Is a woman's first pregnancy outcome related to her years of schooling? An assessment of women's adolescent pregnancy outcomes and subsequent educational attainment in Ghana.

Background: Adolescent pregnancy and childbearing pose challenges to young women's educational attainment. Studies show that while adolescent childbearing reduces educational attainment, not becoming pregnant and resorting to induced abortion when pregnant increases women's educational levels. This study examined relationships between adolescents' resolution of their first pregnancies and subsequent educational outcomes, for all women ages 20-49 years and across three age cohorts: 20-29, 30-39 and 40-49 year olds.

Geographical Inequalities and Social and Environmental Risk Factors for Under-Five Mortality in Ghana in 2000 and 2010: Bayesian Spatial Analysis of Census Data.

Background: Under-five mortality is declining in Ghana and many other countries. Very few studies have measured under-five mortality-and its social and environmental risk factors-at fine spatial resolutions, which is relevant for policy purposes. Our aim was to estimate under-five mortality and its social and environmental risk factors at the district level in Ghana.

Evaluating the impact of the community-based health planning and services initiative on uptake of skilled birth care in Ghana.

Background: The Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) initiative is a major government policy to improve maternal and child health and accelerate progress in the reduction of maternal mortality in Ghana. However, strategic intelligence on the impact of the initiative is lacking, given the persistant problems of patchy geographical access to care for rural women. This study investigates the impact of proximity to CHPS on facilitating uptake of skilled birth care in rural areas.

Geographical access to care at birth in Ghana: a barrier to safe motherhood.

Background: Appropriate facility-based care at birth is a key determinant of safe motherhood but geographical access remains poor in many high burden regions. Despite its importance, geographical access is rarely audited systematically, preventing integration in national-level maternal health system assessment and planning. In this study, we develop a uniquely detailed set of spatially-linked data and a calibrated geospatial model to undertake a national-scale audit of geographical access to maternity care at birth in Ghana, a high-burden country typical of many in sub-Saharan Africa.

Haptoglobin polymorphism and association with complications in ghanaian type 2 diabetic patients.

There is scanty information on the role of genetic factors, especially those relating to haptoglobin (Hp) phenotypes in the expression of complications among diabetes mellitus patients in Ghana. In this study, we investigated whether there is any association between Hp phenotypes and diabetic complications and to determine if association of the Hp phenotypes with diabetic complications in Ghanaian diabetics differ from those in Caucasians. A total of 398 participants were randomly recruited into the study.

Dyslipidaemia Associated with Type 2 Diabetics with Micro and Macrovascular Complications among Ghanaians.

In this study, differences in lipid levels amongst diabetics with and without complications were assessed to determine lipid disorders that are associated with diabetic complications other than cardiovascular diseases. A Cross sectional study design was employed. The study included 288 diabetics and 108 non diabetics with different types of complications such as hypertension, nephropathy, neuropathy, and retinopathy.

The effect of community nurses and health volunteers on child mortality: the Navrongo Community Health and Family Planning Project.

Background: Despite effective treatments and preventive measures for the major causes of child illness and death in less wealthy nations, child mortality remains high in resource-poor settings due in part to ineffective health service delivery models.

Methods: The Navrongo Community Health and Family Planning Project is a longitudinal community trial of alternative organizational strategies for health service delivery in a rural, impoverished area of Ghana. In one area, nurses are placed in communities with doorstep visitation and service responsibilities.