Stability and predictability of Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development: evidence from a south Indian birth cohort prospective study.

Objectives: There is limited information about the stability and predictability of Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (BSID) assessing child development in low- and middle-income settings. The objective of the present study was to analyse stability and predictive validity of BSID using an existing birth cohort.

Design: Prospective birth cohort follow-up study.

Primary care for the urban poor in India during the pandemic: Uninterrupted management of non-communicable diseases and home-based care of patients with COVID-19 infection.

Problem: The two waves of COVID-19 severely affected the healthcare system in India. The government responded to the first wave with a strict nationwide lockdown which disrupted primary care, including the management of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The second wave overwhelmed healthcare facilities leading to inadequate access to hospital services.

Early Childhood Stimulating Environment Predicts Later Childhood Resilience in an Indian Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study.

Background: Human resilience is dynamic and generated through myriad interactions starting from early childhood. Resilience can improve quality of life and longevity.

Objective: The current analysis evaluates childhood resilience at 9 years of age and its associations with concurrent cognition and early childhood factors, using longitudinal follow-up of a community birth cohort in Vellore, south India.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Contraceptives Among Married Women of Rural Vellore.

Introduction: Ensuring reproductive health is central to the process of developing and improving the health of women and children and is linked to the issues such as sexually transmitted diseases, poverty, education, gender equality, and human rights. This community-based cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices of contraceptives of married women aged 18-49 years in rural Vellore, Tamil Nadu.

Methods: This study was conducted in Kaniyambadi block in Vellore, Tamil Nadu.

Secular Growth Trends in Early Childhood-Evidence from Two Low-Income Birth Cohorts Recruited over a Decade in Vellore, India.

Stunting and extreme poverty are considered significant risk factors impacting child development in low-and-middle-income countries. We used two birth cohorts recruited 8-9 years apart in urban low-income (slum) settings in Vellore, south India and analyzed secular growth trends and their predictors. In the rotavirus cohort recruited between 2002 and 2003, 373 children completed the 3-year follow-up.

Implementing FCTC Article 17 Through Participatory Research With Bidi Workers in Tamil Nadu, India.

Introduction: The exploitation, poor conditions, and precarity in the bidi (hand-rolled leaf cigarette) industry in India make it ripe for the application of the FCTC's Article 17, "Provision of support for economically viable alternative activities". "Bottom-up", participatory approaches give scope to explore bidi rollers' own circumstances, experiences, and aspirations.

Methods: A team of six community health volunteers using a participatory research orientation developed a questionnaire-based semi-structured interview tool.

Impact of the COVID-19 National Lockdown on a Rural and Tribal Population of Tamil Nadu, Southern India: A Mixed-Methods Survey.

We assessed the impact of the national lockdown on a rural and tribal population in Tamil Nadu, southern India. A mixed-methods approach with a pilot-tested, semi-structured questionnaire and focus group discussions were used. The impact of the lockdown on health, finances, and livelihood was studied using descriptive statistics.

Are early childhood stunting and catch-up growth associated with school age cognition?-Evidence from an Indian birth cohort.

Background: Millions of children worldwide especially in the Asian subcontinent are vulnerable to early childhood stunting. There are contradictory reports of the association between catch-up growth in childhood and school age cognition.

Methods: A community-based birth cohort recruited between 2010 and 2012 from urban slums in Vellore, India was followed up until 9 years of age.

Screening practices for breast and cervical cancer and associated factors, among rural women in Vellore, Tamil Nadu.

Background: Population-based screening coverage for breast and cervical cancer screening in the community is inadequately reported in India. This study assessed screening rates, awareness, and other factors affecting screening, among rural women aged 25-60 years in Vellore, Tamil Nadu.

Methods: Women aged 25-60 years, from five randomly selected villages of a rural block were included in this cross-sectional study in Vellore, Tamil Nadu.

A retrospective study on the microbial spectrum and antibiogram of uropathogens in children in a secondary care hospital in Rural Vellore, South India.

Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is common among children. Empiric antibiotics have to be started as early as possible or it may lead to an irreversible renal parenchymal damage and renal scarring in children. The objectives were to determine the prevalence and microbial profile of paediatric UTI and to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern.

Developmental trends in early childhood and their predictors from an Indian birth cohort.

Background: Early childhood developmental pattern analyses not only project future cognition potential, but also identify potential risks for possible intervention. The current study evaluates developmental trends in the first 3 years of life and their predictors in a low and middle income country setting.

Methods: Trends of early childhood development at 6, 15, 24 and 36 months of age and their predictors were explored in a longitudinal community-based birth cohort study in an urban slum in Vellore, South India.

Risk Factors and Hazards in the Household Environment for Elevated Blood Lead Levels in Urban Preschool Children of Vellore: A Case-Control Approach in the MAL-ED Birth Cohort.

Objectives: To study the household environmental risk factors and hazards associated with elevated blood lead levels (EBLLs) in preschool children in an urban setting of Vellore, South India.

Methods: A case-control study within the MAL-ED (Etiology, Risk Factors and Interactions of Enteric Infections and Malnutrition and the Consequences for Child Health and Development) birth cohort was conducted between January 2014 and January 2015. The study included 153 pre-school children: 87 cases and 66 controls with elevated and normal BLLs, respectively.

The insulin sharps disposal study: Evaluation of a structured patient education initiative in an urban community health centre in India.

Context: India has witnessed an increase in people suffering from diabetes mellitus and also those on insulin. The issue of handling used sharps in the community is an area of concern.

Aims: Our study aimed to assess the change in knowledge and practise concerning the disposal of used insulin sharps in patients with diabetes, pre- and post-evaluation, a structured, health provider-initiated, patient-centred insulin-use health education (PIHE).

Association between head circumference at two years and second and fifth year cognition.

Background: Head circumference (HC) measurement is routinely not performed in early childhood and there is conflicting information about its utility in literature. The current study analyses the association between HC at two years of age and cognition at two and five years of age.

Methods: A community based birth-cohort recruited between 2010 and 2012 was followed up till five years of age in an urban slum in Vellore, India.

Home environment: Short-term trends and predictors in early childhood from an Indian community birth cohort.

Background: Early childhood home environment is intricately linked to child development and later cognitive and academic skills. There is limited literature evaluating home environmental trends and predictors in the low- and middle-income country settings.

Aims: Determine the trends of early childhood home environment changes between 6 and 36 months of age, and the factors associated with these changes.

Accuracy of Trained Community-based Rehabilitation Volunteers in Identification and Appropriate Referral of Adults with Perceived Visual Disability in an Urban-slum Setting in Southern India.

Purpose: The integration of primary eyecare into existing primary healthcare systems requires simple yet effective tools that do not overburden the grass-root level worker. The objective of this study was to test the accuracy of a questionnaire-based tool administered by trained community-based rehabilitation volunteers (CBRVs) in identifying persons with visual disability, proportions accessing referral pathway and barriers to uptake of eyecare services.

Methods: CBRVs working in the urban-slum service area of a teaching hospital were trained in administering a questionnaire-based tool derived from the World Health Organization (WHO) "Training in the community for people with disabilities" to a responsible adult member of the household.

Body iron and lead status in early childhood and its effects on development and cognition: a longitudinal study from urban Vellore.

Objective: Early childhood factors can have persisting effects on development and cognition in children. We propose to explore the trends of Fe deficiency and Pb toxicity in early childhood and their association with child development at 2 years of age and cognition at 5 years.

Design: Longitudinal birth cohort study.

Intestinal permeability and inflammation mediate the association between nutrient density of complementary foods and biochemical measures of micronutrient status in young children: results from the MAL-ED study.

Background: Environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) is thought to increase the risk of micronutrient deficiencies, but few studies adjust for dietary intakes and systemic inflammation.

Objective: We tested whether EED is associated with micronutrient deficiency risk independent of diet and systemic inflammation, and whether it mediates the relation between intake and micronutrient status.

Methods: Using data from 1283 children in the MAL-ED (Etiology, Risk Factors, and Interactions of Enteric Infections and Malnutrition and the Consequences for Child Health) birth cohort we evaluated the risk of anemia, low retinol, zinc, and ferritin, and high transferrin receptor (TfR) at 15 mo.

Unintentional injuries among children aged 1-5 years: understanding the burden, risk factors and severity in urban slums of southern India.

Background: Globally, 5.82 million deaths occurred among children under the age of five years in 2015 and injury specific mortality rate was 73 per 100,000 population. In India, injury specific mortality rate is around 2.

Early Antibiotic Exposure in Low-resource Settings Is Associated With Increased Weight in the First Two Years of Life.

Objectives: The potential growth-promoting effects of antibiotics are not well understood among undernourished children in environments with high pathogen exposure. We aimed to assess whether early antibiotic exposure duration and class were associated with growth to 2 years of age across 8 low-resource sites in the MAL-ED birth cohort study.

Methods: We followed 1954 children twice per week from birth to 2 years to record maternally reported antibiotic exposures and measure anthropometry monthly.

Use of antibiotics in children younger than two years in eight countries: a prospective cohort study.

Objective: To describe the frequency and factors associated with antibiotic use in early childhood, and estimate the proportion of diarrhoea and respiratory illnesses episodes treated with antibiotics.

Methods: Between 2009 and 2014, we followed 2134 children from eight sites in Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Peru, South Africa and the United Republic of Tanzania, enrolled in the MAL-ED birth cohort study. We documented all antibiotic use from mothers' reports at twice-weekly visits over the children's first two years of life.

Probiotics, antibiotics and the immune responses to vaccines.

Orally delivered vaccines have been shown to perform poorly in developing countries. There are marked differences in the structure and the luminal environment of the gut in developing countries resulting in changes in immune and barrier function. Recent studies using newly developed technology and analytic methods have made it increasingly clear that the intestinal microbiota activate a multitude of pathways that control innate and adaptive immunity in the gut.