School of Medicine and Health Sciences

Department of Public Health

Bachelor of Science – Public Health
BSPH323 - Health Systems Research and Projects

Assignment
[Distance]
Instructions:
1. Use the assignment cover given on the next page. Please DO NOT Change it.
2. The assignment must be typed using Times New Roman font type size 12.
Use 1.5 line spacing.
3. Submit softcopy of your assignment by 23:59hrs on 11th September 2023
through the Moodle platform but DO NOT convert your file to ‘pdf’.
4. Ensure that you sign the plagiarism declaration. Any form of plagiarism will
attract a mark of zero.
5. Copying from each other or allowing another student copying from you will
attract a mark of zero.

August 2023

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 UNIVERSITY OF LUSAKA
School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Department of Public Health
Bachelor of Science – Public Health
BSPH323-Health Systems Research and Projects

Assignment

Surname: ……………………………………………

First Name ……………………………………………

Student Number: ……..……………………………

E-mail Address: ..……………………………………

Phone Number: ………………………………………….

Due Date: 11th September 2023

Lecturer’s Name: Prof. Eustarckio Kazonga

Plagiarism Declaration

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 Surname

Middle Name

First Name

Student Number

Declaration

1. I understand what plagiarism is and am aware of the University’s policy in this

regard.
2. I declare that this Assignment is my own work.
3. I have not consulted or used another student’s work to hand in as my own.
4. I have not allowed, anyone to copy my work with the intention of passing it off as
his or her own work.

Signature: …………………………………………………………………………..

Date:…………………………………………………………………………………

QUESTION 1

Read the following Abstract of the journal article and answer the questions that follow.

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Maternal mortality and access to emergency obstetric care in the rural Zambia

Abstract
Background: Maternal mortality is the vital indicator with the greatest disparity
between developed and developing countries. The challenging nature of measuring
maternal mortality has made it necessary to perform an action-oriented means of
gathering information on where, how and why deaths are occurring; what kinds of
action are needed and have been taken. A maternal death review is an in-depth
investigation of the causes and circumstances surrounding maternal deaths. The
objectives of the present study were to describe the socio-cultural and health service
factors associated with maternal deaths in rural Zambia.
Methods: We reviewed the cases of 42 maternal deaths of women who actually tried
to reach or have reached health care services. A verbal autopsy technique was
applied for 32 of the cases. Key people who had witnessed any stage during the
process leading to death were interviewed. Health care staff who participated in the
provision of care to the deceased was also interviewed. All interviews were tape
recorded and analysed by using a grounded theory approach. The standard WHO
definition of maternal deaths was used.
Results: The length of time in delay within each phase of the model was estimated
from the moment the woman, her family or health care providers realized that there
was a complication until the decision to seeking or implementing care was made. The
following items evolved as important: underestimation of the severity of the
complication, bad experience with the health care system, delay in reaching an
appropriate medical facility, lack of transportation, prolonged transportation, seeking
care at more than one medical facility and delay in receiving prompt and appropriate
care after reaching the hospital.
Conclusion: Women do seek access to care for obstetric emergencies, but because
of a variety of problems encountered, appropriate care is often delayed. Disorganised
health care with lack of prompt response to emergencies is a major factor contributing
to a continued high mortality rate.

REQUIRED
(A) What study approach was used in this study and its paradigm? (3
marks) Qualitative
(B) Formulate a general objective of this study. (2
marks)
(C) Formulate THREE specific objectives and THREE research questions for the
study. (12
marks)
(D) What is meant by grounded theory approach in the statement: All interviews
were tape recorded and analysed by using a grounded theory approach?
(4
marks)
(E) Formulate appropriate theoretical and conceptual frameworks for this study.
(14
marks)
[TOTAL: 35 MARKS]

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QUESTION 2
A great deal of the worldwide burden of disease is attributed to high blood pressure,
including about 13.5 % of the premature deaths and 6 % of the total global Disability
Adjusted Life years (DALYs) (Lawes et al., 2008). Therefore, hypertension in adults
and children has drawn attention of many researchers and controlling it has become
as a worldwide priority among health policies. Because early detection of
hypertension can help control its various complications, blood pressure measurement
is now regarded as an important part of routine physical examination (Somu et al.,
2003). While factors such as genetics, obesity, and smoking are reported as important
risk factors for hypertension, aging has been recognised as the underlying cause of
elevated BP, which is generally attributed to the arterial changes. It is with this
background that a quantitative researcher wants to determine the effect of age and
weight on the blood pressure. The following data were collected on a simple random
sample of 20 patients with hypertension. The variables are:
Y = mean arterial blood pressure (mm Hg)
X1 = age (years)
X2 = weight (kg)

Patient Y X1 X2

1 105 47 85.4
2 115 49 94.2
3 116 49 95.3
4 117 50 94.7
5 112 51 89.4
6 121 48 99.5
7 121 49 99.8
8 110 47 90.9
9 110 49 89.2
10 114 48 92.7
11 114 47 94.4
12 115 49 94.1
13 114 50 91.6
14 106 45 87.1
15 125 52 101.3
16 114 46 94.5
17 106 46 87.0
18 113 46 94.5
19 110 48 90.5
20 122 56 95.7

REQUIRED
Analyse the dataset using STATA statistical software package and interpret your
results.
[15
MARKS]

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END OF ASSIGNMENT

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