Ivermectin-Based Mass Drug Administration for Scabies in Northern India: A Single-Arm Community Intervention Trial.

Background: Scabies and impetigo cause direct health effects and contribute to severe infectious and immune-mediated complications. Ivermectin-based mass drug administration can reduce scabies and impetigo prevalence in island settings with high prevalence, but the effectiveness in moderate-prevalence settings is not known.

Methods: We conducted a single-arm, before-after community intervention trial.

Access to dental care among individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in India: A scoping review.

Introduction: Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) face numerous challenges in accessing dental care. Despite difficulties, more evidence exploring difficulties among this cohort in India is needed. This study aims to conduct a scoping review of articles published in India exploring access to dental care among individuals with IDD.

Prevalence of dental caries among children and adolescents with intellectual disability in India: A scoping review.

Background: Children with intellectual and developmental disabilities are at a higher risk of developing dental caries. Few scoping reviews have been conducted in India to understand their issues. We aimed to summarise the distribution and risk factors of dental caries among children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities in India.

Telehealth as a Strategy for Health Equity: A Scoping Review of Telehealth in India During and Following the COVID-19 Pandemic for People with Disabilities.

Telehealth in India is growing rapidly and represents a strategy to promote affordable, inclusive, timely and safe access to healthcare. Yet there is a risk that telehealth increases inequity due to the digital divide and existing poor health literacy. A scoping review was conducted to explore use of telehealth in India during and following the COVID-19 pandemic by people with disabilities to inform strategies to increase equity of telehealth for people with disabilities.

Scaling a group intervention to promote caregiver mental health in Uttarakhand, India: A mixed-methods implementation study.

Caregivers are integral to health and social care systems in South Asian countries yet are themselves at higher risk of mental illness. Interventions to support caregiver mental health developed in high-income contexts may be contextually inappropriate in the Global South. In this mixed-methods study, we evaluated the implementation and scaling of a locally developed mental health group intervention for caregivers and others in Uttarakhand, India.

Does the group intervention improve mental health and social participation? A pre-post study in Uttarakhand, India.

There are few evidence-based interventions to support caregiver mental health developed for low- and middle-income countries. is a community-based group intervention developed with collaboratively with local community health workers in Uttarakhand, India primarily to promote mental wellbeing for caregivers and others. This pre-post study aimed to evaluate whether improved mental health and social participation for people with mental distress, including caregivers.

The lived experience of carers who assist people with disability in Ernakulam, Kerala, India.

Purpose: Family members are preferred providers of care for people with disability in India. Despite this, research which evaluates the impact of caregiving is limited. This qualitative study provides a comprehensive, in-depth exploration of the lived experience of carers who provide assistance to persons with a disability in Southwest India.

Prevalence and predictive factors of strain among caregivers of people with disability: results from R-Care community survey, Kerala, India.

Purpose: Caregivers of people with disability experience difficulties in a variety of care domains. Understanding the predictive factors of caregiver strain is important in developing and implementing evidence-based intervention to reduce the difficulties experienced by the carers.

Methods: The current study is a cross sectional comprehensive one-phase survey conducted in randomly selected sub-districts (taluks) of the Ernakulam district in Kerala.

Determining the vocational competencies required to deliver community-based rehabilitation and inclusive development services in India.

Purpose: To identify the competencies required by Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) practitioners in India and determine typical pathways of competency development, including minimum practice standards.

Methods: Following a literature review of existing frameworks and guidelines for CBR delivery, Delphi methods were used with Indian CBR experts to identify the main competency requirements of CBR personnel. Rubric writing workshops with CBR experts then expressed the performance of these competencies developmentally as learning progressions.

"We've got through hard times before: acute mental distress and coping among disadvantaged groups during COVID-19 lockdown in North India - a qualitative study".

Background: The COVID-19 crisis in India negatively impacted mental health due to both the disease and the harsh lockdown, yet there are almost no qualitative studies describing mental health impacts or the strategies of resilience used, and in particular, no reports from the most vulnerable groups. This study aimed to examine the acute mental health impacts of the COVID-19 crisis as well as coping strategies employed by disadvantaged community members in North India.

Methods: We used an intersectional lens for this qualitative study set in rural Tehri Garwhal and urban Dehradun districts of Uttarakhand, India.

Geographic variation in tobacco use in India: a population-based multilevel cross-sectional study.

Objective: This study aims to quantify the extent to which people's use of tobacco products varies by local areas (city ward and village) across India and the variation in this clustering by tobacco products.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting And Participants: Data on 73 954 adults across 2547 city wards and villages were available for analysis from 30 states and 2 union territories in India.

Magnitude, characteristics and consequences of topical steroid misuse in rural North India: an observational study among dermatology outpatients.

Introduction: Current evidence indicates an alarming increase in topical steroid (TS) misuse in India. Data regarding the magnitude and characteristics of this problem in rural India, where 68% of the population resides, are insufficient. This study analyses the magnitude, causes, characteristics and consequences of TS misuse in rural India.

Improving Social Inclusion for Young People Affected by Mental Illness in Uttarakhand, India.

Young people experiencing mental ill-health are often excluded from peer networks, family events, education, marriage and employment. We evaluated a community-based, peer-led intervention guided by the Nae Disha (new pathways) program, targeting young people affected by mental ill-health in Uttarakhand, India. A total of 11 groups involving 142 young people (30 male, 112 female) and 8 peer facilitators participated, most of whom were enrolled in a community mental health program.

Disabled People's Organisations increase access to services and improve well-being: evidence from a cluster randomized trial in North India.

Background: Disabled People's Organisations (DPOs) are the mainstay of disability responses worldwide. Yet there is no quantitative data assessing their effectiveness in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). The aim of this study was to measure the effectiveness of DPOs as a low-cost intervention to improve well-being and access to services and facilities for people with disabilities.

Adolescent and adult perceptions of the effects of larger size graphic health warnings on conventional and plain tobacco packs in India: A community-based cross-sectional study.

Introduction: We studied adolescent and adult perceptions of the effects of larger size, 85% versus 40%, Graphic Health Warnings (GHWs) on conventional and plain tobacco packs, in India.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 2121 participants (aged ≥13 years), during the period 2015-16, in Delhi and Telangana, India. Four categories of GHWs on tobacco packs were shown: A - 40% existing (April 2013-April 2016), B - 40% new (April 2016-present), C - 85% new, and D - plain packs (85% new).

A multicentric cross-sectional study to characterize the scale and impact of polypharmacy in rural Indian communities, conducted as part of health workers training.

Context: Polypharmacy and inappropriate medication usage is one of the world's most important public health issues. Yet in rural India, where medications are readily available, little is known about polypharmacy.

Aim: This study explores factors related to polypharmacy in rural India to inform the response.

Prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes in rural Tehri Garhwal, India: influence of diagnostic method.

Background: There are few available data regarding the prevalence of diabetes in the sub-Himalayan region of India. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of pre-diabetes and diabetes in rural Garhwal based on glycosylated hemoglobin.

Methods: In a cross-sectional survey of 500 adults from five randomly selected villages in Chamba, a mountainous Tehri Garhwal district in Uttarakhand in north-west India, we determined the prevalence of diabetes (hemoglobin (Hb) A ≥ 6.

Promoting social inclusion for young people affected by psycho-social disability in India - a realist evaluation of a pilot intervention.

India has 600 million young people, more than any other country in the world. Mental illness is the leading burden of disease for young people, and those affected experience restrictions in social participation that compromise recovery. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of a peer-led, community-based, participatory group intervention on social inclusion and mental health among 142 young people affected by psycho-social disability (PSD) in Dehradun district, Uttarakhand.

Plain packaging of tobacco products: the logical next step for tobacco control policy in India.

India implemented larger 85% pictorial health warnings on all tobacco products from 1 April 2016. However, to remove the last bit of glamour and attraction from the tobacco packs, it must now embrace plain packaging. Plain packaging prevents tobacco packs from carrying the tobacco industry brand imagery as mobile billboards.

Multiple barriers to participation for people with psychosocial disability in Dehradun district, North India: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: This study used a population-based cross-sectional survey to describe the prevalence of psychosocial disability and unmet need for access to services in North India.

Setting: This study was conducted in Dehradun district, Uttarakhand, in 2014.

Participants: A population-based sample of 2441 people over the age of 18 years.

Access to dental services for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities - A scoping review.

Background: Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) face considerable challenges in participating in dental services. These challenges include resource constraints and inadequate skills of health service providers to work with this population.

Aim: The aim was to scope published studies that addressed access to dental services for children with IDD in order to determine the extent to which various barriers have been researched, using an access framework derived from the literature.

Use of skin-lightening products among outpatient attendees in a North Indian Hospital.

In India, fair skin is a highly valued physical attribute. Skin lightener products comprise 60% of the dermatological market. This cross-sectional study was conducted in the general medical outpatient clinics of Champa Christian Hospital to elucidate the perceptions of fair skin and determinants/pattern of skin lighter use.