Traditional birth attendants in an endemic area of tetanus neonatorum in Thailand: pitfalls in the control program

A survey of the characteristics of traditional birth attendants in Krabi Province, Thailand, where the incidence rate of tetanus neonatorum was the highest in the country, was conducted in order to obtain background information necessary for planning a training curriculum and to evaluate previous training courses. Five second year medical students were used as research assistants. After the questionnaire was constructed and tested, the students went to visit a sample of 116 traditional birth attendants (TBAs) to interview them about their personal backgrounds, techniques and practices in delivery and beliefs and attitudes towards midwifery. The study revealed that these TBAs were a mixture of Buddhist and Islamic females whose literacy rate was 53 percent. Ninety-one per cent knew about the availability of an injection for antenatal care at the health center, but only about half knew that it was for tetanus prevention. More than half provided antenatal care at their own home but 85 per cent conducted delivery at the client's home. About eighty per cent of the TBAs claimed that sterilization of instruments was performed. However, dressing of the umbilical cord was done inappropriately using various kinds of powders by about 40 per cent. The majority of TBAs had experience with complicated labors but only 30 per cent were referred, perhaps, due to excessive self-confidence and supernatural beliefs. The trained TBAs possessed a higher level of knowledge of immunization and sterile techniques for cord cutting and dressing of the stumps of the umbilical cord than the untrained group. However, knowledge of sterilization of instruments was not significantly different, indicating a need to improve teaching in this area.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Literacy differentials in tribal and non-tribal population of India, 1981

The author investigates literacy differentials between tribal and non-tribal populations in India, using 1981 census data. "Spatially, the index is high in tradition gripped and economically backward areas of Western Rajasthan, of central highlands and of Western Arunachal Pradesh. It is low in [the] Christian tribal belt of [the] northeast; the early exposed areas of [the] southern peninsula, parts of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka, and numerically insignificant areas of northern Rajasthan and Western Himalayas."

Regional dimensions of population in India

"The present endeavour has an emphasis on analysing distributional patterns of some...population characteristics [in India] as a case perceived at the physiographic-regional level, that is to say, the variability of population characteristics over different natural environments as well as within a similar physical entity. Specifically it aims at analysing the pattern of population density, growth, urbanisation level and literacy varying from one physiographic region to [another] and the relationship of these four variables with each other at the same level of regional structure."

[Levels, trends, and prospects concerning infant and child mortality in West Sumatra]

"This article investigates the levels, trends and differentials in infant and child mortality in West Sumatra [Indonesia]. The results of this study, based on the 1971, 1980 Population Censuses and the 1985 Intercensal Population Survey confirm a trend toward lower infant and child mortality in West Sumatra over the last two decades. The estimates also show that there are considerable urban-rural differentials in childhood mortality. In general, babies born in urban areas have a lower mortality rate than those born in rural areas. The study also shows that education, age at first marriage, occupation, and literacy level of the mother have significant effect on the child mortality differentials." (SUMMARY IN ENG)

Female circumcision in Somalia and women's motives

Two hundred and ninety Somalian women have participated in a study. They responded adequately to the questionnaire administered. One hundred percent of these women were circumcised, despite their relatively high socio-economic status as shown by their educational level. Eighty-eight percent of them had been circumcised with excision and infibulation, 6.5% were circumcised with clitoridectomy and the remaining 5.5% with Sunna. The majority of these women justified the practice of female circumcision with religious reasons and all were willing to circumcise their daughters. Fifty-two percent of the respondents had been operated on by medically untrained persons, usually traditional birth attendants and the majority were operated on at home.

Approaches to AIDS education for the grassroots in Nigeria

The most important aspect of reaching people at the grassroots level is to ensure their understanding by using the most appropriate language, and by ensuring that the largely illiterate population will, nevertheless, be well served by print and electronic mass media. The article also emphasizes the need to adapt educational aids to the audience they address, as well as the preference of offering interactive education.

Regional disparities in demographic development in India

"The main objective of the present paper is to discern the changing pattern of regional disparities in demographic development in India. The analysis pertains to the 1971-81 decade using district level data. Indicators have been selected from the demographic components of urbanisation, literacy and occupational dynamism."

Demographic development in an Indian state: a case study of Rajasthan

"The paper attempts to analyse the patterns of and trends in demographic development in Rajasthan state [India] by employing the indices of urbanization, literacy and occupational diversification.... An effort has also been made to define the concept of demographic development...." Demographic development is defined as improvement in the quality of the population in a given area.

Socio-economic differences in fertility control. Is there an early warning system at the village level?

"This article is about identifying the origins of fertility limitation in a way designed to overcome the constraints which require that fertility control be discovered only after it is undeniable. The analysis is based on data from the Belgian commune of La Hulpe, covering the period from 1846-1880. It shows (using hazard models) that the clearest signs of fertility control were visible among literate women and the bourgeoisie." (SUMMARY IN FRE)

[Socioeconomic determinants of migration in Mexico]

"This study examines the socioeconomic influence on migration frequency and transitory movements in four Mexican regions. The analysis is based on data gathered from the [Mexican Fertility Survey] 1976-1977, considering the influences of...education, occupation, literacy, place of residence and fertility. The methods used for this analysis were regression and logistic regression." Aspects considered include patterns of internal migration in Mexico, data sources, analysis of independent variables, migration experiences, and age effects. A comment by Carlos Brambila Paz is included (pp. 179-83). (SUMMARY IN ENG)

Fertility change in Costa Rica 1960-84: analysis of retrospective lifetime reproductive histories

Lifetime reproductive histories of a 1984-85 nationally representative sample of 870 women aged 25-59 years provided data to describe the evolution of fertility, contraception, breast-feeding, and natural fecundability in Costa Rica between 1960 and 1984. The contraceptive prevalence rate increased from 23% in 1965 to 58% in 1975 and 66% in 1984. Duration of breast-feeding was stable during the 1960s, decreased in the early 1970s, and increased after about 1976. Fecundability among women who did not practise contraception was lower than expected and declined between 1960 and 1975, probably because of selection effects. Despite a high consistency between estimations from the reproductive histories and other sources of data, some suggestion of omissions of short periods of contraceptive use in the distant past was detected. The survey may have reduced recall errors by using a calendar that summarizes major life events together. The analysis demonstrated the feasibility and usefulness of asking for lifetime reproductive histories in fertility surveys in developing countries.

Male-female literacy differential in India--1981

The author examines inequalities in the literacy rates between males and females in India. Regional variations in literacy are examined by district using maps. "The male-female literacy differential is low in coastal, peripheral and metropolitan areas and is high in inland and mountainous areas. These regional disparities are the product of differences in length of educational background, age at marriage, level of urbanisation, standard of living and proportion of socially conservative and backward sections of society.... The study in spatial dimension provides a strong base for the removal of sex biased discrimination in society."

Life expectancy in less developed countries: socioeconomic development or public health?

Various studies have enquired into the influence of socioeconomic development or public health measures on life expectancies in less developed countries. Analysis of the effect of these two groups of factors upon life expectancy, using data for 95 less developed countries, indicates that mortality is primarily influenced by such socioeconomic development measures as urbanization, industrialization, and education, and secondarily by such public health measures as access to safe water, physicians, and adequate nutrition.

Patterns of literacy in the People's Republic of China

"The recent publication of data from the 1982 census permits an assessment of the patterns, progress and problems of illiteracy in China. Educational progress, since the communists came to power in 1949, has been particularly impressive, especially in relation to the low levels of income within the People's Republic. Nevertheless, nearly a third of the country's population are still unable to read and write and major variations in literacy exist between the developed and less developed regions, between men and women, between the urban and rural areas, between the various age groups and among the many ethnic groups that constitute the People's Republic of China.... By stressing the value of labour, including child labour, the agricultural responsibility system has generated a surprising decline in school attendance which may jeopardise future improvements in literacy, particularly so among the poorer people in the poorer areas of China."

An analysis of health services coverage of a primary health centre in West Bengal

Seven hundred rural families from different religious, economic, educational and occupational groups residing at different distances from the service health centre (PHC) were interviewed to study its service coverage and service bottlenecks. Acceptability, contact and effectiveness coverage, were respectively 64.8, 19.2 and 13.8 percent in case of medical care; 71.8, 28.3 and 27.2 percent in Maternal and Child Health Care Services; 45.7, 18.2 and 17.3 percent in case of Family Welfare Planning Services; and 64.4, 55.7 and 55.7 percent in immunization services. The higher income group utilized the services least 4.1 percent, compared to lower income group (17.7 percent). Utilization of the PHC services significantly declined with distance from the health centre. Less than 1/5th of the families (19.2 percent) utilized the medicare. Bottlenecks in service utilization were distance from PHC, and caste, education and income.

Population change in Burma: a comparison of the 1973 and 1983 censuses

"A comparison of the 1973 and 1983 censuses provides ample evidence of a decline in fertility in Burma [Myanmar]. The proportion of children in the population fell substantially in the ten-year period accompanied by a significant increase in the mean age at marriage as indicated by the higher female...mean age at marriage. An analysis of the regional variations in population density indicates inter-regional movement of population. While there is marked success in the literacy programmes as indicated by the sharp reduction in the prevalence of illiteracy, especially among the females, changes in the industrial and occupational structure of the labour force suggest worsening economic conditions. Under these circumstances, it is surmised that the fall in fertility, without any concerted government policy for inducing such a decline, may be a first-level and benign response of a more literate and hence more informed population to rising aspirations and the inability of the economy to accommodate these aspirations."