Suchergebnisse

BackgroundCondoms offer the best protection against unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. Little research has been conducted to determine the prevalence and investigate the influencing factors of condom use at first sexual intercourse among college students.MethodsA self‐administered questionnaire was completed by 1137 college students (573 male and 564 female) in the Kathmandu Valley. Analyses were confined to 428 students who reported that they have ever had sexual intercourse. The association between condom use at first sexual intercourse and the explanatory variables was assessed in bivariate analysis using Chi‐square tests. The associations were further explored using multivariate logistic analysis in order to identify the significant predictors after controlling for other variables.ResultsAmong the sexually active students, less than half (48%) had used condoms during first sexual intercourse. The results from the logistic regression analysis revealed that age, caste and/or ethnicity, age at first sexual intercourse, types of first sex partner, alcohol consumption and mass media exposure are significant predictors for condom use at first sexual intercourse among the college students. Students in the older age groups who had first sex were about four times (16 to 19 years old) (OR = 3.5) more likely and nine times (20 or older) (OR = 8.9) more likely than the students who had sex before 16 years of age to use condoms at first sexual intercourse.Moreover, those students who had first sex with commercial sex worker were five times (OR = 4.9) more likely than those who had first sex with their spouse to use condoms at first sex. Furthermore, students who had higher exposure to both print and electronic media were about twice (OR = 1.75) as likely as those who had lower media exposure to use condoms. On the other hand, students who frequently consumed alcohol were 54% (OR = 0.46) less likely to use condoms at first sexual intercourse than those who never or rarely consumed alcohol.ConclusionsThe rate of condom use at first sexual intercourse is low among the students. It indicates students are exposed to health hazards through their sexual behaviour. If low use of condom at first sex continues, vulnerable sexual networks will grow among them that allow quicker spreading of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV. Findings from this study point to areas that policy and programmes can address to provide youth with access to the kinds of information and services they need to achieve healthy sexual and reproductive lives.

Teaching medical students is an art that requires expertise in the core content of the subject and specialized teaching techniques. Learning to teach medical students and teachers learning from those teachings themselves is a lifelong process. Short medical teacher training courses in various specialized teaching techniques lay the foundation for a positive teaching experience that can substantially impact medical education. The Faculty Development Program is one such training course for medical teachers, designed to be an essential step toward becoming a student-centered facilitator. This article sheds light on the current status and significance of the faculty development program in Nepalese medical education. It also offers suggestions and critical strategies to improve the program in the future with available resources and to integrate it further into medical education.Keywords: Faculty development program; medical education; Nepal; teacher training

Abstract Background The labor force participation rate is an important indicator of the state of the labor market and a major input into the economy's potential for creating goods and services. The objectives of this paper are to examine the prevalence of labor force participation among older people in Thailand and to investigate the factors affecting this participation. Methods The data for this study were drawn from the '2007 Survey of Older Persons' in Thailand. Bivariate analysis was used to identify the factors associated with labor force participation. The variables were further examined using multivariate analysis in order to identify the significant predictors of the likelihood of older people participating in the labor force, after controlling for other variables. Results Overall, 30,427 elderly people aged 60 or above were interviewed. More than a third (35%) of all respondents had participated in the labor force during the seven days preceding the survey. Respondents who were female (OR = 0.56), those who were older (OR = 0.47 for 70-79 and 0.21 for 80+ years), those who were widowed/divorced (OR = 0.85), those who were living with their children (OR = 0.69), those whose family income was relatively low, and those who worked in government sectors (OR = 0.33) were less likely to participate in the labor force than were their counterparts. On the other hand, those who lived in urban areas (OR = 1.2), those who had a low level of education (OR, secondary level 1.8, primary 2.4, and no schooling 2.5), those who were the head of the household (OR = 1.9), and those who were in debt (OR = 2.3) were more likely be involved in the labor force than their comparison groups. Furthermore, respondents who experienced greater difficulty in daily living, those who suffered from more chronic diseases, and those who assessed their health as poor were less likely to participate in the labor force than their counterparts. Conclusion Labor force participation in their advanced years is not uncommon among the Thai elderly. The results suggest that improving the health status of the elderly is necessary in order to encourage their employment. By doing so, the country can fulfill the labor shortage and further improve the economic condition of the nation. The results of this study also suggest that for policies encouraging employment among older persons to succeed, special focus on the rural elderly is necessary.

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AbstractHandwashing has been proven to be effective at preventing several infectious diseases. This study aims to find out the role of wealth status in establishing handwashing stations in the households of Nepal. This study used secondary data from Nepal Demographic Health Survey in 2016 to assess the association between households' wealth status and handwashing stations. The findings displayed a significant association between the age of the household head, residence place, ecological zone, province, wealth status, having a mosquito net, having a radio and TV in the respondent's household, and fixed handwashing stations at their households at p < 0.001 level. Wealth status has significant effect on fixed handwashing stations (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 12.699; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 10.120–15.935; p < 0.001) in the households. The households with the poorest wealth status (aOR = 9.718; 95% CI = 7.387–12.785; p < 0.001), mountain ecological zone (aOR = 1.325; 95% CI = 1.098–1.599; p < 0.01), Madhesh province (aOR = 2.967; 95% CI = 2.405–3.658; p < 0.001) were significant predictors for not having fixed handwashing stations even after inclusion of socio‐covariates. Correspondingly, the presence of mosquito net (aOR = 0.795; 95% CI = 0.692–0.913; p < 0.01), presence of a radio (aOR = 0.758; 95% CI = 0.671–0.857; p < 0.001), and presence of a TV (aOR = 0.762; 95% CI = 0.667–0.871; p < 0.001) had a significant effect on fixed handwashing stations at their households even after inclusion of socio‐covariates. The study found households with the poorest wealth quintiles, mountain ecological zone, and Madhesh and Karnali provinces had low fixed handwashing stations. The study suggests more leading interventions to improve public health in this region.