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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Prevalence of goitre and urinary iodine status of primary-school children in Lesotho.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of goitre, urinary iodine status, coverage of supplementation of iodized oil capsules, and current use of iodized salt in children in Lesotho. METHODS: Cross-sectional study of children from 50 primary schools in Lesotho. Thyroid glands of children aged 8-12 years were measured by palpation and graded according to the WHO, UNICEF, and the International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency's (ICCIDD) joint criteria. The use of iodized oil capsules was determined by a structured questionnaire and verified with the children's health booklets. Iodine content of household salt samples was analysed. Casual urine samples were analysed for urinary iodine. FINDINGS: Median urinary iodine concentrations of 26.3 microg/l (range 22.3-47.9 microg/l) indicated moderate iodine deficiency. More children in the mountains than in the lowlands were severely iodine deficient (17.7% vs 1.9%). Adjusted prevalence of goitre (4.9%) increased with age, was higher in girls than boys, and ranged from 2.2% to 8.8% in the different districts; this indicated no public health problem. Overall, 94.4% of salt samples were iodized, and coverage of supplementation with iodized oil capsules was 55.1%. CONCLUSION: Mild-to-moderate iodine deficiency exists in Lesotho. Iodine deficiency was more severe in the mountains than the lowlands and is still a concern for public health. Use of iodized salt coupled with iodized oil supplementation effectively controls iodine deficiency disorders. Effective monitoring programmes would ensure the use of adequately iodized salt throughout Lesotho and serve to evaluate progress towards optimal iodine nutrition. Iodized oil capsule supplementation should continue in the mountains.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The importance of remittances for the level and distribution of economic well-being in Lesotho.

"Using the 1986/87 Household Budget Survey of Lesotho, we measure the extent of inequality, identify the determinants of economic well-being and decompose total inequality by population subgroups. The results show large inequality in economic well-being. Many households in Lesotho are heavily dependent on miners' remittances from the Republic of South Africa. In the study we quantify their effects on the level of well-being and the extent of inequality. It is concluded that remittances decrease inequality in Lesotho."

Africa↗
PubMed2005

Iodine status as determined by urinary iodine excretion in Lesotho two years after introducing legislation on universal salt iodization.

OBJECTIVE: Mild to severe iodine deficiency has been documented in Lesotho since 1960. To eliminate the persisting iodine deficiency, legislation on universal salt iodization was introduced in 2000 as a long-term public health intervention strategy. We assessed the urinary iodine status of school children and women of child-bearing age in Lesotho 2 y after the introduction of legislation on universal salt iodization. METHODS: A 31-cluster national survey was conducted in 2002 by using the proportion to population size method. In each cluster, 30 women ages 15 to 30 y and 30 primary school children ages 8 to 12 y were randomly selected to provide urine samples for urinary iodine analysis. Data were interpreted according to criteria of the World Health Organization, United Nations Children's Fund, and International Council for Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (2001). Statistical analysis was performed using SAS. RESULTS: We analyzed 912 urine samples from children and 924 from women. The median urinary iodine concentrations were 214.7 microg/L for children and 280.1 microg/L for women, indicating more than adequate iodine intake. Median iodine concentration was higher in the lowlands (256.0 microg/L in children and 329.9 microg/L in women) than in the mountains (99.30 microg/L in children and 182.6 microg/L in women). Analysis of the distribution of the data showed values below 50 microg/L in 10.1% of children and in 9.8% of women. In addition, 21.5% of children and 17.9% of women had urinary iodine excretion values below 100 microg/L. In contrast, 36% of children and 47.2% of women had urinary iodine concentrations in excess of 300 microg/L. CONCLUSION: Results of urinary iodine excretion measurements indicated that iodine deficiency has been eliminated as a public health problem in Lesotho. However, the high median urinary iodine concentration of women in the lowlands indicated the possibility of a risk of iodine-induced hyperthyroidism in vulnerable people.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Prevalence of low-back pain in Lesotho mothers.

OBJECTIVES: To identify factors that strongly affect the presence of severe low-back pain in mothers living in the Maseru District of Lesotho, to find out whether there is any truth to the widespread belief that rural mothers are more vulnerable to severe low-back pain than their urban counteTparts, and to identify influential factors that are strongly associated with each other. METHODS: A random sample of 4001 mothers was collected from the Maseru District of Lesotho in September 1994 by using sampling techniques of stratification and proportional allocation with respect to size. The following 10 explanatory variables of study were used: intensive farm work, gravidity (number of births plus abortions), residential area, heavy weight lifting, the literacy status of the mother, strenuous manual labor, the availability of basic health services, the income status of the mother, cooking method at home, and breast-feeding. The dependent variable of study was the presence or absence of severe low-back pain. Discriminant and log-linear analyses were done to analyze the data collected. Discriminant analysis was done by using the presence or absence of severe low-back pain as a classifying variable and the 10 explanatory variables that affect the classifying variable. Log-linear analysis was also done by using the same data with 9 of the 11 variables of study. RESULTS: A total of 405 (10.12%) of the 4001 mothers in the study had severe low-back pain at the time of data collection, 513 (12.82%) had moderate low-back pain, and 1422 (35.54%) had mild low-back pain. A total of 319 (78.77%) of the 405 mothers with severe low-back pain were poor, illiterate, and from rural communities. Results from discriminant analysis revealed that the presence of severe low-back pain was strongly affected by intensive farm work, the residential area of the mother, and gravidity of the mother in a decreasing order of strength and led to results similar to those obtained from discriminant analysis. The study also showed that rural mothers and their children were more disadvantaged than their urban counterparts with regard to basic health services. CONCLUSION: Recommendations were made to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of Lesotho to improve the provision of basic health services, including health education on the importance of chiropractors to the community.

Discriminant Analysis↗
PubMed2005

Iodine content of salt 2 years after the introduction of the universal salt iodisation legislation in Lesotho.

The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of the universal salt iodisation legislation on I levels of salt at household, retail and entry level in Lesotho. We used a multistage proportion to population size method to select thirty-one clusters from all the districts and ecological zones of Lesotho. In each cluster, thirty households were randomly selected and salt samples were collected. Six salt samples from two randomly selected retailers in each cluster, and a total of 107 salt samples from all the commercial entry points in the country were also collected. Lesotho does not produce salt and it imports almost all its salt from South Africa. The salt samples were analysed using the iodometric titration method. The median I concentration of salt was 36.2 ppm at entry point, 37.3 ppm at retail level and 38.5 ppm at household level. At household level only 1.6 % used non-iodised salt and 86.9 % used adequately iodised salt. Of all salt collected at household level, 20.4 % was coarse salt, which was significantly less well iodised than fine salt. The study demonstrates a major achievement in the availability of iodised salt as well as household use of adequately iodised salt. Under-iodisation of coarse salt and non-uniformity of salt iodisation at the production site were observed. Therefore, there is a need for enforcement of the salt iodisation legislation especially at entry-point level to ensure that only iodised salt enters the country. During enforcement more emphasis should be given to iodisation of coarse salt.

Commerce↗
PubMed2005

Perceptions of sex education for young people in Lesotho.

This study aimed to identify the views of young people, parents and teachers concerning sex education in Lesotho. It was conducted at a time when the national government was considering the introduction of Population and Family Life Education, which includes sex education, into the national school curriculum. Forty-six focus group discussions were held with young people (10), parents (30) and teachers (6) to identify current sources of sex education and views of the proposed introduction of school-based sex education in Lesotho. Findings show the limited and problematic sources of sex education for adolescents in Lesotho. They also highlight broad support for the introduction of sex education in the national school curriculum among young people, parents and teachers. Of key importance for the development of a sex education curriculum is the balance between providing young people with information and developing their skills in sexual empowerment and negotiating sexual pressure. The use of pupil-centred interactive pedagogies was seen as essential. Teachers, however, highlighted the need for training in the delivery of sex education, which includes instruction on course materials, teaching methodologies and developing sensitivity to teaching sexual issues to young people.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Economic dependency, health services, and health: the case of Lesotho.

This article is concerned with two factors affecting the health status of the people of Lesotho: (1) the nation's function as a reserve labor economy (that is, the primary source of income for about half the country's male labor force is employment in South Africa); and (2) the health care system (its size, composition, accessibility, and efficiency). Although such apparently diverse factors usually are analyzed independently, they might be combined to provide a more complete understanding of the determinants of health and disease. The paper reaches the conclusion that any substantive solutions to the problems of Lesotho will be found primarily in the wider southern Africa setting, and not within the context of small, dependent national states. At the same time, these small, dependent national states must make development decisions considering existing geopolitical realities. Foresightful decision making on these issues could both contribute immediately to the health of the people of Lesotho, and also increase in longer-term possibilities for a better life for all the people of southern Africa.

Agriculture↗
PubMed1991

Comparison of two growth charts in Lesotho: health workers' ability to understand and use them for action.

BACKGROUND: Two growth monitoring charts widely used for growth monitoring in Africa (the Road-to-Health (RTH) and the Growth Surveillance (GS] were compared in order to assist the Government of Lesotho to decide on an appropriate national growth chart. METHODS: Thirty-four health workers were taught and tested on the RTH during a first week of training and on the GS during a second week (the RTH-GS group), while the order was reversed for another 25 trainees (the GS-RTH group). The health workers were trained and tested on their ability not only to use and interpret the two charts, but also to make the right decisions about specific actions to be taken when growth faltering occurs. RESULTS: There was no difference between scores to the RTH and GS charts after one week of training. After the second week of training, the scores to the RTH chart improved and became better than those to the GS chart. The scores to the GS test did not increase with previous knowledge of the RTH chart. CONCLUSIONS: For this reason and others discussed in the paper, the RTH chart was recommended for nationwide use in Lesotho. The adoption of this recommendation was facilitated by the close involvement in this research of public and private agencies responsible for growth monitoring in Lesotho.

Allied Health Personnel↗
PubMed1989

The changing incidence of cancer of the oesophagus in Lesotho: real or improved diagnostic ability.

Cancer of the oesophagus has previously been reported as an exceedingly rare tumour in the Kingdom of Lesotho. This is in marked contrast to the extremely high incidence in the neighbouring South African homeland, Transkei. During 1984, gastroscopy was used as a diagnostic tool in determining a more accurate estimation of the true incidence of oesophageal cancer in Lesotho, and more specifically in the capital region of Maseru. The results of this study revealed that the incidence of this disease in Lesotho approaches that of the Transkei.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Circadian rhythms of locomotor activity in the Lesotho mole-rat, Cryptomys hottentotus subspecies from Sani Pass, South Africa.

The Lesotho mole-rat is a social subterranean rodent that occurs at altitude in the Drakensberg mountain range. As a consequence of living permanently underground these animals rarely if ever are exposed to light. The visual system of African mole-rats is particularly regressed whereas the circadian system is proportionately conserved. This study investigated the locomotor activity patterns of 12 Lesotho mole-rats maintained under a range of different lighting regimes. The majority (91.7%) of mole-rats entrained their activity patterns to a LD photoperiod of 12L/12D. The mole-rats displayed a monophasic nocturnal activity preference. Under constant dark (DD) most of the mole-rats (83.3%) showed a free running circadian activity pattern with a tau of 23.8 h to 24.4 h (mean+/-S.E.M.: 24.07 h+/-0.07 h; n=10). The phase of the activity rhythms each mole-rat exerted during the previous LD-cycle did not change when the animals started free-running after being placed in constant conditions. The duration of re-entrainment to a second bout of LD 12:12 amounted to 9.4+/-2.03 days (mean+/-S.E.M., n=10). Eleven mole-rats (91.7%) adjusted their locomotor activity rhythms to an inversed light regime DL 12:12 and displayed significant nocturnal activity preference. The animals required 9.73+/-2.01 days (mean+/-S.E.M., n=11) to adjust to the DL-photoperiod. The Lesotho mole-rat thus possesses a functional circadian clock that responds to a photic zeitgeber.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Oral health knowledge, attitudes and behaviour among nursing staff in Lesotho.

The decreasing prevalence of oral diseases in industrialised countries is attributed to a paradigm shift of oral health services from being mainly curative to preventative care. In under-resourced countries, the use of non-oral health care workers in the promotion of oral health, can contribute substantially to improving oral health and the adoption of a multidisciplinary team approach in oral health is highly recommended. Owing to the inadequate number of oral health personnel in Lesotho, the use of health care workers other than oral health care workers has been investigated. Nurses are one of the most suitable cadres of health care workers to take on this role. The aim of this study was to determine oral health knowledge, attitudes and behaviour among nurses in Lesotho. A descriptive cross-sectional study, using a random sampling method was used. A self-administered questionnaire with open and closed-ended questions was used to collect the data. The response rate was 87%. Knowledge of aetiology and prevention of dental caries, periodontal disease and the oral manifestations of HIV-infection was found to be adequate, while knowledge of oral cancer was found to be satisfactory. Nurses in Lesotho reported positive attitudes towards the provision of oral health education and oral hygiene practices. Most nurses themselves were found to be symptom-orientated in their utilisation of the oral health services. It is recommended that oral health be given greater attention in the nursing curriculum, with more clinical hands-on training in oral examination and diagnosis of oral diseases.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed1984

Cervical cancer in relation to tobacco and alcohol consumption in Lesotho, southern Africa.

The patterns of tobacco and alcohol consumption were determined for 257 pairs of cervical cancer patients and controls in Lesotho, matched in terms of age, number of children, and home area. Four binary variables in 16 combinations were analysed: the use of tobacco in the form of cigarettes, pipe, or snuff, the use of indigenous alcohols, European drink, and sour porridges made from fermented sorghum or maize. A matched pairs analysis to evaluate crude relative risk according to Pike [7] and a logistic model fitted by maximum likelihood according to the method described by Cox [8] supported the conclusion that there was an elevated risk of cancer in the cervix among Lesotho women who consumed indigenous alcohols. In a previous report of cancer statistics of Lesotho [2] the authors employed a X2 analysis separately on each factor. The integrated method adopted in the present communication permits a much higher degree of difference between patients and controls and ascribes a much higher degree of significance to indigenous alcohol than to tobacco.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Lesotho Housing and Land Development Corporation Order, 1988 (No. 12 of 1988).

This Order establishes the Lesotho Housing and Land Development Corporation, managed by a Board of Directors appointed by the Minister of the Interior, Chieftainship Affairs, and Rural Development. The objectives of the Corporation are the following: "1) implementing on a self-financing basis a broad array of schemes including self-help housing, sites and services, land development, and cooperative housing; 2) assisting private parties to develop land and deliver housing; 3) engaging in the development and management of rental housing schemes where it is deemed to be in the economic interest of the Corporation to manage the property; 4) assisting in the mobilization of capital available to the shelter sector by emphasizing in its activities efficiency and cost recovery programs to ensure a good return on investment; 5) developing a longterm capital program that will assure the Corporation's continuing financial viability and ability to remain a vital participant in Lesotho's shelter sector." Further provisions of the Order deal with administration and membership of the Board, financing, accounts, and annual reports, among other things.

Africa↗
PubMed2002

Application of chaos theory to solving the problems of social and environmental decline in Lesotho.

This paper examines the definition of chaos theory and its use in different circumstances. The paper explains that environmental crisis is complex, chaotic and unstable and will remain so unless actions are taken to reverse the trend. It further suggests that chaos theory could be used to interpret the crisis and help identify solutions. By recommending the application of chaos theory to the environmental problems in Lesotho, the paper explores some of the key issues that contribute to and perpetuate the environmental situation, for example, the current land tenure system and the problem of overgrazing. In addition, it identifies appropriate and realistic government policies that could be implemented to address the environmental degradation in the country. The paper concludes that the application of chaos theory may be unable to help solve the environmental crisis in Lesotho unless there is political will and commitment and collective effort from all stakeholders, coupled with an attitudinal change.

Agriculture↗
PubMed1982

Pediatric ocular injuries in Lesotho.

One hundred and ten children were evaluated in a prospective study in Lesotho to determine the pattern of pediatric ocular injuries in a developing African country. The pattern was found to be the same as that of developed countries regarding increased incidence in boys, frequency of accidental, self-inflicted and assault injuries, and high incidence of corneal lacerations, traumatic cataracts, hyphemas, and lid lacerations. The pattern differed from developed countries in the absence of injuries due to arrows, airgun pellets (BBs), fireworks, toys and chemical burns, the absence of orbital fractures, intra-ocular metallic foreign bodies, and rarity of retinal detachment, and the generally poor visual results following perforating ocular injuries. An information campaign is advocated in Lesotho to aid in the prevention of pediatric ocular injuries.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Adult ocular injuries in Lesotho.

Two hundred and fifty-two adults were evaluated in a prospective study in Lesotho to determine the pattern of ocular injuries in a developing African country. The pattern was found to be similar to that of developed countries regarding increased incidence in young males, high frequency of assault injuries, and high incidence of lacerations to lids, cornea and sclera. The pattern differed from developed countries in the low incidence of perforating ocular injuries associated with occupation, motor vehicles and sports, the absence of orbital fractures, metallic intra-ocular foreign bodies, the low incidence of retinal detachment, and the generally poor visual results following perforating ocular injuries. Additional ophthalmic facilities with improved medical transportation is advocated in Lesotho to improve the visual prognosis in ocular injuries.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Pre-census mapping in Lesotho.

"This paper discusses in respect of Lesotho the existing cartographic base for census mapping; census organization; methodology of census taking in Lesotho; geographical planning and specific strategies evolved in census mapping for the recent 1986 population census; some of the basic problems encountered in enumeration area mapping during the 1986 census; and also the use of census enumeration areas as a frame for national household survey capability programme and post-census cartographic activities."

Africa↗
PubMed1981

Incidence of epibulbar tumors in lesotho.

A series of 18 epibulbar tumors are reported from Lesotho, a nontropical African country. The etiologic risk factors in epibulbar tumors are evaluated in termas of the environmental conditions present in Lesotho. The pathogenesis of epibulbar tumors is discussed in terms of histological progression from benign to malignant lesions following prolonged exposure to presumed etiologic risk factors.

Adult↗