Background: Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is the descent of the vaginal wall, cervix, uterus, bladder, and rectum downward into the vaginal canal. Its prevalence is higher among women in developing countries because women are more prone to risk factors. In Ethiopia, women with prolapse seek treatments at advanced stages of prolapse; hence, surgical management has been widely practicing. Therefore, it was found to be very important to conduct research that assesses factors hindering early treatments in Southern Ethiopia. This study aimed to find out factors associated with the delay in seeking treatment of pelvic organ prolapse among patients at selected general and referral hospitals of Southern Ethiopia.Methods: Cross-sectional study design was employed in 123 participants of seven randomly selected General and Referral Hospitals of Southern Ethiopia from February 01 to April 30, 2020, by using a structured questionnaire. Pre-trained two midwives in each center were deployed to collect data. Physicians performed diagnosis and physical examination. Data were entered and coded using EPI INFO version 7 and exported into SPSS version 25 for analysis. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed. The goodness of fit was assessed by using the Hosmer and Lemeshow goodness test.Results: In this study, out of 123 clinically diagnosed POP cases, nearly half of them were stage III, and over one-third were stage IV. Therefore, 84.6% (104 participants) of the respondents were delayed for the treatment of POP. The mean length of delay for POP treatments was 36.41 ± 3.95 months. After adjusting for covariates, lack of supports [AOR (Adjusted Odds Ratio) = 5.2 (95% CI 1.4–19.5)], low-income [AOR = 5.8 (95% CI 1.1–19.66)], and fear of social stigma [AOR = 4.7 (95% CI 1.2–18.59)] were significant factors for delayed treatments.Conclusions: Most of the POP patients were delayed for POP treatments. Factors like lack of support, low-income, and fear of losing social value/stigma were associated with treatment delay. Screening for the POP cases, educating (making awareness) the community about this devastating disease to facilitate early treatment and to avoid social stigma, and raising access to treatment by making the nearby hospitals equipped with facilities to treat POP are recommended.

Background: Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is the descent of the vaginal wall, cervix, uterus, bladder, and rectum downward into the vaginal canal. It occurs owing to the weakness of the structures supporting and keeping pelvic organs in anatomic position. Prolapse occurs due to exposure to risk factors; women in developing countries are highly predisposed to the risk factors of the prolapse. No study assesses POP in Southern Ethiopia. Methods: A case-control study design was employed in 369 participants (123 cases and 246 controls) of seven randomly selected Public Hospitals of Southern Ethiopia from February-June, 2020, using a structured questionnaire. All patients diagnosed with prolapse (stage I- IV) were included as cases; patients free of prolapse (stage 0) were taken as controls after physicians had performed a diagnosis and vaginal examination. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed using SPSS. Results: In this study, after adjusting for covariates, age of the women ≥ 45 years (AOR = 5.33, 95% CI: 1.47, 9.05), underweight (AOR= 4.54, 95% CI: 1.4, 15.76), low income (AOR = 2.5, 95% CI:1.14, 5.59), parity ≥5 (AOR = 5.2, 95% CI: 2.2, 12.55), assisted vaginal delivery (AOR= 4, 95% CI: 1.55, 11.63), instrumental delivery (AOR= 3.5, 95% CI:1.45, 84), sphincter damage and vaginal tear (AOR = 3.2, 95% CI:1.44,7.1), carrying heavy loads (AOR= 2.5, 95% CI:1.2, 5.35), and prolonged labor ≥24 hours (AOR = 3.3, 95% CI:1.12, 97) were significant associated factors of prolapse. The odds of developing prolapse is lower among women attended school. Most(84.55%) of the women with prolapse were delayed for the treatments and only surgical interventions were done as treatments. Most of them claimed lack of social support, lack of money, and social stigma as the main reasons for the delay in seeking treatments. Conclusions: Older age, low educational status, underweight, low income, higher parity, assisted vaginal delivery, prolonged labor, sphincter damage, and carrying heavy loads were significant associated factors of POP. It is better to screen older age women by doing campaigns against the prolapse. Also, responsible bodies should work on raising awareness of women as well as awareness of the community about the prolapse through expanding health education. Moreover, informing women to practice pelvic muscle training daily, raising women’s income to empower them, and help of family members to reduce carrying an overload of mothers are recommended.

Introduction: One of the key strategies to achieve the sustainable development goal by reducing maternal deaths below 70 per 100,000 is improving knowledge of obstetric danger signs (ODS). However, mothers’ knowledge of ODS is low in general and very low in rural settings, regardless of local and national efforts in Ethiopia. Further, there is significant variation of ODS knowledge among women from region to region and urban/rural settings. Most studies are limited only to northern Ethiopia and focused on individual-level determinants. Thus, this study aimed to assess the individual and community-level determinants of knowledge of obstetrics danger signs among women who delivered in the last 12 months in the northern zone of the Sidama region, Ethiopia. Methods: We conducted a community-based cross-sectional study from October 21 to November 11, 2022. A multi-stage sampling procedure was utilized to select study participants. A structured and pretested questionnaire was utilized to collect data. Open Data Kit (ODK) smartphone application was used to collect data at women’s homes. A multi-level mixed-effects negative binomial regression model was used to control effects of clusters and confounders. Results: The overall response rate of this study was 99.12%. The proportion of knowledge of obstetrics danger sign was 22.3% (95% CI: 18.7, 25.9). Government-employed women [adjusted incidence ratio (AIR) = 1.37; 95% CI: 1.20, 1.56], women who had exposure to mass media (AIR = 1.16; 95% CI: 1.08, 1.25), women who had received model family training (AIR = 1.15; 95% CI: 1.10, 1.25), autonomous women (AIR = 1.34; 95% CI: 1.25, 1.46), women who had faced health problems during pregnancy (AIR = 1.21; 95% CI: 1.11, 1.32), and urban women (AIR = 1.22; 95% CI: 1.09, 1.62) were determinants positively affect knowledge of ODS. Conclusion: Only one in five women has good knowledge of ODS in the study setting. Urban residence, mass media exposure, receiving model family training, facing health problems during pregnancy, and women’s autonomy were the main determinants of knowledge of ODS. Any intervention strategies should focus on multi-sectorial collaboration to address determinants of knowledge of ODS at the individual and community level. Reinforcing the existing model family training, particularly focusing on rural women and women who denied autonomy in decision-making about health care, should be considered. Awareness creation should be increased about ODS through mass media exposure.

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a well-known chronic focal mononeuropathy caused by the mechanical distortion of the nerve at the carpal tunnel. It affects approximately 5% of the population worldwide and 12.1% in Africa. However, it has severe pain that causes discomfort and disturbs daily activities, the magnitude and its risk factors are poorly understood in Ethiopia. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of carpal tunnel syndrome among patients with musculoskeletal complaints in Dire Dawa, Eastern Ethiopia. An institution-based quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted on randomly selected 422 participants at Dilchora Referral Hospital from May–July 2023. The primary data were collected by using structured questionnaires and checklists. The history taking, anthropometric measurements, physical examination, and diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome were performed by the orthopedicians. The data were collected by the four BSc midwives under strict supervision. The data carefully checked for the accuracy, completeness, and validity. Next, data were put into Epi-data and then exported to SPSS for analysis. Descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were carried out. The prevalence of clinically confirmed carpal tunnel syndrome was 10.8% (95% CI: 6.99% to 14.6%). A multivariable analysis revealed that physical inactivity [AOR = 3.32 (95% CI: 1.95–5.52)], diabetes mellitus [AOR = 4.23 (95% CI: 1.47–6.97)], hypertension [AOR = 2.5 (95% CI: 1.70–5.65)], hand ratio < 2.1 [(AOR = 4 (95% CI: 1.80–9.66)], and wrist ratio > 0.72 [AOR = 2.1 (95% CI: 1.11–4.72)] were statistically associated with carpal tunnel syndrome. The prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome among the musculoskeletal complaints is 10.8%. Diabetes mellitus, hypertension, physical inactivity, and a wrist ratio > 0.72 were statistically associated with carpal tunnel syndrome. Doing physical exercise, regulating blood sugar levels, and monitoring blood pressure were recommended.

Introduction: One of the key strategies to achieve sustainable development goal by reduce preventable maternal deaths below 70 per 100,000 is increasing awareness about major obstetrics danger sign. Mother's awareness of obstetric danger signs in developing country is relatively low regardless of attempts trough many local and national program. It is crucial to increase women’s knowledge of obstetric danger signs through education and awareness-raising efforts. Despite its importance to reduce maternal deaths, Studies are limited only to the Northern Ethiopia. Objective: This study aimed to assess prevalence of knowledge of obstetric danger signs and associated factors among women who delivered in the last 12 months in Sidama region, Ethiopia. Methods: We conducted a community-based cross-sectional study from October to November, 2022. A multi-stage sampling procedure was utilized to select study participants. A structured and pretested questionnaire was utilized to collect data. A multilevel mixed-effects negative binomial regression model was used to control effects of clusters and confounders.Results: Out of 1,140 study participants, only 1,130 study participants took part in the study making a response rate of 99.12%. The overall prevalence of knowledge of obstetrics danger sign was estimated as 22.3% (95%CI: 18.7, 25.9). Government employed women (AIRR = 1.37; 95% CI: 1.2, 1.6), women who had access to mass media (AIRR = 1.16; 95% CI: 1.08, 1.25), women who had received model family training (AIRR = 1.15; 95% CI: 1.1, 1.25), autonomous women (AIRR = 1.15; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.25), women who had faced health problems during pregnancy (APR = 1.21; 95% CI: 1.11, 1.32) and urban women (APR = 1.22; 95% CI: 1.09, 1.62) were factors associated positively with knowledge of obstetrics danger sign. Conclusion: The prevalence of knowledge of obstetrics danger sign is found to be lower compared with the national average. Residence, mass-media exposure, model family planning, problem faced during pregnancy and women autonomy are the main predictors of knowledge of obstetrics danger sign. Public health policy makers should enhance health literacy at for focused on rural community. Awareness creation should be improved through mass media. Health providers should educate women during maternity health services to empower women for decision making process.

Introduction: Ethiopia is one of just ten nations that currently bear the brunt of more than 65% of the stillbirth rate worldwide. Despite significant efforts by the Ministry of Health, the stillbirth rate has declined slowly, remaining substantially higher than the target. This study analyzed broader regional data on stillbirths revealed critical gaps and contributing factors, informing the effective interventions to improve outcomes.Objective: To assess individual and community-level determinants of stillbirth in southern EthiopiaMethods: A community-based quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted from October-November 2022. We included all randomly selected 1,130 women who gave live birth in the last 12 months. A multi-stage sampling method to select eligible women. The data were collected by using interviewer-guided structured questionnaire. After each questionnaire was carefully checked for completeness and validity, data were entered into Epi Data, then imported into SPSS software for analysis. The descriptive statistics and mixed effect-multilevel linear regression were performed. The presence and strength of a statistically significant association were assessed using APRs with 95% CIs. Results: In a multi-level mixed effect negative binomial analysis, women who had faced health problem during pregnancy had a 66% increased likelihood of stillbirth (APR = 1.66; 95% CI: 1.11-2.46) as compared to women who did not face health problem, the likelihood of stillbirth was 53% lower among women who had planned pregnancy (APR = 0.47; 95% CI: 0.31, 0.73) than their counterparts, the likelihood of stillbirth was 70% lower for those women who resided in high-literacy communities (APR = 0.30; 95% CI: 0.04-0.82) as compared to women who resided in low-literacy communities, one-year increase in women's age at first pregnancy (APR = 0.84; 95% CI: 0.75-0.94) decreased the likelihood of stillbirth by 16%, and one-child increase in women's childbirths (APR = 1.33; 95% CI: 1.21-1.46) led to 33% increase in the likelihood of stillbirth.Conclusions: The women facing health problems during the pregnancy, planning current pregnancy, community literacy, women's age at first pregnancy, and parity were significantly associated with stillbirth. The higher keeping good women’s health status during the pregnancy, planning for pregnancy, raising community literacy, raising the age of women at first pregnancy, and avoiding parity were recommended.