ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Health related quality of life amongst people affected by leprosy in South Ghana: a needs assessment.

This study examined Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) among leprosy-affected elderly people at three leprosoria located in South Ghana. Seventy elderly people who have been cured of leprosy but were undergoing socio-economic rehabilitation at three selected Leprosaria in the southern part of Ghana, were involved in this study. They comprised 31 female and 39 male adults with leprosy-related residual impairment and disability. The main outcome measure was a standardised HRQOL questionaire which comprised physical functioning, role functioning, social functioning, cognitive functioning, health perception and pain. Descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation were used to summarize the data whilst relationships and comparisons among and between the variables were evaluated using linear regression analysis and independent t-test respectively. Alpha level was set at P < 0.05. The mean age of the participants was 59.7 +/- 13-5 years. The overall mean score of the subjects (40.9 +/- 7.6) on the six domains of the questionnaire was below average. The highest and lowest mean scores were obtained in social functioning (56.9 +/- 20.1) and physical functioning (15.0 +/- 25.1) domains respectively. All the domains were significantly and positively correlated (P < 0.05) with the overall HRQOL scores. Age had no significant relationship (P > 0.05) on any of the domains and the overall HRQOL scores. Male participants scored signicantly higher (P < 0.05) than their female peer on cognitive functioning and HRQOL. This study demonstrated low QOL among the sampled elderly people affected by leprosy at the selected leprosoria, thus stressing the need for measures that could improve their health and socio-economic status within the settlements.

Source: UG
Health research challenges in Africa

The Department of Immunology conducts research in the field of immunology of infectious and non-infectious diseases. The Department has the overall goal of contributing knowledge to better diagnosis, management, control and prevention of infectious and non-infectious diseases in Ghana and worldwide. This is consistent with the overall strategy of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) and in line with the strategy of the College of Health Sciences of the University of Ghana.

Source: UG
Health risk assessment and levels of toxic metals in fishes (Oreochromis noliticus and Clarias anguillaris) from Ankobrah and Pra basins: Impact of illegal mining activities on food safety

Arsenic (As), mercury (Hg), Cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) are toxic heavy metals that naturally occur in the ecosystem. Their levels are on the rise due to anthropogenic activities posing threat to aquatic wildlife and humans. In Ghana, pollution of some water bodies has led to unsafe consumption of riverine fishes as well as a shortage of treated potable water principally because the cost of treating polluted water has become expensive across the country. This study aimed to assess the As, Hg, Pb and Cd concentrations in water and fishes from rivers Pra and Ankobrah where activities of artisanal gold mining were carried out resulting in gross pollution of the water bodies. An experimental study was performed to ascertain the levels of As, Hg, Pb and Cd in fish species of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis noliticus) and mudfish (Clarias anguillaris) and aquatic media (water) from the Pra and River Ankobrah basins using the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) (Varian AA240FS). Both river water samples recorded ranges of 0- 0.0040, 0.0060- 0.0387, 0 - 0.0020, 0.006-0.0093 mg/l for Cadmium, Lead, Arsenic and Mercury respectively. For Cadmium and Arsenic, their levels were comparable (p > 0.05). However, detected values for Lead and Mercury were no comparable (p < 0.05). Toxic metals concentrations in the rivers decreased in the order of Hg > Pb > Cd > As. For the fish samples, values ranged 0-0.08, 0.04-0.42, 0-0.04, and 0.40- 0.60 mg/kg for Cadmium, Lead, Arsenic and Mercury respectively. Generally, appreciably high values were obtained for Mercury. Toxic metals concentrations in the rivers decreased in the order of Hg > Pb > Cd > As. Human health risk assessment from heavy metal exposure through fish consumption from the Rivers for both children and adults showed no significant non-carcinogenic adverse health risk to humans since all calculated values for Hazard Quotient (HQ) were<1. Nonetheless, Target Hazard Quotient (THQ) values calculated for children and adult exposure to Cadmium and Mercury were>1 which implied a likely cause of adverse effects during a person's lifetime.

Source: UG
Health Risk Assessment for Human Exposure to Trace Metals Via Bushmeat in Ghana

Consumption and trade in bushmeat are entrenched in sub-Saharan Africa amid growing land degradation and environmental pollution that raise safety concerns, yet sustainability of bushmeat extraction and zoonoses considerations have been the focus of bushmeat research. Here, we evaluated the health risk of trace metals in the skeletal muscle, bone, liver, and skin of the black duiker (Cephalophus niger), brush-tailed porcupine (Atherurus africanus), bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus), cane rat (Thryonomys swinderianus), and Maxwell’s duiker (Cephalophus maxwelli) being the five most hunted and consumed species of bushmeat in Ghana. Sample tissues of the five species were analyzed for Cu, Zn, Se, Cd, As, Pb, and Hg. Targeted hazard quotient (THQ) of Se for black duiker, bushback, and Maxwell’s duiker as well as that of Pb for black duiker, Brush-tailed porcupine, and Maxwell’s duiker were concerning (> 1) for individuals foraging daily on bushmeat. Thus, cane rat was the only species that recorded both estimated daily intake (EDI) and THQ of Se and Pb within safe limits for daily consumption. In respect of Cu, Zn, Cd, As, and Hg, EDI and THQ values indicated no perceived risk to consumers for all five species. Lifetime cancer risk (CR) of As was negligible for all species. At the rate of bushmeat consumption in sub-Saharan Africa (0.104 kg per day), the cane rat was the only species considered safe for daily consumption among the five species.

Source: UG
Health Sector Reforms and Health Information in Ghana

The health care system in Ghana is undergoing organizational and structural changes, creating the need for timely and reliable information for policy development and health planning. Over the years attempts at strengthening health management information systems have been ad hoc and focused on review of reporting systems. The concern for the health sector in this era of reform is the need for the development of an information system in which there is focus on aggregation of information for review and monitoring of service performance at all levels in the health care delivery system. This article documents the organizational and structural changes taking place in the health sector in Ghana and reviews attempts being made by the Ministry of Health to strengthen information to meet the demands of the changing health system.

Source: UG
Health seeking behaviour and utilization of health facilities for schistosomiasis-related symptoms in Ghana

The Department of Parasitology conducts research into parasitic diseases of public health importance with the overall goal of reducing their transmission and the heavy disease burden that they impose on affected populations. The Department maintains focus on parasitic diseases in general. These include major diseases such as malaria, and others listed under the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) control initiative such as, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiasis, trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis.

Source: UG
Health Seeking Behaviour of Women with Infertility in Sokoto State, Nigeria

Children are highly valued in the African culture. As a result, women with infertility experience devastating suffering. Women are often left alone to go through the burden and complex decision making process of health seeking because it is seen as a woman’s problem. The main aim of the study is to explore the health seeking behaviour of women with infertility in Sokoto State Nigeria. Explorative descriptive design which is a qualitative approach was employed. Ethical clearance and administrative approval was received. A purposive sampling technique was used to recruit fourteen consented participants who were interviewed using semi structured interview guide. The study findings revealed that the women that sought for help to conceive were married, educated young elderly women. The women were able to identify infertility because they paid attention to their duration of marriage and unproductive sexual intercourse, years of last childbirth and repeated miscarriages. Regardless of the women’s financial status and social support (advice, prayer, emotional financial) from significant individuals, the women were committed to seeking for medical help to conceive. The women believed that infertility is caused by biological and supernatural components. As a result, the women sought for help to conceive at both medical and faith-based outlets. The women did early and late medical seeking. They also patronised multiple health institutions starting with the private clinics for privacy. However, the women were psychologically traumatised due to social pressure (neglect by husbands, blame, humiliation and stigma) and the ordeal of infertility. Additionally, the women found infertility treatment to be expensive. It is recommended that government and relevant agencies should assist in ensuring treatment is subsidised and empower women to improve access to fertility related treatment.

Source: UG
Health seeking behaviours among electronic waste workers in Ghana

Abstract Background Electronic waste workers are prone to various illnesses and injuries from numerous hazards thus the need for them to seek health care. The aim of this study was to describe health-seeking behavior, and social and other factors affecting this behavior, among electronic waste workers at Agbogbloshie, Accra, Ghana. Methods In-depth interviews were conducted and analyzed qualitatively from a grounded theory perspective. Results Workers experienced various kinds of ailments. These included physical injuries, chest and respiratory tract associated symptoms, malaria, headaches, body pains and stomach discomfort. They reported seeking health care from multiple sources, and the main determinants of health seeking behaviour were severity of illness, perceived benefit of treatment, accessibility of service, quality of service, ease of communication with service provider and cost of health care. Conclusion Multiple sources of health care were used by the e-waste workers. As cost was a major barrier to accessing formal health care, most of the workers did not subscribe to health insurance. Since enrollment in health insurance is low amongst the workers, education campaigns on the need to register with the National Health Insurance Scheme would facilitate access to formal health care and could result in improved health outcomes among e-waste workers.

Source: UG
Health seeking behaviours among electronic waste workers in Ghana Environmental health

Background: Electronic waste workers are prone to various illnesses and injuries from numerous hazards thus the need for them to seek health care. The aim of this study was to describe health-seeking behavior, and social and other factors affecting this behavior, among electronic waste workers at Agbogbloshie, Accra, Ghana. Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted and analyzed qualitatively from a grounded theory perspective. Results: Workers experienced various kinds of ailments. These included physical injuries, chest and respiratory tract associated symptoms, malaria, headaches, body pains and stomach discomfort. They reported seeking health care from multiple sources, and the main determinants of health seeking behaviour were severity of illness, perceived benefit of treatment, accessibility of service, quality of service, ease of communication with service provider and cost of health care. Conclusion: Multiple sources of health care were used by the e-waste workers. As cost was a major barrier to accessing formal health care, most of the workers did not subscribe to health insurance. Since enrollment in health insurance is low amongst the workers, education campaigns on the need to register with the National Health Insurance Scheme would facilitate access to formal health care and could result in improved health outcomes among e-waste workers.

Source: UG
Health Seeking Behaviours Of Men Experiencing Infertility In The Accra Metropolis

Health seeking behaviours are closely linked to a nation’s health status and its economic growth, and they are important as they define the disease outcomes and acceptance of health care. In Ghana, little is known about the health seeking behaviours of men experiencing infertility. The aim of this study was to explore the health seeking behaviours of men experiencing infertility in the Accra Metropolis. The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) was used as a guiding framework. An exploratory descriptive design was employed, and snowball and purposive sampling techniques were used to recruit 13 men diagnosed with and self-reported to have infertility. In-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide. On average, each interview lasted between 45 and 60 minutes. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using thematic content analysis. Five major themes emerged based on the constructs of the TPB and three emerging themes were identified from the data. Participants described their health seeking behaviours in eight categories of behaviours. In addition, they also reported some barriers to their health seeking behaviours. Therefore, to improve the health seeking behaviours of men experiencing infertility, there is a need for health care providers to address the barriers identified by the participants. The findings of this study have implications for nursing practice, policy formulation, and infertility research.

Source: UG
Health service utilization and direct healthcare costs associated with obesity in older adult population in Ghana

Obesity is a major risk factor for many chronic diseases and disabilities, with severe implications on morbidity and mortality among older adults. With an increasing prevalence of obesity among older adults in Ghana, it has become necessary to develop cost-effective strategies for its management and prevention. However, developing such strategies is challenging as body mass index (BMI)-specific utilization and costs required for cost-effectiveness analysis are not available in this population. Therefore, this study examines the associations between health services utilization as well as direct healthcare costs and overweight (BMI ≥25.00 and <30.00 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI ≥30.00 kg/m2) among older adults in Ghana. Data were used from a nationally representative, multistage sample of 3350 people aged 50+ years from the World Health Organization’s Study on global AGEing and adult health (WHO-SAGE; 2014/15). Health service utilization was measured by the number of health facility visits over a 12-month period. Direct costs (2017 US dollars) included out-of-pocket payments and the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) claims. Associations between utilization and BMI were examined using multivariable zero-inflated negative binomial regressions; and between costs and BMI using multivariable two-part regressions. Twenty-three percent were overweight and 13% were obese. Compared with normal-weight participants, overweight and obesity were associated with 75% and 159% more inpatient admissions, respectively. Obesity was also associated with 53% additional outpatient visits. One in five of the overweight and obese population had at least one chronic disease, and having chronic disease was associated with increased outpatient utilization. The average per person total costs for overweight was $78 and obesity was $132 compared with $35 for normal weight. The NHIS bore approximately 60% of the average total costs per person expended in 2014/15. Overweight and obese groups had significantly higher total direct healthcare costs burden of $121 million compared with $64 million for normal weight in the entire older adult Ghanaian population. Compared with normal weight, the total costs per person associated with overweight increased by 73% and more than doubled for obesity. Even though the total prevalence of overweight and obesity was about half of that of normal weight, the sum of their cost burden was almost doubled. Implementing weight reduction measures could reduce health service utilization and costs in this population.

Source: UG
Health Shocks and Agricultural Production: Evidence from Ghana

Agriculture continues to be the foundation to economic growth, poverty reduction and rural livelihoods improvement for many countries. The success of agriculture particularly in developing countries however depends on the availability and quality of the labour force which unfortunately is hampered greatly by poor health and diseases. From a macroeconomic perspective, health shock morbidity affects household productivity by reducing the number, capacity and efficiency of the labour force. This link between agriculture productivity and health shock has received some considerable research interest in the economics literature, albeit theoretical and conceptual, with limited empirical attempts. For policies to affect the link between health and productivity, more empirical information is required on the relative importance of the pathways through which health shocks affect productivity. While normatively, the impact of health shocks on productivity appears unambiguous; both micro- and macro-level studies do not provide clear-cut evidence that support this. Using a two-wave panel data we estimate this important linkage by analysing the effects of idiosyncratic health shocks on labour allocation, use of other inputs and value of agricultural output in Ghana. The results show that family labour used for land preparation and farm management, in particular are very sensitive to ill-health. Households are only able to substitute lost family labour employed at the farm management stage but we do not find that substituted labour completely replaces the healthy family labour which is lost to ill health. The effects on agricultural investments are also negative and highly significant as households are generally not able to ameliorate the effects.

Source: UG
The health situation of women in Ghana

The health of women impacts on the health of the family and society, and so is critical for national development, and this is certainly so in Ghana. As in other cultures, socio-cultural, economic and biological factors impact on the health of Ghanaian women. Specific health interventions have focused on nutrition, reproductive health and family planning. Multi-sectoral approaches to promoting economic empowerment, education and social support networks are other important strategies.

Source: UG
Health status and labour force participation in sub-saharan Africa: A dynamic panel data analysis

Sub‐Saharan African countries face significant health challenges, with several countries still far from reaching the health‐related targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The implication of this on economic growth and individual welfare is daunting. An important channel through which population health affects economic performance is labour supply and productivity. The objective of the study was to investigate a macro level relationship between population health status and labour force participation in sub‐Saharan Africa. The study used panel data covering 46 countries from 1990 to 2011. A dynamic panel data model was estimated using the generalized method of moments. The results show that population health status (measured by life expectancy at birth) relates positively with labour force participation. The relationship was significant for total and female labour force participation. The findings call for improved population health status following the importance of labour force participation at the macro levels. Improved labour force contributes to the economic performance of a country at the macro level. Effective policy efforts should be directed towards providing facilities that will improve population health hence providing enough healthy time to participate in the labour force.

Source: UG
Health system challenges to hypertension and related non-communicable diseases prevention and treatment: perspectives from Ghanaian stakeholders

Background: Hypertension, itself a cardiovascular condition, is a significant risk factor for other cardiovascular diseases. Hypertension is recognized as a major public health challenge in Ghana. Beginning in 2014, a collaborative team launched the community-based hypertension improvement program (ComHIP) in one health district in Ghana. The ComHIP project, a public-private partnership, tests a community-based model that engages the private sector and utilizes information and communication technology (ICT) to control hypertension. This paper, focuses on the various challenges associated with managing hypertension in Ghana, as reported by ComHIP stakeholders. Methods: A total of 55 informants – comprising patients, health care professionals, licensed chemical sellers (LCS), national and sub-national policymakers – were purposively selected for interview and focus group discussions (FGDs). Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Where applicable, transcriptions were translated directly from local language to English. The data were then analysed using two-step thematic analysis. The protocol was approved by the two ethics review committees based in Ghana and the third, based in the United Kingdom. All participants were interviewed after giving informed consent. Results: Our data have implications for the on-going implementation of ComHIP, especially the importance of policy maker buy-in, and the benefits, as well as drawbacks, of the program to different stakeholders. While our data show that the ComHIP initiative is acceptable to patients and healthcare providers – increasing providers’ knowledge on hypertension and patients’ awareness of same- there were implementation challenges identified by both patients and providers. Policy level challenges relate to task-sharing bottlenecks, which precluded nurses from prescribing or dispensing antihypertensives, and LCS from stocking same. Medication adherence and the phenomenon of medical pluralism in Ghana were identified challenges. The perspectives from the national level stakeholders enable elucidation of whole of health system challenges to ComHIP and similarly designed programmes. Conclusions: This paper sheds important light on the patient/individual, and system level challenges to hypertension and related non-communicable disease prevention and treatment in Ghana. The data show that although the ComHIP initiative is acceptable to patients and healthcare providers, policy level task-sharing bottlenecks preclude optimal implementation of ComHIP.

Source: UG