Bontha V. Babu

A century of trends in adult human height

Being taller is associated with enhanced longevity, and higher education and earnings. We reanalysed 1472 population-based studies, with measurement of height on more than 18.6 million participants to estimate mean height for people born between 1896 and 1996 in 200 countries. The largest gain in adult height over the past century has occurred in South Korean women and Iranian men, who became 20.2 cm (95% credible interval 17.5–22.7) and 16.5 cm (13.3–19.7) taller, respectively. In contrast, there was little change in adult height in some sub-Saharan African countries and in South Asia over the century of analysis. The tallest people over these 100 years are men born in the Netherlands in the last quarter of 20th century, whose average heights surpassed 182.5 cm, and the shortest were women born in Guatemala in 1896 (140.3 cm; 135.8–144.8). The height differential between the tallest and shortest populations was 19-20 cm a century ago, and has remained the same for women and increased for men a century later despite substantial changes in the ranking of countries. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.13410.001

Coverage, compliance and some operational issues of mass drug administration during the programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis in Orissa, India

This paper reports the coverage, compliance and other operational issues of mass drug administration (MDA) of diethylcarbamazine and albendazole under a programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis (LF) in Orissa state of India. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to collect data from 90 villages and nine urban areas of four districts of Orissa, India. In Orissa, 67% of people older than 2 years had received the drugs during MDA and 42% had consumed them. About 25% of people had not taken the tablets although they received them. Urban areas recorded lower rates than rural areas. The paper discusses some policy/health system‐, community‐ and drug‐related issues that influenced coverage and compliance of MDA. It is essential to improve compliance in future rounds of MDA to achieve targets of control and eventual elimination of LF in a reasonable time frame.

The economic loss due to treatment costs and work loss to individuals with chronic lymphatic filariasis in rural communities of Orissa, India

This paper is based on 1 year round case control study to investigate the economic burden, in terms of treatment costs and loss of work to people affected with chronic lymphatic filariasis in rural communities of Orissa, Eastern India. Around three-fourths of the chronic patients have sought treatment for their condition and spent, on average an amount of INR 396 (approximately US

Domestic violence in Eastern India: factors associated with victimization and perpetration.

8.7) per year. The major component of the expenditure is the cost of medicines. The data on loss of work time due to chronic condition reveal that the total absenteeism to the work is significantly higher among chronic filariasis patients than controls. The total number of working hours spent per day by patients and controls are 4.94 and 6.06, respectively with a significant difference. The total absenteeism and the total number of working hours per day are influenced significantly by disease condition and other personal characteristics, namely age, sex and family type. The chronic patients lose a total of 68 days of work per year, which is equivalent to 19% of the total working time of the year. The present results show that the chronic conditions of lymphatic filariasis pose considerable burden on the patient, family and community.

Factors responsible for coverage and compliance in mass drug administration during the programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis in the East Godavari District, South India.

OBJECTIVES To examine the factors associated with victimization and perpetration of domestic violence in Eastern India. STUDY DESIGN Population-based cross-sectional study. METHODS Married women (n=1718) and men (n=1715) from three Eastern Indian states were included in this study. Univariate and multiple logistic regression models were used to identify the determinants of domestic violence. RESULTS Age, education, occupation, marital duration and husbands alcoholism emerged as significant predictors of victimization and perpetration of all types of domestic violence. A higher level of family income was found to be highly protective against the risk of violence. In addition, other risk and protective factors for victimization and perpetration of each type of violence were identified. CONCLUSIONS This study contributes to the violence literature by shedding light on the risk factors of perpetration and victimization of domestic violence. These results provide vital information to develop interventions, as well as policies and programmes towards preventing violence. Also, this knowledge facilitates healthcare personnel to intervene more effectively with women at risk of violence-related health problems.

A randomized clinical trial to compare the efficacy of three treatment regimens along with footcare in the morbidity management of filarial lymphoedema

The paper attempts to report the factors responsible for the coverage and compliance of mass diethylcarbamazine citrate (DEC) administration, during the programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis in the East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh, India. The evaluation survey indicates that single dose DEC was received by 77% and taken by 64% of eligible people. Reasons for non-reception and non-consumption of the drug at household level were identified. The factors that influenced the coverage and compliance of treatment are broadly categorized as health services related, community related and drug related factors. The study identified some key factors to be followed for the success of the programme.

Mass drug administration under the programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis in Orissa, India: a mixed-methods study to identify factors associated with compliance and non-compliance

The progression of lymphoedema to elephantiasis associated with increased incidence of episodic adeno‐lymphangitis (ADL) is of great concern, as it causes physical suffering, permanent disability and economic loss to lymphatic filariasis patients. This randomized clinical trial aimed to assess the efficacy in terms of reduction of oedema and ADL frequency of three treatment regimens among lymphoedema patients from Orissa, India. The regimens were: (I) oral penicillin – one tablet of 800 000 U penicillin G potassium twice daily for 12 days‐repeated every 3 months for 1 year; (II) diethylcarbamazine – 6 mg/kg bodyweight for 12 days‐repeated every 3 months for 1 year; and (III) topical antiseptic, i.e. betadine ointment. Foot care was part of all regimens. All three drug regimens are efficacious in reducing oedema and frequency of ADL episodes. Although the efficacy was slightly higher in regimen I, the difference was not significant. About half of all patients had reduced oedema after the 90 days of treatment, with oedema reduction of 75–100% in 20%. A major proportion of the remaining patients had oedema reduced by less than 25%. The proportion of people whose oedema reduced was slightly but not significantly lower in regimen II. anova revealed that lymphoedema reduction varied according to grade; being greatest at grade 1 lymphoedema, followed by grade 2. All three regimens significantly reduced ADL frequency after 1 year of treatment. This may be because of foot care as well as use of antibiotics. The estimated costs of treatment per patient for a period of 3 months are US

Treatment costs and work time loss due to episodic adenolymphangitis in lymphatic filariasis patients in rural communities of Orissa, India

2.4, 1.5 and 4.0 respectively for regimen I, II and III. Thus affordable treatments with simple antibiotics and foot care can give substantial relief to the patients and reverse early lymphoedema.

Knowledge and beliefs about elephantiasis and hydrocele of lymphatic filariasis and some socio-demographic determinants in an endemic community of Eastern India

The present study aimed to identify the factors responsible for compliance and non-compliance of mass drug administration (MDA) under the programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis (LF) from Orissa, India. It was based on both quantitative (through household MDA coverage survey) and qualitative data (through semi-structured interviews with heads of compliant and non-compliant households) collected during an MDA held in November 2005 in two districts of Orissa. In these districts, 83% of the eligible population received the drug (coverage) and only 49.5% people actually consumed the drug (compliance). Seventeen percent of the population did not even receive the drug. The predominant reason for not receiving the drug at household level was that the drug distributor did not visit the household, while the fear of adverse reactions is the predominant reason for not consuming it. The qualitative data revealed that the major contributor to taking the drug was the awareness that drug protects them from LF. Motivation by health workers was another reason for compliance. In many endemic areas, the issues related to non-compliance were taken casually during implementation. Hence, it is imperative to make the programme more efficient by addressing the issues linked to low compliance.

Coverage of, and compliance with, mass drug administration under the programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis in India: a systematic review

Objective  To determine the economic loss in terms of treatment costs and loss of productive time because of acute episodes of adenolymphangitis (ADL) caused by lymphatic filariasis (LF) in a rural population of coastal Orissa, India.