260913 Bolstering the health of young adolescent girls (11-14 years) for sustainable gains in maternal & infant health in rural Uttar Pradesh, A Cluster Randomized Trial

Wednesday, October 31, 2012 : 1:10 PM - 1:30 PM

Nandita Kapadia-Kundu, PhD , Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Communication Programs, Baltimore, MD
Gadde Narayana, Phd , India Office, Futures Group International, Gurgaon, India
Geetali Trivedi, MA , Urban Health Initiative, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School/Center for Communication Programs, Lucknow, India
Meenakshi Dikshit, MA , Itap, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Communication Programs, New Delhi, India
Ajay Misra, Phd , Futures Group Inernational, Lucknow, India
Basil Safi, Asia Division Chief , Center of Communication Programs, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
     
Background Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state is home to 17.2 million adolescent girls. The health and nutritional status of adolescent girls in rural UP is deplorable leading to adverse consequences in the short and long term. A one year integrated nutrition, hygiene and reproductive health intervention that included 10 one hour in-school sessions and a personal diary was introduced in the intervention arm of the study.

Methods The study was conducted in 30 government schools in Hardoi district of Uttar Pradesh from 2010 to 2011. Hardoi has 19 blocks that were stratified into three categories based on distance. Two blocks were randomly selected from each of the three categories. Each pair of blocks was then randomly assigned to either the intervention or control arms. Five rural schools were randomly selected within each block. Two cross sectional samples of 1995 adolescent girls (11-14 years) at baseline and 1201 girls at endline were randomly selected. Chi square and regression analysis was adjusted for cluster and design effects.

Results A multi-behavioral impact on 10 health behaviors has occurred. A significant increase (p<.05) in health compliance (IFA tablets), health service (annual health check up, deworming dose), nutrition (3 meals + snack, food variety, iron and vitamin C rich foods), hygiene (handwashing before a meal and before cooking) and reproductive health (menstrual and genital hygiene) was seen in the intervention arm. Conclusions Prevention of maternal and infant mortality in rural Uttar Pradesh can begin by promoting nutrition, RH and hygiene for young adolescent girls.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related education
Public health or related public policy
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
1. Participants will state the areas of impact of the randomized control cluster trial for young adolescent girls (11-14 years) 2. Participants will be able to list 2 reasons why programs should focus on younger adolescents for improving maternal and infant health.

Keywords: Adolescents, International, Health Promotion

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the co-principal investigator of the study. I have a Phd in public health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. I have led the work for this randomized cluster trial. I have also done the statistical analysis for the study.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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