Natl Med J India
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Background Cardiovascular diseases, including heart failure (HF), are leading causes of death and disability in India. However, most studies in India only include urban populations or rural regions with improved access and may not represent the poorest patients or regions. We studied the epidemiology of HF patients admitted to a secondary care hospital in rural Chhattisgarh, India. ⋯ Conclusions HF patients in this study from rural central India were young and predominantly women. Cardiomyopathy, RHD and RHF due to past tuberculosis were common causes of HF in this population. Further studies are needed to expand upon these single centre findings to better understand the risk factors and outcomes of HF among the rural poor.
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Background Health literacy plays an important role in determining healthcare and medication outcomes. There is a lack of an appropriate, validated scale to assess health literacy status among the Hindi-speaking population. We translated and validated the English version of the All Aspects of Health Literacy Scale (AAHLS) into Hindi. ⋯ For test-retest reliability, the intra-class correlation coefficient for all the items in different factors was significant (range 0.88-1.00; p<0.0001). Significant association of critical literacy sub-scores with functional (r=0.274, p=0.002) and communicative (r=0.283, p=0.001) sub-scores revealed a good construct validity. Conclusion The Hindi translated version of the AAHLS scale is a valid and reliable tool to assess health literacy in the Hindi-speaking population.