Effect of in-house crowding on childhood hospital admissions for acute respiratory infection: A matched case-control study in Bangladesh.

OBJECTIVE: Despite previous studies conducted to identify potential household factors, no conclusive evidence exists regarding the effect of in-house crowding on hospitalization for acute respiratory infection (ARI) in Bangladesh. Hence, the aim of this study was to detect such an association in children aged 6-59 months. METHODS: An age and sex-matched case-control study was conducted involving 348 children in Bangladesh. In-house crowding was measured by people-per-bedroom. Conditional logistic regression was performed to identify the association between in-house crowding and hospitalization for ARI. RESULTS: In-house overcrowding was associated with a 2.9-fold (95% confidence interval 1.80-4.73) greater adjusted odds of hospitalization for ARI compared to children from less crowded houses. In-house overcrowding was common in rural areas and in households with a poor economic status. Suboptimal breastfeeding and household tobacco smoke exposure were found to prevail in overcrowded households. CONCLUSION: In-house overcrowding is associated with an increased risk of hospitalization for ARI in young children. Eliminating the fraction of the ARI burden due to in-house overcrowding will rely on increasing awareness regarding indoor air pollution and ventilation in the house and making efforts to avoid smoking in dwellings. Along with the management of crowding, child nutrition and exclusive breast-feeding requirements should be continued for a wide range of child health benefits.

Prevalence of depression and its correlates among public university students in Bangladesh.

This study aims to assess the prevalence of depression among public university students in Bangladesh, with a larger and more diverse sample than those included in previous studies. A cross-sectional study was conducted between April and September, 2018 at two public universities in Bangladesh. Data was collected on socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, history of depression, and symptoms of depression (9-item Patient Health Questionnaire). Multivariable logistic regression was applied to explore the independent relationships between depression and student characteristics. A total of 400 students participated in the survey. Mean age of the students was 22 (SD: 2.2) years. The prevalence of depression was 47.3% and higher in female than male students (50.7% vs. 43.6%). Results of the multivariate analysis showed that the odds were approximately 4.6 times higher for students who spent more than 6 hours per day on social media (OR:4.69, 95% CI: 1.94-11.30); more than 2 times higher among the students who had personal history of depression (OR: 3.51, 95% CI: 2.221-5.59). Male gender and having a smoking habit were both correlated with depressive symptoms (OR: 1.90; 95% CI:1.05-3.41) compared to the female students (OR:1.5; 95% CI:0.51-4.3). Nearly half of the students met the criteria for moderate to severe depression. Poor academic performance, use of social media and history of depression were the main factors associated with depressive symptoms. Given the high prevalence of depression in this student population, it is imperative to develop psychosocial interventions to better support students during this critical phase of life .