Prevalence and correlates of menstrual hygiene practices among young currently married women aged 15-24 years: an analysis from a nationally representative survey of India.

PURPOSE: This paper aims to investigate the prevalence by geographical locations and socio-demographic correlates of menstrual hygienic practices among young currently married Indian women. METHODS: The study is based on secondary data, collected from the latest round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), conducted in 2015-16. A total of 94,034 young currently married women aged 15-24 years were utilised in this study. The prevalence of menstrual hygienic practices was portrayed across regions, states, and districts of India. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were carried out to assess the factors associated with menstrual hygienic practices. RESULTS: Nearly half of the women (49.3%) practice hygienic methods to contain menstrual bloodstains. The prevalence of menstrual hygiene practices is lower in low-income states of central and eastern India. Multivariate analyses reveal that education of women and wealth status are found to be the most important positive factors of menstrual hygienic practices. Women's autonomy and exposure to mass media also have a positive impact on the use of menstrual hygiene practice. In contrast, women residing in rural areas, belonging in scheduled tribes and unemployed women are less likely to use hygienic methods during their menstruation. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest increasing opportunities for female education, providing economic incentives, enhancing women's autonomy could help to increase hygienic practices of women during menstruation period. Furthermore, interventions should target socio-economically disadvantaged women to raise the use of sanitary napkins.

Lockdown for COVID-19 and its impact on community mobility in India: An analysis of the COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports, 2020.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a novel public health problem threatening the whole world. As an upshot, countrywide lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic has been supportive of changing community mobility trends of various place categories including retail and recreation, groceries and pharmacies, parks, transit stations, workplaces, and residential in India. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the impact of lockdown for COVID-19 on community mobility using spatial time-series change over different states and union territories (UTs) of India. DATA & METHODS: This study has been organized based on states & UTs wise time-series data of the daily percentage of change of community mobility from baseline in India, collected from 15th February to 30th April 2020. Conditional formatting techniques, time-series trends plotting method, spatial inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation mapping techniques have been employed to show pre and post lockdown mobility trends due to COVID-19 i.e. to fulfill the objective. RESULTS: Across India, retail and recreation, grocery and pharmacy, visits to parks, transit stations, and workplaces mobility dropped by -73.4%, -51.2%, -46.3%, -66% and -56.7% respectively. Visits to residential places mobility increased by 23.8% as people mostly stayed home during the lockdown. The COVID-19 lockdown started on 24 March 2020 and just gone one day (March 25, 2020) of the beginning of lockdown, there have a decreased in percentage (-70.51% in retail and recreation mobility), (-64.26% in grocery and pharmacy mobility), (-46.17% in parks mobility), (-65.6% in transit stations mobility), (-60.03% in workplaces mobility) from baseline in compared to the pre-lockdown period and residential mobility has been increased in percentage (26.32%) from baseline due to people stayed home during the lockdown for COVID-19 pandemic in India. CONCLUSION: Study figures out mobility trends over time during pre-lockdown and after lockdown period across different categories of places such as retail and recreation, groceries and pharmacies, parks, transit stations, workplaces, and residential, which can be used in public health strategies to drop the spread of COVID-19.

Impact of lockdown on learning status of undergraduate and postgraduate students during COVID-19 pandemic in West Bengal, India.

To assess the impact of lockdown amidst COVID-19 on undergraduate and postgraduate learners of various colleges and universities of West Bengal. An online survey was conducted from 1 May to 8 May 2020 to collect the information. A structural questionnaire link using 'Google form' was sent to students' through WhatsApp and E-mail. A total of 232 students provided complete information regarding the survey. The simple percentage distribution was used to assess the learning status of the study participants. During the lockdown period, around 70% of learners were involved in e-learning. Most of the learners were used android mobile for attending e-learning. Students have been facing various problems related to depression anxiety, poor internet connectivity, and unfavorable study environment at home. Students from remote areas and marginalized sections mainly face enormous challenges for the study during this pandemic. This study suggests targeted interventions to create a positive space for study among students from the vulnerable section of society. Strategies are urgently needed to build a resilient education system in the state that will ensure to develop the skill for employability and the productivity of the young minds.

Correction: Maternal determinants of low birth weight among Indian children: Evidence from the National Family Health Survey-4, 2015-16.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244562.].

Maternal determinants of low birth weight among Indian children: Evidence from the National Family Health Survey-4, 2015-16.

OBJECTIVE: Low birth weight (LBW) is a serious public health problem in low- and middle-income countries and a leading cause of death in the first month of life. In India, about 18% of children are born with LBW (<2500 grams) in 2015-16. In this study, we aim to examine the influence of maternal factors and socio-demographic covariates on LBW in Indian children. METHODS: Data were drawn from the fourth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), conducted in 2015-16. A cross-sectional study was designed using a stratified two-stage sampling technique. Cross-tabulation, Pearson's chi-squared test, and multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed to assess the impact of maternal factors and other covariates on children's LBW. RESULTS: Of total participants (n = 147,762), 17.5% of children were found to be born with LBW. The study revealed that women who had prior experience of stillbirth (Adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 1.20, 95% CI: 1.04-1.38) and any sign of pregnancy complications (AOR: 1.08, 95% CI: 1.05-1.11) were more likely to have LBW children, even after adjusting for a range of covariates. Maternal food diversity was found to a protective factor against children's LBW. Women with underweight and anemic condition were associated with an increased likelihood of LBW children. Regarding maternity care, women who attended ≥4 ANC visits (AOR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.80-0.88), took iron tablets/syrup during pregnancy (AOR: 0.94, 95% CI: 0.90-0.98), and delivered in a public health facility (AOR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.79-0.88) were less likely to have LBW babies. Besides, various socio-demographic factors such as place of residence, caste, religion, education, wealth quintile, and geographical region were significantly associated with LBW of children. CONCLUSION: Interventions are needed for adequate ANC utilization, improvement in public facility-based delivery, providing iron supplementation, and uptake of balanced energy-protein diet among pregnant mothers. Besides, special attention should be given to the socio-economically disadvantaged women to address adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes including LBW.