Impact of home food production on nutritional blindness, stunting, wasting, underweight and mortality in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled trials.

Vitamin A deficiency is highly prevalent and remains the major cause of nutritional blindness in children in low-and middle-income countries, despite supplementation programmes. Xeropthalmia (severe drying and thickening of the conjunctiva) is caused by vitamin A deficiency and leads to irreversible blindness. Vitamin A supplementation programmes effectively reduce vitamin A deficiency but many rural children are not reached.

Perspectives of unlicensed assistive personnel on career development.

Background: An equivalency program, Method 3, is a viable but underused option for unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) who pursue licensure. This study describes the perceptions of UAP on opportunities for career development.

Methods: Eighteen UAP participated in three focus groups.

Co-morbidity of alcohol dependence and select affective and anxiety disorders among individuals of East Indian and African ancestry in Trinidad and Tobago.

The present study sought to determine whether an association exists between alcohol dependence and select affective and anxiety disorders in patients presenting at substance abuse centres in Trinidad and Tobago (TT). The participants in this study were 143 alcohol dependents, of either East Indian ancestry (Indo-TT) or African ancestry (Afro-TT) and 109 controls matched by age, gender and ethnicity. A structured interview was used to gather information on demographics, psychiatric diagnoses and personal drinking and drug use.

The clinical course of alcoholism in Trinidad and Tobago.

Objective: The clinical course of alcoholism has been described as a series of distinct, alcohol-related life events that occur in an orderly sequence. However, whether that sequence differs, depending on ethnicity and country of origin, is less clear. The purposes of this study were to investigate the sequence and progression of alcohol-related life events in individuals of East Indian (Indo) and African (Afro) heritage on the islands of Trinidad and Tobago, and compare those results with data reported previously by the Collaborative study for the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA).

Association of ALDH1 promoter polymorphisms with alcohol-related phenotypes in Trinidad and Tobago.

Objective: Two polymorphisms in the promoter region of the gene encoding cytosolic aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH1A1), ALDH1A1*2 and ALDH1A1*3, have recently been identified. The present study sought to determine whether an association exists between ALDH1A1 genotypes, alcohol dependence, drinking history, and liver function tests in the two major ethnic groups of Trinidad and Tobago (TT).

Method: The participants in this study were 137 alcohol dependents of either East Indian ancestry (Indo-TT) or African ancestry (Afro-TT) and 108 controls matched by age, gender, and ethnicity.