ObjectiveThe proper use of safety measures by welders is an important way of preventing and/or reducing a variety of health hazards that they are exposed to during welding. There is a lack of knowledge about hazards and personal protective equipments (PPEs) and the use of PPE among the welders in Nepal is limited. We designed a study to assess welders’ awareness of hazards and PPE, and the use of PPE among the welders of eastern Nepal and to find a possible correlation between awareness and use of PPE among them.Materials and methodsA cross-sectional study of 300 welders selected by simple random sampling from three districts of eastern Nepal was conducted using a semistructured questionnaire. Data regarding age, education level, duration of employment, awareness of hazards, safety measures and the actual use of safety measures were recorded.ResultsOverall, 272 (90.7%) welders were aware of at least one hazard of welding and a similar proportion of welders were aware of at least one PPE. However, only 47.7% used one or more types of PPE. Education and duration of employment were significantly associated with the awareness of hazards and of PPE and its use. The welders who reported using PPE during welding were two times more likely to have been aware of hazards (OR=2.52, 95% CI 1.09 to 5.81) and five times more likely to have been aware of PPE compared with the welders who did not report the use of PPE (OR=5.13, 95% CI 2.34 to 11.26).ConclusionsThe welders using PPE were those who were aware of hazards and PPE. There is a gap between being aware of hazards and PPE (90%) and use of PPE (47%) at work. Further research is needed to identify the underlying factors leading to low utilisation of PPE despite the welders of eastern Nepal being knowledgeable of it.

BackgroundMenstrual hygiene management (MHM) is an essential aspect of hygiene for women and adolescent girls between menarche and menopause. Despite being an important issue concerning women and girls in the menstruating age group MHM is often overlooked in post-disaster responses. Further, there is limited evidence of menstrual hygiene management in humanitarian settings. This study aims to describe the experiences and perceptions of women and adolescent girls on menstrual hygiene management in post-earthquake Nepal.MethodsA mixed methods study was carried out among the earthquake affected women and adolescent girls in three villages of Sindhupalchowk district of Nepal. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire that captured experiences and perceptions of respondents on menstrual hygiene management in the aftermath of the Nepal earthquake. Quantitative data were triangulated with in-depth interview regarding respondent’s personal experiences of menstrual hygiene management.ResultsMenstrual hygiene was rated as the sixth highest overall need and perceived as an immediate need by 18.8% of the respondents. There were 42.8% women & girls who menstruated within first week of the earthquake. Reusable sanitary cloth were used by about 66.7% of the respondents before the earthquake and remained a popular method (76.1%) post-earthquake. None of the respondents reported receiving menstrual adsorbents as relief materials in the first month following the earthquake. Disposable pads (77.8%) were preferred by respondents as they were perceived to be clean and convenient to use. Most respondents (73.5%) felt that reusable sanitary pads were a sustainable choice. Women who were in the age group of 15-34 years (OR = 3.14; CI = (1.07-9.20), did not go to school (OR = 9.68; CI = 2.16-43.33), married (OR = 2.99; CI = 1.22-7.31) and previously used reusable sanitary cloth (OR = 5.82; CI = 2.33-14.55) were more likely to use the reusable sanitary cloth.ConclusionsIn the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, women and girls completely depended on the use of locally available resources as adsorbents during menstruation. Immediate relief activities by humanitarian agencies, lacked MHM activities. Understanding the previous practice and using local resources, the reusable sanitary cloth is a way to address the menstrual hygiene needs in the post-disaster situations in Nepal.

ObjectivesThe primary objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of depression among female sex workers (FSWs) of eastern Nepal. The secondary objective was to search for an association between depression, violence and HIV risk behaviour.DesignCross-sectional/observational study.Study settingThis study was carried out in five cities of eastern Nepal (Dharan, Itahari, Biratnagar, Damak and Birtamode). Both restaurant-based and street-based FSWs were recruited in the study.ParticipantsWomen who had been involved in commercial sex activity in the past 6 months and gave informed consent were included in the study.Primary outcome measureA score of more than or equal to 16 on the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CESD) scale was considered as depression.MethodologyFace-to-face interviews were conducted with respondents who were sought through a snowball sampling technique. Information regarding their depression status, HIV high-risk behaviour and violence was recorded. The estimated sample size was 210.ResultsWe interviewed 210 FSWs (both restaurant-based and street-based). The prevalence of depression among respondents was 82.4%. FSWs who had experienced violence were five times more likely to be depressed than those who were not victims of violence. The odds of depression were six times higher among respondents who were involved in any HIV risk behaviour compared with those who were not involved.ConclusionsThe present study reports a high prevalence of depression, HIV risk behaviours and violence among FSWs of eastern Nepal. The mental health of FSWs should also be regarded as an important aspect of HIV prevention efforts which can help to promote the overall health of this population.

Background: Perceived dental health has shown to have a significant predictive effect on overall health perception and life satisfaction. Thus, it seems plausible that Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) measures are associated with Oral Health Related Quality of Life (OHRQOL) dimensions in Nepalese context as well. The adverse effects of tobacco on oral health are reported worldwide including Nepal. However, evidence which can quantify effects of tobacco smoking on dental health perception is limited. Thus, a study was designed to find association of smoking and socio demographic characteristics with OHRQOl and to determine association between OHRQOL and HRQOL among dental patients in Nepal. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 125 current smokers and 125 non-smokers who attended oral surgery OPD of a teaching hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal. The study participants were enrolled through consecutive sampling and data was collected through a semi-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of questions related to sociodemographic characteristics, tobacco history, Oral Health Impacts Profile (OHIP)-14 and World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief version (WHOQOL-Bref) to assess OHRQOl and HRQOL respectively. Descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated by using SPSS version 18.0. The level of significance was set at 5%. Results: Among the socio demographic characteristics, patients with education of more than Class 12 had significantly higher average OHRQOL scores (p = 0.013) compared to illiterate patients. Current smokers reported significantly poorer scores in sub scales of psychological disability (p = 0.001), social disability (p = 0.003), physical pain (p < 0.001), functional limitation (p = 0.007) and also overall perceived oral health compared to nonsmokers. OHRQOL was significantly correlated with overall HRQOL in physical (p = 0.015) and psychological (p = 0.04) domains in this study sample. Conclusions: Improvements in OHRQOL may require a multidimensional approach with focus of social factors like education and behavioral factors like cigarette smoking. Also, improvement in OHRQOL might also lead to betterment of perceived overall health as they are interlinked.

Introduction: Dental anomaly is one of the major problems in a child born with cleft lip and palate. These anomalies have deleterious effects on the dentition leading to aesthetic problems, impairment of mastication andimproper phonation. The aim of our study was to find out the prevalence of dental anomalies in patient with cleft lip and/or palate radiographically. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from the 208 radiographs, collected by the convenience samplingtechnique with cleft lip and/or palate in Department of Burns, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Nepal Cleft and Burn Centre, Kirtipur Hospital from January 2017 to July 2019.Ethical clearance for the study was obtained from Institutional Review Committee. Demographic data were collected and radiographs were evaluated for possible dental anomalies. Data obtained were entered and analysed in Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23. Results: Dental anomalies were highly prevalent among cleft lip and palate patients with at least one anomaly present in 188 (90.4%) of patients with male 120 (57.4%) presenting more anomalies than female 88 (42.6%) population. The most common anomaly was dental agenesis 161 (77.9%). The prevalence of positional anomaly, morphological anomaly and supernumerary teeth were found to be 54 (26%), 33 (15.9%) and 20 (10%) respectively. Lateral incisor showed the highest incidence of agenesis among all other missing teeth 223 (65.2%). Conclusions: The prevalence of dental anomalies among patients with cleft lip and/or palate was found to be high. Tooth agenesis was the most common anomaly observed in the study with lateral incisor having the highest incidence of agenesis.