Utilisation of public healthcare services by an indigenous group: a mixed-method study among Santals of West Bengal, India.

A barrier to meeting the goal of universal health coverage in India is the inequality in utilisation of health services between indigenous and non-indigenous people. This study aimed to explore the determinants of utilisation, or non-utilisation, of public healthcare services among the Santals, an indigenous community living in West Bengal, India. The study holistically explored the utilisation of public healthcare facilities using a framework that conceptualised service coverage to be dependent on a set of determinants - viz.

Menstrual characteristics: a study of the adolescents of rural and urban West Bengal, India.

Background: It has been observed that menstrual characteristics are generally influenced by lifestyle, socio-cultural and biological factors.

Aim: The present study examines: (a) variation in menstrual characteristics between rural and urban adolescents; and (b) whether these characteristics can be predicted from various socio-economic variables related to place of residence.

Subjects And Methods: The sample of the present study constituted 715 adolescent girls from rural (325) and urban (390) areas of West Bengal, a State of India.