ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Admissions and Mortality over a 5-Year Period in a Large Limited-Resource Neonatal Unit in Ghana

Objective: To review admissions and deaths at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), Ghana from 2011 to 2015, for the purposes of documentation of outcomes and identification of areas for improvement. Design: A retrospective descriptive study of NICU Admissions & Discharges from 2011 to 2015. All data in the NICU Admissions & Discharge books were transferred into a spreadsheet and analysed. Setting – The NICU of KBTH provides secondary and tertiary care for premature and critically ill term babies in the southern half of Ghana. Results: Over the 5-year period, 9213 babies were admitted to the NICU. Admission weights ranged from 300 to 6700g with median of 2400g. Overall mortality rate was 19.2%. Mortality rates were progressively and significantly higher in babies with lower admission weights and earlier gestations. Conclusions: We report a high NICU mortality rate of 19.2%, compared to the worldwide range of 3.1% to 29%. This wide range of outcomes is attributable to differences in the severity of illness of patients and to the organisation of resources devoted to obstetric and neonatal care. To substantially improve perinatal and neonatal outcomes, there is a need for wider coverage and better quality of health care; and to consider rationing of care. Complex interventions are necessary to improve outcomes, not just an increase in the allocation of particular resources.

Source: UG
Adolescent health and well-being check-up programme in three African cities (Y-Check): protocol for a multimethod, prospective, hybrid implementation-effectiveness study

Background During adolescence, behaviours are initiated that will have substantial impacts on the individual’s short-term and long-term health and well-being. However, adolescents rarely have regular contact with health services, and available services are not always appropriate for their needs. We co developed with adolescents a health and well-being check-up programme (Y-Check). This paper describes the methods to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, short-term effects and cost-effectiveness of Y-Check in three African cities. Method This is a multi-country prospective intervention study, with a mixed-method process evaluation. The intervention involves screening, on-the-spot care and referral of adolescents through health and well-being check-up visits. In each city, 2000 adolescents will be recruited in schools or community venues. Adolescents will be followed-up at 4 months. The study will assess the effects of Y-Check on knowledge and behaviours, as well as clinical outcomes and costs. Process and economic evaluations will investigate acceptability, feasibility, uptake, fidelity and cost effectiveness. Ethics and dissemination Approval has been received from the WHO (WHO/ERC Protocol ID Number ERC.0003778); Ghana Health Service (Protocol ID Number GHS-ERC: 027/07/22), the United Republic of Tanzania National Institute for Medical Research (Clearance No. NIMR/HQ/R.8a/Vol.IX/4199), the Medical Research Council of Zimbabwe (Approval Number MRCZ/A/2766) and the LSHTM (Approval Numbers 26395 and 28312). Consent and disclosure are addressed in the paper. Results will be published in three country-specific peer-reviewed journal publications, and one multicountry publication; and disseminated through videos, briefs and webinars. Data will be placed into an open access repository. Data will be deidentified and anonymised

Source: UG
Adolescent Male Awareness and Support on Menstrual Hygiene Management in the Sagnarigu Municipality of Northern Region

In recent times, Menstrual Hygiene Management has become an issue of concern to both public health scholars and practitioners. However, managing menstruation hygienically has been a neglected issue which unfortunately has truncated the educational progress of several girls and women, particularly in developing countries. Scholarly debate on MHM is raging but focused on girls and women since MHM is seen as a ‘women issue’. Reckoning the importance of males in MHM, the scholarly and practice debates have been extended to embrace boys and men. This study contributed to the debate on MHM by focusing on adolescent male awareness and support on menstrual hygiene management in the Sagnarigu Municipality of the Northern Region of Ghana. An exploratory descriptive research design was adopted with a purposive sampling technique and a sample size of 15 adolescent males were recruited from Kalpohin Senior High School. Data was gathered using a semi-structured interview guide with an indepth face-to-face interview of each participant which lasted between 35 and 45 minutes. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Guided by the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), the data was analysed thematically based on the five major theoretical themes of the constructs. Three emerged themes were identified from the data with twenty-three subthemes. Specifically, the findings revealed that adolescent males have some appreciable knowledge about menstruation and MHM as they contended their willingness to support female colleagues to manage menstruation hygienically. Recommendations from findings have been made to ministries of education and health.

Source: UG
Adolescent mental health services in West Africa: a comparative analysis of Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Niger

Background Adolescent mental health (AMH) is a critical issue worldwide, particularly in West Africa, where it is intensified by socio-economic, cultural, and security challenges. Insecurity and the presence of mining sites expose adolescents to hazardous environments, substance abuse, and adulterated alcohol, further aggravating their mental health. Despite these severe issues, research on AMH in this region remains limited. This study aims to analyze the provision of AMH services in Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Niger, highlighting the unique challenges these countries face within the broader West African healthcare context. Methods The study adopted a multi-stage, stratified sampling design to collect data from primary healthcare centers (PHCs) in the three countries. Using STATA.17, Descriptive analysis was conducted on the data related to availability of AMH services, types of mental health disorders treated, resources available, and OPD attendance rates. The analysis also incorporated factors such as the rural-urban divide and the presence of national guidelines for AMH services. Results The findings reveal a significant shortfall in the provision of AMH services across the region, with less than 30% of PHCs across all the countries offering these services. The study also highlights a pronounced rural-urban disparity in AMH service availability, a general absence of national guidelines for AMH care, and low OPD attendance rates. Conclusion The study highlights the urgent need for comprehensive policy reform and targeted interventions to enhance AMH services in West Africa. Key policy reforms should include the development and implementation of national guidelines for AMH care and integration of AMH services into primary healthcare. Additionally, efforts should focus on capacity building through the training of mental health professionals, increasing public awareness to reduce stigma, and ensuring equitable resource allocation across rural and urban areas. Improving AMH care is essential not only for the well-being of adolescents but also for driving broader socio-economic development in the region.

Source: UG
Adolescent Problem Gambling in Rural Ghana: Prevalence and Gender Diferentiation

Problem gambling among young people is now a public health challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the behaviour remains understudied, particularly, among rural-dwell ing young people in countries within the subregion. We aimed to estimate the 12 months prevalence of problem gambling and to describe the overall and gender diferences and commonalities in personal factors and social adversities associated with problem gambling among adolescents in rural Ghana. We conducted a cross-sectional survey involving a ran dom sample of 1101 in-school adolescents aged 10–19 years in a rural district in East ern Ghana; we used the DSM-IV-Multiple Response-Juvenile (DSM-IV-MR-J) question naire to assess problem gambling during the previous 12 months. Personal lifestyle and psychosocial variables were assessed using adopted items from the 2012 WHO–Global School-based Student Health Survey. Overall, three in 10 adolescents (3 in 10 females; 4 in 10 males) in rural Ghana reported problem gambling in the previous 12 months. Female adolescents who experienced problem gambling were more likely to report family-related social adversities, while adolescent male problem gambling was associated with school related factors and interpersonal factors outside the family context. Regardless of gender, sexual abuse victimisation was associated with three times increase in the odds of experi encing problem gambling. Relative to the prevalence of gambling among adolescents in urban contexts in other countries within sub-Saharan Africa, the estimates of problem gam bling among in-school rural adolescents in Ghana are higher. Although further studies are needed to understand the nuances of the behaviour, the evidence of this study underscores the need for general and targeted health promotion, intervention and prevention eforts to mitigate the family, school, and interpersonal social adversities associated with adolescent problem gambling in rural Ghana.

Source: UG
Adolescent Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review of the Impact of the Pandemic on Developmental Milestones

This review explores the literature regarding the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the navigation of developmental milestones among adolescents, specifically those in late adolescence, across several domains of their lives. The exploration is contextualized globally. focusing on five key areas: mental health, physical health, education, peer relationships, and family relationships. Implications for practice and interventions are explored in each key area to provide recommendations for those working with adolescents, as well as future research. The changes brought about by the pandemic and the readjustment to what some have referred to as the “new normalcy” will undoubtedly have lasting effects on all areas of life for this cohort of adolescents. who have shown remarkable resilience navigating this new and unfamiliar world. These changes are synthesized, with the aim of highlighting differences and similarities of the shared experiences of the pandemic globally. After exploring the current realities, this chapter goes on to outline the ways in which which the experience of such a significant developmental period of one’s life during the COVID-19 pandemic will have an impact on adolescents for years to come. Although it is still impossible to comprehend the long-term effects, In examining proximal effects, we can postulate distal implications and potential future effects, as well as possible ways to mitigate these implications as we transition back to more of what was experienced pre-pandemic life, from a post-pandemic experience.

Source: UG
Adolescent self-harm in Ghana: a qualitative interview-based study of firsthand accounts

Background: Recent prevalence studies suggest that self-harm among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa is as common as it is in high income countries. However, very few qualitative studies exploring first-person accounts of adolescent self-harm are available from sub-Saharan Africa. We sought to explore the experiences and first-person perspectives of Ghanaian adolescents reporting self-harm - for deeper reflections on the interpretive repertoires available in their cultural context for making sense of self-harm in adolescents. Methods: Guided by a semi-structured interview protocol, we interviewed one-to-one 36 adolescents (24 in-school adolescents and 12 street-connected adolescents) on their experiences of self-harm. We applied experiential thematic analysis to the data. Results: Adolescents’ description of the background to their self-harm identified powerlessness in the family context and unwanted adultification in the family as key factors leading up to self-harm among both in-school and streetconnected adolescents. Adolescents’ explanatory accounts identified the contradictory role of adultification as a protective factor against self-harm among street-connected adolescents. Self-harm among in-school adolescents was identified as a means of “enactment of tabooed emotions and contestations”, as a “selfish act and social injury”, as “religious transgression”, while it was also seen as improving social relations. Conclusions: The first-person accounts of adolescents in this study implicate familial relational problems and interpersonal difficulties as proximally leading to self-harm in adolescents. Self-harm in adolescents is interpreted as an understandable response, and as a strong communicative signal in response to powerlessness and family relationship difficulties. These findings need to be taken into consideration in the planning of services in Ghana and are likely to be generalisable to many other countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Source: UG
Adolescent sexuality and reproductive health in Ghana: Some results from a survey of Cape Coast And Mankrong

Review books or articles provide a critical and constructive analysis of existing published literature in a field, through summary, analysis, and comparison, often identifying specific gaps or problems and providing recommendations for future research. These are considered as secondary literature since they generally do not present new data from the author's experimental work. Review articles can be of three types, broadly speaking: literature reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses. It also the researcher to stay abreast of new literature in the field.

Source: UG
Adolescent suicidal behaviors, self rated health and multiple health risk behaviors: Exploring new perspectives in suicide prevention research

We sought to evaluate the extent to which self-rating of health, gender, and the co-occurrence of other health risk behaviors were related to suicidal behaviors among adolescents. Cross-sectional survey data of Colorado middle and high school students aged 12 to 18 years were analyzed using logistic regression. Main outcome variables were suicide ideation, suicide planning, and suicide attempt. Predictors included self-rated health, self-reported health behaviors, perception of body image, expression of sadness and hopelessness self-reported sexual abuse self-reported access to lethal weapon and expression of school safety concerns. Adjusted results showed respondents with poor health rating had significantly higher odds of suicidal ideation (OR: 2. 22), suicidal planning (OR: 1. 35), and suicide attempt (OR: 2.23), Reporting of hopelessness was the most consistent predictor of suicidal behaviors with odds ratios ranging from 5.57 (for suicidal ideation) to 17.40 (for suicidal attempt).Factors associated with different adolescents’ suicidal behaviors were different for boys and girls. Findings suggest the need to consider gender differences as regards self-assessment of health in order to improve the effectiveness of suicide interventions among adolescents.

Source: UG
Adolescent suicide in Ghana: A content analysis of media reports

Adolescent suicide is now a major health concern for many countries. However, there is paucity of systematic studies and lack of official statistics on adolescent suicide in Ghana. Mass media coverage of adolescent suicide (even though crude), at least, may reflect the reality of the phenomenon. With an ecological orientation, this study used qualitative content analysis to analyse the pattern of 44 media reports of adolescent suicide in Ghana from January 2001 through September 2014. Results showed that hanging was the dominant method used. The behaviour usually takes place within or near the adolescent's home environment. The act was often attributed to precursors within the microsystem (family and school) of the deceased. This study serves a seminal function for future empirical studies aimed at deeper examination of the phenomenon in order to inform prevention programmes.

Source: UG
Adolescent suicide in Ghana: A content analysis of media reports

Adolescent suicide is now a major health concern for many countries. However, there is paucity of systematic studies and lack of official statistics on adolescent suicide in Ghana. Mass media coverage of adolescent suicide (even though crude), at least, may reflect the reality of the phenomenon. With an ecological orientation, this study used qualitative content analysis to analyse the pattern of 44 media reports of adolescent suicide in Ghana from January 2001 through September 2014. Results showed that hanging was the dominant method used. The behaviour usually takes place within or near the adolescent's home environment. The act was often attributed to precursors within the microsystem (family and school) of the deceased. This study serves a seminal function for future empirical studies aimed at deeper examination of the phenomenon in order to inform prevention programmes

Source: UG
Adolescents and parents' perceptions of best time for sex and sexual communications from two communities in the Eastern and Volta Regions of Ghana: Implications for HIV and AIDS education

Background: Adolescents and parents' differ in their perceptions regarding engaging in sexual activity and protecting themselves from pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The views of adolescents and parents from two south-eastern communities in Ghana regarding best time for sex and sexual communications were examined. Methods. Focus Group interviews were conducted with parents and adolescents (both In-school and Out-of school) from two communities (Somanya and Adidome) in the Eastern and Volta regions of Ghana with epidemiological differentials in HIV infection. Results: Findings showed parents and adolescents agree that the best timing for sexual activity amongst adolescents is determined by socioeconomic viability. In practice however, there were tensions between adolescents and parents crystallized by spoilt generation and physiological drive ideologies. Whilst one community relied on a more communal approach in controlling their children; the other relied on a confrontational approach. Sex-talk is examined as a measure to reduce these tensions, and children in both communities were ambivalent over sexual communication between their parents and themselves. Parents from the two communities however differed in their perceptions. Whilst parents in one community attributed reduced teenage pregnancies to sex education, those in the other community indicated a generalized adolescents' sexual activeness manifested in the perceived widespread delinquency in the community. Conclusion: Parents in both communities reported significant barriers to parents-adolescents sexual communication. Parents in both communities should be educated to discuss the broader issues on sexuality that affects adolescents and their reproductive health needs. © 2013 Asampong et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Source: UG
Adolescents and parents¿ perceptions of best time for sex and sexual communications from two communities in the Eastern and Volta Regions of Ghana: implications for HIV and AIDS education

Abstract Background Adolescents and parents&#8217; differ in their perceptions regarding engaging in sexual activity and protecting themselves from pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The views of adolescents and parents from two south-eastern communities in Ghana regarding best time for sex and sexual communications were examined. Methods Focus Group interviews were conducted with parents and adolescents (both In-school and Out-of school) from two communities (Somanya and Adidome) in the Eastern and Volta regions of Ghana with epidemiological differentials in HIV infection. Results Findings showed parents and adolescents agree that the best timing for sexual activity amongst adolescents is determined by socioeconomic viability. In practice however, there were tensions between adolescents and parents crystallized by spoilt generation and physiological drive ideologies. Whilst one community relied on a more communal approach in controlling their children; the other relied on a confrontational approach. Sex-talk is examined as a measure to reduce these tensions, and children in both communities were ambivalent over sexual communication between their parents and themselves. Parents from the two communities however differed in their perceptions. Whilst parents in one community attributed reduced teenage pregnancies to sex education, those in the other community indicated a generalized adolescents&#8217; sexual activeness manifested in the perceived widespread delinquency in the community. Conclusion Parents in both communities reported significant barriers to parents-adolescents sexual communication. Parents in both communities should be educated to discuss the broader issues on sexuality that affects adolescents and their reproductive health needs.

Source: UG
Adolescents' satisfaction with abortion services received and factors associated with satisfaction at reproductive health centres

Aim: This study assessed adolescents' satisfaction with services received during their most recent abortion and the factors associated with satisfaction at reproductive health centres in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. Design: A facility-based cross-sectional survey was used for this study. Methods: Overall, 254 adolescent girls aged between 15 and 19 years, who had an abortion within 1 week of the study period were recruited for the study. All the 254 respondents were recruited consecutively as they visited health facilities for abortion services from March 2019 to February 2020. Written informed consent was signed by respondents, and data were collected using the Patient Satisfaction with Nursing Care Quality Questionnaire, and the data were analysed using Stata version 15.0. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted. Results: A majority of adolescents reported being satisfied with the abortion services they received. Ample waiting space and the system of ‘first-come-first-served’ were the highest rated elements of service satisfaction. Adolescents were least satisfied with the inadequacy of instructions and lack of information on medications received and their therapeutic or side effects. Ethnicity, having a stable intimate partner and perceived adequacy of staff were the factors associated with satisfaction with abor tion services. Conclusion: Adolescents are unique group of people with peculiar health needs. If they are treated with respect and dignity, they are likely to be satisfied with services received from the reproductive health centres offering comprehensive abortion care. Impact: The study addresses adolescent satisfaction with abortion care received; if health providers treat adolescent seeking abortion care with respect, friendly and non-judgemental attitude, it will enable adolescents to seek abortion care from quali fied professionals instead of unskilled service providers to reduce maternal mortality. Patient's contribution: Patients from 11 reproductive centres responded to the ques tionnaire used for the data collection.

Source: UG