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Abstract Background Educational attainment is an important determinant of diverse health outcomes. Truancy among adolescents jeopardizes chances of achieving their educational goals. Truant behaviors are also associated with various psychosocial problems. There is however limited data on the prevalence and factors associated with truancy among adolescents in Africa. Methods We used data from the Swaziland Global School-Based Health Survey (GSHS) conducted in 2003 to estimate the prevalence...

Among school- attending adolescents, victimization from bullying is associated with anxiety, depression and poor academic performance. There are limited reports on victimization from bullying in Zambia; we therefore conducted this study to determine the prevalence and correlates for victimization from bullying among adolescents in grades 7 to 10 in the country in order to add information on the body of knowledge on victimization from bullying.The 2004 Zambia Global School-based Health Survey...

Cigarette smoking is a leading cause of global morbidity and mortality. Interest in developing countries smoking prevalence has been growing since 1999.To estimate the prevalence of current cigarette smoking and associated factors among school-age adolescents in Kafue, Zambia.A cross sectional study was conducted using standard Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) methodology. Frequencies and odds ratios were obtained to assess the association between selected factors and current cigarette...

Mental health and injury are neglected public health issues especially in low-income nations. The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence and socio-demographic correlates for serious injury in the last 12 months.The study used data of the 2007 Djibouti Global School-based Health Survey. Logistic regression analysis was used to establish associations. Of the 1, 777 respondents, 61.1% (63.2% males and 57.8% females) reported having sustained serious injury (SSI). Compared to...

Despite advocating for male involvement in antenatal education, there is unmet need for antenatal education information for expectant couples. The objective of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the education content for couples during antenatal education sessions in Malawi. This is needed for the development of a tailor-made curriculum for couple antenatal education in the country, later to be tested for acceptability, feasibility and effectiveness.An exploratory cross...

Dental health is a neglected aspect of adolescent health globally but more so in low-income countries. Secondary analysis using the 2004 Zambia Global School-Based Health Survey (GSHS) was conducted in which we estimated frequencies of relevant socio-demographic variables and explored associations between selected explanatory variables and self-reported poor oral hygiene (not cleaning or brushing teeth) within the last 30 days of the completion of questionnaire.Most of the 2257 respondents...

Data from the Global School-Based Health Survey (2003) were analysed to estimate the proportions of relevant socio-demographic and behavioural characteristics.Of the 1997 students who participated in the survey, 15.6% (17.1% males and 14.0% females) reported alcohol consumption.Factors associated with consumption of alcohol use were being worried, bullied, smoking cigarettes, truant, and lack of parental supervision.Students who were never worried were 49% (AOR=0.51[95%CI (0.36, 0.72)]) less...

This study determined the prevalence and associated factors of suicidal ideation among school-going adolescents in Harare, Zimbabwe. Data on 1970 respondents were obtained from a cross sectional study of the Global School-based health survey. Respondents were selected using a two-stage probability sampling technique. The prevalence of suicidal ideation was 21.6%. Males were less likely to have suicidal ideation than females (OR=0.70; 95% CI 0.54,0.91). Worrying (OR=1.81; 95% CI 1.29,2.56),...

Malawi is facing a shortage of nurses in both private and public health facilities and it is believed that the imbalance of male and female nursing personnel is linked to this crisis. The paper focuses on gender distribution of staff and students at the Kamuzu College of Nursing in Malawi.  Amongst other objectives, this study was conducted to assess the gender of the first year students being trained at the college in proportion to the gender of the faculty members or lecturing staff. The...

Few studies have assessed the effectiveness and acceptability of male partner involvement in antenatal education. Yet, male involvement in antenatal care including antenatal education has been proposed as a strategy to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes. We conducted this study to add to the body of knowledge on acceptability of male partner involvement in antenatal education following an intervention.This was a cross sectional qualitative study using 18 in-depth interviews with 10...

The shortage of doctors in all specialties in Malawi is particularly severe in rural areas. Contributory factors are the low number of students graduating each year, migration of doctors, and the preference of new graduates for practising in urban areas. Attempts to increase the output from Malawi's only medical school are insufficient to meet the country's healthcare needs.We studied the factors influencing career choices of medical undergraduates of the College of Medicine in Blantyre,...

Education is important in improving economies and creating literate, self-reliant and healthy societies. However, hunger is a barrier to basic education in Malawi. Hunger is also associated with a number of health risk behaviours, such as bullying, suicide ideation and unhygienic behaviours that may jeopardize the future of children. There are, however, limited data on the prevalence and associated factors of hunger among school children in Malawi.The study used data from the Malawi Global...

Interpersonal physical violence is an important global public health concern that has received limited attention in the developing world. There is in particular a paucity of data regarding physical violence and its socio-demographic correlates among in-school adolescents in Namibia.We analysed cross-sectional data from the Namibia Global School-Based Health Survey (GSHS) conducted in 2004. We aimed to estimate the prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of physical fighting within the...

HIV is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Zambia. Like many other African nations with high HIV burden, heterosexual intercourse is the commonest mode of HIV spread. The estimation of prevalence and factors associated with sexual intercourse among in-school adolescents has potential to inform public health interventions aimed at reducing the burden of sex-related diseases in Zambia.We carried out secondary analysis of the Zambia Global School-Based Health Survey (GSHS) 2004; a...

A cross sectional study was conducted to estimate the prevalence and correlates of suicidal ideation among in-school adolescents in Zambia. Backward logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the association between relevant predictor variables and suicidal ideation within the last 12 months. A total of 1970 in-school adolescents who participated in the Zambia Global School-Based Health Survey in 2004 responded to the question on suicidal ideation. Overall, 54.0% were males, 40.8%...

Tobacco use is the leading cause of noncommunicable disease morbidity and mortality. Most smokers initiate the smoking habit as adolescents or young adults.Survey data from the 2007 Lusaka (Zambia) Global Youth Tobacco Survey were used to estimate the prevalence of current cigarette smoking and assess whether exposure to pro-tobacco media and perception of the potential harm of secondhand smoke are associated with adolescents' smoking. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the...