OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of drug prescribing pattern, outpatient drug price of medicines, and level of adherence to evidence-based international guidelines on blood pressure (BP) control at selected hospitals in Southern Ethiopia.
METHODS: Hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted. The data entry and analysis were done by using SPSS version 21.0.
RESULTS: A mean age of participants was 55.87 ± 11.02 years. The rate of BP control was 17.5% based on International Society of Hypertension (ISH) guidelines 2020. In about two-thirds of patients, 270 (66.5%) were taking combination therapy. Mean annual cost of drugs for hypertension was 11.39 ± 3.98 US dollar (USD). Treatment was affordable for only 91 (22.4%) of patients. There was considerable variation on prescriber\'s adherence to evidence-based guidelines. Body mass index (BMI) of 18-24.9 kg/m2, adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 3.63 (95% confidence interval (C.I), 1.169-11.251, p = 0.026), physically activity, AOR = 12.69 (95% C.I, 1.424-113.17, p = 0.023), presence of no comorbidity, AOR = 12.82 (95% C.I, 4.128-39.816, p = 0.000), and taking affordable antihypertensive regimen, AOR = 3.493 (95% C.I, 1.4242-9.826, p = 0.018), were positively associated BP control.
CONCLUSIONS: The level of BP control, affordability of drugs for the management of hypertension and related comorbidities, and the prescriber\'s adherence to evidence-based guidelines were inadequate. Therefore, addressing factors associated with good BP control including affordability and clinician adherence to evidence-based guidelines by responsible stakeholders could improve BP control and reduce associated complications.

BACKGROUND: A Community-Based Essential Newborn Care is a national initiative that incorporates a newborn care program into the continuum of maternal and child health care through enhancing community participation to reduce child morbidity and mortality and encourage healthy growth and development. This study aimed at assessing the level of Community-Based Essential Newborn Care service uptake and its associated factors among rural women in the Guraghe zone, Southern Ethiopia, 2020.
METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the rural districts of Southern Ethiopia, from 1 to 31 May 2020. A multistage sampling technique was applied. Using a systematic random sampling technique, a total of 818 respondents were selected. The data collected by a pretested structured questionnaire were entered into EpiData 3.1 and exported to the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (Version 23) for analysis. To identify significant predictors of Community-Based Essential Newborn Care utilization, a multivariable logistic regression analysis was fitted. Adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were used to estimate the strength of associations, and statistical significance was declared at a p value <0.05.
RESULTS: One-third, 269 (33.1%) (95% confidence interval = 30.0-36.2), of women and their newborns got the entire packages of the Community-Based Essential Newborn Care program. Desire on the last pregnancy (adjusted odds ratio = 2.66, 95% confidence interval = 1.56-4.51), birth preparedness and complication readiness plan (adjusted odds ratio = 4.82, 95% confidence interval = 3.26-7.12), timing of the postpartum visit (adjusted odds ratio = 3,56, 95% confidence interval = 2.00-6.34), attending monthly pregnant women conference (adjusted odds ratio = 3.01, 95% confidence interval = 1.99-4.57), and being a certified model household (adjusted odds ratio = 1.88, 95% confidence interval = 1.24-2.85) were identified as key predictors of Community-Based Essential Newborn Care utilization.
CONCLUSIONS: The uptake of the full Community-Based Essential Newborn Care packages in the study area was low. Health care providers at the health institution and community level should give due emphasis to improve contraceptive service delivery. Besides, health extension workers at the community level should work on providing immediate postpartum visits, creating model households, and strengthening pregnant women conferences.