Laxmi Subedi

Background Tobacco use is still a serious public health problem in the world and represents a major cause of morbidity and mortality in most parts of the world. Objective To measure the prevalence of tobacco use and to identify the factors associated with tobacco use among the residents of Dhankuta Municipality. Method The cross-sectional study was conducted among the residents of the Dhankuta Municipality where 205 households were taken as subjects. Pretested semistructured questionnaire was used for data collection and face to face interview was conducted. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to see the association between various factors and tobacco use and identify the predictor variables. Result Overall prevalence of tobacco consumption in Dhankuta Municipality was found to be 57.1%. Prevalence of tobacco consumption among the male was significantly higher (67%) than female (47.1%) (p<0.05). Most of the respondents (56.4%) started consuming tobacco due to peer pressure and for recreation (24.8%). The multivariate logistic regression showed that the people with illiterate have higher chances of consuming tobacco than above School Leaving Certificate (OR 38.395, 95% CI=3.209- 459.417). The respondents below poverty line (<1.25 US$) was consuming tobacco more than above poverty line (> 1.25 US $) (OR 6.814, 95% CI= 1.255-36.986). Conclusion The aims of this study was to measure the prevalence of tobacco use and to identify the factors associated with tobacco use among the residents of the Dhankuta Municipality. We conclude that the prevalence rate of tobacco consumption in the Dhankuta Municipality was found to be moderately high. Factors like male in gender, Brahmin/Chhetri in ethnicity, lack of education, poor occupation like farmer and housewife, poor economic status were associated with tobacco use.

Child marriage in Nepal is considered a major barrier to the nation&#39;s social and economic development, as well as a major women&#39;s health concern. The objective of the study was to find out the factors associated with early age marriages in Rangeli VDC of Morang District. The cross-sectional study was conducted among the residents of Rangeli VDC of Morang District where 300 households were taken as subjects. Semi-structured questionnaire was used and face to face interview was conducted. Chi-square test was applied to find out the association between factors and age of marriages. Almost 69.3% of women were married before 18 years of age. Prevalence of child marriage was lower in Hindu (68.9%) than in Christian and Muslim women (85.7%) but the difference was not significant. Education of wife and husband, and economic status was found to be the important variables in explaining early age marriage (P&lt;0.001). It was also seen that unplanned pregnancies was higher (70.6%) in e...

Results 13446 women responded (81% response rate). 3.4% patients admitted having symptom of continuous leakage of urine. 4.2% patients had stress urinary incontinence. 4% patients had urge incontinence. 8.5% patients were having symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse. Structured questionnaire was used to assess feeling of quality of life having these symptoms and it was found that quality of life was affected in 60% of women.

INTRODUCTION: Nepal has one of the worst maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality due to the lack of antenatal care (ANC) practices of pregnant women.The objective of this study was to find out the ANC practices and to find out the association between sociodemographic characteristics and antenatal care visits. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted from 1st March to 14th March, 2014 among the residents of Rangeli VDC of Morang District in Eastern Nepal where 300 households were taken as subjects. Simple random sampling technique was applied for data collection. Semi-structured questionnaire was used and face to face interview was conducted. Chi-square test was applied to find out the association between sociodemographic characteristics and antenatal care visits.RESULTS: Almost fifty five percent of respondents attended ANC visits.The findings revealed that about 55% received iron, calcium and folic acid tablets and almost 61% of the pregnant women took t...

Background Community Based Health Insurance (CBHI) Schemes are promising alternatives for a cost sharing health care system which hopefully leads to better utilization of health care services, reduce illness related income shocks and eventually lead to a sustainable and fully functioning universal health coverage. Objective This study focused on factors influencing the people&#39;s enrolment and hindrances for enrollment of CBHI program. Method Altogether 316 households were taken according to population proportionate sampling method.Community based cross-sectional analytical study was carried out with preformed questionnaire among members and non- member in four villages. Sample unit for enrollee were selected by using population proportionate systematic random sampling method using enrolled register and for non-enroll systematic random sampling technique was used using household list from VDC. Result For non- members 28.3% small benefit package was main reason for non membership. ...

Background and objectives: Importance of maternal health has been recognized over the last decade, however information about the perception of illness and health care behavior of obstetric complication is lacking. So, this study was conducted to find out the prevalence of taking care during pregnancy and delivery, and to find out the association between sociodemographic characteristics and taking care during pregnancy and delivery. Material and Methods: The study is a cross-sectional study conducted among the residents of Rangeli VDC of Morang District in Eastern Nepal where 300 households were taken as subjects. Semi-structured questionnaire was used and face to face interview was conducted. Chi-square test was applied to find out the association between sociodemographic characteristics and taking care during pregnancy and delivery. Results: Almost forty percent of pregnant women have taken care during pregnancy and delivery i.e. delivery conducted in Health Care Center (HCC). Only...

Background: The problem of HIV/AIDS among Children is common and has become a key public health concern for all. Objective: To find out the situation of children infected/affected from HIV.

Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in Sunsari District of Eastern Nepal. Total 131 respondents from Sunsari District Children aged between 0-18 years and parents of these children on their behalf were visited during the study period. The analysis was done by using statistical software SPSS (statistical package for social science) version 17. Percentage and proportion was calculated where ever applicable.

Result: Children between the ages of 0-6 years represented 36.4%of the sample. In 92.4% of families, father was the first to be infected. Only 9.1% of the children know about their parents HIV status. The school knew 12.1% of the children being HIV infected/affected and among them 70.4% reported of bad behavior of school. Nearly 68.2% of them were not provided any help for their education. Almost 41.7% of the respondents were taking any medicine and among them 30.3% were taking antiretroviral drug. Nearly 29% of them think when there is no discrimination
they will have dignified life.

Conclusion: HIV and AIDS in children is an alarming issue in Sunsari
because of the increasing trend of new cases. Low economic opportunities, low literacy level, low levels of awareness usually among underprivileged and disadvantage group, and long incubation period make this infection a huge Public Health challenge to face and cope with

Aims: To find out the prevalence of domestic violence in pregnant women attending Antenatal clinics (ANC) of B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, a tertiary centre in eastern Nepal.Methods: It was a hospital based cross-sectional study done at antenatal clinics of BPKIHS from 14th March 2015 to 30th August 2015. The total number of recruited antenatal patients was 470. Data were collected by face to face interview via pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis.Results: The prevalence of domestic violence among pregnant women was 53.2% of which prevalence of physical domestic violence was 9.6%. The most common person inflicting the domestic violence was husband (23.6%). Emotional abuse was the most common form of domestic violence experienced by the pregnant women (26.8%) and threatening for remarriage was most common emotional violence faced (43.2%). As the age of the pregnant women increases, they tend to have...

Background: Nepalese society is traditionally patriarchal and son-preferred with increasing numbers of sex-selective abortions. In this context, this study aims to assess the gender preference and associated factors among pregnant women visiting the antenatal care ward of a large public maternity hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal.Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 821 antenatal women. Data was collected via face to face interview with structured questionnaire, and gender preference was assessed using Coombs’ scale.  Results: At the first instance, more than half 56.2% respondents wished to have two sons and one daughter if they were to have only three children. On asking further questions as per the Coombs’ scale, about 40% of the respondents had son preference falling in IS scale 7-5, 33% had balanced IS-4, and 27% had daughter preference (IS 3-1). The respondent characteristics significantly associated with gender preference were ecological region (p=...

Aims: To find out the prevalence of domestic violence in pregnant women attending Antenatal clinics (ANC) of B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, a tertiary centre in eastern Nepal.Methods: It was a hospital based cross-sectional study done at antenatal clinics of BPKIHS from 14th March 2015 to 30th August 2015. The total number of recruited antenatal patients was 470. Data were collected by face to face interview via pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis.Results: The prevalence of domestic violence among pregnant women was 53.2% of which prevalence of physical domestic violence was 9.6%. The most common person inflicting the domestic violence was husband (23.6%). Emotional abuse was the most common form of domestic violence experienced by the pregnant women (26.8%) and threatening for remarriage was most common emotional violence faced (43.2%). As the age of the pregnant women increases, they tend to have...

Background: Antenatal care has proven to be an effective way to reduce maternal mortality and save the life of newborn. Nepal also follows the World Health Organization’s recommendations of initiation of four antenatal care visits that has helped in decreasing the maternal mortality of the country. Still, the country has to do a lot in improving the antenatal care provision.Objective: The objective of this study was to find out the antenatal care practices among the women with children less than five years of age in a district of eastern Nepal.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among residents of Aurabani village of Sunsari district. Non probability convenient sampling technique was used to collect data from 15th January to 30th January, 2015. Data of 100 women having children less than five years of age were collected and analyzed in descriptive and inferential ways.Results: Women with nuclear family are more likely to have antenatal care visits (73.8%) comp...

ObjectivesThe study aimed at estimating out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure, catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) and distress financing due to hospitalisation and outpatient care among industrial workers in Eastern Nepal.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study involving industrial workers employed in a large-scale industry in Eastern Nepal. Those who were hospitalised in the last 1 year or availed outpatient care within the last 30 days were administered a structured questionnaire to estimate the cost of illness. CHE was defined as expenditure more than 20% of annual household income. Distress financing was defined as borrowing money/loan or selling assets to cope with OOP expenditure on health.ResultsOf 1824 workers eligible for the study, 1405 (77%) were screened, of which 85 (6%) were hospitalised last year; 223 (16%) attended outpatient department last month. The median (IQR) OOP expenditure from hospitalisation and outpatient care was US$124 (71–282) and US$36 (19–61), respec...

Retirement, change in housing, illness or death of spouse greatly affect the physical and mental well-being of the geriatric person. This study aims to find out the health status of geriatric age group in chitwan district of Nepal. A cross sectional study was carried out among 300 geriatric people where 15.7% of the geriatric were living alone, 50.3 % and 39.7% of geriatrics gave history of regular use of tobacco and alcohol respectively. Co-morbidities were found in 63% of geriatrics who suffered from 2 or more diseases. In Total 44% were found to have Ophthalmic problems, 23% were found to have ENT problems, 5.33% were found to mental disorders, 33% were found to have CVS problems, 43% were found to have GI problems, 15.67 % were found to have Metabolic disorder. The study highlighted a high prevalence of morbidity and health related problems in geriatric age groups.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jcmc.v5i1.12560

BACKGROUND Pregnancy is a critical period for both woman and baby from a nutritional perspective. Poor nutrition, during pregnancy is associated with adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. However, due to various factors, pregnant women do not increase the quality or quantity of diet during pregnancy. OBJECTIVE To find out the prevalence of nutritional supplementations taken during pregnancy and to find out the association between sociodemographic characteristics and nutritional supplementations taken during pregnancy. MATERIALS AND METHODS The cross-sectional study was conducted from 1st March to 14th March, 2014 among the residents of Rangeli VDC of Morang District in Eastern Nepal where 300 households were taken as subjects. Semistructured questionnaire was used and face to face interview was conducted. Chi-square test was applied to find out the association between sociodemographic characteristics and nutritional supplementations taken during pregnancy. RESULT The problem of not t...

Background: Child marriage is a substantial barrier to social and economic development in Nepal, and a primary concern for women’s health. Little evidence from Nepal is available regarding the ways in which early marriage may compromise young women’s lives and their reproductive health and choices. The objectives of this study was to find out the factors associated with early age marriages in Dhankuta Municipality. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted among the residents of Dhankuta municipality, Nepal; where 246 households were taken as subjects. Pretested semi-structured questionnaire was administered to the study subjects and face to face interview was conducted. Chi-square test was applied to find out the association between factors and age of marriages. Results: Almost 53.3% of women were married before age 18 years. Education of wife and husband, and economic status are found to be the important variables in explaining early age marriage. Prevalence of child marria...

Background and objectives: Importance of maternal health has been recognized over the last decade, however information about the perception of illness and health care behavior of obstetric complication is lacking. So, this study was conducted to find out the prevalence of taking care during pregnancy and delivery, and to find out the association between sociodemographic characteristics and taking care during pregnancy and delivery. Material and Methods: The study is a cross-sectional study conducted among the residents of Rangeli VDC of Morang District in Eastern Nepal where 300 households were taken as subjects. Semi-structured questionnaire was used and face to face interview was conducted. Chi-square test was applied to find out the association between sociodemographic characteristics and taking care during pregnancy and delivery. Results: Almost forty percent of pregnant women have taken care during pregnancy and delivery i.e. delivery conducted in Health Care Center (HCC). Only...