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Background: Frailty is associated with healthy ageing, and it has been identified as a means of measuring older adults' physio-psychosocial health. We know about the ageing trends and common diseases of older adults living in South Asia, but literature to date does not widely feature their health status based on frailty, especially in Bangladesh. This study aims to understand the prevalence of frailty in Bangladeshi older adults; classify their health status; and investigate associated risk factors., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the north-eastern region (i.e. Sylhet City Corporation) of Bangladesh. Four hundred participants aged 55 years and above were randomly selected, attended a health assessment session and completed a multi-indicator survey questionnaire. We developed a 30-indicator Frailty Index (FI 30 ) to assess the participant's health status and categorized: good health (no-frailty/Fit); slightly poor health (mild frailty); poor health (moderate frailty); and very poor health (severe frailty). Pearson chi-square test and binary logistic regression analysis were conducted., Results: The participants' mean age was 63.6 years, and 61.6% of them were assessed in poor to very poor health (moderate frailty/36.3% - severe frailty/25.3%). The eldest, female and participants from lower family income were found more frailty than their counterparts. Participants aged 70 years and above were more likely (adjusted OR: 4.23, 95% CI: 2.26-7.92, p < 0.0001) to experience frailty (medical conditions) than the pre-elderly age group (55-59 years). Female participants were more vulnerable (adjusted OR = 1.487, 95% CI: 0.84-2.64, p < 0.0174) to frailty (medical conditions) than male. Also, older adults who had higher family income (Income>$473.3) found a lower risk (adjusted OR: 0.294, 95% CI: 0.11-0.76, p < 0.011) of frailty (poor health)., Conclusion: Our study results confirm the prevalence of frailty-related disorders in Bangladeshi older adults and highlight the importance of targeted clinical and community-led preventive care programs.

Lyme disease is a tick-borne bacterial illness that occurs in areas of North America, Europe, and Asia. Early infection typically presents as generalized symptoms with an erythema migrans (EM) skin lesion. Dissemination of the pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi can result in multiple EM skin lesions or in extracutaneous manifestations such as Lyme neuroborreliosis. Metabolic biosignatures of patients with early Lyme disease can potentially provide diagnostic targets as well as highlight metabolic pathways that contribute to pathogenesis. Sera from well-characterized patients diagnosed with either early localized Lyme disease (ELL) or early disseminated Lyme disease (EDL), plus healthy controls (HC), from the United States were analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Comparative analyses were performed between ELL, or EDL, or ELL combined with EDL, and the HC to develop biosignatures present in early Lyme disease. A direct comparison between ELL and EDL was also performed to develop a biosignature for stages of early Lyme disease. Metabolic pathway analysis and chemical identification of metabolites with LC-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) demonstrated alterations of eicosanoid, bile acid, sphingolipid, glycerophospholipid, and acylcarnitine metabolic pathways during early Lyme disease. These metabolic alterations were confirmed using a separate set of serum samples for validation. The findings demonstrated that infection of humans with B. burgdorferi alters defined metabolic pathways that are associated with inflammatory responses, liver function, lipid metabolism, and mitochondrial function. Additionally, the data provide evidence that metabolic pathways can be used to mark the progression of early Lyme disease.

The authors investigate marriage patterns and their determinants in Bangladesh, using data from the 1989 Bangladesh Fertility Survey. "It is believed that, whatever is the impact of the differentials that could be discerned from the analysis, a lower age at marriage (a) among rural women, (b) among those who are Muslims and (c) among those without pre-marital exposure to work is associated with a low level of education.", (excerpt)

In epidemiological/disease control studies, one might be interested in estimating the parameters community probability infection (CPI) and the household secondary attack rate (SAR), as introduced by Longini and Koopman. The quasi-binomial distribution I (QBD I) with parameters n, p and theta, introduced by Consul, is proposed as a model for the final-size distribution of household infections, where p (CPI) is the probability of an individual being infected from the community and theta (SAR) is the rate of secondary transmission of infection within household. An individual can be infected either from within the household or from the community. Let X be the total number of infected members in a household of size n. Then the distribution of X is given by the QBD I with the probability mass function: (formula: see text) with 0 < p < 1, theta > or = 0 such that p + n theta < 1. The epidemic model is derived from a directed random graph. Data from influenza epidemics in Asian and American households are used to test the model and a comparison is made with the Longini-Koopman model. It is shown empirically that the QBD I is as good as the L-K model in describing the household infectious disease data, and both models provide almost identical estimates for community and household transmission parameters although they are derived from different perspectives and conditions.

"The study is an attempt to investigate contraceptive behaviour in the areas served independently by FWAs [family welfare assistants] and Dais [midwives] in...selected areas of Bangladesh....[Findings] indicated that almost every woman (98.5 percent in FWA area and 99.3 percent in dai area) has a basic awareness of at least one method of contraception....The results...suggest that a basic awareness has developed...in both the areas....A significant increase in the response on the knowledge of specific contraceptive methods was observed after prompting had been adopted while interviewing in both the areas. This clearly reveals the influences of prompting...on measures of knowledge among the target population." Data are from surveys conducted in 1985., (excerpt)

"The present study was undertaken to identify the levels and age patterns of mortality in one rural area of Bangladesh. Some of the most recently developed nontraditional methods were applied to the...data set for obtaining estimates of infant and child mortality and adult mortality. The validity of estimates was assessed by making a comparison with a few indicators of mortality available from various sources. Although the basic data from local studies might have been deficient, the application of nontraditional methods to such information on mortality could still provide consistent and plausible estimates both at regional and national levels." Data are from a survey conducted in 1986., (excerpt)