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At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Prevalence of coronary heart disease indicated by electrocardiogram abnormalities and risk factors in developing countries.

A cross-sectional population survey was carried out in 15 population groups (ethnicity includes Melanesian, Polynesian, Micronesian, Asian Indian and Chinese) in 9 developing countries: Fiji, Nauru, Kiribati, Cook Island, Niue, Western Samoa, New Caledonia, Mauritius and China (Beijing) in 1978-1987. The total sample included 4594 men and 4988 women aged 35-59 years. The aim of study is to report the prevalence of coronary heart disease (CHD) as indicated by ECG Minnesota coding, and risk factor levels and to describe the individual and ecological relationship between CHD prevalence and CHD risk factors among different ethnic groups in developing countries. Mauritians had the highest prevalence of CHD of these countries. Total serum cholesterol concentration and the prevalence of CHD were higher in Mauritius Chinese than in Beijing Chinese. Mean total cholesterol was lower than or equal to 5.2 mmol/l (200 mg/dl) in all population groups, except in Mauritians. Hypertensive subjects in most populations had a low cholesterol concentration. The prevalence of hypertension varied from 7 to 35% and mean body mass index (BMI) from 22.9 to 37.0 kg/m2. Smoking was more common in men (36-82%) than women (0.8-65%). Multiple logistic regression analysis using individuals as a unit of analysis showed that cholesterol and systolic blood pressure were significant independent predictors of CHD prevalence. When fasting or 2 hr post-load blood glucose was included in the model total cholesterol was no longer significant in men but remained significant in women. Ecological analysis using populations as units of analysis showed that the combination of several CHD risk factors could explain about 90% of the interpopulations variance of the CHD prevalence in women. The best models were those where 2 hr post-load glucose was included. Our study has demonstrated that the total cholesterol concentration of the population was consistent with the prevalence of CHD in the population. A considerable proportion of the variation in CHD prevalence across populations in developing countries can be explained by well-known risk factors. These data support the concept that retaining traditional balanced dietary habits and limiting salt intake together with avoiding smoking use are important activities for the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in developing countries.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

[Tuberculosis in developing countries compared to europe (author's transl)].

It is relatively easy to obtain a survey of the tuberculosis situation in the geographically demarcated countries of Europe. On the other hand it is impossible to acquire reliable and representative information on the majority of developing countries. Also the concept of a developing country cannot be accurately defined: the geographical, ethnic and cultural conditions predominating there may be diametrically different. In addition the paper is intended not only to take into account the present tuberculosis situation, but also to say something on the future development of tuberculosis in Europe and the developing countries during the next few years.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Well child clinics and mass vaccination campaigns: an evaluation of strategies for improving the coverage of primary health care in a developing country.

Millions of children in developing countries are dying from diseases that could be prevented or treated by simple interventions. To examine ways to improve the delivery of these basic services, we evaluated well child clinics and mass vaccination campaigns under operational conditions in a rural area of Nicaragua. We found that mass vaccination campaigns using volunteers reached 77.1 per cent of the population under age six. At stationary well child clinics in which villages were invited to a health center and a small food ration was used as an incentive, attendance improved to 94.1 per cent. Similar attendance levels (99.2 per cent) were attained by mobile well child clinics also using a food incentive. Attendance at stationary clinics decreased with the distance of the village from the health center. However, stationary clinics took up only half as much health workers' time as mobile clinics. Our results suggest that stationary clinics employing food as an incentive could be used for villages or neighborhoods close to a health center while mobile clinics offering food should be reserved for more isolated villages.

Ambulatory Care Facilities↗
PubMed1976

Role of the medical auxiliary in the control of sexually transmitted disease in a developing country.

Venereal diseases are becoming a major health problem in many developing countries where the greater part of primary medical care is undertaken by medical auxiliaries. Under these circumstances, the medical auxiliary has an important role to play in the control of these diseases but he can only do this with adequate training, support, and supervision from the professional doctors and specialists. In this paper, the role of the medical auxiliary is outlined and a case is also made for a specially-trained cadre for venereal disease work in busy urban clinics in developing countries.

Africa↗
PubMed1992

The role of the laboratory in a Chlamydia control programme in a developing country.

The laboratory components of a Chlamydia trachomatis disease control programme for a developing country are reviewed. Early diagnosis of chlamydial infections is the most cost effective means of preventing the long term sequelae of trachoma, pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy and infertility, which are now a major public health burden to the health care system in developing countries. Public health strategies are required to establish both a co-ordinated limited system of laboratory services, and to promote the diagnosis and treatment of disease syndromes in the absence of laboratory support. Laboratory tests for the specific diagnoses of chlamydial infections requiring different levels of expertise and equipment can be instituted within settings appropriate to the resources and technical expertise available. Emphasis is given to appropriate cost effective utilization of laboratory testing.

Chlamydia Infections↗
PubMed1984

Percutaneous renal biopsy in a developing country: experience with 300 cases.

Percutaneous renal biopsy was performed on 300 occasions in 253 children. Adequate renal tissue was obtained in 94% of cases. Complication occurred on 26 occasions (8.7%). Seven children required blood transfusion. These results are comparable to experience of renal biopsy in the more advanced countries. Percutaneous renal biopsy is feasible in established hospitals in developing countries. Guidelines are provided for doing percutaneous renal biopsy in developing countries.

Biopsy↗
PubMed1980

A model for establishment of educational programmes in developing countries: the nursing paradoxes in Kuwait.

While American nursing attempts to deal with the multitude of dilemmas that have been plaguing it for decades, many developing countries look to the USA for a nursing model to emulate, and then become lost in this confusion of its nursing profession. However, these countries continue to reach out and seek consultants with educational and practical experience in nursing in the USA, as well as in other developed countries. A paradigm is proposed for use by educators and consultants to help delineate the major issues a developing country has to confront in establishing a stable nursing service. This paradigm is explicated by applying it to the situation in Kuwait, a Fourth World country with many social paradoxes (e.g., rich in economic resources but poor in human resources). Four major paradoxes in nursing are identified by using the proposed paradigm. They are: 1 educational needs vs. educational reality; 2 locals vs. cosmopolitans; 3 role congruency vs. role incongruency; and finally 4 medical vs. nursing conceptual models. Although these paradoxes became manifest through work done by the author in Kuwait, any international health care professional will quickly realize that the prardoxes are not unique to Kuwait but have parallels in many other countries which are at different stages of development.

Developing Countries↗
PubMed1989

Approaches to prevent acute bacterial meningitis in developing countries.

Endemic acute bacterial meningitis of childhood appears to be neglected as a cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries, probably because it has been overshadowed by the dramatic epidemics of meningococcal disease in sub-Saharan Africa. The available data based on reviews of hospitalized patients suggest that endemic meningitis is mostly a disease of young infants, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae type b being the most important etiologic agents. The epidemiological pattern appears to be different in developing countries, compared with northern Europe or the USA, and closely resembles the early age of onset and high incidence of meningitis observed among the native American populations in Alaska. The mortality from meningitis appears to be much higher in developing countries than in industrialized countries. The availability of vaccines against the pneumococcus and haemophilus, particularly those in which the bacterial polysaccharide is conjugated to a protein, promises protection against systemic bacterial infection from these organisms. The assessment of the efficacy of such vaccines will have to include a close examination of meningitis as an outcome. It is suggested that before such vaccines become available careful clinical and epidemiological studies of meningitis will help both to define the impact of this disease and how to design an intervention strategy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Adolescent knowledge and use of injectable contraceptives in developing countries.

PURPOSE: To review recent survey data on knowledge and use of injectable contraceptives among adolescents and young women in developing countries. The proportion of adolescents who are aware of this method, who have ever used it, and who are currently using the method, are described. Use of the injection is compared to overall use of any method, as well as to use of two other specific methods, the contraceptive pill and the condom. METHODS: The data reported here come from a series of nationally representative surveys carried out in 25 developing countries, in the mid to late 1980s, as part of the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) project. These are surveys of 5,000-10,000 women aged 15-49 years that obtain information on whether women have heard about each specific method, as well as on ever-use and current use of contraception. The data presented here are compiled from published sources, and focus on currently married young women (15-24 year olds), and adolescents (15-19 year olds). RESULTS: Although the injection is recognized by a moderately high proportion of young women and adolescents (40-70% in most countries), use of this method is extremely low in almost all countries. The exceptions, based on DHS data, are 3 Asian countries (Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand) and to a lesser extent, two Latin American countries (Colombia and Mexico). Other countries with moderately high levels of use of Depo-Provera, based on other sources, are China, Jamaica and New Zealand. However, apart from these few countries, when adolescents and young women do choose to use contraception, it is the pill that they are much more likely to choose. CONCLUSIONS: Problems of availability of supplies of the injection may explain some of the observed variation in levels of use of this method. Supplies are mostly provided by international donor agencies such as United Nations Fund for Population Activities and International Planned Parenthood Federation. The lack of approval of the method by the United States until recently also probably had a negative effect on the likelihood of some other governments approving this method or promoting it. Now, with the approval of the United States, supplies may become more available and there may be a greater willingness to use Depo-Provera and other injectables in the developing countries.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Epidemiology and prospects for prevention of disease due to Haemophilus influenzae in developing countries.

Haemophilus influenzae is an important cause of meningitis and severe cases of lower respiratory infection (LRI) in children in developing countries. In children with meningitis, H. influenzae type b organisms are the most frequently encountered serotype, but in some countries type a strains are also implicated. In children with LRI, type b organisms are also important, but the proportion of organisms with other serotypes and non-typable strains is greater than that associated with cases of meningitis. In developing countries, nearly all cases of H. influenzae meningitis and a substantial fraction of cases of LRI occur in children younger than one year of age. This age distribution is younger than that seen in the continental United States, where more than one-half of the cases of invasive H. influenzae disease are in children older than one year of age. New type b polysaccharide-protein conjugate vaccines are immunogenic in infants as young as two months of age and offer the promise of preventing H. influenzae type b disease in infants younger than one year of age. However, for developing countries, more complete data defining the populations at risk, the immunogenicity of candidate vaccines in children in different geographic regions, and the serotypes of the infecting organisms will be needed before successful cost-effective vaccination strategies can be devised and implemented.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Epidemiology of acute respiratory infections in children of developing countries.

Acute respiratory infections cause four and a half million deaths among children every year, the overwhelming majority occurring in developing countries. Pneumonia unassociated with measles causes 70% of these deaths; post-measles pneumonia, 15%; pertussis, 10%; and bronchiolitis and croup syndromes, 5%. Both bacterial and viral pathogens are responsible for these deaths. The most important bacterial agents are Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Staphylococcus aureus. The data on bacterial etiology of pneumonia during the first 3 months of life are limited, and almost no information on the role of chlamydia and pertussis in this age period is available. The distribution of viral pathogens in developing countries can be summarized as follows: respiratory syncytial virus, 15%-20%; parainfluenza viruses, 7%-10%; and influenza A and B viruses and adenovirus, 2%-4%. Mixed viral and bacterial infections occur frequently. Risk factors that increase the incidence and severity of lower respiratory infection in developing countries include large family size, lateness in the birth order, crowding, low birth weight, malnutrition, vitamin A deficiency, lack of breast feeding, pollution, and young age. Effective interventions for prevention and medical case management are urgently needed to save the lives of many children predisposed to severe disease.

Acute Disease↗