Chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major public health concern in South Africa. Hepatitis B virus is a highly infectious blood-borne virus causing liver disease. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at high risk of occupational exposure. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate HBV vaccination amongst HCWs at a tertiary academic hospital in Gauteng province, South Africa. Method: Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from 500 consecutively sampled HCWs. Data were analysed using Stata version 12. Results: A total of 460 HCWs participated in the study. Most were women (68.7%), < 40 years of age (66.9%) and worked for < 10 years (66.0%). Almost 50.0% were either doctors or medical students and 40.3% were nurses or student nurses. Most HCWs in the age group of < 30 years (79.4%) had received at least 1 dose of HB vaccine. Prevaccination immunity screening was conducted on 17.5% of the HCWs, and only 11.0% reported to be protected against HBV. About 49.0% of HCWs were fully vaccinated. Post-vaccination immunity testing was conducted on 15.1%, and 24.0% of HCWs paid for vaccinations. Nursing staff and those with > 10 years of work experience were 2.5 and 2.6 times more likely to be vaccinated, respectively. Cleaning staff were less likely to be vaccinated. Conclusion: Although not all HCWs were fully vaccinated, our study found a higher proportion of fully vaccinated HCWs than previously reported in Gauteng Province. It is recommended that HB vaccination be promoted and a local vaccination policy, aligned with the national policy, be developed and implemented for all HCWs at the tertiary academic hospital.

Background: In 2024, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) – a public health challenge – affected 589 million adults worldwide. In South Africa, the prevalence is estimated at 15%, contributing to approximately 3.4 million deaths. Achieving optimal glycaemic control in patients is challenging, resulting in preventable complications and deaths. Systemic reforms and targeted interventions are urgently required. Aim: To identify barriers faced by healthcare professionals (HCPs) to effectively manage patients with T2DM. Setting: A survey was conducted in the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, Gauteng province, South Africa. Methods: The study involved 205 HCPs across 22 clinics and 6 community health centres from May 2022 to June 2022. Data were analysed descriptively. Categorical variables were compared using Fisher’s exact test and a p-value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Most participants were nurses (84%), < 50 years (65%), female (87%), black people (64.7%), and > 10 years experience (65%) and had academic and in-house training on T2DM (38.5%). Key barriers faced by HCPs in managing patients with T2DM included workload making it difficult monitor patients (53%) and screen for complications (57%), time pressures to deliver quality care (59%) and educate patients (69%), inadequate insulin initiation knowledge (68%) and lack of continuity of care (62%). Conclusion: Excessive workloads, insufficient staffing, time pressures, insulin inertia, and knowledge gaps – impede the delivery of personalised care, patient education and monitoring. Contribution: Addressing these challenges will require collaborative care models, workforce optimisation, targeted training, better resource allocation and health technology and can significantly improve patient outcomes and alleviate burden among HCPs.

Background: Comprehensive and formalized digital health care ecosystems in health sciences tertiary education in South Africa do not currently exist, but they have the potential to influence teaching and learning, research, and community engagement. Objective: A total of 3 key objectives underpin the study, that is, determining the health care curriculum needs and required content for the development of a formalized digital health ecosystem, determining the level of readiness of staff and students to participate in a digital health care ecosystem, and determining whether community engagement and strategic partnerships can contribute to the sustainability of a digital health care ecosystem. Methods: A multipronged approach will be used to address the objectives, with a mixed methods design being undertaken. The qualitative phases will be phenomenological in nature, and triangulation of information along with thematic analysis will be conducted on the collected data. Quantitative data will be collected prospectively and cross-sectionally and analyzed using descriptive analysis. Sampling will include subject experts for the Delphi technique, staff and students at the University, clinical training and education partners, and community leaders. This study has received ethical approval from the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University Research and Ethics Committee (SMUREC/H/260/2023:PG). Results: Data collection for the first phase will begin in January 2024 and conclude in December 2024. Phase 2 and 3 of the study will be conducted concurrently, with data collection starting in January 2025 and concluding in December 2026. Conclusions: The establishment of a digital health care ecosystem has the potential to benefit staff, students, and communities through stakeholder collaboration, educational opportunities, research projects, and improved service delivery. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/57821