Urban Area Of Delhi Research Articles

Heat stress risk at an intra-urban level: A case study of Delhi, India

Cities throughout the globe are expanding due to rapid urbanization. The risk associated with heat on residents is increasing and thus requires interventions at an intraurban level. This study aims to determine the spatial distribution of the heat stress risk index (HSRI) in an urban area of Delhi (India). This study illustrates a novel technique using meteorological variables simulated from a numerical weather prediction urban canopy model (WRF-UCM) to generate the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) in the city of Delhi at a resolution of 333 m. The estimated UTCI is then optimally blended with the socioeconomic vulnerability and exposure indices generated through the identification of suitable parameters via principal component analysis (PCA). The analysis based on the high-resolution UTCI risk index showed that within the existing framework, 88 % of the city falls under a heat stress risk above the “Moderate to Highest” category of stress values, which explicitly affects the population and requires urgent interventions for the development of a resilient and sustainable city. The study also revealed that the areas with the highest UTCIs may not correspond to the zones related to the highest heat stress risk. This suggests that the HSRI rather than the UTCI alone should be the optimal indicator for consideration by stakeholders when developing policies to mitigate heat stress-related issues in urban areas under changing climate.

Awareness, acceptance, and consumption pattern of millets among ever-married women in an urban area of Delhi: A cross-sectional observational study

Background: Millets are a great source of fiber, minerals, and vitamins and are well-known for their excellent nutritional value. They have been part of traditional diets in India. Aims & Objectives: The study was conducted to assess millet awareness, acceptance, and consumption among married women in an urban area of Delhi. Methodology: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire to collect information on a sample of 262 married women residing in the Tilak Nagar urban area of Delhi. Results: It was found that 78.9% of middle-class women consume millets at least once a month, compared to 64.9% of lower-class women (P value 0.044, ?2 =4.053). 70.9% of the women who were aware of millet significantly consumed it. Conclusion: The findings showed that consuming millet is strongly linked to both socioeconomic status and awareness about millet.

Common mental disorders among adolescents in an urban area of Delhi.

Common mental disorders (CMDs) among adolescents may hamper their psycho-social development. This study evaluated the prevalence and determinants of CMD like depression and anxiety among late adolescents of an age of 15--19 years residing in an urban resettlement colony of southeast Delhi. A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 556 randomly selected adolescents. CMD was assessed using Mini International Neuropsychiatry Interview - Kid version 6 (MINI-Kid) based on DSM-IV TR and compliant with ICD-10 definitions of CMD. The associated risk factors were studied using a self-developed semi-structured interview schedule and analyzed using multi-variable logistic regression. A total of 491 adolescents were interviewed (a response rate of 88.3%), of whom 247 (50.3%) were female and 210 (42.8%) belonged to a lower-middle socio-economic status. The lifetime prevalence of CMD was 34% [95% confidence interval (CI): 29.8-38.2]. Of the total, 22.4% (95% CI: 18.7-6.1) of the participants reported depression and 6.7% (95% CI: 4.5-8.9) reported generalized anxiety disorder during their lifetime. Female sex [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.1, 95% CI: 1.4-2.2], experiencing a stressful event in the past 6 months (aOR 4.7, 95% CI: 3.1-7.3), and smoking tobacco (aOR 2.0, 95% CI: 1.2-7.4) significantly increased the odds of having CMD in multi-variate analysis. There is a high prevalence of CMD among adolescents residing in urban resettlement colonies of Delhi, which is composed mostly of people belonging to lower socio-economic strata. Hence, tailored intervention at stress management with promotion of healthy lifestyle is needed for this age group.

Factors associated with Insomnia Severity Index among elderly participants

Background: Amongst various psychiatric disorders in the elderly, insomnia is one of the major challenges. Aims & Objectives: To assess the prevalence of insomnia and the factors associated with it among the elderly. Material & Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a rural and an urban area of Delhi taking 115 participants from each area using systematic random sampling. A semi-structured questionnaire was to collect the data. Results: Out of 230 participants, 121 (52.6%) were females and 109 (47.4 %) were males. Insomnia was more prevalent in the elderly participants of rural area (95%) while just 5% were in the urban population. Out of the 230 participants, 113 (49.1%) had scores of 0-7 whereas 117 (50.9%) had scores between 8-28 which meant they had some degree of insomnia. Insomnia was significantly associated with the locality of the participants (p-value <0.05). Conclusion: In the present study, around half of the elderly persons were suffering from Insomnia. As the cause of insomnia is multi-factorial, it needs a multi-pronged approach to prevention which can be achieved by creating awareness, management, and prevention. Further, screening elderly persons for insomnia and health education regarding the importance of sleep hygiene practices should be started.

Assessment of Barriers and Facilitators to InstitutionalDelivery in an Urban Area of Delhi: A CommunityBased Cross-Sectional Study

Background:Since motherhood is one of the most important rolesin the life of any women and needs utmost priority in dealing with the delivery time, so the study was conducted with the aim to explore data related to antenatal check-ups and associated barriers for notavailing the services and the reasons for the health facility preferred (Govt. or Private). for which a semi structured, pretested interview schedule was administered to all the study subjects for obtaining the relevant details. Subjects and Method:The community based cross sectional study was carried out in Palam area of west Delhi from January to December 2016 with a sample size was of 250 and analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 20). The independent variables under study were social demographic characteristics, while dependent variables were the different reasons cited for preferring home delivery by the study subjects. Results:Among the women interviewed, 60.8% women preferred a Govt. health care facility for antenatal services, 14.4% visited only private health care facility for complete antenatal services whereas 22.4% were those who availed antenatal service from both Government as well as Private health care. Nearly two-third (65.2%) of the deliveries took place in Government facility, whereas around 25% preferred private facility for the delivery and remaining 10% were home deliveries. Conclusion:The reasons need to be explored by systematic continuous monitoring and supervision of services including periodic beneficiaries view point on services being provided, re-orientation of service providers and counselling of pregnant women in order to achieve hundred percent institutional deliveries or by skilled birth attendant. Keywords:barriers, facilitators, institutional delivery

Heavy metal accumulation in leaves of selected plant species in urban areas of Delhi.

Heavy metals beyond their permissible limits are major contaminants and causes of concern due to their persistent nature and health hazards. Several studies validated the utilization of plants as biomonitors and bioaccumulators for heavy metal pollution. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the proficiency for heavy metal monitoring and mitigation by commonly found plant species in urban areas of Delhi. For this objective, four sites (viz., control, residential, commercial, and industrial) and sixteen usually growing plant species were selected. Four heavy metals, i.e., lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn), were analysed for soil and dust from each site, and leaf samples from each plant, at all sites, and various other parameters were calculated. Among the four elements, Pb and Cd showed maximum geoaccumulation and contamination at all sites. Pollution load index (PLI) values for both soil and dust indicated that industrial sites (1.78, 2.15) were most contaminated followed by commercial (1.52, 1,87), residential (1.41, 1.67), and control (1.22, 1.37) sites. Concentrations of Pb, Cu, and Zn were found to be highest in Morus alba, while Cd concentrations were found to be highest in Millettia pinnata (L.) Panigrahi. From various analyses, we concluded that commonly found plant species such as Ficus religiosa L., Terminalia arjuna (Roxb. Ex DC.) Wight &Arn., Morus alba L., Prosopis juliflora (Sw.) DC., and M. pinnata proved to be exceptional biomonitors and bioaccumulators for heavy metals in urban areas. Therefore, these plant species are highly recommended for plantation in urban areas for decontamination of the air and soil by mitigating heavy metal pollution.

Parental Perception of Alpha Kids’ Influence in General Buying Decisions During the COVID-19 Pandemic in India

This paper aims (i) to identify the parental perception of alpha kids’ influence on general buying decisions, and (ii) to examine the impact of alpha kids’ demographics (age, gender, and sibling) on the influence exerted by them in general buying decisions in families in India during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study is based on a cross-sectional survey approach. Primary data for the study was obtained in February 2021 through a structured questionnaire generated on Google Forms from a sample of mothers of 400 alpha children (aged 8-11 years) from rural and urban areas of Delhi (India). Notable findings that emerged from this study revealed that Indian parents perceive their alpha kids to exert significant influence in general buying decisions and this influence is moderated to some extent by the age, gender, and birth order of the children. The results of this study extend interesting theoretical and practical implications for marketers and practitioners to have a better understanding of family consumption behavior in India. Marketers must take note of these observations while designing and implementing marketing mix strategies in respect of various goods and services meant for children/family consumption in India to sustain the impact of the Covid -19 pandemic.

Assessment of Potential Source and the Source Region of Particulate Matter in an Urban Area of Delhi, India

Assessment of Potential Source and the Source Region of Particulate Matter in an Urban Area of Delhi, India

Emergence of children as influencers in family consumption decisions – a resource theory approach

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the perception of parents regarding the role of children as influencers in family consumption decisions in India. The purpose is to support marketing practitioners in understanding the stages of children's influence in the family using the theoretical perspective of the resource theory approach.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on a Web survey approach. Primary data were obtained from a sample of 180 mothers of adolescent children in the age group of 13–18 years and residing in rural and urban areas of Delhi (India) by administering a bilingual (Hindi/English) pre-tested “structured non-disguised” questionnaire designed on the Google Forms.FindingsThe findings that emerged from this study and as supported by the relative theory approach revealed that Indian parents perceive their children to exert a significant influence in family buying decisions, children's influence varies across stages of the decision-making process and the type of product and children's influence in family buying decisions is moderated by family structure but not by family size. The results of this study extend interesting and practical implications for marketing practitioners in India and by extension in other similar countries while designing and implementing marketing mix strategies in respect of goods and services meant for children/family consumption.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings that emerged from this study and as supported by the relative theory approach revealed that Indian parents perceive their children to exert significant influence in family buying decisions, children's influence varies across stages of the decision-making process and the type of product, and children's influence in family buying decisions is moderated by family structure but not by family size. Results of this study extend interesting and practical implications for marketing practitioners in India and by extension in other similar countries while designing and implementing marketing mix strategies in respect of goods and services meant for children/family consumption.Practical implicationsThe results of this study support the notion that children exert considerable influence in family buying decisions in India across products, hence constitute a viable target market for different products consumed not only by them but by other family members as well. It is, therefore, vital that marketers wishing to penetrate family and/or child product markets must identify the person in the family who is likely to be more involved in the buying process and the extent of his involvement to carve effective promotional strategies.Social implicationsThe finding that although Indian children are actively participating across various stages of the decision-making process and their influence is strongest at the purchase initiation stage has peculiar social implications whereby families may be exposed toward eco-friendly green products and sustainable ways of living through the children in rural as well as urban areas. Similarly, children were also found to be influential at the information search and evaluation stage; hence, the messages regarding social issues, gender equality and health issues, which are not yet openly discussed in Indian families, may be imparted through children for better coverage and effectiveness.Originality/valueChildren are an important part of the family; especially in the nuclear families, children are an apple of eye and central point of the discussion. The role of children in decision-making is also important because of the changing information system and modernization of the younger generation. This is an empirical study focusing on the areas not yet explored and examined in the context of a culturally distinct and emerging country in terms of the emergence of children as influencers in family consumption decisions in rural and urban Indian families.

Evaluation of MUAC as a tool for assessing nutritional status during pregnancy (>20 weeks of gestation) in Delhi India

The present study was conducted to assess the usefulness of MUAC as a screening tool to assess nutritional status during pregnancy (>20 weeks). Pregnant women (>20 weeks of gestation, n=100) were enrolled from tertiary care ANC clinics in urban areas of Delhi. Data on socio-demographic profile was collected using pre-tested questionnaires. The blood pressure and anthropometric parameters (weight, height and MUAC) were recorded. The mean height, weight and MUAC of pregnant women were 152.15 ± 4.93cm, 56.7 ± 6.7Kgs and 25.5 ± 2.60cm respectively. Weight gain between trimesters and overall weight gain showed no correlation with blood pressure. Maternal weight was positively correlated with MUAC (p=0.00), SBP (p=0.006) and DBP (p=0.02). Maternal height was negatively correlated with MUAC (p=0.012). BMI and MUAC showed a significantly positive correlation (p=0.00), which indicates the versatility of this tool. However, no association was observed between MUAC and blood pressure during pregnancy in the present study.

Indian Children's Influence in Family Buying Sub-Decisions

This study has been undertaken to examine the extent to which the influence is exerted by children varies across (i) sub-decisions in family buying decisions; and (ii) child and family product in Indian context. Purposeful sampling was used for the selection of information-rich cases to permit inquiry into and understanding of the phenomenon understudy in depth. A sample consisting of 200 children residing in rural and urban areas of Delhi, capital of India was selected for this study. Based on their demographics, the final sample is believed to be representative of the population. The measuring instrument used is a structured questionnaire, guided by the research objectives and literature review. Children’s influence across family buying sub-decisions was measured by using a modified version of six-item scale developed by Talpade and Talpade (1995). The primary data are analyzed and interpreted with the help of statistical tools such as means, standard deviation, t-test, and ANOVA by using SPSS (version 16). Descriptive analysis has also been used to support the results of statistical analysis. The analysis results clearly show that Indian children exert (i) influence in family buying sub-decisions, (ii) this influence varies across sub-decisions and type of product, and (iii) influence for child product is higher than for the family product.

Perceived Stress and its Epidemiological and Behavioral Correlates in an Urban Area of Delhi, India: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

Background:Increasing stress has been recognized as a major public health problem in the developing world accelerated by an ongoing demographic, economic, and sociocultural transition. Our study objectives were to validate a Hindi version of the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and to also assess the extent of perceived stress and its correlates among an adult population in an urban area of Delhi.Methodology:A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in an urban resettlement colony of Delhi among 480 adult subjects aged 25--65 years, during the period from January to December 2015. The PSS-10 was translated into Hindi and validated in the study population. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS Version 25.Results:A total of 243 (50.6%) men and 237 (49.4%) women were enrolled. The scale had an acceptable level of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.731). A principal component analysis was run on the PSS-10 data, based on which a three-component structure was accepted, which explained 61% of the total variance. The mean PSS score was 19.25 (SD = 4.50) years. Perceived stress was highest in the 35--50 age group. On multivariate analysis, low socioeconomic status and a white-collar occupation were found to be associated with increased perceived stress (P < 0.001)Conclusion:A high burden of perceived stress exists in residents of a low-income urban population in India.

Awareness about breast cancer in males in urban area of Delhi.

Background:Breast cancer in males is still an issue that is not known to majority of the population across the globe. People in general are not aware that breast cancer can occur in males too as increasing campaigns are done to raise awareness in females.Objective:To assess the level of awareness of male breast cancer (MBC) in males of urban population residing in the Soami Nagar colony, Panchsheel, New Delhi.Methodology:A cross sectional survey was conducted through a self-administered questionnaire to know the awareness of the occurrence of MBC, its diagnosis and criticality.Results:It was found that only 19% of men were aware of the fact that breast cancer can occur in males as well and remaining 81% were ignorant.Conclusion:Because a whopping 81% of the surveyed population did not know that breast cancer could even occur in males, they were made aware about all the symptoms to look for and not to ignore any sort of bulge/lumps/knots that they may feel in their breast region or under the armpits. Findings of this study would serve as a baseline to focus on making people aware of this life threatening problem. Increased awareness of MBC would help males to discuss the problem in initial phase and reach out to primary health care physicians for early diagnosis and treatment.

A comparative study of semen parameters of men undergoing fertility treatment from urban population residing in Delhi/NCR region and semi-urban population from adjoining states

Objective: To analyze the difference in semen parameters of men from urban areas of Delhi/NCR with those residing outside Delhi region. Material and Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was undertaken at tertiary level center located in New Delhi region between the period of August 2019 to January 2020. A total of 657 men undergoing fertility workup during their infertility treatment were included in the study with 521 (79.2%) men from Delhi/NCR region (urban) and another 136 (20.7%) men from outside Delhi region (semi-urban) with mean age of both the group was 35.6 ± 5.7 years. Results and Discussion: It was observed in both the groups that there was no statistical difference noted in mean ± SD of in semen volume (1.79 ± 0.84 vs 1.78 ± 0.83), sperm concentration (49.9 ±32.4 vs 49.8 ± 32.4), total motility (58 ± 22.5 vs 58.1 ± 22.5), progressive motility (32.3 ±13.8 vs 32.2 ± 13.8) P = 0.95 and sperm morphology (2.3 ± 2.2 vs 2.3 ± 2.2). The prevalence of male factor subfertility was higher in men residing outside Delhi as compared to men of Delhi 53.1% versus 56.6% respectively and overall combined male factor in study population including the men from both the group was 58%. Conclusion: There were no significant differences in semen parameters including sperm concentration, total motility progressive motility, total motile concentration and sperm gross morphology in the men residing in urban area of Delhi and those residing in semi-urban area outside Delhi/NCR for up to three years period.

Parental Occupation and Children’s Influence in Family Buying Decisions in India – an Exploratory Study

This study examines the extent to which father’s profession will affect the influence exerted by children across stages of the family buying decisions in the purchase of child product in Indian families. A cross-sectional survey method was carried out with “structured non-disguised” questionnaires to collect the primary data from 400 school going children in the age group 13 to 18 years and residing in families inrural and urban areas of Delhi, capital of India. Statistical tools such as mean, standard deviation, paired t-test, and ANOVA have been used to analyze and interpret the surveyed data. It was hypothesized that: (i) children exert influence across the stages of the family buying decisions (H1), (ii) children’s influence varies across the stages of the family buying decisions (H2),and (iii) father’s occupation has significant impact on their children’s influence in the stages of the family buying decisions (H3). The analyses results indicate that children in Indian families do influence the family buying decisions irrespective of their fathers’ occupation. Thus, the analyses results lead to the acceptance of H1, partial acceptance of H2, and rejection of H3.

A Study to Assess the Psychosocial Problems and Happiness with a view to Develop a Video on Diversional Therapy among the Elderly Living in Selected Community in New Delhi

Introduction: The elderly is prone to psychosocial problems due to harassment, ill treatment, exploitation, separation, living alone, lack of family ties and social network which can have a bad impact on the well-being and the quality of life. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to assess the psychosocial problems and happiness among the elderly with a view to develop a video on diversional therapy. Methods: The quantitative approach was adopted for the study with a descriptive survey design. Research variables were psychosocial problems (depression, anxiety, loneliness and self- esteem) and happiness among elderly. The sample comprised of 100 elderly in Pul-Prahladpur, an urban area of Delhi selected through non-probability purposive sampling technique. House to house survey and face to face interview were used to collect data using a Structured Interview Schedule and standardized Oxford Happiness Scale. Results: The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Majority of the study subjects i.e. 65% were in the age group 60-70 years and 59% were females. 44% of them had moderate psychosocial problems. Anxiety was ranked 1st, depression was ranked 2nd, loneliness was ranked 3rd and low self- esteem was least prevalent out of all the other psychosocial problems. There was a significant negative relationship between the types of psychosocial problems and happiness. Conclusion: The study findings revealed that females were more prone to psychosocial problems as compared to males. Majority of the elderly had anxiety followed by depression, loneliness and low self-esteem. Happiness was found more in males as compared to females. How to cite this article:Mohita W, Bhardwaj UD, Kurian RN. A Study to Assess the Psychosocial Problems and Happiness with a view to Develop a Video on Diversional Therapy among the Elderly Living in Selected Community in New Delhi. Int J Nurs Midwif Res 2019; 6(2&3): 33-39.

Controlling Behavior and Intimate Partner Violence: A Cross-Sectional Study in an Urban Area of Delhi, India.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a widespread issue faced by women across the world. While prevalence and epidemiology of IPV has been studied extensively, its association with controlling behavior has been largely ignored. We carried out this study to assess the prevalence of IPV against married women and its association with sociodemographic factors, justification of violence, and controlling behavior by their spouses in Delhi, India. Five hundred women residing in an urban residential area of Delhi, India, responded to a validated questionnaire asking about IPV and controlling behaviors by their husbands. In our study, 30.6% of women had "ever" experienced IPV, and 43.2% women stated that they had experienced controlling behavior by their husbands. Alcohol consumption by the husband, women's justification of their partner's violence, and controlling behavior by the husbands were significantly associated with the experience of IPV among study participants. Women with a lower education status, not financially employed, those who justified violence or faced any form of violence in their marital life were at higher risk of experiencing controlling behavior from their spouses.

Barriers and Challenges in Seeking Healthcare by Pediatric Tuberculosis Patients Attending DOTS Centers in Urban Areas of Delhi

Background: Healthcare seeking by pediatric tuberculosis (TB) patients is complicated because of some factors such as lack of knowledge among family members, diagnostic difficulties, limited resources, and treatment challenges. Aims: The aim of this article is to identify the barriers and challenges related to seeking healthcare by pediatric TB patients. Settings and Design: It was a prospective observational study conducted from January 2015 to December 2015 at two chest clinics. Materials and Methods: A predesigned, pretested, and semi-structured questionnaire was used to interview caregivers of pediatric TB patients and followed up at two more occasions, that is, at the end of intensive and of continuation phase, to identify the challenges they were facing during treatment. Statistical Analysis: Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 17 (SPSS Inc., New Delhi, Delhi, India) and P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Result: The lack of knowledge was a barrier to understand the disease, seeking care, and being compliant with treatment as nearly 40% (41.8%) did not know that TB is infectious and more than half (55.3%) did not know that TB can occur in any age group. Only 14.2% knew about vaccine for TB, but no one had knowledge about isoniazid prophylaxis. Reported challenges in treatment seeking were high transport cost, long distance for higher government facility (83.7%), and interference with daily routine (39.0%), and in-treatment compliance were heavy pill burden (80%), refusal of child to take medicines (41.8%), fear of side effects (71.6%), and difficulty in powdering the medicines (35.5%). Conclusion: Major barrier was lack of knowledge about childhood TB and major challenge was heavy pill burden, which affected the compliance.

A Pre-experimental Study to assess the effectiveness of self-instructional module on knowledge and attitude regarding No-Scalpel Vasectomy among married men in selected Urban area of Delhi

A Pre-experimental Study to assess the effectiveness of self-instructional module on knowledge and attitude regarding No-Scalpel Vasectomy among married men in selected Urban area of Delhi

Influence Perception Differences about Children's Influence in Family Buying Decisions- an Exploratory Study

This study has been undertaken (i) to examine the extent of disagreements in the perceptions of children and their mothers about the influence exerted by children in family buying decisions; (ii) to evaluate the impact of child’s gender on the agreement in the perceptions of children and their mothers about the influence exerted by children in family buying decisions. A cross-sectional survey method was carried out with “structured non-disguised” questionnaires to collect the primary data from 400 families residing in rural and urban areas of Delhi, capital of India. Children’s influence across stages of decision making process was measured by using an eleven-item scale developed by Talpade and Talpade (1995). The primary data are analyzed and interpreted with the help of statistical tools such as means, standard deviation, and paired t-test by using SPSS (version 16). Descriptive analysis has also been used to support the results of statistical analysis. The analysis results indicate that disagreements exists in the perceptions of children and their mothers about the influence exerted by children in Indian family buying decisions irrespective of child’s gender. The analysis results, thus, supported all the hypotheses exceptH3 (a/b).