Papers by Precious Hajison
medRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), Sep 5, 2023
Background: Birthweight is an important indicator of the newborn's future health. Maternal factor... more Background: Birthweight is an important indicator of the newborn's future health. Maternal factors, including age, HIV status, parity and obstetric complications ([pre]-eclampsia, antepartum hemorrhage [APH] and sepsis), however, have been shown as risk factors of low birthweight
Global Health Promotion, Dec 7, 2023
Objective: To investigate the demographic characteristics, maternal, and perinatal factors associ... more Objective: To investigate the demographic characteristics, maternal, and perinatal factors associated with the hospitalization of neonates within 72 h of birth in the Dedza and Mangochi districts of Malawi. Methods: This case-control study was conducted with one-to-one matching for age, location, and sex. Cases were sick neonates who were admitted in the Sick Intensive Neonatal Care Unit (SINCU) within 72 h of life, while controls were non-sick neonates delivered within two weeks of the birth dates of cases. Prenatal data were extracted from case files, while other maternal practices and demographic characteristics were obtained by interviewing primary care takers or legal guardians after obtaining consent. Descriptive analyses and logistic regression were used to identify factors associated with hospitalization of neonates within 72 h of birth. Results: Application of tetracycline eye ointment (AOR: 0.41, 95% CI: 0.20–0.83, p = 0.013) applying chlorhexidine to the umbilical cord st...
South African Medical Journal
Background. In Malawi, only 1 072 229 people out of a national target population of 13 546 324 ha... more Background. In Malawi, only 1 072 229 people out of a national target population of 13 546 324 had received at least one dose ofthe AstraZeneca COVID‑19 vaccine by 26 December 2021, and only 672 819 people were classified as fully vaccinated. PhalombeDistrict in Malawi had particularly low COVID‑19 vaccine uptake, with only 4% (n=8 538) of 225 219 people being fully vaccinated by26 December.Objectives. To explore reasons for vaccine hesitancy and refusal among people living in Phalombe District.Methods. This cross-sectional qualitative study employed six focus group discussions (FGDs) and 19 in-depth interviews (IDIs) to collect data. We purposefully selected two traditional authorities (TAs), Nazombe and Nkhumba, as study areas, and conducted FGDs and IDIs in 6 randomly selected villages in these two TAs. Participants were religious leaders, traditional leaders, youths, traditional healers and ordinary community members. We explored reasons for vaccine refusal and hesitancy, how co...
<p>Demographic characteristics of respondents in case control study in lakeshore and highla... more <p>Demographic characteristics of respondents in case control study in lakeshore and highland areas in Zomba District, Malawi, 2016.</p
<p>Description of 1073 mothers who delivered at four Tshwane hospitals in 2014.</p
<p>Comparison of means for continuous variables for 1073 mothers who delivered in four Tshw... more <p>Comparison of means for continuous variables for 1073 mothers who delivered in four Tshwane hospitals, Gauteng, South Africa in 2014.</p
<p>Maps of study area; Zomba district showing sites of the study: Highlands region, Lakesho... more <p>Maps of study area; Zomba district showing sites of the study: Highlands region, Lakeshore region with a catchment area of 8 km radius for each study site.</p
<p>Crude odds ratios for low birthweight by prenatal Factors for 1073 mothers who delivered... more <p>Crude odds ratios for low birthweight by prenatal Factors for 1073 mothers who delivered in four Tshwane hospitals, Gauteng, South Africa, 2014.</p
<p>Crude odds ratios for low birthweight by socio-demographic characteristics for 1073 moth... more <p>Crude odds ratios for low birthweight by socio-demographic characteristics for 1073 mothers delivering in four Tshwane hospitals, Gauteng, South Africa in 2014.</p
<p>Crude odds ratios for low birth weight by obstetrical complications of current pregnancy... more <p>Crude odds ratios for low birth weight by obstetrical complications of current pregnancy for 1073 mothers who delivered in four Tshwane hospitals, Gauteng, South Africa in 2014.</p
<p>The dummy predictor variable being malaria status, and normative reference group being t... more <p>The dummy predictor variable being malaria status, and normative reference group being those people who were not diagnosed with malaria.</p
PLOS ONE, May 3, 2022
Background Low uptake of family planning services by adolescent girls remains a public health con... more Background Low uptake of family planning services by adolescent girls remains a public health concern. An estimated 120 out of every 1,000 girls aged 15 to 19 years are having unplanned pregnancies in the sub-Saharan region. Between January and June 2020, the Phalombe District of Malawi reported 3,030 adolescent pregnancies. At this stage, most Malawian schools were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The high rate of adolescent pregnancies prompted the Ministry of Health to provide emergency contraceptives to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies among adolescents. The provision of emergency contraceptives would be effective if girls were willing and able to access these family planning services. We thus explored the views of school-going adolescent girls regarding their preferences for modern family planning methods including emergency contraceptives in Phalombe, Malawi. Methods This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study, where quantitative data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Participants included randomly sampled school-going adolescent girls from eight purposively selected secondary schools and eight randomly selected primary schools. All the schools were sampled from three purposively selected Traditional Authorities namely Nkhulambe, Jenala and Nkhumba which had reported high numbers of adolescent pregnancies. We analyzed the GeoPoints for schools and health facilities using ArcGIS, while adolescent girls' views were analyzed using STATA. Results Participants included 388 adolescent girls, ranging in age from 10 to 19 years (median age = 15.5 years, SD = 1.9 years). Participants were hesitant to use contraceptives because they were afraid of being stigmatized and embarrassed, had to travel long distances to reach the
<p>The dummy predictor variable being malaria status, and normative reference group being t... more <p>The dummy predictor variable being malaria status, and normative reference group being those people who were not diagnosed with malaria.</p
PLOS ONE, 2019
Background Low birth weight continues to be a main cause of child morbidity and mortality. Low bi... more Background Low birth weight continues to be a main cause of child morbidity and mortality. Low birth weight can cause complications in adult life, and is therefore a public health concern. In this study, we determined the maternal factors that contribute to low birth weight (LBW) deliveries in Tshwane District, South Africa. Methods We conducted a case control study of 1073 randomly selected mothers who delivered babies in four hospitals in the district. We reviewed antenatal and maternity registers to obtain information about the mothers and their offspring. We fitted a multiple logistic regression to examine relationships between possible factors associated with LBW. Results From the total sample of mothers (n = 1073), 77% (n = 824) were adult women, aged 20 to 35 years. Of the adult mothers, 38.54% (n = 412) delivered low birth weight (LBW) infants. The mean gestational age and weight of all infants at birth was 37.16 weeks (SD 2.92) and 2675.48 grams (SD 616.16) respectively. LBW was associated with prematurity, odds ratio (OR) 7.15, 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.18 to 9.89; premature rupture of membranes OR 7.33, 95% CI 2.43 to 22.12 and attending fewer than five antenatal care (ANC) visits OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.61. Male infants were less likely to be LBW, in this population. Conclusion Women who attended fewer than five ANC visits were predisposed to give birth to low birth weight babies. Mothers should be encouraged to attend ANC visits to detect adverse events like premature rupture of membranes and premature labour timeously.
Background: Malaria is seasonal and this may influence the number of children being treated as ou... more Background: Malaria is seasonal and this may influence the number of children being treated as outpatients in hospitals. The objective of this study was to investigate the degree of seasonality in malaria in lakeshore and highland areas of Zomba district Malawi, and influence of climatic factors on incidence of malaria. Methods: Secondary data on malaria surveillance numbers and dates of treatment of children <5 years of age (n = 374,246) were extracted from the Zomba health information system for the period 2012-2016, while data on climatic variables from 2012 to 2015 were obtained from meteorological department. STATA version 13 was used to analyse data using non-linear time series correlation test to suggest a predictor model of malaria epidemic over explanatory variable (rainfall, temperature and humidity). Results: Malaria cases of children <5 years of age in Zomba district accounts for 45% of general morbidity. There was no difference in seasonality of malaria in highlan...
Malaria journal, Jan 3, 2017
Malaria is seasonal and this may influence the number of children being treated as outpatients in... more Malaria is seasonal and this may influence the number of children being treated as outpatients in hospitals. The objective of this study was to investigate the degree of seasonality in malaria in lakeshore and highland areas of Zomba district Malawi, and influence of climatic factors on incidence of malaria. Secondary data on malaria surveillance numbers and dates of treatment of children <5 years of age (n = 374,246) were extracted from the Zomba health information system for the period 2012-2016, while data on climatic variables from 2012 to 2015 were obtained from meteorological department. STATA version 13 was used to analyse data using non-linear time series correlation test to suggest a predictor model of malaria epidemic over explanatory variable (rainfall, temperature and humidity). Malaria cases of children <5 years of age in Zomba district accounts for 45% of general morbidity. There was no difference in seasonality of malaria in highland compared to lakeshore in Zom...
The health system in Malawi has been overwhelmed with the growing number of COVID-19 cases during... more The health system in Malawi has been overwhelmed with the growing number of COVID-19 cases during second wave of attack. The number of confirmed cases and case fatality rate has significantly increased as compared to the first episode between the months of January to June 2020. Majority of cases reported are through internal transmission, with no history of international travelling. Those in urban areas are most affected as compared to rural areas. Strict preventive measures with multi-sectoral collaboration are urgently required to curb the further spread of the disease. This paper discusses some of the factors that have led to upsurge of COVID-19 cases in Malawi from public health perspective.
The health system in Malawi has been overwhelmed with the growing number of COVID-19 cases during... more The health system in Malawi has been overwhelmed with the growing number of COVID-19 cases during second wave of attack. The number of confirmed cases and case fatality rate has significantly increased as compared to the first episode between the months of January to June 2020. Majority of cases reported are through internal transmission, with no history of international travelling. Those in urban areas are most affected as compared to rural areas. Strict preventive measures with multi-sectoral collaboration are urgently required to curb the further spread of the disease. This paper discusses some of the factors that have led to upsurge of COVID-19 cases in Malawi from public health perspective.
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Papers by Precious Hajison