Screening for sexually transmitted infections at a DeAddictions service in South India

Objectives To estimate the lifetime prevalence of four sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and to identify correlates of these infections among patients seeking care for a substance use disorder at a specialized DeAddictions Unit in southern India. Methods Consecutive inpatients (n = 361; 98% male; M age = 36.7 years) admitted to DeAddictions Unit of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences in Bangalore, India, participated in a structured interview to obtain demographic, psychiatric, sexual behavior, and substance use data; each patient also provided a blood sample for serologic testing for HIV, chlamydia, syphilis, and hepatitis B. Results One-quarter of all patients tested positive for at least one STI. Lifetime seroprevalence rates were 12.9% for syphilis, 10.3% for chlamydia, 3.1% for hepatitis B, and 1.1% for HIV. Analyses did not reveal any consistent pattern of associations between STI status and sociodemographic, psychiatric, and sexual behavioral characteristics. Conclusions All patients should receive a comprehensive sexual assessment during standard care; for those patients who report risky sexual practices, we recommend voluntary counseling and testing for STIs. Although we do not recommend universal testing for STIs at this time, this should be revisited based upon national surveillance data

An intervention to improve the knowledge of anganwadi workers pertaining to growth monitoring in rural areas of Varanasi district, India

Background: Growth monitoring is one of the important functions of anganwadi workers (AWWs), for which they should have sufficient knowledge and training. With this background it was hypothesized that educational intervention can make a difference in the level of knowledge of AWWs in regard to growth monitoring. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the changes in knowledge of Anganwadi workers regarding growth monitoring through knowledge up-gradation training.Methodology: It was a field based interventional study, which was conducted on 66 AWWs each from Chiraigaon (intervention) and Cholapur (control) blocks of Varanasi district. The primary tool in this study was a pre-designed and pretested interview schedule for collecting information’s pertaining to study objective.Results: The mean score of knowledge was around 19.7 (max. Score was 30) in both the blocks during baseline survey and almost all the AWWs were having either average or good knowledge of growth monitoring. Post intervention a significant (p<0.01) difference has been observed between the mean knowledge scores of AWWs in intervention (25.32±2.44) and control (20.35±2.70) blocks and as much as 48.5% of AWWs were having excellent knowledge about growth monitoring in Chiraigaon block (p<0.01), while the situation was unchanged in Cholapur block.Conclusion: The knowledge up-gradation was found effective in improving the knowledge status of AWWs with regard to growth monitoring.

Contribution of suicide and injuries to pregnancy-related mortality in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Although suicide is one of the leading causes of deaths in young women in low-income and middle-income countries, the contribution of suicide and injuries to pregnancy-related mortality remains unknown. METHODS: We did a systematic review to identify studies reporting the proportion of pregnancy-related deaths attributable to suicide or injuries, or both, in low-income and middle-income countries. We used a random-effects meta-analysis to calculate the pooled prevalence of pregnancy-related deaths attributable to suicide, stratified by WHO region. To account for the possible misclassification of suicide deaths as injuries, we calculated the pooled prevalence of deaths attributable to injuries, and undertook a sensitivity analysis reclassifying the leading methods of suicides among women in low-income and middle-income countries (burns, poisoning, falling, or drowning) as suicide. FINDINGS: We identified 36 studies from 21 countries. The pooled total prevalence across the regions was 1·00% for suicide (95% CI 0·54-1·57) and 5·06% for injuries (3·72-6·58). Reclassifying the leading suicide methods from injuries to suicide increased the pooled prevalence of pregnancy-related deaths attributed to suicide to 1·68% (1·09-2·37). Americas (3·03%, 1·20-5·49), the eastern Mediterranean region (3·55%, 0·37-9·37), and the southeast Asia region (2·19%, 1·04-3·68) had the highest prevalence for suicide, with the western Pacific (1·16%, 0·00-4·67) and Africa (0·65%, 0·45-0·88) regions having the lowest. INTERPRETATION: The available data suggest a modest contribution of injuries and suicide to pregnancy-related mortality in low-income and middle-income countries with wide regional variations. However, this study might have underestimated suicide deaths because of the absence of recognition and inclusion of these causes in eligible studies. We recommend that injury-related and other co-incidental causes of death are included in the WHO definition of maternal mortality to promote measurement and effective intervention for reduction of maternal mortality in low-income and middle-income countries. FUNDING: National Institute of Mental Health

Outcome of capacity building in mental health for well-being volunteers

IntroductionVolunteering is any activity in which time is given to assist another individual, group, or organization. It assists people who want to get involved in philanthropic programs that help volunteers develop awareness and lead healthier personal and social lives. Several volunteers have received specialized training in the fields in which they volunteer, such as health, mental health, education, or emergency rescue. Volunteers are rendering intervention in different areas in mental health. They are providing psychosocial support to the individuals, groups, community, promoting mental health through conducting various mental health awareness programs in the community. There is a growing concern about mental health in India due to the inaccessibility of services. The National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) being a premier institute for mental health, is devising innovative approaches to mental health care to reach the unreachable. One such initiative was to build the capacity of volunteers in the community who are interested in working for the cause of mental health.MethodsThe objective of this study was to evaluate the outcome of the well-being volunteer program. This study used a descriptive cross-sectional research design, wherein all the 136 trained well-being volunteers (WBVs) were included as the study sample. The data was collected from the volunteers who attended the WBV program, which was initiated by NIMHANS Centre for Well-being (NCWB) and the Department of Psychiatric Social Work NIMHANS. A questionnaire on the outcome of the Well Being Volunteers program was developed for the study, and the Volunteer Motivation Inventory scale was used to collect the data from the WBVs. SPSS software was used to analyze the data. Ethical clearance was sought from the Institute Ethics Committee of NIMHANS.ResultsThe WBV program enhanced volunteers’ knowledge of mental health and benefited the volunteers in their personal and social life. They were also able to implement a satisfactory level of mental health-related volunteer activities in the community.ConclusionResults of present study and the available literature suggest that engaging in voluntary services improves mental health knowledge. WBV program has provided opportunity to Volunteers to participate in mental health delivery system at different levels