Parental Influence on Usage of Electronic Gadgets and Students' Grades: Primary Students' Perspective.

This study intended to find out the children's usage of gadgets and the parents' role regarding their usage and finally its influence on grades. This cross-sectional study was conducted using quantitative method. A total of 340 students of class four were selected by a random sampling method from four schools. Data collection was done by face-to-face interview and the study tool was structured by pretested questionnaire. The study took place at Dhanmondi Govt. Boys' High School, Kamrunnessa Govt. Girls School, Dhanmondi, Bangladesh International School and College (BISC), Mohakhali and SOS Hermann Gmeiner College, Mirpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Data collection was carried out from May 2019 to October 2019. Then the analysis of data and results were prepared in November and December 2019. Among 340 respondents of this study, a maximum (78.2%) of students watch TV, 55.9% of them play with mobile and a half (50%) of the students use tablet daily. Maximum (91.8%) parents monitor the use and time of gadgets. About 53.8% of parents use gadgets as a parenting tool. The majority of parents have a positive opinion of electronic gadgets on their children's reading (52.9% somewhat positive and 24.7% very positive) and writing (56.8% somewhat positive and 20.3% very positive) skills. The parents had negative opinion regarding attention spans to studies (33.8% somewhat negative), physical activity (38.2% somewhat negative and 16.5% parents are very negative) and sleep (38.8% are somewhat negative and 17.9% are very negative). Children are the future generation of our country. It is the duty of the parents as well as the country to establish a balanced use of this modern invention in our children's life.

Influence of Parental Factors on Tobacco Smoking among Male Adolescents.

In Bangladesh, more than one-fifth (20.5 percent) of the total population, that is 30.68 million is adolescents. Most of the adult smokers initiate smoking in their adolescent period. This study aimed to investigate parental influencing factors for the initiation of tobacco smoking in adolescence period among 15-19 years old college students of Dhaka city, Bangladesh. This was an unmatched case-control study. The information was collected from 91 ever-smokers in the case group and 91 never-smokers in the control group. The respondents were 11th and 12th-grade male college students selected from two colleges of Dhaka city, Bangladesh. The results were analysed using univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis. Parental control variable was categorized by using Likert Scale. Around 68.7 percent (n=57) respondents were 18-19 years old who were ever-smoker and about 44 percent (n=40) ever-smokers initiated smoking at or below the age of 16. Father's smoking status was found significant (p value <0.05) in bivariate analysis. In binary logistic regression, respondents who received intermediate to low control from their father compared to high control (OR 3.35, 95% CI 1.08-10.38, p value 0.035), respondents who received intermediate to low control from their mother compared to high control (OR 3.73, 95% CI 1.07-13.05, p value 0.039), and presence of any smoking member in their family compared to who did not have (OR 6.23, 95% CI 2.57-15.12, p value 0.001) found significantly higher odds of being ever-smoker. Respondents whose mother passed up to 8 hours in a day with them compared to mothers who gave limited time (less than 1 hour) in a day was found significantly lower odds (OR 0.07, 95% CI 0.01-0.65, p value 0.019) which was a protective factor of being ever-smoker. The result of the study concludes that parental influencing factors had a significant role in tobacco smoking of college-going male adolescents. Parent focused tobacco prevention program may be effective to reduce tobacco smoking prevalence. Further interventional studies are required.

Young people's exposure to point-of-sale tobacco products and promotions.

OBJECTIVES: Point of sale (POS) displays are one of the most important forms of tobacco marketing still permitted in many countries. Reliable methods for measuring exposure to such displays are needed in order to assess their potential impact, particularly on smoking attitudes and uptake among young people. In this study we use a novel method for evaluating POS exposure based on young people's use of retail outlets and recall of tobacco displays and observational data on the characteristics of displays. STUDY DESIGN: Observational audit of retail outlets (n = 96) and school-based pupil survey (n = 1482) in four Scottish communities reflecting different levels of social deprivation and urbanisation, conducted in 2013 before legislation to remove POS displays was implemented in supermarkets. METHODS: Measures were taken of: visibility and placement of tobacco displays; internal and external advertising; display unit size, branding and design; visibility of pack warnings; proximity of tobacco products to products of potential interest to children and young people; pupils' self-reported frequency of visiting retail outlets; and pupils' recall of tobacco displays. Variation in POS exposure across social and demographic groups was assessed. RESULTS: Displays were highly visible within outlets and, in over half the stores, from the public footway outside. Tobacco products were displayed in close proximity to products of interest to children (e.g. confectionery, in 70% of stores). Eighty percent of pupils recalled seeing tobacco displays, with those from deprived areas more likely to recall displays in small shops. When confectioners, tobacconists and newsagents (CTNs) and grocery/convenience stores (two of the outlet types most often visited by young people) were examined separately, average tobacco display unit sizes were significantly larger in those outlets in more deprived areas. CONCLUSIONS: POS displays remain a key vector in most countries for advertising tobacco products, and it is important to develop robust measures of exposure. The data reported in this paper provide a baseline measure for evaluating the efficacy of legislation prohibiting such displays.

Does exposure to cigarette brands increase the likelihood of adolescent e-cigarette use? A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between tobacco cigarette brand recognition, and e-cigarette use in adolescents. DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational study. SETTING: High schools in Scotland. PARTICIPANTS: Questionnaires were administered to pupils in Secondary 2 (S2 mean age: 14.0 years) and Secondary 4 (S4 mean age: 15.9 years) across 4 communities in Scotland. An 86% response rate with a total sample of 1404 pupils was achieved. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Self-reported previous use of e-cigarettes and self-reported intention to try e-cigarettes in the next 6 months. RESULTS: 75% (1029/1377) of respondents had heard of e-cigarettes (69.5% S2, 81.1% S4), and of these, 17.3% (10.6% S2, 24.3% S4 n=1020) had ever tried an e-cigarette. 6.8% (3.7% S2, 10.0% S4 n=1019) reported that they intended to try an e-cigarette in the next 6 months. Recognition of more cigarette brands was associated with greater probability of previous e-cigarette use (OR 1.20, 99% CI 1.05 to 1.38) as was having a best friend who smoked (OR 3.17, 99% CI 1.42 to 7.09). Intention to try e-cigarettes was related to higher cigarette brand recognition (OR 1.41, 99% CI 1.07 to 1.87), hanging around in the street or park more than once a week (OR 3.78, 99% CI 1.93 to 7.39) and living in areas of high tobacco retail density (OR 1.20, 99% CI 1.08 to 1.34). Never having smoked was a protective factor for both future intention to try, and past e-cigarette use (OR 0.07, 99% CI 0.02 to 0.25; and OR 0.10, 99% CI 0.07 to 0.16, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Higher cigarette brand recognition was associated with increased probability of previous use and of intention to use e-cigarettes. The impact of tobacco control measures such as restricting point-of-sale displays on the uptake of e-cigarettes in young people should be evaluated.

Sexually transmitted infections and sexual behaviour among youth clients of hotel-based female sex workers in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

A cross-sectional study was conducted among youth clients of hotel-based female sex workers (YCHBFSWs) in nine randomly selected hotels in Bangladesh to examine sexual-risk behaviour, condom use and determinants of condom use in last sex, knowledge of HIV, sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevalence and STI care-seeking behaviour. A prestructured questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic, behavioural, clinical information; urine specimens (before sex) and blood were collected for diagnosis of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, Trichomonas vaginalis, syphilis and herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV2) infection. One thousand and thirteen participants were enroled in the study. Approximately half of them reported visiting female sex workers (FSWs) at least once a month and 25% visited FSWs at least once a week. Only 12% of participants reported regular condom use. The prevalence of N. gonorrhoeae, C. trachomatis, T. vaginalis, syphilis and HSV2 was 2.2%, 3.9%, 7.2%, 2.6% and 12.9%, respectively. Only 15.3% of the YCHBFSW sought STI care in the past year. Negotiation of condom use with FSWs was the main determinant (odds ratio = 17.95) for condom use at last sex. Male clients of FSWs, including YCHBFSW, are an important bridge population for HIV transmission in Bangladesh and HIV interventions should be designed and implemented for them.

Predictors of depression among older people living in rural areas of Thailand.

Global population is ageing and Thailand has one of the fastest growing ageing populations in this region. Combined with this, depression has become a major mental health problem for older people. The objective of this paper is to examine the predictors of depression among rural older people of Thailand. This study has used information from the Study on Health and Social Support among Older Population living in Kanchanaburi Demographic Surveillance System (KDSS), Thailand in 2006. Depression was measured by a 12 item questionnaire of Thai validated Euro-D scale among 1001 respondents. The questions were on depression, pessimism, wishing to die, guilt, sleep disturbance, loss of interest, irritability, eating problems, fatigue, problem in concentration, lack of enjoyment, and tearfulness. Among the respondents 28.5% had depression. The results of logistic regression found that infirmity, disability and serious life events had significant effect on depression of the respondent. Those who had 4 or more infirmity, they were 2.08 times more likely to have depression compare to those who had no or only 1 infirmity. Disability was another strong predictor of the depression. It should be mentioned here that those who had medium disability, had the chance of depression 3.12 times more compare to those who had no disability. Serious life event was also a major factor for the respondents. Those who had 3 or more serious life events they had the depression 5.25 times more compare to those who had no serious life event.This study identified three major predictors of depression for older people in KDSS, Thailand. The finding will help to design specific prevention program to reduce the depression of older people living in the rural area of Thailand.

Is there a benefit from lycopene supplementation in men with prostate cancer? A systematic review.

Lycopene has a chemopreventive effect against prostate cancer but its role in prostate cancer progression is unknown; many patients increase their intake of lycopene, although there are no evidence-based guidelines to suggest an effect. Our objective was to conduct a systematic review of literature to evaluate the association between lycopene intake and prostate cancer progression. MEDLINE, EMBASE CINAHL Plus, Web of Science, AMED and CENTRAL databases were systematically searched using terms for lycopene and prostate cancer progression to identify studies published before January 2009. Eight intervention studies were identified (five with no control group; one with an unmatched control group; and two randomized controlled trials (RCTs)). An inverse association was observed between lycopene intake and PSA levels in six studies. The rates of progression measured by bone scan in one RCT were lower in the intervention group. Lycopene resulted in lowering cancer-related symptoms (pain, urinary tract symptoms), and severe toxicity or intolerance was not evident. However, the evidence available to date is insufficient to draw a firm conclusion with respect to lycopene supplementation in prostate cancer patients and larger RCTs are required in broader patient groups.

Improved adherence and anaemia cure rates with flexible administration of micronutrient Sprinkles: a new public health approach to anaemia control.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Despite repeated public commitments and availability of various forms of iron supplements, rates of anaemia in developing countries remain high. A major reason for this lack of success has been poor adherence. The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of daily and flexible administration of micronutrient Sprinkles on adherence, acceptability and haematological status among young children in rural Bangladesh. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A sample of 362 children (haemoglobin (Hb)>or=70 g l(-1)) aged 6-24 months were cluster-randomized to receive 60 sachets of Sprinkles either (i) daily over 2 months; (ii) flexibly over 3 months; or (iii) flexibly over 4 months. With a flexible regimen, mothers/caregivers decided how frequently to use Sprinkles without exceeding one sachet per day. Adherence was assessed monthly by counting the number of sachets used and acceptability was evaluated through focus group discussions. Haemoglobin was measured at baseline, at the end of each intervention period and 6 months post-intervention. RESULTS: Mean percent adherence was significantly higher in the flexible-4-month group (98%) compared to the flexible-3-month (93%) and daily-2-month (88%) groups (P<0.01). Most mothers found flexible administration to be more acceptable than daily due to perceived benefits of use. Hb at the end of intervention was significantly higher in the flexible-4-month group compared to the daily group (P=0.03). Anaemia prevalence decreased by 65% in the flexible-4-month group compared to 54% in the flexible-3-month and 51% in the daily-2-month groups. Percent of cured children who maintained a non-anaemic status 6 months post-intervention was significantly higher in the flexible-4-month (82%) and flexible-3-month (80%) groups than the daily-2-month (53%) group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The adherence, acceptability and haematological response to flexible administration over 4 months were found preferable to daily.