A Glossary of Distress Expressions Among Kannada-Speaking Urban Hindu Women.

People's lived experiences of distress are complex, personal, and vary widely across cultures. So, too, do the terms and expressions people use to describe distress. This variation presents an engaging challenge for those doing intercultural work in transcultural psychiatry, global mental health, and psychological anthropology. This article details the findings of a study of common distress terminology among 63 Kannada-speaking Hindu women living in Mysuru, the second largest city in the state of Karnataka, South India. Very little existing scholarship focuses on cultural adaptation for speakers of Dravidian languages like Kannada; this study aims to fill this gap and support greater representation of this linguistic family in research on mental health, idioms of distress, and distress terminology. Between 2018 and 2019, we conducted a 3-phase study consisting of interviews, data reduction, and focus group discussions. The goal was to produce a non-exhaustive list of common Kannada distress terms that could be used in future research and practice to translate and culturally adapt mental health symptom scales or other global mental health tools.

Naming in a multilingual context: Norms for the ICMR-Manipal colour picture corpus in Kannada from the Indian context.

There have been many published picture corpora. However, more than half of the world's population speaks more than one language and, as language and culture are intertwined, some of the items from a picture corpus designed for a given language in a particular culture may not fit another culture (with the same or different language). There is also an awareness that language research can gain from the study of bi-/multilingual individuals who are immersed in multilingual contexts that foster inter-language interactions. Consequently, we developed a relatively large corpus of pictures (663 nouns, 96 verbs) and collected normative data from multilingual speakers of Kannada (a southern Indian language) on two picture-related measures (name agreement, image agreement) and three word-related measures (familiarity, subjective frequency, age of acquisition), and report objective visual complexity and syllable count of the words. Naming labels were classified into words from the target language (i.e., Kannada), cognates (borrowed from/shared with another language), translation equivalents, and elaborations. The picture corpus had > 85% mean concept agreement with multiple acceptable names (1-7 naming labels) for each concept. The mean percentage name agreement for the modal name was > 70%, with H-statistics of 0.89 for nouns and 0.52 for verbs. We also analyse the variability of responses highlighting the influence of bi-/multilingualism on (picture) naming. The picture corpus is freely accessible to researchers and clinicians. It may be used for future standardization with other languages of similar cultural contexts, and relevant items can be used in languages from different cultures, following suitable standardization.

Adaptation and Validation of Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering for Adults in Kannada (OASES-A-K).

INTRODUCTION: Psychosocial aspects of stuttering may affect the quality of life of a person who stutters (PWS). Further, the social stigma and experiences of PWS may vary globally. The WHO-ICF guidelines recommend quality of life as an essential component in the assessment of individuals who stutter. However, the availability of linguistically and culturally appropriate tools is often a challenge. Thus, the current study adapted and validated the OASES-A for Kannada-speaking adults who stutter. METHOD: The original English version of OASES-A was adapted to Kannada using a standard reverse translation process. The adapted version was administered on 51 Kannada-speaking adults with very mild to very severe stuttering. The data were analyzed for item characteristics, reliability, and validity assessment. RESULTS: The results revealed floor and ceiling effects for six and two items, respectively. The mean overall impact score indicated a moderate impact of stuttering. Further, the impact score for section II was relatively higher when compared to the data from other countries. The reliability and validity analyses showed good internal consistency and test-retest reliability for OASES-A-K. CONCLUSION: The findings of the current research suggest that OASES-A-K is a sensitive and reliable tool to assess the impact of stuttering in Kannada-speaking PWS. The findings also highlight cross-cultural differences and the need for research in this direction.

Impact of changing urban landscapes on forest degradation: A study on a part of Western Ghats, India.

The current research is focused on studying the land use changes in selected sites (total area of 3488 sq. km) of the Uttara Kannada district and the impacts of urbanization of forest degradation. Topographical maps from the Survey of India have been used to mark the study area's boundary. Forest degradation mapping has been conducted through spatiotemporal analysis of LANDSAT and Google Earth imageries for the years 1989, 2001, 2013, and 2020. The decadal change was evaluated throughout the period to delineate the sites of encroachment. The change analysis revealed that 56.6% of the forest area has remained primarily dense; 6.46% of the area has remained unchanged as agricultural area, while almost 0.95% of the total agricultural area has been converted into built-up land or has become barren. Spatiotemporal change analysis also revealed that, overall, 85.1% of the study area has remained unchanged and 4.7% of the area has changed in some form or other. Ground truthing through Google Earth imageries for various periods reveals an increase in the built-up land along the coastal stretch and the north-eastern part of the region. In some places, agricultural lands have been abandoned, which have then been converted into shrublands. The unorganized growth of built-up land and decrease in the forest and agricultural lands have necessitated extensive fieldwork for developing guidelines for the protection of forest areas and planning of built-up and agricultural lands.

Evaluation of indoor 222Rn and 220Rn concentrations in Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka, India.

Naturally occurring radioactive gases which tend to build up (radon and thoron) in indoor environs can cause deleterious health effects including the development of lung cancer. The present study aims to measure 222Rn and 220Rn levels in dwellings in different seasons in the environs of Dakshina Kannada region of India. The 222Rn and 220Rn concentrations were measured in the monsoon, autumn, winter, and summer seasons using Solid State Nuclear Track Detector (SSNTD, LR-115 type II) films fixed in single-entry pinhole cylindrical twin-cup dosimeters. The higher 222Rn levels in indoors were observed during winter with an average concentration of 38.8 Bq m-3 and lower during summer with an average of 14.1 Bq m-3. The average indoor thoron concentration was also highest in winter with an average value of 25.5 Bq m-3 and lowest in summer with 8.8 Bq m-3. The annual inhalation dose ranged from 0.44 to 1.06 mSv year-1 with a mean value of 0.66 mSv year-1. The annual effective dose varied from 1.03 to 2.57 mSv year-1 with an average value of 1.59 mSv year-1. The assessed values have been contrasted with the limit suggested by the UNSCEAR and the ICRP and were found to be within the permissible level. The normality of frequency distribution curves of 222Rn and 220Rn concentrations was assessed by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test.

DravidianCodeMix: sentiment analysis and offensive language identification dataset for Dravidian languages in code-mixed text.

This paper describes the development of a multilingual, manually annotated dataset for three under-resourced Dravidian languages generated from social media comments. The dataset was annotated for sentiment analysis and offensive language identification for a total of more than 60,000 YouTube comments. The dataset consists of around 44,000 comments in Tamil-English, around 7000 comments in Kannada-English, and around 20,000 comments in Malayalam-English. The data was manually annotated by volunteer annotators and has a high inter-annotator agreement in Krippendorff's alpha. The dataset contains all types of code-mixing phenomena since it comprises user-generated content from a multilingual country. We also present baseline experiments to establish benchmarks on the dataset using machine learning and deep learning methods. The dataset is available on Github and Zenodo.

Development, Validation and Reliability of a Questionnaire to Assess Awareness, Knowledge, and Practice about Hearing Impairment Among School Teachers.

BACKGROUND: Hearing impairment is the most common congenital anomaly. It is well known that teachers are the corner pillar for inclusive education. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to develop a tool that evaluates awareness, knowledge, and practice about Hearing impairment among Teachers and to validate, and test the reliability of the questionnaire. METHODS: A cross-sectional study design and convenient sampling was used to recruit 82 participants. The questionnaire was developed after a familiarity check from Kannada language experts then it was intended for content validation by 6 experts in the field of Audiology. The finalized questionnaire was filled by participants and tested for internal consistency and test-retest reliability. RESULTS: In the current study finalized questionnaire consisted of 50 questions. The scale content validation index (S-CVI) was shown to be good with 0.944 S-CVI. The internal consistency showed moderate-good internal consistency in the independent section and very high overall reliability with a value of 0.898. Further test-retest reliability showed no significant difference (p>0.05) in independent and overall scores of test and retest sessions, respectively. Individual domain and total score intraclass coefficients revealed 'high' test-retest reliability. CONCLUSION: The currently developed questionnaire in the Kannada language to assess teachers' awareness, knowledge, and practice about hearing impairment showed high reliability and validity, making it an efficient tool to assess the gaps between regular school teachers on children with hearing impairment.

Development and cross-cultural adaptation of the vestibular disorders activities of daily living scale in the kannada language and testing its psychometric properties.

Background: Vestibular Disorders Activities of Daily Living Scale (VADL) is a self-reported survey for assessing functions of individuals affected by vestibular disorders, and this survey has been translated and cross-culturally adapted into many languages. Objective: : Kannada is one of the most-spoken languages in India, with approximately 64 million speakers. We aimed to develop the Kannada version of VADL and to assess its psychometric properties. Materials and Methods: The translation and adaptation of the English version of VADL into Kannada were accomplished with the input of medical professional language experts. Pretesting of the Kannada VADL (VADL-K) was conducted on 30 patients with vestibular disorders. Six professional experts with medical background provided their opinion during the content validation process of VADL-K, and 50 subjects aged between 30 and 70 years with variant vestibular disorders were administered VADL-K and the Dizziness Handicap Inventory to determine the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and concurrent validity of this assessment. Results: This study effectively translated, adapted, and pretested VADL-K. The scale's content validity was 0.95, its internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = α) was 0.94, its test-retest reliability with Intra Class- Correlation Coefficient was 0.97, and its concurrent validity in comparison with DHI was significant, with a moderate correlation r-value of 0.58. Conclusion: The English version of VADL was successfully translated and adapted into the Kannada language. VADL-K is a valid and reliable measure for patients with vestibular disorders in the state of Karnataka to report their functional performance.

Psychometric properties of the Kannada version of the International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA).

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to validate the translated Kannada version of the International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA) questionnaire for hearing aid users. DESIGN: The original (English) and the translated versions of the IOI-HA questionnaire along with the Self-Assessment of Communication (SAC) were self-administered by hearing aid users. To examine test-retest reliability, 50% of the study participants completed the Kannada IOI-HA for a second time approximately 15 days later. The data analyses examined various psychometric properties using a predetermined quality criterion. STUDY SAMPLE: 105 Kannada-English bilingual adults using hearing aids. RESULTS: Factor analysis indicated a two-factor structure that explained a 61.8% variance in the IOI-HA. A Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.7 indicated acceptable internal consistency. Good test-retest reliability (Interclass Correlation Coefficient > 0.9) was obtained for both conditions (i.e. between the original English and translated Kannada versions and also between two different administrations of the Kannada IOI-HA questionnaire). Divergent validity test results were acceptable, and no ceiling or floor effects were noted. Convergent validity testing of the SAC, however, was poor with small correlation, although the direction of correlation (i.e. negative) was as expected. CONCLUSION: Results suggest acceptable psychometric properties of the Kannada version of the IOI-HA questionnaire.

Literacy Profile of Children with Language Impairment: Evidence from an Alphasyllabary.

BACKGROUND: Most of the evidence explaining the language-literacy link is derived from children learning to read and write alphabetic orthography. AIM: This study investigated the literacy deficits in children learning to read Kannada, a Dravidian language that employs an alphasyllabary. METHODS: A group of 15 children with language impairment (CwLI) was compared with two groups of control (age- and language-matched) participants on a range of literacy measures. RESULTS: The results showed that, compared to the age-matched group, the CwLI group performed significantly poorer on reading (words and nonwords) and written spelling tasks. However, the performance on akshara (the written symbol in the alphasyllabary) recognition task was comparable between groups. Similarly, comparison of the CwLI group with the language-matched control group revealed poorer performance in the former group on most literacy measures but not the akshara recognition task. Akshara recognition emerged as the most significant predictor of literacy performance in children learning to read and write the Kannada alphasyllabary. Detailed analyses of the written spelling errors unveiled several unique error types in the language-impaired group. CONCLUSION: The findings of our study revealed both orthography-independent and orthography-dependent deficits in the literacy skills of CwLI mastering the Kannada alphasyllabary.

Communication Attitude of Kannada-Speaking School-Age Children Who Do and Do Not Stutter.

BACKGROUND: A large body of evidence suggests that the Communication Attitude Test (CAT) is a reliable and valid tool for assessing the speech-associated attitude of school-age children who stutter (CWS). OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to adapt and validate the CAT for the Kannada-speaking school-age CWS. METHODS: The original version of the CAT was forward- and back-translated by the first author. The Communication Attitude Test Kannada (CAT-K) was then administered to 293 children who do not stutter (CWNS) and 100 CWS. All children were native speakers of the Kannada language and were between the ages of 7 and 14 years. The Stuttering Severity Instrument-fourth edition (SSI-4) was used to estimate the severity of stuttering. RESULTS: The data revealed that, in comparison to CWNS, the CWS' mean CAT-K score was significantly higher, and a significant effect of stuttering severity and age on mean attitude scores was observed. In addition, results showed that the CAT-K is a reliable and valid test. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest the presence of a negative attitude in Kannada-speaking CWS and that the CAT-K is a useful tool in the assessment of Kannada school-age CWS. Given the need for speech-language pathologists to address a speech-associated negative attitude in CWS, incorporating the CAT-K as part of the diagnostic assessment of stuttering is valuable.

Stuttering in relation to the morphophonemics of Kannada.

The present study investigated the effect of certain unique morphophonemic features of Kannada words on the rate of stutters in a group of 22 adolescent and adult persons who stuttered in an oral reading task. A linear regression analysis showed that word length ranging from 1 to 8 syllables was a potent variable in the occurrence of stutters accounting for 25.3% of stutters. A composite index of morphophonemic complexity with points assigned for sandhi, geminates, consonant clusters, and number of morphemes accounted for a small 7.5% variability in observed stutter rates. Sandhi words and the hybrid content-function words were no more effective than other words in determining stutter rates. Results are discussed in relation to past findings for other languages and current neurolinguistic models of speech production.

Development of Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) in Simultaneous Kannada-English Biliterate Children.

RAN tests were administered to 600 typically developing children, 60 each from grade level one through grade ten (30 boys and 30 girls), who learn two distinct languages, English and Kannada simultaneously from the very first grade. The overall results were in accordance with similar previous studies in English and other European languages. The developmental trajectories were similar across the languages to a large extent; but the results also showed some differences across languages with respect to synchrony between the measures and the overall naming speed. Though some of the differences could be ascribed to the bilingual/biliterate culture and language use, there are enough scopes for future researches to examine these issues.

Articulation and acoustics of Kannada affricates: A case of geminate /ʧ/.

Affricates have been observed to be problematic in phonological acquisition and disordered speech across languages, due to their relatively complex spatial and temporal articulatory patterns. Remediation of difficulties in the production of affricates requires understanding of how these sounds are typically produced. This study presents the first systematic articulatory and acoustic investigation of voiceless geminate affricate /ʧ/ in Kannada (a Dravidian language), compared to the palatal glide and the voiceless dental stop. Ultrasound data from 10 normal speakers from Mysore, India revealed that /ʧ/ is produced with the tongue shape intermediate between the palatal glide and the dental stop, and with the laminal constriction at the alveolar ridge. The observed articulatory differences are reflected in acoustic formant patterns of vowel transitions and stop/affricate bursts. Altogether, the results show that the Kannada consonant in question is an alveolopalatal affricate, supporting some of the previous descriptive phonetic accounts of the language and raising questions for further research on normal and disordered speech. The results and our survey of literature also suggest that affricates in South Asian languages tend to be phonetically variable and historically unstable compared to other consonant articulations.

Validation of Kannada Version of the Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale (APAIS).

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Preoperative anxiety is a complex and subjective phenomenon, most commonly observed in patients posted for elective surgery. The Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety Information Scale (APAIS) has been widely used in preoperative settings to measure anxiety quickly. This study aimed to translate the APAIS into Kannada and to evaluate its psychometric properties. METHOD: The study involved forward and backward translation of APAIS into Kannada followed by a cognitive interview of 10 patients by clinical psychologist to confirm the correct translation. The translated version was then administered to 240 patients who were posted for elective surgery along with the Visual Analogue Scale for Anxiety (VAS-A). Reliability and internal consistency were assessed by calculating Cronbach's alpha. Construct validity was assessed by principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Criteria validity was assessed by evaluating the correlation between APAIS and VAS-A. RESULT: The Kannada-translated version of APAIS was completed by 224 patients posted for elective surgery. Cronbach's alpha was 0.82 and 0.83 for anxiety and need for information items, respectively. Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), comparative fit index (CFI), and Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) were 0.07, 0.98, and 0.96, respectively, for three-factor model, indicating it to be best fit for Kannada version of APAIS. CONCLUSION: The Kannada version of APAIS is a valid and reliable tool for measuring preoperative anxiety in patients undergoing elective surgery.

Repurposing EORTC QLQ-H&N43 and NCCN Distress Thermometer and Problem List: Adaptation and Validation in Kannada.

To translate, validate and test the reliability of Kannada version of "EORTC QLQ-H&N43" and "NCCN Distress Thermometer and Problem list" version 2.2022. The English version of "EORTC QLQ H&N43" and "NCCN Distress thermometer and Problem List" version 2.2022 tools were translated into Kannada language according to standard guideline. The translated version was validated by EORTC and by using content validity index (CVI). Further, the reliability of validated tools was established via test-retest and internal consistency method whereas construct was determined via spearman rank correlation. The Cronbach alpha value > 0.7 and correlation coefficients (ρ) < 0.05 was considered as significant. The Kannada version of "EORTC QLQ-H&N43" was validated by EORTC as well as by experts whereas  NCCN distress tool was validated only by experts with average CVI score of 1 and 0.97 respectively. Out of total 80 patients, 50% were head and neck cancer (HNC) patients and 50% belonged to other cancer types. Kannada version of EORTC QLQ-H&N43 and NCCN distress tool was found to be reliable among HNC and general cancer patients respectively with the Cronbach alpha value between 0.819-1 and 0.71-1 for all the domains. Further, only 7.72% of EORTC QLQ-H&N43 and 13.33% of NCCN distress tool construct were significantly correlated with construct of EORTC QLQ-C30 (p < 0.05). The Kannada version of QoL and distress instrument was found to be valid and reliable to use among HNC and/ general cancer patients respectively. Thus, this method of translation, validation and reliability testing can be used as a novel practice in healthcare. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12070-023-04366-0.

Epidemiological analysis of leptospirosis, dengue, and Co-infection rates among febrile illness cases in Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka.

INTRODUCTION: Leptospirosis and dengue are two significant public health concerns in tropical and subtropical regions, often resulting in severe forms of disease and fatality. This study addresses the pressing public health issues of leptospirosis and dengue in the Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka, India. Both diseases pose significant health risks and are relatively understudied in this region, making it essential to investigate their prevalence and clinical presentations for targeted healthcare planning. AIM: The primary aim is to determine the frequency of leptospirosis and dengue among febrile illness cases to understand the epidemiological patterns and assess co-infection rates in Dakshina Kannada. METHOD: Between 2020 and 2021, serum samples suspected of leptospirosis were tested using IgM ELISA (n = 1629) and the Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT) (n = 92) for leptospirosis, while dengue was tested using NS1Ag and IgM antibodies ELISA (n = 1415). Data were collected through medical records and patient interviews. Seasonal trends, gender, and age distributions were analyzed. RESULT: The study found a significant prevalence of leptospirosis (21 %) and dengue (10 %) among febrile illness cases in the study area, with a 1.3 % co-infection rate. Clinically, fever was common to both diseases, but leptospirosis also frequently exhibited symptoms such as abdominal pain, myalgia, and jaundice. MAT screening revealed a predominance of anti-leptospiral antibodies against the Djasiman, Pyrogenes, Hurstbridge, Hebdomadis, and Grippotyphosa serogroups in Dakshina Kannada. CONCLUSION: The study highlights the urgent need for focused public health interventions, improved diagnostic tools, and targeted epidemiological studies to manage these diseases. The findings underscore the necessity of enhancing diagnostic capabilities and public health awareness, particularly considering the significant health risks posed by leptospirosis and dengue in the region.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation, Translation and Validation of Kannada Version of the Swallowing Quality of Life Questionnaire (KSWAL-QOL).

The swallowing quality of life (SWAL-QOL) questionnaire is a commonly used tool to assess the impact of dysphagia on quality of life. SWAL-QOL has been translated and validated in many languages. There is no valid dysphagia-specific quality of life tool in Indian languages. Hence, the current study aimed at cultural adaptation, translation, and validation of SWAL-QOL in Kannada (KSWAL-QOL), a south Indian Dravidian language. The original SWAL-QOL was translated into Kannada using the standard translation procedure. A group of 55 participants with oro-pharyngeal dysphagia (clinical group) and 55 participants with normal swallowing abilities (control group) were recruited for the current study to assess the validity and reliability of KSWAL-QOL. Dysphagia Handicap Index- Kannada version (DHI-K) and Life Satisfaction Questionnaire (LISAT) were used to check for the convergent validity of the KSWAL-QOL. The KSWAL-QOL demonstrated excellent discriminant validity and distinguished clinical from the control group across all domains (p = 0.00). Internal consistency for all the nine domains of KSWAL-QOL measured using Cronbach's α ranged from 0.89 to 0.92, demonstrating excellent reliability. Test-retest measures were exceptional, with Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) ranging between 0.92 and 0.98 and Spearman's rho values between 0.91 and 0.97. A very strong negative correlation was obtained between KSWAL-QOL and DHI-K, and a strong positive correlation was seen between KSWAL-QOL and LISAT. The KSWAL-QOL is a reliable and valid tool with excellent psychometric properties to evaluate the quality of life associated with swallowing in individuals with oropharyngeal dysphagia. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12070-023-04162-w.

Efficacy of Long-Term Intensive Straw Phonation Exercise in Air for Hyperfunctional Voice Disorders: A Preliminary Study.

PURPOSE: Literature highlights the efficacy of prolonged use of straw phonation for vocally healthy individuals. Nevertheless, minimal studies have examined the prolonged use of single treatment in hyperfunctional voice disorders (HFVD), as straw phonation is used as physiological training to improve voice quality in these individuals. The present study aimed to investigate the long-term intensive training effect of straw phonation exercise in air (SPEA) for HFVD. METHOD: In a time series design, seven females with HFVD (mean age 42.28years) participated in SPEA for 12 long sessions (30 minutes/session) intensively trained for 3weeks (4days/week). The participant-recorded voice samples were analyzed for aerodynamic measures Aerodynamic Subglottic Pressure (ASP), Airflow Rate (AFR), glottal behavior measures Contact Quotient (CQ), Contact Quotient Range (CQR), acoustic measure Acoustic Voice Quality Index (AVQI), auditory-perceptual Consensus Auditory Perceptual Evaluation of Voice - Kannada (CAPE-V-K), and self-perceptual measure Voice Handicap Index - Kannada (VHI-K) at pre-therapy, mid-therapy, post therapy, and 1-month follow-up timelines. Related Friedman's two-way analysis of variance and post hoc Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used to analyze the change in outcome measures across therapy timelines. RESULTS: Significant reduction in ASP, CQR, AVQI, CAPE-V-K, and VHI-K measures from pre-therapy to post-therapy and follow-up timelines was observed. Although there was a decrease in AFR and CQ measures from pre therapy to post therapy and follow-up, no significant differences were observed. No significant changes were observed from pre therapy to mid-therapy in any outcome measures, indicating the need for extended therapy duration and regular practice. CONCLUSION: These findings provide preliminary evidence of implementing the long-term intensive training of SPEA for HFVD with the support of significant outcome measures at various therapy timelines.

A cross-sectional study on assessment of spiritual health and its associated factors among undergraduate students in a medical college in Mangalore, Karnataka.

Background: Spirituality and spiritual health are an integral component of an individual's health and wellbeing. Among medical undergraduates and professionals, spiritual health has positive effects on the individual by decreasing burnout, psychological distress, and rates of substance abuse. Spiritual health is also correlated with increased satisfaction and meaning in life. Spiritual health also influences future patient care, builds patient- provider communication channels, and improves patient outcomes. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the spiritual health levels of medical undergraduates in a medical college, in Karnataka, India, and to identify the factors associated with it. Using a pre-designed, validated semi-structed questionnaire, 600 medical undergraduates were approached and provided the forms. Spiritual health was assessed across the three domains of self-development, self-actualization, and self-realization using the Spiritual Health Assessment Scale (SHAS). Results: A total of 436 medical undergraduates participated. Majority (67.7%) of participants were girls. Most (62%) were found to have fair spiritual health with a large portion of the rest (36%) having good spiritual health and 2% had poor spiritual health. A significant association was found  between spiritual health and the father's (p=0.005) and mother's (p=0.012) education levels. Spiritual health was also found to be associated with living in a nuclear family (p=0.04). Conclusions: Majority of the medical undergraduates had fair spiritual health. Parents' education levels and nuclear family were significantly associated with spiritual health.