Amir Kabunga, Eustes Kigongo, Samson Udho, Marvin Musinguzi, Raymond Tumwesigye, Walter Acup,
Volume 10, Issue 1 (February 2023)
Abstract
Background: Despite an overwhelming disease burden, nursing shortages are evident in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the potential for significant healthcare crises. Nurses face increased work demands and chronic stress due to a skilled personnel shortage, which may lead to stress. The present study aimed to examine chronic stress and its correlates among nurses in central Uganda.
Methods: The 12-item Short Form Survey (SF-12) for the assessment of chronic stress among nurses, a validated and standardized tool, was used in this cross-sectional study in 2022. For explanatory analysis, the items were combined with dichotomous variables reflecting predictors of chronic stress. These items were used to create dichotomous variables denoting frequent and demanding challenges for exploratory analysis. The relationship between the variables and high levels of chronic stress was investigated using a multivariate logistic regression model.
Results: Based on the findings, the majority, 485 (76.0%), had chronic stress. The results indicate that the correlates of chronic stress among participants were widowhood (AOR: 0.040; 95% CI: 0.013-0.127; P= <0.001), being worried about looming deadlines (aOR: 0.003; 95% CI: 0.001-0.023; P = <0.001), long working hours (AOR: 0.283; 95% CI: 0.159-0.504; p=<0.001), insufficient job control (AOR: 0.304; 95% CI: 0.127-0.727; P = 0.007), and inadequate rewards (AOR: 2.554; 95% CI: 1.170-5.574; P = 0.019).
Conclusion: According to our findings, three in four nurses in central Uganda suffer from chronic stress. This can exert a negative impact on their overall well-being and caring behaviors. Chronic stress was associated with widowhood, a looming deadline, long working hours, insufficient job control, and inadequate rewards. It is critical to adapt interventions, such as hiring additional nurses, to reduce workload and ensure adequate rest periods.
Amir Kabunga, Eustes Kigongo, Marvin Musinguzi, Raymond Tumwesigye, Walter Acup,
Volume 10, Issue 1 (February 2023)
Abstract
Background: Breast cancer is linked to neuropsychiatric conditions, particularly depression, which lowers life expectancy. Studies from Sub-Saharan Africa, however, have revealed conflicting prevalence rates of depression.
Objective: To assess the combined prevalence of breast cancer-related depression among patients in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Methods: The following search terms—depression, depressive disorders, breast cancer, mammary cancer, mammary adenocarcinoma and breast carcinoma, and Sub-Saharan African—were used to conduct a systematic search for English articles on depression published in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, African Journal Online, and Google Scholar. A meta-command was used to combine the results of different studies on depression linked to breast cancer through a random effects model at a 95% confidence interval in Stata software (version 17).
Results: After the elimination of duplicates, 9,272 articles were still found after the electronic search yielded 12051 results. A number of 19 articles were still available after abstract and title screening, and they underwent full-text screening. A number of 10 articles were removed for a variety of reasons, including the lack of the full text (n=2), incorrect publication type (n=2), and not reporting the full outcome of interest (n=6). In Sub-Saharan Africa, the combined prevalence of breast cancer patients was 60%. (95CI, 0.51-0.69). The prevalence rates of depression among breast cancer patients in East Africa, South Africa, and West Africa were reported as 64% (95CI, 0.51-0.75), 60% (95CI, 0.53-0.67), and 55%. (95CI, 0.36-0.73), respectively.
Conclusion: In Sub-Saharan Africa, about 6 in 10 cancer patients experience depression. Since depression negatively affects the quality of life, it is important to properly diagnose depression in order to treat it effectively with the fewest possible side effects.
