Background: India suffers from a high burden of diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases due to unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene practices among human population. With age the immune system becomes complex and antibody alone does not determine susceptibility to diseases which increases the chances of waterborne disease among elderly population. Therefore the study examines the prevalence and predictors of water-borne diseases among elderly in India. Method: Data for this study was collected from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI), 2017–18. Descriptive statistics along with bivariate analysis was used in the present study to reveal the initial results. Proportion test was applied to check the significance level of prevalence of water borne diseases between urban and rural place of residence. Additionally, binary logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the association between the outcome variable (water borne diseases) and the explanatory variables. Results: The study finds the prevalence of water borne disease among the elderly is more in the rural (22.5%) areas compared to the urban counterparts (12.2%) due to the use of unimproved water sources. The percentage of population aged 60 years and above with waterborne disease is more in the central Indian states like Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh followed by the North Indian states. Sex of the participate, educational status, work status, BMI, place of residence, type of toilet facility and water source are important determinants of water borne disease among elderly in India. Conclusion: Elderly people living in the rural areas are more prone to waterborne diseases. The study also finds state wise variation in prevalence of waterborne diseases. The elderly people might not be aware of the hygiene practices which further adhere to the disease risk. Therefore, there is a need to create awareness on basic hygiene among this population for preventing such bacterial diseases.

In adolescents, anaemia has been linked to affecting physical disorders, growth, and mental retardation and also increases reproductive morbidities among adolescent girls during their womanhood. It is believed that with increasing age, females are more prone to anaemia than their male counterparts. Unfortunately, the anaemia intervention program, such as the National Nutrition Anaemia Prophylaxis Programme, primarily targets infants, young children, pregnant and lactation women, and not adolescents. Therefore, this study tries to fill this gap and study the prevalence of anaemia and the associated factors among adolescent boys and girls residing in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, India. Secondary data analysis was performed on cross-sectional survey data from the Understanding the Lives of Adolescents and Young Adults survey. The sample size was 20,594 adolescents aged 10–19 years in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, India. The outcome variable was anaemia, and the explanatory variables were age, education, working status, media exposure, marital status, received IFA and deworming tablets, BMI status, stunting status, wealth index, caste, religion, residence, and States. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis were used to find the preliminary results. Multinomial regression analysis was carried out to provide the adjusted estimates. Overall, anaemia was more prevalent among adolescent girls than adolescent boys (20% vs. 8.7%). Moderate/severe anaemia was 0.24 and 0.49 times less likely among adolescent boys and girls, respectively, who had 10 and above years of schooling than adolescents with no schooling (p < 0.01). Rural adolescent boys were 1.49 times (p < 0.05) more likely to suffer from moderate/severe anaemia than urban counterparts. The odds for moderate/severe anaemia among adolescent boys were relatively higher among late adolescents, with no mass-media exposure, stunted, and rural adolescents. Similarly, odds for moderate/severe anaemia among adolescent girls were higher among late adolescents and adolescents without schooling and mass-media exposure. Prevalence of anaemia was higher among adolescent girls than in boys. Lower education status, rural residence, late adolescence, no exposure to mass media, and stunting were the predictors of moderate/severe anaemia among adolescents. Anaemia among adolescents must be addressed through effective public health policy targeting adolescents residing in rural areas. There is a need to disseminate information about anaemia-related programs, such as National Iron Plus Initiative (NIPI), through mass media, and subsequently, the public health system may be prepared to tailor the needs of adolescent boys and girls.

Background and introduction: Statisticians rank oral and lip cancer sixth in global mortality at 10.2%. Mouth opening and swallowing are challenging. Hence, most oral cancer patients only report later stages. They worry about surviving cancer and receiving therapy. Oral cancer severely affects QOL. QOL is affected by risk factors, disease site, and treatment. Using oral cancer patient questionnaires, we use light gradient Boost Tree classifiers to predict life quality. Methods: DIAS records were used for 111 oral cancer patients. The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer’s QLQ-C30 and QLQ-HN43 were used to document the findings. Anyone could enroll, regardless of gender or age. The IHEC/SDC/PhD/OPATH-1954/19/TH-001 Institutional Ethical Clearance Committee approved this work. After informed consent, patients received the EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-HN43 questionnaires. Surveys were in Tamil and English. Overall, QOL ratings covered several domains. We obtained patient demographics, case history, and therapy information from our DIAS (Dental Information Archival Software). Enrolled patients were monitored for at least a year. After one year, the EORTC questionnaire was retaken, and scores were recorded. This prospective analytical exploratory study at Saveetha Dental College, Chennai, India, examined QOL at diagnosis and at least 12 months after primary therapy in patients with histopathologically diagnosed oral malignancies. We measured oral cancer patients’ quality of life using data preprocessing, feature selection, and model construction. A confusion matrix was created using light gradient boosting to measure accuracy. Results: Light gradient boosting predicted cancer patients’ quality of life with 96% accuracy and 0.20 log loss. Conclusion: Oral surgeons and oncologists can improve planning and therapy with this prediction model.

Introduction: India has the largest adolescent population in the world. However, many unprivileged Indian adolescents are still unable to complete schooling. Hence, there is a need to understand the reasons for school dropout among this population. The present study is an attempt to understand the determinants of school dropout among adolescents and identify the factors and reasons that contribute to it. Material and methods: Longitudinal survey data- Understanding Adults and Young Adolescents (UDAYA) for Bihar and Uttar Pradesh has been used to identify the determinants of school dropout among adolescents aged 10–19. The first wave of the survey was conducted in 2015–2016, and the follow-up survey in 2018–2019. Descriptive statistics along with bivariate and multivariate analysis was used to observe school dropout rates and factors associated with it among adolescents. Results: Results show that the school dropout rate was highest among married girls aged 15–19 years (84%), followed by unmarried girls (46%), and boys (38%) of the same age group. The odds of school dropout among adolescents decreased with an increase in household wealth status. School dropout was significantly less likely among adolescents whose mothers were educated as compared to mothers who had no education. Younger boys [AOR: 6.67; CI: 4.83–9.23] and girls [AOR: 2.56; CI: 1.79–3.84] who engaged in paid work were 6.67 times and 2.56 times more likely to drop out of school than those who were not. The likelihood of school dropout was 3.14 times more likely among younger boys [AOR: 3.14; CI: 2.26–4.35], and it was 89% more likely among older boys [AOR: 1.89; CI: 1.55–2.30] who consumed any substances as compared to those who did not consume any substances. Both younger [AOR: 2.05; CI: 1.37–3.05] and older girls [AOR: 1.30; CI: 1.05–1.62] who acknowledged at least one form of discriminatory practice by parents were more likely to drop out of school than their counterparts. Lack of interest in studies/education not necessary (43%) was the predominant reason among younger boys for school dropout, followed by family reasons (23%) and paid work (21%). Conclusions: Dropout was prevalent among lower social and economic strata. Mother’s education, parental interaction, participation in sports and having role models reduce school dropout. Conversely, factors such as being engaged in paid work, substance abuse among boys, and gender discriminatory practices towards girls, are risk factors for dropout among adolescents. Lack of interest in studies and familial reasons also increase dropout. There is a need to improve the socio-economic status, delay the marital age of girls, and enhance the government incentives for education, give rightful work to girls after schooling, and provide awareness.

Background: Malnutrition in mothers as well as in children is a significant public health challenge in most of the developing countries. The triple burden of malnutrition is a relatively new issue on the horizon of health debate and is less explored among scholars widely. The present study examines the prevalence of the triple burden of malnutrition (TBM) and explored various factors associated with the TBM among mother-child pairs in India.Methods: Data used in this study were drawn from the fourth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-IV) conducted in 2015–16 (N = 168,784). Bivariate and binary logistic regression analysis was used to quantify the results. About 5.7% of mother-child pairs were suffering from TBM.Results: Age of mother, educational status of the mother, cesarean section delivery, birth size of baby, wealth status of a household, and place of residence were the most important correlates for the triple burden of malnutrition among mother-child pairs in India. Further, it was noted that mothers with secondary education level (AOR: 1.15, CI 1.08–1.23) were having a higher probability of suffering from TBM, and interestingly the probability shattered down for mothers having a higher educational level (AOR: 0.90, CI 0.84–0.95). Additionally, mother-child pairs from rich wealth status (AOR: 1.93, CI 1.8–2.07) had a higher probability of suffering from TBM.Conclusion: From the policy perspective, it is important to promote public health programs to create awareness about the harmful effects of sedentary lifestyles. At the same time, this study recommends an effective implementation of nutrition programs targeting undernutrition and anemia among children and obesity among women.

Background: This paper discusses length of stay (LOS) following childbirth as an indicator of quality of postnatal care in health institutions. This research aims to describe LOS according to both vaginal and cesarean deliveries in public and private health care institutions in India, and to identify any association of LOS with postnatal care and post-delivery complications.Methods: We use recently released nationally-representative data from the National Family Health Survey-4 (2015–16) and apply the Cox proportional hazard model to determine the factors associated with LOS at the health facility after childbirth during a five-year period preceding the survey.Results: Overall, the average LOS after childbirth is 3.4 days; 2.1 days for vaginal deliveries and 8.6 days for cesarean section (CS) deliveries. Strikingly, half of the women are discharged within 48 h. Women who give birth in private hospitals have a more prolonged stay than those who give birth in public health facilities. For vaginal birth in public hospitals, one-fourth of the women are discharged with insufficient LOS as against only 19.2% women in private hospitals. LOS is significantly related to the cost of delivery only in the case of private facilities. Uneducated women belonging to lower wealth quintile households and those living in rural areas stay for a shorter duration for vaginal deliveries but for a longer duration in case of cesarean deliveries. Women who get four or more antenatal check-ups (ANC) done have a longer stay, while those who receive benefits under theJanani Suraksha Yojna(JSY) have a shorter stay. Another key finding is that women who are discharged on the same day report lower levels of postnatal care and a higher proportion of post-delivery complications.Conclusion: The study concludes that early discharge has a negative association with maternal health outcomes, which has important program implications. Therefore, it is essential to maintain an adequate LOS at a facility after childbirth. We recommend that government programs should strengthen the JSY scheme not only to improve delivery care, but also to provide effective postnatal care by promoting sufficient LOS at facilities.