Vijay L. Grover

Awareness and practices of menstruation and pubertal changes amongst unmarried female adolescents in a rural area of East Delhi

This community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the village of Gazipur in East Delhi from April 1998 to November 1998. Unmarried girls between the ages of 10-19 years comprised the study group. Only girls from the local permanent population who had resided in the village for at least five years before the inception of the study were included. There were 500 adolescent girls in the study area out of which 251 formed the study group. The 251 girls were interviewed through a door-to-door survey using a precoded pretested and close-ended questionnaire. The main limitation was that whereas our inclusion criteria specified only unmarried adolescent girls as eligible for the study the average age at marriage in the study area was low and most older adolescent girls were already married. Out of the 251 girls 127 had attained menarche. Of the 251 girls 71 (28.2%) were in the age-group of 10-11 years 60 (23.9%) were in the age-group of 12-13 years 52 (20.7%) were in the age group of 14-15 years 35 (14%) were in the age-group of 16-17 years and 33 (13.2%) were in the age-group of 18-19 years. (excerpt)

Suicidal behavior amongst adolescent students in south Delhi

Objective: To study the prevalence of suicidal behavior and its epidemiological correlates amongst adolescent students in south Delhi. Settings and Design: A cross-sectional study in three schools and two colleges in south Delhi. Participants: A total of 550 adolescent students aged 14 to 19 years selected by cluster sampling. Statistical Analysis: Proportions, chi square test, bivariate logistic regression. Results: About 15.8% reported having thought of attempting suicide, while 28 (5.1%) had actually attempted suicide, both being more in females than in males. Statistically significant associations were observed with the age of the student, living status of parents, working status of mother, and whether the student was working part-time. The two variables found significant on multivariate analysis were female gender and the number of role models the student had ever seen smoking or drinking. Conclusion: The prevalence of suicide-risk behavior was found to be quite high and is a matter that should evoke public health concern.

Breast feeding patterns in an urban resettlement colony of Delhi

Studies on duration and patterns of breast feeding based on recall may lead to a bias about the exact feeding status. The present study was designed to overcome the bias using the ‘current status analysis method’. Mothers of 650 infants from 0 to 12 months of age attending a Health Centre were interviewed about the current feeding patterns of the infants and other socioeconomic variables. Month-wise prevalence of feeding patterns was determined. It was observed that breast feeding was maintained at a high level (more than 90%) throughout infancy while exclusive breast feeding showed a rapid decline. At 1 month, 74% and at 4 months, 46% of infants were exclusively breast-fed. The median duration of exclusive breast feeding was 3.83 months. Mothers with lesser education and lower family income were more likely to exclusively breast feed (p < 0.05). The time interval between birth and first breast feed was 24–48 hours in most (48.9%) of the infants. Majority (76.9%) of the infants received pre-lacteal feeds. Hospital-born infants received their first feed earlier and were less likely to receive pre-lacteal feeds as compared to those bom at home (p < 0.001 ). Thus, the practice of exclusive breast feeding has to be promoted amongst pregnant and lactating mothers by health personnel. Also knowledge regarding infant feeding has to be imparted in schools and colleges.

Tobacco Use Among Adolescent Students and the Influence of Role Models

Background: Seventy per cent of premature deaths among adults are due to behavioral patterns that emerge in adolescence, including smoking. Objective: The objective was to study the prevalence of tobacco use among adolescent students in South Delhi and its epidemiological correlates. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Setting: Three schools and two colleges of South Delhi were chosen. There were 550 adolescent students aged 14-19. Statistical Analysis: Statistical analysis was done using proportions, the chi-square test, and multivariate logistic regression. Results: A total of 88 (16.0%) students reported having ever tried cigarette or bidi smoking. The prevalence of current smoking was 7.1%. Exactly 10% (55) of the students reported having ever used smokeless forms of tobacco. The prevalence of tobacco use overall was found to be 20.9%, and was significantly higher (P=0.016) among the males than the females. Tobacco use was found to be significantly associated with having seen a brother/sister smoke (OR 5.15), best friend smoke (OR 2.92), and belonging to a nuclear family (OR 1.96). Conclusions: Tobacco use is still an important risk behavior among adolescent students. This study found a strong association of tobacco use by the adolescents with their having seen various role models ever smoking.

Risk Behaviors Related to Inter-personal Violence Among School and College-going Adolescents in South Delhi.

Background: Injuries are a major cause of death and disability among the adolescents in the world. Objective: To study risk behavior related to interpersonal violence amongst school- and college-going adolescents in South Delhi and its epidemiological correlates. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Three schools and two colleges in South Delhi. Participants: Five hundred and fifty adolescents aged 14-19 years. Statistical Analysis: Proportions, Chi-square test, multivariate logistic regression. Results: Among the study participants, 65 (11.8%) reported having carried a weapon in past 30 days. Seventy-four (13.5%) respondents had threatened or injured someone with a weapon in past 12 months. Almost one in every two boys (49.1%) reported being involved in a physical fight in past 12 months. Involvement in interpersonal violence was found to be significantly more amongst males than females. Adolescents who were working part time were more likely to be ‘at risk’ (67.5%) than those not working (48.5%). In logistic regression analysis, the significant correlates of interpersonal violence were male gender, lower age, number of close friends, having seen role models smoke/drink, and residing in resettlement colonies, slums or villages. The findings regarding violence-related behaviors among adolescents are remarkably similar to those in other countries.

Study of Old Age Health Problems in a Rural Area of Delhi

The life expectancy of Indian population has increased from 32 years to more than 52 years (Government of India 1982). This has been largely achieved by improved health services for the people, specially for the mothers and children and by control of major communicable diseases. This has brought to the fore-front the social, medical and psychological problems of the aged people. In India, 5.97% of the population is 60 years and above (Census 1971). Not many studies have been done highlighting the health and social problems of this group of population.