ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Healing practices among the neo-prophetic groups in Ghana: case study of three selected Neo-Prophetic Churches

Over the last two decades, healing practices of the neo-prophetic Groups in Ghana have attracted attention. However, reasons why people resort to the neo-prophetic healers despite the technological improvement in medicine, is largely under-researched. The study was based on qualitative methods of which 30 respondents were interviewed within three selected churches, namely: Ebenezer Miracle Worship Centre in Kumasi, headed by Rev. Prophet Ebenezer Adarkwa Yiadom; House of Power Ministry International in Kumasi, headed by Rev. Prophet Francis Kwarteng and International Christian Life Centre in Cape Coast, headed by Rev. Isaac Boadu. Ten respondents were selected from each church comprising seven members who either claim to have been healed or yet to be healed and three officials from each Church. The study showed that individuals who resort to faith healers have the belief that diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, barrenness, stroke, malaria, typhoid, blindness, hepatitis, and mental illness are caused by demons or personal sins. Some neo-prophetic churches also believe that demons are the major cause of diseases and to others that diseases are caused by personal sins. These findings establish neo-prophetic churches as a Christian group, who operate on the Akan worldview that diseases have spiritual causation.

Source: UCC
Health and aesthetic benefits of alchornea cordifolia in cassava fufu

The existence of bioactive chemicals in plants is essential for the development of their therapeutic qualities. In order to establish the scientific foundation for their use, it is necessary to test medicinal plants on a regular basis going forward. The study was experimental research that explored the health and aesthetic benefits of Alchornea cordifolia (ogyama) in preparing cassava fufu. Specifically, the study proximately analyzed the cassava plantain fufu, cassava fufu, and cassava ogyama fufu determined the glycaemic index and glycaemic load of the three fufu varieties and conducted a sensory evaluation of the acceptance of the foods. Questionnaires were used to gather data for the sensory evaluation. One-way analysis of variance and independent-sample ttest were employed in the analysis of the data with a statistical significance set at 95%. The study showed that all three varieties of fufu have high glycaemic indices and are high glycaemic load foods. Cassava fufu has the highest glycaemic index of 78.3, cassava plantain fufu also has a glycaemic index of 73.9, while cassava ogyama fufu has the least glycaemic index of 54.3. Cassava plantain fufu was the most preferred in terms of colour, taste, aroma, mouth feel, after taste, and overall acceptability whereas cassava fufu was the least acceptable. The study recommends that the consumption of cassava ogyama fufu can be recommended more often to diabetics who wish to continue enjoying fufu while they manage their health.

Source: UCC
Health and Safety Practices in the Downstream Petroleum Sector: a Case Study of Fuel Retail Outlets in the Sekondi-takoradi Metropolis

Health and safety is of great concern in the oil and gas industry. The downstream petroleum sector in Ghana has become very competitive, hence, the need to provide workers with the needed structured safety environment with functional policies to operate. The main objective of the study was to assess compliance of health and safety practices among attendants of fuel retail outlets in the Sekondi- Takoradi Metropolis (STMA). Based on exploratory research design, the study was guided by the pragmatic philosophy to intorregate 177 respondents using self-administered questionnaires, scheduled interviews and personal observations to coalate data. Field data was analysed and processed using Statistical package for social science (SPSS, Version 22) and Microsoft office package suite, 2019. The results indicate that all fuelling outlets assessed had adequate safety measures in place to aid attendants‟ operations and were familiar with the use of all safety measures in place. The respondents also agreed that to ensure sustainability of the safety environment, regulators, managers and fuel retail outlet attendents, all had roles to play. However, inadequate safety trainning and periodic medical examination on the part of attendants were rated relatively low among the variables examined. The study concludes that adherence to health and safety practices is central to the the oil marketing players in the industry. Ensuring safety environment sustainability at the retail outlets is also deemed critical. Thus, safety concerns among fuel retail attendants identified must be addressed. In recommendation, deliberate effort must be taken by operators to ensure routine safety trainings and periodic medical check-ups for workers of fuel retail outlets.

Source: UCC
Health and Safety Practices, Challenges and Strategies in Oil and Gas Activities at the Takoradi Port

The oil and gas industry is deemed as one of the most risky sectors globally, posing several health and safety hazards to employees in their line of duty. This study therefore examined the health and safety practices, challenges and strategies to mitigate these challenges within the Takoradi Port of Ghana. Using a quantitative approach and a descriptive design, the study collected data from 200 randomly sampled respondents and the data was analysed, using tables frequencies, means and relative importance index. Among other things, the study found that health and safety practices within the sector at the Port include the provision of PPE, emergency assembly points, availability of first aid kits and clinical services, availability of alarm systems, safety information communication systems, visitor safety training and adequate safety facilities. However, these practices are also confronted with challenges such as lack of awareness on health and safety measures, poor risk assessment management process, insufficient training of site personnel on health and safety issues, lack of proper technology to monitor and assess health and safety trends and indicators, lack of legal and regulatory framework and lack of access to materials and PPE. It was also revealed that some strategies that can be devised to mitigate these challenges in the oil and gas sector include; improving the working conditions of employees, sensitizing and building the knowledge level of workers, effective health and safety regulations and capacity building of the regulatory institutions. The study, therefore, recommends that the regulation and enforcement of the safety protocols be implemented effectively and rigorously.

Source: UCC
Health Anxiety, Stress and Coping Strategies Among Health Professionals During Covid-19 Pandemic in Cape Coast Metropolis

The insurgence of Coronavirus disease popularly referred to as COVID-19 has tremendously affected healthcare professionals globally. The aim of this study was to investigate experiences of Health Anxiety, Stress and Coping during the Covid-19 pandemic among healthcare professionals in selected hospitals in the Cape Coast Metropolis. This study adopted the Descriptive survey design. The Multistage sampling technique was used to select 322 health professionals. The health professionals included Medical Officers, Physician Assistants and Nurses. Data were gathered using the Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI-SF), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Brief-COPE Inventory. Analyses were conducted using mean and standard deviation, ANOVA, Pearson Correlation Coefficient, Multiple Linear Regression Analysis, as well as Independent Sample t test. The findings showed that healthcare professionals in the Cape Coast Metropolis experienced low levels of health anxiety and stress during the current COVID-19 pandemic. There were no significant differences in the experiences of health anxiety and stress with regards to the categories of health professionals. However, male healthcare professionals were discovered to have experienced a significantly higher health anxiety than females. Additionally, it was found that coping strategies predicted or accounted for variances in experiences of health anxiety and stress among health professionals. But there were no significant gender differences in terms of stress. Considering the findings, it was recommended that medical personnel should be consistently examined for evaluating indicators of anxiety and stress and also trained to adopt appropriate coping strategies to mitigate the effect in this pandemic

Source: UCC
The Health Behaviour Inventory: Initial Development, Factor Structure and Evidence of Reliability

This study explored the factor structure and reliability of a new Health Behaviour Inventory (HBI) to assess the health behaviour of adults. Data in this study were collected from a total of 581 postgraduate students of the University of Cape Coast. The HBI was subjected to principal component factor analysis with Varimax (Kaiser Normalization). The Kaiser Meyer–Olkin measure was used to verify the sampling adequacy for the factor analysis, which yielded KMO of .808. This indicated that the sample size was adequate and factor analysis could be performed on the data set. Bartlett’s test of Sphericity (χ2 = 8133.626, p = 0.000) was significant for the sample. The analysis yielded six factors with robust reliabilities. The six factors were: alcohol intake, smoking, dietary behaviour, physical exercise, salt intake and weight management. With respect to the reliability of the instrument, the HBI items yielded a Cronbach’s alpha of .792 for the total scale. The exploratory factor analyses demonstrated good factor structure and internal consistency. However, since this is the first study to explore the HBI structure, the researchers recommended that further investigations into the psychometric properties (such as the predictive validity) of the instrument be carried out.

Source: UCC
Health education and the behaviour of people in selected rural communities of the Central region of Ghana

This research was carried out to determine the effect of community health education on the behaviour of people in selected coastal communities in the Central Region of Ghana between 2002 and 2006. A health centre from each of three study districts and then two communities were selected through simple random sampling. Respondents from the study communities categorized into beneficiaries (Breman, Egyankwa and Simbrofo) and non-beneficiaries (Eguafo, Etsibeedu and Mprumem) were interviewed to determine their sources and levels of knowledge on prevention of malaria, HIV/AIDS, childhood killer diseases and their responsiveness to antenatal care. Generally it was found that, there were significant differences in knowledge levels of beneficiary and non beneficiary communities with beneficiary communities having relatively higher percentages. The major source of knowledge was the Ghana Health Service Educational fora, followed by NGO outreach. Contrary to expectations, preventive health behaviour determined by trends in antenatal attendance gap, immunization gap and malaria reported cases were not significant. This means that there was no difference in preventive health behaviour of beneficiary and non beneficiary communities. It is recommended that health education should be holistically addressed. That is, there is a need for both political and educational action to influence health. Since certain policies must be enforced by law so that with little intervention, positive results will be attained.

Source: UCC
Health Effects of Overweight and Obesity in 195 Countries over 25 Years

BACKGROUND Although the rising pandemic of obesity has received major attention in many countries, the effects of this attention on trends and the disease burden of obe- sity remain uncertain. METHODS We analyzed data from 68.5 million persons to assess the trends in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adults between 1980 and 2015. Using the Global Burden of Disease study data and methods, we also quantified the burden of disease related to high body-mass index (BMI), according to age, sex, cause, and BMI in 195 countries between 1990 and 2015. RESULTS In 2015, a total of 107.7 million children and 603.7 million adults were obese. Since 1980, the prevalence of obesity has doubled in more than 70 countries and has continuously increased in most other countries. Although the prevalence of obesity among children has been lower than that among adults, the rate of in- crease in childhood obesity in many countries has been greater than the rate of increase in adult obesity. High BMI accounted for 4.0 million deaths globally, nearly 40% of which occurred in persons who were not obese. More than two thirds of deaths related to high BMI were due to cardiovascular disease. The dis- ease burden related to high BMI has increased since 1990; however, the rate of this increase has been attenuated owing to decreases in underlying rates of death from cardiovascular disease. CONCLUSIONS The rapid increase in the prevalence and disease burden of elevated BMI highlights the need for continued focus on surveillance of BMI and identification, implemen- tation, and evaluation of evidence-based interventions to address this problem. (Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.)

Source: UCC
Health impacts of pedestrian head-loading: a review of the evidence with particular reference to women and children in sub-Saharan Africa

Across sub-Saharan Africa, women and children play major roles as pedestrian load transporters, in the widespread absence of basic sanitation services, electricity and affordable/reliable motorised transport. The majority of loads, including water and firewood for domestic purposes, are carried on the head. Load-carrying has implications not only for school attendance and performance, women’s time budgets and gender relations, but arguably also for health and well-being. We report findings from a comprehensive review of relevant literature, undertaken June-September 2012, focusing particularly on biomechanics, maternal health, and the psycho-social impacts of load-carrying; we also draw from our own research. Key knowledge gaps and areas for future research are highlighted

Source: UCC
Health implications of gold minning for mine workers in Obuasi

The increased trend of health problems in the extractive industries including gold mining has been a major concern in recent times. Communities, workers, NGOs and government agencies have been looking at the best ways to reduce these unfortunate incidents to a minimum. This study was conducted at the Obuasi Municipality of Ghana, to find out the health implications of gold mining in the areas of common water related diseases and common-air related diseases of Anglo gold Ashanti (AGA) operations on inhabitants' health. The study depended on primary data collected from the field through interview schedule method and questionnaire administration and secondary data from the Obuasi Municipal Health Directorate. The study identified that pipe-borne water was the major source of drinking water for the majority of the people. Diarrhoea and typhoid; and respiratory tract infections were the main common water-related and alrrelated diseases respectively in the Obuasi Municipality. Malaria came first as the most prevalent disease in the municipality. With regard to the causes of the prevalent diseases, poor sanitation, polluted water, and dusty and smoky environment were mentioned. Among the recommendations suggested is the need for AGA management to increase its education on the use of Personal Protective Equipments (PPE), to suppress dust, backfill mined-out pits on time, enforcement of exit and periodic medical examination, and establish an Environmental Protection Agency office (EPA) in the Obuasi Municipality.

Source: UCC
Health insurance subscription in the cape coast metropolis

The study examined subscription to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in the Cape Coast Metropolis. Specifically, the study examined trends of subscription in the metropolis from 2005 to 2014, as well as barriers and motivation for subscription. The research adopted descriptive and explanatory study designs. Checklist and in-depth interview guides were used in collecting data from NHIS databases and 30 residents of the metropolis. Informed consent was sought from respondents before including them in the study. Analysis was done using SPSS and Excel. The study found that NHIS subscription generally increased from 2005 to 2014. By 2014, the scheme had covered about 41 percent of the population of the Metropolis, and 38 percent of the Ghanaian population. It was also realised that the major motivational factors to health insurance subscription were; being able to access health care at a cheap cost as the health insurance premium is affordable, NHIS providing access to free drugs, serving as a safeguard against health challenges, financial protection against unforeseen health challenges and the scheme allowing people the ability to save extra money for other needs. Friends, family members and colleagues, were found to be major factors motivating subscription to the NHIS. The study realised that major barriers to NHIS subscription were long queues and waiting time, perceived poor quality of drugs, corruption and negative attitude of services providers. Workshops should be organised by the National Health Insurance Authority and the Ghana Health Service, to entreat their workers, to exhibit positive attitudes towards clients in the exercise of their duties, so as to motivate more people to subscribe to the scheme.

Source: UCC
Health Risk Assessment of Urinary-Pahs and their Metabolites Among Artisanal Auto-Mechanical Workers from Selected Workshops in Siwdu, Cape Coast

Occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their metabolites have been linked to increased risk for a suite of negative health outcomes such as lung, skin, bladder, kidney, and liver cancers and other diseases. This study sought to conduct a health risk assessment of urinary-PAHs and their metabolites among artisanal auto-mechanical workers from the Siwdu auto-mechanical workshops in Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana. A total of 59 urine samples from three different artisanal groups namely: auto-mechanics, auto-sprayers, and plastic welders, were extracted in replicates (n = 3) for PAHs and its metabolites using solid phase extraction (SPE) protocol followed by HPLC-UV/RF instrumental analysis. The mean total metabolites and parent PAHs ranged between 490759.50 - 1869.00 ng/L, 129819.00 - 1752.00 ng/L, and 45613.50 - 2020.00 ng/L and 71916.36 -1382.73 ng/L, 12268.80 - 1703.04 ng/L, and 62936.82 -3862.41 ng/L for AM, AS and PW artisans respectively. About 80% of the samples had elevated levels of mean total PAHs (> 200.00 ng/L) set by NIOSH. Statistically, there were significant difference among the artisan group samples analysed with respect to analyte levels (p < 0. 05). The cumulative non-cancer risk and cancer risk upon exposure ranged between 4.0 × 10-6 - 6.0 × 10-4 and 4.0 × 10-7 - 1.0 × 10-4 for PAH metabolites and 2.0 × 10-6 - 2.0 × 10-5 and 1.0 × 10-6 - 2.0 × 10-5 for parent PAHs for AM, AS and PW artisans respectively. About 70% of the samples had both elevated non-cancer and cancer risk (> 10-6). The study showed that the artisanal auto-mechanical workers were exposed to elevated levels of PAHs due to poor safety culture, which may pose health risks to them.

Source: UCC
Health risk factors associated with pesticide use by watermelon farmers in central region, Ghana

Background: The export drive for watermelon production is huge and so is pesticide usage. However, the health and safety of the farmers, as well as threat to the environment lie in the shadow. The purpose of the study is to evalu ate watermelon farmers’ knowledge and application of pesticides in the Central region of Ghana, to ascertain factors associated with the pesticides application. Methods: A feld survey of 300 farmers were conducted in six communities through questionnaire. Logistic regres sion model was used to describe and explain burning sensation as the response variable and the factors that likely afect appropriate pesticide usage. Results: The results show that farmers were aware of the environmental and health impacts of pesticides use. How ever, their knowledge of the risks associated with pesticides is not translated into actual practice to avoid the expo sure of pesticides. The farmers experienced various levels of health risks symptoms. Health risks symptoms of head ache, burning sensation, fever, watering eyes, chest pains, etc., were reported. The most common symptom is burning sensation. A model capturing biosocial factors infuencing predisposition to burning sensation was developed. The model revealed that knowledge to identify pests, knowledge to identify diseases and wearing coverall were the most signifcant factors farmers experienced to infuence burning sensation. Conclusion: Signifcant number of watermelon farmers’ experienced health risks symptoms. In order to minimize the health risk symptoms and environmental consequences, educational training programs must involve the farmers and retailers through strong policy intervention

Source: UCC
Health seeking behaviour and presentation of Breast Cancer among women visiting the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital

Breast cancer has been identified as a leading malignancy and one of the most common causes of hospital admission among women. According to hospital records at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital most women visiting the breast clinic delay their presentation of breast cancer symptoms. This study therefore examined the health seeking behaviour and late presentation among patients with breast cancer visiting the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital. A descriptive quantitative study was employed. Convenient sampling method was used with the inclusion criteria of women who had been diagnosed with self-detected cancer or cancer detected through mammogram or clinical breast examination with stage II to stage IV breast cancer. A questionnaire was used to assess the demographics characteristics, barriers to seeking early care for breast symptoms, factors influencing health seeking behaviour, and breast cancer related knowledge. Health records of respondents were also used to assess the date of presentation at the clinic, and the duration of symptoms. The questionnaire was found to have adequate reliability with a Cronbach alpha value of 0.0839. The study found that the respondents had poor health-seeking behaviour. Delayed presentation of breast cancer was found not to be associated with educational level, income, marital status nor religion. However it was associated (X2=11.411: p=0.044) with older age. The study concluded that the willingness of women to screen for breast cancer influences time of presentation. The study therefore recommended that education is required for the relatively older women on breast cancer to avoid delayed presentation.

Source: UCC