Impact of kinship support on child mortality in the Upper East Region of Ghana: assessing the Grandmother Hypothesis.

Background: The grandmother is an important kin member whose contribution to childcare and survival has been recognized in the literature, hence the Grandmother Hypothesis. This article examines the effect of the presence of a grandmother on child mortality.

Methods: Data were obtained from the Navrongo Health and Demographic Surveillance System, located in the Upper East Region of Ghana.

Barriers and facilitators of weight management: Perspectives of the urban poor in Accra, Ghana.

Background: Obesity is rising in sub-Saharan Africa and globally, and is a highly significant public health problem that needs urgent attention. To reduce the obesity prevalence levels and associated challenges, public health interventions highlight healthy eating and increased physical activity, which are key elements for weight management.

Aim: This study explored perceived factors that hinder or facilitate weight management in an urban poor context in Accra, Ghana.

Violence predicts physical health consequences of human trafficking: Findings from a longitudinal study of labor trafficking in Ghana.

Research consistently finds high rates of both poor physical health and violent victimization among survivors of human trafficking. While this literature documents the immediate effects of human trafficking on health, no published literature has compared short- and longer-term physical health consequences of trafficking or examined the role of violence in shaping physical health outcomes across the period of reintegration. Here, we utilize longitudinal data to document the prevalence of various forms of violence experienced by women and girls trafficked for labor in Ghana, as well as examine the effects of violence on self-reported physical health conditions at two time points following exit from trafficking.

Stigma, discrimination, violence, and HIV testing among men who have sex with men in four major cities in Ghana.

LGBTQ populations experience human rights abuses worldwide; data need to document the health impact of these experiences in Africa. In Ghana, we measured events of sexuality-based stigma, discrimination, and violence among men who have sex with men (MSM) and the impact on HIV testing behavior. Data are from respondent-driven sampling surveillance surveys in Accra/Tema, Kumasi, Cape Coast/Takoradi, and Koforidua.

Educational status and beliefs regarding non-communicable diseases among children in Ghana.

Background: Increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has been observed in Ghana as in other developing countries. Past research focused on NCDs among adults. Recent researches, however, provide evidence on NCDs among children in many countries, including Ghana.

Non-communicable diseases among children in Ghana: health and social concerns of parent/caregivers.

Background: Globally, there is a progressive rise in the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This paper examined the health and social concerns of parents/caregivers on in-patient care for children with NCDs in Ghana.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study in three large health facilities in Ghana (the largest in the South, the largest in the North and the largest in the Eastern part of Ghana.

Investigating parents/caregivers financial burden of care for children with non-communicable diseases in Ghana.

Background: The introduction of the Ghana national health insurance scheme (NHIS) has led to progressive and significant increase in utilization of health services. However, the financial burden of caring for children with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) under the dispensation of the NHIS, especially during hospitalization, is less researched. This paper therefore sought to assess the financial burden parents/caregivers face in caring for children hospitalized with NCDs in Ghana, in the era of the Ghana NHIS.

Prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in urban poor communities in Accra, Ghana.

Background: Hypertension is a major public health problem in many sub-Saharan African countries including Ghana, but data on urban poor communities are limited. The aim of this study was therefore to assess the prevalence, awareness, management and control of hypertension among a young adult population in their reproductive ages living in urban poor communities in Accra.

Methods: Cross-sectional, population-based survey of 714 young adults in their reproductive ages (women aged 15-49 years, men aged 15-59 years) living in three urban poor suburbs of Accra, Ghana.

Patterns of cardiovascular disease mortality in Ghana: a 5-year review of autopsy cases at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

Objectives: Our study examined age and sex patterns of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality among autopsy cases at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) in Accra, Ghana from 2006 to 2010.

Design: All cardiovascular deaths diagnosed at autopsy in the 5-year period beginning January 2006 and ending December 2010 located in the autopsy logbooks of the Department of Pathology, KBTH, were analyzed for this study. A total of 20,706 autopsy cases were done at KBTH within the five year period out of which 19,289 (93.

The health of the "older women" in Accra, Ghana: results of the Women's Health Study of Accra.

The health of women residing in the developing countries is not limited to reproductive health conditions or infectious diseases. While these illnesses remain serious threats to a healthy life, as the population ages, the prevalence of illnesses considered to be of significance only in industrialized nations also increasingly afflicts the residents of the developing worlds. The health and well-being of the older women was evaluated in the 2003 Women's Health Study of Accra.

Clinic visits and cervical cancer screening in accra.

Objective: To determine the factors that increase the chances of a woman in Accra having a Pap smear and whether women who have recently visited clinics have higher chances of having had Pap smears.

Design: A cross-sectional study

Methods: A representative sample of women in Accra, Ghana was interviewed and the clinical and demographic factors influencing cervical cancer screening was assessed.

Results: Out of 1193 women with complete data, only 25 (2.

Sexually transmitted infections and health seeking behaviour among Ghanaian women in Accra.

The study was to measure the prevalence of sexually transmitted infection (STI) symptoms among women in Accra, Ghana, to identify characteristics that predispose to STI symptoms and to identify factors that influence health-seeking behaviour of women with STI symptoms. Data were collected by trained interviewers through questionnaire interviews of 3183 women. Data analysis was restricted to 1329 women with complete data.

Contraceptive use by women in Accra, Ghana: results from the 2003 Accra Women's Health Survey.

The study was to determine the predictors of use of modern contraception among women in Accra, Ghana. Data were collected by trained interviewers using questionnaires. Complete data for 2199 women were analysed using Stata 8.

Results of the Women's Health Study of Accra: assessment of blood pressure in urban women.

Background: The Women's Health Study of Accra was conducted to determine the burden of illness in a representative sampling of adult urban women.

Methods: This community-based survey selected study participants by a 2-stage cluster probability sample stratified by socioeconomic status based on the 2000 Ghanaian census data. It included a comprehensive household survey and medical and laboratory examination for 1328 women.

HIV prevalence and risk factors in women of Accra, Gghana: results from the women's health study of Accra.

The Women's Health Study of Accra is a cross-sectional study designed to measure the burden of communicable and noncommunicable diseases in adult women residing in Accra, Ghana. This study assessed the prevalence rate of HIV and risk factors associated with HIV infection in 1,328 women age 18 years and older. The weighted overall HIV prevalence rate for women residing in Accra is 3.

HIV risk environment for Ghanaian women: challenges to prevention.

Ghana is experiencing high rates of HIV transmission and women have been identified as a group with increased vulnerability to infection. Women's vulnerability may be influenced by factors such as gender, unequal power relationships and poverty. Research was undertaken in Ghana from January to May 1999 to examine the experiences of HIV sero-positive women.