Parental Experiences on Learning About and Caring for Children with Cleft Lip and Palate: A Qualitative Study from South India.

Objectives: The study aimed to understand parents' reactions to cleft, the manner in which they learned about its presence, and the challenges they faced in caring for their child with a view to providing healthcare professionals insights toward enhancing care delivery.

Design: Qualitative in-depth interviews using the grounded theory approach were carried out with 11 mothers and fathers of children with cleft lip and palate (CLP) attending a cleft speciality hospital in Chennai city, in South India.

Results: Analysis resulted in the discovery of 5 core categories, learning about CLP-when and how, reactions and attributions to CLP, learning about and expectations from treatment, caring for a child with CLP and support systems.

A multi-centric, single-blinded, randomized, parallel-group study to evaluate the effectiveness of nasoalveolar moulding treatment in non-syndromic patients with complete unilateral cleft lip, alveolus and palate (NAMUC study): a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Cleft lip and palate (CLP) are among the most common congenital anomaly that affects up to 33,000 newborns in India every year. Nasoalveolar moulding (NAM) is a non-surgical treatment performed between 0 and 6 months of age to reduce the cleft and improve nasal aesthetics prior to lip surgery. The NAM treatment has been a controversial treatment option with 51% of the cleft teams in Europe, 37% of teams in the USA and 25 of cleft teams in India adopting this methodology.

'I don`t need an eye check-up'. A qualitative study using a behavioural model to understand treatment-seeking behaviour of patients with sight threatening diabetic retinopathy (STDR) in India.

Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) affects about 27% of patients with diabetes globally. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), DR is responsible for37 million cases of blindness worldwide. The SMART India study (October 2020-August 2021) documented the prevalence of diabetes, and DR in people40 years and above across ten Indian states and one Union Territory by conducting community screening.

Exploring the challenges in the management of childhood pneumonia-qualitative findings from health care providers from two high prevalence states in India.

India ranks among the top five countries in the world in child deaths due to pneumonia. Apart from poor public awareness, inadequate health infrastructure and treatment services have compromised effective management. This qualitative study guided by components of the Andersen-Newman's health care utilization framework explored contextual and community challenges faced by health care providers (HCPs) in the delivery of care services for children with pneumonia in select districts of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Madhya Pradesh (MP).

Reduction in prevalence of spousal physical violence against women in India: evidence from three national surveys.

Spousal physical violence (PV) against women is considered to be major health issue in developing countries. Lifetime physical violence is a composite outcome consists of hit, kick, beat, slap and threatened with weapon, perpetrated by the husband. The study aims to examine changes in prevalence and specific risk factors for PV from 1998 to 2016 in India.

Feeding At Sleep Time (FeAST) Scale: Assessing Risk for Developing Early Childhood Caries in South Indian Toddlers.

Purpose: The Feeding At Sleep Time (FeAST) scale was developed and validated to assess sleep time feeding practices for children younger than three years. The purpose of this study was to describe the process of scoring and find an optimum clinical cutoff score for early childhood caries (ECC) using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis, thereby enabling researchers and clinicians to assess risk for devel- oping ECC.

Methods: The FeAST scale was administered to mothers of 527 toddlers, aged 12 to 36 months, attending four outpatient depart- ments.

Optimizing Care-Seeking for Childhood Pneumonia: A Public Health Perspective.

Objective: This study examined the pattern of care-seeking behavior for childhood pneumonia and factors influencing it, in Madhya Pradesh (MP), Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Tamil Nadu (TN).

Methods: Using a mixed-methods design, consenting mothers of children less than 5 years with probable pneumonia participated in a household survey to assess their care-seeking behavior. A purposively selected sub-sample participated in semi-structured interviews (SSIs) to understand their perceptions on care sought, decision making abilities and cultural influences that governed these behaviors.

Understanding low mobilization for non-communicable diseases among people living with NCDs: A qualitative study on hypertension in urban South India.

There is low civil society mobilization for NCD policies in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) despite a growing NCD burden. While existing research explains low mobilization largely through constraints such as inadequate funding and capacity at the organizational level, we explore the issue from the perspective of people living with NCDs and ask how lay understandings of hypertension may inform potential mobilization for multisectoral policy actions by people living with hypertension. To explore this question, we develop a theoretical framework that casts mobilization as a function of people's recognition of disease importance, attribution of NCD risk factors to government policies, beliefs about who bears responsibility for NCD prevention and management, and beliefs around efficacy of multisectoral policies.

Development and validation of a scale to assess Feeding at Sleep Time (FeAST) among infants and toddlers.

Background: Feeding practices adopted by parents play a critical role in the development of children's taste preferences, eating habits, nutrition and eventual weight status. Many scales have been developed to assess feeding practices among children of various age groups. This paper aimed to construct and validate a robust scale for the comprehensive assessment of sleep-time feeding practices for children aged 0-3 years and to establish the risk of developing Early Childhood Caries (ECC).

Where do mothers take their children for pneumonia care? Findings from three Indian states.

Childhood pneumonia accounts for 17% of IMR in India, posing a major health burden. With cultural beliefs influencing care seeking behaviour and disparities existing in health infrastructure across the country, an understanding of the underlying issues merits exploration. Study assessed prevalence of probable pneumonia and examined care seeking behaviour of mothers in three states, Madhya Pradesh (MP), Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Tamil Nadu (TN).

Development and validation of a scale to assess attitudes of health care providers towards persons affected by leprosy in southern India.

Introduction: Assessment of attitudes of health care professionals is important as negative attitude could constitute a major deterrent to care-seeking by persons affected by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) such as leprosy. Leprosy continues to pose a major disease burden in India with an annual new case detection rate of 10.17 per 100,000 population.

Differential item functioning for items in Berger's HIV Stigma Scale: an analysis of cohorts from the Indian, Swedish, and US contexts.

Purpose: To examine whether items in Berger's HIV Stigma Scale function differently with persons of different age, gender, and cultural backgrounds.

Methods: Secondary data from cohorts, collected in South India (n = 250), Sweden (n = 193), and the US (n = 603) were reanalyzed to evaluate DIF within, between, and across these cohorts. All participants had answered the revised version of the HIV stigma scale consisting of 32 items forming the subscales Personalized stigma, Disclosure concerns, Concerns about public attitudes, and Negative self-image.

Sociocultural and structural perpetuators of domestic violence in pregnancy: A qualitative look at what South Indian women believe needs to change.

In India, reported rates of domestic violence rise as high as 31%. Abuse against pregnant women in India is associated with depressive and PTSD symptoms, and poor birth outcomes, yet no evidence-based interventions have been tested on this population. In this cross-sectional qualitative study, we sought perspective on South Indian women's concerns about abuse during pregnancy and what they believed would help.

The impact of domestic violence and depressive symptoms on preterm birth in South India.

Purpose: India has the highest absolute number of maternal deaths, preterm birth cases, and under-5 mortality in the world, as well as high domestic violence (DV) rates. We sought to examine the impact of DV and its psychosocial correlates on pregnancy and birth outcomes.

Methods: Women seeking antenatal care in Tamil Nadu, South India (N = 150) were assessed during pregnancy, and birth outcomes were abstracted from medical records after the babies were born.

Input of stakeholders on reducing depressive symptoms and improving diabetes outcomes in India: Formative work for the INDEPENDENT Study.

Aims: Depression and diabetes are highly comorbid, adversely affecting treatment adherence and resulting in poor outcomes. To improve treatment and outcomes for people dually-affected by diabetes and depression in India, we aimed to develop and test an integrated care model. In the formative phase of this INtegrated DEPrEssioN and Diabetes TreatmENT (INDEPENDENT) study, we sought stakeholder perspectives to inform culturally-sensitive adaptations of the intervention.

Positive coping strategies and HIV-related stigma in south India.

Whether perceived or enacted, HIV-related stigma is widespread in India, and has had a crippling effect on People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA). Research has shown that a positive attitude towards the illness sets a proactive framework for the individual to cope with his or her infection; therefore, healthy coping mechanisms are essential to combat HIV-related stigma. This qualitative study involving in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with PLHA affiliated with HIV support groups in South India explored positive coping strategies employed by PLHA to deal with HIV-related stigma.

Antiretroviral therapy adherence measurement in non-clinical settings in South India.

Optimal adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is key to viral suppression, but may be impeded by psychosocial consequences of HIV-infection such as stigma and depression. Measures of adherence in India have been examined in clinic populations, but little is known about the performance of these measures outside clinical settings. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 151 Tamil-speaking people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) in India recruited through HIV support networks and compared single item measures from the Adult AIDS Clinical Trial Group (AACTG) scale, a visual analog scale (VAS), and a question on timing of last missed dose.

Cultural adaptation of the Brief COPE for persons living with HIV/AIDS in southern India.

Physical and psychological stressors of HIV infection demand adequate coping responses from persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) and coping strategies may vary by cultural context. The Brief COPE is a well validated scale that has been used extensively to assess coping with cancer, depression, and HIV infection in other settings, but never in India. In this study we translated and validated the 28 item Brief COPE among 299 PLHA in South India, assessing reliability, validity, and cultural appropriateness.

Using consumer perspectives to inform the cultural adaptation of psychological treatments for depression: a mixed methods study from South Asia.

Background: Integrating consumer perspectives in developing and adapting psychological treatments (PTs) can enhance their acceptability in diverse cultural contexts.

Objective: To describe the explanatory models (EMs) of depression in South Asia with the goal of informing the content of culturally appropriate PTs for this region.

Methods: Two methods were used: a systematic review of published literature on the EMs of depression in South Asia; and in-depth interviews with persons with depression and family caregivers in two sites in India.