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Article History

Received: 9 August 2023

Accepted: 22 January 2024

First Online: 21 February 2024

Declarations

:

: All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. For procedural ethics, the Queen's University General Research Ethics Board (GREB), Kingston, Canada (Ref: GGEOPL-344-22<b>)</b> and the Committee on Human Research Publication and Ethics (CHRPE), School of Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana <b>(</b>Ref: CHRPE/AP/182/22) approved the study protocol. Further, the Ashanti Regional Health Directorate under Ghana Health Service further gave approval to the study site (Ref: GHS/ASH/RES/V.2) for the data collection exercise to begin. Verbal and informed written consent was sought from the participants. The procedure for obtaining verbal informed consent was approved by the ethics committee/institutional review board. We further confirm that for illiterate participants, informed consent to participate in the study was obtained from their legal guardians. Participants were assured of strict confidentiality and anonymity of the data they provided. The participation of the respondents in the study was also voluntary.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.