Prevalence of the Acute Respiratory Infections and Associated Factors in the Rural Areas and Urban Slum Areas of Western Maharashtra, India: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) continue to be the most important cause of morbidity and mortality among under-five children. Some demographic and environmental factors are associated with ARIs among under-five children. This study was conducted with the objective to estimate the prevalence of ARIs among under-five children in the rural areas and densely populated urban slum areas in Maharashtra, India and to assess the association of the selected sociodemographic and household environmental factors with ARI. This study was conducted in 16 selected clusters from the rural areas and densely populated urban slum areas of the two districts in Maharashtra, India. Structured and validated proforma was used for collecting the data on the sociodemographic and household environmental risk factors. A total of 3,671 under-five children were surveyed. The prevalence of ARIs for the preceding month was 50.4%. It was higher among the children living in the rural areas (54.2%) compared to the children living in the urban areas (46.7%) (p = 0.01). The prevalence of ARIs was reported to be 51.4 and 49.4% in boys and girls, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, the researchers found that living in rural areas (p = 0.01) and parental smoking (p = 0.04) were significantly associated with the ARIs. An intervention such as reducing parental smoking habits at the household level may reduce ARIs.

Assessment of risk of type 2 diabetes using the Indian Diabetes Risk Score in an urban slum of Pune, Maharashtra, India: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The urban poor is a group that is known to be vulnerable to adoption of a more urbanized lifestyle that places them at a higher risk for diabetes. Individuals who are unaware of their disease status are more prone to micro- and macrovascular complications. Hence, it is necessary to detect this large pool of undiagnosed participants with diabetes and offer them early therapy. The aim of this study was to use the Indian Diabetes Risk Score, developed by the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF-IDRS), to assess the prevalence of people at high risk for developing diabetes, and the correlation with known risk factors. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the field practice area of the urban health training centre of a private medical college in Pune, Maharashtra. A total of 425 participants aged 20 years and above were screened for risk factors, including age, waist circumference, family history of diabetes and physical activity. Random testing of the blood glucose level of participants with a high risk score was carried out using a glucometer. Statistical analysis of the data was performed by using the chi-squared test and logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The prevalence of people at high risk of diabetes was 36.55%. Among high-risk participants on univariate analysis, primary education (P = 0.004), lower socioeconomic class (P = 0.002), less physical activity (P< 0.001) and high waist circumference (P < 0.001) were major contributing factors, while in the moderate-risk group, lower socioeconomic class and high waist circumference were the prominent risk factors for diabetes. Multivariate analysis showed that higher education, moderate to vigorous activity and high waist circumference were significantly associated with risk status. Out of 140 high-risk participants, 68 (49%) had a random capillary blood glucose level of 110 mg/dL or above. CONCLUSION: As the prevalence of people at high risk for diabetes was high, lifestyle changes and awareness regarding risk factors is needed to take control of the diabetes in the study population.