Globally, in 2016, 23.3% of adult populations were physically inactive, and it accounts for 9% of the global premature mortality. However, evidence on the level of physical activity was limited in resource-poor settings. This study, therefore, assessed the adult’s level of physical activity and its correlates among the urban population in Dire Dawa, eastern Ethiopia. A total of 872 randomly selected adults of age 25–64 years in Dire Dawa city, eastern Ethiopia, are included in this analysis. The Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) is used to measure physical activity. Individuals are considered physically active when they achieved metabolic equivalent tasks (MET) minutes of 600 or more per week, and otherwise inactive. A binary logistic regression is used to identify the correlates of physical activity. 54.9% (95% confidence interval (CI) 51.6 to 58.2) of adults were physically active, with a higher proportion of men being physically active than women, 63.9% (95% CI 58.1 to 69.3) versus 50.6% (95% CI 46.5 to 54.6). Among the adults who reported doing physical activity, the highest domain-specific contribution to the total physical activity was from activities at workplaces, and leisure-time activities contributed the least. The proportion of adults who engaged in a high-level physical activity was 37.0% (95% CI 33.9 to 40.3). Male adults were 1.45 times (aOR (adjusted odds ratio) =1.45; 95% CI 1.05 to 1.99) more likely to achieve the recommended level of physical activity. In contrary, unemployed adults (aOR = 0.51; 95% CI 0.35 to 0.75) were less likely to perform the recommended level of physical activity to accrue health benefits. Interventions aimed at promoting physical activity should target unemployed and female adults. We recommend further study to explore the contextual factors that hinder physical activity in the study setting.

Background. Hypertension is a major cardiovascular risk factor that is linked with fatal complications and is an overwhelming global challenge. Primary prevention is a key to control hypertension with identification of major risk factors. This study was aimed at assessing the prevalence and factors associated with hypertension. Methods. Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 903 adults aged 25 to 64 years in Dire Dawa City, East Ethiopia. Data were collected using World Health Organization (WHO) STEPwise approach to Surveillance (STEPS) for non-communicable disease (NCD) standard survey tool. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify relative effects of distal, proximal, and immediate risk factors of hypertension, and all statistical tests were declared significantly at P-value<0.05. Results. The average SBP and DBP were 124.98±17.18 mmHg and 78.92±10.13 mmHg, respectively. The prevalence of hypertension was 24.43% (95% CI: 21.57, 27.28). Majority (51.64%) of adults were not aware of their elevated blood pressure status. hypertension was significantly associated with the age group 30-44 (aOR 3.61, 95% CI: 2.0, 6.55), 45-54 (aOR 5.36, 95% CI: 2.62, 10.91), and 55-64 (aOR 9.38, 95% CI: 4.73, 18.59), being unemployed (aOR 1.68, 95%CI: 1.03, 2.77), ever smoking (aOR 1.89, 95% CI: 1.04, 2.23), having abdominal obesity (aOR 1.72, 95% CI: 1.13, 2.64), and BMI≥25 kg/m² (aOR 1.48, 95%CI: 1.01, 2.15). Conclusion. Moderately high prevalence of hypertension was observed among adults in study setting demonstrating a major public health problem. Majority of adults with hypertension in study setting were not aware of their elevated BP status highlighting the burden of the hidden morbidity and subsequent complications. Community level intervention and routine assessment of sociodemographic, behavioral, and biophysiological risk factors, screening, and diagnosis of NCDs should be institutionalized to address the occult burden.

Poor job satisfaction has been associated with less productivity and high staff turnover. Various factors are thought to contribute for job dissatisfaction among pharmacy professionals and very limited studies have been conducted in eastern part of Ethiopia. Therefore, the current study was aimed to assess the level of job satisfaction among pharmacy professionals and its predictors. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 232 pharmacy professionals to assess level of job satisfaction in public hospitals located in the eastern Ethiopia. The data were collected using self- administered semi-structured questionnaires. Data were entered into Epi-Data version 3.1 and exported to STATA version 14.2 for analysis. Associations between the dependent and independent variables were assessed by multivariate analysis using an Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) at a 95% confidence interval (CI) and p-value less than 0.05 was considered as significant. A total 220 questionnaires were found complete and included in the analysis. The mean age of participants was 27.6(SD + 4.1). More than half of the respondents (55.4%) had a bachelor degree and the majority (86.4%) were working less than 40 h per week, mostly in dispensing units (75.4%). About one third of the participants (32.7, 95% CI; 26.8–39.2) were found to be satisfied with their job. Age category of 20 to 25 years in reference to age greater than 30 years (AOR = 3.5, 95% CI; 1.1–9.7), holding a bachelor degree in reference to having diploma (AOR = 4.2, 95% CI; 1.8–10.00), working for more than 40 h per week (AOR = 6.2, 95% CI, 2.4–16), and working in dispensing units (AOR = 2.4, 95% CI; 1.1–5.5) were found to have strong association with job dissatisfaction. In this study, the job satisfaction levels of pharmacy professionals were found to be very low. The age category of 20 to 25, holding a bachelor degree, working for more than 40 h per week, and working in dispensing unit were found to be strong predictors of job dissatisfaction. Hence, pharmacy directors and hospital administrators should work to reduce unnecessary workload on the staffs and create good working climate.

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a highly contagious pathogen that has become a severe public health problem and a major cause of morbidity and mortality, particularly in developing countries. Medical students are at high occupational risk during their training. However, no facility-based studies were found among medical students in eastern Ethiopia. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of Hepatitis B Virus and associated factors among medical students in eastern Ethiopia. Methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 407 randomly selected medical students from March to June 2018. A pretested and structured questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographic characteristics and other risk factors. A 5ml blood was collected, and the serum was analyzed for Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) using the Instant Hepatitis B surface antigen kit. Data were entered using Epidata version 3.1 and analyzed using SPSS statistical packages version 22. Outcome and explanatory variables were described using descriptive summary measures. Binary and multivariable logistic regression was conducted at 95% CI and an association at P-value < 0.05 was declared statistically significant. Results: The seroprevalence of hepatitis B virus surface antigen was 11.5% (95%CI = 8.6, 14.7). Poor knowledge of universal precaution guideline (AOR = 2.58; 95% CI = [1.35–4.93]), history of needle stick injury (AOR = 2.11; 95% CI = [1.07–4.18]) and never been vaccinated for HBV (AOR = 2.34; 95% CI = [1.17–4.69]) were found statistically significantly associated with HBsAg positivity after multivariate analysis. Conclusion: Hepatitis B virus infection rate is high among health care trainees in eastern Ethiopia. Improvement at health care practice centers safety through training on universal precaution guidelines, and scaling up HBV vaccination is mandatory.

Background: Despite improvement in access to modern healthcare services in East African countries, health-service delivery and health status of the population remained poor mainly due to the weak health-sector financing system. Therefore, the current study aimed to assess the health insurance coverage and its associated factors among reproductive-age group (RAG) women in East Africa. Methods: The most recent (between 2010 and 2018) Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data of the ten East African countries (Burundi, Comoros, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) were included. STATA version 16.0 statistical software was used for data processing and analysis. In the multilevel mixed-effects generalized linear model, variables with a p-value ≤ 0.05 were declared as significant associated factors of health insurance coverage. Results: The overall health insurance coverage in East Africa was 7.56% (95% CI: 7.42%, 7.77%). The odds of health insurance coverage were high among educated, currently working, and rich RAG women whereas it was low among rural residents. Besides, RAG women who have media exposure, visited by field workers, and visited health facilities have a higher chance of health insurance coverage. Conclusion: Health insurance coverage in East Africa among RAG women was below ten percent. Educational status, working status, place of residence, wealth index, media exposure, visiting health facility within 12 months and being visited by field worker were significantly associated with health insurance coverage among RAG women in East Africa. Improving women’s access to health facilities, promoting field workers’ visit, and media exposure targeting uneducated, unemployed, and rural resident women of RAG will be a gateway to promote health insurance coverage.

Objectives: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder of major public health importance due to its prevalence and potential health complication. The success of long-term maintenance therapy of diabetes patients depends largely on their ability to adherence to self-care practices. Africa’s most populous country, Ethiopia, has the highest burden of diabetes mellitus. However, studies on self-care activities of diabetic patients are limited. Therefore, this study measures the level of self-care activities of diabetic patients in a follow-up clinic of public hospitals in Harar and Dire Dawa, Eastern Ethiopia. Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 320 randomly selected diabetic patients in Harar and Dire Dawa. A standard diabetic self-care activity interview tool was used to collect the data. Data were entered into Epi-data v 3.1 and STATA v 14.2 was used for analysis. Our outcome variable, self-care activities, has three ordered categories and a robust Ordinal logistic regression was used to identify predictors. All statistical tests with p-value <0.05 were considered as statistically significant. Results: The self-care activities of study participants were rated good for 38.1% (95% confidence interval: 32.94, 43.60). Being rural residents (adjusted odds ratio = 0.38, 95% confidence interval: 0.17, 0.82), attended secondary education (adjusted odds ratio = 2.96, 95% confidence interval: 1.51, 5.78), uncontrolled blood glucose (adjusted odds ratio = 1.68, 95% confidence interval: 1.02, 2.79), and had diabetic complications (one, adjusted odds ratio = 1.91, 95% confidence interval: 1.08, 3.38; two or more, adjusted odds ratio = 4.71, 95% confidence interval: 1.81, 12.25) were significantly associated with the better diabetes mellitus self-care activities. Conclusion: Significant number of diabetes mellitus patients living in rural areas did not adhere to diabetic self-care activities. This is more evident among participants who have limited or no formal education and patients with controlled blood glucose level. Therefore, individualized diabetic lifestyle education programs in follow-up clinics should target these population groups to improve self-care.