Loveness Nkhata

Containment syringe sharing among individuals is considered to be the most contributing factor to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It’s well recognized that sharing syringes significantly contributes to the transmission of diseases amongst individuals. This study examines how syringe sharing may contribute to HIV infection and spread among injectable drug users. Sharing syringes greatly aids in the spread of infections among people, as is widely acknowledged. The model was calibrated using data from Malaysia from 2000 to 2011 on the incidence of HIV among drug injectors. Through the use of the Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation approach, the parameters are estimated using Bayesian inference. The basic reproduction number for HIV disease suggests that the disease-free equilibrium was stable during the 12 years. This is a good indicator from the public health point of view since the goal is to stabilize the infection rate. Our findings emphasized the potential involvement of syrin...

Background: Back pain affects nurses’ physical, social and emotional well-being, as they encounter difficulties in executing their social and occupational duties.Objectives: Our study investigated the impact of a cross-cultural back pain campaign on nurses’ beliefs about back pain; activating the participants to self-manage; coping strategies; sick leave claimed; and frequency of doctor visits.Method: A single sample pre- and post-test design was used. The intervention was a 12-week educational campaign based on evidence-based back pain messages. Primary outcomes were measured by their beliefs about back pain and their activation to self-manage. Analyses were conducted using SPSS version 27.0 software, and significant differences from before and after the campaign were analysed using the Chi-square test at a 0.05 significance level.Results: There were no significant differences in the age, gender and work hours of the nurses who participated before and after the campaign, except for...

Injuries at a work place comprise a substantial part of injury burden. They are an important public health problem that affects not only the person sustaining the injury but other household members that are dependent on the injured adult. Although, health workers frequently treat patients with work-related injuries, they also suffer from the same injuries.Injury rate among hospital workers is estimated to be twice that of other service industries. The cause is attributed to high levels of patient contact, as well as other variables in the health care environment. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMDs) are common in the field of physiotherapy because the nature of job tasks is physically challenging and therapeutic procedures are often repetitive, labour intensive and involves direct contact with patients.The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and factors for WRMDs among physiotherapy personnel in Lusaka, Kitwe and Ndola districts. The objectives were to determ...

Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) which is a post-infective acute polyneuropathy has been known to rarely occur among Africans. It is considered the most disabling neurological condition after poliomyelitis. However, little has been reported on the extent of the problem of GBS in Zambia. Hence the main aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of GBS and rate of physiotherapy referral among the patients that were seen at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) between the years 2011-2013. Data was collected retrospectively from clinical files of patients that were treated in the department of internal medicine during the review period using a checklist. The statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20 was used for descriptive analysis. Out of 26, 776 new medical cases that were treated in the period under review only 31 cases had GBS giving a period prevalence of 0.116%. The mean age for cases was 33.6 years (SD: 12.9) with the majority 50% (n=16) age range being 18 t...

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders gain importance in the field of nursing because activities done by nurses routinely contribute to their occurrence because they are repetitive and labour intensive. To provide empirical evidence on ergonomic interventions in the field of nursing, this study assessed the effects of ergonomic interventions in nurses on function, neuro-muscular pain and quality of life. Methods: The standard practices for systematic reviews guidelines were used in defining participants, interventions, comparisons, outcomes and study designs. The MEDLINE search strategy combined with the Cochrane Highly Sensitive Search Strategy for identifying RCTs was used to systematically search for articles published in English between 1990 and 2016. Studies where participants were nurses at the time of the intervention, and had symptoms or were exposed to risk factors for WRMDs in their workplace were considered for this review. Analysis of data were done using Review Manager ...

Background: Physiotherapy management of patients with low back pain (LBP) raises ethical issues that may affect practitioners’ efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery. Objective: The objective of this study was to have insight into the ethical issues and dilemmas encountered by physiotherapy practitioners in management of patients with LBP. Methodology: An exploratory study design using qualitative method was used. Two Focus Group Discussions were conducted at two major hospitals in Lusaka. Sixteen physiotherapy practitioners participated in this study. Data was analysed according to the modified principle of Giorgi’s phenomenological analysis and presented verbatim. Results: Results revealed four dimensions of ethical issues encountered in management of LBP. These included Conflict of culture and treatment process, Patient/Physiotherapy practitioner relationships, Informed Consent and dilemmas encountered in management of LBP. Ethical issues were raised concerning cultural...

Introduction: While major limb amputations are reported to be a major surgical procedure that is a preventable public health problem, they are associated with profound economic, social and psychological effects on the patient, family and the country at large. There is however, limited data on the epidemiological features of amputations in developing countries where the impact is huge due to poor prosthetic services and unaffordable costs where services are available. The aim of the study was to determine the epidemiological features of amputations done at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia. Methods: Data was collected using a checklist. The study was retrospective and descriptive in nature. Convenient sampling was used on records of patients who underwent major limb amputations between 2013 and 2014. Results: Out of 84 records that were reviewed, the commonest indication for amputation was trauma 29.8% (n=25), followed by Diabetic complications 21.4% (n=18) and the p...

Background: Injuries at a work place comprise a substantial part of injury burden. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMDs) are common in the field of physiotherapy because the nature of job tasks is physically challenging and therapeutic procedures are often repetitive, labour intensive and involve direct contact with patients. The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence, contributing factors and coping strategies for WRMDs among physiotherapy personnel in Lusaka, Kitwe and Ndola districts of Zambia. Methods: Data was collected using a selfadministered semi structured questionnaire in a cross sectional study. Data were summarized using percents for categorical variables, mean (standard deviation) for continuous variables, and median (Q 1 , Q 3 ) for skewed variables. Results: A total of 120 physiotherapists participated in the survey and of these 82 (68.3%) experienced WRMDs that lasted for more than 3 days in the previous 12 months to the survey. Most (40.7%) ...

Structured Abstract Background: Stroke is a global health problem and one of the major causes of death, disability and impairment among adults worldwide. Post-stroke outcomes vary widely, between and within world regions depending on a range of factors including demographic profile, stroke type, severity and immediate and long-term post stroke care. It has been reported that early initiation of rehabilitation following stroke promotes better long-term outcomes than delayed rehabilitation, although this has been disputed by some researchers in the AVERT (A very early rehabilitation trial) study. Purpose of Review: To evaluate the best time to start stroke rehabilitation with good outcomes Results of the Review: There is limited evidence to show that later rehabilitation is better than early rehabilitation. It also remains unclear whether early mobilization is more effective than mobilization at a later stage, due to insufficient statistical power of the studies that have examined this practice because clinicians around the world are practicing this model to this day. Furthermore, some trial limitations of the AVERT study in line with the uncertainty of the external validity of the results, make generalizability something to be concerned about. Conclusion: The best time to start stroke rehabilitation is as soon as the patient is clinically stable i.e; as early as possible. The results of the poor outcomes of the AVERT study in providing evidence of the impact of early stroke rehabilitation, should not be interpreted as proof of the ineffectiveness of early physical rehabilitation. Every stroke is different from one person to another because the impact of the damage to the brain is associated with the different functions of several parts of the brain making generalizability quite difficult. Therefore, in the absence of provision of high quality evidence, clinicians like physiotherapists should base their decisions on clinical experience, individual circumstances and patient preferences as appropriate. It is extremely important to develop evidence-based practice protocols that can guide clinical practice on the best time to start stroke rehabilitation and also enhancing plasticity and reducing the negative impact of stroke through pharmacotherapy, especially for survivors in resource constrained places like sub-Saharan Africa.