Background:The Indian population suffers with significant burden of mental illness. The prevalence rate and its association with age and other demographic indicators are needed for planning purpose.Objective:This study attempted to calculate age-wise prevalence of mental illness for rural and urban settings, and its association with age.Materials and Methods:Data published in National Sample Survey Organization (2002) report on disability is used for the analysis. Spearman correlation for strength of association, z-test for difference in prevalence, and regression statistics for predicting the prevalence rate of mental illness are used.Result:Overall population have 14.9/1000 prevalence of mental illness. It is higher in rural setting 17.1/1000 than urban 12.7/1000 (P < 0.001). There is a strong correlation found with age in rural (ϱ = 0.910, P = 0.001) and urban (ϱ = 0.940, P = 0.001).Conclusion:Results of this study confirm other epidemiological research in India. Large-population epidemiological studies are recommended.

IntroductionApproximately 26.3 million people in the United States have chronic kidney disease and many more are at risk of developing the condition. The association between specific metabolic syndrome components and chronic kidney disease in African American individuals is uncertain.MethodsBaseline data from 4,933 participants of the Jackson Heart Study were analyzed. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds and 95% confidence intervals of chronic kidney disease associated with individual components, metabolic syndrome, the number of components, and specific combinations of metabolic syndrome components.ResultsMetabolic syndrome was common with a prevalence of 42.0%. Chronic kidney disease was present in 19.4% of participants. The prevalence of metabolic components was high: elevated blood pressure (71.8%), abdominal obesity (65.8%), low fasting high density lipoprotein cholesterol (37.3%), elevated fasting glucose (32.2%) and elevated triglycerides (16.2%). Elevated blood pressure, triglycerides, fasting blood glucose, and abdominal obesity were significantly associated with increased odds of chronic kidney disease. Participants with metabolic syndrome had a 2.22-fold (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 2.22; 95% CI, 1.78–2.78) increase in the odds of chronic kidney disease compared to participants without metabolic syndrome. The combination of elevated fasting glucose, elevated triglycerides, and abdominal obesity was associated with the highest odds for chronic kidney disease (AOR 25.11; 95% CI, 6.94–90.90).ConclusionMetabolic syndrome as well as individual or combinations of metabolic syndrome components are independently associated with chronic kidney disease in African American adults.

A prevention program that promotes attitudinal and behavioral change has been repeatedly recommended as an effective measure for community prevention and control of HIV/AIDS. Within the past decade, disease control programs among African Americans have shown no significant changes, as HIV/AIDS and related infections continue as the leading causes of death and disability in this population. It is particularly acute among African American females who, although representing only 13.9% of the United States female population, presently account for over 60% of all AIDS cases among females in the United States. The epidemic nature of the disease in this group poses the issue of African American women's rights and underscores their physical, emotional and sociocultural vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. This study used an open-ended attitude, knowledge, feelings, and behavior questionnaire (AKFBQ) survey approach to assess knowledge and various HIV/AIDS high-risk attitudinal and behavioral factors that affect the incidence, mortality, and morbidity of HIV/AIDS among women in specific urban centers and rural communities in the United States. Data analysis showed no differences in factors favoring rate of infection and level of spread of HIV/AIDS among the women in both the urban and rural communities. Although level of knowledge was higher among the urban subjects than rural ones, their beliefs, attitude/feelings, and potential for behavioral change did not differ significantly among women in the two communities. This article advocates both an ethnically sensitive and gender-specific HIV/AIDS intervention program for African American women and a more active involvement in and participation of African American leaders, parents, and faith-based communities in AIDS control efforts for African Americans.

To estimate national and geography-based variations in blood pressure and burden of hypertension in Cameroon, generally called 'miniature Africa'.

Background:Intellectual disability (ID) is a global public health concern. Prevalence of ID and its association with age and other demographic factors is required for planning purposes in India.Objective:This study analyzed the age-adjusted prevalence of ID in rural and urban populations and its correlation with age in children and adults.Materials and Methods:Disability data published in the report (2002) of National Sample Survey Organization were analyzed, using Z-test to measure differences in age-adjusted prevalence. Spearman rho was calculated to determine strength and direction of the association, and regression analysis was used to predict prevalence rate, based on age in rural and urban population settings.Results:Overall, India has a prevalence of 10.5/1000 in ID. Urban population has slightly higher rate (11/1000) than rural (10.08/1000; P = 0.044). Age was found to be highly correlated with prevalence of ID in rural children (ϱ =0.981, P = 0.019) as well as in children (ϱ = −0.954, P = 0.000) and adults (ϱ = −0.957, P = 0.000) in urban population. The possibility of confounding or the existence of covariates for children in urban settings was noted.Conclusion:Results of this study match findings in other epidemiological studies. However, multistage, large-scale studies are recommended for investigating prevalence rates with different severity levels of ID.