Suchergebnisse

Background: Injury-related mortality and morbidity, a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, is common among adolescents. However, there is insufficient information on the status and factors responsible for injury among adolescents in Nepal. Hence, the paper estimates the injury prevalence and identify the factors associated with it among adolescent Nepalese students.
Methods: This study used national representative cross-sectional data of the Global School-based Student Health Survey 2015. Complex sample analysis was performed after adjusting the selection probability of each sample participants to identify the correlates of injury among 6529 students of 68 schools in Nepal.
Results: Out of 6529 study participants, 62.79% reported severe injury. The most common injury type was cut or stab wound (67.61%) followed by broken bone/dislocated joints (11.03%) and the most common cause of injury was fall (56.40%). Serious injury was significantly associated with a physical attack (AOR=1.54, CI=1.17-2.04), being involved in a physical fight (AOR=1.62, CI=1.2-2.2), being bullied (AOR=2.73, CI=2.25-3.31), feeling unsafe at school (AOR=1.53, CI=1.23-1.91), helmet use(never/rarely/sometimes) while driving a motorbike (AOR=1.69, CI=1.21-2.38) and drink and drive(AOR=2.28, CI=1.05-4.96).
Conclusions: This study reported the injury as a significant public health concern in Nepal associated with several factors like physical attack, being involved in a physical fight, being bullied, feeling unsafe at school, helmet use while driving motorbike and drink and drive. The high prevalence of injury in Nepal suggests the application of appropriate prevention strategies.
Keywords: Adolescents; injury; Nepal

Background: Early and late introduction of complementary feeding is associated with increased morbidity and nutritional deficiencies in children. In 2016, the under 5 mortality rate of Nepal was 39 deaths per 1000 live births and around 1 million under 5 children had suffered from chronic malnutrition. The main aim of this study was to identify the level of knowledge and practice regarding complementary feeding among the mothers of children aged group 6 to 24 months in Bhanu Municipality, Tanahu District, Nepal.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 158 mothers of children age group 6 to 24 months from ward number 1 and 2 in Bhanu Municipality, Tanahu District, Nepal. Data collection was done after taking ethical approvalby using a semi-structured questionnaire via face-to-face interviews. Collected data were entered and descriptive analysis was carriedout in Statistical Package for the Social Services version 20. Categorical variables were presented using frequency and percentage. Clopper-pearson method was used to determine 95% confidence interval.Results: Out of 158 respondents, 26.6% (95%CI:19.9,34.2) had inadequate knowledge, whereas 73.4% (95%CI:65.8, 80.1) had adequate knowledge on complementary feeding. Likewise, the study revealed that 51.9%(95%CI: 43.8, 59.9) did the right practice, while 48.1%(95%CI: 40.1,56.2) were involved in the wrong practice on complementary feeding. Only 39 % mothers gained the knowledge about complementary feeding from the health workers. 2.5% of mother had exclusively breastfed their child up to just 3 months. Conclusions: Despite the good level of knowledge about complementary feeding, the wrong practice was prevalent in about half of the mothers. As a result, enhancing existing strategies and developing new intervention measures including capacity building of healthworkers to improve child feeding practices must be mandatory actions for the government and policymakers.Keywords: Complementary feeding; knowledge; Nepal; practice

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of deaths and disability in Nepal. Health systems can improve CVD health outcomes even in resource-limited settings by directing efforts to meet critical system gaps. This study aimed to identify Nepal's health systems gaps to prevent and manage CVDs. METHODS: We formed a task force composed of the government and non-government representatives and assessed health system performance across six building blocks: governance, service delivery, human resources, medical products, information system, and financing in terms of equity, access, coverage, efficiency, quality, safety and sustainability. We reviewed 125 national health policies, plans, strategies, guidelines, reports and websites and conducted 52 key informant interviews. We grouped notes from desk review and transcripts' codes into equity, access, coverage, efficiency, quality, safety and sustainability of the health system. RESULTS: National health insurance covers less than 10% of the population; and more than 50% of the health spending is out of pocket. The efficiency of CVDs prevention and management programs in Nepal is affected by the shortage of human resources, weak monitoring and supervision, and inadequate engagement of stakeholders. There are policies and strategies in place to ensure quality of care, however their implementation and supervision is weak. The total budget on health has been increasing over the past five years. However, the funding on CVDs is negligible. CONCLUSION: Governments at the federal, provincial and local levels should prioritize CVDs care and partner with non-government organizations to improve preventive and curative CVDs services. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12913-021-06681-0.