Publications by authors named "Kunwar R"

Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the factors that influence the initiation and retention of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Nepal, focusing on perspectives from healthcare providers, families, and people living with HIV.
  • In-depth interviews with ART clients and healthcare providers revealed individual, family/community, and health system-level facilitators and barriers affecting ART uptake and adherence.
  • Key findings emphasize the need for tailored interventions to improve awareness about HIV and enhance support systems, addressing stigma and logistical challenges within the healthcare system.
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  • Kathmandu is experiencing severe air pollution, leading to respiratory diseases in both humans and street dogs due to similarities in their respiratory systems.
  • A study assessed 76 dogs with respiratory symptoms, finding that 52 died, with necropsies revealing significant lung lesions indicative of pulmonary anthracosis.
  • The findings highlight the serious health risks posed by polluted air, demonstrating life-threatening conditions in stray canines linked to environmental factors.
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Information on prey selection and the diet of the leopard () is essential for leopard conservation. We conducted an investigation into the prey species and the proportion of each species in the leopard's diet in a human-dominated mid-hill region of Nepal. The analysis of 96 leopard scats collected between August 2020 and March 2021 revealed that leopards consumed 15 prey species, including small- and medium-sized mammals and livestock.

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Background: Females in developing countries face brunt of lack of access to affordable menstrual supplies and inequitable distribution of menstrual health education and are victims of period poverty. The objective of the present study was to estimate prevalence of period poverty and to determine association of period poverty with socio-demographic determinants, menstrual knowledge, menstrual hygiene management practices, and reproductive health.

Materials And Methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional study, conducted at an urban primary health care centre.

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Background: Okhaldhunga is a hilly district with fragile socioeconomic conditions, limited access to health care, social stigma, and poor resource management, where most people rely on medicinal plants for primary health care. The use of medicinal plants for primary health care varies with socioeconomic attributes. Following the intra-cultural analysis, we documented and tested the hypothesis that use of medicinal plants in Champadevi, Okhaldhunga, Nepal, depends on socioeconomic variables.

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Objectives: This is the first nationally representative study to estimate the prevalence of viral load (VL) suppression and acquired HIV drug resistance (ADR) among people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Nepal.

Methods: A cross-sectional study recruited 1418 PLHIV from 20 ART centres in Nepal, using a two-stage cluster design. Participants were eligible if they were HIV-positive individuals on ART for 9-15 months or at least 48 months.

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Background As obese people frequently experience persistent musculoskeletal pain (MSP), understanding the relationship between obesity and pain may help develop therapeutic and preventative approaches to treat discomfort from MSP. MSP can negatively impact such individuals' quality of life and their ability to perform daily tasks. Therefore, more thorough investigations are required to fully understand the connection between obesity and MSP.

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Background: The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme was launched in 1975 for the improvement in maternal and child health and nutrition. The services under ICDS are implemented through Anganwadi centers (AWCs) and are delivered by Anganwadi workers (AWWs) at grassroots level. To evaluate the efficiency of all AWCs located in the field practice area of the medical college in North India, using data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique.

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Climate change is projected to create alterations in species distributions over the planet. The common leopard () serves an important ecological function as a member of the big carnivore guild, but little is known about how climate change may affect their distribution. In this study, we use MaxEnt to simulate the geographic distributions by illustrating potential present and future ranges of common leopard by utilizing presence records alongside important topographic and bioclimatic variables based on two shared socioeconomic pathways (SSP2-4.

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Wildlife conservation in human-dominated landscapes faces increased challenges due to rising conflicts between humans and wildlife. We investigated the human and wildlife loss rates due to human-wildlife conflict between 2000 and 2020 in Nepal. We concentrated on Asian elephant (), greater one-horned rhino (), tiger (), and leopard () mortality, as well as human mortality caused by these species.

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  • Traditional herbal remedies are important for treating health issues in both humans and livestock, but ethnoveterinary practices in Nepal are often overlooked despite their significance.
  • This study reviews literature on plant-based remedies used for livestock in Nepal, identifying 393 plant species used for treating 34 different ailments, highlighting rich ethnoveterinary diversity.
  • The findings emphasize the role of traditional herbal medicine in livestock healthcare, offering affordable options for farmers and supporting sustainable farming practices in Nepal.
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Introduction: Vitamin D deficiency is a global health concern with over billions of people worldwide being vitamin D deficient or insufficient. Many epidemiological studies have reported cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune diseases and neoplastic diseases to be associated with vitamin D levels. This study aims to find out the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in patients presenting to the outpatient Department of Medicine of a tertiary care center.

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  • The traditional knowledge of medicinal plants is at risk of being lost, making it crucial to document their use and distribution across different ethnic groups in Nepal for effective conservation efforts.
  • This study compiled information from over 275 publications and field visits in 21 districts to create heatmaps identifying hotspots of ethnomedicinal plant usage.
  • The findings indicate that the mid-hills and mountainous regions have the highest diversity of medicinal plants, which correlates with a higher population density and variety of ethnic groups, highlighting the need for targeted conservation strategies in these areas.
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Unlabelled: Climate change has become one of the most compelling fields of empirical research over the last couple of decades, partly due to its socio-economic impacts. Using a meta-analysis of 235 peer-reviewed articles published between January 2010 and July 2020, this paper appraises climate change adaptation (CCA) research in Nepal and draws lessons for future adaptation planning. The number of research is observed to have increased significantly in recent years (2015-2020) although there is no consistent pattern over the review period and at the thematic level.

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Anthropogenic pressures in human-dominated landscapes often contribute to wildlife mortality. Carnivores are especially vulnerable to human-induced mortality due to the perceived threat to livestock and humans. Despite having widespread conservation implications, carnivore mortality data have been largely underutilized within Nepal.

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The information available on the diversity of ant species and their distribution and interaction with forest health in Nepal remains limited. As part of a nationwide project on forest health, we conducted inventories to assess the diversity and distribution of forest ants and their role in forest management in Nepal. Ants were collected from 187 plots of 10 m × 10 m size along the north-south belt transects in eastern, central, and western Nepal.

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With the intent to better management human wildlife conflict (HWC) and wildlife conservation in mid-hills outside protected areas of Gandaki province, Nepal, we analyzed the patterns and drivers of HWC. Using data collected from literature, government records and questionnaire survey, we investigated temporal, seasonal and spatial distribution of human casualties caused by wildlife attacks. We also appraised the perception of local people towards wildlife conservation.

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Background: There are handful hypothesis-driven ethnobotanical studies in Nepal. In this study, we tested the non-random medicinal plant selection hypothesis using national- and community-level datasets through three different types of regression: linear model with raw data, linear model with log-transformed data and negative binomial model.

Methods: For each of these model, we identified over-utilized families as those with highest positive Studentized residuals and underutilized families with highest negative Studentized residuals.

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Background: Cardiac arrhythmias are a leading cause of death. The mainstay method for diagnosing arrhythmias (eg, atrial fibrillation) and cardiac conduction disorders (eg, prolonged corrected QT interval [QTc]) is by using 12-lead electrocardiography (ECG). Handheld 12-lead ECG devices are emerging in the market.

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An account of total of 58 plant species including 57 genera and 43 families was reported as useful in ethnomedicine from semi-structured questionnaire survey to the 76 participants of Kaski and Baitadi districts, Nepal. Fieldwork and participatory meetings were carried out between September 2017 and January 2018. A total of 419 emic use reports including 150 from Kaski and 269 from Baitadi were reported from 58 ethnomedicinal plant species.

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In recent times, the use of traditional herbal medicines in healthcare has declined, particularly amongst the rural population. This implies a risk of losing vital information from previous generations regarding plants and their use in traditional medicine. The objective of this study is to catalog the ways employed by inhabitants of the Garhwal Himalayas as part of their traditional approaches to healthcare.

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This study investigated the contextual factors associated with the knowledge, perceptions, and the willingness of frontline healthcare workers (FHWs) to work during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal among a total of 1051 FHWs. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was applied to identify independent associations between predictors and outcome variables. Of the total study subjects, 17.

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Background: Depression and other mental illness are very common among chronic kidney disease and also Quality of life has been found significantly impaired in chronic kidney disease. The objective of our study is to study Depression, Quality of life and its associations in chronic kidney disease.

Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study.

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Objective: To examine the impact of parental international migration on health care seeking for common childhood illnesses (diarrhoea, fever, and acute respiratory infections) and nutritional status (stunting, underweight and wasting) in young children in Nepal using the most recent nationally representative Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey.

Study Design: Nationally representative cross-sectional survey.

Methods: We used multiple logistic regression models to examine the association between parental international migration and the study outcomes adjusting for a range of potential confounders.

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