Effectiveness of a community-based health education intervention on prostate cancer fatalism: a quasi-experimental study.

Introduction: prostate cancer is categorized as the most common cancer in males in 2020 in Kenya at 21.9%. The major challenge with prostate cancer in Low and Middle-Income Countries is the presentation of patients with advanced disease.

Access to community-based eye services in Meru, Kenya: a cross-sectional equity analysis.

Background: Over 80% of blindness in Kenya is due to curable or preventable causes and 7.5 m Kenyans currently need eye services. Embedding sociodemographic data collection into screening programmes could help identify the groups facing systematic barriers to care.

Prevalence and predictors of anemia among six-week-old infants in Kwale County, Kenya: A cross-sectional study.

Anemia is a significant public health problem among children worldwide. The etiology of anemia is multifactorial but iron deficiency (ID) is the most common cause of anemia in low- and middle-income countries. ID and anemia in infancy can impair growth and cognitive development.

Flexible Bayesian semiparametric mixed-effects model for skewed longitudinal data.

Background: In clinical trials and epidemiological research, mixed-effects models are commonly used to examine population-level and subject-specific trajectories of biomarkers over time. Despite their increasing popularity and application, the specification of these models necessitates a great deal of care when analysing longitudinal data with non-linear patterns and asymmetry. Parametric (linear) mixed-effect models may not capture these complexities flexibly and adequately.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and policy response on access to and utilization of reproductive, maternal, child and adolescent health services in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia.

Global health crises can negatively impact access to and utilisation of essential health services. Access to and utilisation of reproductive health services were already challenged in Sub-Saharan Africa with the COVID-19 pandemic further complicating the critical situation. This cross-sectional qualitative study aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and policy responses to it on the access to, and utilization of reproductive, maternal, child and adolescent health services in Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia.

Prebiotics increase iron absorption and reduce the adverse effects of iron on the gut microbiome and inflammation: a randomized controlled trial using iron stable isotopes in Kenyan infants.

Background: Iron fortificants tend to be poorly absorbed and may adversely affect the gut, especially in African children.

Objective: We assessed the effects of prebiotic galacto-oligosaccharides/fructo-oligosaccharides (GOS/FOS) on iron absorption and gut health when added to iron-fortified infant cereal.

Methods: We randomly assigned Kenyan infants (n = 191) to receive daily for 3 wk a cereal containing iron and 7.

Prognostic factors influencing HIV-free survival among infants enrolled for HIV early infant diagnosis services in selected hospitals in Nairobi County, Kenya.

Background: Despite being a preventable disease, pediatric HIV infection continues to be a public health concern due to the morbidity and mortality associated with the disease. Vertical transmission of HIV occurs when a mother living with HIV passes the virus to her baby during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding. Globally, the vertical transmission rate of HIV is 9% with sub-Saharan Africa accounting for 90% of these infections.

Age assessment services in public dental health facilities in Kenya: burden and sources of referral (a cross-sectional study).

Introduction: the need for age assessment remains relevant due to unregistered births or lack of identification documents as a result of political and socioeconomic conflicts. Dentists play a significant role in age assessment. In order to establish the need for capacity building and collaboration, the study set out to determine the proportion of dental patients referred for age assessment and their sources of referral.

Diabetes health care specific services readiness and availability in Kenya: Implications for Universal Health Coverage.

Diabetes is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide yet preventable. Complications of undetected and untreated diabetes result in serious human suffering and disability. It negatively impacts on individual's social economic status threatening economic prosperity.

Utilization of digital tools to enhance COVID-19 and tuberculosis testing and linkage to care: A cross-sectional evaluation study among Bodaboda motorbike riders in the Nairobi Metropolis, Kenya.

Kenya has registered over 300,000 cases of COVID-19 and is a high-burden tuberculosis country. Tuberculosis diagnosis was significantly disrupted by the pandemic. Access to timely diagnosis, which is key to effective management of tuberculosis and COVID-19, can be expanded and made more efficient through integrated screening.

Rapid methods for identifying barriers and solutions to improve access to community health services: a scoping review.

Background: The advancement of universal health coverage (UHC) is largely based on identifying and addressing barriers to accessing community health services. Traditional qualitative research approaches provide excellent insights but have unfeasibly high resource requirements for most care providers.

Aim: To identify, categorise, and evaluate methods that have been used to identify barriers to and/or solutions for improving access to community-based health services, grounded in engagement with affected communities, excluding approaches that take >14 days.

Improvement studies for equitable and evidence-based innovation: an overview of the 'IM-SEEN' model.

Background: Health inequalities are ubiquitous, and as countries seek to expand service coverage, they are at risk of exacerbating existing inequalities unless they adopt equity-focused approaches to service delivery.

Main Text: Our team has developed an equity-focused continuous improvement model that reconciles prioritisation of disadvantaged groups with the expansion of service coverage. Our new approach is based on the foundations of routinely collecting sociodemographic data; identifying left-behind groups; engaging with these service users to elicit barriers and potential solutions; and then rigorously testing these solutions with pragmatic, embedded trials.

Stakeholder perspectives around post-TB wellbeing and care in Kenya and Malawi.

Background: There is growing awareness of the burden of post-TB morbidity, and its impact on the lives and livelihoods of TB affected households. However little work has been done to determine how post-TB care might be delivered in a feasible and sustainable way, within existing National TB Programmes (NTPs) and health systems, in low-resource, high TB-burden settings. In this programme of stakeholder engagement around post-TB care, we identified actors with influence and interest in TB care in Kenya and Malawi, including TB-survivors, healthcare providers, policy-makers, researchers and funders, and explored their perspectives on post-TB morbidity and care.

Rapid methods for identifying barriers and solutions to improve access to community health services: a scoping review protocol.

Objectives: Low attendance rates for community health services reflect important barriers that prevent people from receiving the care they need. Services and health systems that seek to advance Universal Health Coverage need to understand and act on these factors. Formal qualitative research is the best way to elicit barriers and identify potential solutions, however traditional approaches take months to complete and can be very expensive.

Gut microbiome function and composition in infants from rural Kenya and association with human milk oligosaccharides.

The gut microbiota evolves rapidly after birth, responding dynamically to environmental factors and playing a key role in short- and long-term health. Lifestyle and rurality have been shown to contribute to differences in the gut microbiome, including levels, between infants. We studied the composition, function and variability of the gut microbiomes of 6- to 11-month-old Kenyan infants ( = 105).

The effects of 2'-fucosyllactose and lacto-N-neotetraose, galacto-oligosaccharides, and maternal human milk oligosaccharide profile on iron absorption in Kenyan infants.

Background: Whether prebiotic human milk oligosaccharides (HMO), such as 2'-fucosyllactose (2'-FL) and lacto-N-neotetraose (LNnT), enhance iron absorption in infants is unknown. Moreover, whether maternal HMO profile affects absorption of iron fortificants or the effects of prebiotic galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) and/or HMO on iron absorption is uncertain.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to test whether consumption of 3.

Six-Months Retention on Treatment and Attrition Risk Factors among People Living with HIV in Kibera Informal Settlement, Nairobi, Kenya.

Early retention of patients on HIV treatment is vital in preventing new infections, reducing transmissions, preventing AIDS related deaths and achieving viral suppression. This study sought to determine the effectiveness of non-cash intervention (reminding HIV positive patients at every clinic visit that they stand to receive free T-shirts of their favorite football team or free based on preference if they made it to the sixth month visit without missing a treatment appointment) and psychosocial support on retention during the first six months of HIV treatment. This unblinded randomized control trial was conducted at three health centers within the Kibera informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya.

Factors associated with poor outcomes among people living with HIV started on anti-retroviral therapy before and after implementation of "test and treat" program in Coastal Kenya.

Objectives: To determine the factors associated with poor outcomes among people living with HIV (PLHIV) started on anti- retroviral therapy before and after implementation of "Test and treat" program in 18 facilities in Coastal Kenya.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study design was used to study PLHIV aged > 15 years and started on ART in the periods of April to August 2016, and April to August 2017, then followed up for 24 months. Primary outcome was retention defined as being alive and on ARVs after 24 months.

Effectiveness of a Community Health Worker-Led Intervention on Knowledge, Perception, and Prostate Cancer Screening among Men in Rural Kenya.

Background: Globally, an increase in mortality from prostate cancer (PC) remains a big challenge with disparities existing with a slight preponderance among men in low and middle-income countries. Prostate cancer is a leading cause of mortality among men in sub-Saharan Africa. In Kenya, despite the majority of men presenting with advanced prostate cancer for treatment, knowledge and screening for prostate cancer is low.

A systematic review of substance use and substance use disorder research in Kenya.

Objectives: The burden of substance use in Kenya is significant. The objective of this study was to systematically summarize existing literature on substance use in Kenya, identify research gaps, and provide directions for future research.

Methods: This systematic review was conducted in line with the PRISMA guidelines.

Sociodemographic characteristics of community eye screening participants: protocol for cross-sectional equity analyses in Botswana, India, Kenya, and Nepal.

Background: Attendance rates for eye clinics are low across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and exhibit marked sociodemographic inequalities. We aimed to quantify the association between a range of sociodemographic domains and attendance rates from vision screening in programmes launching in Botswana, India, Kenya and Nepal.

Methods: We performed a literature review of international guidance on sociodemographic data collection.

Interventions to improve early retention of patients in antiretroviral therapy programmes in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review.

Background: Several interventions to improve long term retention (12 months and above) on treatment have been rigorously evaluated in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, research on interventions to improve retention of patients in the early stages of treatment (6 months) during this era of Universal Test and Treat has only recently emerged. The aim of this study is to systematically map evidence of interventions used to improve early retention of patients in antiretroviral therapy (ART) programmes in SSA.

Determinants of quality in home-based management of malaria by community health volunteers in rural Kenya.

Introduction: Kenya adopted the World Health Organization's recommendation of community case management of malaria (CCMM) in 2012. Trained community health volunteers (CHVs) provide CCMM but information on quality of services is limited. This study aimed to establish determinants of quality of service of CCMM conducted by CHVs.

Knowledge, attitudes, practices, and the effects of COVID-19 among the youth in Kenya.

Background: Cases of the Corona Virus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19) in Kenya have continued to increase rapidly, since the first case in the country was confirmed in March 2020. In the wake of the pandemic, the health and socio-economic challenges experienced by the youth in Kenya are likely to be elevated. We assessed knowledge, practices, perceived risk of infection, adoption of recommended behaviour and the effects of COVID-19 among the youth in Kenya.