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Item Do health education initiatives assist socioeconomically disadvantaged populations? A systematic review and meta-analyses(BMC Public Health, 2023) E. L. Karran; A. R. Grant; H. Lee; S. J. Kamper; C. M. Williams; L. K. Wiles; R. Shala; C. V. Poddar; T. Astill; G. L. MoseleyHealth education interventions are considered critical for the prevention and management of conditions of public health concern.Item A community-based pragmatic, controlled trial for preventing and reducing oral diseases among 1-6-year-old children visiting Anganwadi centers, under the Integrated Child Development Scheme, India(BMC Public Health, 2019) Ashima Goyal; Ashoo Grover; Krishan Gauba; Arpit Gupta; Nishant Mehta; Sourabh Dutta; R. M. Pandey; Ashish Joshi; J. S. Thakur; Utkal Mohanty; R. S. DhaliwalBackground: Early childhood caries (ECC) has reached epidemic proportions affecting millions of children worldwide. Its prevention becomes imperative owing to the significant morbidity and financial implications involved with its treatment. The Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), launched in India to provide mid-day meals, pre-school education and primary healthcare to children, can be utilised to counsel and deliver oral health education to mothers. The purpose of the study is to compare the effect of an oral health care package (OHCP) with usual care on the change in dental disease status among 1 to 3-year-old children at Anganwadi centres (AWC) in periurban areas of Chandigarh and rural areas of Cuttack, Orissa over a follow-up period of three years. Methods: Two geographically distant ICDS blocks would be selected at each of the two study sites and would be randomly allocated to intervention and control group. Closely located AWCs under each of the selected blocks shall constitute the study setting. OHCP would be delivered to the mothers of the 1-6-year-old children enrolled in the AWCs of the experimental group whereas mothers under control group would receive usual care advice available at the AWCs. Discussion: ECC prevention had conventionally focused upon testing effectiveness of programs targeting behaviour change among the caregivers and children, but surprisingly minimal efforts have been made to seek translation of these efforts into reduction of ECC at the community level. The present study has two components; testing effect of altering maternal and child behavioral aspects on ECC incidence through cohort follow up of 1-3-year-old children for three consecutive years and cross-sectional follow up of all available 1-6-year old children at the selected AWCs at regular intervals to look for change in prevalence of ECC at community level. In other regions of the world surveys of ECC prevalence before and after the intensive educational programs have shown a significant reduction in ECC prevalence. A similar decline can be anticipated through this program.Item Burden, patterns, and impact of multimorbidity in North India: findings from a rural population-based study(BMC Public Health, 2022) Priti Gupta; Shivani A. Patel; Hanspria Sharma; Prashant Jarhyan; Rakshit Sharma; Dorairaj Prabhakaran; Nikhil Tandon; Sailesh MohanThis study estimates the prevalence, socio-demographic determinants, common disease combinations, and health impact of multimorbidity among a young rural population.Item Community perceptions of vaccination among influential stakeholders: qualitative research in rural India(BMC Public Health, 2021) Baldeep K. Dhaliwal; Riti Chandrashekhar; Ananya Rattani; Rajeev Seth; Svea Closser; Anika Jain; David E. Bloom; Anita ShetBackground In India and other low- and middle-income countries, multiple family and community members are influential in caregivers' perceptions of vaccination. Existing literature indicates the primary caregiver, typically the mother, is instrumental in vaccine decision-making, but this may vary in contexts. We investigated the role of stakeholders in India who influence caregivers' vaccination perceptions, as this is essential to developing strategies to promote vaccine acceptance and improve uptake. Methods This research was conducted in 2019 in Mewat District in Haryana, an area in India with extremely low vaccination coverage. We conducted six focus group discussions with 60 participants in the following categories: fathers of children under-5 years old, expectant mothers, mothers-in-law, community health workers, and community influencers such as locally elected officials and religious leaders. Results Our results highlighted four themes that influence vaccine uptake. First, while caregivers associated vaccination with reductions in specific diseases, they also noted that vaccination services brought broad health gains, including improved nutrition, antenatal guidance, and social support. Second, community health workers critically influenced, positively or negatively, caregivers' vaccination perceptions. Third, community health workers faced gaps in their education such as limited training on vaccine side-effects, placing them at a disadvantage when dealing with families. Finally, we found that mothers-in-law, fathers, and religious leaders influence caregivers' perceptions of vaccination. Conclusions Communication of broader benefits of vaccines and vaccination services by community health workers could be impactful in increasing vaccine acceptance. Vaccine uptake could potentially be improved by facilitating community health workers' ownership over vaccine acceptance and uptake by involving them in the design and implementation of interventions to target mothers and mothers-in-law. A 'bottom-up' approach, leveraging community health workers' knowledge to design interventions, and giving a voice to key members of the household and society beyond mothers alone, may sustain health improvement in low vaccine coverage areas.Item Access to health care and employment status of people with disabilities in South India, the SIDE (South India Disability Evidence) study(BMC Public Health, 2014) Murthy Venkata S. Gudlavalleti; Neena John; Komal Allagh; Jayanthi Sagar; Sureshkumar Kamalakannan; Srikrishna S. RamachandraBackground: Data shows that people with disability are more disadvantaged in accessing health, education and employment opportunities compared to people without a disability. There is a lack of credible documented evidence on health care access and barriers to access from India. The South India Disability Evidence (SIDE) Study was undertaken to understand the health needs of people with disabilities, and barriers to accessing health services. Methods: The study was conducted in one district each in two States (Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka) in 2012. Appropriate age and sex-matched people without a disability were recruited to compare with people with disability who were identified through a population-based survey and available government disability records by trained key informants. These people were then examined by a medical team to confirm the diagnosis. Investigators administered questionnaire schedules to people with and without a disability to harness information on employment and health service access, utilization and barriers. Results: A total of 839 people with disabilities and 1153 age and sex matched people without a disability, aged 18 years or more were included. People with disability had significantly lower employment rates. On univariate analysis, people with disability (18.4%) needed to visit a hospital significantly more often in the preceding year compared to people without a disability (8.8%) (X-2 - 40.0562; P < = 0.001). However adjusted odds ratios did not show a statistically significant difference. Significant differences were also observed with respect to past hospitalization. People with disabilities had 4.6 times higher risk of suffering from diabetes and 5.8 times higher risk of suffering from depression compared to people without a disability and the risk was significantly higher in males compared to females with disability. People with disability faced significantly more barriers to accessing health services compared to people without a disability. Barriers included ignorance regarding availability of services, costs of services and transportation. Conclusions: This study highlights the challenges that people with disability face in accessing health-care and employment opportunities. The study findings have public health implications and should be used for planning need-based appropriate strategies to improve health care access for people with disabilities.Item A cluster-randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of a simplified cardiovascular management program in Tibet, China and Haryana, India: study design and rationale(BMC Public Health, 2014) Vamadevan S. Ajay; Maoyi Tian; Hao Chen; Yangfeng Wu; Xian Li; Danzeng Dunzhu; Mohammed K. Ali; Nikhil Tandon; Anand Krishnan; Dorairaj Prabhakaran; Lijing L. YanBackground: In resource-poor areas of China and India, the cardiovascular disease burden is high, but availability of and access to quality healthcare is limited. Establishing a management scheme that utilizes the local infrastructure and builds healthcare capacity is essential for cardiovascular disease prevention and management. The study aims to develop, implement, and evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a simplified, evidence-based cardiovascular management program delivered by community healthcare workers in resource-constrained areas in Tibet, China and Haryana, India. Methods/design: This yearlong cluster-randomized controlled trial will be conducted in 20 villages in Tibet and 20 villages in Haryana. Randomization of villages to usual care or intervention will be stratified by country. High cardiovascular disease risk individuals (aged 40 years or older, history of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, or measured systolic blood pressure of 160 mmHg or higher) will be screened at baseline. Community health workers in the intervention villages will be trained to manage and follow up high-risk patients on a monthly basis following a simplified '2 + 2' intervention model involving two lifestyle recommendations and the appropriate prescription of two medications. A customized electronic decision support system based on the intervention strategy will be developed to assist the community health workers with patient management. Baseline and follow-up surveys will be conducted in a standardized fashion in all villages. The primary outcome will be the net difference between-group in the proportion of high-risk patients taking antihypertensive medication pre- and post-intervention. Secondary outcomes will include the proportion of patients taking aspirin and changes in blood pressure. Process and economic evaluations will also be conducted. Discussion: To our knowledge, this will be the first study to evaluate the effect of a simplified management program delivered by community health workers with the help of electronic decision support system on improving the health of high cardiovascular disease risk patients. If effective, this intervention strategy can serve as a model that can be implemented, where applicable, in rural China, India, and other resource-constrained areas.Item Medical schools in India: pattern of establishment and impact on public health - a Geographic Information System (GIS) based exploratory study(BMC Public Health, 2020) Yogesh Sabde; Vishal Diwan; Vijay K. Mahadik; Vivek Parashar; Himanshu Negandhi; Tanwi Trushna; Sanjay ZodpeyThis study explores the geographic distribution of medical schools in India to identify such under and over served areas.Item A decade of conditional cash transfer programs for reproductive health in India: How did equality fare?(BMC Public Health, 2022) Deepali Godha; David R. HotchkissBackground Since 2005, India has implemented conditional cash transfer [CCT] programs to promote the uptake of institutional delivery services [ID]. The study aims to assess changes in wealth-based inequality in the use of ID and other maternal health care services during the first decade of Janani Suraksha Yojana and related CCT programs. Methods Data from two Demographic and Health Surveys were used to calculate changes in service inequality from 2005 to 2015-16 in the use of three or more antenatal care [ANC] visits, ID, and postnatal care [PNC]. The changes were assessed at the national level, within high and low performing states [HPS and LPS, respectively] and within urban and rural areas of each state category. Erreygers Index [EI] and Wagstaff Index [WI], superior to concentration index, were used to gain different insights into the nature of inequality. EI is an objective measure of inequality irrespective of prevalence while WI is a combined measure of inequality and the average distribution of an indicator that puts more weight on the poor. Results The results suggest that wealth-based inequalities decreased significantly at the national level. For ID, both indices showed a decline in both HPS and LPS though the change in WI in HPS was insignificant. For ANC, there was a significant decrease in inequality using both indices in HPS but not in LPS. For PNC, there was a significant decrease in inequality using both indices in HPS, and when using WI in LPS, but not when using EI in LPS. Conclusion Overall, the first decade of India's CCT programs saw an impressive reduction in EI for ID but less so for WI suggesting that the benefit of CCTs did not go disproportionately to the poor, which suggests that there is a need to reduce or eliminate the evident leakages. The improvement in uptake and inequality in ANC and PNC was not at par with ID, stressing the need to place greater focus on the continuum of care. The urban rural difference in HPS versus LPS in the changes in inequality reveals that infrastructure is important for CCTs to be more effective.Item Exposure to indoor air pollution and the cognitive functioning of elderly rural women: a cross-sectional study using LASI data, India(BMC Public Health, 2022) Manoj Dakua; Ranjan Karmakar; Papai BarmanFindings revealed that Indoor Air Pollution from solid fuels could significantly affect the cognitive health of elderly rural women in India, indicating the need for immediate intervention efforts to reduce the use of solid fuels, Indoor Air Pollution, and associated health problems.Item A mixed methods study on evaluating the performance of a multi-strategy national health program to reduce maternal and child health disparities in Haryana, India(BMC Public Health, 2017) Madhu Gupta; Hans Bosma; Federica Angeli; Manmeet Kaur; Venkatesan Chakrapani; Monica Rana; Onno C. P. van SchayckBackground: A multi pronged community based strategy, known as National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), was implemented from 2005-06 to 2012-13 in India to curtail maternal and child health (MCH) disparities between poor and rich, rural and urban areas, and boys and girls,. This study aimed to determine the degree to which MCH plans of NRHM implemented, and resulted in improving the MCH outcomes and reducing the inequalities. Methods: An explanatory sequential mixed methods study was conducted, first to assess the degree of implementation of MCH plans by estimating the budget utilization rates of each MCH plan, and the effectiveness of these plans by comparing demographic health surveys data conducted post (2012-13), during (2007-08) and pre- (2002-04) NRHM implementation period, in the quantitative study. Then, perceptions and beliefs of stakeholders regarding extent and effectiveness of NRHM in Haryana were explored in the qualitative study during 2013. A logistic regression analysis was done for quantitative data, and inductive applied thematic analysis for qualitative data. The findings of the quantitative and qualitative parts of study were mixed at the interpretation level. Results: The MCH plans, like free ambulance service, availability of free drugs and logistics, accredited social health activists were fully implemented according to the budget spent on implementing these activities in Haryana. This was also validated by qualitative study. Availability of free medicines and treatment in the public health facilities had benefitted the poor patients the most. Accredited Social Health Activists scheme was also the most appreciated scheme that had increased the institutional delivery rates. There was acute shortage of human resources in-spite of full utilization of funds allocated for this plan. The results of the qualitative study validated the findings of quantitative study of significant (p < 0.05) improvement in MCH indicators and reduction in MCH disparities between higher and lower socioeconomic groups, and rural and urban areas. Conclusions: MCH plans of NRHM might have succeeded in improving the MCH outcomes and reducing the geographical and socioeconomic MCH inequalities by successfully implementing the schemes like accredited social health activists, free ambulance services, free treatment and medicines in hospitals for the poor and in rural areas.