ABSTRACT
Background: The Indian sub-population is the biggest among the foreigners in Kuwait. Due to the harsh weather conditions most of the time in the year there is less inclination towards a healthy lifestyle. The present study was conducted to determine the extent of the Indian population living in Kuwait having the risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD).Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted including 400 subjects aged 18 years or more (346 males and 54 females). They were subjected to general physical examination, and were asked to respond to a standard questionnaire.Results: Significantly more females than males were found to be overweight (63% vs. 43.9%, p<0.01) or obese (16.7% vs. 4.3%, p<0.005). Females also had higher proportions than males in having inadequate physical activity (79.6% vs. 53.2%, p<0.001). Significantly more males were having an inadequate intake of fruits and vegetables as compared to females (34.7% vs. 18.5%, p<0.005). There was no significant difference between the genders in proportions of hypertension, smoking, and diabetes. Overweight, hypertension, and inadequate physical activity showed a rising trend with increasing age. The studied population was compared with several geographically different populations, as well as the different populations living in India.Conclusions: As the stay and the jobs of Indians in Kuwait depend upon their health-status, prevention of CAD is of paramount importance. Looking at the levels of the prevalence of several risk factors, multilevel interventions are needed for reducing the CAD-morbidity and mortality.
ABSTRACT
Background: An important factor to effectiveness of ART is good adherence to treatment. This study aims to investigate the adherence levels to ART among people living with HIV (PLHIV) attending a Government ART centre in Anakapalli, Andhra Pradesh, India.Methods: A cross sectional study was done among 1000 adult PLHIV receiving ART. Out of nearly 4500 patients on ART we selected 1000 patients by simple random sampling technique. The average of adherence for a period of 2 years and socio demographic details were taken from the patients treatment card. Chi square test was performed to find out significant difference between the socio-demographic variables and adherence level < 95%.Results: Out of 1000 patients, 53.9% were male. 42.2% were in age group 31 to 40 years. 50.1 % had adherence >95%. Major factors influencing poor adherence were: decrease in weight (OR=18.65, p=0.000); decrease in CD4 counts (OR=20.12, p=0.000), presence of opportunistic infections (OR=12.67, p=0.000), WHO stage 3 and 4 illness (OR=6.50, p=0.000), travel distance to ART >50 kilometres (OR=1.94, p=0.000), smoker (OR=1.82, p=0.000),being illiterate (OR=1.72, p=0.000), and alcohol consumption (OR=1.58, p=0.001).Conclusions: Careful monitoring of weight, CD4 counts and opportunistic infections can help to identify poor adherence early.