Sexual intimacy and marital relationships in a low-income urban community in India

ObjectivesTo test whether social ties play any roles in mitigating depression and anxiety, as well as in fostering mental health among young men living in a poor urban community.SettingA cohort of all young men living in an urban slum in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.ParticipantsAll men aged 18–29 years (n=824) living in a low-income urban community at the time of the survey.Primary and secondary outcome measuresUnspecified psychological morbidity measured using the General Health Questionnaire, 12-item (GHQ-12), where lower scores suggest better mental status.ResultsThe GHQ scores (mean=9.2, SD=4.9) suggest a significant psychological morbidity among the respondents. However, each additional friend is associated with a 0.063 SD lower GHQ score (95% CI −0.106 to −0.021). Between centrality measuring the relative importance of the respondent within his social network is also associated with a 0.103 SD lower GHQ score (95% CI −0.155 to −0.051), as are other measures of social network ties. Among other factors, married respondents and recent migrants also report a better mental health status.ConclusionsOur results underscore the importance of social connection in providing a buffer against stress and anxiety through psychosocial support from one’s peers in a resource-constraint urban setting. Our findings also suggest incorporating a social network and community ties in designing mental health policies and interventions.

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Knowledge and perceptions of risk for cardiovascular disease: Findings of a qualitative investigation from a low-income peri-urban community in the Western Cape, South Africa

African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine ◽

10.4102/phcfm.v7i1.891 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Sam Surka ◽

Krisela Steyn ◽

Katherine Everett-Murphy ◽

Thomas A. Gaziano ◽

Naomi Levitt

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

South Africa ◽

Cardiovascular Disease ◽

Low Income ◽

Urban Community ◽

Visual Methods ◽

Western Cape ◽

Community Screening ◽

Perceptions Of Risk ◽

Low Health Literacy

Background: South Africa currently faces an increasing burden of cardiovascular disease. Although referred to clinics after community screening initiatives, few individuals who are identified to be at high risk for developing cardiovascular disease attend. Low health literacy and risk perception have been identified as possible causes. We investigated the knowledge and perceptions about risk for cardiovascular disease in a community.Method: We conducted a series of focus group discussions with individuals from a low incomeperi-urban community in the Western Cape, South Africa. Different methods of presenting risk were explored. The data were organised into themes and analysed to find associations between themes to provide explanations for our findings.Results: Respondents’ knowledge of cardiovascular disease and its risk factors varied, but most were familiar with the terms used to describe cardiovascular disease. In contrast, understanding of the concept of risk was poor. Risk was perceived as a binary concept and evaluation of different narrative and visual methods of presenting risk was not possible.Conclusion: Understanding cardiovascular disease and its risk factors requires a different set of skills from that needed to understand uncertainty and risk. The former requires knowledge of facts, whereas understanding of risk requires numerical and computational skills. Without a better understanding of risk, risk assessments for cardiovascular disease may fail in this community.

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