METHODS: Between 2009 and 2012, a kilometre-long walk was completed by trained investigators in 462 communities across 16 countries to collect data on tobacco marketing. We interviewed community members about their exposure to traditional and non-traditional marketing in the previous six months. To examine differences in marketing between urban and rural communities and between high-, middle- and low-income countries, we used multilevel regression models controlling for potential confounders.
FINDINGS: Compared with high-income countries, the number of tobacco advertisements observed was 81 times higher in low-income countries (incidence rate ratio, IRR: 80.98; 95% confidence interval, CI: 4.15-1578.42) and the number of tobacco outlets was 2.5 times higher in both low- and lower-middle-income countries (IRR: 2.58; 95% CI: 1.17-5.67 and IRR: 2.52; CI: 1.23-5.17, respectively). Of the 11,842 interviewees, 1184 (10%) reported seeing at least five types of tobacco marketing. Self-reported exposure to at least one type of traditional marketing was 10 times higher in low-income countries than in high-income countries (odds ratio, OR: 9.77; 95% CI: 1.24-76.77). For almost all measures, marketing exposure was significantly lower in the rural communities than in the urban communities.
CONCLUSION: Despite global legislation to limit tobacco marketing, it appears ubiquitous. The frequency and type of tobacco marketing varies on the national level by income group and by community type, appearing to be greatest in low-income countries and urban communities.
METHODS: An analysis was conducted among 2237 older adults who participated in a longitudinal study on aging (LRGS TUA). This study involved four states in Malaysia, with 49.4% from urban areas. Respondents were divided into three categories of SES based on percentile, stratified according to urban and rural settings. SES was measured using household income.
RESULTS: The prevalence of low SES was higher among older adults in the rural area (50.6%) as compared to the urban area (49.4%). Factors associated with low SES among older adults in an urban setting were low dietary fibre intake (Adj OR:0.91),longer time for the Timed up and Go Test (Adj OR:1.09), greater disability (Adj OR:1.02), less frequent practice of caloric restriction (Adj OR:1.65), lower cognitive processing speed score (Adj OR:0.94) and lower protein intake (Adj OR:0.94). Whilst, among respondents from rural area, the factors associated with low SES were lack of dietary fibre intake (Adj OR:0.79), lower calf circumference (Adj OR: 0.91), lesser fresh fruits intake (Adj OR:0.91), greater disability (Adj OR:1.02) and having lower score in instrumental activities of daily living (Adj OR: 0.92).
CONCLUSION: Lower SES ismore prevalent in rural areas. Poor dietary intake, lower fitness and disability were common factors associated with low in SES, regardless of settings. Factors associated with low SES identifiedin both the urban and rural areas in our study may be useful inplanning strategies to combat low SES and its related problems among older adults.
METHODS: An online health survey was conducted between May to July 2017 among employees from 47 private companies located in urban Malaysia. A total of 5235 respondents completed the 20-min online employee health survey on a voluntary basis. Chi-Square or Fisher's exact tests were used to determine association between income with demographic and categorical factors of absenteeism and presenteeism. Multivariate linear regression was used to identify factors predicting absenteeism and presenteeism.
RESULTS: More than one third of respondents' monthly income were less than RM4,000 (35.4%), 29.6% between RM4,000-RM7,999 and 35.0% earned RM8,000 and above. The mean age was 33.8 years (sd ± 8.8) and 49.1% were married. A majority were degree holders (74.4%) and 43.6% were very concerned about their financial status. Mean years of working was 6.2 years (sd ± 6.9) with 68.9% satisfied with their job. More than half reported good general physical health (54.5%) (p = 0.065) and mental health (53.5%) (p = 0.019). The mean hours of sleep were 6.4 h (sd ± 1.1) with 63.2% reporting being unwell due to stress for the past 12 months. Mean work time missed due to ill-health (absenteeism) was 3.1% (sd ± 9.1), 2.8% (sd ± 9.1) and 1.8% (sd ± 6.5) among employees whose monthly income was less than RM4,000, RM4,000-RM7,999 and over RM8,000 respectively (p = 0.0066). Mean impairment while working due to ill-health (presenteeism) was 28.2% (sd ± 25.3), 24.9% (sd ± 25.5) and 20.3% (sd ± 22.9) among employees whose monthly income was less than RM4,000, RM4,000-RM7,999 and over RM8,000 respectively (p
METHODS: Data for this study was extracted from the 2011 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS-2011). In this survey, data was collected using a two-stage stratified cluster sampling approach. The chi-square test and a two-level logistic regression model were used for further analysis.
RESULTS: Data from 2231 children aged 6-59 months were included for analysis. The prevalence of child anemia was noted to be 52.10%. Among these anemic children, 48.40% where from urban environment and 53.90% were from rural areas. The prevalence of mild, moderate and severe anemia among children was 57.10, 41.40 and 1.50% respectively. The two-level logistic regression model revealed that the following factors were associated with childhood anemia: children of anemic mothers (p