Browsing by Author "Okari, Geoffrey M."

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    Accessibility factors associated with adherence to healthy timing and spacing of pregnancy among women of reproductive age in Kilifi County, Kenya
    (International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health, 2024-09) Supaki, Esther K.; Owaka, Isaac O.; Mutisya, Redempta K.; Okari, Geoffrey M.; Matok, Vincent O.
    Background:Globally, about 25% of births occur with shorter intervals annually with over 12 million underage pregnancies mostly from Sub-Saharan Africa. Kenya records about 20% teenage pregnancies while Kilifi County reported 28.9%. In Kilifi County, 19.6% of births do not adhere to the 24-month birth-interval. The study focused on establishing accessibility factors associated with adherence to healthy timing and spacing of pregnancy (HTSP) among reproductive age women in Kilifi County, Kenya. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was adopted with a sample of 293 respondents. All required approvals and consent were obtained. Quantitative data was collected using questionnaires. Descriptive data was analyzed using SPSS version 22.0 and inferential statistics computed through Chi-square tests. Results: About 60.1% respondents adhered to heathy timing and spacing of pregnancy, 69.4% teenage pregnancies occurred and 67.1% of women adhered to the 24-month inter-birth interval. Availability of family planning (FP) services (p=0.008), experience with providers (p=0.005), cost of accessing FP (p=0.001) and source of information (p=0.002) were associated with HTSP. Conclusions: About 4 out of 10 women of reproductive age in Kilifi County do not adhere to the recommended HTSP. Accessibility factors such as cost and availability of family planning services, source of information and experience with healthcare providers significantly influenced adherence to HTSP. The Ministry of Health and relevant stakeholders should scale up awareness activities, provide mobile clinics and concentrate on regular continuous medical education among healthcare providers to enhance their role in provision of reproductive health services.
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    nfluence of male targeted short message service on knowledge, nature of attitude and male involvement on uptake of family planning among spouses in Marsabit County, Kenya
    (Medip Academy, 2024-09-20) Matoke, Vincent O.; Gitonga, Eliphas M.; Owaka, Isaac O.; Okari, Geoffrey M.; Mutabazi, Michel; Ogutu, Gideon M.; Odhiambo, Felix B.; Anyika, Daniel K.; Salima, Ruth; Okenyoru, Douglas S.
    Background:Family planning services helps the individuals or couples to regulate the number and determine healthy spacing and timing of pregnancies. Globally, contraceptive prevalence stands at 49.0%, Sub-Saharan Africa at 29.0%, Kenya at 56.9% and Marsabit County at 5.6%. Some of the reasons given for low uptake include low knowledge level, negative attitude and lack of male involvement on family planning matters. This study aimed at establishing the influence of male targeted short message service on knowledge, nature of attitude and male involvement on uptake of family planning among spouses in Marsabit County.Methods:A pre-test and post-test quasi experimental study design was adopted involving randomly selected 220 couples from Laisamis (control group) and Moyale (intervention group) sub-counties. Intervention of male targeted short message service was offered weekly to male spouses from Moyale sub-county. A questionnaire was used to collect data. Data analysis was done using SPSS. All the required ethical and logistical considerations were adhered to accordingly.Results:Male targeted short message service increased level of knowledge significantly (OR 4.173, p=0.001), changed nature of attitude (OR 2.7335, p=0.004) and male involvement in family planning (OR 4.4306, p=0.001).Conclusions:The study concluded male targeted SMS intervention increased level of knowledge, attitude changed and males were involved. The County government of Marsabit should engage opinion leaders in family planning to help in educating and changing the attitude of the men towards family planning.Keywords: Attitude, Family planning, Knowledge,Male targeted short message service1Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Health Sciences, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya2Department of Community Health and Development, Faculty of Science, The Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Nairobi, Kenya3Department of Family Medicine, Community Health and Epidemiology, School of Health Sciences, Kenyatta University,Nairobi, Kenya4Department of Health Management and Informatics, School of Health Sciences, Kenyatta University,Nairobi, Kenya5Department of Health Systems Management and Development, School of Public Health, Amref International University,Nairobi, KenyaReceived:09 August 2024Revised:18 September 2024Accepted:20 September 2024*Correspondence:Dr.Vincent O. Matoke,E-mail: omwengavincent96@yahoo.comCopyright:© the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20243274