Papers by PATIENCE ANSOMAH AYERAKWAH
BMC Women's Health
Introduction Ghana recorded 19,931 new annual HIV infections in 2018 translating to 14,181 AIDS-r... more Introduction Ghana recorded 19,931 new annual HIV infections in 2018 translating to 14,181 AIDS-related deaths. Mass media is capable of ensuring the sustainability of initiatives aimed at curbing HIV/AIDS epidemic by reducing HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination. The study aimed at exploring if mass media plays a role in whether HIV-infected female teachers should be allowed to teach in Ghana. Materials and methods The study used women’s file of the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS). The current study was restricted to 6025 women who had complete information on the variables analysed. Binary Logistic regression was conducted between mass media and the dependent variable whilst controlling for the effect of the significant covariates. The results were presented in odds ratio (OR) and adjusted odds ratio (AOR) at 95% confidence interval (CI). All analyses were carried out using STATA version 14.0. Results Generally, 51% of the women mentioned that HIV-infected female teac...
Additional file 1: Multicollinearity testing.
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 2021
Background Papua New Guinea (PNG) recorded 22 neonatal deaths out of every 1,000 livebirths in 20... more Background Papua New Guinea (PNG) recorded 22 neonatal deaths out of every 1,000 livebirths in 2019. Some of these deaths are related to complications that arise shortly after childbirth; hence, postnatal care (PNC) utilisation could serve as a surviving strategy for neonates as recommended by the World Health Organisation. National level study on determinants of PNC uptake in PNG is limited. Utilising the Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model of Human Development, the study aimed at assessing determinants of PNC utilisation for babies by their mothers aged 15–49 in PNG. Methods The study used data from the women’s file of the 2016–18 PNG Demographic and Health Survey (2016–18 PNGDHS) and a sample of 4,908 women aged 15–49 who had complete information on the variables of interest to the study. Nineteen (19) explanatory variables were selected for the study whereas PNC for babies within first two months after being discharged after birth was the main outcome variable. At 95% confidence i...
BioMed Research International, 2022
Background About 83% and 49% of Liberians live beneath the poverty line of US$1.25/day and experi... more Background About 83% and 49% of Liberians live beneath the poverty line of US$1.25/day and experience hunger, respectively. Studies have established that hunger has long-term adverse consequence on truancy among students. However, no national level study has investigated contribution of hunger on truancy among in-school students in Liberia. This paper therefore seeks to examine the association between hunger and truancy among students in Liberia. The study hypothesises that there exists a positive association between hunger and truancy. Methods This study used the 2017 Liberia Global School-Based Student Health Survey (LGSSHS) and sampled 2,744 students. However, the present study was restricted to 1,613 respondents who had complete information about variable of interest analysed in the study. Hunger and truancy are the main explanatory and outcome variables for this study. At 95% confidence interval, two binary logistic regression models were built with Model I examining relationsh...
Additional file 1. Multicollinearity test results.
Additional file 1. Multicollinearity test results.
PLOS ONE, 2021
Introduction Early postnatal care (EPNC) utilisation is crucial for averting maternal deaths as r... more Introduction Early postnatal care (EPNC) utilisation is crucial for averting maternal deaths as recommended by the World Health Organisation. About 30% of women do not obtain EPNC in Ghana and no national level study have investigated the determinants of EPNC. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing factors associated with EPNC uptake among women aged 15–49 in Ghana. Materials and methods The study utilised data from the women’s file of the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) and sampled 1,678 women aged 15–49 who had complete data on EPNC. Descriptive computation of EPNC was done. Since EPNC (which is the main outcome variable for the study) was dichotomous, the binary logistic regression was used to determine factors influencing utilisation of EPNC at 95% two-tailed confidence interval. The results were presented as adjusted odds ratio (AOR). Stata version 14.0 was used for all the analyses. Results Descriptively, the results indicated that 31% of women aged 15–49 sou...
Cogent Medicine, 2019
Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the ophthalmic anthropometric measures of an urba... more Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the ophthalmic anthropometric measures of an urban Malawian population and further investigate the age and gender variation. Method: Eight ophthalmic anthropometric parameters including near interpupillary distance (NIPD), distance interpupillary distance (DIPD), head width (HW), temple width (TW), length to bend (LTB), splay angle (SA), frontal angle (FA) and Downward angle to drop (DAD) were measured from a sample of 304 participants between the ages of six (6) to twenty-five (25) years. The sample was made up of 177 (58.2%) males and 127 (41.8%) females. Results: The DIPD and NIPD values were 65.5 ± 4.6 mm and 60.9 ± 4.1mm, respectively. The HW (129.3 ± 9.8 mm) was found to be 8 mm wider than the TW (121.2 ± 9.6). The average LTB of the temples was 103.4 ± 6.5 mm with a corresponding DAD of 60.2 ± 1.4°. All noses measured had an average FA of 18.8 ± 2.0° and SA of 28.0 ± 1.4°. Gender and age were significant determinants of the magn...
Purpose To evaluate the impact of blood sugar level on ocular measures, including refractive erro... more Purpose To evaluate the impact of blood sugar level on ocular measures, including refractive error (RE), amplitude of accommodation (AoA), and lag of accommodation (LoA), in pre-presbyopes with type-1 diabetes. Method The fasting blood sugar (FBS) and ocular measures of type-1 diabetes patients (age: 14–39 years; n = 30) on insulin treatment was recorded while they fasted on two separate visits, at baseline and 3 months later. The AoA and LoA was measured with the appropriate spectacle correction worn. The Welch’s t -test was used for comparison of the baseline measures between the normal FBS ≤ 7 ( n = 10) and higher FBS > 7 ( n = 20) patients, and the paired t- test used to investigate for differences between the baseline and follow-up data in patients with changes in FBS. Results On average, the spectacle correction for the normal FBS group was marginally more myopic (RE: −0.30 ± 0.67 D vs. +0.18 ± 1.00 D, p = 0.032), and they showed greater AoA (5.38 ± 1.08 D vs. 3.68 ± 1....
Background Maternal mortality is high in Ghana, averaging 310 maternal deaths per 100,000 live bi... more Background Maternal mortality is high in Ghana, averaging 310 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2017. This is partly due to inadequate postnatal care especially among rural communities. Ghana can avert the high maternal deaths if women meet the World Health Organisation’s recommended early postnatal care check-up. Despite the association between geographical location and postnatal care utilisation, no study has been done on determinants of postnatal care among rural residents in Ghana. Therefore, this study determined the prevalence and correlates of postnatal care utilization among women in rural Ghana. Methods The study utilised women’s file of the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) . Following descriptive computation of the prevalence, binary logistic regression was fitted to assess correlates of postnatal care at 95% confidence interval. The results were presented in adjusted odds ratio (AOR). Any AOR less than 1 was interpreted as reduced likelihood of PNC...
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 2021
Background Home birth is a common contributor to maternal and neonatal deaths particularly in low... more Background Home birth is a common contributor to maternal and neonatal deaths particularly in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). We generally refer to home births as all births that occurred at the home setting. In Benin, home birth is phenomenal among some category of women. We therefore analysed individual and community-level factors influencing home birth in Benin. Methods Data was extracted from the 2017–2018 Benin Demographic and Health Survey females’ file. The survey used stratified sampling technique to recruit 15,928 women aged 15–49. This study was restricted to 7758 women in their reproductive age who had complete data. The outcome variable was home birth among women. A mixed effect regression analysis was performed using 18 individual and community level explanatory variables. Alpha threshold was fixed at 0.05 confidence interval (CI). All analyses were done using STATA (v14.0). The results were presented in adjusted odds ratios (AORs). Results We found that 14% ( ...
PLOS ONE
Introduction Early postnatal care (EPNC) utilisation is crucial for averting maternal deaths as r... more Introduction Early postnatal care (EPNC) utilisation is crucial for averting maternal deaths as recommended by the World Health Organisation. About 30% of women do not obtain EPNC in Ghana and no national level study have investigated the determinants of EPNC. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing factors associated with EPNC uptake among women aged 15–49 in Ghana. Materials and methods The study utilised data from the women’s file of the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) and sampled 1,678 women aged 15–49 who had complete data on EPNC. Descriptive computation of EPNC was done. Since EPNC (which is the main outcome variable for the study) was dichotomous, the binary logistic regression was used to determine factors influencing utilisation of EPNC at 95% two-tailed confidence interval. The results were presented as adjusted odds ratio (AOR). Stata version 14.0 was used for all the analyses. Results Descriptively, the results indicated that 31% of women aged 15–49 sou...
Journal of Current Ophthalmology, Dec 1, 2018
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Papers by PATIENCE ANSOMAH AYERAKWAH