ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Are senior high school students in Ghana meeting WHO’s recommended level of physical activity? Evidence from the 2012 Global School-based Student Health Survey Data

Physical activity (PA) has both short- and long-term importance. In this study we sought to assess the prevalence and correlates of PA among 1,542 Senior High School (SHS) students. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in Ghana among SHS students using the 2012 version of the Ghana Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) data, which utilized two-stage cluster sampling technique. The population for the study comprised SHS students. The outcome variable was physical activity. The data were analyzed using STATA version 14.2 for Mac OS. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses were employed. At the bivariate level, Pearson chi-square test between each independent variable and PA was conducted and the level of statistical significance was set at 5%. All the significant variables from the chi-square test were selected for the multivariate analysis. In the multivariate analysis, Poisson regression with robust variance was performed to estimate crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (APR). ResultsIt was found that 25.0% (29.0% males and 21.9% females) of SHS students were physically active. Female students (APR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.65, 0.94), students in SHS 2 (APR = 0.76 95% CI = 0.577, 0.941) and SHS3 (APR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.63, 0.93), and those who went hungry (APR = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.65, 0.92) were less likely to be physically active compared to males, those in SHS1 and those who did not go hungry respectively. On the other hand, students who actively commuted to school (APR = 2.40, 95% CI = 1.72, 2.42) and got Only a quarter of SHS students who participated in the 2012 version of the GSHS met the WHO’s recommended level of physical activity. Sex, grade/form and experience of hunger are associated with physical activity. Physical activity is a major component of any health promotion program. Policies and programmes targeting improvement in physical activity among SHS students should take these associated factors into consideration

Source: UCC
Are small-scale freshwater aquaculture farms in coastal areas of Ghana economically profitable?

Marine fish stocks in Ghana are in serious decline, while local demand for fish has outstripped supply due to a combination of factors led y over-fishing. To sustain er capita consumption of fish, the Government of Ghana has ositioned aquaculture as one of its top riorities. Aquaculture is rojected to meet the deficit in the country’s fish requirements. However, there is aucity of information on the rofitability of smallholder aquaculture farming ractices to guide lanning and investments in the sector. This study was carried out on 40 farms across all four coastal regions of Ghana namely Western, Central, Greater Accra, and Volta Regions to help address critical ottlenecks facing smallholder fish farming ractices. Three rofitability metrics, i.e., enefit-cost ratio (BCR), ayback eriod (PBP), and return on investment (ROI) were used to assess rofitability. Regression analysis etween investments and revenue outputs revealed cost factors that were significant and ositively influencing revenue generation from aquaculture farms. Average BCR for smallholder aquaculture farms for a 5-year eriod was estimated at 1.14. When disaggregated, tilapia rofitability was higher (BCR = 1.16) compared to catfish (BCR = 1.11) ut not significant. The results showed that oth tilapia and catfish farming had ositive returns on investment. However, in the long term, rofitability from catfish was higher (ROI = 0.74) than tilapia farming (ROI = 0.73) ut not significantly different. Tilapia farms recorded shorter ayback time of 7 years when compared to catfish farms estimated at 9 years. This study calls for stronger commitment of government and stakeholders to address the issues of high cost of fish feed and access to fish fingerlings and markets, while improving specific on-farm management ractices.

Source: UCC
Are we our own enemies? Leisure constraints of physically and visually disabled people in Ghana

Knowledge on leisure constraints is important in advancing the discourse on leisure participation particularly amongst marginalized populations such as disabled people. Research on leisure constraints of disabled people in the contexts of developing African countries is minimal despite their different socio-cultural, economic and political environments. The concepts of both disability and leisure have socio-cultural inclinations and thus define and shape the nature and type of constraints encountered by disabled people. Using the symbolic interactionist perspective, this paper discusses the leisure constraints of visually and physically disabled people in Ghana in relation to their socio cultural milieu. Data for the study were obtained from visually and physically impaired individuals through focus group discussions. It was revealed that inaccessible physical environment, negative attitude of non-disabled members of society towards disabled people, inadequate support from family and friends and exclusion in social and national programmes were the leisure constraints encountered by the disabled people. The implications for ensuring inclusion and minimizing the effects of these constraints on leisure participation are discussed

Source: UCC
Are women deciding against home births in low and middle income countries?

Although there is evidence to tracking progress towards facility births within the UN Millennium Development Goals framework, we do not know whether women are deciding against home birth over their reproductive lives. Using Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data from 44 countries, this study aims to investigate the patterns and shifts in childbirth locations and to determine whether these shifts are in favour of home or health settings. Methods and Findings: The analyses considered 108,777 women who had at least two births in the five years preceding the most recent DHS over the period 2000–2010. The vast majority of women opted for the same place of childbirth for their successive births. However, about 14% did switch their place and not all these decisions favoured health facility over home setting. In 24 of the 44 countries analysed, a higher proportion of women switched from a health facility to home. Multilevel regression analyses show significantly higher odds of switching from home to a facility for high parity women, those with frequent antenatal visits and more wealth. However, in countries with high infant mortality rates, low parity women had an increased probability of switching from home to a health facility. Conclusions: There is clear evidence that women do change their childbirth locations over successive births in low and middle income countries. After two decades of efforts to improve maternal health, it might be expected that a higher proportion of women will be deciding against home births in favour of facility births. The results from this analysis show that is not the case

Source: UCC
Aristotelian rhetorical theory as a framework for analyzing advertising texts in the print media in Ghana

Advertisements are fashioned in diverse forms, but in most of them, language is absolutely essential. Although visual images, graphic and color designs and other techniques constitute aspects of print advertising, it is the language of the advertisement that enables consumers to identify a product and remember it. Indeed, language has a powerful influence on readers and their behavioral patterns. The English Language is employed in the print media in Ghana as a means of communicating information about goods and services with the goal of persuading the consuming public to take purchasing decisions. In the current article, I applied Aristotle’s Rhetorical Theory to the analysis of persuasive elements in the English used in advertisements in Ghanaian newspapers. The qualitative research design was employed in the study as the corpus was solely from written documents. The findings of the study demonstrated that copywriters in the Ghanaian print media employed Aristotle’s three artistic proofs, namely, logos, pathos and ethos in the English of advertisements for persuasive effect

Source: UCC
Arsenic, cadmium, and mercury in cocoyam (xanthosoma sagititolium) and watercocoyam (colocasia esculenta) in Tarkwa a Mining Community

Cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagititolium) and Watercocoyam (Colocasia esculenta) have gained increased importance in the diets of majority of people in developing countries such as Ghana. The concentration levels of arsenic, cadmium, and mercury in Cocoyam (X. sagititolium) and Watercocoyam (C. esculenta) in Tarkwa and its surrounding villages a mining community in Ghana were measured in this study. From the results of the study, the levels of arsenic, cadmium and mercury in X. sagititolium and C. esculenta were higher than the WHO recommended levels. These root tubers absorb or uptake toxic chemicals from the soil as a result of the mining operations. This means that, the consumption of X. sagititolium and C. esculenta by humans from such environments may pose a serious health risk. There is therefore the need for a concerted effort by all to minimize the negative impact of gold mining in the study area

Source: UCC
ART Regimen and Other Sociodemographics Do Not Affect Cytokine Expression in HIV Patients in Ghana

Background. HIV infection is marked by the production of cytokines by infected cells and cells of the immune system. Variations in the levels of cytokine in HIV-infected individuals signiﬁcantly impact the role of the immune system with the possibility to aﬀect the course of HIV disease by either exacerbating or suppressing HIV replication. Aim. The study sought to investigate the eﬀect of sociodemographic indices, clinical laboratory parameters, and ART regimen on Th1, Th2, and Th17 cytokines in HIV patients. Materials and methods. A total of two hundred (200) HIV patients on either the ﬁrst or second line of ART were recruited into the study. Sociodemographic indices were collected using researcher-administered questionnaires. Serum concentrations of two major immune-promoting cytokines, IL-12 and IFN-c, and immune-suppressive cytokines, IL-10 and IL-17, were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). T-test and chi-square were used to compare mean scores, while correlation (Pearson’s correlation) and linear regression analyses were also performed with the statistical signiﬁcance set at p < 0.05. Results. The mean age of the participants was (45.54 ± 0.7846) years with a greater proportion (84.5%) between 31 and 60 years. The mean interferon-gamma (INF-c), interleukin- (IL-) 10, interleukin-12, and interleukin-17 were estimated to be 349.9 ± 8.391 pg/ml, 19.32 ± 0.4593 pg/ml, 19.23 ± 0.3960 pg/ml, and 24.6 ± 0.6207 pg/ml, respectively. Although INF-c and IL-17 levels were relatively higher in males compared to females, it was vice versa for IL-10 and IL-12. However, none of these was statistically signiﬁcant. Again, no signiﬁcant diﬀerence was observed among all the cytokines stratiﬁed by the duration of ART, stage of HIV, and smoking status. Most importantly, stratiﬁcation by either ﬁrst- or second-line ART regimens recorded no signiﬁcant diﬀerence in cytokine levels. Age signiﬁcantly correlated inversely with IFN-c (r � − 0.27, p ≤ 0.001), IL-10 (r � − 0.24, p ≤ 0.001), and IL-12 (r � − 0.18, p � 0.01) while duration on ART signiﬁcantly correlated inversely with IFN-c (r � − 0.16, p � 0.02). CD4 counts at 6 months and 12 months on ART correlated inversely with IL-17 (r � − 0.17, p � 0.02) and plasma viral load at 1 year (r � − 0.22, p ≤ 0.001), respectively. A positive correlation was observed between IFN-c and IL-12 (r � − 0.84, p ≤ 0.001) and IL-17 (r � − 0.50, p ≤ 0.001). This positive trend was repeated between IL-10 and IL-12 (r � − 0.92, p ≤ 0.001) and IL-17 (r � − 0.61, p ≤ 0.001). Conclusion. The levels of IFN-c, IL-12, IL-17, and IL-10 are not signiﬁcantly aﬀected by sociodemographics and ART regimen. This observation shows that no signiﬁcant diﬀerence was observed in cytokine levels stratiﬁed by ARTregiments. This means that both regimens are eﬀective in the suppression of disease progression.

Source: UCC
ART Regimen and Other Sociodemographics Do Not Affect Cytokine Expression in HIV Patients in Ghana

Background. HIV infection is marked by the production of cytokines by infected cells and cells of the immune system. Variations in the levels of cytokine in HIV-infected individuals significantly impact the role of the immune system with the possibility to affect the course of HIV disease by either exacerbating or suppressing HIV replication. Aim. The study sought to investigate the effect of sociodemographic indices, clinical laboratory parameters, and ART regimen on Th1, Th2, and Th17 cytokines in HIV patients. Materials and methods. A total of two hundred (200) HIV patients on either the first or second line of ART were recruited into the study. Sociodemographic indices were collected using researcher-administered questionnaires. Serum concentrations of two major immune-promoting cytokines, IL-12 and IFN-c, and immune-suppressive cytokines, IL-10 and IL-17, were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). T-test and chi-square were used to compare mean scores, while correlation (Pearson’s correlation) and linear regression analyses were also performed with the statistical significance set at p<0.05. Results. The mean age of the participants was (45.54±0.7846) years with a greater proportion (84.5%) between 31 and 60 years. The mean interferon-gamma (INF-c), interleukin- (IL-) 10, interleukin-12, and interleukin-17 were estimated to be 349.9±8.391 pg/ml, 19.32±0.4593 pg/ml, 19.23±0.3960 pg/ml, and 24.6±0.6207 pg/ml, respectively. Although INF-c and IL-17 levels were relatively higher in males compared to females, it was vice versa for IL-10 and IL-12. However, none of these was statistically significant. Again, no significant difference was observed among all the cytokines stratified by the duration of ART, stage of HIV, and smoking status. Most importantly, stratification by either first- or second-line ART regimens recorded no significant difference in cytokine levels. Age significantly correlated inversely with IFN-c (r = - 0.27, p≤0.001), IL-10 (r = - 0.24, p≤0.001), and IL-12 (r =- 0.18, p = 0.01) while duration on ART significantly correlated inversely with IFN-c (r =- 0.16, p = 0.02). CD4 counts at 6 months and 12 months on ART correlated inversely with IL-17 (r = - 0.17, p = 0.02) and plasma viral load at 1 year (r = - 0.22, p≤0.001), respectively. A positive correlation was observed between IFN-c and IL-12 (r = - 0.84, p≤0.001) and IL-17 (r = - 0.50, p≤0.001). This positive trend was repeated between IL-10 and IL-12 (r = - 0.92, p≤0.001) and IL-17 (r = - 0.61, p≤0.001). Conclusion. The levels of IFN-c, IL-12, IL-17, and IL-10 are not significantly affected by sociodemographics and ART regimen. This observation shows that no significant difference was observed in cytokine levels stratified by ART regiments. This means that both regimens are effective in the suppression of disease progression.

Source: UCC
ART Regimen and Other Sociodemographics Do Not Affect Cytokine Expression in HIV Patients in Ghana

HIV infection is marked by the production of cytokines by infected cells and cells of the immune system. Variations in the levels of cytokine in HIV-infected individuals significantly impact the role of the immune system with the possibility to affect the course of HIV disease by either exacerbating or suppressing HIV replication. Aim. *e study sought to investigate the effect of sociodemographic indices, clinical laboratory parameters, and ART regimen on *1, *2, and *17 cytokines in HIV patients. Materials and methods. A total of two hundred (200) HIV patients on either the first or second line of ARTwere recruited into the study. Sociodemographic indices were collected using researcher-administered questionnaires. Serum concentrations of two major immune-promoting cytokines, IL-12 and IFN-c, and immune-suppressive cytokines, IL-10 and IL-17, were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). T-test and chi-square were used to compare mean scores, while correlation (Pearson’s correlation) and linear regression analyses were also performed with the statistical significance set at p < 0.05. Results. *e mean age of the participants was (45.54 ± 0.7846) years with a greater proportion (84.5%) between 31 and 60 years. *e mean interferon-gamma (INF-c), interleukin- (IL-) 10, interleukin-12, and interleukin-17 were estimated to be 349.9 ± 8.391 pg/ml, 19.32 ± 0.4593 pg/ml, 19.23 ± 0.3960 pg/ml, and 24.6 ± 0.6207 pg/ml, respectively. Although INF-c and IL-17 levels were relatively higher in males compared to females, it was vice versa for IL-10 and IL-12. However, none of these was statistically significant. Again, no significant difference was observed among all the cytokines stratified by the duration of ART, stage of HIV, and smoking status. Most importantly, stratification by either first- or second-line ARTregimens recorded no significant difference in cytokine levels. Age significantly correlated inversely with IFN-c (r � − 0.27, p ≤ 0.001), IL-10 (r � − 0.24, p ≤ 0.001), and IL-12 (r � − 0.18, p � 0.01) while duration on ARTsignificantly correlated inversely with IFN-c (r � − 0.16, p � 0.02). CD4 counts at 6 months and 12 months on ART correlated inversely with IL-17 (r � − 0.17, p � 0.02) and plasma viral load at 1 year (r � − 0.22, p ≤ 0.001), respectively. A positive correlation was observed between IFN-c and IL-12 (r � − 0.84, p ≤ 0.001) and IL-17 (r � − 0.50, p ≤ 0.001). *is positive trend was repeated between IL-10 and IL-12 (r � − 0.92, p ≤ 0.001) and IL-17 (r � − 0.61, p ≤ 0.001). Conclusion. *e levels of IFN-c, IL-12, IL-17, and IL-10 are not significantly affected by sociodemographics and ART regimen. *is observation shows that no significant difference was observed in cytokine levels stratified by ARTregiments. *is means that both regimens are effective in the suppression of disease progression.

Source: UCC
ART Regimen and Other Sociodemographics Do Not Affect Cytokine Expression in HIV Patients in Ghana

Background. HIV infection is marked by the production of cytokines by infected cells and cells of the immune system. Variations in the levels of cytokine in HIV-infected individuals significantly impact the role of the immune system with the possibility to affect the course of HIV disease by either exacerbating or suppressing HIV replication. Aim: The study sought to investigate the effect of sociodemographic indices, clinical laboratory parameters, and ART regimen on Th1, Th2, andTh17 cytokines in HIV patients. Materials and methods: A total of two hundred (200) HIV patients on either the first or second line of ART were recruited into the study. Sociodemographic indices were collected using researcher-administered questionnaires. Serum concentrations of two major immune-promoting cytokines, IL-12 and IFN-c, and immune-suppressive cytokines, IL-10 and IL-17, were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). T-test and chi-square were used to compare mean scores, while correlation (Pearson’s correlation) and linear regression analyses were also performed with the statistical significance set at p<0.05. Results. The mean age of the participants was (45.54±0.7846) years with a greater proportion (84.5%) between 31 and 60 years. The mean interferon-gamma (INF-c), interleukin- (IL-) 10, interleukin-12, and interleukin-17 were estimated to be 349.9±8.391 pg/ml, 19.32±0.4593 pg/ml, 19.23±0.3960 pg/ml, and 24.6±0.6207 pg/ml, respectively. Although INF-c and IL-17 levels were relatively higher in males compared to females, it was vice versa for IL-10 and IL-12. However, none of these was statistically significant. Again, no significant difference was observed among all the cytokines stratified by the duration of ART, stage of HIV, and smoking status. Most importantly, stratification by either first- or second-line ART regimens recorded no significant difference in cytokine levels. Age significantly correlated inversely with IFN-c (r = - 0.27, p≤0.001), IL-10 (r = - 0.24, p≤0.001), and IL-12 (r =- 0.18, p = 0.01) while duration on ART significantly correlated inversely with IFN-c (r = - 0.16, p =0.02). CD4 counts at 6 months and 12 months on ART correlated inversely with IL-17 (r = - 0.17, p = 0.02) and plasma viral load at 1 year (r = - 0.22, p≤0.001), respectively. A positive correlation was observed between IFN-c and IL-12 (r = - 0.84, p≤0.001) and IL-17 (r = - 0.50, p≤0.001). This positive trend was repeated between IL-10 and IL-12 (r = - 0.92, p≤0.001) and IL-17 (r = - 0.61, p≤0.001). Conclusion. The levels of IFN-c, IL-12, IL-17, and IL-10 are not significantly affected by sociodemographics and ART regimen. This observation shows that no significant difference was observed in cytokine levels stratified by ARTregiments. This means that both regimens are effective in the suppression of disease progression

Source: UCC
Art therapy for women with breast cancer: The therapeutic consequences of boundary strengthening

Between 2001 and 2004, 42 women with breast cancer (20 women in the study group and 22 women in the control group) participated in an intervention study involving art therapy. This article elaborates on previous quantitative results, taking a discursive approach and drawing on gender theories in analyzing the women’s use of interpretative repertoires in interviews and diaries and their answers on single items of the Coping Resources Inventory (CRI). The aim was to inquire into whether and, if so, how and with what consequences women with breast cancer who participated in art therapy improved their access to beneficial cultural interpretative repertoires, compared to a control group. The results showed a connection between participation in art therapy, talking about protecting one’s own boundaries, and scoring higher on the CRI compared to the control group. There was also a connection between the control group, repertoire conflicts, and lower scores on the CRI. Our interpretation is that art therapy became a tool the women could use to distinguish cultural understandings about boundaries and, through image making and reflections, to give higher legitimacy to their own interpretations and experience.

Source: UCC