Impact of mental toughness on athlete's performance and interventions to improve.

Mental toughness is the ability to handle pressure, adversity, and stress by overcoming failures. It is also the state of persisting without refusing to quit, with the possession of superiority in mental skills. This review aimed to describe the effect of mental toughness on the performance of athletes and also to have an insight into the various interventions to improve mental toughness. For this, PubMed was searched using the appropriate keywords till December 2021 and a narrative synthesis was performed. Mental tightness was evident to be correlated with many important aspects such as better performance, goal progress, withholding stress, coping, optimism and self-reflection. It also helps in a better level of confidence, constancy, control, positive cognition, visualization and challenges than the opponent team. Many interventional strategies have been adopted in previous years which mainly focused on personalized programs including psychological skills training, coping and optimism training, mindfulness, yoga, general relaxation, imagery, and a combination of both, and many more other aspects were observed to be effective in improving mental toughness. However, physical training alone did not observe to be beneficial. The current evidence indicates the important role of mental toughness on the sports performance of athletics and the role of various interventional strategies focusing on mindfulness and psychological interventions in improving mental toughness. All these interventional strategies need to be implemented in the actual practice.

Prevalence of acute respiratory infection among under-five children in urban and rural areas of puducherry, India.

INTRODUCTION: The incidence of Acute respiratory infections (ARI) is high among under-five children, especially in developing countries. However, the data on ARI from rural and urban areas in India are scarce. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of ARI and selected associated factors among under-five children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in urban and rural areas of Puducherry, India. Data were collected from 509 parents of under-five children regarding ARI incidence along with socio-demographic and selected associated factors. RESULTS: Overall prevalence of ARI was observed to be 59.1%, with prevalence in urban and rural areas being 63.7% and 53.7%, respectively. Bivariate analysis indicated that overcrowding, place of residence, and mother's education were significantly associated with ARI. Multiple logistic regression analysis suggested that presence of overcrowding (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.492), urban residence (AOR = 2.329), and second birth order (AOR = 0.371) were significant predictors of ARI. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of ARI is high, particularly in urban areas. Improvement of living conditions may help in reduction of burden of ARI in the community.

Prevalence and Pattern of Alcohol Consumption using Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) in Rural Tamil Nadu, India.

BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of information on prevalence and pattern of alcohol consumption in India. AIM: To assess the prevalence and pattern of alcohol consumption in a rural area of Tamil Nadu, India. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A community based, cross sectional study was conducted among 946 subjects who were aged 10 years and above, in rural Tamil Nadu, India. Data on alcohol use was collected by using 'Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test' (AUDIT) scale. Data on pattern and associated factors like socio-demographic details, smoking, tobacco chewing and chronic diseases were collected by using a structured questionnaire. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Data was analysed by univariate and multiple logistic regression analysis and information was depicted in percentages or proportions. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered as significant. RESULTS: Overall, the prevalence of alcohol use was found to be 9.4%. Prevalence was more among males (16.8%) as compared to that among females (1.3%). Mean age at initiation was 25.3 +9.0 years. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that middle age (15-44 years) (OR=3.56), male gender (OR=11.23), illiteracy (OR=6.16), lower education levels (OR=2.57) and smoking (OR=17.78) were independently associated with alcohol use. Among those who used alcohol, 29.2% (26) were possible hazardous drinkers, 33.7%(30) had a probable alcohol dependence and 56.2% (50) had experienced harmful effects, based on AUDIT item analysis. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of alcohol use is high, especially among males. Health educational interventions among those who are at a higher risk and management of alcohol dependent subjects, may help in reducing the burden of alcohol use in this area.