Measurement of expressive vocabulary in school-age children: Development and application of the Kilifi Naming Test (KNT).

The dearth of locally developed measures of language makes it difficult to detect language and communication problems among school-age children in sub-Saharan African settings. We sought to describe variability in vocabulary acquisition as an important element of global cognitive functioning. Our primary aims were to establish the psychometric properties of an expressive vocabulary measure, examine sources of variability, and investigate the measure's associations with non-verbal reasoning and educational achievement.

Women's autonomy and reproductive health-care-seeking behavior in Ethiopia.

This paper investigated the potential importance of women's autonomy in reproductive health-care-seeking behavior of women in Ethiopia. Data from the 2011 Ethiopian Demographic and Health survey (DHS), which involved a total of 16,515 women, were analyzed. A weighted sub-sample of married women and women who had a live birth were included in analyses on family planning and antenatal care.

Patterns of fertility preferences and contraceptive behaviour over time: change and continuities among the urban poor in Nairobi, Kenya.

The main objective of this paper is to investigate the association between fertility preferences and contraceptive use among 15-49-year-old women living in Korogocho and Viwandani, informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya. We draw on longitudinal data collected under the Maternal and Child Health project conducted between 2006 and 2010 in the two settlements. There is substantial regularity and stability but also unusual instability in reported fertility preferences over time among women living in these settings.

Correlates of HIV-status awareness among adults in Nairobi slum areas.

The prevalence of HIV in the adult population in slum areas in Nairobi, Kenya, is higher than for residents in the city as a whole. This disparity suggests that the characteristics of slum areas may adversely influence the HIV-prevention strategies directed at reducing the national prevalence of HIV. The objective of the study was to identify some of the sociodemographic and behavioural correlates of HIV-status awareness among the adult population of two slums in Nairobi.