Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health

Diseases transmitted from animals have assumed substantial public health importance. Avian influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome, and Nipah virus infection are a few examples of growing number of diseases that humans can contract from animals. These diseases can cause huge economic losses in addition to mortality and morbidity. In developing countries of Asia, there is a continuous and close contact between animals and humans, especially in rural settings. The prevailing sociocultural practices and weak public health infrastructure further enhances the vulnerability of Asia as the epicenter of outbreaks due to zoonotic infections. There is a clear need of greater awareness and application of a multisectoral and multidisciplinary approach to prevent and control zoonotic infections.

Maternal mortality in Bangladesh was 320 per 100,000 live births between the years of 1998 and 2000. Utilization of maternal health services remains low in the low-resource countries like Bangladesh. This study attempts to evaluate the levels, patterns, and trends of utilization of antenatal care (ANC) services in Bangladesh. This is a descriptive study based on national surveys of Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2007, 2004, 1999-2000, 1996-1997, and 1993-1994. Bangladeshi women reported low utilization of ANC. Approximately 52% of women received antenatal care from medically trained providers in 2007. The median number of ANC visits was 3.1 in 2007. About 63% of women were not informed about the signs of pregnancy complications. The proportion of women who received ANC services and information on the signs of pregnancy complications as well as the median number of ANC visits showed an increase in 2007 compared with 2004.

The aim of the study was to assess the value of different indicators of socioeconomic status for oral health research among Sri Lankan adolescents. Six indicators of socioeconomic status were assessed in terms of their relationship to 2 oral health outcomes. The sample consisted of 15-year-old students (n = 1218) selected from 48 schools in the Colombo district using a stratified cluster sampling technique. Data collection included oral examinations of students and questionnaires to both students and their parents. The correlations between the 6 indicators were low to moderate. The indicators of household material assets and parental educational status emerged as significant predictors of the 2 oral health outcomes. Therefore, it is concluded that indicators of material assets—namely, the family affluence scale and the asset index—could be used as optimal measures of socioeconomic status in oral health research among adolescents in Sri Lanka.

Feedback on satisfaction with dental care is vital for continuous improvement of the service delivery process and outcome. The objective of this study was to assess the satisfaction with school dental service (SDS) provided via mobile dental squads in Selangor, Malaysia, under 4 domains of satisfaction: patient—personnel interaction, technical competency, administrative efficiency, and clinic setup using self-administered questionnaires. Among the 607 participants who had received treatment, 62% were satisfied with the services provided. In terms of domains, technical competency achieved the highest satisfaction score, whereas clinic setup was ranked the lowest. As for items within the domains, the most acceptable was “dental operator did not ask personal things which were not dentally related,” whereas privacy of treatment was the least acceptable. In conclusion, whereas children were generally satisfied with the SDS, this study indicates that there are still areas for further improvement.

Little or no work has been carried out in developing countries on costs to patients and patient benefits in accessing primary eye care services. The purpose of this study was to assess the indirect, direct, and overall costs of patients accessing vision care at vision center services (New Primary Eyecare Approach) as compared with the nearest private clinic. The authors used a standardized questionnaire and a paired sample t test to check the significance of difference of costs. They considered a P value of <.05 as significant in this study. The total costs were significantly lower for patients who accessed the vision centers compared with the costs these patients may have incurred if they had sought services from the nearest town-based clinic (mean in Indian rupees [INR] of 178.4 ± 48.3, standard error of the mean = 4.2, and INR 366.2 ± 48.2, standard error of the mean = 4.2, respectively, t test P value < .001). vision centers, besides providing quality eye care services, offer substantial cost savings to rural populations compared with town-based optical clinics.

This article investigates socioeconomic correlates of contraceptive use and method choice in rural Bangladesh. To meet the objectives of the study, the authors used nationally representative 2004 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey data. The findings indicate that contraceptive prevalence rate among currently married nonpregnant women was 61%. The prevalence of modern methods was 49%. Oral pill and periodic abstinence were the most preferred modern and traditional methods, respectively. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses reveal that women’s age, number of living children, having a male child, women’s education, religion, NGO membership, and place of region are important determinants of contraceptive use and method choices. Findings suggest that discussion between husband and wife on family planning has the most single significant effect on both current contraceptive use (odds ratio [OR] = 4.45; confidence interval [CI] = 3.95-5.01) and modern method preference (OR = 1.57; CI = 1.28-1.93). The doorstep delivery service of modern methods should be strengthened to further increase effective family planning that is required to reduce the total fertility rate in Bangladesh.

The objective of the study is to describe the uptake of prenatal HIV testing among Vietnamese women. Exit interviews were conducted among 300 women who had delivered at Hai Phong obstetrical hospital. Information about socioeconomic characteristics and HIV testing was obtained through structured questionnaire interviews. It was found that 45% of the women were tested for HIV before the end of 34 weeks of gestation, 5% in 35 to 40 weeks of gestation, and 55% at labor. Low educational levels, being a farmer or worker, having a low income, and living close to the hospital were associated with being tested at labor. When adjusting for possible confounders, however, living more than 15 km from the hospital was the only factor, which remained significantly associated with HIV testing during labor (odds ratio = 2.15; confidence interval = 1.14-4.04). The results suggest that many Vietnamese women are not tested for HIV during prenatal care and that a relationship exists between distance to the hospital and lack of HIV testing during pregnancy.

In the 1990s, North Korea experienced one of the severest famines in modern history. Considering the level of food deprivation during famines in totalitarian states, substantial debate exists over how differently the crisis affected households and regions. Here, the authors investigate regional differences in socioeconomic living conditions by comparing height-for-age z scores (HAZs) of 9934 preschool children living in 11 administrative provinces. Data are based on 2 UN/DPRK anthropometric surveys performed in North Korea representing cohorts born from 1991 to 2002. Through regression of pooled HAZs on a set of province dummies, the authors find that children born in Pyongyang are more healthy, providing evidence that elites residing in the capital seemingly possess comparative advantages in food supply. When controlling for further variables, they find that boys and older children suffered more during the crisis, although cohorts born before the onset of the famine were significantly better-off.

Measuring human quality of life is academically challenging. The human development index (HDI) substantially captures the overall country level status on human welfare. However, this index has some drawbacks. Therefore, Lutz composed a simple index in 1995 combining life expectancy and literacy, called literate life expectancy (LLE). LLE can be calculated for subpopulations depending on availability of data. This article captures the LLE in major states in India and the gender differences in LLE at rural and urban levels. The authors have tried to highlight the social development scenario in India and its major states by using this pure social indicator that intentionally does not use any economic measurement. The state scenario comprehensively depicts gender differentials in social development, and it calls for implementing development measures more seriously in states like Haryana, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh to reduce the gender gap. Being highly correlated with the HDI, the LLE index proves to be a very clear and simple comprehensive measure of social development for different subpopulations.

This study aimed to quantify the following: (1) health research in academic journals covering Nepal, (2) location of authors, and (3) most prevalent specialties. Published health research conducted in Nepal during 1996 to May 2007 was assessed by searching from 4 electronic databases, and 631 research articles met the inclusion criteria. Only 11% was published in Nepalese journals. Most research covered urban districts. About two thirds of articles had Nepalese authors, but only 41% had a Nepalese first author. Child health and nutrition (11%), maternal health and women’s health (11%), and sexual reproductive health and HIV/AIDS, and family planning (11%) were the most common topics. Most articles (78%) reported quantitative methods. The number of research articles from Nepal is fairly small and concentrated on a limited number of topics and districts. Strategic planning is required to improve the research capacity of Nepal to achieve public health improvements using locally produced evidence.

The Nursing Stress Scale (NSS) has been shown to be a valid and reliable instrument to assess occupational stressors among nurses. The NSS, which was previously used in the English version, was translated and back-translated into Bahasa Melayu. This study was conducted to assess the reliability of the Bahasa Melayu version of the NSS among nurses for future studies in this country. The reliability of the NSS was assessed after its readministration to 30 nurses with a 2-week interval. The Spearman coefficient was calculated to assess its stability. The internal consistency was measured through 4 measures: Cronbach’s α, Spearman—Brown, Guttman split-half, and standardized item α coefficients. The total response rate was 70%. Test—retest reliability showed remarkable stability (Spearman’s ρ exceeded .70). All 4 measures of internal consistency among items indicated a satisfactory level (coefficients in the range of .68 to .87). In conclusion, the Bahasa Melayu version of the NSS is a reliable and useful instrument for measuring the possible stressors at the workplace among nurses.