Making schools healthy among Burmese migrants in Thailand.

In Thailand, a health-promoting school (HPS) program is in place nationwide. However, this policy has not covered Burmese migrant schools. Therefore, to ensure the feasibility of the implementation of a HPS program, we conducted evaluations and an intervention on school health in migrant schools in Thailand.

PSYCHIATRIC MORBIDITY IN A NIGERIAN NEUROLOGY CLINIC.

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence and nature of psychiatric morbidity among patients attending a neurology outpatient clinic.

Design: A two-stage screening procedure with General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) was used to assess psychological disorders over a one year period. Psychiatric diagnosis was based on ICD-10 criteria.

High rate of unintended pregnancies after knowing of HIV infection among HIV positive women under antiretroviral treatment in Kigali, Rwanda.

More than 90% of pediatric AIDS results from the transmission of the virus through HIV positive pregnant mothers to their children. However, little has been known about factors associated with unintended pregnancies after knowing their HIV seropositive status, or contraceptive use among HIV positive women under antiretroviral treatment (ART). We investigated thus factors associated with unintended pregnancies after knowing seropositive status, and also factors associated with the non-use of contraceptives among HIV positive women under ART.

Scale-up of community-based malaria control can be achieved without degrading community health workers' service quality: the Village Malaria Worker project in Cambodia.

Background: Malaria control has been scaled up in many developing countries in their efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Cambodia recently scaled up their Village Malaria Worker (VMW) project by substantially increasing the number of VMWs and expanding the project's health services to include treatment of fever, diarrhoea, and Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) in children under five. This study examined if the scale-up interfered with VMWs' service quality, actions, and knowledge of malaria control, and analysed VMWs' overall achievements and perceptions of the newly added health services.

Ensuring tuberculosis infection control to support greater involvement of people living with HIV in health care.

Health care workers (HCWs) in high TB burden countries bear significant risks of being infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and developing TB disease through their work. In recent years, an increasing number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) are taking part in delivering HIV and other health services in resource-limited settings with high TB burden. The greater involvement of PLHIV in health service delivery has many beneficial consequences on individuals and health systems, however, the involvement creates considerable opportunities for them to be exposed to patients with infectious TB disease.

Undernutrition among HIV-positive children in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: antiretroviral therapy alone is not enough.

Background: The prevalence of HIV/AIDS has exacerbated the impact of childhood undernutrition in many developing countries, including Tanzania. Even with the provision of antiretroviral therapy, undernutrition among HIV-positive children remains a serious problem. Most studies to examine risk factors for undernutrition have been limited to the general population and ART-naive HIV-positive children, making it difficult to generalize findings to ART-treated HIV-positive children.

Psychiatric morbidity in mothers of children attending primary care facility in Ilorin, Nigeria: drawing attention to those affected concurrently with their children.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among mothers of children attending a primary care clinic in University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital as precursor to developing an intervention programme.

Method: WThree hundred fifty mothers of children aged 7-14 years were screened with the 12-item General Health Questionnaire for psychiatric morbidity. As part of the larger study, their children were screened for psychiatric disorders with the parents' version of the Child Behaviour Questionnaire, and a subsample of 157 mother/child dyad had second-stage interview with the children's version of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia to determine psychiatric morbidity in these children.

Quality of antenatal care services in the Birim North District of Ghana: contribution of the community-based health planning and services program.

To compare the quality of antenatal care (ANC) between Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) and non-CHPS areas in the Birim North District of Ghana. A cross-sectional study was conducted in May, 2010. We collected data from 600 women (300 from CHPS areas and 300 from non-CHPS areas) recruited from six CHPS and six non-CHPS areas, using a structured questionnaire.

Physicians are a key to encouraging cessation of smoking among people living with HIV/AIDS: a cross-sectional study in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal.

Background: HIV care providers may be optimally positioned to promote smoking behaviour change in their patients, among whom smoking is both highly prevalent and uniquely harmful. Yet research on this front is scant, particularly in the developing country context. Hence, this study describes smoking behaviour among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal, and assesses the association between experience of physician-delivered smoking status assessment and readiness to quit among HIV-positive smokers.

Knowing the consequences of unprotected sex with seroconcordant partner is associated with increased safer sex intentions among HIV-positive men in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Unprotected sexual intercourse among HIV-positive people can adversely affect their own health by increasing their exposure to multiple strains of HIV-1 or other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The study explored the relationship between knowledge of Nepalese HIV-positive men about the consequences of having unprotected sex with seroconcordant partners and their intention to practise safer sex with such partners. In total, 166 participants recruited conveniently in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, were interviewed.

Content analysis of school textbooks on health topics: a systematic review.

High-quality textbooks and learning materials are especially important for school children, but school textbooks may contain incorrect health information. The objective of this study was to review the findings of analytical studies about the contents of textbooks used in elementary, junior high, or high schools. Of 450 studies we screened, we reviewed 14 that met the inclusion criteria, and summarized information regarding: i) authors and publication year, ii) target country, iii) topics selected, iv) school level, v) textbook subject(s), vi) analytical methods, and vii) findings.

Perceived social support and the psychological well-being of AIDS orphans in urban Kenya.

Parental deaths due to AIDS seriously affect the psychological well-being of children. Social support may provide an effective resource in the care of vulnerable children in resource-limited settings. However, few studies have examined the relationships between social support and psychological well-being among AIDS orphans.

Social capital and life satisfaction: a cross-sectional study on persons with musculoskeletal impairments in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Background: Social capital has been recognized as a major social determinant of health, but less attention has been given to social capital of persons with musculoskeletal impairments. The present study aimed to explore the associations between social capital and life satisfaction of persons with musculoskeletal impairments in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Is staying overnight in a farming hut a risk factor for malaria infection in a setting with insecticide-treated bed nets in rural Laos?

Background: Overnight stays in farming huts are known to pose a risk of malaria infection. However, studies reporting the risk were conducted in the settings of poor net coverage. This study sought to assess whether an overnight stay in a farming hut is associated with an increased risk of malaria infection if insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) are properly used.

BLV-CoCoMo-qPCR: Quantitation of bovine leukemia virus proviral load using the CoCoMo algorithm.

Background: Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is closely related to human T-cell leukemia virus (HTLV) and is the etiological agent of enzootic bovine leukosis, a disease characterized by a highly extended course that often involves persistent lymphocytosis and culminates in B-cell lymphomas. BLV provirus remains integrated in cellular genomes, even in the absence of detectable BLV antibodies. Therefore, to understand the mechanism of BLV-induced leukemogenesis and carry out the selection of BLV-infected animals, a detailed evaluation of changes in proviral load throughout the course of disease in BLV-infected cattle is required.

Reliability and validity of a Nepalese version of the Kiddo-KINDL in adolescents.

The objective of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of a Nepalese version of the Kiddo-KINDL to measure Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) in adolescents. We collected data from 204 students between 13 to 16 years old from four secondary schools in Lalitpur district, Nepal. The students answered a Nepalese version of the Kiddo-KINDL and the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) with a self-administrated questionnaire.

Psychiatric morbidity in paediatric primary care clinic in Ilorin, Nigeria.

Background: We observed poor attendance at the recently established child and adolescent psychiatric clinic in our hospital, despite our sensitization efforts prior and after the establishment of the unit. The study was conducted at the paediatric clinics of the Family medicine/General out-patient department (GOPD) of university of Ilorin teaching hospital (UITH), Ilorin.

Objective: The study was aimed at finding out the prevalence, types and associated factors of psychiatric disorders among children attending the primary care unit of University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH).

Role of risk and protective factors in risky sexual behavior among high school students in Cambodia.

Background: In many developing countries, adolescents have become increasingly prone to engage in habitual risky sexual behavior such as early sexual initiation and unprotected sex. The objective of this study was to identify the operation of risk and protective factors in individual, family, peer, school, and community domains in predicting risky sexual behavior among male and female adolescents in Cambodia.

Methods: From October 2007 to January 2008, we collected data from 1,049 students aged 14 to 20 years.

Intimate partner violence in Sri Lanka.

To describe the current situation of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Sri Lanka, and to propose possible interventions to prevent IPV, we performed a literature survey for articles and reports on IPV in Sri Lanka. Our results suggested that prevalence of IPV is high (40%) in Sri Lanka. Most of the IPV studies were conducted in health care institutions and missed IPV victims who had not attended a health care institution.

Sibling caregiving among children orphaned by AIDS: synthesis of recent studies for policy implications.

Objective: The HIV/AIDS epidemic has increased the number of orphans who have to care for their younger siblings. However, their caregiving practices are poorly reported. This review aimed to explore and accumulate available evidences on sibling caregiving among children orphaned by AIDS.

Intimate partner violence among general and urban poor populations in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Comparative studies are lacking on intimate partner violence (IPV) between urban poor and general populations. The objective of this study is to identify the prevalence and risk factors of physical IPV among the general and poor populations in urban Nepal. A cross-sectional study was conducted by structured questionnaire interview.

Traffic rule violations of private bus drivers and bus crashes in Sri Lanka: a case-control study.

Objective: To explore the association between self-reported traffic rule violations of private sector bus drivers and bus crashes in the Kandy district, Sri Lanka.

Methods: We carried out a case-control study from August to September 2006. Cases were all the private bus drivers registered in the Kandy district and involved in crashes reported to the police between November 2005 and April 2006 (n = 63).

Changing poor mothers' care-seeking behaviors in response to childhood illness: findings from a cross-sectional study in Granada, Nicaragua.

Background: In 2008, approximately 8.8 million children under 5 years of age died worldwide. Most of these deaths occurred in developing countries, but little is known about poor mothers' care-seeking behaviors for their children.

Wives' attitudes toward gender roles and their experience of intimate partner violence by husbands in Central Province, Sri Lanka.

The authors conducted a community based, cross-sectional study to describe the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) by husbands and the association between wives' attitudes toward gender roles and their experience of IPV in Central Province, Sri Lanka. This article included a representative sample of 624 wives between 15 and 49 years of age and examined the prevalence of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse. Then, using multivariate logistic regression analysis, the authors examined the association between wives' attitudes toward gender roles and IPV.