Healthcare-associated infections are a major global public health agenda. Health care workers are front line of protecting themselves and clients from infection. This study examined the knowledge and practice of healthcare workers on infection prevention and its associated factors among health professionals working at Debre Markos Referral Hospital. A Hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted with a structured pre-tested questionnaire among 150 participants. The healthcare workers were selected through systematic random sampling technique. Multivariate logistic regressions were computed to identify associated factors of knowledge and practice of infection prevention and variables with a p-value < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. More than two thirds (84.7%) of healthcare workers were found to be knowledgeable but only 86 (57.3%) of respondents demonstrated a good practice on infection prevention. Older age, lengthy work experience and higher educational status were significantly associated with both knowledge and practice of infection prevention. In-service training, availability of infection prevention supplies and adherence to infection prevention guidelines was also associated with the practice of infection prevention. The finding of this study revealed a good knowledge of infection prevention on the majority of participants with relatively minimal practice rate. Sociodemographic factors and health facility factors were associated with knowledge and practice of infection prevention. Hospitals and other concerned stakeholders should ensure constant availability of guidelines and the provision of training to health providers. Moreover, developing professionals’ educational level, introducing infection prevention standard of practice and continuous mentorship was recommended.

Background: Post-intensive Care Syndrome (PICS) is defined as various physical, psychological, and cognitive, impairments that can arise during an ICU stay, continue after leaving the ICU, or even persist following hospital discharge. It impacts both patients and their family’s quality of life. Various primary studies worldwide have reported prevalence of PICS among ICU survivors. However, these studies exhibit inconsistency and wide variations. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of post intensive care syndrome among intensive care unit survivors along with its association with ICU length of stay. Methods: We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 checklist for this review. We searched PubMed/Medline, CINHAL, Embase, and Google scholar to retrieve articles. The Newcastle Ottawa Scale (NOS) was used for quality assessment of articles. The random effects model with I-squared test was used to estimate the prevalence of PICS and its association with ICU length of stay. To identify the source of heterogeneity within the included studies, meta-regression and subgroup analysis were used. We employed Egger’s regression test and funnel plots for assessing publication bias. STATA version 17.0 software was used for all statistical analyses. A p-value of < 0.05 with 95% confidence interval was used declare statistically significant. Results: A total of 19 articles with a population of 10179 ICU-survivors were included in this review. The pooled prevalence of PICS was found to be 54.35% (95% CI = 45.54, 63.15). In sub-group analysis by region, the highest prevalence was observed in studies done in south and north America with overall prevalence of 61.95% (95% CI = 28.33, 95.62). Among the three domains of PICS (physical, cognitive and mental domains), the highest prevalence score was observed in the physical domain with overall prevalence of 45.99% (95% CI = 34.66, 57.31). In this meta-analysis, those patients who stayed more than four days in the ICU were 1.207 [95% CI = 1.119, 1.295] times more likely to develop at least one among the three domains of PICS in the post-intensive care period than their counterparts. Conclusion: This systematic review and meta-analysis demonstrate a high prevalence of PICS among ICU survivors, and highlight the significant association between ICU length of stay and the development of PICS. These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to mitigate the long-term effects of critical illness, particularly for patients with prolonged ICU stays.

From time to time, the magnitude and type of health emergencies and disasters are increasing. Hospital emergency and disaster preparedness, on the other hand, is still in its early stages in many low- and middle-income countries. In Ethiopia, research on hospital disaster preparedness is severely limited. As a result, the purpose of this study was to determine the level of hospital emergency and disaster preparedness at public hospitals in the east Gojjam zone of Northwest Ethiopia. A census method was used to include ten hospitals in the East Gojjam zone in a cross-sectional descriptive study. An adopted World Health Organization observation checklist was used to assess disaster and emergency preparedness. Each question was assigned a score out of three points, with one indicating low readiness and three indicating the highest level of preparation. Finally, the level of preparedness was classified as “low“ if the average percentage score ranged from 33.3% to 66.6 %, and as “high” if the percentage score ranged from 66.7 % to 100 %. The results were then presented in the form of texts, tables, and percentages. The evaluated hospitals' overall level of emergency and disaster preparedness falls into the low category, with an average calculated preparedness score of 54.75 %. The domain with the lowest preparedness is logistics and finance (43.33 %), while the domain with the highest preparedness is patient care and support services (60 %). According to the findings of this study, the level of emergency and disaster preparedness in the hospitals studied is low. It is therefore recommended that the ministry of health, regional health bureaus, and hospital administrators collaborate to develop an appropriate intervention strategy to address this issue.

Evidence of variation in maternity health service practices has increased the government’s interest in quantifying and advancing the quality of institutional delivery care in the developing world, including Ethiopia. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to update and provide more representative data on women’s satisfaction with skilled delivery care and the associated factors in Ethiopia. This systematic review and meta-analysis followed the Preferred Reporting Items 2015 guideline. We searched PubMed/Medline, SCOPUS, Embase, Web of Science, and Google Scholar electronic databases for all 36 included studies. The pooled prevalence of women’s satisfaction with skilled delivery care and the associated factors were estimated using a random-effects model. Subgroup analysis and meta-regression were performed to identify the source of heterogeneity. Furthermore, publication bias was checked using eggers and funnel plots. All statistical analyses were performed using STATA version 14.0 software. The pooled prevalence of women’s satisfaction with skilled delivery care was 67.31 with 95% confidence interval (60.18–74.44). Wanted pregnancy (adjusted odds ratio = 2.86, 95% confidence interval: (2.24–3.64)), having a plan to deliver at a health facility (adjusted odds ratio = 2.09, 95% confidence interval: (1.42–3.09)), access to ambulance service (adjusted odds ratio = 1.52, 95% confidence interval: (1.00–2.31)), waiting time < 15 min (adjusted odds ratio = 3.66, 95% confidence interval: (2.51–5.33)), privacy assured (adjusted odds ratio = 3.94, 95% confidence interval: (2.23–6.94)), short duration of labour < 12 hr (adjusted odds ratio = 2.55, 95% confidence interval: (1.58–4.12)), proper labour pain management (adjusted odds ratio = 3.01, 95% confidence interval: (1.46–6.22)), and normal newborn outcome (adjusted odds ratio = 3.94, 95% confidence interval: (2.17–7.15)) were associated with women’s satisfaction. Almost two-thirds of women were satisfied with skilled delivery care. In comparison, the remaining one-third were not satisfied with the care. The quality of intrapartum care, unwanted pregnancy, lack of ambulance services, prolonged duration of labour, poor labour pain management, and complicated newborn outcome were factors affecting women’s satisfaction with skilled delivery care in Ethiopia. Therefore, strategies need to be developed to increase the satisfaction level by considering the abovementioned factors during routine delivery care.

Introduction The rising global prevalence of cancer reveals significant regional disparities in palliative care adoption. While some countries have incorporated palliative care into their systems, over half of the world lacks such services, and oncology-specific palliative care integration is sparse. This study evaluates the global prevalence of palliative care use among cancer patients. Methods A comprehensive search across multiple databases was conducted to identify relevant studies. Data extraction and organisation were managed using Microsoft Excel, and analysis was performed with STATA/MP 17.0. A weighted inverse variance random-effects model was applied, and heterogeneity was assessed with Cochrane I² statistics. Subgroup analyses, sensitivity analyses and Egger’s test were used to explore heterogeneity, publication bias and influential studies. Results The global prevalence of palliative care among cancer patients was 34.43% (95% CI: 26.60 to 42.25). Africa had the highest utilisation rate at 55.72% (95% CI: 35.45 to 75.99), while the USA had the lowest at 30.34% (95% CI: 19.83 to 40.86). Studies with sample sizes under 1000 showed a higher utilisation rate of 47.51% (95% CI: 36.69 to 58.32). Approximately 55% (95% CI: 35.26 to 74.80) of patients had a positive attitude towards palliative care, and 57.54% (95% CI: 46.09 to 69.00) were satisfied with the services. Positive attitudes were significantly associated with higher palliative care utilisation. Conclusion Only about one-third of cancer patients globally receive palliative care, with the highest utilisation in Africa. Nearly half of patients have a favourable attitude towards palliative care, and a similar proportion are satisfied with the services.