by Md. Nahian Rahman, Syeda Saima Alam, Abu Zobayed, Md. Mahedi Hasan, Shaidaton Nisha, Mosharop Hossian, Md. Mehedi Hasan and Khaleda Islam
Original Research
Objective: To assess the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and its risk factors among individuals aged 18 years and above. Study design: cross-sectional. Methods: This study was conducted among 400 adults aged 18 to 93 years old from Dhaka, Mymensing, Sylhet and Khulna District in Bangladesh. A multistage sampling technique was used to select study participants. We carried out frequency tabulation, bivariate and multivariate regression analyses to achieve the study objective. Result: The prevalence of DM was 9.75%. Study participants with high waist circumference were 2.57 times more likely to be DM positive compared to those whose waist circumference was normal (OR = 2.57). Respondents who were overweight (OR = 2.587) and obese (OR = 4.17) were more at risk of having DM than those who had normal weight. Individuals with smoking habit were about 1.253 times more likely to have DM compared to participants who never smoked in their lifetime. Respondents who were inactive were 5.587 times at more risk of being DM positive than those were active. Female respondents were more (OR = 1.568) at risk of having DM than male respondents. Respondents aged 36-50 years old, 51-65 years old and 66-93 years old were 1.475 times, 2.136 times and 2.563 times more risk of having DM than 18-35 years old respondents. Conclusion: Health care system in Bangladesh urgently needs policy guidelines to monitor prevalence and associated factors regarding DM.
American Journal of Public Health Research. 2020, 8(6), 209-213. DOI: 10.12691/ajphr-8-6-5
Pub. Date: October 27, 2020
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by Victor Omote, Henry Awele Ukwamedua, Nathaniel Bini, Johnson Etaghene, Emmanuel Onome Omoviye and Mary Obiageli Iloka
Original Research
Background: Viral hepatitis was responsible for 1.34 million deaths globally in 2015, a number comparable to deaths caused by tuberculosis and higher than those caused by HIV. Although hepatitis B and C viral infections are major causes of liver cirrhosis or/and hepatocellular carcinoma, knowledge is limited and prevalence underestimated because of poor surveillance programs in most developing countries. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of awareness/knowledge, risk factors and prevalence of viral hepatitis B and C amongst antenatal attendees in a secondary health-care facility. Study design: The study was cross-sectional, descriptive and hospital-based. Methods: A total of 218 pregnant women were recruited from the antenatal clinic of Central Hospital Warri using simple random technique after approval from the institutional review board and consent from the participants. They were screened for Hepatitis B and C viral infections using a rapid immune-chromatographic test strip. Samples positive for HBsAg were screened for other HBV biomarkers using a 5 in one test cassette. Result: Of the 218 women screened, 3 (1.4%) were positive for HBsAg while 4 (1.8%) reacted for HCV antibodies. All positive cases for HBsAg were negative for HBeAg and HBsAb, but positive for HBeAb and HBcAb. Age-grade 31-40 gave the highest age-based prevalence 1.92% for HBsAg while participants younger than 20 years had the highest age-based prevalence of 20% (2/10) for HCV. Multiparous women had 2.8% for HBsAg while nulliparous/primiparous participants have the highest HCV antibody prevalence of 3.1%. For other variables measured, self-employed, Secondary school education, lack of HBV vaccination, women who share sharps and participants that engaged the services of quacks for invasive procedures gave the highest prevalence in their respective categories. Conclusion: The prevalence of 1.4% and 1.8% reported by this study for HBV and HCV respectively is relatively low when compared to a previous report for the study region and other Nigerian studies. However, the poor level of awareness/knowledge and high level of exposure to predisposing risk factors among the study population calls for urgent intervention if vision 2030 will be a reality for the study region.
American Journal of Public Health Research. 2020, 8(6), 202-208. DOI: 10.12691/ajphr-8-6-4
Pub. Date: October 11, 2020
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by Syeda Saima Alam, Anamul Haque, Tanzina Akter Shipu, Susmita Ghosh, Ruhul Kabir Kabir and Md. Nahian Rahman
Original Research
The main objective of this study is to identify the prevalence of hand washing knowledge and practice among primary school children in the Noakhali District, Bangladesh. It is a Cross-sectional study in nature. This study was a primary analysis of 400 children who were in primary school. We carried out frequency tabulation, binary and multivariate logistic regression analyses to achieve the study objective. In the study, 89% of students had good knowledge & 71.6% of students had good practice regarding hand washing. The odds of having good knowledge about hand washing were high among the students who were in grade 5 [AOR=2.85; CI 1.418-5.741] and had received hand washing training [AOR=2.58; CI 1.125-5.932]. The odds of having good practice about hand washing were greater among the students who were in grade 5 [AOR=1.8: CI=1.040-3.115], whose fathers were job holder [AOR=3.20; CI 1.267-8.093], whose mothers completed SSC [AOR=3.80; CI 1.786-8.102], HSC & above [AOR=3.99; CI 1.132-14.085] and received hand washing training [AOR=3.93; CI 1.748-8.872).Though the knowledge about hand washing is quite good, a community-based intervention program needs to be carried out to educate the children about the hand washing practice.
American Journal of Public Health Research. 2020, 8(6), 197-201. DOI: 10.12691/ajphr-8-6-3
Pub. Date: September 29, 2020
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by Sk Akhtar Ahmad, MH Faruquee and Manzurul Haque Khan
Original Research
Background: Arsenic contamination in groundwater of Bangladesh was first detected in 1993 and still a major public health problem in the country. In 1997, Samta was identified as a severely arsenic contaminated village and many villagers were found to suffering from arsenicosis. Methods: A series of surveys were carried out in Samta village in the years 1997, 2002, 2008 and 2017 to assess the situation of arsenic contamination and the status of arsenicosis in the village. The water sources and the entire population of the village were included in the study. Results: In 1997 about 87% of the shallow tubewells in Samta village were arsenic-contaminated and 10.1% villagers had arsenicosis. Twenty years later in 2017, about 90% shallow tubewells were arsenic contaminated, 39 deep tubewells and a pond sand filter were installed in the village and 2.3% of the villagers had arsenicosis. On an average 43.8% arsenicosis patients had recovered from the illness and condition of 21.2% patients had deteriorated or remained unchanged. During the 20-year period 37(6.1%) arsenicosis patients and 185(1.6%) non-arsenicosis villagers had died. The main cause of death among arsenicosis patients was cancer (40.5%) and among non-arsenicosis villagers the cause was geriatric problem (11.8%). The mean age at death was 57.6 years and 61.2 years respectively. Conclusion: In twenty years, measures were undertaken to make available arsenic-safe water options and people were motivated to stop the use of arsenic-contaminated water and to increase the intake of protein and vitamin AEC rich food. Recovery had occurred in a substantial proportion of patients.
American Journal of Public Health Research. 2020, 8(6), 190-196. DOI: 10.12691/ajphr-8-6-2
Pub. Date: September 28, 2020
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by Peter D. Hart
Original Research
Background: This study used item response theory (IRT) to create a brief PF scale (BPFS) and subsequently examined its relationship with several health characteristics. Methods: Data were used from N=1,716 adults 50+ years of age participating in a large health survey. A pool of 19 PF items were dichotomized to either 1 (any amount of difficulty) or 0 (no difficulty). A 2-parameter logistic (2PL) IRT model was used to evaluate item fit to the unidimensional PF construct. Criteria used to eliminate an item was 1) a small discrimination (slope) parameter, 2) a significant chi-square statistic for cell residuals, and 3) a large root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). The IRT model was continually re-fitted until all remaining items met criteria. SAS PROC IRT and R ltm were used for scale construction. Results: The IRT analysis resulted in 8 well-fitting items with large item discrimination (as > 2.03), moderate item difficulty range (bs: -0.07 - 1.35), and adequate item fit (RMSEAs < .036). After full adjustment, each additional BPFS point significantly (ps < .05) increased stepwise the odds of reporting poor HRQOL (OR = 1.59), being depressed (OR = 1.46), having thoughts of suicide (OR = 1.35), not meeting PA guidelines (OR = 1.29), being BMI-obese (OR = 1.23), being WC-obese (OR = 1.13), experiencing poor sleep (OR = 1.29), and reporting sleepiness (OR = 1.16). Conclusion: Results from this study show that the IRT-constructed BPFS is an efficient and valid tool that can predict health status in older adults.
American Journal of Public Health Research. 2020, 8(6), 184-189. DOI: 10.12691/ajphr-8-6-1
Pub. Date: September 25, 2020
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