Low Health Awareness Research Articles

Social inequity in health awareness and its association with health service utilization in ethnic conflict regions in northeastern Myanmar

Civil wars, political conflicts, ethnic issues, and stagnant social development have resulted in fragile health systems in northeastern Myanmar. Low health awareness is also one of the leading contributing factors to poor health status in these regions. The present study examines the socioeconomic differentials of health awareness and the association between health awareness and health-seeking behaviors in the ethnic minority regions of northeastern Myanmar. A multistage-stratified random cluster survey was conducted in the Shan State Special Region 2 (Wa region) and the Eastern Shan State Special Region 4 (SR4) of northeastern Myanmar in 2016. A total of 1572 participants were eventually recruited in the survey. Data were collected on demographics, household, health status, health care, health knowledge and behavior, and health service utilization. Linear and logistic regression models were applied to analyze the associations. Only 3% of women and 4.11% of men were found to have satisfactory levels of health awareness. The coefficients of higher levels of health awareness with higher income, educational attainment, and marital status were 0.05, 4.70, and 3.11 in women and 0.11, 4.24, and 2.85 in men, respectively, with significance. A higher level of health awareness was associated with increased health-seeking behaviors in men (OR: 2.86, 95% CI: 1.24–6.62) and women (OR: 1.22, 95%CI: 0.46–3.22) in these regions. The less educated, low household income earners, the unmarried and farming populations were all at risk for poor health awareness. Future promotion programs should target at the above populations to promote health knowledge dissemination and health service utilization along the China-Myanmar border.

Dental treatment needs in patients of a Lublin dental clinic aged 35-54

Abstract Introduction. Evaluation of the oral health among adult Poles carried out in the framework of the “National Monitoring of Oral Health and Its Determinants” study and the research results of clinical centers in Poland indicate that dental caries, periodontal diseases and missing teeth are a major health problem. Aim. The aim of the study was determining the reasons for reporting to the dentist of 35-54-year-old people, the assessment of dental health and prosthetic needs. Material and methods. The study comprised 154 patients aged 35-54 reporting in 2015 to the dental clinic in Lublin, which offers treatment financed by the National Health Fund or for a fee. Gender, age, the place of residence and the reason for the reporting to the dentist were analyzed. The place of residence was a village, a town of less than 200 thousand inhabitants or the city of more than 200 thousand residents. The reason for reporting to the dental clinic was a check-up visit, toothache or loss of filling. Dental condition was assessed by calculating the DMF index. The prosthetic state and needs were evaluated. The results were statistically analyzed. Results. Most patients reporting to the dental examination were women (59.09%) and residents of a big city (70.78%). More than a half of the patients (55.84%) had a check-up appointment, 25.32% appeared due to the loss of filling, and 18.83% - because of a toothache. The frequency of decay in the study group was 100% and the DMF index values ranged from 2.0 to 32.0, assuming an average of 21.18±5.02, and with the age the DMF index values increased. The highest number of decayed and extracted teeth were found in the rural population. Both residents of big cities and patients who reported for regular check-ups had the biggest number of fillings. Conclusion. Dental caries is still a major health problem in Polish population aged 35-44. Poor oral health among the adult population in Poland is due to the low health awareness of society. This requires launching large-scale dental educational campaigns and prevention measures among adult Polish citizens, especially in rural areas.

Surveillance System Proposed To Monitor The Burden Of Diarrheal Diseases In Pakistan: A Short Communication

Pakistan is at high risk of epidemics because of overcrowded cities, unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation, poor socioeconomic conditions, low health awareness and inadequate vaccination coverage. The diarrheal diseases contribute to the major disease burden under five along with pneumonia in Pakistan. Unlike vaccine preventable diseases like Polio, measles and maternal & neonatal tetanus, Pakistan does not have any formal responsive surveillance system to monitor the burden of diarrheal diseases and to respond to the outbreaks. Previously, the technical assistance used to be provided by Disease Early Warning System (DEWS WHO) to the outbreaks. Unfortunately, this system is no more functional in Pakistan and WHO had built the technical capacity of the Government staff and had advised health department to carry out their own efforts to monitor the trends of the various diseases including Diarrhea. Thus the objective of this short communication was to identify the gaps in the existing system and to propose a Surveillance mechanism for diarrheal diseases. We conducted in-depth interviews from Government authorities as well as DEWS officials to understand the surveillance system of various diseases especially for diarrheal diseases placed in Pakistan. We met with Surveillance officer and DEWS officials, headed by provincial coordinator at Directorate Health Service Office, Karachi. These officials informed us about the reporting tools and monitoring system at different levels. After having detailed discussions, we were able to identify certain gaps and loop holes in the currently existing surveillance system and based on that we adopted WHO guidelines to propose surveillance system of diarrheal diseases.

Health Awareness and Behavior Among Adolescent Students in a Rural School: A Cross Sectional Observational Study

Background: Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to many health issues. Studies in Indian literature have documented low health awareness and many health related issues in adolescents. The aim and objective of the study was to evaluate health awareness and behavior among adolescents studying in a rural school in Maharashtra, India.Methods: A cross-sectional, quantitative, observational questionnaire-based survey was conducted among high school students between 15 to 19 years of age studying at a local rural school in Maharashtra, India. The questionnaire assessed health awareness and behavior related to (a) exercise and nutrition; (b) malnutrition and obesity; (c) tobacco and (d) sexually transmitted diseases (HIV/AIDS).Results: The overall response rate of survey was 92.72%. Out of 102 students surveyed, 58.82% (60) were males and 41.18% (42) were females. 93.13% students were aware of importance of exercise on health and 70.58% devoted time for exercise & recreational activities. 85.29% students were aware of the ill effects of Malnutrition and Obesity. 85.29% were aware of ill effects of taking Tobacco and only 4.90% consumed tobacco. 98.04% were aware of Sexually transmitted diseases and 90.19% knew the correct route of spread.Conclusions: Overall, the health awareness among adolescent students was high. Males tend to be more aware about the importance of exercise on health while females were more aware about the ill effects of taking tobacco. Further qualitative studies should be conducted to identify potential adolescent issues so that an intervention can be planned at school, community and home level.

Using association rule mining to identify risk factors for early childhood caries

Background and objectiveEarly childhood caries (ECC) is a potentially severe disease affecting children all over the world. The available findings are mostly based on a logistic regression model, but data mining, in particular association rule mining, could be used to extract more information from the same data set. MethodsECC data was collected in a cross-sectional analytical study of the 10% sample of preschool children in the South Bačka area (Vojvodina, Serbia). Association rules were extracted from the data by association rule mining. Risk factors were extracted from the highly ranked association rules. ResultsDiscovered dominant risk factors include male gender, frequent breastfeeding (with other risk factors), high birth order, language, and low body weight at birth. Low health awareness of parents was significantly associated to ECC only in male children. ConclusionsThe discovered risk factors are mostly confirmed by the literature, which corroborates the value of the methods.

An outbreak of Japanese encephalitis after two decades in Odisha, India.

Sudden deaths in children due to acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) from a tribal dominated district of Malkangiri in Odisha, India, was reported during September-November, 2012. The investigation was carried out to search for the possible viral aetiology that caused this outbreak. Clinico-epidemiological survey and seromolecular investigation were carried out to confirm the viral aetiology. Two hundred seventy two suspected cases with 24 deaths were observed. The patients presented with low to moderate grade fever (87%), headache (43%), vomiting (27%), cold (18%), cough (17%), body ache (15%), joint pain (15%), rash (15%), abdomen pain (9%), lethargy (5%), altered sensorium (8%), convulsion (2%), diarrhoea (3%), and haematemesis (3%). Laboratory investigation showed Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) IgM in 13.8 per cent (13/94) in blood samples and JEV RNA in one of two cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples. Paddy fields close to the houses, high pig to cattle ratio, high density (33 per man hour density) of Culex vishnui mosquitoes, low socio-economic status and low health awareness in the tribal population were observed. This report confirmed the outbreak of JEV infection in Odisha after two decades.

Health Risks of Separated or Divorced Over-Indebted Fathers: Separation From Children and Financial Distress

The study examines over-indebted fathers after separation/divorce with respect to health-related lifestyles/state of health. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among over-indebted persons in Germany 2006/2007 (response rate 39.7%). Fathers in complete families (n = 73; M = 37 years) and single mothers (n = 72; M = 33.5 years) served as comparison groups to the separated fathers (n = 59; M = 37 years). Risks of depressive mood, unhealthy nutrition, and hypertension were higher compared to fathers in complete families. Tobacco use and low health awareness proved to be higher than among both comparison groups. The findings indicate problematic health-related behavior and health status among separated over-indebted fathers, and suggest recognizing them as a high risk group within social work.