Countries In West Africa Research Articles

The attributes of mathematics learning which Ghanaian senior high school students value

Valuing constitutes an important aspect of mathematics pedagogy and hence student learning outcomes. This study surveyed 416 students from Cape Coast, Ghana to explore what senior high school students in this country in West Africa valued in their study of mathematics. The data collected were analyzed using principal component analysis. The results suggest that Ghanaian senior high school students found connections, understanding, fluency, learning technologies, feedback, instructional materials, open-endedness and problem-solving important in their mathematics learning. Implications of the findings for curriculum delivery in mathematics and future research opportunities are also discussed.

Phylogeny reveals non‐random medicinal plant organ selection by local people in Benin

Societal Impact StatementHumans rely on plants in their environment for food and medicine. Understanding how humans select plant species will help us anticipate what plant species will be valuable for society in the future. However, previous approaches to study the drivers of plant selection have been criticized. We explored medicinal plant selection using a refined methodology and corroborate that humans select plant species for medicine in a non‐random way. Furthermore, we found that selection of specific plant organs across similar species is also non‐random. Improved understanding of medicinal plant selection can help identify new medicinal plants and the particular organs of plant species that are most likely to contain bioactive compounds to help improve human health and well‐being.Summary Ethnobotany, the science of human–plant interactions, has for long focused on documenting the traditional knowledge that humans have developed and accumulated over centuries toward plant uses. However, how such knowledge is constructed remains poorly understood and some of the methodological approaches developed for this purpose have been criticized. Here, we combine negative binomial models and phylogenetic comparative methods to test whether selection of medicinal plant species and organs by local people are non‐random using data from Benin, a country in West Africa with roughly 3,000 plant species. We found evidence for taxonomic and phylogenetic non‐random selection of medicinal plants: some taxa are preferentially used for medicine. Our analysis uncovers that plant organs are also non‐randomly selected for medicine. Beyond plant taxonomy, similar plant organs of closely related species tended to be used for similar treatments because these organs are likely to have similar secondary chemistry. Such non‐random organ selection was more apparent for certain plant organs such as roots, bark, and leaves, which are predicted to be more vital for population fitness and species persistence. Collectively, our study suggests that the emerging non‐random pattern of medicinal plant selection may be a consequence of heterogeneous within‐plant distribution of secondary chemistry across different organs proportionally to their importance to plant fitness as predicted by the optimal defense theory.

Does Birth Interval Matter in Under-Five Mortality? Evidence from Demographic and Health Surveys from Eight Countries in West Africa.

In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), every 1 in 12 children under five dies every year compared with 1 in 147 children in the high-income regions. Studies have shown an association between birth intervals and pregnancy outcomes such as low birth weight, preterm birth, and intrauterine growth restriction. In this study, we examined the association between birth interval and under-five mortality in eight countries in West Africa. A secondary analysis of the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from eight West African countries was carried out. The sample size for this study comprised 52,877 childbearing women (15-49 years). A bivariate logistic regression analysis was carried out and the results were presented as crude odds ratio (cOR) and adjusted odds ratios (aOR) at 95% confidence interval (CI). Birth interval had a statistically significant independent association with under-five mortality, with children born to mothers who had >2 years birth interval less likely to die before their fifth birthday compared to mothers with ≤2 years birth interval [cOR = 0.56; CI = 0.51 − 0.62], and this persisted after controlling for the covariates [aOR = 0.55; CI = 0.50 − 0.61]. The country-specific results showed that children born to mothers who had >2 years birth interval were less likely to die before the age of five compared to mothers with ≤2 years birth interval in all the eight countries. In terms of the covariates, wealth quintile, mother's age, mother's age at first birth, partner's age, employment status, current pregnancy intention, sex of child, size of child at birth, birth order, type of birth, and contraceptive use also had associations with under-five mortality. We conclude that shorter birth intervals are associated with higher under-five mortality. Other maternal and child characteristics also have associations with under-five mortality. Reproductive health interventions aimed at reducing under-five mortality should focus on lengthening birth intervals. Such interventions should be implemented, taking into consideration the characteristics of women and their children.

The Dance of Peace and Justice: Local Perceptions of International Peacebuilding in West Africa

ABSTRACT This article investigates local perceptions of international peacebuilding in Sierra Leone and Liberia and explains the need for an inclusive framework addressing peace and justice at the same time. These neighbouring countries in West Africa not only share the burden of an intertwined conflict history but have also been described as prototypes for successful peacebuilding. However, both cases show striking differences with regard to the relative importance given to security and justice during the peace process and within the selected peacebuilding approaches. In Liberia, the peacebuilding framework was clearly sequenced, favouring security over justice. In Sierra Leone, it included a comprehensive TJ component, which was implemented alongside security-centred initiatives. In order to compare these two cases and to elaborate on the challenges of establishing both peace and justice in post-conflict settings with a more people-centred focus, we conducted expert interviews with (inter)national peacebuilding actors and opinion surveys, asking how the civilian populations themselves perceive the peace process and the effectiveness of international peacebuilding. The findings provide insights into local experiences with the inclusive peacebuilding framework implemented in Sierra Leone and the drawbacks of delaying justice and accountability in Liberia.

Mothers’ perception of cerebral palsy in a low-income country of West Africa: a cross-sectional study

Purpose Investigating mothers’ perceptions of Cerebral Palsy (CP) and the impact of caregiving on family life in Benin, a west-African low to middle-income country (LMIC). Methods In this cross-sectional study we interviewed at their homes 88 mothers of children with CP about their perception of the cause of CP and stigmatization issues. Additionally, they completed the Impact on Family Scale and the Family Support Scale questionnaires. Multinomial and ordinal regressions analyses were used (p < 0.05). Results Most mothers (78%) referred to non-biomedical causes of CP (God’s will or curse). Caregivers with a limited education level were more likely to report non-biomedical beliefs. Only 28% reported having received from physicians an explanation of the causes of CP. Around 38% endorsed neighbors considered their children as cursed, which is a source of stigmatization. Mothers perceived a high impact of caregiving on their family life that correlated with non-biomedical beliefs, low education level, and the severity of CP. Conclusion There is a need in Benin, and probably in West-African LMICs generally, to shift to a family-centered care system and to inform the public about the root causes of CP to improve social integration of children with CP and decrease the negative impact on their families. Implication for rehabilitation Mothers with a limited education level are more likely to report non-biomedical causes of CP in this LMIC; mothers’ level of education and non-biomedical beliefs of causes of CP are associated to a high impact of caregiving on family life in this LMIC; mothers of children with CP in this LMIC do not perceive health-workers helpful.

Topic Discovery on Farsi, English, French, and Arabic Tweets Related to COVID-19 Using Text Mining Techniques.

Social networks are a good source for monitoring public health during the outbreak of COVID-19, these networks play an important role in identifying useful information. This study aims to draw a comparison of the public's reaction in Twitter among the countries of West Asia (a.k.a Middle East) and North Africa in order to make an understanding of their response regarding the same global threat. 766,630 tweets in four languages (Arabic, English French, and Farsi) tweeted in March 2020, were investigated. The results indicate that the only common theme among all languages is "government responsibilities (political)" which indicates the importance of this subject for all nations. Although nations react similarly in some aspects, they respond differently in others and therefore, policy localization is a vital step in confronting problems such as COVID-19 pandemic.

СОВРЕМЕННЫЕ ОЦЕНКИ ВЛИЯНИЯ ЭКОЛОГО-КЛИМАТИЧЕСКОГО ФАКТОРА НА ЭТНИЧЕСКИЕ КОНФЛИКТЫ

The deterioration of the environmental conditions of human life, climate change and forced (climate) migration have become part of the most crucial global challenges over the past few decades. This article is devoted to the analysis of contemporary scientific studies of the impact of weakening environmental capacity and climatic changes on ethnic conflicts and their specific features in the world regions. Present paper provides research outlook on the base of comparative studies and country cases overview that define the influence of an unfavorable environment and climate hazards on the intergroup conflicts and ethnic violence. The research overview also focuses on the relationship between the development on research area itself with the contemporary public and political agenda of ecology and climate change. The main focus of attention is directed to the chain of relationships between the environmental changes and forced (climate) migration in relation to the processes of urbanization and internal migration within agricultural regions. Such studies overview geography of the environmental risks and identify countries of East and West Africa, as well as South Asia, as the most exposed to given climate risks. The number of studies on the countries of East and West Africa give the most evident perspective on the link between forced environment-driven migration and conflict. On the one hand, destabilization of inter-ethnic relations and the emergence of inter-ethnic violence are driven by the regional processes of urbanization that form the cities with "double fragility" with undeveloped infrastructure, economic and status inequality of ethnic groups and communities and weakened by the push-pull model of forced (climate) migration. On another — studies of forced agricultural migration in rural areas show the mechanisms of ethno-cultural differences, different status positions and in-group favoritism of the regional authorities as the conditions of ethnic grievance and violence. As a result, it is hard to underestimate the importance of justice as a condition and principle for robust strategies for adaptation to environmental changes and building of inter-ethnic trust.

Reflection: burden of cervical cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa and progress with HPV vaccination.

In Sub-Saharan (SSA) cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths amongst women. The region carries the greatest burden, with 24.55% of the global mortality from cervical cancer. Reports indicate an increasing challenge of cervical cancer in SSA. HPV vaccination with its well-established effectiveness provides hope for cancer control in SSA. Following an initial delay in HPV vaccine uptake in SSA, 18 countries mostly in Eastern and Southern Africa, had a national programme by 2020. Vaccination coverage data show that high populated countries have lower coverage figures. Furthermore, high coverage of demonstration projects may not be achieved in the national rollout. In conclusion, whilst there is significant progress with the rollout of HPV vaccination programme in SSA, some countries in West Africa should be prioritised. Experiences of early adopters should be reviewed to guide other countries to achieve and sustain high coverage.

An Assessment of Anesthesia Capacity in Liberia: Opportunities for Rebuilding Post-Ebola.

The health system of Liberia, a low-income country in West Africa, was devastated by a civil war lasting from 1989 to 2003. Gains made in the post-war period were compromised by the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic. The already fragile health system experienced worsening of health indicators, including an estimated 111% increase in the country's maternal mortality rate post-Ebola. Access to safe surgery is necessary for improvement of these metrics, yet data on surgical and anesthesia capacity in Liberia post-Ebola are sparse. The aim of this study was to describe anesthesia capacity in Liberia post-Ebola as part of the development of a National Surgical, Obstetric, and Anesthesia Plan (NSOAP). Using the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) Anaesthesia Facility Assessment Tool (AFAT), we conducted a cross-sectional survey of 26 of 32 Ministry of Health recognized hospitals that provide surgical care in Liberia. The surveyed hospitals served approximately 90% of the Liberian population. This assessment surveyed infrastructure, workforce, service delivery, information management, medications, and equipment and was performed between July and September 2019. Researchers obtained data from interviews with anesthesia department heads, medical directors and through direct site visits where possible. Anesthesiologist and nurse anesthetist workforce densities were 0.02 and 1.56 per 100,000 population, respectively, compared to 0.63 surgeons per 100,000 population and 0.52 obstetricians/gynecologists per 100,000 population. On average, there were 2 functioning operating rooms (ORs; OR in working condition that can be used for patient care) per hospital (standard deviation [SD] = 0.79; range, 1-3). Half of the hospitals surveyed had a postanesthesia care unit (PACU) and intensive care unit (ICU); however, only 1 hospital had mechanical ventilation capacity in the ICU. Ketamine and lidocaine were widely available. Intravenous (IV) morphine was always available in only 6 hospitals. None of the hospitals surveyed completely met the minimum World Health Organization (WHO)-WFSA standards for health care facilities where surgery and anesthesia are provided. Overall, we noted several critical gaps in anesthesia and surgical capacity in Liberia, in spite of the massive global response post-Ebola directed toward health system development. Further investment across all domains is necessary to attain minimum international standards and to facilitate the provision of safe surgery and anesthesia in Liberia. The study results will be considered in development of an NSOAP for Liberia.

West Africa Salt-Zone Cementing Best Practices: Laboratory Evaluation and 5-Year Field Application Review

Summary To determine which salt-based cement system (potassium chloride or sodium chloride) was suitable for cementing across halite and anhydrite salt sections in West Africa, eight slurry recipes were tested to assess how formation salt contamination would affect slurry properties. The formation salt used for testing was sampled from a deepwater, presalt well in Angola. The recommendations developed from the laboratory study were implemented in 10 projects across West Africa over 5 years with 100% operational and well integrity success. A candidate deepwater well was selected in which the surface and intermediate strings penetrated salt formations. Four slurry designs (a lead and tail slurry used on each casing string) were programmed. Each slurry was designed and tested as two distinct systems using potassium chloride and sodium chloride salt, respectively, yielding a total of eight slurry designs. Using the methodology and data presented by Martins et al. (2002), the mass of dissolved formation salt that each slurry may receive during placement was estimated and duly incorporated into each slurry design. Subsequently, the salt-contaminated slurries were tested and compared with the properties of the initial uncontaminated slurries. On the basis of these results, conclusions were then made on which salt slurry system (potassium chloride or sodium chloride) exhibited better liquid and set properties after contamination with formation salt. Subsequently, this knowledge was applied to 10 projects across three countries in West Africa. This study showed that when the contact time of liquid cement slurry to salt formation was low—typically when the salt-formation interval across which the cement slurry flowed was less than 100 m thick—the level of formation salt dissolution entering the slurry during placement was limited. In this case, a potassium chloride salt-based slurry delivered improved liquid and set properties as compared with a sodium chloride salt-based slurry. In the field, this knowledge was applied in all oilfield projects cemented by an oilfield service company between 2015 and 2020. This included deepwater, shallow offshore, and onshore wells. All related salt-zone cement jobs, including sidetrack plugs, placed across the salt formations were successful on the first attempt. In an absence of industry consensus around salt-formation cement slurry design, this paper validates a guideline for West Africa, based on results from laboratory testing and 5 years of field application. In contrast to current literature that recommends only sodium chloride salt-based slurry designs across halite or anhydrite salt intervals, this work demonstrates that potassium chloride salt-based slurry systems can effectively be used to achieve well integrity where a halite or anhydrite salt interval is less than 100 m (328.1 ft) thick.

Epidemiologic and Genomic Reidentification of Yaws, Liberia.

We confirmed endemicity and autochthonous transmission of yaws in Liberia after a population-based, community-led burden estimation (56,825 participants). Serologically confirmed yaws was rare and focal at population level (24 cases; 2.6 [95% CI 1.4–3.9] cases/10,000 population) with similar clinical epidemiology to other endemic countries in West Africa. Unsupervised classification of spatially referenced case finding data indicated that yaws was more likely to occur in hard-to-reach communities; healthcare-seeking was low among communities, and clinical awareness of yaws was low among healthcare workers. We recovered whole bacterial genomes from 12 cases and describe a monophyletic clade of Treponema pallidum subspecies pertenue, phylogenetically distinct from known TPE lineages, including those affecting neighboring nonhuman primate populations (Taï Forest, Côte d’Ivoire). Yaws is endemic in Liberia but exhibits low focal population prevalence with evidence of a historical genetic bottleneck and subsequent local expansion. Reporting gaps appear attributable to challenging epidemiology and low disease awareness.

Diario di un nefrologo in Africa

This article describes, with the format of a journal, the day by day experience of an Italian nephrologist during one of his humanitarian missions in a hospital in the north of Benin Republic (a subSaharan country of West Africa). Besides the description of his clinical activity and educational programmes (focused on the teaching of the clinical importance of urinary sediment examination), the author supplies a view of the major limitations renal patients face everyday due to the lack of money and adequate diagnostic and therapeutical tools. The author concludes that this unacceptable situation is one aspect of the inequity existing between developed and underdeveloped countries.

Understanding climate services for enhancing resilient agricultural systems in Anglophone West Africa: The case of Ghana

Whilst the capability of climate services to reduce climate impacts is alluring, empirical evidence on how best to mainstream climate information services in Africa is lacking.This paper determines how climate information services have been incorporated into national policies by Anglophone West African states for building agricultural resilience and provides a detailed analysis of issues facing Ghanaian agricultural systems. The paper addresses the questions: (i) to what extent is climate change recognised as a threat to agricultural development in national climate facing policies of Anglophone West African states? (ii) to what extent have climate information services been incorporated into national and regional policy frameworks of Anglophone West African states for resilient agricultural systems? (iii) what are the key challenges in mainstreaming climate information services into national policies for resilient agricultural building in Ghana? The study employed thematic content analysis, multi-stakeholder workshops and expert interviews to understand climate discourses around climate services. Findings show that climate change is highlighted in national and regional level policies as a serious threat to socioeconomic development and agricultural productivity in West Africa. Anglophone West Africa countries are at various stages in establishing a National Framework for Climate Services to help guide future adaptation planning. This study shows that Anglophone West African states have not yet incorporated climate information services into strategic national and regional climate facing policies that are critical in shaping efforts aimed at managing climate risks. For the case of Ghana, the study reveals low awareness of climate change among policy-makers, human and institutional capacity constraints as some of the key factors militating against the mainstreaming of climate information services. Capacity building of policy makers and institutional strengthening are both vital for more effective mainstreaming of climate services across West Africa.

Accelerating Seed Germination and Juvenile Growth of Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) to Manage Climate Variability through Hydro-Priming

Agriculture in Mali, a country in Sahelian West Africa, strongly depends on rainfall and concurrently has a low adaptive capacity, making it consequently one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change worldwide. Since early-season drought limits crop germination, and hence growth, ultimately yield during rain-fed depending on production is commonly experienced nowadays in Mali. Germination and establishment of key crops such as the staple sorghum could be improved by seed priming. The effects of hydro-priming with different water sources (e.g., distilled, tap, rain, river, well water) were evaluated respectively for three priming time durations in tepid e.g., at 25 °C (4, 8, and 12 h) and by hot water at 70 °C (in contrast to 10, 20, and 30 min.) in 2014 and 2015. Seed germination and seedling development of nine sorghum genotypes were monitored. Compared to non-primed seed treatments, hydro-priming significantly [p = 0.01] improved final germination percentage, germination rate index, total seedling length, root length, root vigor index, shoot length, and seedling dry weight. The priming with water from wells and rivers resulted in significant higher seed germination (85%) and seedling development, compared to the three other sources of water. Seed germination rate, uniformity, and speed were enhanced by hydro-priming also. It is argued that hydro-priming is a safe and simple method that effectively improve seed germination and seedling development of sorghum. If used in crop fields, the above most promising genotypes may contribute to managing early season drought and avoid failure of seed germination and crop failure in high climate variability contexts.

Where Do I Allocate My Urban Allotment Gardens? Development of a Site Selection Tool for Three Cities in Benin

In the context of rapid urbanization, poorer residents in cities across low- and middle-income countries increasingly experience food and nutrition deficiencies. The United Nations has highlighted urban agriculture (UA) as a viable solution to food insecurity, by empowering the urban poor to produce their own fresh foods and make some profit from surplus production. Despite its potential role in reducing poverty and food insecurity, there appears to be little political will to support urban agriculture. This is seen in unclear political mandates that are sustained by information gaps on selection criteria for UA sites. The research reported here addresses this issue in the form of a decision-making support tool that assesses the suitability of cadastral units and informal plots for allotment gardens in urban and peri-urban areas. The tool was developed and tested for three rapidly expanding cities in Benin, a low-income country in West Africa, based on an ordered logit model that relates a set of 300 expert assessments on site suitability to georeferenced information on biophysical and socio-economic characteristics. Soil, land use, groundwater depth, vicinity to market and women’s safety were significant factors in the assessment. Scaled up across all cadastral units and informal sites, the tool generated detailed baseline maps on site suitability and availability of areas. Its capacity to support policymakers in selecting appropriate sites comes to the fore by reporting changes in site suitability under scenarios of improved soil fertility and enhanced safety for women.

Molecular characterization of high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) in women in Lom\xe9, Togo

BackgroundThe causative agent of cervical cancer referred to as Human papillomavirus (HPV) remains a real public health problem. Many countries in West Africa, such as Togo have no data on the high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) infection and genotypes distribution. In order to fill the knowledge gap in the field in Togo, the main objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of pre-cancerous lesions of the cervix and HR-HPV genotypes among Togolese women.MethodsSamples were collected from 240 women by introducing a swab in the cervix. Then, the screening of precancerous cervical lesions using the visual inspection with acetic acid and lugol (VIA / VIL) was conducted. The HR-HPV genotypes were characterised by real-time multiplex PCR.ResultsOut of 240 women recruited, 128 (53.3%) were infected by HR-HPV. The most common genotypes were HPV 56 (22.7%), followed by HPV 51 (20.3%), HPV 31 (19.5%), HPV 52 (18.8%) and HPV 35 (17.2%). The least common genotypes were HPV 33 (2.3%) and HPV 16 (2.3%). Among the women, 1.3% (3/240) were positive to VIA/VIL.ConclusionThis study allowed HR-HPV genotypes to be characterised for the first time in Lomé, Togo. This will help in mapping the HR-HPV genotypes in West Africa.

Mycetoma in West Africa.

Mycetoma is a neglected disease, which is socioeconomically important, and with the possibility of permanent disability in infected persons if not treated early. This is especially true in resource-limited settings such as West Africa, where there is a lack of facilities and skilled personnel to make a definitive laboratory diagnosis. Countries in West Africa have similar climatic conditions to Sudan. The majority of patients seek medical care very late, when there is already bone involvement, resulting in amputations. This results in poor capture of the true burden of the problem in the literature. A review of the literature revealed about 2685 documented cases in West Africa from 1929 to 2020; from 15 out of 16 countries, Senegal accounted for 74.1% (1943) of cases in the subregion. The majority of lesions were found on the foot; however, other body parts were also reported. Rural dwellers accounted for most cases. Only 547 (20.4%) cases had identified isolates reported. Actinomycetoma accounted for 47.9% of cases, eumycetoma 39.7% and unidentified pathogens 12.4%. Actinomadura pelletieri was the predominant pathogen isolated (21.4%; 117 isolates). There is a dire need for capacity building, provision of facility and health education to raise awareness of this debilitating disease in West Africa.

Human pegivirus 1 in Cabo Verde: prevalence and genotypic distribution among HIV-infected individuals.

Human pegivirus 1 (HPgV-1) belongs to the genus Pegivirus, family Flaviviridae, and until now has been considered a non-pathogenic agent, despite being considered a risk factor for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. However, a beneficial impact of HPgV-1 on HIV disease progression has been extensively reported. Given the high prevalence of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa and the scarcity of epidemiological data for many countries of West Africa, we conducted the first study of HPgV-1 in HIV-infected individuals from Cabo Verde. To obtain new data regarding prevalence and genetic diversity of HPgV-1 in Africa, serum samples from 102 HIV-infected Cabo Verdeans were tested for the presence of viral RNA, and the circulating genotypes were identified by sequencing of the 5' untranslated region. HPgV-1 RNA was detected in 19.6% (20/102) of the samples. In 72.2% (13/18) of the samples, the virus was identified as genotype 2 (11/13 subtype 2a and 2/13 subtype 2b), and in 27.8% (5/18), it was identified as genotype 1. The estimated substitution rate of HPgV-1 genotype 2 was 5.76 × 10-4, and Bayesian analysis indicated the existence of inner clusters within subtypes 2a and 2b. The prevalence of HPgV-1 viremia in Cabo Verde agrees with that reported previously in Africa. Genotypes 1 and 2 cocirculate, with genotype 2 being more common, and HIV/HPgV-1 coinfection was not associated with higher CD4 T cell counts in the studied population. This finding contributes for the expansion of the pegivirus research agenda in African countries.

Household and Community Social Capital Links to Smallholder Food Security

Agricultural adaptation to climate change is critical for ensuring future food security. Social capital is important for climate change adaptation, but institutions and social networks at multiple scales (e.g., household, community, and institution) have been overlooked in studying agricultural climate change adaptation. We combine data from 13 sites in 11 low-income countries in East Africa, West Africa, and South Asia to explore how multiple scales of social capital relate to household food security outcomes among smallholder farmers. Using social network theory, we define three community organizational social network types (fragmented defined by lack of coordination, brokered defined as having a strong central actor, or shared defined by high coordination) and examine household social capital through group memberships. We find community and household social capital are positively related, with higher household group membership more likely in brokered and shared networks. Household group membership is associated with more than a 10% reduction in average months of food insecurity, an effect moderated by community social network type. In communities with fragmented and shared organizational networks, additional household group memberships is associated with consistent decreases in food insecurity, in some cases up to two months; whereas in brokered networks, reductions in food insecurity are only associated with membership in credit groups. These effects are confirmed by hierarchical random effects models, which control for demographic factors. This suggests that multiple scales of social capital—both within and outside the household—are correlated with household food security. This social capital may both be bridging (across groups) and bonding (within groups) with different implications for how social capital structure affects food security. Efforts to improve food security could recognize the potential for both household and community level social networks and collaboration, which further research can capture by analyzing multiple scales of social capital data.

Abstract P884: Differences in Stroke Type and Stroke Risk Factors Between African Americans and Ghanaian Stroke Patients

Introduction: Ancestral lineage of many African Americans (AA) includes West African descent. Previous research has shown a higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes mellitus (DM) in AA compared to other racial groups in the United States (US). Some have attributed these differences in the US population to ancestral lineage of the AA population. We sought to compare the stroke type and stroke risk factors between AA and Ghana, a country in West Africa. Methods: Data from the UFHealth institutional stroke database and the Kumasi, Ghana Stroke Survivors Registry between 01/2014 and 11/2019 provided a dataset of adult patients diagnosed with stroke from both locations. Multivariate regression analysis identified differences between country of origin, race, stroke type and clinical factors. Results: Among the 5519 patients, the median age was 66 (IQR 45 - 87), 49% woman, 16% AA, 19% Ghanaian, and 66% non-Hispanic white. In the total population, 22% had an intracerebral hemorrhage, 69% ischemic stroke, and 9% subarachnoid hemorrhage. Compared to patients in the U.S., patients from Ghana were younger (OR 1.06, 1.05-1.06 95% CI); more likely female (OR 1.66, 1.0-1.97 95% CI), hypertensive (OR 8.87, 6.46-12.17 95%CI), and more likely to consume alcohol (OR 4.25, 3.32-5.44 95% CI). Ghanaians were less likely to have DM (OR 0.81, 0.66-0.99 95% CI), smoke (OR 0.10, 0.07-0.13 95% CI), and live in an urban vs rural setting (OR 0.84, 0.71-0.99 95% CI). Compared to AA specifically, Ghanaians were younger (OR 1.02, 1.01-1.03 95% CI); more likely female (OR 1.45, 1.15-1.81 95% CI), hypertensive (OR 4.66, 3.25-6.68 95%CI), more likely to consume alcohol (OR 3.68, 2.62-5.18 95% CI); less likely to have DM (OR 0.55, 0.43-0.71 95% CI), smoke (OR 0.13, 0.08-0.19 95% CI), and less likely live in an urban vs rural setting (OR 0.66, 0.53-0.82 95% CI). Conclusion: Significant differences were found between stroke risk factors (hypertension, DM, alcohol consumption, and smoking) and race as well as country of origin. Further study of social and environmental differences between groups may elucidate the differences in stroke risk factors between AA’s and West Africans.