WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health

India is committed to Sustainable Development Goal 3 of reducing the national maternal mortality ratio to <70/100,000 live births by 2030. This article describes women's experiences of maternity care in public health facilities in three districts of the north-eastern Indian state of Assam. Fourteen focus-group discussions were carried out among 149 married women aged 18-45 years belonging to different ethnic communities. Data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach and organized using a framework of dimensions of maternal satisfaction...

Background: Stunting remains a major public health concern in Indonesia despite many interventions. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of interventions in the form of education and demonstration on preparing complementary feeding (CF) to increase knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of CF among parents living in villages with high stunting prevalence in Central Lombok, Indonesia. Materials and Methods: This is a quasi-experimental community-based study, conducted from June to August 2019...

Introduction: Approximately 9.2 million refugees live in Asia, with most originating from Afghanistan and Myanmar, and half of them are women, girls, and children. Humanitarian crises disrupt the existing health-care system, limiting access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. This review explores the SRH status of Afghan and Rohingya refugee women of reproductive age in Asia and their needs and experiences in accessing these services and commodities. Materials and Methods: We used the PRISMA checklist and searched for qualitative and quantitative peer-reviewed studies from five online bibliographic databases, SCOPUS, EMBASE (Ovid), MEDLINE (Ovid), CINAHL, and PROQUEST, from January 2000 to April 2021...

Context: Self-protective behavior (SPB) plays a significant role in controlling the spread of infection of a pandemic like coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Little research has been conducted to examine critical factors influencing SPB, especially in a developing country like Bangladesh. Aims: This study aimed to develop and test a theoretical model based on the extended information-motivation-behavior (IMB) skills model to investigate factors associated with SPB among Bangladeshi people...

Introduction: The predominant form of tobacco consumption among women from many Asian countries, including India, is smokeless tobacco (SLT). The present study aimed to assess the prevalence and socioeconomic determinants of SLT use among Indian women. Methodology: The study used data from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey-2, India, conducted during 2016-2017, with a sample size of 40,265 women aged 15 years and above. Chi-square test and binary logistic regression were applied with the current use of SLT as the dependent variable to find the sociodemographic factors associated with it...

Background: Informal workers are high-risk groups for getting occupational diseases. They also have difficulties in accessing occupational health services (OHSs). The Basic OHS (BOHS) program integrates BOHS activities into existing primary health care. The study aims to describe how the BOHS program has been developed and to update the situation of BOHS in Thailand. Methods: Four steps for the development of the program include (1) preparation, (2) model development, (3) implementation and expansion, and (4) quality assurance (QA)...

Background: As a health-related behavior, physical activity (PA) differs according to individual's socioeconomic status (SES). This study aimed to assess the socioeconomic difference in leisure-time PA among Iranian students and their parents at national and regional levels. Study Design: Nationwide cross-sectional study. Methods: This study was conducted as part of a national survey conducted in 2015 among 14400 Iranian students and their parents...

Background: Respectful maternity care (RMC) is a basic right of all pregnant women. The study identifies the sociodemographic and economic factors influencing disrespect and abuse (D&A) faced by women during pregnancy, childbirth, and immediate postpartum period in India. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted across six health facilities in three states of India from June 2019 to June 2020 among 401 women aged 18 years or more who had a live birth within the past 2 months of data collection...

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Foodborne diseases (FBDs) are a public health threat that can result in loss of lives and are a hurdle to socioeconomic development. The Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group estimated that the annual burden of FBDs in the South-East Asia Region was more than 150 million illnesses, causing about 175,000 deaths. This review paper aims to compile evidence from the published articles and gray literatures on food-related disease outbreaks in Bhutan. Information was generated from the annual health bulletin published by the Ministry of Health and data from the National Early Warning Alert Response Surveillance and Information System hosted by Royal Centre for Disease Control...

This study investigates the prevalence of and associated factors with depression and anxiety among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) outpatients at Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. A cross-sectional study was conducted between March and May 2020 at the hospital's outpatient department. Those aged ≥18 years, diagnosed with COPD and undergoing COPD treatment, were eligible. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was used to measure depression and anxiety. Dyspnea was assessed using the modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) dyspnea scale...

High sugar consumption is associated with increased risk of noncommunicable diseases. This study identifies the dietary sources of free sugars and explores association of sugar intake with related factors among adult population in Brunei. Data from the National Health and Nutritional Status Survey 2010, of 1559 adult residents of Brunei, aged 18-75 years, were extracted and analyzed. The results revealed that mean daily free sugar intake was 55.5 g/day (standard deviation [SD] -51.4), contributing to 14.5% of total energy intake...

Expenditure on diabetes mellitus is increasing worldwide and is determined by multiple factors and knowledge about these factors may help to improve patient management and reduce health-care cost. The present study aims to determine the factors influencing the expenditure incurred by patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 809 patients with T2DM from a coastal community in Southern India. Expenditure incurred for the management of T2DM in the previous year was collected using a predesigned survey tool...

Introduction: The frequency of geriatric syndromes (GSs) such as cognitive impairment (CI), depression, and malnutrition among older people residing in old-age homes (OAHs) of Delhi-National Capital Territory Region (NCR) has not been reported. The availability of such data determines the quality of health care. The present study aims to assess the frequency of GS among residents of six OAHs in Delhi-NCR. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out after obtaining informed written consent from all participants...

We investigated the nasopharyngeal (NP) carriage and antimicrobial susceptibility profile of Streptococcus pneumoniae among adults and children with acute respiratory tract infection (ARTI). NP swabs were collected from ARTI patients in Tabanan, Bali, Indonesia, in 2017. Serotyping of S. pneumoniae and antibiotic susceptibility profile were performed by multiplex sequential PCR and the disk diffusion method, respectively. Out of 200 ARTI patients, S. pneumoniae strains were carried by 22.6% and 2.4% of children (36/159) and adults (1/41), respectively...

Background: The aims of this study were to establish cardiac rehabilitation (CR) availability and density, as well as the nature of programs in South-East Asian Region (SEAR) countries, and to compare this with other regions globally. Methods: In 2016/2017, the International Council of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation engaged cardiac associations to facilitate program identification globally. An online survey was administered to identify programs using REDCap, assessing capacity and characteristics...

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BACKGROUND: Since 2005, stockout of pharmaceuticals has been a constant issue at all health services in Timor-Leste (TL). AIM: This study identifies factors that contribute to the ongoing pharmaceutical stockout as perceived by various stakeholders. METHODS: A mixed-method approach was implemented, including face-to-face interviews with 46 Timorese health professionals involved in the pharmaceutical supply chain, along with documentational review and analysis...

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