Journal of Health Education Research & Development

Background: Birth interval refers to the time duration between two consecutive live births. Children born soon after previous birth are at high risk for health problems and died at a younger age, especially if the interval between the births is less than two years. However, factors contributing to short birth intervals are not well addressed and few studies were conducted on this issue using maternal memory (recalling) to measure the duration between births. This may lead to over or underestimation of birth interval duration.

Methods: Community-based cross-sectional study design was used. We used Simple random sampling technique to select one urban and four rural kebeles (the smallest administrative unit in a given district in Ethiopia) and after the sample size was proportionally allocated to selected kebeles’, systematic random sampling method was used to select a total sample size of 660 women who gave at least two live births. Face to face interview was applied to collect data using pre-tested and structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software version 20. Univariate, bivariate and multiple logistic regression analysis were done. With 95% CI, the P value of less than 0.05 was taken as the level of significance.

Results: In this study the median birth interval duration was 32 months, and being in age between 19-24 at last pregnancy (AOR=5.4, 95% CI (1.54, 8.9)), not using family planning (AOR=1.66, 95% CI (1.09, 2.77)), breastfeeding of index child for less than 24 months (AOR=9.6, 95% CI (8.93, 19.39)), and earlier history of short birth interval (AOR=2.5, 95% CI (1.48, 4.11)) were independent predictors of short birth interval.

Conclusion and recommendation: median birth interval duration is 32 months, which means one in every two inter-birth intervals among married women is less than the least recommended duration of birth intervals. The focus should be given not only to family planning service coverage, but also to awareness creation about optimal birth interval duration for reproductive age women.

In many lower- and middle-income countries, engagement of health professionals in dual practices is very common mainly due to the fact that the amount of salary earned from working in public hospitals is not sufficient for good standard of living. The present study was meant to analyze the patterns of practices and impacts of public-private practice in Shashemene town, West Arsi zone of oromia regional state.

Ample qualitative data were collected using depth interview and focus group discussion methods. 20 health care professionals, a record and documentation officer, 3 managers of public health facilities, and 18 patients seeking treatments in the private wing were interviewed from three public health facilities selected through purposive sampling technique. The collected data were thematically analyzed and presented in a narrative manner.

The highest share of income from the private wing goes to the health professionals though it didn’t save them to engage in multiple jobholding practices. Impact on quality of health services for public patients due to boredom, exhaustion, and tardiness of physicians in dual practice, unfair distribution of benefits and burdens, and cream-skimming are the challenges faced. Above all, besides providing patients additional alternative of treatment, public-private practice couldn’t achieve its goal of retaining physicians.

With qualified practitioners still in the mood of constantly searching better way outs from the public sector, it is important that the Federal Ministry of Health monitor and evaluate its project to come up with remedies.

One hundred twenty-five million people worldwide, among them around 2% to 3% of the total population is having Psoriasis, according to the World Psoriasis Day consortium. It is a genetic disease in which scaly, raised plaques appear on the skin. Psoriasis has been known since biblical times, and since then it is a mystery disease. Now we know many molecular and immune mechanisms for the development of psoriasis, but we still cannot fully understand what is considered the cause and what the effect is. In this article, we will give a general description of the disease, touch on its pathogenesis and tell the history of the study and treatment of psoriasis.

Background: Laparoscopic surgery requires a more complex skill set than open surgery. Shortened training times and patient safety concerns dictate that these skills be acquired and developed outside the operating room. Subsequently, Augmented Reality (AR) based applications are increasingly used to support surgical training.

Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of Augmented Reality simulation training for laparoscopic abdominal surgery.

Methods: PubMed, Embase, and OVID were searched for relevant articles published between April 2013 to April 2018. Of the total of 1,348 studies screened, three studies were ultimately included for meta-analysis.

Results: The meta-analysis demonstrated a net proportion pooled rate of 1.29% (95% CI=-0.75-3.33) for placement error and 1.93% (95% CI=-0.63-4.49) for task performance time. In placement error analysis, the sample sizes totaled 52 for Augmented Reality trainers and 51 for conventional trainers. For task performance time analysis, sample sizes were 60 for Augmented Reality trainers and 59 for conventional trainers.

Conclusion: The meta-analysis showed there were no significant differences in the efficacy of Augmented Reality training versus conventional training. Not only are Augmented Reality training applications effective in improving placement error and task performance time, but these applications have few drawbacks and numerous benefits compared to traditional training methods. Augmented Reality tools are often cheaper and require less oversight from instructors. Incorporating Augmented Reality technology into surgical training curricula is both promising and necessary, but a unified platform for training must be first established.