ORCID Profile
0000-0002-0819-161X
Current Organisation
Howard University
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Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2022
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-2023
DOI: 10.1002/HSR2.1263
Abstract: Early initiation of breastfeeding (EIB) remains one of the promising interventions for preventing neonatal and child deaths. EIB is positively associated with healthcare delivery or childbirth. Meanwhile, no study in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) appears to have investigated the relationship between health facility delivery and EIB thus, we assessed the correlation between health facility delivery and EIB. We used data from the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) of 64,506 women from 11 SSA countries. The outcome variable was whether the respondent had early breastfeeding or not. Two logistic regression models were used in the inferential analysis. With a 95% confidence interval (CI), the adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for each variable were calculated. The data set was stored, managed, and analyzed using Stata version 13. The overall percentage of women who initiated early breastfeeding was 59.22%. Rwanda recorded the highest percentage of early initiation of breastfeeding (86.34%), while Gambia recorded the lowest (39.44%). The adjusted model revealed a significant association between health facility delivery and EIB (aOR = 1.80, CI = 1.73–1.87). Compared with urban women, rural women had higher likelihood of initiating early breastfeeding (aOR = 1.22, CI = 1.16–1.27). Women with a primary education (aOR = 1.26, CI = 1.20–1.32), secondary education (aOR = 1.12, CI = 1.06–1.17), and higher (aOR = 1.13, CI = 1.02–1.25), all had higher odds of initiating early breastfeeding. Women with the richest wealth status had the highest odds of initiating early breastfeeding as compared to the poorest women (aOR = 1.33, CI = 1.23–1.43). Based on our findings, we strongly advocate for the integration of EIB policies and initiatives with healthcare delivery advocacy. Integration of these efforts can result in drastic reduction in infant and child mortality. Essentially, Gambia and other countries with a lower proclivity for EIB must reconsider their current breastfeeding interventions and conduct the necessary reviews and modifications that can lead to an increase in EIB.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-12-2022
DOI: 10.1186/S12978-022-01532-5
Abstract: With a population of about 1.1 billion, sub-Saharan Africa is projected to overtake Eastern, Southern and Central Asia to become the most populous region by 2060. One effective approach for slowing this rapid population growth is the use of modern contraception and this may be short-acting or long acting. Previous studies have explored the association between women empowerment indicators contraception use, however, there is limited evidence on how women empowerment indicators associate with type of contraception. Hence the present study investigated the association between women empowerment indicators and type of contraception used by women in 11 sub-Saharan African countries. We utilised Demographic and Health Survey data of 22,637 women from 11 countries, collected between 2018 and 2021. The outcome variable was type of contraception used. Descriptive and inferential analyses were executed. The descriptive analysis reflected women empowerment indicators and the proportion of women using contraceptives. Multinomial logistic regression was considered for the inferential analysis. The results for the multinomial logistic regression were presented as adjusted odds ratios (aORs) along with the respective 95% confidence intervals (CIs) signifying precision. The s le weight (wt) was used to account for the complex survey (svy) design. All the analyses were done with Stata version 13 and SPSS version 25. The study showed that on the average, 15.95% of the women do not use modern contraceptives, whilst 30.67% and 53.38% use long-acting and short-acting contraceptives respectively. The adjusted models showed that women who were working had higher odds of using long-acting (aOR = 1.44, CI 1.28–1.62) and short-acting (aOR = 2.00, CI 1.79–2.24) methods compared with those who were not working. The analysis revealed higher likelihood of long-acting method use among women with high decision-making capacity (aOR = 1.27, CI 1.09–1.47) compared with women with low decision-making capacity. Women with medium knowledge level had a higher likelihood (aOR = 1.54, 1.09–2.17) of using long-acting methods than their counterparts with low knowledge level. Our findings show that most women in the 11 countries use modern contraceptives, however, different empowerment indicators align with different contraceptive type. It therefore behoves governments of the studied countries to review current interventions and embrace new ones that are more responsive to the peculiar contraception needs of empowered and non-empowered women.
Publisher: Research Square Platform LLC
Date: 13-12-2019
Abstract: Background: Pregnancy intention is a critical factor for both short and long term maternal and 27 child health outcomes. Some evidence show that wealth status has varying implications on 28 unintended pregnancy. In this study, we investigated wealth and unintended pregnancy among 29 women of reproductive age in Ghana. 30Methods: Our descriptive analysis comprised calculation of wealth status and unintended 31 pregnancy. The same calculation was done for socio-demographic characteristics and 32 unintended pregnancy. Due to the binary nature of the outcome variable (unintended 33 pregnancy), Binary Logistic Model was used for the inferential analysis. The first model 34 (Model I), constituted wealth quintile and unintended pregnancy. The second model (Model II) 35 was developed by adjusting for five key socio-demographic variables. 36Results: Women in the richest wealth quintile had less likelihood of experiencing unintended 37 pregnancy (OR=0.740, CI=0.42-1.28). Considering women aged 15-19 as the reference 38 category, women in all other age categories had less likelihood of unintended pregnancy 39 especially those aged 45-49 (AOR=0.26, CI=0.04-1.58). The findings revealed that those who 40 listened to radio at least once a week (AOR=0.56, CI=0.36-0.89) were less probable to report 41 unintended pregnancy, having those not listening to radio at all as the reference category. 42 Women in urban settings were less likely to have unintended pregnancies (AOR=0.74, 43 CI=0.46-1.19). 44Conclusions: This study has indicated that unintended pregnancy to larger extent is poverty 45 driven. The study suggests that the mass media, particularly radio, is valuable in 46 communicating birth control measures and messages on unintended pregnancies. Efforts to 47 halt unintended pregnancies must target poor women, especially those in the rural locations.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-08-2023
DOI: 10.1186/S12905-023-02611-W
Abstract: The World Health Organization (WHO) has cited domestic violence as an urgent global maternal and child health priority. Gender differences in the acceptance of wife-beating have not been explored at the multi-country level in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where the occurrence of wife-beating (36%) is greater than the global average (30%). It is against this backdrop that we examine the gender differences in the acceptance of wife beating in SSA. We used Demographic and Health Survey data from 30 SSA countries. Acceptance of wife beating among women and men was the principal outcome variable of interest. We employed Multiple correspondence analysis and logistic regression model as the primary estimation methods for this study. The descriptive statistics show that women had a higher acceptance rate (44%) of wife beating than men (25%). For the women s le, Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, and Guinea had higher rates of acceptance of the wife beating (80.6%, 78.4%, 77.1% and 70.3% respectively) For the men, only Guinea had an acceptance rate above 50 percent. We found that all else equal, women’s acceptance of wife beating is higher for male-headed households than for female-headed households. Women without formal education were 3.1 times more likely to accept wife beating than those with higher education. Men with no formal education were 2.3 times more likely to accept wife beating than men with higher education. We found that polygamous women were comparable to polygamous men. Polygamous women were 1.2 times more likely to accept wife beating than those in monogamous marriages. Women were 1.2 times more likely to accept wives beating if they had extramarital relationships. Contrarily, men who engaged in extramarital affairs were 1.5 times more likely to justify wife beating. We also found that women’s acceptance of wife beating decreases as they age. Men who decide on major household purchases and spending decisions on their earnings are more likely to accept wife beating. Corollary, women with similar gender and employment roles also accept wife beating. Finally, exposure to mass media is significantly associated with lower acceptance of wife beating for women and men. We conclude that women have a higher acceptance rate of wife beating than men in SSA. Acceptance of wife beating differs significantly by country. Given the same level of education, women are more likely to accept wife beating than men. If women and men have similar levels of employment and gender roles, acceptance of wife beating is higher when men make major household purchasing decisions and and it is still higher even when the woman makes these decisions. Acceptance of wife beating is higher among young women and men, the uneducated, those in polygamous marriages, women, and men who engage in extra marital affairs, poor households and in rural areas. The findings indicate the need for policies and programs by SSA countries to truncate the high acceptance rate of wife beating, especially among women.
Publisher: The American Association of Immunologists
Date: 21-06-2023
Abstract: Dermal regulatory T cells (Tregs) are essential for maintenance of skin homeostasis and control of skin inflammatory responses. In mice, Tregs in the skin are characterized by high expression of CD103, the αE integrin. Evidence indicates that CD103 promotes Treg retention within the skin, although the mechanism underlying this effect is unknown. The main ligand of CD103, E-cadherin, is predominantly expressed by cells in the epidermis. However, because Tregs are predominantly located within the dermis, the nature of the interactions between E-cadherin and CD103-expressing Tregs is unclear. In this study, we used multiphoton intravital microscopy to examine the contribution of CD103 to Treg behavior in resting and inflamed skin of mice undergoing oxazolone-induced contact hypersensitivity. Inhibition of CD103 in uninflamed skin did not alter Treg behavior, whereas 48 h after inducing contact hypersensitivity by oxazolone challenge, CD103 inhibition increased Treg migration. This coincided with E-cadherin upregulation on infiltrating myeloid leukocytes in the dermis. Using CD11c-enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (EYFP) × Foxp3-GFP dual-reporter mice, inhibition of CD103 was found to reduce Treg interactions with dermal dendritic cells. CD103 inhibition also resulted in increased recruitment of effector CD4+ T cells and IFN-γ expression in challenged skin and resulted in reduced glucocorticoid-induced TNFR-related protein expression on Tregs. These results demonstrate that CD103 controls intradermal Treg migration, but only at later stages in the inflammatory response, when E-cadherin expression in the dermis is increased, and provide evidence that CD103-mediated interactions between Tregs and dermal dendritic cells support regulation of skin inflammation.
No related grants have been discovered for Jones Arkoh Paintsil.