Browsing by Author "Fikirte Girma"

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    Adaptation And Pilot Testing of The Amharic global open-Access Screening and Diagnostic Tool for Autism in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A Feasibility Study
    (Addis Ababa University, 2025-02-01) Nardos Teklemariam; Fikirte Girma
    Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neuro-developmental disorder characterized by difficulties with socio-communicative functioning and restricted and repetitive behaviors. There is limited data available regarding the prevalence of ASD in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), one of the reasons for the limitation being the scarcity of translated, validated, and culturally adapted screening and diagnostic tools. The Global Open Access Screening and Diagnostic Tool for Autism (OSSDx) is an autism screening and diagnostic tool that is currently under development. It is a tool being developed for a target population of children aged 2-9 years, living in Africa. Objective: The study aimed to culturally adapt the OSSDx into the Amharic language and pilot it in selected private hospitals and facilities. Methods: The original OSSDx was translated and culturally adapted into the Amharic language through expert consultation. The adapted OSSDx tool was then piloted on 6 experts and 17 caregivers/parents of children with ASD diagnosis and suspected developmental disorders at the selected private hospitals and facilities using mixed mixed methods design. The quantitative data were collected using a yes/no checklist, which was completed by both the parents/caregivers and experts. Cognitive interviews were also conducted with all the participants to gather more information regarding the clarity, cultural relevance, and acceptability of the adapted tool. Result: The findings from this pilot study show that the adapted OSSDx demonstrates an acceptable face and content validity. Although some items were noted as difficult to understand, the quantitative feedback from parents/caregivers showed a high level of agreement on the tool’s relevance and clarity. While evaluations from experts also highlighted a need for improvements, they have observed adequate construct coverage. Cognitive interviews further endorsed these findings. Overall, the adapted version of the OSSDx was considered applicable with a few revisions suggested before a large-scale implementation. Implication: The adapted Amharic OSSDx can assist in screening at-risk children earlier and help in establishing a clearer referral pathway for diagnosis
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    Assessment of School Enrollment and Associated Factors among Children and Adolescents with Neurodevelopmental Disorders on Follow up at TASH, ZMH, Y12HMC and AMSH. Addis Ababa,Ethiopia: A Cross Sectional Study
    (Addis Ababa University, 2024-04-10) Simret Gebre; Fikirte Girma
    Neurodevelopment in children is a dynamic inter relationship between various components including genetic, brain, cognitive, emotional and behavioral processes throughout the developmental lifespan. Neurodevelopmental diseases and disabilities can be caused by a significant and ongoing interrupti on to this dynamic process caused by environmental and genetic risk. Impairments in personal, social, academic, or occupational functioning are hallmarks of these disorders . When these children reach school age, they are at greater risk of having special e ducational needs and experiencing difficulties in their learning or socialization at school. The number of children with disability attending school is extremely low in developing nations, and the overall enrollment rate is frequently under 10% in those na tions where statistics are available. Although some research in our country have attempted to study this, there is a shortage of information specifically related to neurodevelopmental diseases.
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    Magnitude And Factors Associated with Suicidal Behaviors Among Highschool Adolescents in Arada Subcity, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
    (Addis Ababa University, 2025-05-10) Dureti Kassim; Awoke Mihretu; Fikirte Girma
    Background: suicide in adolescent age group is a growing global health challenge. Suicide behaviors serve as significant predictors of completed suicide and occur at a higher rate compared to suicide death. Understanding how common suicidal behaviors are and the factors linked to them is crucial for designing programs aimed at lowering the risk of completed suicide within this specific population. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of suicidal behaviors and related factors among high school adolescents in Arada sub city, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Method: A quantitative cross-sectional study design was used. Random sampling method was employed to choose the high schools from high schools found in the sub-city and to select sections from every grade level. Data were gathered through self-administered structured questionnaires. Data entry and analysis were performed using SPSS software. Results: Lifetime prevalence of suicidal thought was 26.9%, suicidal plan was 18.8% and suicidal attempt was 17.0% in high school adolescents. The last 12 months prevalence of suicidal thought, plan and attempt were 13.5%, 8.7% and 7.2% respectively. Age (AOR=2.82), gender (AOR=2.80), anxiety (AOR=3.59) and social support (AOR=0.26) had significant association with suicidal thought. Gender (AOR = 2.80), anxiety (AOR = 3.68), school absenteeism (AOR = 2.20), social support (AOR = 0.35) and family relative wealth (AOR = 11.77) were significantly associated with suicide attempt among the study participants. Conclusions and Recommendation: Suicidal behaviors were prevalent among high school adolescents in Arad sub-city of Addis Ababa, posing a major public health challenge. Female gender, anxiety, school absenteeism, and poor social support increased the likelihood of suicidal behaviors. Addressing this requires understanding these factors to develop targeted prevention and intervention strategies, emphasizing mental health education in schools.
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    Quantifying Water Loss Components and Conducting Performance Indicator-Based Assessment for Addis Abeba Water Distribution System
    (Addis Ababa University, 2024-04) Fikirte Girma; Agizew Nigussie (PhD)
    Water loss in urban water distribution systems is a significant global challenge, leading to wastage, revenue losses, and contamination risks. The Addis Ababa Water Distribution System (AAWDS) faces similar challenges, a significant portion of the water supplied to people doesn’t reach its intended users. Despite the critical importance of mitigating water loss, assessment practices and understanding of different causes and factors influencing the amount and type of water loss in a distribution system is limited. This study aims to assess and quantify total water losses in the AAWDS, and evaluating system performance. The research examines both real and apparent losses, with a focus on metering accuracy degradation rates and failures, especially in DN 15 mm customer meters, which constitute a large proportion of utility meters. The study identifies a high meter failure rate (0.59%/year) in the system, with water losses due to DN 15mm meter failure estimated at 0.53% of the annual non-revenue water (NRW), equivalent to 470,081𝑚3 /year. Using comparative billing analysis methodology, the research determines meter accuracy degradation rates for different meter models and calculates annual water losses due to meter inaccuracies, totaling US$1.5 million per year. Additionally, the study adopted two techniques, Minimum Night Flow Analysis and Calibration Process Water GEMs V10 Calibrator Software, were used to estimate leakages in district-metered areas situated around Kasanchis area, revealing a daily water loss 756 𝑚3. Leakage identification in the water distribution system of the DMA resulted in shortlisting of 5 points. The research also proposes 12 performance indicators for evaluating the system's efficiency, with some successfully tested on a branch utility of AAWSA. The findings emphasize the need of integrated water meter management (IWMM), leakage detection with calibrator software, and the utility's use of appropriate water loss performance indicators