Patient costs for drug-resistant TB diagnosis and pre-treatment evaluation in North India.

Introduction: India's National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP) aims to eliminate TB-related catastrophic expenditure by offering free diagnosis and treatment. However, 3.9% of TB patients have drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) and are facing higher costs.

Ethical issues and proposed solutions in conducting practical assessment of medical students involving patients.

Practical assessment involving patients plays a vital role in medical education, allowing students to demonstrate their clinical competencies. However, there are significant ethical concerns associated with these assessments that require careful consideration and resolution. The primary ethical concerns include violation of patient autonomy, lack of written informed consent, power dynamics, cultural differences, potential harm to patients, breach of privacy and confidentiality, discomfort to admitted patients, financial loss to patients, impact on other patients' care, and delays in workup/procedures.

Assessment of targeted intervention programme under the National AIDS Control Program among men who have sex with men in India.

Introduction: The population of men who have sex with men (MSM) in India is vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. India instituted a targeted intervention (TI) programme to reduce this vulnerability. We aimed to measure the assessment of the TI programme for MSM.

Delivering non-communicable disease services through primary health care in selected south Asian countries: are health systems prepared?

In the south Asian region, delivering non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention and control services through existing primary health-care (PHC) facilities is urgently required yet currently challenging. As the first point of contact with the health-care system, PHC offers an ideal window for prevention and continuity of care over the life course, yet the implementation of PHC to address NCDs is insufficient. This review considers evidence from five south Asian countries to derive policy-relevant recommendations for designing integrated PHC systems that include NCD care.

Cooking fuel use and respiratory health of women and children in rural Ballabgarh, Haryana.

Background: Household air pollution arising from combustion of unclean fuels during cooking activities causes serious respiratory health effects. This study investigated patterns of household cooking fuel use and its effect on respiratory health status of women and children.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in rural households of Ballabgarh, Haryana during December 2019 to January 2020 among 18-45 years old women and their children having age between 6 and 59 months.

Investigating the association between tobacco use and oral health among security guards at a tertiary healthcare centre in New Delhi: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Tobacco usage is a major global public health concern, contributing to millions of deaths annually. This study focuses on security guards, an occupational group facing unique challenges, to investigate tobacco prevalence, usage patterns, and associated oral health risks.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among security guards at a Tertiary Health Care Centre, from October 2022 to February 2023.

Chronic Illnesses and Depression among Community-based Adolescents in Rural Haryana, India.

Evidence on the association of chronic illnesses with depression among adolescents in the Indian community setting is limited. A simple random sample of 583 adolescents, comprising 56.6% of boys and 43.

Association of anaemia with indoor air pollution among older Indian adult population: multilevel modelling analysis of nationally representative cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Anaemia is a disease of public health importance with multi-causal pathways. Previous literature suggests the role of indoor air pollution (IAP) on haemoglobin levels, but this has been studied less due to logistic constraints. A high proportion of the population in developing countries, including India, still depends on unclean fuel, which exacerbates IAP.

Perception and Practices Regarding Stubble Burning in Rural Community of Haryana.

Background: Agricultural emissions pose significant health risks, especially in countries like India with abundant agricultural waste. This study focuses on understanding stubble burning perceptions and practices in rural National Capital Region to inform targeted interventions for sustainable farming practices and improved public health.

Methods And Material: This community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among the randomly selected households of rural Ballabgarh, Haryana.

Quality improvement initiative to standardise the anthropometric assessment for children under the age of 5 years at an urban primary health centre in New Delhi.

Background: Anthropometric assessment in the paediatric population is particularly important to assess the child's general health status, nutritional adequacy, and growth and developmental pattern. However, there are often shortcomings in the quality of anthropometric assessment done in primary healthcare settings despite the presence of established guidelines. In this study, we plan to use the quality improvement (QI) principles to improve the anthropometric assessment of under-5 children attending an urban primary health centre in Delhi, India.

Construction and validation of a covariate-based model for district-level estimation of excess deaths due to COVID-19 in India.

Background: Different statistical approaches for estimating excess deaths due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have led to varying estimates. In this study, we developed and validated a covariate-based model (CBM) with imputation for prediction of district-level excess deaths in India.

Methods: We used data extracted from deaths registered under the Civil Registration System for 2015-19 for 684 of 713 districts in India to estimate expected deaths for 2020 through a negative binomial regression model (NBRM) and to calculate excess observed deaths.

Common mental disorders among adolescents in an urban area of Delhi.

Background: Common mental disorders (CMDs) among adolescents may hamper their psycho-social development.

Aim: This study evaluated the prevalence and determinants of CMD like depression and anxiety among late adolescents of an age of 15--19 years residing in an urban resettlement colony of southeast Delhi.

Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 556 randomly selected adolescents.

Treatment outcomes of digital nasoalveolar moulding in infants with cleft lip and palate: A systematic review with meta-analysis.

The aim of this systematic review was to compare the treatment outcomes of digital nasoalveolar moulding (dNAM) technique with conventional nasoalveolar moulding (cNAM) or non-presurgical intervention protocol in infants with unilateral (UCLP) or bilateral (BCLP) cleft lip and palate. A bibliometric search by MEDLINE (via Ovid), Embase, Cochrane Library, grey literature and manual method was conducted without language restriction until November 2023. Literature screening and data extraction were undertaken in Covidence.

Prevalence and gender difference in depression in primary health care in India: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Depression contributes to the major burden of mental illness in India. Assessment of burden is essential to develop interventions to address the problem at the primary care level.

Materials And Methods: We carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies documenting the prevalence of depression in primary care in India.

Adverse outcomes in patients hospitalized with pneumonia at age 60 or more: A prospective multi-centric hospital-based study in India.

Background: Limited data exists regarding risk factors for adverse outcomes in older adults hospitalized with Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) in low- and middle-income countries such as India. This multisite study aimed to assess outcomes and associated risk factors among adults aged ≥60 years hospitalized with pneumonia.

Methods: Between December 2018 and March 2020, we enrolled ≥60-year-old adults admitted within 48 hours for CAP treatment across 16 public and private facilities in four sites.

Prevalence of anaemia among adolescent girls (10-19 years) in India: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background Anaemia is a serious public health problem. It is the second-commonest contributing factor to years lost by adolescents to disability and death. Targeting adolescent girls will allow a window of opportunity to correct their nutritional health and improve their obstetric outcomes.

Facilitating Factors and Barriers to Physical Activity among Undergraduate Medical Students in North India: A Qualitative Study.

Background: Medical undergraduate students are the doctors of the future. Evidence supports that medical students who practice physical activity (PA) regularly will continue to perform PA in the future and are more likely to counsel patients about it in their practice. This study was planned to understand the facilitating factors and barriers to PA among Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) students using a qualitative approach.

Interrelationships between physical multimorbidity, depressive symptoms and cognitive function among older adults in China, India and Indonesia: A four-way decomposition analysis.

Objective: This paper explores the role of depressive symptoms (mediator/moderator) in the association between physical multimorbidity (exposure) and cognitive function (outcome) among older adults in the three most populous middle-income countries.

Methods: This study used cross-sectional data from China (2015 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study), India (2017/2018 Longitudinal Ageing Study in India), and Indonesia (2014/2015 Indonesian Family Life Survey), with a total sample of 73,199 respondents aged ≥ 45 years. Three domains of cognitive tests were harmonised across surveys, including time orientation, word recall, and numeracy.

"I Would Rather Die Drinking than take the Medicine": Role of Alcohol Use Disorder in Loss-to-follow-up of Tuberculosis Treatment in a Rural Area of Ballabgarh, Haryana.

Introduction: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a significant risk factor for tuberculosis (TB) treatment loss-to-follow-up (LTFU). This field-based study was undertaken to understand the role of AUD and TB treatment LTFU and the reasons behind this association in a rural area of Ballabgarh, Haryana.

Material And Methods: TB patients who had completed their treatment and who had been LTFU were included in the study, along with the National TB Elimination Program (NTEP) staff, healthcare providers, family, and community members from Ballabgarh block of the north Indian state of Haryana.