The patterns, trends and major risk factors of suicide among Indian adolescents - a scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Adolescence is an essential stage for the development of mental health, and suicide is among the leading cause of mortality for adolescents around the world. In India, the suicide rate among adolescents has been increasing in recent years. The scoping review was conducted to map the evidence and address gaps by examining the existing pattern, and trends, and identify the major risk factors of suicide among Indian adolescents. METHODS: The study was conducted as per the Arksey and O'Malley scoping review framework and the Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewers' manual. The systematic search was performed using electronic databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, EMBASE, and PsycINFO, by using specific keywords. After the screening, 35 articles were identified according to the inclusion criteria. RESULTS: The evidence on the trends of suicide among adolescents showed that the suicide rate has shown an alarming increase in recent years. The evidence pattern showed that hanging and poisoning were the commonly selected methods used by adolescents. The most commonly reported risk factors were mental health problems (54.28%), negative or traumatic familiar issues (34.28%), academic stress (22.85%), social/lifestyle factors (20%), violence (22.85%), economic distresses (8.75%), relationship factor (8.75%). CONCLUSION: By synthesizing and summarising the patterns, trends, and key risk factors of suicide among Indian adolescents, this scoping review provides a broad understanding of the literature already in existence. In order to effectively tackle these issues, the finding highlights the urgent need for extensive and targeted suicide prevention measures.

Knowledge, practices and influencing factors defining unhealthy food behavior among adolescents in India: a scoping review.

Unhealthy food behaviors are the major contributing factors to the rising burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among adolescents in India. Knowledge and practices related to unhealthy eating are significant factors influencing adolescents' food behavior. In this scoping review, we aim to map evidence and identify gaps on knowledge, practices, and the influencing factors associated with unhealthy food behavior among Indian adolescents by examining the existing literature. Arksey and O'Malley's scoping review framework and the Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewers' manual were used for this review. After the screening, 33 articles were identified according to the inclusion criteria. Data extraction was performed according to the study objectives, followed by narrative summarization. The studies included a total of 20,566 adolescents. Most studies reported insufficient knowledge about healthy food choices among adolescents. Diet intake patterns among the adolescents showed a lower amount of fruits and vegetables and an increase in fried items, sugar-sweetened beverages, packaged food, and fast food in both sexes, with a broader association with peer influence (21.2%), parental unhealthy food behavior (15.1%), place of residence (6.06%), emotional status (6.06%), and mass media exposure (18.1%). The scoping review highlights the need for targeted interventions aimed at improving the knowledge and practices of Indian adolescents by promoting healthy food choices and sensitizing them about the risk of non-communicable diseases. The analysis of evidence around adolescent dietary behavior in India shows a monotonous, limited, and narrow range in scope, indicating the extended need for research.

Perception, practices, and understanding related to teenage pregnancy among the adolescent girls in India: a scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Teenage pregnancy is a concerning public health problem in India. Misperception and misunderstanding about pregnancy and its preventive methods lead to pregnancy when adolescents are involved in unsafe sexual intercourse. This scoping review aims to discuss the evidence on the perception, practices, and understanding related to teenage pregnancy among adolescent girls in the Indian context. METHOD: The Arksey and O'Malley scoping review framework and Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewers' Manual were used for the scoping review. The Population, Concept, and Context strategy (PCC) ensured the review questions, eligibility criteria, and search strategy. The Systematic Review and Meta-analysis: Extension for Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR) was used. A literature search was done using electronic databases by specific keywords such as "teenage", "adolescences", "pregnancy", "perception", "knowledge", "awareness", etc. Relevant grey literature was identified through further searching. The review included studies that fulfil inclusion criteria having female adolescent groups aged from 10 to 19 years in the Indian context between the years 2000 and 2021. RESULT: We found 40 eligible studies; more than half of these were from southern (35%) and northern (27.5%) regions, and studies from the rest of India were very sporadically distributed. Most studies (72.5%) were published in the last 10 years. The relevant extracted data from individual studies were synthesized and presented in the two major sections, perception, practices, and the second one, understanding and experiences among teenage girls. The understanding of pregnancy and teenage pregnancy-related preventive methods was detailed analysis in about 72% of papers whereas other aspects, such as perception (22.5%), practices (25%), and experiences (7.5%) were discussed in the remaining papers related to pregnancy among adolescent girls. CONCLUSION: Evidence in the selected studies shows that understanding and practices are the major areas that were primarily explored, where perception, practices and experiences are the topics that are relatively less investigated. Literature synthesis derives misconception, lack of understanding, and practices without knowing the consequences are the key factors responsible for early pregnancies. Future interventions like increasing awareness, providing comprehensive reproductive knowledge, convenient health care aids, and proper counselling are adequate measures for minimalising the problem. The present analysis showed that studies are limited in their scope concerning various aspects of teenage pregnancy in India, so this scoping review gives essential perspectives on future research and implementation plans and policies in this field.

Knowledge, beliefs and practices towards HIV/AIDS among adolescents in India: A scoping review protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a major health concern among Indian adolescents (10-19 years). Indian adolescents lack adequate knowledge about HIV/AIDS and adopt wrong practices. The present scoping review aims to understand the status of knowledge, beliefs and practices among Indian adolescents about HIV or HIV/AIDS. The present study will also focus on their understanding and the source of knowledge and awareness regarding HIV/AIDS. METHODOLOGY: The recommendations of Arksey and O'Malley in 2005, Levac et al. in 2010 and The Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewers' manual in 2015 to conduct a systematic scoping review will be employed. The review questions, eligibility criteria and search strategy for this study will be ensured by the Population, Concept and Context (PCC) strategy. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systemic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) will be used for reporting of this scoping review. The methodological quality of all the relevant studies will be assessed by the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT), Version- 2018. Literature search will be carried out by using electronic databases such as PubMed, APA PsycInfo, EMBASE, and Google Scholar. Cross-references will be used to extract additional studies. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: As the planned study is based on secondary data and doesn't involve human and animal subjects, there is no requirement for formal ethical approval. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY: The planned scoping review is the first of such study on the topic of HIV/AIDS among adolescent population in India as per the electronically available literature.There will be quality assessment of all the included studies.A thorough search strategy will be conducted as per the recommendations of the experts in scoping review search.On limitation side, the planned study will only utilize electronically available resources/evidences that are written in English language.The planned evidence based study will be of much help for the healthcare professionals and policy makers.

The patterns, trends and major risk factors of suicide among Indian adolescents-A scoping review protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Suicide is one of the serious health problems among Indian adolescents. Adolescence helps with the transition of an individual into an adult, so it is important to understand the suicidal behavior of adolescents. Several studies have been carried out in different states in India on the suicidal behavior of adolescents, but there is no review that studied the national patterns, trends, and major risk factors. Therefore, this review aims to study the patterns, trends, and major risk factors of suicidal behavior among Indian adolescents. METHODS: The study will be conducted as per the Arksey and O'Malley scoping review framework and the Joanna Briggs institute Reviewers' manual. The Population, Concept and Context strategy (PCC) will ensure the review questions, eligibility criteria and search strategy. The Systematic Review and Meta-analysis: Extension for Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR) will be used for the findings of the study of Scoping Review. The literature search will be done using electronic databases: PubMed, Google Scholar, SCOPUS, EMBASE, Psycinfo, Web of Science, Google, and Cochrane library by specific keywords such as "patterns"; "suicide"; "trends"; "risk factors"; "depression"; "anxiety"; "mental health"; "adolescent"; "teenager"; and "youth";" India" etc. Additional studies will be considered using cross-references. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study does not involve the collection of primary data; there is no requirement of any ethical approval. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY: The proposed scoping review is the first study on patterns, trends, and major risk factors of adolescent suicide in India as per the information available on the online platforms.This proposed scoping review will bring together all the previously available data into one place for better study.This evidence-based study will be highly helpful for healthcare professionals and policymakers. This study will be limited to English language and electronically available evidence.