Browsing by Author "Agaba, David C."

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    Prevalence of hypertension in relation to anthropometric indices among secondary adolescents in Mbarara, Southwestern Uganda
    (Italian Journal of Pediatrics, 2020) Katamba, Godfrey; Agaba, David C.; Migisha, Richard; Namaganda, Agnes; Namayanja, Rosemary; Turyakira, Eleanor
    Studies investigating the prevalence of hypertension and its correlation with anthropometric indices among adolescents are still scarce compared to those conducted in adults of greater than 40 years. So far, no other study estimating the prevalence and correlates of hypertension among adolescents in Uganda has been found. Objective: The purpose of this study, therefore, was to asses the prevalence of hypertension and its correlation with anthropometric indices among adolescents in Mbarara Municipality, southwestern Uganda. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 616 secondary school adolescents aged 12–19 years in Mbarara Municipality, Uganda. Blood pressure and anthropometric indices were determined by standard methods. In the statistical analysis, linear regression analysis was done to assess the relationship between blood pressure and anthropometric indices. Results: Overall prevalence of hypertension among adolescents was at 3.1% (n = 19) while prehypertension was 7.1% (n = 44). There was a statistically significant correlation between blood pressure, neck circumference, waist to hip ratio and body mass index at bivariate analysis. In multivariate analysis for anthropometric indices and sex, only neck circumference remained significantly correlated with blood pressure (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The prevalence of hypertension among adolescents in the study setting was low. An increase in neck circumference results in an increase in blood pressure among adolescents.
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    Risk factors for human anthrax outbreak in Kiruhura District, Southwestern Uganda: a population-based case control study
    (PAMJ - One Health, 2021) Migisha, Richard; Mbatidde, Irene; Agaba, David C.; Turyakira, Eleanor; Tumwine, Gabriel; Byaruhanga, Aggrey; Siya, Aggrey; Ruzaaza, Gad N.; Kirunda, Halid
    Introduction: in 2018, Uganda experienced recurrent outbreaks of anthrax in both humans and livestock. We aimed to determine risk factors for human anthrax outbreak among residents of Kazo County, Kiruhura District, south-western Uganda. Methods: we conducted an unmatched case control study during March-April 2019. We defined a case as having had anthrax infection reported to be diagnosed by a healthcare worker in a resident of Kazo County between May 1st, 2018 and June 1st, 2018. A control was a resident in the nearest neighboring household who had not been diagnosed with anthrax between May 1st and June 1st and who had no symptoms suggestive of anthrax in May 2018. We obtained participants' sociodemographic, clinical and exposure characteristics using a structured questionnaire. We performed logistic regression to identify risk factors for human anthrax. Results: we recruited 101 participants (28 cases and 73 controls) with median age of 34 (IQR; 26-47) years; most (61.4%) were female. The overall attack rate was 1.9%, while the most common clinical manifestations were ulcers (96.4%) and fever (96.4%). The risk factors for contracting human anthrax were: slaughtering of anthrax infected animals (aOR=5.74; 95%CI: 1.39-23.8), consuming of anthrax infected meat (aOR=6.4; 95%CI: 1.53- 6.7) and being male (aOR=12.8; 95%CI: 3.31-49.1).
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    Using blood pressure height index to define hypertension among secondary school adolescents in southwestern Uganda
    (Journal of Human Hypertension, 2020) Katamba, Godfrey; Agaba, David C.; Migisha, Richard; Namaganda, Agnes; Namayanja, Rosemary; Turyakira, Eleanor
    Hypertension is the number one risk factor for cardiovascular diseases worldwide and yet its diagnosis among adolescents, based on blood pressure percentiles which are age, height, and sex-specific, is complex. Our study intended to determine the suitability of blood pressure height index in defining adolescent hypertension among secondary school adolescents aged 12–17 years in Mbarara municipality, southwestern Uganda. Our study used data of 485 secondary school adolescents of which 173 were boys. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to assess the performance of systolic blood pressure height index (SBPHI) and diastolic blood pressure height index (DBPHI) for screening for adolescent prehypertension and hypertension. The optimal systolic/diastolic thresholds for defining prehypertension were 0.70/0.43 mmHg/cm in boys and 0.76/0.43 in girls. The corresponding values for hypertension were 0.78/0.43 and 0.77/0.48 mmHg/cm, respectively. The negative predictive values were much higher (all ≥ 95%) for prehypertension and hypertension, while the positive predictive value was 100% for hypertension in both sexes. In conclusion, Blood pressure height index is simple and accurate for screening for prehypertension and hypertension in adolescents aged 12–17 years hence can be used for early screening of adolescents at high risk of hypertension but not its diagnosis.