Pregnancies and births among adolescents: a population-based prospective study in rural Vietnam.

OBJECTIVE: To describe birth rates and pregnancy outcomes, specifically stillbirth, preterm delivery and low birth weight (LBW) in relation to socio-demographic characteristics, among adolescent women in a rural district in northern Vietnam. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Within an epidemiological field laboratory, quarterly surveillance of 7767 adolescent women in the ages 15-19 during the period January 1999 to December 2005 was conducted. Birth rates were calculated and pregnancy outcomes were described in relation to background factors. RESULT: A total of 1021 pregnancies were reported by 926 adolescent women during the period of whom 17% were below 18 years. The estimated adolescent birth rate during 1999-2005 was 27/1000 women-years. The incidence of stillbirth among all births was 19/1000 births. These were more likely to be delivered preterm. The incidence of preterm deliveries and LBW infants was 193 and 75 per 1000 live births, respectively. There were no differences in socio-demographic background for stillbirth, preterm delivery or LBW. CONCLUSION: Adolescent birth rates were similar to those found in the recent Vietnamese DHS and considerably lower than the average for South-East Asia. Higher rates of stillbirth and preterm delivery were found than those previously reported for Vietnam, indicating the need for careful monitoring of adolescent pregnancies and their infants. Further research is needed to explore if and how much socio-demographic variables influence pregnancy outcome, comparing more differentiated groups, as a basis for interventions to assure access to adequate reproductive health care services for all women.

Stunting and 'overweight' in the WHO Child Growth Standards - malnutrition among children in a poor area of China.

OBJECTIVE: The aims of the present paper were to assess the nutritional status of children under 5 years old using the 2006 WHO Child Growth Standards ('the WHO standards') and to compare the results with those obtained using the National Center for Health Statistics/WHO international growth reference ('the NCHS reference'). DESIGN: This was a community-based cross-sectional survey. The WHO standards were used to calculate Z-scores of height-for-age (HAZ), weight-for-age (WAZ), weight-for-height (WHZ) and BMI-for-age (BMIZ). SETTING: Fifty counties of thirteen mid-western provinces, China. SUBJECTS: A total 8041 children aged <5 years were measured during a 2-month period from August to October 2006. RESULTS: The prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting were 30.2 %, 10.2 % and 2.9 %, respectively. The prevalence of overweight and the possible risk of overweight were as high as 4.1 % and 16.8 %. Further analysis among the children with possible risk of overweight found that the percentage of stunting (HAZ < or-2) was 57.6 %, the percentage with -2 2 was only 1.4 %. The prevalence of stunting was 21.9 % and of underweight was 12.7 % by the NCHS reference. CONCLUSIONS: Stunting was the most serious problem that was impeding child growth and development. The high rate of 'overweight' was a false impression, the truth being 'stunting overweight', and the way to solve it should be to increase protein and other nutrients in the diet at an early age.

Quality of STIs and HIV/AIDS care as perceived by biomedical and traditional health care providers in Zambia: are there common grounds for collaboration?

OBJECTIVE: To explore biomedical and traditional health care providers' (BHPs and THPs, respectively) perceptions of good quality of care and opinions on weaknesses in the services they provide to patients with STIs and HIV/AIDS. METHODS: Using data from a cross-sectional survey, we post-coded two open-ended questions related to THPs' and BHPs' perceptions on good quality of care and on provided care. The post-coding was done following Donabedian's framework of assessment of quality of care, and allowed transformation of qualitative data into quantitative. The analysis is based on comparison of frequencies, proportions and subsequent chi-square tests and odds ratios. SETTING: Ndola and Kabwe, Zambia Main measures: Proportions of responses from 152 BHPs and 144 THPs. RESULTS: Substantial proportions of providers from both sectors perceived drugs availability (63% of BHPs and 70% of THPs) and welcoming attitude (73% of BHPs and 64% of THPs) as important components of good quality care. BHPs were more likely than THPs to mention proper examination, medical management (provider's technical ability) and explanation of causes and prognosis of the disease as important. More THPs than BHPs cited short waiting time and cost of care. A majority of BHPs (87%) and of THPs (80%) reported deficiencies in their STIs and HIV/AIDS-related services. Both groups regarded training of providers and nutritional support and health education to patients as lacking. None of the THPs alluded to voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) or supportive/home-based care as aspects needing improvement. CONCLUSION: Drugs availability and welcoming attitude were two aspects of quality highly valued by THPs and BHPs. Future collaborative interventions need to respond to aspects of joint concern including training of providers, nutritional support and health education to patients. Further, there is an imperative of expanding and adapting VCT, home-based care and palliative care to THPs for better care of STIs and HIV/AIDS.

Poverty and devastation of intimate relations: Tanzanian women's experience of living with HIV/AIDS.

In Tanzania, women of reproductive age constitute the largest group infected by HIV. This study aimed to explore the lived experiences related to health and sexuality of Tanzanian women who had known their positive serostatus for 1 year. In-depth interviews with 10 women were analyzed using a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach and showed frustration and despair at not having resources to maintain daily life. The women needed regular medical treatment for themselves and for their HIV-positive children. Their sexual desires had declined or vanished, and they had come to view sexuality as a source of transmittable disease. For some women, casual sex was an option to solve urgent financial needs. Happiness was something for their children, not for them. Access to social support from the women's community would help prevent further HIV transmission and enhance survival so the children could grow up with at least one devoted parent.

Vulnerability and sexual and reproductive health among Zambian secondary school students.

The present study aimed to explore secondary school students' needs in relation to sexual and reproductive health in order to inform efforts to improve the quality of health services available to young people. The study involved data collection from 716 11-22-year-old students in four secondary schools in an urban area in Zambia. Students completed a questionnaire and were invited to write down any inquiries they had regarding sexuality and reproduction. Findings revealed that boys and girls lack adequate information about human reproduction and STIs, including HIV. To avoid misconceptions and myths, they also need clear information on contraceptives and masturbation. Responses indicate that young people would welcome guidance and support related to contraception, pregnancy, abortion and STIs/HIV, but also on love and relationships. Culture, religion and gender are important factors influencing sexuality and sexual abuse. These issues need to be taken into consideration when developing youth-friendly programmes for young people.

Can biomedical and traditional health care providers work together? Zambian practitioners' experiences and attitudes towards collaboration in relation to STIs and HIV/AIDS care: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization's World health report 2006: Working together for health underscores the importance of human resources for health. The shortage of trained health professionals is among the main obstacles to strengthening low-income countries' health systems and to scaling up HIV/AIDS control efforts. Traditional health practitioners are increasingly depicted as key resources to HIV/AIDS prevention and care. An appropriate and effective response to the HIV/AIDS crisis requires reconsideration of the collaboration between traditional and biomedical health providers (THPs and BHPs). The aim of this paper is to explore biomedical and traditional health practitioners' experiences of and attitudes towards collaboration and to identify obstacles and potential opportunities for them to collaborate regarding care for patients with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDS. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study in two Zambian urban sites, using structured questionnaires. We interviewed 152 biomedical health practitioners (BHPs) and 144 traditional health practitioners (THPs) who reported attending to patients with STIs and HIV/AIDS. RESULTS: The study showed a very low level of experience of collaboration, predominated by BHPs training THPs (mostly traditional birth attendants) on issues of safe delivery. Intersectoral contacts addressing STIs and HIV/AIDS care issues were less common. However, both groups of providers overwhelmingly acknowledged the potential role of THPs in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Obstacles to collaboration were identified at the policy level in terms of legislation and logistics. Lack of trust in THPs by individual BHPs was also found to inhibit collaboration. Nevertheless, as many as 40% of BHPs expressed an interest in working more closely with THPs. CONCLUSION: There is indication that practitioners from both sectors seem willing to strengthen collaboration with each other. However, there are missed opportunities. The lack of collaborative framework integrating maternal health with STIs and HIV/AIDS care is at odds with the needed comprehensive approach to HIV/AIDS control. Also, considering the current human resources crisis in Zambia, substantial policy commitment is called for to address the legislative obstacles and the stigma reported by THPs and to provide an adequate distribution of roles between all partners, including traditional health practitioners, in the struggle against HIV/AIDS.

Faces of poverty: sensitivity and specificity of economic classifications in rural Vietnam.

AIMS: Poverty concepts and measurements have occupied philosophers for centuries and are subject to debate by researchers. A wide range of possible measures have been developed and used. Most research is country specific and different methods produce different pictures of poverty. This study aimed to compare measures of poverty within an epidemiological field laboratory in Bavi District, northern Vietnam (FilaBavi) and specifically to find out whether the official economic classification made by the local authority matched other measurements of socioeconomic status. METHODS: Structured questionnaires were used to collect socioeconomic information in 11,547 households. In addition, the official classification for individual households was recorded. Five economic indicators were constructed: income, expenditure, household assets, housing conditions, and local authority's estimation. RESULTS: Official economic classification and housing score were symmetrically distributed, while assets score and particularly income were highly skewed. Design effects were high because of high intra-cluster correlations. No indicator was closely correlated with any other. Sensitivity and positive predictive value for poverty were generally low for all indicators. DISCUSSION: The authors' findings do not suggest that any of the indicators used is substantially better than the other or better than the Official Economic Classification made by local authority. The results also show that no indicator is particularly useful to predict the values of any other indicator and different poverty indicators may classify different socioeconomic groups as poor.

Gender and rural-urban differences in reported health status by older people in Bangladesh.

The study aims to (i) describe regional variation and gender differences in health status of older people (60 years and older) in Bangladesh, indicated by self-reported health problems and functional ability; (ii) explore influence of socio-economic factors on health status of older people. In a cross-sectional study in rural and urban Bangladesh, 696 older persons were asked about their health problems and ability to manage activities of daily living (ADL). More than 95% of older people reported health problems. Approximately 80% of elderly women in both the regions reported having four or more health problems compared with 42% and 63% elderly men in the urban and rural regions, respectively. More women (urban: 55%; rural: 36%) than men (urban: 32%; rural: 22%) also reported difficulties with ADL. Irrespective of age, sex and area of residence, those reporting greater number of health problems were more likely to report difficulty with at least one ADL task. Reporting pattern of specific health problems varied between urban and rural regions. Socio-economic indicators were found to have little influence on reporting of health problems, particularly in the rural region. Observed regional difference may be related to the influence of social and environmental factors, and level of awareness concerning certain health conditions.

Understanding young men's sexual health and prospects for sexual behaviour change in rural Zambia.

AIMS: Building on the experiences of an initial study in 1993, the current survey was conducted to enhance understanding of men's sexual health and prospects for behaviour change in Chiawa, rural Zambia. METHODS: Seventy-nine randomly selected men in the age range 16-25 years were interviewed using a questionnaire. RESULTS: The obstacles to good sexual health reported were: inadequate access to health facilities (35%); unemployment (24%); diseases in general (20%); and HIV/AIDS (17%). Nineteen (24%) had suffered from an STI in the past. Five (13%) of the married and 16 (33%) of the single men had extra or pre-marital relationships at the time of the interviews. In 1993, 50% of the single men had pre-marital relationships. A real man (murume chaiye) was considered to be married, have children, have a job and sexually satisfy his wife; 97% considered themselves to be real men. Some 91% perceived themselves to be at risk of HIV infection; 76 (96%) were aware that HIV could be passed from mother to child, although 51 (61%) would not think about HIV when making decisions about having children. Sixty-eight (86%) believed that condoms could reduce the risk of HIV and 27% used condoms all the time they had sex. In 1993, 6% used condoms all the time they had sex. CONCLUSIONS: There are prospects for behaviour change among the men. Prevention messages need to build on what they already know and practise. The messages must aim to change their local sexual norms, which perpetuate risky practices.