OBJECTIVE: To identify and summarize occupational hazards among oil palm plantation workers.

METHODS: A search was carried out in June 2018 in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Ovid. Relevant publications were identified by a systematic search of four databases and relevant journals. Publications were included if they examined occupational hazards in oil palm plantation workers.

RESULTS: 941 publications were identified; of these, 25 studies were found eligible to be included in the final review. Of the 25 studies examined, 19 were conducted in Malaysia, 2 in Costa Rica, and one each in Ghana, Indonesia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, and Cameroon. Oil palm plantation workers were found to be at risk of musculoskeletal conditions, injuries, psychosocial disorders, and infectious diseases such as malaria and leptospirosis. In addition, they have potential exposure to paraquat and other pesticides.

METHODS: We surveyed four countries to determine the public's understanding of keloids. A quantitative, subjective and cross-sectional street survey was designed using the knowledge, attitudes and practice model principles. The target populations were cities in Ghana, Australia, Canada and England. Surveyors used a hybrid stratified/convenience sampling method. Primary outcomes were prevalence, exposure to keloids as an entity and overall keloid knowledge score compared across demographic groups. Study data have been made fully available for reproducibility and education (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/3KZ5E).

RESULTS: There were 402 respondents, with a median age of 32 (interquartile range 25-45.25) years, of which 193 were females. The survey was carried out between June 2015 and October 2017. The prevalence of self-identified keloids was 11% in Ghana, 6% in Australia, 2% in Canada and 7% in England. Prevalence, exposure and knowledge were higher in the Ghanaian population.

METHODS: A comparative cross sectional study design involving 379 pregnant women was used to assess the prevalence of anaemia and low intake of dietary nutrients in pregnant women living in rural and urban areas in the Ashanti region of Ghana. Anaemia status and mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) were used as proxy for maternal nutritional status. Haemoglobin measurements were used to determine anaemia prevalence and the dietary diversity of the women were determined with a 24-hour dietary recall and a food frequency questionnaire.

RESULTS: Overall, anaemia was present in 56.5% of the study population. Anaemia prevalence was higher among rural residents than urban dwellers. Majority of the respondents had inadequate intakes of iron, zinc, folate, calcium and vitamin A. The mean dietary diversity score (DDS) of the study population from the first 24-hour recall was 3.81 ± 0.7. Of the 379 women, 28.8% met the minimum dietary diversity for women (MDD-W). The independent predictors of haemoglobin concentration were, gestational age, maternal age and dietary diversity score. Such that respondents with low DDS were more likely to be anaemic than those with high DDS (OR = 1.795, p = 0.022, 95% CI: 1.086 to 2.967).

Method: This is a cross-sectional study involving adult patients of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Tamale Teaching Hospital, and Cape Coast Teaching Hospital in Ghana. A questionnaire survey based on the 'A Staff and Patient Environment Calibration Toolkit (ASPECT)' dimensions and health care core service dimensions was used to collect data from 622 patients. SmartPLS was used to analyse the data collected.

Results: The findings of the study show that the quality of health care healing environment mediates the relationship between patients' satisfaction and all of the constructs under the core health care delivery.