Background:Studies from Tamil Nadu, South India, have reported the world's highest suicide rates. As per official reports, Kerala, another South Indian state has the highest suicide rate among the major states in India.Objective:The purpose of this analysis is to estimate the rates and age-specific incidence of suicide in a rural community in Kerala, under continuous observation for the last five years.Settings and Design:The study setting comprised of seven contiguous panchayats constituting a development block in Kerala. A prospective cohort study design was used.Materials and Methods:Through regular home visits, every death that occurred in the community was captured by local resident health workers and the cause of death assigned.Statistical Analysis:Suicide rates by age and sex and relative share of suicide deaths to all-cause deaths in men and women were calculated.Results:During the five-year period from 2002 to 2007, 284 cases of suicide were reported. The suicide rates were 44.7/100,000 for males and 26.8/100,000 for females. Male to female suicide ratio was 1.7. Among females aged between 15 and 24, suicides constituted more than 50% of all deaths. Male to female ratio of suicide varied from 0.4 in children aged 14 years or less to 4.5 in the 45-54 year age group.Conclusion:Our analysis shows that the level of under-reporting of suicides in rural Kerala is much less than that reported in Tamil Nadu.

Prevalence of type 2 diabetes among a group of urban residents in Trivandrum city in Kerala is very high. This is associated also with a high detection rate and compliance to treatment.

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Objective: Potential error sources in nutrient estimation with the FFQ include inaccurate or biased recall and overestimation or underestimation of intake due to too many or too few items on the FFQ, respectively. Here we report the refinement of an FFQ that overestimated nutrient intake and its validation against multiple 24 h recalls. Study design: Data on 2527 participants in south India (Trivandrum) were available for the original FFQ (OFFQ) that overestimated nutrient intake (132 food items). After excluding participants with implausible energy intake estimates (,2?72 MJ/d (,650 kcal/d), .15?69 MJ/d (.3750 kcal/d)) we ran stepwise regression analyses with selected nutrients as the outcomes and food intake (servings/d) as predictor variables (n 1867). From these results and expert consultation we refined the FFQ (RFFQ), and validated it by comparing intakes obtained with it and the mean of two 24 h recalls among 100 participants. Results: The OFFQ overestimated usual daily nutrient intake before and after exclusions [for energy: 13?39 (SD 5?46) MJ (3201 (SD 1305) kcal) and 10?96 (SD 2?65) MJ (2619 (SD 634) kcal), respectively]. In stepwise analyses, fifty-seven food items explained 90 % of the variance in nutrients; we retained thirteen food items because participants consumed them at least twice monthly and twelve food items that local nutritionists recommended. Mean energy intake estimated from the RFFQ (eighty-two food items) was 7?94 (SD 2?05) MJ (1897 (SD 489) kcal). The de-attenuated correlations between mean 24 h recall and RFFQ intakes ranged from 0?25 (vitamin A) to 0?82 (fat). Conclusion: We refined an FFQ that overestimated nutrient intake by shortening and redesigning, and validated it by comparisons with 24 h dietary recall data.

This article aims to study the relationship between socioeconomic position (SEP) and prevalence of self-reported diabetes in a rural population in Kerala, India. This study was designed as a cross-sectional survey. Data from PROLIFE, a prospective cohort study involving the long-term follow-up of the residents of an administrative unit in Kerala, India, was used. The 33 379 households in the study area were divided into 4 groups (SEP1 to SEP4) on the basis of household assets. Prevalence of diabetes was ascertained through a lifestyle questionnaire. The proportion of self-reported diabetes was highest (at 11.1%) in SEP4, the group with the highest socioeconomic status, when compared with 3.1% in SEP1. The trend was similar in both sexes. Prevalence of self-reported diabetes increases as one moves up the socioeconomic ladder in this rural community.