Correction: Psychosocial and socio-environmental factors associated with adolescents' tobacco and other substance use in Bangladesh.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242872.].

Psychosocial and socio-environmental factors associated with adolescents' tobacco and other substance use in Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana are the top three substances used by adolescents. The adverse health effects of these three substances are well documented in epidemiological literature, yet little is known about the substance use and associated factors among adolescents in Bangladesh. This study examines the risk factors for tobacco and other substances use among school-going adolescents in Bangladesh. METHODS: We analyzed data from the 2014 Bangladesh Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) of adolescents aged 13-17 years. We used two outcome measures: tobacco use (TU) and other substance use (SU; alcohol and/or marijuana). We examined a set of reported psychosocial and socio-environmental adverse events as risk factors. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify associations. RESULTS: The prevalence of TU and other SU among school-going adolescents was 9.6% and 2.3%, respectively. The likelihood of TU and other SU was higher among adolescents who reported being bullied (TU: adjusted odd ratio [AOR]: 1.93; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.24-3.00; and other SU: AOR: 3.43; 95% CI: 1.46-7.99) and having sexual history (TU: AOR: 19.38; 95% CI: 12.43-30.21; and other SU: AOR: 5.34; 95% CI: 2.17-13.29). Moreover, anxiety-related sleep loss was associated with adolescents' TU (AOR: 2.41; 95% CI: 1.02-5.82) whereas the likelihood of other SU (AOR: 3.27; 95% CI: 1.14-9.44) was higher among lonely adolescents. Experience of adverse socio-environmental factors, such as parental substance use (TU: AOR: 7.81; 95% CI: 5.08-12.01), poor monitoring (TU: AOR: 1.96; 95% CI: 1.16-3.31) and poor understanding (TU: AOR: 2.22; 95% CI: 1.36-3.65), and lack of peer support (TU: AOR: 3.13; 95% CI: 1.84-5.31; and other SU: AOR: 2.45; 95% CI: 1.02-5.91), and truancy (other SU: AOR: 4.29; 95% CI: 1.81-10.12) were also positively associated with TU and/or other SU. Additionally, higher odds of tobacco use were observed among adolescents who reported 1 (AOR: 4.36 times; 95% CI: 1.34-14.24), 2 (AOR: 8.69 95% CI: 1.67-28.23), and ≥3 (AOR: 17.46; 95% CI: 6.20-49.23) adverse psychosocial experiences than who did not report any psychosocial events. CONCLUSIONS: Tobacco and other substance use among school-going adolescents are prevalent in Bangladesh. Several psychosocial and socio-environmental events are associated with TU and other SU, which should be incorporated into adolescent substance use and health promotion programs.

Effects of underlying morbidities on the occurrence of deaths in COVID-19 patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the most hectic pandemic of the era, is increasing exponentially and taking thousands of lives worldwide. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of pre-existing comorbidities among COVID-19 patients and their mortality risks with each category of pre-existing comorbidity. METHODS: To conduct this systematic review and meta-analysis, Medline, Web of Science, Scopus, and CINAHL databases were searched using pre-specified search strategies. Further searches were conducted using the reference list of the selected studies, renowned preprint servers (eg, medRxiv, bioRxiv, SSRN), and relevant journals' websites. Studies written in the English language included if those were conducted among COVID-19 patients with and without comorbidities and presented survivor vs non-survivor counts or hazard/odds of deaths or survivors with types of pre-existing comorbidities. Comorbidities reported in the selected studies were grouped into eight categories. The pooled likelihoods of deaths in each category were estimated using a fixed or random-effect model, based on the heterogeneity assessment. Publication bias was assessed by visual inspection of the funnel plot asymmetry and Egger's regression test. Trim and Fill method was used if there any publication bias was found. RESULTS: A total of 41 studies included in this study comprised of 27 670 samples. The most common pre-existing comorbidities in COVID-19 patients were hypertension (39.5%), cardiovascular disease (12.4%), and diabetes (25.2%). The higher likelihood of deaths was found among COVID-19 patients who had pre-existing cardiovascular diseases (odds ratio (OR) = 3.42, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.86-4.09), immune and metabolic disorders (OR = 2.46, 95% CI = 2.03-2.85), respiratory diseases (OR = 1.94, 95% CI = 1.72-2.19), cerebrovascular diseases (OR = 4.12, 95% CI = 3.04-5.58), any types of cancers (OR = 2.22, 95% CI = 1.63-3.03), renal (OR = 3.02, 95% CI = 2.60-3.51), and liver diseases (OR = 2.35, 95% CI = 1.50-3.69). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence that COVID-19 patients with pre-existing comorbidities had a higher likelihood of death. These findings could potentially help health care providers to sort out the most susceptible COVID-19 patients by comorbidities, take precautionary measures during hospitalization, assess susceptibility to death, and prioritize their treatment, which could potentially reduce the number of fatalities in COVID-19.

Bullying victimization and adverse health behaviors among school-going adolescents in South Asia: Findings from the global school-based student health survey.

BACKGROUND: Bullying among adolescents is a global public health issue and has adverse behavioral and mental health consequences, yet a little is known about the relationship between bullying victimization and adverse health behaviors in adolescence in South Asian countries. METHODS: Data for this cross-sectional analysis were extracted from the global school-based student health survey (GSHS) in Bangladesh (n = 2,989), 2014 and in Nepal (n = 6,529), 2015. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify the associations between bullying victimization and adverse health behaviors or outcomes: physical violence, sexual history, tobacco use, alcohol use, drug use, suicide ideation, plan, attempt, loneliness, and sleeping difficulty. RESULTS: The prevalence of bullying victimization that occurred for a minimum of 1 day during the 30 days preceding the survey was 24.5% in Bangladesh and 50.9% in Nepal. This study observed significant relationships between bullying victimization and several adverse health behaviors/outcomes. For example, in Bangladesh, the odds of attempted suicide were found to be higher in adolescents that experienced bullying for 1-2 (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 2.92; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.64-5.19), 3-5 (AOR: 3.55; 95% CI: 1.69), 6-9 (AOR: 5.33; 95% CI: 1.24-22.77), or 10 days or more (AOR: 9.83; 95% CI: 4.17-23.16) during the 30 days preceding the survey than who did not. CONCLUSIONS: Bullying among adolescents in school is common in Bangladesh and Nepal and is associated with several adverse health behaviors. Bullying and its potential health consequences are needed to be addressed in health promotion and programs in these countries.

Prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents in Bangladesh: do eating habits and physical activity have a gender differential effect?

The aim of this study was to examine the gender differential effects of eating habits and physical activity on overweight and obesity among school-aged adolescents in Bangladesh. Nationally representative data extracted from the 2014 Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) were utilized. The survey collected information related to physical and mental health from 2989 school-aged adolescents in Bangladesh. An exploratory data analysis and multivariate logistic regression model were employed in this study. Female adolescents were at a lower risk of being overweight or obese (AOR=0.573) than males, with a prevalence of 7.4% (males: 9.9%). The results showed that high consumption of vegetables (both: AOR=0.454; males: AOR=0.504; females: AOR=0.432), high soft drink consumption (both: AOR=2.357; males: AOR=2.929; females: AOR=1.677), high fast food consumption (both: AOR=2.777; males: AOR=6.064; females: AOR=1.695), sleep disturbance (both: AOR=0.675; males: AOR=0.590; females: AOR=0.555) and regular walking or cycling to school (both: AOR=0.472; males: AOR=0.430; females: AOR=0.557) were vital influencing factors for being overweight or obese among adolescents for both sexes. Sedentary activities during leisure time were also identified as significant predictors of being overweight or obese for males. Regular fruit and vegetable consumption, the avoidance of soft drinks and fast food, an increase in vigorous physical activity, regular attendance at physical education classes and fewer sedentary leisure time activities could all help reduce the risk of being overweight or obese for both sexes.