Search

Background: A decline in fertility rate and expansion in life span has resulted in the growth in the percentage of aged populations in the whole world. India and Odisha are no exceptions. Objectives: The objective of the present paper is to find out the incidence of functional ability/inability among the aged people of the rural areas of western Odisha of India. Materials and Methods: Katz Scale of ADL was used to assess the functional ability of elderly people. Six activities of daily living such as (Bathing, Dressing, Toilet, Mobility, Continence, and Feeding) were analyzed as per age and sex of the samples. Results: Of all the samples (1992), 98.5 percent are physically independent and only 1.4 percent are physically dependent. Out of 945 female elderly people, 931 (98.1%) are independent and out of 1047 male elderly people 1033 (98.6%) are independent. The physical dependency of females is more with a χ² -- value of 0.075 and p -- value of 0.466. The age group wise χ² -- value is 20.899 (3) and p -- value of 0.001. Conclusion: Lesser physical dependency is found among the elderly people in rural areas. An increase in dependency is seen with the increase in age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Diabetes is a significant public health concern in India, with Kerala being labeled as the diabetes capital of the country. The study aims to evaluate the prevalence, treatment, and management of diabetes to examine the unmet need for care to propose cost-effective strategies. Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a geographically defined cohort population in Ernakulam. Sample: This paper presents diabetes data of adults ≥30 years enrolled from the community cohort. The interviews were conducted with 997 participants at their residence. Measurement: Random blood glucose was assessed for each participant using a finger prick test. Results: The overall prevalence of diabetes was 30.1%, of which 4.1% of participants had undiagnosed diabetes. Among those with diabetes, 86.3% were aware of their diagnosis; among those aware, 86.5% were on treatment. Among those on treatment for diabetes, 54% achieved controlled blood sugar. Conclusion: The challenge in diabetes management is controlling the blood glucose levels of people who adhere to treatment. Younger employed females from lower-income quartiles have the highest risk. The study also raises questions about quality and strategies for medication compliance. The findings inspire future research on care needs, policies, and program responses to reduce the diabetes disease burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leukoplakia is a white mucosal thickening and perhaps undermining change in the oral mucosa transcendently found in tobacco users. Since the tobacco utilization is extensively higher with the indigenous groups in the Asia Pacific locale, the current examination implicated the prevalence of tobacco consumption and leukoplakial lesions and the relationship between the two. This cross-sectional study was conducted through six tribal hamlets of Chithalayath Forest range at Wayanad district of Kerala, South India. Leukoplakia screening was led by a senior consultant on the basis of a visual investigation and pathological evaluation was not done. An organized questionnaire was utilized to gather data on demographic details and tobacco usage status and frequency. The prevalence of clinical oral lesions among tobacco users and non users was determined using statistical analysis. Clinical oral leukoplakia was diagnosed in 27 (8.5%) subjects among the 317 individuals screened. The prevalence of lesions was considerably higher among tobacco consumers in comparison with non users (11 vs. 3.7%). Also, the tobacco chewers group had a higher percentage of leukoplakia. Another significant finding of this study is that the incidence of provisional leukoplakia was observed to be comparatively high among the most frequent tobacco consumers 15 (65.2%) in comparison with 8 (34.8%) in the frequent and nonfrequent users. Prevalence of abusive habits and clinical oral leukoplakial was substantial among the tribes. The cause and effect relationship and dose-response were also shown to have a significant association. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anaemia control programmes in India are hampered by a lack of representative evidence on anaemia prevalence, burden and associated factors for adolescents. The aim of this study was to: (1) describe the national and subnational prevalence, severity and burden of anaemia among Indian adolescents; (2) examine factors associated with anaemia at national and regional levels. Data (n = 14,673 individuals aged 10–19 years) were from India's Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS, 2016–2018). CNNS used a multistage, stratified, probability proportion to size cluster sampling design. Prevalence was estimated using globally comparable age‐ and sex‐specific cutoffs, using survey weights for biomarker sample collection. Burden analysis used prevalence estimates and projected population from 2011 Census data. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to analyse factors (diet, micronutrient deficiencies, haemoglobinopathies, sociodemographic factors, environment) associated with anaemia. Anaemia was present in 40% of girls and 18% of boys, equivalent to 72 million adolescents in 2018, and varied by region (girls 29%–46%; boys 11%–28%) and state (girls 7%–62%; boys 4%–32%). Iron deficiency (ferritin < 15 μg/L) was the strongest predictor of anaemia (odds ratio [OR]: 4.68, 95% confidence interval [CI]: [3.21,6.83]), followed by haemoglobinopathies (HbA2 > 3.5% or any HbS) (OR: 2.81, 95% CI: [1.66,4.74]), vitamin A deficiency (serum retinol <20 ng/ml) (OR: 1.86, 95% CI: [1.23,2.80]) and zinc deficiency (serum zinc < 70 μg/L) (OR: 1.32, 95% CI: [1.02,1.72]). Regional models show heterogeneity in the strength of association between factors and anaemia by region. Adolescent anaemia control programmes in India should continue to address iron deficiency, strengthen strategies to identify haemoglobinopathies and other micronutrient deficiencies, and further explore geographic variation in associated factors. Key messages: The Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) 2016–2018 is the only nationally representative survey to measure haemoglobin, haemoglobinopathies, biomarkers of micronutrient deficiencies, diet and social factors in Indian adolescents aged 10–19 years.Using CNNS data, we found that 28.5% of adolescents (girls: 39.6%, boys: 17.6%) were anaemic, with variation by region or state.Our prevalence estimates translate to 72 million adolescents being anaemic, with Uttar Pradesh having twice as many anaemic adolescents as any other state.Iron deficiency, haemoglobinopathies, vitamin A deficiency and zinc deficiency were associated with an increased risk of anaemia; these associations may vary subnationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]