Misconceptions about epilepsy may explain the considerable stigma accompanying it. We aimed to identify such fallacies through questionnaire-based interviews of 487 adult residents of a slum area in Karachi, Pakistan. Of those interviewed, 25% believed that epilepsy was caused by evil spirits, black magic and envy by others - those without a school education were more likely to hold these views (P < 0.05). Perceived complications included impotence and cancer. Shoe-sniffing was considered a treatment modality by 13%. It appears that misconceptions abound regarding epilepsy's causes, complications and methods of treatment. However, those who had received a school education were less likely to link epilepsy with supernatural phenomena.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1258/td.2006.006311 | DOI Listing |
Nutrients
December 2024
Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, 801 Massachusetts Ave. 4th Floor, Boston, MA 02118, USA.
Background/objectives: This paper examines hunger over time to analyze how food insecurity is impacted by reduced income, including household funding from the government. Federal policies and community-based programs have the ability to prevent increases in food insecurity, particularly for populations that have risk factors, such as households with children; single-parent households; low-income households, especially those in rural areas; Black and Hispanic households; and, households experiencing economic hardships.
Methods: This study is bas ed on a cross-sectional survey that was administered in 2018 and 2019 to food pantry clients, an already food insecure population accessing resources, in Eastern Massachusetts.
BMC Womens Health
January 2025
Directorate of Research and Postgraduate Studies, Mulungushi University, Kabwe, Zambia.
Background: Menstrual poverty remains a significant health problem among female learners in Zambia, particularly due to the lack of access to menstrual products, leading to the use of unsafe alternatives and potential health risks such as reproductive tract infections. To address this pressing issue, this study examined the disparities in knowledge, attitudes, and practices concerning menstrual poverty among female learners in both urban and rural government schools within Zambia.
Methods: The study utilized a mixed-method sequential explanatory design, combining quantitative and qualitative approaches.
Sci Rep
January 2025
Babson College, Wellesley, USA.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a time of great intensity that exposed many existing inequities in facing this global threat. Building on Galtung's conceptualization of positive peace as the absence of structural violence and institutionalized inequality, we study the gendered effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on reported subjective wellbeing (SWB) in four countries in the Middle East. Data from mobile phone panel surveys, with a total sample of 12,614 observations collected during this critical juncture, show that women consistently reported a lower level of SWB than men in all four countries.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRev Paul Pediatr
January 2025
Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Faculdade de Odontologia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil.
Objective: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and investigate the factors associated with intestinal parasitic diseases in children from an urban slum in Brazil.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in children living in SEWA community, an urban slum located in Araguari, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The prevalence of intestinal parasitosis was determined via stool parasitological examination by spontaneous sedimentation.
BMJ Paediatr Open
January 2025
University of New South Wales School of Women's and Children's Health, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia.
Background: Urban health challenges, particularly for street and slum-dwelling children and families, have emerged as one of the most significant health concerns in India. While there is little published on effective healthcare delivery to these populations, mobile health vans (MHV) have been proposed as a proactive pathway to providing outreach healthcare. Our aims were to evaluate the impact of Bal Umang Drishya Sanstha (BUDS) MHV in providing health and support services to the urban slum populations in Delhi National Capital Region (NCR), focusing on benefits to children.
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