Illiterate People Research Articles

Status of sexual health of married male traumatic paraplegics in Indian Population

Background: About 1.5 million individuals with spinal cord injuries (SCIs) reside in India. Sixty to seventy percent of the 20,000 new cases of SCI that is added each year are from impoverished, illiterate people. SCI leads to life-altering experiences, encompassing physical, physiological, psychological, and social changes. The sexual orientation of an individual with SCI may directly impact their self-assurance and vice versa. Aims and Objectives: Patients with SCI may have physical, physiological, psychological, and social changes, including changes in their sexuality. After a SCI, individuals’ sexual health is a crucial topic that is rarely addressed. The purpose of this study was to learn about the patients’ experiences and feelings regarding sexual activity after a SCI. Materials and Methods: Patients with SCI were given a questionnaire. This study covered all male SCI patients between the ages of 18 and 50 who were married at the time of the injury and were followed up until December 2023. The purpose of this study was to talk about different facets of sexual activity and the issues that came with it. Second, these data will support SCI sufferer’s sexual rehabilitation. Results: Of the 231 patients, 72.3% had erections but only 32% had ejaculations. 55.8% of patients experienced difficulties with sexual function as a result of other SCI sequelae, such as flexor spasm, bladder, and bowel dysfunction, among others. In response, almost 90% of patients said that they had never received sexual rehabilitation or advice on their sexuality. Conclusion: Health-care providers and clinicians do not frequently bring up sexuality with patients who have SCI. Patients who frequently inquire about sexual activity following SCI yet are seldom helped. Since there is stigma associated with the topic, every SCI clinic needs to have a specialized sexual rehabilitation staff.

Education For Community Transformation

The Tanzanian Government has made several efforts to guarantee the accessible and equitable education to all children irrespective of their race, creed or sex. However, there are some predominant socio-cultural practices which are impediments to young women’s education. Using a case of Monduli district -Tanzania, this study explored the influence of socio-cultural practices toward schooling of Maasai Young Women. A cross- sectional research design was adopted to obtain a sample of 120 respondents. Data were collected using Questionnaires, Key Informants’ Interview (KII) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) methods and analysed by using IBM-SPSS. 20.0 and content analysis. Overall, the study found that, Nomadic Lifestyle, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Early Marriages are tremendously affecting schooling of young Maasai women. While the two earlier mentioned practices were found to waste a lot of girls’ learning hours; the latter has been causing a substantial number of school girls to drop out. Subsequently the girls became vulnerable to illiteracy of which jeopardizes their chances to participate in community development projects as well as in decision-making process. The illiterate people are not always invited to participate because they do not understand the nitty gritty of their participation. In order to eliminate these harmful practices, it is recommended the government and other stakeholders to create or strengthening community awareness campaigns and capacity-building programs.

Mental health literacy, attitude, and help seeking intention among a particularly vulnerable tribe

BackgroundMental health, when compared to physical health and wellbeing, is the most neglected area. The health status of the tribal population is in pitiable condition and is heavily influenced by its socio-cultural factors and poor health care delivery system. The study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, mental help seeking intention for common mental health problems and factors associated with the study variables among the tribal population. Methodology: House-to-house survey was done between January to April 2022. Data was collected using standardized tools like Mental Health Knowledge Questionnaire (MHKQ), Community Attitude towards Mentally Ill scale (CAMIS), and Mental Help Seeking Intention scale (MHSIS). ResultsOnly six participants out of 400 reported that they are aware of someone in their community suffering from mental health problems. The majority (80 %) of the participants had fairly good knowledge regarding mental health, and 68 % of them had a favorable attitude towards mentally ill. It was also found that 79.2 % of the participants hold favorable attitude with an OR = 1.40 (0.50,3.90) suggesting that there is a statistically difference in the odds of favorable attitude being present among illiterate people (p = 0.003). When comparing the odds ratio between the groups, keeping females as reference for comparison, it is evident that males OR = 0.44 (0.21,0.94) are less likely to have good knowledge. Moderately strong (statistically significant at p = .05) relationship was seen between the subscales of attitude towards mentally ill and knowledge regarding mental health among the Koraga population. ConclusionIt has been found that awareness regarding common mental disorders is increasing among the tribals, but it is not accompanied by a favorable attitude. The study concluded that interventional research is needed to reduce the stigma and the treatment gap in mental illness.

‘From hunter to hunted’: (temporary) marginalisation in Muslim men’s memories of the allied occupation period in Turkey (1918–1922)

ABSTRACT In this article, I study memories of the Allied occupation of Maraş, Mersin and İzmir that were published in local newspapers between the 1920s and 1960s. The narratives were published when Muslims had re-gained political hegemony and forced both the occupying armies and most local non-Muslims to leave the country for good. The texts I use were published in the dailies Sebilürrreşad in 1921 (in Istanbul), in Ahenk in 1926, in Ege Ekspres in 1958 (both in İzmir), and in the late 1960s in Kuvayi Milliye, a monthly veterans’ magazine published in Mersin. Their authors were ordinary insofar as they were relatively low ranking clerks, former reserve officers, and readers of the İzmir papers. As literate Muslim males able to pen their own memories, however, they certainly held a certain degree of privilege over less educated and illiterate people, women and non-Muslims. In order to analyse their narratives, I use concepts developed by Maurice Halbwachs [Halbwachs, M., 1992 (1939) On Collective Memory: Edited, Translated, and with an Introduction by Lewis A. Coser. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, collective memory] and Jan and Aleida Assmann [Assmann, A., and Assmann, J. 1994. Das Gestern im heute. Medien und soziales Gedächtnis. In: K. Merten, S. J. Schmidt and S. Weischenberg, eds. Die Wirklichkeit der Medien: Eine Einführung in die Kommunikationswissenschaft. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 114–140.]. The loss of Ottoman sovereignty also brought about that of Muslim supremacy, which privileged Ottoman Muslims experienced as a massive threat for themselves. As I show throughout, all the stories recount experiences of humiliation and distress that resulted from the reversal of social roles under occupation: Being Muslim was no longer an advantage or even a privilege: the privileged had become ordinary. Memory was gradually securalised, and the use of allusions facilitated forgetting.

Weather App Using Android Studio

Abstract – Since the 19th century, mankind has struggled to predict the weather of a particular area. Weather forecasting is a science using which people can predict the weather of an area for a particular location and time.Over the years, scientists have discovered weather patterns using factors like humidity,winds, clouds, temperature, sea level etc. and now the weather predictions are more efficient than before, due to the use of advance technologies and algorithms.Even though there are many advance techniques and technologies, the web apps are very complicated for everyone to use. Especially for the illiterate people. Many of the farmers depend on the weather, which plays a big role in determining the future of their crops. Many times they are not able to use technologies accordingly, and hence I decided to make an app which would show the main details like probability of rain, temperature, humidity etc, just on clicking the app, no other steps required. The app would only require a stable internet connection and GPS.

Comparison of quality of life in patients with mitral valve replacement and mitral valve repair in Imam Ali Hospital during 2014 to 2020: a cross-sectional study

ObjectiveMitral valve failure is one of the most common valvular heart diseases worldwide. Valve replacement and repair have an impact on the quality of life of patients. Therefore, the present study was conducted to compare the quality of life in patients with mitral valve replacement and those who underwent mitral valve repair.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, we considered all cardiac patients with ischemic mitral insufficiency who underwent mitral valve repair and patients with a history of valve replacement in Imam Ali Hospital of Kermanshah between 2014 and 2020. Two Minnesota and general quality of life questionnaires along with a checklist for demographic variables were used for data collection. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 21 software.ResultsThe mean quality of life score based on the general quality of life scale in the valve repair group was 32.33 (SD = 2.29) and in the valve replacement group 32.89(SD = 2.60), (p = 0.917). Also, mean quality of life, as measured by the Minnesota MLHFQ was 60.89(SD = 17.67) in the valve repair group and 63.42 (SD = 12.13) in the valve replacement group (p = 0.308). The results showed that the average general quality of life was different in study groups regarding education. Tukey’s post hoc test showed that the average general quality of life in illiterate people is significantly lower than in people with academic degrees (P-value = 0.001).ConclusionThe quality of life of the patients in both the valve repair and replacement groups was at an average level. There was no significant difference between the general quality of life and the Minnesota scales, suggesting that both tools can be effectively used to measure patients’ quality of life. The study’s findings can be valuable for monitoring patients, screening for conditions, and enhancing communication between doctors and patients.

Financial protection and equity in the healthcare financing system in Iran: a cross-sectional study among slum dwellers with type 2 diabetes

ObjectivesThis study was conducted to assess financial protection and equity in the healthcare financing system among slum dwellers with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Iran in 2022.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingPrimary care centres...

Risk of Zoonotic Transmission of COVID-19 during Eid-Ul-Fitr in Pakistan

Eid-ul-Fitr is an auspicious festival that is expected to celebrate by millions of Muslims across the world including Pakistan by the end of April. The Delta variant of COVID-19 is way more harmful than any other variants. The spread of virus still remains very high in large festival gatherings like Eid ul Fitr instead of strictly following SOPs. The mass migration of people across the country during festival is of main concern that leads to increase spread of virus. It is imperative that government officials along with community leaders, religious scholars and health authorities should take part in mitigating risks of virus transmission with serious measures. As general public is not much aware of the COVID-19 complications, it becomes significant to educate illiterate people through various approaches like to give them awareness about virus, its symptoms, preventive measures and significance of vaccination. Communication in their local language that is easily comprehendible and in persuasive way greatly impacts the public and empowers them to adapt healthy behavior that helps to mitigate the risk of virus transmission.

Long Distance Bus Transport Nexus LOCAL Economic Development and Poverty Reduction in Africa: Emphasis on Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

This article presents long distance bus transport nexus local economic development and poverty reduction issues in Africa, and it has focused on the city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The methodology was focused more on both primary and secondary sources. The primary informants were principally distinguished from the Passengers, the operators, and the key government officials such as the Transport Office including the head of bus terminal, head of Bus Associations, and selected experts in the sector. In terms of analysis, the qualitative approach was done by using a thick description. The finding revealed that on average, over thirty major towns have a direct link with the center and poverty reduction. The sector has also shown inalienable and inseparable with both poverty reduction and local economic development. Thus, it can create good grounds for urban growth by upgrading the existing towns, and it is also opening the doors for emerging new towns. It has been a unique contribution and creates various work opportunities for both literate and illiterate peoples and it also has an impact for poverty reduction and local economic development. The reduction of poverty and local and regional development is unattainable without a proper policy framework for all passenger transport in general and LDB in particular of government.

Assessment of awareness and attitude towards radiation hazards and safety in the general population

Background: Dental radiologists, technicians, and other personnel understand the significance of radiation risks and, consequently, patient safety. It is equally important to know the understanding of patients visiting the hospital,which will assist in identifying gaps in patient education. Methods: Patients (n=300) visiting the outpatient department were given a pre-validated questionnaire form, which consisted of 17 questions distributed separately in order to assess awareness and attitude. The responses collected were statistically analysed. Results: Patients who are literate and have fairly good socioeconomic status are expected to be more aware and concerned about their attitude towards radiation safety and hazards, although fewer illiterate people are also expected to be equally aware and concerned. Conclusions: Despite many efforts by authorities, there seems to be a need to spread more awareness about radiation safety and hazards among the general population, irrespective of their background characteristics and educational status, and thus improve their attitude towards the same.

Prevalence of Chronic Headache and its Related Factors in the Shahrekord Cohort Study Population

Background and Objectives Headache is one of the most common patient complaints which makes it difficult for sufferers to concentrate at work and during other daily activities. Given the importance of this condition, the present study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of chronic headache and its related factors in the Shahrekord cohort study population. Subjects and Methods This cross-sectional study included 594 patients with headache (the case group) and 594 age- and gender-matched people without headache (the control group). Patient information was collected using a checklist and analyzed by Stata statistical software. Results The results of the study showed that the prevalence of chronic headache was 5.9%, which was 2.6% in men and 8.8% in women (P<0.001). The prevalence of headache in city residents was 6.4% higher from that in rural areas (4.7%), and it had the highest prevalence among illiterate people (7.3%) (P=0.061). As far as underlying diseases were concerned, the prevalence of chronic headache was 0.1% in patients with diabetes, 7.7% in patients with hypertension, 1.8% in patients with ischemic heart disease, and 15% in patients with depression. Conclusion In the present study, the prevalence of headache was higher in women, city residents, unemployed people, smokers, and people who consumed drugs and alcohol. Also, the prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, ischemic heart disease and depression was higher in patients with headache. These findings reflect the importance of the effects of headache and the need to devise strategies for the treatment and prevention of headache.

India on the Way of Successful Transformations: Development Model

The study presents an attempt to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the Republic of India’s development model from the time of its formation in 1950 to the present days and to characterize achievements and problems along the path of transformation from a post-colonial, backward country to a state claiming a leading position in the world. It is proven that the country chose an effective but complicated hybrid development model for modernization transformations. The Indian model is significantly different from the East Asian model, it is not like any other, so it is a special type of development model. It has been proven that researchers are faced with a huge transition economy with pronounced contrasts. In particular, a high level of education and a large sector of highly qualified specialists are combined with hundreds of millions of illiterate people and a significant middle class, not present in every transition economy, with mass poverty. The presence of contrasts is characteristic of all countries with transition economies that are developing rapidly. However, India has a feature that is almost unique – a combination of the so-called "three worlds", three socio-economic development models observed in our time. This peculiar “mix” made it possible to rationally use the features and advantages of each of the specified systems at various stages of the country's development. A special model of progress enabled India to overcome (or to reduce) a significant number of the most difficult economic, scientific and technical, social problems, make a colossal leap from colonial backwardness to global leadership, and become an interesting and useful example for many countries. Such a unique combination is obviously not found in any other country, and it largely determines the features of the Indian development model and successful transformations on the path to modernization.

Investigating the current situation of chemical pesticides trade in Tripoli region and its suburbs in Libya

This study was conducted within the framework of a research program at the Agricultural Research Center for Sustainable Development during the 2021-2022 agricultural season through field visits to pesticide marketing and storage sites in Tripoli and its suburbs to investigate the condition of commercial stores and their suitability to health conditions, the nature of their activity and their legal status, along with the status of the people working in them, their educational level and the extent to which their awareness of the dangers of pesticides and their impact on their health. Some questions were also about the types of pesticides traded in the Libyan market, their physical condition, their specialties, their commercial sources, and how to dispose of their empty containers. It became clear from this study that approximately half of the pesticide shops were in the main streets of Tripoli, and only 27% of them were in rural areas. Moreover, no less than 50% of the stores do not have warehouses, and those that do have warehouses are considered inappropriate for storing these dangerous materials. It was also shown that there is a lack of attention and implementation of the sanitary conditions in pesticide stores, including ventilation, air conditioners, and the height of the stores. We also noticed that the percentage of licensed shops designated for selling pesticides did not exceed 35%, and that many of them hold licenses not designated for selling pesticides, and some of them don’t have license. As for the materials that are marketed alongside pesticides, most of them are agricultural equipment, with the presence of fertilizers and seeds. Regarding the persons that are selling pesticides, their ages range from the twenties to the fifties, and their educational levels vary, as the percentage of illiterate people was 15%, the percentage of those who obtained compulsory primary, middle, and secondary education was 49%, the percentage of those who obtained an intermediate and higher diploma was 23%, and the percentage of university salespeople was 13%. It is striking that 79% of the sellers are not specialized in the agricultural field. As for the level of knowledge of the sellers about the dangers of chemical pesticides, it was found that 72% of them have little to moderate knowledge. In addition, 77% of them do not wear protective clothing, and only sometimes at best, which shows that 43% of the workers’ health was negatively affected by their handling of pesticides. Finally, this study showed that the pesticides circulating in the Tripoli area are liquid, solid and gaseous in approximately equal proportions. As for the specialties of pesticides on offer, it turned out that 22% of them are insecticides, 21% are herbicides, 21% are fungicides, 19% are rodenticides, and 17% are acaricides. As for the sources of pesticides offered on the market, 36% of them were issued by commercial agents of international companies or from well-known wholesalers with clear addresses. However, 27% of the pesticides offered were imported by unknown importers or obtained through unlicensed and often unknown street traders. As for the methods used to dispose of containers, the study showed that 50% of the containers are disposed of by filling them up, burning them, or using the containers to place other materials such as food and medicines, which is generally considered a violation of internationally recognized health methods. This study is considered a model for the other Libyan cities and will contribute to providing decision-makers with important and vital information for regulating the pesticide trading sector in Libya.

Translation and linguistic validation of the Sheffield Profile for Assessment and Referral for Care (SPARC) to Colombian Spanish.

We aimed to translate and linguistically and cross-culturally validate Sheffield Profile for Assessment and Referral for Care (SPARC) in Spanish for Colombia (SPARC-Sp). The linguistic validation of SPARC followed a standard methodology. We conducted focus groups to assess the comprehensibility and feasibility. The acceptability was assessed using a survey study with potential users. The comprehensibility assessment showed that additional adjustments to those made during the translation-back-translation process were required to apply SPARC-Sp in rural and low-schooled populations. It also identified the need for alternative administration mechanisms for illiterate people. The acceptability survey showed that potential users found SPARC-Sp as not only acceptable but also highly desirable. However, they desired to expand the number of items in all domains. Beyond the semantic and conceptual validity attained through the back-translation process, actual cultural validity could be acquired thanks to the comprehensibility tests. Although extending the instrument is something potential users would like to do, it would make it less feasible to utilize the SPARC-Sp in clinical settings. Nonetheless, the instrument might benefit from the inclusion of a domain that evaluates challenges encountered when accessing the health-care system. For communities lacking literacy, alternate administration methods must also be considered.

I colori della lingua di una semicolta siciliana

The aim of the paper is to examine the linguistic varieties present in the autobiographical diary of an illiterateSicilian peasant woman, Carolina Drago, who has chosen to entrust her memoirs to the written page. The diary,composed since 2007, when Carolina Drago was more than 70 years old, contains recipes of gastronomicpreparations, prayers, songs as well as the narration of the most significant episodes of her existence seenthrough the eyes and heart of a mother who writes the diary in order to deliver her memories to her childrenand grandchildren. The facts described within only partially intertwine the "great history" (e.g. the Spanishepidemic of the twenties, the Second World War) and dwell rather on the family environment, offering a crosssectionof peasant and popular life that crosses the twentieth century. From a linguistic point of view, CarolinaDrago uses the variety of the repertoire at her disposal: basically, the dialect and popular regional Italian, mixingthe linguistic colours of her poor palette with the enthusiasm of those who want to tell and tell themselves. Alinguistic analysis will also be presented, aimed at demonstrating how the writings of illiterate people allow usto see that Italian defined as "hidden" by Testa (2014), almost in a karstic way, has continued to evolvealongside the normative codification anticipating innovative trends.

EMPOWERING RURAL INDIAN WOMEN THROUGH EDUCATION: THE ROLE OF TEACHERS IN OVERCOMING SOCIO-ECONOMIC BARRIERS

India has always been a nation of villages, and although Indian women are revered as goddesses, their current circumstances are incredibly deplorable. Since the day they were born, they have experienced troubles. Additionally, tradition and custom are hostile to women. Their lives are being improved by several NGOs and the government, but these efforts remain insufficient. The main obstacle to their development and empowerment is education. The reality is that our nation has the highest percentage of illiterate people in the whole globe. Approximately 50% of all adult females in India cannot read or write, and roughly one-third of the country's population is today functionally illiterate. Particularly among women and in rural regions, illiteracy rates are high. Education for women is essential to the overall growth of any nation. Even though gender equality in education is given a lot of attention in India, there is still inequality in access to education. Women have different levels of access to education in rural and urban areas. All of these issues are covered in this essay along with appropriate solutions to the issues.

Read for me: developing a mobile based application for both visually impaired and illiterate users to tackle reading challenge

Abstract In recent years, there have been several attempts to help visually impaired and illiterate people to overcome their reading limitations through developing different applications. However, most of these applications are based on physical button interaction and avoid the use of touchscreen devices. This research mainly aims to find a solution that helps both visually impaired and illiterate people to read texts present in their surroundings through a touchscreen-based application. The study also attempts to discover the possibility of building one application that could be used by both type of users and find out whether they would use it in the same efficiency. Therefore, a requirements elicitation study was conducted to identify the users’ requirements and their preferences and so build an interactive interface for both visually impaired and illiterate users. The study resulted in several design considerations, such as using voice instructions, focusing on verbal feedback, and eliminating buttons. Then, the reader mobile application was designed and built based on these design preferences. Finally, an evaluation study was conducted to measure the usability of the developed application. The results revealed that both sight impaired and illiterate users could benefit from the same mobile application, as they were satisfied with using it and found it efficient and effective. However, the measures from the evaluation sessions also reported that illiterate users had used the develop app more efficiently and effectively. Moreover, they were more satisfied, especially with the application’s ease of use.

Life-time HIV testing among people who inject drugs in Iran: results from the National Rapid Assessment and Response survey.

HIV testing is recommended for people who inject drugs (PWID). The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of lifetime HIV testing among PWID and to better understand the predictors for HIV testing in a convenience sample across Iran. This study is a secondary analysis of Iran's National Rapid Assessment and Response survey conducted between October 2016 and March 2017. Analysis includes the 999 people who reported injecting drugs across the capital cities of 21 provinces. Data were collected by using the venue-based application of the Time Location Sampling (TLS) frame. Chi-square tests were used to examine the difference between HIV testing across different quantitative variables. Logistic regression was used to determine the predictors of life-time HIV testing. Analysis was performed using STATA V.12 software with a significance level of 95%. Most participants were male (n = 902, 93.50%), and over half (n = 555, 59.17%) were older than 35 years old. About one-third, (n = 326, 38%) of people interviewed were single and another one-third (n = 251, 29%) reported being divorced. Over two-thirds of participants (n = 678, 69.78%) in this study reported lifetime HIV testing. The results from a multiple variable logistic regression showed people with a university education were more likely to have been previously tested for HIV than illiterate people (OR = 18.87, 95%CI 2.85-124.6, value of p = 0.002). Those individuals who reported ever receiving methadone treatment were 2.8 times more likely to have been tested for HIV than individuals without methadone treatment experience (OR = 2.89, 95%CI 1.53-5.42, value of p < 0.001). Needle syringe sharing in last month, was negatively associated with life-time HIV testing (OR = 0.29, 95%CI 0.17-0.48, value of p < 0.001). Despite Iran's wide availability and access to counseling services for HIV testing in key populations, the proportion of PWID being tested for HIV could be improved. Developing effective strategies to increase people's understanding and awareness of the importance of and need for HIV prevention and familiarity with HIV testing sites is an essential step in increasing HIV testing for this population. Studies on more recent HIV testing are required to better assess and understand the frequency of HIV testing among PWID in Iran.

Willingness and Perception About COVID-19 Vaccine Among Rural Adults

Introduction: The most successful and cost-effective method of preventing the spread of COVID-19 infection is vaccination. But there are challenges to vaccinating the mass population in a developing country like Bangladesh. This survey aimed to assess the willingness to receive and perception of COVID-19 vaccines and the association of this willingness with the baseline characteristics and the level of perception of the respondents. Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 672 rural people from six villages of Palashbari Upazilla, Gaibabdha district. A convenient sampling technique was used and data were collected by face-to-face interview. Result: Almost two third of the respondents of this study were _30 years old and the average age of respondents was 37.43±17.13 years. Majorities of the respondents were female (54.6%). About 89.1% of the respondents in this study were willing to be vaccinated and the main reason for this willingness includes respondents’ belief about the vaccine protection against COVID-19 (91.8%) reduced the fear of the respondents (60.6%), government suggestion (45.1%). The main reasons behind unwillingness included fear of side effects (71.8%), doubt about vaccine safety and efficacy (46.5%), and ignorance (59.2%). Regarding perception about the COVID-19 vaccine, more than half of the respondents (51.2%) had good perception whereas 29.8% had average perception and 19.0% of respondents had poor perception. In this study, females were significantly more willing to be vaccinated than male respondents (p=0.027). Respondents age group &lt;30 years were significantly more willing to vaccinate than that of the age group _30 years (p=0.042). Respondents not having chronic diseases group significantly more inclined to vaccinate than that having chronic diseases (p&lt;0.001). A good level of perception was more likely to have willingness than average or poor perception (p&lt;0.001). Conclusion: The findings of this study reveal that despite the high prevalence of willingness to receive vaccines, still there were the challenges. Policymakers should design effective immunization policies and experts in media and communication should deliver the proper message that is understandable to everyone, especially illiterate rural people. J Rang Med Col. September 2023; Vol. 8, No. 2: 34-39

Prevalence of tobacco consumption among the Northeast population of India

Background and Objectives: Widespread use of tobacco among Indians has been associated with several lung diseases; however, the exact prevalence of tobacco use, particularly in the northeastern region of India, is not known. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the prevalence of tobacco use among the northeast population of India. Methodology: Four electronic databases were searched using the appropriate search strategy. A systematic search yielded 15 articles that were included in this review. Out of these, 13 studies were found to be eligible for meta-analysis. Risk of bias was assessed using the Hoy et al. scale. Statistical analysis was done using the STATA version 16. Results: Data from 453,844 participants, mean age range of 15–60 years, were collected from the northeastern states. The overall pooled prevalence estimate for the tobacco consumption reported was found to be 44.71% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 16.48%–72.93%). Manipur reported comparatively higher tobacco consumption than the other eastern northeastern states 45.13% (95% CI: 7.26%–72.93%). A higher pooled prevalence was found for the employed (31.10%; 95% CI: 24.83%–83.00%) versus unemployed (26.96%; 95% CI: 22.07%–31.86%), and literates (40.36%; 95% CI: 16.19%–64.54%) versus illiterates (19.87%; 95% CI: 3.95%–35.79%). In addition, smokeless tobacco (29.10%; 95% CI: 9.33%–48.88%) consumption was reportedly higher than that of smoked tobacco (22.96%; 95% CI: 1.74%–44.18%). Gender subgroup analysis showed a higher prevalence in males (28.59%; 95% CI: 24.16%–33.02%) as compared to females (25.77%; 95% CI: 17.68%–33.86%). Conclusion: A higher prevalence of tobacco use among the northeastern region of India, particularly males, the employed class, and illiterate people, suggests a dire need of more effective awareness programs to reduce tobacco consumption.