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.

Context:Alcohol use contributes to considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide. Screening for alcohol use and alcohol use disorder (AUD) at the primary care level can help in reducing this burden. While several community studies have been conducted to estimate the AUD, there apparently are no studies on opportunistic screening in a primary care setting in India.Aims:The aim was to estimate the prevalence of alcohol use and AUD in a primary care setting.Settings and Design:A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among adult male outpatients in a primary care setting in Puducherry, South India.Subjects and Methods:Male outpatients aged 18 and above were interviewed for alcohol use. Current alcohol users were screened for AUD using World Health Organization - AUD identification test (AUDIT) questionnaire, respectively.Statistical Analysis Used:Proportions were used to describe the study population and the main study findings. The Chi-square test was used to find out the association between sociodemographic factors and alcohol use.Results:Of 256 subjects studied, 39.8% were found to be current alcohol users and 10.9% had AUD (AUDIT score ≥8). The sociodemographic factors did not show any association with an alcohol use in the current setting.Conclusion:Based on the findings of the present study, four current alcohol users are to be screened to identify one patient with AUD. Screening at the primary health care level can help in identifying the risk group and thus help in reducing the morbidity and mortality due to alcohol use in the population.

Background and Objective:The only way to provide palliative care to a huge number of people in need in India is through community participation, which can be achieved by improving the awareness of the people about palliative care. We conducted a study to assess the impact of health awareness campaign in improving the awareness of people about palliative care.Materials and Methods:This was a pre- and post-intervention study conducted in Kadaperikuppam village of Vanur Taluk in Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu. One respondent each from 145 households in the village was interviewed regarding the knowledge and attitude on palliative care before and after the health awareness campaign using a pretested questionnaire. Health awareness campaign consisted of skit, pamphlet distribution, poster presentation, giving door-to-door information, and general interaction with palliative team in the village.Results:The awareness regarding palliative care during the preintervention was nil. After the intervention, it increased to 62.8%. However, there was a decline in the attitude and the interest of the people toward palliative care.Interpretation and Conclusions:Health awareness campaigns can increase the awareness of people in the rural parts of the country about palliative care. However, to improve the attitude of the community about delivery of palliative care services, more sustained efforts are required to make them believe that palliative care can be provided by community volunteers also and not necessarily only by professionals.

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Background: Late adolescence (15-19 years) is a period which entails stress and specific physical and mental health needs. The Objectives were to study the prevalence of psychological distress, hopelessness, and health service needs of late adolescence in rural Puducherry.Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in a service practice area of Jawaharlal Institute Rural Health centre (JIRHC) during July-August 2015. A pretested questionnaire was used to obtain demographic characteristics, health service needs and substance abuse among adolescents and their family members. Self-administered GHQ-12 questionnaire and becks hopelessness scale was used to assess the psychological distress and hopelessness respectively.Results: Of the total 324 participants, 170 (53%) were females. The mean (SD) age was 15.9 (1.3) years. One fifth of the adolescents (20.9%) had psychological distress. Moderate level of hopelessness was seen in 32 (10%) adolescents. Substance abuse was found in 125 (39%) of the family members of adolescents and 55 (44%) had problems at home related to the substance abuse. On multivariate analysis, problem in household due to substance abuse was the single independent risk factor [aOR 2.6; 95%CI (1.1-6.0)] for psychological distress. Majority of females expressed their need for an exclusive adolescent clinic (58%), sexual & reproductive awareness (67.5%) and information about contraception (67.4%). The need for mental health services was higher in females compared to males (55.6% vs. 44.3%), which was statistically significant (p<0.05).Conclusions: In rural area of Puducherry, one out of five adolescents had psychological distress and ten percentages of adolescents had moderate level of hopelessness requiring mental health and counselling services.