METHODS: This was a qualitative study using focus group discussions in three villages in rural Bangladesh. The 45 participants were mothers and fathers with children under five, the parents of children who had drowned and community leaders.
RESULTS: The majority of the participants (71%) were male. The focus groups revealed that most drowning's occurred between 11am and 2pm and that risk factors included the following: children not being able to swim, ditches that were not filled in, lack of medical facilities, parents who were not aware of childhood drowning and lack of information through the media about how to prevent of childhood drowning. Suggestions included using a mobile-based short messaging service or voice calls to parents, especially mothers, could increase awareness and reduce the risk of childhood drowning.
CONCLUSION: A safety education programme could be effective in increasing knowledge and changing attitudes, which could prevent drowning among children in Bangladesh.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pure tone audiometry test was conducted on 263 residents of a rural village who were not exposed to noise. The pack-years of smoking were computed from the subjects' smoking history. The association between pack-years and hearing impairment was assessed. The combined effect of smoking and age on hearing impairment was determined based on prevalence rate ratio.
RESULTS: There was a statistically significant trend in the number of pack-years of smoking and age as risk factors for hearing impairment. The prevalence rates of hearing impairment for nonsmokers aged 40 years and younger, smokers aged 40 years and younger, nonsmokers older than 40 years of age, and smokers older than 40 years of age were 6.9%, 11.9%, 29.7%, and 51.3%, respectively. The prevalence rate ratio for nonsmokers aged 40 years and younger, smokers aged 40 years and younger, nonsmokers older than 40 years of age, and smokers older than 40 years of age (nonsmokers aged 40 years and younger as a reference group) was 1, 1.7, 4.3, and 7.5, respectively. The prevalence rate ratios showed a multiplicative effect of smoking and age on hearing impairment.
CONCLUSION: Age and smoking are risk factors for hearing impairment. It is clear that smoking and age have multiplicative adverse effects on hearing impairment.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional school survey conducted on 4500 adolescent students, using a structured questionnaire. Data were collected using the supervised self-administered questionnaire [a modified version of the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance in the Malaysian National Language (Bahasa Malaysia)].
RESULTS: Our study showed that 27.9% of students had been involved in a physical fight, 6.6% had been injured in a fight, 5.9% had carried a weapon, 7.2% had felt unsafe, 18.5% had had their money stolen and 55.0% had had their property stolen. Adolescents who carried weapons to school, smoked, used drugs, felt sad or hopeless and played truant were more likely to be involved in physical fights after adjusting for age, sex, and ethnicity.
CONCLUSION: Violence-related behaviours among adolescents, especially involvement in physical fights, are common and are positively associated with certain factors such as smoking, taking drugs, playing truant, feeling sad or hopeless. Interventions designed at targeting adolescent violence should also address these factors and target the high-risk groups. There may be a need to identify and provide services for adolescents who exhibit these factors.