Ghana Medical Journal最新文献

Objective: This study assessed levels of anxiety, depression, and stress among family caregivers of children and adolescents with mental disorders in Ghana and the implication on medication adherence.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Setting: The study was conducted at the outpatient departments of the three main public psychiatric hospitals in Ghana.

Participants: Two hundred and ten non-paid family caregivers of children and adolescents with mental disorders were recruited for this study.

Main outcome measure: The study assessed symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress among the caregivers and estimated caregiver-reported medication adherence.

Results: About 56.2%, 66.2% and 78% of the caregivers experienced severe anxiety, severe depression and moderate to severe stress symptoms respectively. From the multiple logistic regression model, while anxiety was significantly affected by religion and education, depression was influenced by sex, age, marital status, proximity to facility, and employment status. Female caregivers had about four times higher odds of being depressed compared to male caregivers (aOR: 3.81, 95% CI: 1.66 - 8.75). The caregiver-reported medication adherence was 11.9%. Anxiety was significantly predictive of medication adherence.

Conclusion: Most family caregivers of children and adolescents with mental disorders experienced symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress with anxiety having implications for medication adherence. The study findings underscore the need to consider psychological characteristics of caregivers and the provision of mental health support for them, as part of the routine health care for children and adolescents with mental disorders.

Funding: None indicated.

The caecum and appendix are uncommon contents of femoral hernia (Duari hernia). Diagnosis is usually intraoperative. We report a rare case of obstructed right femoral hernia in a 65-year-old woman. She was admitted into the accident and emergency department because of sudden irreducibility of a previously reducible right groin swelling of 5 years duration. She had obstructive symptoms with an irreducible right groin mass clinically diagnosed as obstructed right femoral hernia. A combination of infra-inguinal transverse incision and a lower midline laparotomy incision was used. The intraoperative findings included the herniation of the caecum and appendix into the right femoral canal. Patient had an uneventful recovery. Duari hernia is uncommon. A high index of suspicion and an experienced surgeon, who can handle uncommon findings should be involved in the management of obstructed femoral hernias.

Funding: None declared.

Primary extraskeletal osteosarcoma is an uncommon disease and has been reported to affect the uterus only rarely. Less than 20 cases have so far been reported in the English literature. The common clinical presentation is heavy bleeding per vaginam, and in virtually all cases, the diagnosis has been made at an advanced stage of the disease. Various authors have recommended adjuvant chemotherapy, but outcomes have so far been uniformly poor, with survival extended by months rather than years. We present two cases of this rare condition, which were diagnosed four months apart within our histopathology laboratory andconfirmed the very late presentation of the disease in one and the poor survival of both patients.

Funding: None declared.

Objectives: This study evaluates the association between genital Chlamydial infection and tubal factor infertility in a tertiary health facility in South-East Nigeria.

Design: This was a case-control analytical study.

Setting: Gynaecology Clinic and Maternity Unit of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria.

Participants: Ninety-six (96) women with confirmed tubal factor infertility served as the cases, and 96 women with normal intra-uterine pregnancy matched in age served as the control.

Data collection/intervention: A structured questionnaire was used to extract information on the sociodemographic data and the sexual history of the participants. About 2mls of blood was collected, the blood was allowed to clot, and the sera were used for the test.

Statistical analysis/main outcome measure: Pearson Chi-square, Fisher's exact test, likelihood ratio and multivariate logistic regression were used to determine risk associations and identify factors independently related to tubal factor infertility. P-value < 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: The sociodemographic characteristics of both cases and control did not differ (P = 0.975). The Chlamydial antibody seropositivity was significantly higher in the cases than the control 78(81.2%) versus 13(13.5%) respectively {(P < 0.001; OR (95% CI) = 27.7(12.7-60.2)}. Only lower abdominal pain {(P = 0.011); OR (95% CI) = 4.3(1.4-13.3)}; was independently associated with tubal factor infertility.

Conclusion: Tubal factor infertility is strongly associated with chlamydial IgG antibodies, and a history of lower abdominal pain significantly predicted tubal factor infertility.

Funding: The authors paid the cost of procuring the anti-chlamydial ELIZA test kits, plain sample bottles, syringes, gloves and other consumables and stationaries.

Background: Brucellosis is one of the major health problems in many areas of the world, especially in the Mediterranean and the Middle East regions.

Objective: To determine the epidemiological characteristics, clinical signs, and risk factors of relapse rate in patients with brucellosis, Qom Province, Iran.

Methods: A descriptive-analytic study was conducted on 410 confirmed brucellosis cases in Qom Province, central Iran, from 2015 to 2019, based on epidemiological checklists and according to the Iran Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MOHME). Univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted using Stata software version 14.

Results: The relapse rate of brucellosis was 6.6% until nine months after starting the treatment, and all recurrent cases were infected by Brucella melitensis. Based on univariate logistic regression analysis, the delayed treatment and type species of Brucella were significant factors affecting the relapse of brucellosis. The relapse rates were 5.4%, 6.2%, and 20.0% in patients whose delayed treatments were <50, 51-150, and >151days, respectively. Based on the multiple logistic regression, it was observed that delayed treatment >50 days increased the rate of relapse more than four times.

Conclusion: The delayed initiation of treatment was a significant factor influencing the relapse of brucellosis; therefore, it is necessary to provide enough diagnostic and laboratory facilities, and people need to be educated about the signs and symptoms of the disease.

Funding: Funding for this research was provided by the Research and Technology Center of Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran.

In children, acute respiratory distress (ARD) is a clinical presentation requiring emergency management, including mechanical ventilation. Mechanical ventilators are lacking in sub-Saharan Africa. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) is an alternative form of non-invasive respiratory support that has been used in high-income countries for over four decades. Its use in sub-Saharan Africa is, however, limited and often restricted to neonates. Controlled trials in Ghana have shown that the use of CPAP in children younger aged 1-12 months reduces 2-week all-cause mortality from ARD by 60% (RR 0·40, 0·19-0·82; p=0·01). The absolute reduction in mortality of 4% implies one infant life saved for every 25 children treated with CPAP. This paper reviews the findings of the trials in Ghana and contrasts the findings with those of trials in Bangladesh and Malawi. It makes the case that implementation research (rather than more controlled trials) is now needed to support the routine, safe and effective use of CPAP in managing ARD in older infants in district hospitals in Ghana.

Funding: None declared.

Objectives: This study aimed to assess communities' perception and adoption of the evidenced-based malaria diagnosis and case management intervention targeted at under-five children. The effectiveness of trained Volunteer Community Health Workers (VCHWs) to diagnose malaria among under-five children using rapid diagnostic testing kit, provide treatment using Artemisinin Combination Therapy and rectal Artesunate were assessed.

Design: A qualitative evaluation study was conducted in October 2015.

Setting: Communities in the 6 rural wards in Ona-Ara Local Government Area, Oyo State Nigeria.

Participants: Caregivers of under-five children, community-based frontline health workers, and community leaders selected using purposively sampling.

Methods: Nine Focus Group Discussions and 15 Key Informant Interviews were conducted using a pre-tested guide. Data were subjected to thematic analysis.

Results: It was disclosed that VCHWs promoted people's access to prompt and appropriate malaria treatment. The communities accepted the VCHWs; the reasons given for this included the following: effectiveness of VCHWs in case management of malaria; good inter-personal relationship with caregivers; and the positive health outcomes associated with services provided by them. In addition, community members expressed satisfaction with the VCHWs and provided them with all the support needed to function throughout the malaria case management intervention. The VCHWs considered the support as a great source of encouragement.

Conclusions: The use of VCHWs to treat malaria was adjudged to be effective and considered acceptable to the communities. The adoption of the intervention and its integration into the primary health system by the government is advocated for in medically underserved rural communities.

Funding: This work was supported by UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research & Training in Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland (project ID: A80550 [Nigeria] through funds made available by the European Commission (FP7) for research to improve community access to health interventions in Africa.

Warfarin induced skin necrosis is a rare debilitating and, in some cases, life-threatening complication. A 47-year-old male on life-long anticoagulation omits his medication and develops extensive skin necrosis of the left leg complicated by acute renal failure three days after restarting warfarin. Investigations reveal possible Protein S deficiency which is known to be a predisposing condition. Various mechanisms have been proposed as the underlying cause. He was managed on heparin, wound debridement and skin grafting. Warfarin was restarted concurrently with heparin. Knowledge of this complication will enable timely diagnosis and treatment.

Funding: None declared.

Objectives: Stroke is one of the leading causes of death, disability, and dementia in developing countries. Our study aimed to evaluate the systemic disorders associated with mortality in patients admitted within 72 hours of the initial stroke event.

Setting: The study took place at a tertiary hospital in Kinshasa.

Participants: Patients admitted within 72 hours of the initial stroke event.

Interventions: This cross-sectional study consisted of a retrospective review of stroke patient records from January 2016 to December 2018. The Pearson-Chi square test and odds ratios were calculated with a threshold of significance of 0.05.

Main outcome measures: Mortality.

Results: We recruited 114 cases. The mean age was 61.8 ± 2.4 years, and the sex ratio was 1.78 in favor of men. Hypertension (76.3%), dyslipidemia (71.1%), and diabetes mellitus (58.8%) were the most frequent comorbidities. Most patients had hypoxia (85.9%), hypertension (82.4%), hyperglycemia (57.8%), and fever (28.1%). We registered thirty-two deaths (28.1%): 20 (62.5%) from the ischemic strokes, and 12 (37.5%) from hemorrhagic strokes. Systemic disorders with the worst prognosis during were arterial hypotension (OR=3.87, p >0.001), and fever (OR =1.56, p = 0.047).

Conclusion: Arterial hypotension and fever adversely affect stroke patient outcomes, and strokes are responsible for high mortality in Congo.

Funding: Not applicable.

Objective: This analysis described the clinical features of COVID-19 in the early phase of the pandemic in Ghana.

Methods: Data were extracted from two national COVID-19 treatment centers in Ghana for over 11 weeks(from March to May 2020). Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed. Modified Ordered Logistic and Negative Binomial Regression analysis were applied to establish factors associated with illness severity and Non-communicable Disease (NCDs) counts respectively. All analysis was conducted at the 95% confidence level (p-value ≤ 0.05) using Stata 16.

Results: Among the 275 patients, the average age was 40.7±16.4, with a preponderance of males (54.5%). The three commonest symptoms presented were cough (21.3%), headache (15.7%), and sore throat (11.7%). Only 7.6% of the patients had a history of fever. Most patients were asymptomatic (51.65). Approximately 38.9% have an underlying co-morbid NCDs, with Hypertension (32.1%), Diabetes (9.9%), and Asthma (5.2%) being the three commonest. The odds of Moderate/severe (MoS) was significantly higher for those with unknown exposures to similar illness [aOR(95%CI) = 4.27(1.12-10.2)] compared with non-exposure to similar illness. An increased unit of NCD's count significantly increased the odds of COVID-19 MoS illness by 26%[cOR(95%CI) =1.26(1.09-1.84)] and 67% (adjusting for age) [aOR(95%CI)=1.67(1.13-2.49)].

Conclusion: The presence of cardiovascular co-morbidities dictated the frequency of reported symptoms and severity of COVID-19 infection in this sample of Ghanaians. Physicians should be aware of the presence of co-morbid NCDs and prepare to manage effectively among COVID-19 patients.

Funding: None declared.