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Background: Over one-third of women worldwide suffer from anaemia. The prevalence of anaemia is particularly pronounced among women of reproductive age (WRA) in developing countries, such as India. No prior study has ever exclusively studied the prevalence of anaemia across the Aspirational Districts of India. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of anaemia across Aspirational Districts of India and to identify the determinants of anaemia among WRA in these districts. Methods: From the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4 (2015-16) and NFHS-5 (2019-21), data on 114,444 and 108,782 women aged 15–49 from Aspirational Districts were analyzed in our study, respectively. Bivariate statistics and multivariable binary logistic regression were used to identify the determinants of anaemia. Results: The national prevalence of anaemia among WRA has increased from 53% in NFHS-4 to 57% in NFHS-5 whereas anaemia among WRA in Aspirational Districts has increased from 58.7% in NFHS-4 to 61.1% in NFHS-5. Between 2015 and 2021, over 60% of Aspirational Districts experienced an increase in the prevalence of anaemia and one-fourth, specifically 29 out of 112, observed a rise by at least 10 percentage points (pp). Notably, there are significant variations in anaemia prevalence among districts, with Simdega and Udalgiri having the highest anaemia prevalence in NFHS-4 and NFHS-5 at 78.2% and 81.5%, respectively. During this period, Barpeta followed by Udalgiri of Assam have witnessed the maximum increase with 29.4% and 26.7% respectively. Moreover, pooled regression results show women with three to four children [AOR: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.08–1.17], women who breastfeed [AOR: 1.17, 95% CI: 1.13–1.20], Scheduled Tribe women [AOR: 1.39, 95% CI: 1.35–1.44], poorest women [AOR: 1.27, 95% CI: 1.22–1.33] and women those who consume fish occasionally [AOR: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.12–1.17] were more likely to be anaemic. Conclusion: The significant increase in anaemia among WRA in Aspirational Districts of India is a matter of concern. Given the rise in anaemia among WRA, determinants-based and district-specific measures must be designed and implemented to reduce the prevalence of anaemia among Aspirational Districts of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: India has the most significant number of children with thalassemia major worldwide, and about 10,000-15,000 children with the disease are born yearly. Scaling up e-health initiatives in rural areas using a cost-effective digital tool to provide healthcare access for all sections of people remains a challenge for government or semi-governmental institutions and agencies. Methods: We compared the performance of a recently developed formula SCS BTT and its web application SUSOKA with 42 discrimination formulae presently available in the literature. 6,388 samples were collected from the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, in North-Western India. Performances of the formulae were evaluated by eight different measures: sensitivity, specificity, Youden's Index, AUC-ROC, accuracy, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and false omission rate. Three multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods, TOPSIS, COPRAS, and SECA, were implemented to rank formulae by ensuring a trade-off among the eight measures. Results: MCDM methods revealed that the Shine & Lal and SCS BTT were the best-performing formulae. Further, a modification of the SCS BTT formula was proposed, and validation was conducted with a data set containing 939 samples collected from Nil Ratan Sircar (NRS) Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, in Eastern India. Our two-step approach emphasized the necessity of a molecular diagnosis for a lower number of the population. SCS BTT along with the condition MCV ≤ 80 fl was recommended for a higher heterogeneous population set. It was found that SCS BTT can classify all BTT samples with 100% sensitivity when MCV ≤ 80 fl. Conclusions: We addressed the issue of how to integrate the higher-ranked formulae in mass screening to ensure higher performance through the MCDM approach. In real-life practice, it is sufficient for a screening algorithm to flag a particular sample as requiring or not requiring further specific confirmatory testing. Implementing discriminate functions in routine screening programs allows early identification; consequently, the cost will decrease, and the turnaround time in everyday workflows will also increase. Our proposed two-step procedure expedites such a process. It is concluded that for mass screening of BTT in a heterogeneous set of data, SCS BTT and its web application SUSOKA can provide 100% sensitivity when MCV ≤ 80 fl. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron and zinc malnutrition is a global humanitarian concern that mostly affects newborns, children, and women in low- and middle-income countries where plant-based diets are regularly consumed. This kind of malnutrition has the potential to result in a number of immediate and long-term implications, including stunted growth, an elevated risk of infectious diseases, and poor development, all of which may ultimately cause children to not develop to the fullest extent possible. A determination of the contributions from genotype, environment, and genotype by environment interactions is necessary for the production of nutrient-dense lentil varieties that offer greater availability of iron and zinc with a high level of trait stability. Understanding the genotype and environmental parameters that affect G x E (Genotype x Environment) interactions is essential for plant breeding. We used GGE(Genotype, Genotype x Environment interactions) and AMMI (Additive Main effects and Multiplicative Interaction) models to study genetic stability and GE(Genotype x Environment interactions) for grain Fe, Zn, Al, and anti-nutritional factors like phytic acid content in sixteen commercially produced lentil cultivars over several different six geographical locations across India. Significant genetic variability was evident in the Fe and Zn levels of different genotypes of lentils. The amounts of grain iron, zinc, and phytic acid varied from 114.10 to 49.90 mg/kg, 74.62 to 21.90 mg/kg, and 0.76 to 2.84 g/100g (dw) respectively. The environment and GE (Genotype x Environment interactions) had an impact on the concentration of grain Fe, Zn, and phytic acid (PA). Heritability estimations ranged from low to high (53.18% to 99.48%). The study indicated strong correlation between the contents of Fe and Zn, a strategy for simultaneously increasing Fe and Zn in lentils may be recommended. In addition, our research revealed that the stable and ideal lentil varieties L4076 (Pusa Shivalik) for Fe concentration and L4717 (Pusa Ageti) for Zn content, which have lower phytic acid contents, will not only play an essential role as stable donors in the lentil bio-fortification but will also enable the expansion of the growing area of bio-fortified crops for the security of health and nutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: India is home to 69.2 million diabetics. For opportunistic screening of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), random capillary blood sugar (RBS) testing is used. Another method is Indian Diabetes Risk Score (IDRS), which is a simple and cost effective method for opportunistic screening of type 2 DM patients. The aim is to evaluate the screening test parameters of RBS testing and IDRS for opportunistic screening of undiagnosed type 2 DM patients. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was done during February 2017 to August 2017 at a district hospital of Western Gujarat. A sample size of 317 patients was calculated using Buderer's formula. Systematic random sampling was used and every third patient was selected from the general Outpatient Department(OPD) attendees of 30 years or more. MS Excel and Epi Info v7.2 was used for statistical analysis. Screening parameters and accuracy of IDRS and RBS were calculated taking result of the oral glucose tolerance test as clinical reference. Results: The mean age of study participants was 50.9 (SD 12.17) years with 44.2% males and 55.8% females. Sensitivity and specificity of RBS was 72.4% and 69.1%. Sensitivity and specificity of IDRS was 93.1% and 29.0%. On simultaneous (parallel) screening by IDRS and RBS, sensitivity was 98.3% and specificity was 23.2%. In sequential screening, where IDRS was used followed by RBS, sensitivity was 67.2% and specificity was 74.9%. Conclusions: This study has found that sequential screening using a simple diabetes risk score like IDRS followed by RBS is having higher accuracy and reduced cost of opportunistic screening of type 2 diabetes. Adopting sequential screening using IDRS as first step of screening followed by RBS in those found as high risk by IDRS is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]