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Sample records for differences in development urban rural education.

  1. Restrictions and Countermeasures of Rural Vocational Education in Urban-rural Integration

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2012-01-01

    Developing rural vocational education is of great significance to urban-rural integration: developing rural vocational education is helpful to cultivating new farmers for construction of new socialist countryside,favorable to improving farmers’ ability of finding jobs and starting undertaking, and beneficial to transfer of rural surplus labor and acceleration of urbanization. Restrictions on development rural vocational education mainly include: low value cognition of society and social assessment of rural vocational education; out of balance of cost and expected return of rural vocational education; the quality of supply of rural vocational education failure to satisfy demand of socio-economic development; imperfect rural vocational education system. In view of these,following countermeasures and suggestions are put forward: strengthen propaganda and guidance to build environment of public opinion for rural vocational education; push forward rural vocational compulsory education system to lay social foundation for rural vocational education; reinforce policy support to assist in building rural vocational education system; improve education system to build overall framework of rural vocational education; perfect laws and regulations to establish system and norm for development of rural vocational education.

  2. Motivational orientations of urban- and rural-based RNs: implications for staff development educators.

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    Armstrong, M L; Clark, D W; Stuppy, D J

    1995-01-01

    Part of professional development is influencing RNs to return for an undergraduate degree, a challenge for the staff development educator. Expanding on earlier research using Boshier's Educational Participation Scale to reveal motivational orientations, the authors queried 5 groups of RNs who were enrolled in BSN education between 1990 and 1992 (N = 235) and living in rural and urban areas of Texas. There were no significant differences of overall motivational orientations, yet RN students living in rural areas scored higher in professional knowledge (P = 0.03) whereas urban-based RN students scored higher in compliance with authority (P = 0.02). Specific marketing and educational strategies are discussed.

  3. Child health inequities in developing countries: differences across urban and rural areas.

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    Fotso, Jean-Christophe

    2006-07-11

    To document and compare the magnitude of inequities in child malnutrition across urban and rural areas, and to investigate the extent to which within-urban disparities in child malnutrition are accounted for by the characteristics of communities, households and individuals. The most recent data sets available from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) of 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are used. The selection criteria were set to ensure that the number of countries, their geographical spread across Western/Central and Eastern/Southern Africa, and their socioeconomic diversities, constitute a good yardstick for the region and allow us to draw some generalizations. A household wealth index is constructed in each country and area (urban, rural), and the odds ratio between its uppermost and lowermost category, derived from multilevel logistic models, is used as a measure of socioeconomic inequalities. Control variables include mother's and father's education, community socioeconomic status (SES) designed to represent the broad socio-economic ecology of the neighborhoods in which families live, and relevant mother- and child-level covariates. Across countries in SSA, though socioeconomic inequalities in stunting do exist in both urban and rural areas, they are significantly larger in urban areas. Intra-urban differences in child malnutrition are larger than overall urban-rural differentials in child malnutrition, and there seem to be no visible relationships between within-urban inequities in child health on the one hand, and urban population growth, urban malnutrition, or overall rural-urban differentials in malnutrition, on the other. Finally, maternal and father's education, community SES and other measurable covariates at the mother and child levels only explain a slight part of the within-urban differences in child malnutrition. The urban advantage in health masks enormous disparities between the poor and the non-poor in urban areas of SSA. Specific

  4. Child health inequities in developing countries: differences across urban and rural areas

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    Fotso Jean-Christophe

    2006-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Objectives To document and compare the magnitude of inequities in child malnutrition across urban and rural areas, and to investigate the extent to which within-urban disparities in child malnutrition are accounted for by the characteristics of communities, households and individuals. Methods The most recent data sets available from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS of 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA are used. The selection criteria were set to ensure that the number of countries, their geographical spread across Western/Central and Eastern/Southern Africa, and their socioeconomic diversities, constitute a good yardstick for the region and allow us to draw some generalizations. A household wealth index is constructed in each country and area (urban, rural, and the odds ratio between its uppermost and lowermost category, derived from multilevel logistic models, is used as a measure of socioeconomic inequalities. Control variables include mother's and father's education, community socioeconomic status (SES designed to represent the broad socio-economic ecology of the neighborhoods in which families live, and relevant mother- and child-level covariates. Results Across countries in SSA, though socioeconomic inequalities in stunting do exist in both urban and rural areas, they are significantly larger in urban areas. Intra-urban differences in child malnutrition are larger than overall urban-rural differentials in child malnutrition, and there seem to be no visible relationships between within-urban inequities in child health on the one hand, and urban population growth, urban malnutrition, or overall rural-urban differentials in malnutrition, on the other. Finally, maternal and father's education, community SES and other measurable covariates at the mother and child levels only explain a slight part of the within-urban differences in child malnutrition. Conclusion The urban advantage in health masks enormous disparities

  5. A matching decomposition of the rural-urban difference in malnutrition in Malawi.

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    Mussa, Richard

    2014-01-01

    Child malnutrition remains widespread in many developing countries. Malnutrition during infancy may substantially increase vulnerability to infection and disease, and the risk of premature death. Malnutrition in children may also lead to permanent effects and to their having diminished health capital later in life as adults. These negative consequences of child malnutrition entail that the reduction of child malnutrition is vital for the social-economic development of countries. Urban children generally have better nutritional status than rural children. Malawi is no exception in this regard. The objective of this paper is to explore how much of the rural-urban nutrition gap in Malawi is explained and how much is unexplained by differences in characteristics. Using data from the 2006 multiple indicator cluster survey (MICS), the paper used the Nopo decomposition method to decompose the rural-urban malnutrition gap. This nonparametric method takes into account the fact that the supports of the distributions of characteristics between the two areas can be different. The results show that 90% and 89% of the stunting and underweight gaps respectively would be eliminated if there were no urban children with combinations of characteristics which positively influence child nutrition that remain entirely unmatched by rural children. Further to that, 4% and 6% of the stunting and underweight gaps respectively would disappear if there were no rural children with combinations of characteristics which negatively affect child nutrition that remain entirely unmatched by urban children. These findings suggest that the characteristics which negatively affect child nutrition in rural areas play a small role in the gap, and that most of the gap is largely due to the favourable characteristics such as better parental education and better household economic status among others that urban children have. The findings imply that in order to reduce the malnutrition gap policy

  6. Differences in cardiovascular risk factors in rural, urban and rural-to-urban migrants in Peru

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    Miranda, J. Jaime; Gilman, Robert H.; Smeeth, Liam

    2011-01-01

    Objectives To assess differences in cardiovascular risk profiles among rural-to-urban migrants and non-migrant groups. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Ayacucho and Lima, Peru Participants rural (n=201); rural-urban migrants (n=589) and urban (n=199). Main outcome measures Cardiovascular risk factors were assessed according to migrant status (migrants vs. non-migrants), age at first migration, length of residency in an urban area and lifetime exposure to an urban area. Results For most risk factors, the migrant group had intermediate levels of risk between those observed for the rural and urban groups. Prevalences, for rural, migrant and urban groups, was 3%, 20% and 33% for obesity and 0.8%, 3% and 6% for type-2 diabetes. This gradient of risk was not observed uniformly across all risk factors. Blood pressure did not show a clear gradient of difference between groups. The migrant group had similar systolic blood pressure (SBP) but lower diastolic blood pressure (DBP) than the rural group. The urban group had higher SBP but similar DBP than rural group. Hypertension was more prevalent among the urban (29%) compared to both rural and migrant groups (11% and 16% respectively). For HbA1c, although the urban group had higher levels, the migrant and rural groups were similar to each other. No differences were observed in triglycerides between the three groups. Within migrants, those who migrated when aged older than 12 years had higher odds of diabetes, impaired fasting glucose and metabolic syndrome compared to people who migrated at younger ages. Adjustment for age, sex and socioeconomic indicators had little impact on the patterns observed. Conclusions The impact of rural to urban migration on cardiovascular risk profile is not uniform across different risk factors, and is further influenced by the age at which migration occurs. A gradient in levels was observed for some risk factors across study groups. This observation indicates that urbanization is indeed

  7. Examining Rural/Urban Differences in Prescription Opioid Misuse Among US Adolescents.

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    Monnat, Shannon M; Rigg, Khary K

    2016-01-01

    This study examines differences in prescription opioid misuse (POM) among adolescents in rural, small urban, and large urban areas of the United States and identifies several individual, social, and community risk factors contributing to those differences. We used nationally representative data from the 2011 and 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health and estimated binary logistic regression and formal mediation models to assess past-year POM among 32,036 adolescents aged 12-17. Among adolescents, 6.8% of rural, 6.0% of small urban, and 5.3% of large urban engaged in past-year POM. Net of multiple risk and protective factors, rural adolescents have 35% greater odds and small urban adolescents have 21% greater odds of past-year POM compared to large urban adolescents. The difference between rural and small urban adolescents was not significant. Criminal activity, lower perceived substance use risk, and greater use of emergency medical treatment partially contribute to higher odds among rural adolescents, but they are also partially buffered by less peer substance use, less illicit drug access, and stronger religious beliefs. Researchers, policy makers, and treatment providers must consider the complex array of individual, social, and community risk and protective factors to understand rural/urban differences in adolescent POM. Potential points of intervention to prevent POM in general and reduce rural disparities include early education about addiction risks, use of family drug courts to link criminal offenders to treatment, and access to nonemergency medical services to reduce rural residents' reliance on emergency departments where opioid prescribing is more likely. © 2015 National Rural Health Association.

  8. Rural/Urban Differences in Child Growth and Survival in Bolivia.

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    Heaton, Tim B.; Forste, Renata

    2003-01-01

    In Bolivia, a third of rural children are stunted, and rural infants are twice as likely to die before age 2 than urban infants. National survey data indicate child survival and development are related to maternal education and literacy, community sanitation practices, access to health care, and socioeconomic status. Parental knowledge about…

  9. Trends in Educational Inequality in Different Eras (1940-2010)--A Re-Examination of Opportunity Inequalities in Urban-Rural Education

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    Chunling, Li

    2015-01-01

    Based on national sampling survey data from 2006, 2008, and 2011, the author uses the Mare educational transition model to systematically examine changing trends in inequalities in urban-rural educational opportunities at all educational stages from 1940 to 2010. Through a comparative analysis of five birth year groups, inequalities in urban-rural…

  10. Policies for Compulsory Education Disparity Between Urban and Rural Areas in China

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Bao Chuanyou

    2006-01-01

    An important function of public policies is to distribute public resources rationally.But for a long time.our public policies have been SO"city-oriented"that public resources are allocated unfairly and majority of high-quality education resources are concentrated in cities.This has already led to a serious unbalanced development in compdsory education and to a tremendous gap in conditions in schools--running and enrollment chances fur the school-age children between rural and urban areas.which tend to be enlarged.The unbalanced development in compulsory education has not only blocked the realization of public interest and equity of compulsory education but also restricted the harmonious social and economic development between urban and rural areas.It iS necessary to look into Public policies that have influence on the division of public resources and criticize them rationally.These policies include land institutions,tax systems,social security systems,policies for the input of compulsory education,and policies for teachers,etc.New policies should be made to distribute public resources fairly and rationally,narrowing the gap in compulsory education between urban and rural areas.

  11. A STUDY OF THE PREVALENCE OF THE USE OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF OIL AND FAT IN URBAN AND RURAL IRANIAN COMMUNITIES ACCORDING TO EDUCATION

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    Marzieh Saiedi

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available AbstractINTRODUCTION: The prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors is increasing inindustrialized communities. Dyslipidemia is a modifiable cardiovascular risk factor whichis related to diet, especially consumption of hard margarine and hydrogenated fat.The prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors differs in communities.We studied the prevalence of consumption of different types of oil and fat in areas ofCentral Iran.METHODS: The subjects were selected using randomized cluster sampling and dividedinto rural and urban groups. A 48-item standard food frequency questionnaire was filledout for every subject by a trained interviewer, who also obtained demographic data. Datawere analyzed with SPSS. Different educational groups and the two sexes in urban andrural areas were compared using chi square test and paired t-test. P values below 0.05were considered as significant.RESULTS: This cross-sectional descriptive study was performed on 12600 adultsubjects aged above 19 years in the cities of Isfahan, Najafabad, and Arak. Consumptionof olive oil and other types of oil in the urban community of Isfahan was higher than inthe rural community. Consumption of animal oil and fat was higher in the ruralcommunity of Isfahan. In subjects with high school education and higher, consumptionof different types of oil was not found to be different between urban and ruralcommunities, or between men and women. In Arak, no difference was found betweenrural and urban subjects with high school education and higher, in respect ofconsumption of different types of oil. Among subjects with lower education, however,consumption of olive oil and other types of oil was higher in urban areas andconsumption of animal oil and fat was higher in rural men. In Najafabad, no differencewas found between different educational groups in respect of the different types of oilconsumed; only consumption of animal oil in rural subjects educated below high schooldiploma was

  12. Urban-Rural Differences in School Nurses' Asthma Training Needs and Access to Asthma Resources.

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    Carpenter, Delesha M; Estrada, Robin Dawson; Roberts, Courtney A; Elio, Alice; Prendergast, Melissa; Durbin, Kathy; Jones, Graceann Clyburn; North, Steve

    Few studies have examined school nurses preferences' for asthma training. Our purpose was to: 1) assess school nurses' perceived asthma training needs, 2) describe nurses' access to asthma educational resources, and 3) identify urban-rural differences in training needs and access to resources in southern states. A convenience sample of school nurses (n=162) from seven counties (two urban and five rural) in North Carolina and South Carolina completed an online, anonymous survey. Chi-square tests were used to examine urban-rural differences. Although most nurses (64%) had received asthma training within the last five years, urban nurses were more likely to have had asthma training than rural nurses (χ 2 =10.84, p=0.001). A majority of nurses (87%) indicated they would like to receive additional asthma training. Approximately half (45%) of nurses reported access to age-appropriate asthma education materials, but only 16% reported that their schools implemented asthma education programs. Urban nurses were more likely than rural nurses to have access to asthma education programs (χ 2 =4.10, p=0.04) and age-appropriate asthma education materials (χ 2 =8.86, p=0.003). Few schools are implementing asthma education programs. Rural nurses may be disadvantaged in terms of receiving asthma training and having access to asthma education programs and materials. Schools are an ideal setting for delivering age-appropriate asthma education. By providing school nurses with access to age-appropriate asthma education resources and additional asthma training, we can help them overcome several of the barriers that impede their ability to deliver asthma care to their students. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Rural-urban differences in the prevalence of chronic disease in northeast China.

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    Wang, Shibin; Kou, Changgui; Liu, Yawen; Li, Bo; Tao, Yuchun; D'Arcy, Carl; Shi, Jieping; Wu, Yanhua; Liu, Jianwei; Zhu, Yingli; Yu, Yaqin

    2015-05-01

    Rural-urban differences in the prevalence of chronic diseases in the adult population of northeast China are examined. The Jilin Provincial Chronic Disease Survey used personal interviews and physical measures to research the presence of a range of chronic diseases among a large sample of rural and urban provincial residents aged 18 to 79 years (N = 21 435). Logistic regression analyses were used. After adjusting for age and gender, rural residents had higher prevalence of hypertension, chronic ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, chronic low back pain, arthritis, chronic gastroenteritis/peptic ulcer, chronic cholecystitis/gallstones, and chronic lower respiratory disease. Low education, low income, and smoking increased the risk of chronic diseases in rural areas. Reducing rural-urban differences in chronic disease presents a formidable public health challenge for China. The solution requires focusing attention on issues endemic to rural areas such as poverty, lack of chronic disease knowledge, and the inequality in access to primary care. © 2014 APJPH.

  14. Rural-urban disparities in child nutrition in Bangladesh and Nepal.

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    Srinivasan, Chittur S; Zanello, Giacomo; Shankar, Bhavani

    2013-06-14

    The persistence of rural-urban disparities in child nutrition outcomes in developing countries alongside rapid urbanisation and increasing incidence of child malnutrition in urban areas raises an important health policy question - whether fundamentally different nutrition policies and interventions are required in rural and urban areas. Addressing this question requires an enhanced understanding of the main drivers of rural-urban disparities in child nutrition outcomes especially for the vulnerable segments of the population. This study applies recently developed statistical methods to quantify the contribution of different socio-economic determinants to rural-urban differences in child nutrition outcomes in two South Asian countries - Bangladesh and Nepal. Using DHS data sets for Bangladesh and Nepal, we apply quantile regression-based counterfactual decomposition methods to quantify the contribution of (1) the differences in levels of socio-economic determinants (covariate effects) and (2) the differences in the strength of association between socio-economic determinants and child nutrition outcomes (co-efficient effects) to the observed rural-urban disparities in child HAZ scores. The methodology employed in the study allows the covariate and coefficient effects to vary across entire distribution of child nutrition outcomes. This is particularly useful in providing specific insights into factors influencing rural-urban disparities at the lower tails of child HAZ score distributions. It also helps assess the importance of individual determinants and how they vary across the distribution of HAZ scores. There are no fundamental differences in the characteristics that determine child nutrition outcomes in urban and rural areas. Differences in the levels of a limited number of socio-economic characteristics - maternal education, spouse's education and the wealth index (incorporating household asset ownership and access to drinking water and sanitation) contribute a

  15. Rural-urban migration and socioeconomic development in Ghana: some discussions.

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    Twumasi-ankrah, K

    1995-01-01

    This article presents a discussion of rural-urban migration as a source of social and behavioral change in Ghana. It explores the extent to which the urban social environment in Ghana generates conflicts for migrants with a different value orientation and the degree of influence of the urban social environment on migrants' behavior. The first part of the discussion focuses on the nature of Ghana's urbanization process, the motivation and characteristics of rural-urban migrants, and the nature of the social interaction between migrants and the social urban environment. Migrants contribute directly and indirectly to rural development in many ways. Some urban migrants achieve economic and material wealth and, through their attachment to voluntary tribal associations, assist local community development. Government can augment this process of migrant investment in rural life by identifying these actions as patriotic efforts and awarding citizenship medals or challenge grants. Governments need to review their citizenship laws carefully in light of the "brain drain" issues in the new world order and maximize the flow of resources, technical skills, and ideas from international migrants. A high-quality rural labor force can be enticed to live in rural areas by offering higher salaries and benefits, low income tax rates, better housing, and rural electrification and sanitation. Private firms should be offered incentives to locate in rural areas and increase employment opportunities for rural labor. Career advancement of development planners should be tied to program success or some form of public accountability for careful allocation of resources in rural areas. Fertility policies should be sensitive to urban subgroups. Urban and rural social differences are minor and do not impede urban assimilation, but unemployment and underemployment are problems for many.

  16. Post-Secondary Education and Rural-Urban Migration

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    Synge, J.

    1974-01-01

    This study examined education and career plans of Scottish rural youth who entered post-secondary education in order to determine the extent to which the educational system offers rural youth not only specific training but only entry to the urban labour market. (Author/RK)

  17. Urban-rural fog differences in Belgrade area, Serbia

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    Vujović, Dragana; Todorović, Nedeljko

    2018-02-01

    Urban/rural fog appearance during the last 27 years in the Belgrade region is analysed using hourly meteorological records from two meteorological stations: an urban station at Belgrade-Vračar (BV) and a rural station at Belgrade-Airport (BA). The effects of urban development on fog formation are discussed through analysis of fog frequency trends and comparison with a number of meteorological parameters. The mean annual and the mean annual minimum temperatures were greater at the urban BV station than at the rural BA station. The mean monthly relative humidity and the mean monthly water vapour pressure were greater at the rural than urban station. During the period of research (1988-2014), BA experiences 425 more days with fog than BV, which means that BV experiences fog for 62.68% of foggy days at BA. Trends in the number of days with fog were statistically non-significant. We analysed the fog occurrence during different types of weather. Fog in urban BV occurred more frequently during cyclonal circulation (in 52.75% of cases). In rural BA, the trend was the opposite and fog appeared more frequently during anticyclonic circulation (in 53.58% of cases). Fog at BV occurred most frequently in stable anticyclonic weather with light wind, when a temperature inversion existed (21.86% of cases). Most frequently, fog at BA occurred in the morning and only lasted a short time, followed by clearer skies during the anticyclonic warm and dry weather (22.55% of cases).

  18. Not just a rural occurrence: differences in agricultural equipment crash characteristics by rural-urban crash site and proximity to town.

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    Harland, Karisa K; Greenan, Mitchell; Ramirez, Marizen

    2014-09-01

    Although approximately one-third of agricultural equipment-related crashes occur near town, these crashes are thought to be a rural problem. This analysis examines differences between agricultural equipment-related crashes by their urban-rural distribution and distance from a town. Agricultural equipment crashes were collected from nine Midwest Departments of Transportation (2005-2008). Crash zip code was assigned as urban or rural (large, small and isolated) using Rural-Urban Commuting Areas. Crash proximity to a town was estimated with ArcGIS. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of crashing in an urban versus rural zip codes and across rural gradients. ANOVA analysis estimated mean distance (miles) from a crash site to a town. Over four years, 4444 crashes involved agricultural equipment. About 30% of crashes occurred in urban zip codes. Urban crashes were more likely to be non-collisions (aOR=1.69[1.24-2.30]), involve ≥2 vehicles (2 vehicles: aOR=1.58[1.14-2.20], 3+ vehicles: aOR=1.68[0.98-2.88]), occur in a town (aOR=2.06[1.73-2.45]) and within one mile of a town (aOR=1.65[1.40-1.95]) than rural crashes. The proportion of crashes within a town differed significantly across rural gradients (Purban-rural distribution (Pagricultural equipment are unexpectedly common in urban areas and near towns and cities. Education among all roadway users, increased visibility of agricultural equipment and the development of complete rural roads are needed to increase road safety and prevent agricultural equipment-related crashes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Rural-urban differences in cooking practices and exposures in Northern Ghana

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    Wiedinmyer, Christine; Dickinson, Katherine; Piedrahita, Ricardo; Kanyomse, Ernest; Coffey, Evan; Hannigan, Michael; Alirigia, Rex; Oduro, Abraham

    2017-07-01

    Key differences between urban and rural populations can influence the adoption and impacts of new cooking technologies and fuels. We examine these differences among urban and rural households that are part of the REACCTING study in Northern Ghana. While urban and rural populations in the study area all use multiple stoves, the types of stoves and fuels differ, with urban participants more likely to use charcoal and LPG while rural households rely primarily on wood. Further, rural and urban households tend to use different stoves/fuels to cook the same dishes—for example, the staple porridge Tuo Zaafi (TZ) is primarily cooked over wood fires in rural areas and charcoal stoves in urban settings. This suggests that fuel availability and ability to purchase fuel may be a stronger predictor of fuel choice than cultural preferences alone. Ambient concentrations of air pollutants also differ in these two types of areas, with urban areas having pollutant hot spots to which residents can be exposed and rural areas having more homogeneous and lower pollutant concentrations. Further, exposures to carbon monoxide and particulate matter differ in magnitude and in timing between urban and rural study participants, suggesting different behaviors and sources of exposures. The results from this analysis highlight important disparities between urban and rural populations of a single region and imply that such a characterization is needed to successfully implement and assess the impacts of household energy interventions.

  20. ACADEMIC MOTIVATION AMONG URBAN & RURAL STUDENTS: A Study on Traditional Vs Open Education System in India

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    Shashi SINGH

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Higher education today is being viewed as a tool to achieve prosperity and high living standards. It is thus looked upon as a service to the society and a powerful weapon to change the society for its betterment. Motivation plays a crucial role in learning. Motivation energizes the behavior of the individual. It also directs the behavior towards specific goals. It helps in acquisition of knowledge, develops social qualities, increases initiation of persistence in activities, leads to improved performance and develops a sense of discipline in the individual. This paper aims to compare Open Education System and Traditional Education System with respect to Academic Motivation of students towards the two types of education systems. This paper also tries to compare the academic motivation of rural and urban based students. It has been found in this paper that there is significant different in Academic Motivation among students of the two types of education systems. The significant difference in academic motivation has also been found in urban and rural based students, compared between the two systems. The paper has also forwarded some suggestions which may be considered by the policy makers and administrators of OES to help increase the academic motivation of students of OES.Academic Motivation, Traditional Education System, Open Education System, Higher Education System, Rural based students, and Urban based students

  1. Two Aspects of the Rural-Urban Divide and Educational Stratification in China: A Trajectory Analysis.

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    Hao, Lingxin; Hu, Alfred; Lo, Jamie

    2014-08-01

    Contextualized in China's social change of the past half-century, this paper develops the notion of dichotomous inequality to conceptualize the two aspects of China's rural-urban divide in educational inequality-the household registration system ( hukou ) assigns people to a top-bottom hierarchy, and the rural-urban schooling system institutionalizes unequal resource distribution and diverse school mission. Based on this conceptualization, we formulate a Chinese version of the maximally maintained inequality (MMI) hypothesis. We capitalize on individual educational history data from the China General Social Survey (CGSS) 2008 and conduct a trajectory analysis using the generalized mixture modeling to estimate the differential effects of the two aspects of rural-urban divide on educational inequality in China. Findings indicate that (1) the sorting mechanism of the rural hukou places rural- hukou people in the very bottom of educational stratification, (2) the penalty of attending rural pre-tertiary school increases with educational stages, and (3) there is a cumulative disadvantage of rural hukou and rural school. Overall, our findings attest to the Chinese-version MMI and the behind principle of inequality reproduction.

  2. Rural Renewal of China in the Context of Rural-Urban Integration: Governance Fit and Performance Differences

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    Rongyu Wang

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, rural-urban integrated development has become a vital national strategy in China. In this context, many regions have implemented rural renewal projects to enhance the vitality and development of rural areas. The objective of this study is to reveal the reasons why different rural renewal modes have emerged in contemporary China and assess their ability to facilitate rural-urban integration. An analytical framework, the Institution of Sustainability (IoS and a comparative analysis of two cases are used for the rural renewal evaluation. Our findings indicate that the properties of transactions and the characteristics of the actors involved jointly determine the governance structures of rural renewal. Furthermore, different governance structures contribute to performance differences, particularly differences in the physical outcomes, distribution effects and process efficiency. Finally, we suggest relevant policy recommendations.

  3. Strategies for Sustainable Urban Development and Urban-Rural Linkages

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nilsson, Kjell; Nielsen, Thomas Alexander Sick; Aalbers, Carmen

    2014-01-01

    , identified how land use conflicts and the pressure towards peri- urban areas can be strategically managed in different development and regulatory contexts. To summarise, the following strategies were identified as important steps towards more sustainable urban-rural futures: (i) better coordination...... of transport, land use and open space planning; (ii) urban containment and densification – development a green compact city; (iii) preservation of blue and green infrastructure; and (iv) preservation of agricultural land and the promotion of local production. The need also remains to strengthen governance...... at the regional level while at the pan-European level there is clearly a need for more policy attention to be given to urban-rural linkages....

  4. Rural and Urban Differences in Sexual Behaviors Among Adolescents in Florida.

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    Thompson, Erika L; Mahony, Helen; Noble, Charlotte; Wang, Wei; Ziemba, Robert; Malmi, Markku; Maness, Sarah B; Walsh-Buhi, Eric R; Daley, Ellen M

    2018-04-01

    The national teen birth rate is higher in rural compared to urban areas. While national data suggest rural areas may present higher risk for adverse sexual health outcomes among adolescents, it is unknown whether there are differences within the state of Florida. Overall, Florida has poorer sexual health indicators for adolescents compared to national rates. The purpose of this study was to assess differences in sexual behaviors among Florida adolescents by rural-urban community location. This study includes baseline data from a randomized controlled trial conducted in Florida high schools. Of the 6316 participants, 74% were urban and 26% were rural. Participants responded to questions on sexual behaviors, sexual behavior intentions, and demographics. We estimated the effect of rural-urban status on risk outcomes after controlling for demographic variables using generalized linear mixed models. More teens from rural areas reported ever having sex (24.0%) compared to urban teens (19.7%). No significant differences were observed for most of sexual behaviors assessed. Nonetheless, urban participants were less likely to intend to have sex without a condom in the next year compared to rural participants (aOR = 0.76, 95% CI 0.63-0.92). Overall, there were no major differences in sexual behaviors between rural and urban adolescents in Florida. However, sexual intentions differed between rural and urban adolescents; specifically, rural adolescents were more likely to intend to have sex without a condom in the next year compared to urban adolescents. Understanding the specific disparities can inform contraception and sexual health interventions among rural youth.

  5. Rural-urban differences in human papillomavirus knowledge and awareness among US adults.

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    Mohammed, Kahee A; Subramaniam, Divya S; Geneus, Christian J; Henderson, Emmett R; Dean, Caress A; Subramaniam, Dipti P; Burroughs, Thomas E

    2018-04-01

    Rural residents of the United States have higher HPV-associated cancer incidence and mortality, and suboptimal HPV vaccine uptake compared to urban residents. This study aimed to assess differences in knowledge and awareness of HPV, the HPV vaccine, and HPV-associated cancers among rural and urban residents. We analyzed data from the Health Information National Trends Survey 2013-2017 on 10,147 respondents ages ≥18 years. Multivariable logistic regression analyses compared urban/rural differences in knowledge and awareness of HPV, associated cancers, and HPV vaccine. Models were adjusted for sex, age, race/ethnicity, education, household income, census region, health insurance, regular provider, internet use, and personal history of cancer. Overall, 67.2% and 65.8% of urban residents were aware of HPV and HPV vaccine, respectively, compared to only 55.8% and 58.6% of rural residents. Adjusted models illustrated that compared to urban residents, rural residents were less likely to be aware of HPV (OR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.53-0.86) and HPV vaccine (OR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.63-0.97). Among those who were aware of HPV, rural residents were less likely to know that HPV causes cervical cancer (OR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.46-0.84) and that HPV can be transmitted through sexual contact (OR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.56-0.94). No significant differences between rural and urban residents were noted for knowledge that HPV is transmitted sexually and that it causes oral, anal, and penile cancers. This study highlights significant rural health disparities in knowledge and awareness of HPV and the HPV vaccine compared to urban counterparts. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Built environment and active commuting: Rural-urban differences in the U.S

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jessie X. Fan

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this research was to investigate rural-urban differences in participation rates in three modes of active commuting (AC and their built environmental correlates. The 2010 Census supplemented with other datasets were used to analyze AC rates in percent of workers age 16+ walking, biking, or taking public transportation to work in 70,172 Census tracts, including 12,844 rural and 57,328 urban. Random-intercept factional logit regressions were used to account for zero-inflated data and for clustering of tracts within counties. We found that the average AC rates were 3.44% rural and 2.77% urban (p<0.01 for walking to work, 0.40% rural and 0.58% urban (p<0.01 for biking to work, and 0.59% rural and 5.86% urban (p<0.01 for public transportation to work. Some environmental variables had similar relationships with AC in rural and urban tracts, such as a negative association between tract greenness and prevalence of walking to work. Others had opposite correlational directions for rural vs. urban, such as street connectivity for walking to work and population density for both walking to work and public transportation to work. We concluded that rurality is an important moderator in AC-environment relationships. In developing strategies to promote AC, attention needs to be paid to rural-urban differences to avoid unintended consequences.

  7. Two Aspects of the Rural-Urban Divide and Educational Stratification in China: A Trajectory Analysis*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hao, Lingxin; Hu, Alfred; Lo, Jamie

    2015-01-01

    Contextualized in China’s social change of the past half-century, this paper develops the notion of dichotomous inequality to conceptualize the two aspects of China’s rural-urban divide in educational inequality—the household registration system (hukou) assigns people to a top-bottom hierarchy, and the rural-urban schooling system institutionalizes unequal resource distribution and diverse school mission. Based on this conceptualization, we formulate a Chinese version of the maximally maintained inequality (MMI) hypothesis. We capitalize on individual educational history data from the China General Social Survey (CGSS) 2008 and conduct a trajectory analysis using the generalized mixture modeling to estimate the differential effects of the two aspects of rural-urban divide on educational inequality in China. Findings indicate that (1) the sorting mechanism of the rural hukou places rural-hukou people in the very bottom of educational stratification, (2) the penalty of attending rural pre-tertiary school increases with educational stages, and (3) there is a cumulative disadvantage of rural hukou and rural school. Overall, our findings attest to the Chinese-version MMI and the behind principle of inequality reproduction. PMID:26166835

  8. Built Environment and Active Commuting: Rural-Urban Differences in the U.S.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Jessie X; Wen, Ming; Wan, Neng

    2017-12-01

    The purpose of this research was to investigate rural-urban differences in participation rates in three modes of active commuting (AC) and their built environmental correlates. The 2010 Census supplemented with other datasets were used to analyze AC rates in percent of workers age 16+ walking, biking, or taking public transportation to work in 70,172 Census tracts, including 12,844 rural and 57,328 urban. Random-intercept factional logit regressions were used to account for zero-inflated data and for clustering of tracts within counties. We found that the average AC rates were 3.44% rural and 2.77% urban (purban (purban (ptransportation to work. Some environmental variables had similar relationships with AC in rural and urban tracts, such as a negative association between tract greenness and prevalence of walking to work. Others had opposite correlational directions for rural vs. urban, such as street connectivity for walking to work and population density for both walking to work and public transportation to work. We concluded that rurality is an important moderator in AC-environment relationships. In developing strategies to promote AC, attention needs to be paid to rural-urban differences to avoid unintended consequences.

  9. Urban-Rural Temperature Differences in Lagos

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vincent N. Ojeh

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available In this study, the hourly air temperature differences between City hall (urban and Okoafo (rural in Lagos, Nigeria, were calculated using one year of meteorological observations, from June 2014 to May 2015. The two sites considered for this work were carefully selected to represent their climate zones. The city core, City hall, is within the Local Climate Zone (LCZ 2 (Compact midrise while the rural location, Okoafo, falls within LCZ B (Scattered Trees in the south-western part on the outskirt of the city. This study is one of very few to investigate urban temperature conditions in Lagos, the largest city in Africa and one of the most rapidly urbanizing megacities in the world; findings show that maximum nocturnal UHI magnitudes in Lagos can exceed 7 °C during the dry season, and during the rainy season, wet soils in the rural environment supersede regional wind speed as the dominant control over UHI magnitude.

  10. Prevalence of and Differences in Salad Bar Implementation in Rural Versus Urban Arizona Schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blumenschine, Michelle; Adams, Marc; Bruening, Meg

    2018-03-01

    Rural children consume more calories per day on average than urban children, and they are less likely to consume fruit. Self-service salad bars have been proposed as an effective approach to better meet the National School Lunch Program's fruit and vegetable recommendations. No studies have examined how rural and urban schools differ in the implementation of school salad bars. To compare the prevalence of school-lunch salad bars and differences in implementation between urban and rural Arizona schools. Secondary analysis of a cross-sectional web-based survey. School nutrition managers (N=596) in the state of Arizona. National Center for Education Statistics locale codes defined rural and urban classifications. Barriers to salad bar implementation were examined among schools that have never had, once had, and currently have a school salad bar. Promotional practices were examined among schools that once had and currently have a school salad bar. Generalized estimating equation models were used to compare urban and rural differences in presence and implementation of salad bars, adjusting for school-level demographics and the clustering of schools within districts. After adjustment, the prevalence of salad bars did not differ between urban and rural schools (46.9%±4.3% vs 46.8%±8.5%, respectively). Rural schools without salad bars more often reported perceived food waste and cost of produce as barriers to implementing salad bars, and funding was a necessary resource for offering a salad bar in the future, as compared with urban schools (Pbar promotion, challenges, or resources among schools that currently have or once had a salad bar. After adjustment, salad bar prevalence, implementation practices, and concerns are similar across geographic settings. Future research is needed to investigate methods to address cost and food waste concerns in rural areas. Copyright © 2018 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Coherences and Differences among EU, US and PRC Approaches for Rural Urban Development: Interscalar and Interdisciplinary Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roberto De Lotto

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The main goal of this paper is to translate the indexing of a projects’ Data Base, based on EU vocabulary on rural urban development, into different lexicons. Built on the groundwork laid in previous researches, the authors want to enlarge the methodology applied in European Union (EU territory and defined with Rural Architectural Intensification (RAI and Rural Architectural Urbanism (RAU to other contexts, in particular People’s Republic of China (PRC and United States (US, keeping, however, this research at theoretical and methodological definition level. The study of coherences and differences between EU, US and China for rural urban development implies an interscalar and interdisciplinary analysis approach. It must be in complete adherence with national and specific directives and objectives in all the different selected countries. The analysis of main literature and national and federal laws of Europe, United States and China allows the definition of the Strategic Objectives and Main Goals for Rural Development identifying indicators and criteria. They permit to measure intensification’s outcomes in a qualitative way through the description and interpretation of operative tools for architecture and landscape design. Finally, the organized database and the territorial results can be considered as guidelines to support decision makers in rural-urban context. In addition, the whole procedure presented along with the projects’ database is a significant research package for further interdisciplinary applications.

  12. Identifying rural-urban differences in the predictors of emergency ambulance service demand and misuse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Ho Ting; Lin, Teng-Kang; Lin, Jen-Jia

    2018-06-13

    This study aims to assess rural-urban differences in the predictors of emergency ambulance service (EAS) demand and misuse in New Taipei City. Identifying the predictors of EAS demand will help the EAS service managing authority in formulating focused policies to maintain service quality. Over 160,000 electronic EAS usage records were used with a negative binomial regression model to assess rural-urban differences in the predictors of EAS demand and misuse. The factors of 1) ln-transformed population density, 2) percentage of residents who completed up to junior high school education, 3) accessibility of hospitals without an emergency room, and 4) accessibility of EAS were found to be predictors of EAS demand in rural areas, whereas only the factor of percentage of people aged above 65 was found to predict EAS demand in urban areas. For EAS misuse, only the factor of percentage of low-income households was found to be a predictor in rural areas, whereas no predictor was found in the urban areas. Results showed that the factors predicting EAS demand and misuse in rural areas were more complicated compared to urban areas and, therefore, formulating EAS policies for rural areas based on the results of urban studies may not be appropriate. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  13. A Vanishing Rural School Advantage? Changing Urban/Rural Student Achievement Differences in Latin America and the Caribbean

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luschei, Thomas F.; Fagioli, Loris P.

    2016-01-01

    In 1997, a cross-national assessment of educational achievement in Latin America and the Caribbean found that rural schools in Colombia outperformed urban schools in tests of reading and mathematics, except in very large cities. Given a long history of urban/rural inequality in the region, Colombia's rural school advantage attracted substantial…

  14. Differences between urban and rural hedges in England revealed by a citizen science project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gosling, Laura; Sparks, Tim H; Araya, Yoseph; Harvey, Martin; Ansine, Janice

    2016-07-22

    Hedges are both ecologically and culturally important and are a distinctive feature of the British landscape. However the overall length of hedges across Great Britain is decreasing. Current challenges in studying hedges relate to the dominance of research on rural, as opposed to urban, hedges, and their variability and geographical breadth. To help address these challenges and to educate the public on the importance of hedge habitats for wildlife, in 2010 the Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) programme coordinated a hedge-focused citizen science survey. Results from 2891 surveys were analysed. Woody plant species differed significantly between urban and rural areas. Beech, Holly, Ivy, Laurel, Privet and Yew were more commonly recorded in urban hedges whereas Blackthorn, Bramble, Dog Rose, Elder and Hawthorn were recorded more often in rural hedges. Urban and rural differences were shown for some groups of invertebrates. Ants, earwigs and shieldbugs were recorded more frequently in urban hedges whereas blowflies, caterpillars, harvestmen, other beetles, spiders and weevils were recorded more frequently in rural hedges. Spiders were the most frequently recorded invertebrate across all surveys. The presence of hard surfaces adjacent to the hedge was influential on hedge structure, number and diversity of plant species, amount of food available for wildlife and invertebrate number and diversity. In urban hedges with one adjacent hard surface, the food available for wildlife was significantly reduced and in rural hedges, one adjacent hard surface affected the diversity of invertebrates. This research highlights that urban hedges may be important habitats for wildlife and that hard surfaces may have an impact on both the number and diversity of plant species and the number and diversity of invertebrates. This study demonstrates that citizen science programmes that focus on hedge surveillance can work and have the added benefit of educating the public on the importance of

  15. EDUCATION SYSTEMS AND ACADEMIC SATISFACTION: A Study on Rural and Urban Students of Traditional Vs Open Education System in India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shashi SINGH,

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available A satisfaction and dissatisfaction level within an individual influences the motivation level and his/her performance throughout the life. When an individual is satisfied with his/her work, he/she gets pleasure and feels motivated. Obtaining satisfaction from their education system is very important for students as this will lead to better learning possibilities. This paper aims to compare the level of academic satisfaction among the students of Traditional Education System and Open Education System. This paper also investigates academic satisfaction of urban and rural based students and comparing them over traditional (Urban: 110; Rural: 90, and open (Urban: 80; Rural: 71 education system. Statistical tests demonstrate that there is significant difference in the level of academic satisfaction among the students of Open Education System (OES and Traditional Education System (TES.

  16. Factors affecting the initial literacy development of urban and rural learners in the Iganga district, Uganda

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Banda, Felix

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available The initial motivation for the study was data from the Ministry of Education in Uganda that suggests that in terms of academic performance, urban learners continually outperform rural schools at primary and secondary school levels (Ministry of Education 2002. At present all government examinations are written in English. However, the language in education policy in Uganda differentially stipulates the use English as medium of instruction in urban schools and the use of the mother tongue in rural schools (cf. Kyeyune 2004. Other factors which mitigate against rural learners’ successful academic performance are untrained educators, poor infrastructure and school management practices in rural schools, poverty, lack of supportive academic discourse practices, and a general lack of enthusiasm among rural parents (most of whom have very little formal education for their children’s education. Using data from observations of selected urban and rural homes and schools in The Iganga district and field notes in the form of diary entries, the study draws on New Literacy Studies (NLS particularly the notion of literacy as social practice (Street 2001; Gee 2000; Baynham 2000, 2001, to explore the differential effect of urban and rural-based acculturation processes on the initial literacy development of learners. Finally, since 88% of Ugandans live in rural areas (Uganda Bureau of Statistics 2002, the pedagogical implications for primary schools are discussed and suggestions are made on how to establish an inclusive education system.

  17. Who Decided College Access in Chinese Secondary Education? Rural-Urban Inequality of Basic Education in Contemporary China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jian

    2016-01-01

    This paper investigates the rural-urban inequalities in basic education of contemporary China. The China Education Panel Survey (2013-2014) (CEPS) was utilized to analyze the gaps between rural and urban inequality in junior high schools in terms of three domains, which include the equalities of access, inputs, and outcomes. From the sociocultural…

  18. Rural And Urban Youth Participation In Community Development In ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The focused on participation in community development activities, constraints to and benefits derived from participation. It compared rural and urban youth participation in community development activities in Ido local government area of Oyo State. Proportionate random sampling was used to select 2 rural, 1 urban ...

  19. Balancing Rural and Urban Development: Applying Coordinated Urban–Rural Development (CURD Strategy to Achieve Sustainable Urbanisation in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ling-Hin Li

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Land in rural China has been under a separate and closed management system for decades even after the urban land reform that started in the late 1980s. The blurred property rights over rural land have been hindering the rural welfare as surplus rural land in sub-urban areas cannot be circulated into more economic use without first being requisitioned by the state. This traditional conversion process creates a lot of problems, among them are the compensation standard as well as displacement of rural residents to the city, where they cannot find adequate welfare protection. The prolonged disparity in economic outcomes for rural and urban residents in China in the process of urbanisation has made the authority realise that land-based local finance is no longer an option. Coordinated Urban and Rural Development (CURD ideology arises to set a level playing field by giving the rural residents comparable welfare status as their urban counterparts’ one. The CURD ideology is basically linked to the strategic development of the three main issues in the rural area of China, or in the Chinese terminology: San Nong. These three issues are rural villages, rural enterprises and rural farmers (nong cun, nong ye, nong min. CURD ideology is to preserve the livelihood of rural villages, facilitate and promote rural enterprises and increase the living standard of rural farmers. Most importantly, however, CURD policy package bestows rural residents with property rights over their farmland so that they could sub-co1ntract the user-rights to other urban commercial entities for higher benefits. While CURD policies are applied in a lot of different regions in China including Chongqing in the West, Qingdao in the North, Zhongshan in the South and Wuhan in the middle, we focus our examination in Chengdu as the Chengdu model has been widely documented and highly regarded as the most successful model in implementing the CURD strategies. From our case study, we find that

  20. Rural-Urban Differences in Physical Activity, Physical Fitness, and Overweight Prevalence of Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joens-Matre, Roxane R.; Welk, Gregory J.; Calabro, Miguel A.; Russell, Daniel W.; Nicklay, Elizabeth; Hensley, Larry D.

    2008-01-01

    Context: The increasing prevalence of overweight in youth has been well chronicled, but less is known about the unique patterns and risks that may exist in rural and urban environments. A better understanding of possible rural-urban differences in physical activity profiles may facilitate the development of more targeted physical activity…

  1. Urban-rural differences in self-reported limiting long-term illness in Scotland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levin, Kate A

    2003-12-01

    Previous research suggests that there are significant differences in health between urban and rural areas. The aim of this study is to describe the pattern and magnitude of urban-rural variation in health in Scotland and to examine the factors associated with health inequalities in urban and rural areas. The data used in this study were limiting long-term illness (LLTI) and socio-economic data collected by the 1991 Census. A rurality indicator was created using Scottish Household Survey rurality classifications. Multilevel Poisson regression modelling was carried out with LLTI as a health indicator for each type of rurality within Scotland. A variety of socio-economic factors were investigated for each rurality. Areas with the highest Standardized Illness Ratios (SIRs) (>125) are predominantly urban whereas the lowest SIRs (rural areas. Rural communities are more heterogeneous than urban areas in terms of their social make-up with relation to health; however, when these areas are split according to minor road length and different socio-economic factors are added, the model fit for each new model is improved and the reduction in total variation is comparable with that of the urban models. These findings suggest that rural areas should not be treated as a homogeneous group but should be subdivided into rural types.

  2. Cervical cancer, a disease of poverty: mortality differences between urban and rural areas in Mexico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palacio-Mejía, Lina Sofía; Rangel-Gómez, Gudelia; Hernández-Avila, Mauricio; Lazcano-Ponce, Eduardo

    2003-01-01

    To examine cervical cancer mortality rates in Mexican urban and rural communities, and their association with poverty-related factors, during 1990-2000. We analyzed data from national databases to obtain mortality trends and regional variations using a Poisson regression model based on location (urban-rural). During 1990-2000 a total of 48,761 cervical cancer (CC) deaths were reported in Mexico (1990 = 4,280 deaths/year; 2000 = 4,620 deaths/year). On average, 12 women died every 24 hours, with 0.76% yearly annual growth in CC deaths. Women living in rural areas had 3.07 higher CC mortality risks compared to women with urban residence. Comparison of state CC mortality rates (reference = Mexico City) found higher risk in states with lower socio-economic development (Chiapas, relative risk [RR] = 10.99; Nayarit, RR = 10.5). Predominantly rural states had higher CC mortality rates compared to Mexico City (lowest rural population). CC mortality is associated with poverty-related factors, including lack of formal education, unemployment, low socio-economic level, rural residence and insufficient access to healthcare. This indicates the need for eradication of regional differences in cancer detection. This paper is available too at: http://www.insp.mx/salud/index.html.

  3. Rural-urban differences in breastfeeding initiation in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sparks, P Johnelle

    2010-05-01

    Research has noted a rural disadvantage in breastfeeding initiation; however, most previous research has been based on nonrepresentative samples and has been limited in its ability to compare racial/ethnic differences in breastfeeding initiation based on residential location. This research fills this gap by examining a nationally representative sample of births using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) to explore associations between rural-urban residence and maternal race/ethnicity on breastfeeding initiation. Results indicate that associations observed for rural-urban breastfeeding initiation differ based on maternal race/ethnicity and poverty status. These patterns likely reflect differences in economic resources, work environments, and social support among rural minority postpartum women.

  4. Rural-Urban Differences of Dietary Patterns, Overweight, and Bone Mineral Status in Chinese Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yang Yang

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available China is an urban and rural social model country. In the past three decades, the developing speed of rural areas has been much slower than urban areas, which may lead to the differences in dietary patterns. This study aimed to investigate the disparities of dietary structures from urban and rural children, and to analyze the effects of different dietary patterns on their adverse outcome. Among 1590 students, aged 11 years to 17 years, from primary and middle schools, a cross-sectional study was conducted. There were three dietary patterns recognized: Westernization structure, meat diet structure, and Western and Chinese structure. Compared with rural students, more urban students were in the highest categories of the whole dietary patterns (p < 0.001. Overweight/obesity and central adiposity were more prevailing among urban students, while rural students had a more prevailing risk of bone fracture (p < 0.05. Through the adjustment for all confounding factors, the Westernization structure could increase the risk of overweight/obesity and central adiposity, the meat structure could increase the risk of elevated blood pressure/hypertension, while the risk of low bone mineral quality could be reduced by the Chinese and Western structure. In conclusion, a rural-urban disparity in dietary patterns was found in our study, and different dietary patterns were associated with the risk of some adverse outcomes. Therefore, there were different prevalences of the adverse outcomes between rural and urban students.

  5. RURAL-URBAN DIFFERENCES IN NURSING HOME ACCESS, QUALITY AND COST

    OpenAIRE

    Yu, Wei; Bradford, Garnett L.

    1995-01-01

    Rural-urban differences in the supply of nursing home services as hypothesized to be jointly affected by competitive and regulatory forces, government policies, and the cost structure. Study findings indicate that rural services are slightly less accessible and lower in quality. A translog cost share function reveals no difference in the operating cost structure of rural and urban homes. Cost shares for nursing care are directly related to the degree of skilled nursing provided by homes. Sign...

  6. Rural/Nonrural Differences in College Attendance Patterns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byun, Soo-Yong; Irvin, Matthew J; Meece, Judith L

    Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, this study documented college attendance patterns of rural youth in terms of the selectivity of first postsecondary institution of attendance, the timing of transition to postsecondary education, and the continuity of enrollment. The study also examined how these college attendance patterns among rural students differed from those among their non-rural counterparts and which factors explained these rural/nonrural differences. Results showed that rural youth were less likely than their nonrural counterparts to attend a selective institution. In addition, rural youth were more likely to delay entry to postsecondary education, compared to their urban counterparts. Finally, rural students were less likely than their urban counterparts to be continuously enrolled in college. Much of these rural/nonrural disparities in college attendance patterns were explained by rural/nonrural differences in socioeconomic status and high school preparation. Policy implications, limitations of the study, and future research directions are also discussed.

  7. Trend differences in men and women in rural and urban U.S. settings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cepeda-Benito, A; Doogan, N J; Redner, R; Roberts, M E; Kurti, A N; Villanti, A C; Lopez, A A; Quisenberry, A J; Stanton, C A; Gaalema, D E; Keith, D R; Parker, M A; Higgins, S T

    2018-04-05

    Smoking prevalence is declining at a slower rate in rural than urban settings in the United States (U.S.), and known predictors of smoking do not readily account for this trend difference. Given that socioeconomic and psychosocial determinants of health disparities accumulate in rural settings and that life-course disadvantages are often greater in women than men, we examined whether smoking trends are different for rural and urban men and women. We used yearly cross-sectional data (n = 303,311) from the U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) from 2007 through 2014 to compare cigarette smoking trends in men and women across rural and urban areas. Current smoking status was modelled using logistic regression controlling for confounding risk factors. Regression derived graphs predicting unadjusted prevalence estimates and 95% confidence bands revealed that whereas the smoking trends of rural men, urban men, and urban women significantly declined from 2007 to 2014, the trend for rural women was flat. Controlling for demographic, socioeconomic and psychosocial predictors of smoking did not explain rural women's significantly different trend from those of the other three groups. Rural women lag behind rural men, urban men and urban women in decreasing smoking, a health disparity finding that supports the need for tobacco control and regulatory policies and interventions that are more effective in reducing smoking among rural women. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Rural-urban difference in the use of annual physical examination among seniors in Shandong, China: a cross-sectional study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ge, Dandan; Chu, Jie; Zhou, Chengchao; Qian, Yangyang; Zhang, Li; Sun, Long

    2017-05-23

    Regular physical examination contributes to early detection and timely treatment, which is helpful in promoting healthy behaviors and preventing diseases. The objective of this study is to compare the annual physical examination (APE) use between rural and urban elderly in China. A total of 3,922 participants (60+) were randomly selected from three urban districts and three rural counties in Shandong Province, China, and were interviewed using a standardized questionnaire. We performed unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression models to examine the difference in the utilization of APE between rural and urban elderly. Two adjusted logistic regression models were employed to identify the factors associated with APE use in rural and urban seniors respectively. The utilization rates of APE in rural and urban elderly are 37.4% and 76.2% respectively. Factors including education level, exercise, watching TV, and number of non-communicable chronic conditions, are associated with APE use both in rural and urban elderly. Hospitalization, self-reported economic status, and health insurance are found to be significant (p Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance (URBMI) (p urban areas. There is a big difference in APE utilization between rural and urban elderly. Interventions targeting identified at-risk subgroups, especially for those rural elderly, are essential to reduce such a gap. To improve health literacy might be helpful to increase the utilization rate of APE among the elderly.

  9. Urban-rural difference in satisfaction with primary healthcare services in Ghana

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sanni Yaya

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Understanding regional variation in patient satisfaction about healthcare systems (PHCs on the quality of services provided is instrumental to improving quality and developing a patient-centered healthcare system by making it more responsive especially to the cultural aspects of health demands of a population. Reaching to the innovative National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS in Ghana, surpassing several reforms in healthcare financing has been a milestone. However, the focus of NHIS is on the demand side of healthcare delivery. Studies focusing on the supply side of healthcare delivery, particularly the quality of service as perceived by the consumers are required. A growing number of studies have focused on regional differences of patient satisfaction in developed countries, however little research has been conducted concerning patient satisfaction in resource-poor settings like in Ghana. This study was therefore dedicated to examining the variation in satisfaction across rural and urban women in Ghana. Methods Data for the present study were obtained from the latest demographic and health survey in Ghana (GDHS 2014. Participants were 3576 women aged between 15 and 49 years living in non-institutional settings in Ghana. Summary statistics in percentages was used to present respondents’ demographic, socioeconomic characteristics. Chi-square test was used to find association between urban-rural differentials with socio-economic variables. Multiple logistic regression was performed to measure the association of being satisfied with primary healthcare services with study variables. Model fitness was tested by pseudo R 2. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results The findings in this study revealed that about 57.1% were satisfied with primary health care services. The urban and rural areas reported 57.6 and 56.6% respectively which showed no statistically significant difference (z = 0.64; p = 0.523; 95

  10. Assessing Needs for Gerontological Education in Urban and Rural Areas of Ohio

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Dussen, Daniel J.; Leson, Suzanne M.; Emerick, Eric S.; Voytek, Joseph A.; Ewen, Heidi H.

    2016-01-01

    Purpose of the Study: This project surveyed health care professionals from both urban and rural care settings in Ohio and examined differences in professionals' needs and interests in continuing gerontological education. Design and Methods: The survey data were analyzed for 766 health care professionals descriptively, using cross-tabulations and…

  11. Urban-rural difference in the determinants of dietary and energy intake patterns: A case study in West Java, Indonesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kosaka, Satoko; Suda, Kazuhiro; Gunawan, Budhi; Raksanagara, Ardini; Watanabe, Chiho; Umezaki, Masahiro

    2018-01-01

    Few studies have explored differences in the determinants of individual dietary/energy intake patterns between urban and rural areas. To examine whether the associations between individual characteristics and dietary/energy intake patterns differ between urban and rural areas in West Java, Indonesia. A 3-day weighed food record, interviews, and anthropometric measurements were conducted in Bandung (urban area; n = 85) and Sumedang (rural area; n = 201). Total energy intake and intake from protein, fat, and carbohydrates were calculated. Food items were grouped into dietary categories based on the main ingredients to calculate their share of total energy intake. The associations between individual characteristics and dietary/energy intake were examined by fitting regression models. Models that also included education and body mass index (BMI) were fitted to adult samples only. In Sumedang, the total energy intake and energy intake from carbohydrates, fat, and grain/tubers were significantly associated with age and occupation. In Bandung, energy intake from grain/tubers and vegetables/legumes was related to sex and occupation, while other indicators showed no associations. Among adults, BMI was associated with the total energy intake and educational level was associated with energy intake from vegetables/legumes (both only in Sumedang). The relationship between demographic and socioeconomic factors and dietary/energy intake patterns differs in rural versus urban areas in West Java. These results suggest that different strategies are needed in rural and urban areas to identify and aid populations at risk of diet-related diseases.

  12. Urban-rural differences in physical activity in Belgian adults and the importance of psychosocial factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dyck, Delfien Van; Cardon, Greet; Deforche, Benedicte; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse

    2011-02-01

    Recent research in urban planning and public health has drawn attention to the associations between urban form and physical activity in adults. Because little is known on the urban-rural differences in physical activity, the main aims of the present study were to examine differences in physical activity between urban and rural adults and to investigate the moderating effects of the physical environment on the relationship between psychosocial factors and physical activity. In Flanders, Belgium, five rural and five urban neighborhoods were selected. A sample of 350 adults (20-65 years of age; 35 adults per neighborhood) participated in the study. Participants wore a pedometer for 7 days, and self-reported physical activity and psychosocial data were also collected. Results showed that urban adults took more steps/day and reported more walking and cycling for transport in the neighborhood, more recreational walking in the neighborhood, and more walking for transportation outside the neighborhood than rural adults. Rural adults reported more recreational cycling in the neighborhoods. The physical environment was a significant moderator of the associations between several psychosocial factors (modeling from family, self-efficacy, and perceived barriers) and physical activity. In rural participants, adults with psychosocial scores above average were more physically active, whereas there were no differences in physical activity according to psychosocial factors in urban participants. These results are promising and plead for the development of multidimensional interventions, targeting specific population subgroups. In rural environments, where changing the environment would be a very challenging task, interventions focusing on modifiable psychosocial constructs could possibly be effective.

  13. Preschool overweight and obesity in urban and rural Vietnam: differences in prevalence and associated factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Do, Loan Minh; Tran, Toan Khanh; Eriksson, Bo; Petzold, Max; Nguyen, Chuc T K; Ascher, Henry

    2015-01-01

    Childhood obesity may soon be an equally important health threat as undernutrition and infectious diseases. Accurate information about prevalence and risk factors of obesity in children is important for the design of prevention. The aim of this study was to estimate prevalence of overweight and obesity for preschool children in two Vietnamese areas, one urban and one rural, and to identify risk factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted in urban Dong Da and rural Ba Vi districts, Hanoi, Vietnam. Totally, 2,677 children, 1,364 urban and 1,313 rural, were weighed and measured. Caregivers were interviewed. Background information about children and families was obtained from regular household surveys. The prevalence of overweight and obesity combined were 21.1% (95% CI 18.9-23.3) in the urban area and 7.6% (95% CI 6.2-9.2) in the rural. Multiple logistic regression revealed that at the individual level, in both sites, the risk increased with increased child age. The identified urban risk factors were being a boy, consuming large amounts of food, eating fast, and indoor activity less than 2 hours per day. The rural risk factors were frequent consumption of fatty food. At the family level, significant association was found in rural areas with frequent watching of food advertisements on television. Overweight and obesity are emerging problems in Vietnam, particularly in the urban context. Prevention programs should focus on education about healthy eating habits at early preschool age and need to be tailored separately for urban and rural areas since the risk factors differ. Non-healthy food advertisement needs to be restricted.

  14. Preschool overweight and obesity in urban and rural Vietnam: differences in prevalence and associated factors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Loan Minh Do

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Background: Childhood obesity may soon be an equally important health threat as undernutrition and infectious diseases. Accurate information about prevalence and risk factors of obesity in children is important for the design of prevention. Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate prevalence of overweight and obesity for preschool children in two Vietnamese areas, one urban and one rural, and to identify risk factors. Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted in urban Dong Da and rural Ba Vi districts, Hanoi, Vietnam. Totally, 2,677 children, 1,364 urban and 1,313 rural, were weighed and measured. Caregivers were interviewed. Background information about children and families was obtained from regular household surveys. Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity combined were 21.1% (95% CI 18.9–23.3 in the urban area and 7.6% (95% CI 6.2–9.2 in the rural. Multiple logistic regression revealed that at the individual level, in both sites, the risk increased with increased child age. The identified urban risk factors were being a boy, consuming large amounts of food, eating fast, and indoor activity less than 2 hours per day. The rural risk factors were frequent consumption of fatty food. At the family level, significant association was found in rural areas with frequent watching of food advertisements on television. Conclusions: Overweight and obesity are emerging problems in Vietnam, particularly in the urban context. Prevention programs should focus on education about healthy eating habits at early preschool age and need to be tailored separately for urban and rural areas since the risk factors differ. Non-healthy food advertisement needs to be restricted.

  15. Rural and urban differences in the commission of animal cruelty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tallichet, Suzanne E; Hensley, Christopher

    2005-12-01

    Despite the recent surge in society's interest in human violence, relatively few studies have been conducted examining the closely related phenomenon of animal cruelty. Although several researchers have begun to identify some of the correlates of animal cruelty, few have attempted to understand how differences in the backgrounds of rural and urban residents have led to their abuse of animals. Using survey data from 261 inmates, the authors investigate how demographic, familial differences and species type have contributed to the frequency of acts of animal cruelty. In general, early exposure to animal abuse is a strong predictor of the subsequent behavior. However, rural inmates learned to be cruel by watching family members exclusively, whereas urban inmates learned from family members and friends. Moreover, urban inmates chose dogs, cats, and wild animals as their target animals; however, rural inmates chose only cats.

  16. Quality of life in patients with sickle cell disease in Jamaica: rural-urban differences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asnani, Monika R; Reid, Marvin E; Ali, Susanna B; Lipps, Garth; Williams-Green, Pauline

    2008-01-01

    Quality of life (QOL) refers to people's ability to function in the ordinary tasks of living. It moves beyond direct manifestations of illness to the patient's personal morbidity. These assessments are an important aspect of chronic disease management. Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a chronic and potentially, quite a debilitating disease. The disease is severe and may result in significant morbidity, as well as a shortened life span. It is the most common genetic disorder seen in Jamaica and impacts on physical, psychological, social and occupational wellbeing. Jamaica is a developing country where support systems that exist for patients with SCD are sparse. Health related QOL has been shown to be poorer in people living in the rural areas as compared with urban populations. Utilization of comprehensive sickle cells disease services has also been shown to be lower for individuals with the disease living in rural areas than for those living in urban areas. As there are rural-urban differences in Jamaica's health services, it is hypothesized that there may be rural-urban differences in the experiences of the disease and the QOL of these patients in these subgroups. The SF 36 v2 (Short Form 36) questionnaire has been validated for use in the Jamaican SCD population. This validated questionnaire was interviewer-administered to 166 patients presenting to an urban clinic for routine health maintenance visits and to 90 patients presenting to the rural clinics for routine visits. Socio-demographic information was also collected on these two groups. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to study predictors of QOL in these two sub-populations. The study received ethical approval from the University of the West Indies/University Hospital of the West Indies Ethics Committee. There were no significant differences in the measured socio-demographic characteristics of the rural and urban patients. Living in rural areas compared with urban areas (p <0.001), being

  17. Approaching integrated urban-rural development in China: The changing institutional roles

    OpenAIRE

    Li, Yuheng; Hu, Zhichao; Liu, Yansui

    2014-01-01

    Ever since the twenty-first century, the Chinese government has been undertaking a series of rural-favored policies and measures to promote comprehensive development in rural China. The fundamental purpose is to accomplish integrated urban-rural development (IURD) given the ever enlarging urban-rural inequalities during the post-reform era. Considering the long time biased policies against the countryside, the paper aims to examine the institutional roles in approaching the IURD. IURD at prov...

  18. Educational Quality Differences in a Middle-Income Country: The Urban-Rural Gap in Malaysian Primary Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Othman, Mariam; Muijs, Daniel

    2013-01-01

    Shortcomings of educational quality in rural schools remain a key focus in the literature related to developing countries. This paper studies whether rural primary schools in Malaysia, an upper middle-income developing country, are still experiencing lower levels of educational resources, school climate, school leadership, and parental involvement…

  19. The influence of rural-urban migration on migrant's fertility behavior in Cameroon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, B S

    1992-01-01

    Preliminary analysis of Cameroon fertility data suggests that rural stayers do not have a significantly higher fertility than rural-urban migrants in contrast to hypotheses suggested in the literature. Bongaarts and Caldwell both suggest that modernization plays a role in African fertility and migration patterns by increasing exposure to childbearing. Supply constraints are changed by higher levels of education, short duration of postpartum abstinence, less prevalence of polygamy, and more stable marriages. The influence of relatives may be weaker and the fear of losing a husband greater, which influence earlier returns to sexual relations. Because the levels of fertility of stayers and movers may be equal does not suggest that movers do not adapt fertility to urban norms. Analysis was conducted with d ata from the 1978 Cameroon World Fertility Survey on 8219 women aged 15-54 years for rural nonmigrants, rural-rural migrants, and rural-urban migrants. Rural-urban migrants were found to be better educated, have fewer cases of infertility, and have more stable first marriages. Descriptive statistics are provided for migrants and nonmigrants. Cross classification analysis shows that fertility is not lower for women with higher education, even when migration status is controlled for. Multivariate regression results in an autoregressive model in a first difference form indicated that the fertility rate of rural-urban migrant women was significantly higher than that of rural staryers during the period of 5-9 years after migration. The urban effect acts to reduce migrants' fertility by about .13 births. Comparisons are made with Mexican and Korean migration behavior, which reflect decreased fertility after migration of 1.5 births and 2.6 births, respectively. The suggestion is that the fertility-increasing effect of supply conditions in Cameroon is significantly offset by the fertility-depressing adaptation effect of migration to urban areas. It is expected that

  20. Differences in health care seeking behaviour between rural and urban communities in South Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Objective The aim of this study was to explore possible differences in health care seeking behaviour among a rural and urban African population. Design A cross sectional design was followed using the infrastructure of the PURE-SA study. Four rural and urban Setswana communities which represented different strata of urbanisation in the North West Province, South Africa, were selected. Structured interviews were held with 206 participants. Data on general demographic and socio-economic characteristics, health status, beliefs about health and (access to) health care was collected. Results The results clearly illustrated differences in socio-economic characteristics, health status, beliefs about health, and health care utilisation. In general, inhabitants of urban communities rated their health significantly better than rural participants. Although most urban and rural participants consider their access to health care as sufficient, they still experienced difficulties in receiving the requested care. The difference in employment rate between urban and rural communities in this study indicated that participants of urban communities were more likely to be employed. Consequently, participants from rural communities had a significantly lower available weekly budget, not only for health care itself, but also for transport to the health care facility. Urban participants were more than 5 times more likely to prefer a medical doctor in private practice (OR:5.29, 95% CI 2.83-988). Conclusion Recommendations are formulated for infrastructure investments in rural communities, quality of health care and its perception, improvement of household socio-economical status and further research on the consequences of delay in health care seeking behaviour. PMID:22691443

  1. Why factors rooted in the family may solely explain the urban-rural differences in schizophrenia risk estimates

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Carsten Bøcker; Mortensen, Preben Bo

    2006-01-01

    Many studies have identified urban-rural differences in schizophrenia risk. The underlying cause(s) may hypothetically include toxic exposures, diet, infections, and selective migration. In a recent study, we concluded that some of the cause(s) responsible for the urban-rural differences...... explain the urban-rural differences. Although other potential explanations for these differences exist, we focus on this hypothesis as it has not previously been discussed in detail. To determine the cause(s) responsible for the urban-rural differences, we need direct measurements of genetic and....../or environmental factors related to urban life...

  2. Differences between rural and urban primary care units in Turkey: Implications on residents′ training

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hulya Yikilkan

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Context: Family practice training takes place at primary care based training centers linked to Education and Research State Hospitals in Turkey. There is a discussion if these units are adequate to train primary care staff and if the patients of these units reflect the applicants of primary care. Aims: The aim of our study is to investigate the demographic characteristics, the effect of distance on primary care utilization, and most common diagnosis of the patients who applied to two different outpatient clinics: One urban and one rural. Settings and Design: Study was conducted from the electronic health records of the patients applied to outpatient clinics of Ankara Diskapi Yildirim Beyazit Training and Research Hospital Department of Family Medicine between 1 January and 31 December 2009. Results: Total number of patients applied to both of the outpatient clinics was 34,632 [urban clinic: 16.506 (47.7%, rural clinic: 18.126 (52.3%]. Leading three diagnoses were upper respiratory tract infection (URTI, general medical examination (GME, and hypertension (HT in the most common 10 diagnosis. Conclusion: In our study, the rural outpatient clinic is regarded as a primary care unit in the neighborhood of living area and the urban clinic as close to working environment. We found statistically meaningful differences in most common diagnosis, gender, age, and consultation time between the rural and urban clinics. According to our results, family practitioners′ field training should take place at different primary care units according to sociodemographic characteristics of each country.

  3. Rural-Urban Differences in Late-Stage Breast Cancer: Do Associations Differ by Rural-Urban Classification System?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pruitt, Sandi L; Eberth, Jan M; Morris, E Scott; Grinsfelder, David B; Cuate, Erica L

    2016-01-01

    Introduction Rural residence is associated with later stage of breast cancer diagnosis in some but not all prior studies. The lack of a standardized definition of rural residence may contribute to these mixed findings. We characterize and compare multiple definitions of rural vs. non-rural residence to provide guidance regarding choice of measures and to further elucidate rural disparities in breast cancer stage at diagnosis. Methods We used Texas Cancer Registry data of 120,738 female breast cancer patients ≥50 years old diagnosed between 1995–2009. We defined rural vs. non-rural residence using 7 different measures and examined their agreement using Kappa statistics. Measures were defined at various geographic levels: county, ZIP code, census tract, and census block group. Late-stage was defined as regional or distant disease. For each measure, we tested the association of rural residence and late-stage cancer with unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression. Covariates included: age; patient race/ethnicity; diagnosis year; census block group-level mammography capacity; and census tract-level percent poverty, percent Hispanic, and percent Black. Results We found moderate to high levels of agreement between measures of rural vs. non-rural residence. For 72.9% of all patients, all 7 definitions agreed as to rural vs. non-rural residence. Overall, 6 of 7 definitions demonstrated an adverse association between rural residence and late-stage disease in unadjusted and adjusted models (Adjusted OR Range = 1.09–1.14). Discussion Our results document a clear rural disadvantage in late-stage breast cancer. We contribute to the heterogeneous literature by comparing varied measures of rural residence. We recommend use of the census tract-level Rural Urban Commuting Area Codes in future cancer outcomes research where small area data are available. PMID:27158685

  4. Exclusive Breast Feeding-Knowledge In Different Groups Of Women In Rural And Urban Areas Of Lucknow District

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmed Naim

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available A cross-sectional study on S6 females was conducted in the rural and urban areas of Lucknow district of Uttar Pradesh to assess the knowledge of females about exclusive breast-feeding. Knowledge from adolescent girls, married and lactating women was assessed by a pre­tested questionnaire for biosocial correlates (such as marital status,educational status, medium of education, working status, socio-economics status and family size, sources of information, time of initation of breast-feeding and the best method of feeding a baby <4 months of age. Only 9.8% in urban and 13.3% in rural areas had complete knowledge of Exclusive breast-feeding. Educated females had more knowledge in both urban and rural areas of initiating breast-feeding within 1 hr of delivery as compared to un-educated females. The study highlights the needs for continuing medical education and for including knowledge about Exclusive breast-feeding in school curriculum of adolescent girls.

  5. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PUPILS FROM URBAN AND RURAL AREAS IN MORPHOLOGICAL AND MOTORIC DEVELOPMENT

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    Mamaj Driton

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available One of the most important preconditions for effective influence of physical body exercises among pupils during regular classes of physical education in schools is increased volume and quality of work and study. In order to increase volume and quality of work and study, it is necessary to carry out reform of education at elementary and lower level secondary education in Kosova in order to advance professional personnel and increase number of hours for sport and health education classes. Methods: This research is of a transversal nature, meaning that there has been a measurement of morphological and motoric indicators in the sample of 26 pupils of the age group of 15 years of the elementary and lower level school “Faik Konica” from Prishtina as an urbane center and sample of 30 pupils of elementary and lower level school „Avdulla Tahiri“ from Malisheva. 6 anthropometric and 4 motoric variables have been used (Kurelić et al., 1975. Anthropometric variables included: body height (ATV, length of foot (ADS, body mass (ATT, volume of upper arm in down position (AONL, volume of upper leg (AONK, volume of lower leg (AOPK. Motoric variables included: standing position distance jump (MFESDM, 30 meters distance running (MTR30V, bench bending (MFLPRK, and push-ups (MSKLEK. T-test analysis has been used for independent variables. Results: Obtained results from the statistical analysis demonstrate that anthropometric characteristics and motoric skills of two independent groups of pupils have normal distribution and no visible asymmetry and have tendency toward higher values (epikurtic. T-test analysis demonstrates that pupils from rural areas have lower muscular mass and lower motoric results. Discussion: Conditions for execution of physical education classes and lack of physical activities in the rural environment have strong influence on developments of morphological and motoric characteristics of pupils. Significant statistical differences obtained

  6. Urban-Rural Differences in Aerobic Physical Activity, Muscle Strengthening Exercise, and Screen-Time Sedentary Behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robertson, Michael C; Song, Jaejoon; Taylor, Wendell C; Durand, Casey P; Basen-Engquist, Karen M

    2018-02-16

    Compared to their urban counterparts, US residents in rural settings face an increased risk of premature mortality and health problems that have been linked to insufficient physical activity (PA) levels. There is limited literature regarding urban-rural differences in adherence to national guidelines for all 3 PA-related behaviors. We investigated urban-rural differences in aerobic PA, leisure-time muscle strengthening PA, and leisure screen-time sedentary behavior in a combined data set of the 2011-2014 waves (N = 14,188) of the nationally representative National Cancer Institute's Health Information National Trends Survey. We found no evidence of a difference between large urban and rural residents' aerobic PA levels. The typical number of weekly bouts of leisure-time muscle strengthening PA was 25% lower for rural residents (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.751, P rural residents to engage in 6.6% less daily leisure screen-time sedentary behavior than their large urban counterparts (IRR = 0.934, P = .031). Taken together with previous literature, these results suggest that rural residents may engage in comparable levels of total PA, but less leisure-time PA, than their urban counterparts. © 2018 National Rural Health Association.

  7. Self-Assessed Intelligence: Inter-Ethnic, Rural-Urban, and Sex Differences in Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swami, Viren; Furnham, Adrian

    2010-01-01

    The present study examined inter-ethnic, rural-urban, and sex differences in self-assessed intelligence (SAI) in a Malaysian general population sample. In total, 633 individuals varying in rural or urban location, ethnicity (Malay, Kadazan, and Bajau), and sex (women versus men) provided their self-assessed overall intelligence and ten multiple…

  8. Positive body image: inter-ethnic and rural-urban differences among an indigenous sample from Malaysian Borneo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swami, Viren; Kannan, Kumaraswami; Furnham, Adrian

    2012-11-01

    Previous studies examining body image from a cross-cultural perspective have tended to neglect samples from different ethnic groups or along a rural-urban continuum. To overcome this limitation, the present study examined positive body image among rural and urban women from three major indigenous ethnic groups in Sabah, Malaysia. A total of 202 women completed the Body Appreciation Scale, as well as measures of media exposure and financial security, and provided their demographic details. s showed that there were significant rural-urban differences in body appreciation, with rural participants having significantly higher body appreciation than urban participants. A comparison with a previous data set of West Malaysian women (Swami & Chamorro-Premuzic, 2008) showed that the current urban sample had significantly lower body appreciation and that the rural group had significantly higher body appreciation. Further results showed that research site (urban vs rural) explained 11.0% of the variance in body appreciation. Participant body mass index and exposure to western forms of media explained an additional 2.0% of the variance. These results suggest that there are differences in body image between rural and urban women. Results are discussed in relation to the promotion of positive body image, particularly in developing societies where health care resources may be limited.

  9. Fertility behavior in rural and urban Indonesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chernichovsky, D; Newlon, B; Sigit, H

    1982-06-01

    The cross-sectional picture of urban and rural fertility which emerges from recently published Indonesian national level data from the 1976 Intercensal Survey are described. The data reveal only small differences in the average numbers of children ever born or children surviving of ever married women (or mothers) in urban and rural areas of Indonesia. In urban areas, ever married mothers had a standardized average of 3.4 children ever born, and in rural areas 3.3 These averages cannot reveal any differences in past and present childbearing levels. The fertility of urban women, as opposed to rural women, appeared more highly associated with indicators which tend to directly or indirectly depress the average number of children ever born: a higher age at 1st marriage; a higher level of "sterility;" a higher survival ratio of children born; and a higher level of educational attainment. At least some of these factors might be regarded as associated with modernizing trends in the urban areas: increased accessibility to educational facilities; the opening of female opportunities outside the home so that marriage occurs later in life; and a better health environment so that there is less pregnancy wastage and time spent in bearing children. These factors help to provide an incentive to women to limit their fertility; knowledge of contraception methods provides a means. The depressing factors most highly associated with average rural fertility do not appear associated with modernization but with traditional folk customs regarding acceptable behavior. The inflating effects of early marriage are offset by a greater prevalence of marital disruption. This may reflect a cultural acceptability. The reasons may include adolescent or true sterility leading to disunion, the outmigration of a partner, or some other form of disharmony. Female labor force participation is more prevalent in rural than urban areas. There are both traditional and modern aspects to be seen in its

  10. Rural-Urban Differences in Cancer Incidence and Trends in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zahnd, Whitney E; James, Aimee S; Jenkins, Wiley D; Izadi, Sonya R; Fogleman, Amanda J; Steward, David E; Colditz, Graham A; Brard, Laurent

    2017-07-27

    Cancer incidence and mortality rates in the US are declining, but this decrease may not be observed in rural areas where residents are more likely to live in poverty, smoke, and forego cancer screening. However, there is limited research exploring national rural-urban differences in cancer incidence and trends. We analyzed data from the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries' public use dataset, which includes population-based cancer incidence data from 46 states. We calculated age-adjusted incidence rates, rate ratios, and annual percentage change (APC) for: all cancers combined; selected individual cancers; and cancers associated with tobacco use and human papillomavirus (HPV). Rural-urban comparisons were made by demographic, geographic, and socioeconomic characteristics for 2009 to 2013. Trends were analyzed for 1995 to 2013. Combined cancers incidence rates were generally higher in urban populations, except for the South, though the urban decline in incidence rate was greater than in rural populations (10.2% vs. 4.8%, respectively). Rural cancer disparities included higher rates of tobacco associated, HPV associated, lung and bronchus, cervical , and colorectal cancers across most population groups. Further, HPV-associated cancer incidence rates increased in rural areas (APC=0.724, purban areas. Cancer rates associated with modifiable risks - tobacco, HPV, and some preventive screening modalities (e.g. colorectal and cervical cancers) - were higher in rural compared to urban populations. Population-based, clinical, and/or policy strategies and interventions that address these modifiable risk factors could help reduce cancer disparities experienced in rural populations. Copyright ©2017, American Association for Cancer Research.

  11. The Relationship of Financial Development, Urbanization and Urban-Rural Income Gap: An Empirical Research Based on Provincial Panel Data in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shaowei Chen

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Financial development and the urbanization are important influence factors of the urban-rural income gap, and financial development can be measured by three main indexes which are financial scale, financial activities and financial efficiency. The financial development scale of China has obviously widened the urban-rural income gap. But rural financial activities have obvious effect on increasing farmers’ income, and the improvement of financial efficiency is helpful for narrowing the urban-rural income gap. The Kuznets effect between economic development and the urban-rural income gap has regional diversity. Besides that, the improvement of urbanization is also helpful for shorting the urban-rural income gap.

  12. Effect of Air Pollution and Rural-Urban Difference on Mental Health of the Elderly in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Tao; Chen, Yuhuai; Zhu, Jing; Liu, Pengling

    2015-08-01

    China has become an aging society, and the mental health problem of the elderly is increasingly becoming prominent. This paper aimed to analyze the effect of air pollution and rural-urban difference on mental health of the elderly in China. Using the data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS, 2013), after controlling the social demography variable via Tobit and Probit, a regression analysis of the effect of air pollution and rural-urban difference on mental health and psychological disorder was conducted on 6,630 old people (≧60 yr old) of China from February to April 2015. Mental health and psychological disorder of the elderly were measured by the CES-D score of respondents. Air pollution degree of counties and cities (n=123) were measured by SO2 emission. 27.8% of old people had psychological disorders. Air pollution significantly influenced the mental health of the elderly, showing a positive "U-shaped" curve (Phealth problems. Marriage, education, and social activities had positive effects on the mental health of the elderly. China's local governments should consider the influence of air pollution on the mental health of the elderly during economic development. This paper recommends paying attention to the difference in mental health between the urban and rural elderly when making public health policies. Governments could improve the mental health of the elderly by enriching social activities and increasing employment opportunities of the elderly.

  13. Interface between urban and rural

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brandt, Jesper

    2007-01-01

      Counterurbanisation combined with recent trends in agricultural technology has resulted in a ‘multifunctional countryside regime', raising new questions on the relation between nature and land use in rural areas and between very different values and interests developing in these areas. Indicators...... for new trends in rural landscapes have been related to a model for urban pressure on rural areas in Denmark however without any convincing results. A model for the historical development of a typical Danish village has been made, to see if the socially differentiated process of counterurbanisation can...... be related to the differentiation in the development of different types of village developments. Such a model can elucidate the potentials of a multifunctional landscape as a basis for a varied and and attractive fulfilment of human needs in an urban-rural continuum....

  14. Suicide in Castellon, 2009-2015: Do sociodemographic and psychiatric factors help understand urban-rural differences?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suso-Ribera, Carlos; Mora-Marín, Rafael; Hernández-Gaspar, Carmen; Pardo-Guerra, Lidón; Pardo-Guerra, María; Belda-Martínez, Adela; Palmer-Viciedo, Ramón

    Studies have pointed to rurality as an important factor influencing suicide. Research so far suggests that several sociodemograpic and psychiatric factors might influence urban-rural differences in suicide. Also, their contribution appears to depend on sex and age. Unfortunately, studies including a comprehensive set of explanatory variables altogether are still scare and most studies have failed to present their analyses split by sex and age groups. Also, urban-rural differences in suicide in Spain have been rarely investigated. The present study aimed at explaining rural-urban differences in suicidality in the province of Castellon (Spain). A comprehensive set of sociodemographic and psychiatric factors was investigated and analyses were split by sex and age. The sample comprised all suicides recorded in the province of Castellon from January 2009 to December 2015 (n=343). Sociodemographic data included sex, age, and suicide method. Psychiatric data included the history of mental health service utilization, psychiatric diagnosis, suicide attempts, and psychiatric hospitalization. Consistent with past research, suicide rates were highest in rural areas, especially in men and older people. We also found that urban-rural differences in sociodemographic and psychiatric variables were sensitive to sex and age. Our results indicated that specialized mental health service use and accessibility to suicide means might help understand urban-rural differences in suicide, especially in men. When exploring urban-rural differences as a function of age, general practitioner visits for psychiatric reasons were more frequent in the older age group in rural areas. Study implications for suicide prevention strategies in Spain are discussed. Copyright © 2017 SEP y SEPB. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  15. Gender and rural-urban differences in reported health status by older people in Bangladesh.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kabir, Zarina Nahar; Tishelman, Carol; Agüero-Torres, Hedda; Chowdhury, A M R; Winblad, Bengt; Höjer, Bengt

    2003-01-01

    The study aims to (i) describe regional variation and gender differences in health status of older people (60 years and older) in Bangladesh, indicated by self-reported health problems and functional ability; (ii) explore influence of socio-economic factors on health status of older people. In a cross-sectional study in rural and urban Bangladesh, 696 older persons were asked about their health problems and ability to manage activities of daily living (ADL). More than 95% of older people reported health problems. Approximately 80% of elderly women in both the regions reported having four or more health problems compared with 42% and 63% elderly men in the urban and rural regions, respectively. More women (urban: 55%; rural: 36%) than men (urban: 32%; rural: 22%) also reported difficulties with ADL. Irrespective of age, sex and area of residence, those reporting greater number of health problems were more likely to report difficulty with at least one ADL task. Reporting pattern of specific health problems varied between urban and rural regions. Socio-economic indicators were found to have little influence on reporting of health problems, particularly in the rural region. Observed regional difference may be related to the influence of social and environmental factors, and level of awareness concerning certain health conditions.

  16. Dysmenorrhoea in different settings: Are the rural and urban adolescent girls perceiving and managing the dysmenorrhoea problem differently?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Avasarala Atchuta

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Context: It is well-known that every health problem, not only presents itself with different epidemiological profiles in different population settings, but is also perceived and managed differently. Having knowledge of these variations in its presentations and perceptions in different population settings, for example, in urban and rural settings, will be useful for its successful management. Aim: To study differences in epidemiological profiles, perceptions, socio economic losses, and quality-of-life losses and management of dysmenorrhoea in different settings for effective management. Design and Setting: A comparative cross-sectional study among adolescent school girls (101 girls in urban areas and 79 girls in rural areas in the district of Karimnagar. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey using a pretested questionnaire was conducted among 180 adolescent girls in urban and rural settings. Statistical Analyses Used: Proportions and X 2 test. Results: The prevalence of dysmenorrhoea is 54% (53% in girls in urban areas and 56% in girls in rural areas (X 2 df = 0.1, P = 0.05. Sickness absenteeism (28-48%, socio economic losses, and perceived quality of life losses are more prevalent among girls in urban areas than in girls in rural areas. Girls in rural areas resort to physical labor and other natural methods to obtain relief while the girls in urban areas are mainly depending on medications. Conclusions: Dysmenorrhoea can also be managed effectively by natural methods without resorting to medicines, provided one is psychologically prepared to face it without anxiety.

  17. Discussion on the Core Problems of Integrated Development in Urban and Rural Compulsory Education in China%当前我国城乡义务教育一体化发展的核心问题探讨

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    邬志辉

    2012-01-01

    To establish integrated development mechanisms of urban and rural compulsory education is a strategical mission put forward by the government in "Outline of the National Program for Long and Medium Term Education Reform and Development (2010-2020)". Currently, the integrated development of urban and rural compulsory education in China faces many challenges. The core problems need to be solved now is to curb the decline of rural education, to reconstruct the con- figuration of rural education, and to innovate educational systems and mechanisms. Therefore, we need to form new ideas, such as the integration of urban and rural education is not equal to the urbanization of rural education, rural school is a community, and the key point of integration mechanism of urban and rural education is self-organization and incentive compatibility, etc.%建立城乡一体化义务教育发展机制是《国家中长期教育改革和发展规划纲要(2010-2020年)》提出的战略性任务。现阶段,我国城乡义务教育一体化发展面临诸多挑战,当下要解决的核心问题是遏制乡村教育衰败、重建乡村教育形态和创新教育体制机制,为此要确立城乡教育一体化不等于农村教育城镇化、农村学校是一个社区组织、城乡教育一体化发展机制的关键在于自组织和激励相容等新观念。

  18. Education and Rural Development with Reference to Developing Countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coverdale, G.M.

    Seeking full use of the educational resources available to developing countries in the areas of rural education and agricultural training, this paper is concerned with ways in which the efforts of organizations and institutions concerned with rural development might be improved and expanded. A generalized critical analysis of different facets of…

  19. Are the cause(s) responsible for urban-rural differences in schizophrenia risk rooted in families or individuals?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Carsten Bøcker; Mortensen, Preben Bo

    2006-01-01

    Many studies have identified urban-rural differences in schizophrenia risk. Hypothetical underlying cause(s) may include toxic exposures, diet, infections, and selective migration. The authors investigated whether the underlying cause(s) responsible for the urban-rural differences were rooted...... evaluated whether the nearest older sibling's place of birth had an independent effect on schizophrenia risk. If the cause(s) responsible for the urban-rural differences are rooted in individuals only, the nearest older sibling's place of birth should have no independent effect. In this analysis....... Some of the cause(s) responsible for the urban-rural differences in schizophrenia risk are rooted in families, but some might also be rooted in individuals....

  20. Measures of Implicit Gender Attitudes May Exaggerate Differences in Underlying Associations among Chinese Urban and Rural Women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhen Jin

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The oppression of women in rural China is more severe than in urban China, not only because the two areas differ in terms of social hierarchy, but also because urban women are more likely to fight against their subordination, which is endorsed by conventional social views on gender. To independently assess these relationships, we applied the Quadruple Process model to measure the processes underlying implicit gender attitudes in a sample of urban and rural females. The results indicated that the urban women had higher in-group favoritism than did the rural women. Application of the Quad model, however, showed that pro-women associations were similarly activated among urban and rural women, but that women in rural settings more effectively inhibited activated associations. Differences in inhibition, rather than in activated associations, appear to account for the less favorable attitudes among rural women. Thus, the differences in attitudinal responses among urban and rural women exaggerate the differences in underlying evaluative associations with respect to gender and conceal differences in self-regulating the expression of those associations.

  1. Social Work Practice Behaviors and Beliefs: Rural-Urban Differences?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tom A. Croxton

    2002-12-01

    Full Text Available There is continuing debate within the social work profession on whether there are significant differences in the practice behaviors and beliefs between rural and urban clinical social workers and whether different standards should be applied in defining ethical practices. This study measures those differences with regard to five practice behaviors: bartering,maintaining confidentiality, competent practice, dual relationships, and social relationships. Differences were found in beliefs regarding the appropriateness of professional behavior though such differences did not translate into practice behaviors.More significantly, the research suggests considerable confusion about the meanings of ethical standards and the utilization of intervention techniques without formal training across both urban and rural social workers.

  2. Urban-Rural Differences in Level of Various Forms of Trust in Hungary

    OpenAIRE

    Dusek, Tamas; Palmai, Eva

    2015-01-01

    This study examines the association between urban/rural residence and various forms of trust in Hungary, including control variables such as age, gender, income, marriage, qualification into the analysis. Trust is a basic dimension of human capital and a very often used concept in everyday situations too. Trust research became increasingly popular in recent years. However, urban-rural and spatial differences of specific forms of trust remains a rarely investigated question. Trust can be measu...

  3. Language development in rural and urban Russian-speaking children with and without developmental language disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kornilov, Sergey A; Lebedeva, Tatiana V; Zhukova, Marina A; Prikhoda, Natalia A; Korotaeva, Irina V; Koposov, Roman A; Hart, Lesley; Reich, Jodi; Grigorenko, Elena L

    2016-02-01

    Using a newly developed Assessment of the Development of Russian Language (ORRIA), we investigated differences in language development between rural vs. urban Russian-speaking children (n = 100 with a mean age of 6.75) subdivided into groups with and without developmental language disorders. Using classical test theory and item response theory approaches, we found that while ORRIA displayed overall satisfactory psychometric properties, several of its items showed differential item functioning favoring rural children, and several others favoring urban children. After the removal of these items, rural children significantly underperformed on ORRIA compared to urban children. The urbanization factor did not significantly interact with language group. We discuss the latter finding in the context of the multiple additive risk factors for language development and emphasize the need for future studies of the mechanisms that underlie these influences and the implications of these findings for our understanding of the etiological architecture of children's language development.

  4. Language development in rural and urban Russian-speaking children with and without developmental language disorder

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kornilov, Sergey A.; Lebedeva, Tatiana V.; Zhukova, Marina A.; Prikhoda, Natalia A.; Korotaeva, Irina V.; Koposov, Roman A.; Hart, Lesley; Reich, Jodi; Grigorenko, Elena L.

    2015-01-01

    Using a newly developed Assessment of the Development of Russian Language (ORRIA), we investigated differences in language development between rural vs. urban Russian-speaking children (n = 100 with a mean age of 6.75) subdivided into groups with and without developmental language disorders. Using classical test theory and item response theory approaches, we found that while ORRIA displayed overall satisfactory psychometric properties, several of its items showed differential item functioning favoring rural children, and several others favoring urban children. After the removal of these items, rural children significantly underperformed on ORRIA compared to urban children. The urbanization factor did not significantly interact with language group. We discuss the latter finding in the context of the multiple additive risk factors for language development and emphasize the need for future studies of the mechanisms that underlie these influences and the implications of these findings for our understanding of the etiological architecture of children's language development. PMID:27346924

  5. Tourist Activity of Senior Citizens (60+ Residing in Urban and Rural Areas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Omelan Aneta

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this study was to analyze the influence of place of permanent residence (urban or rural on the tourist activity of senior citizens (60+ of different socioeconomic statuses. The study involved 380 senior citizens (305 female and 75 male aged 60 years and older who were permanent residents of the region of Warmia and Mazury, Poland. In this group, 244 subjects resided in urban areas and 136 participants were rural dwellers. The respondents were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding their socioeconomic status (place of permanent residence, age, gender, educational attainment, financial status, membership in senior organizations, marital status, and professional activity and tourist activity. A significance test of two structure coefficients (α=0.05 was applied. Factors such as gender, professional activity, and marital status were not related with the travel propensity of seniors from different groups (urban and rural, but were significant when rural residents were compared with urban dwellers. Seniors residing in urban areas of Warmia and Mazury, Poland, were significantly more likely to travel for leisure than those residing in rural areas. The tourist activity of seniors decreased significantly (p<0.05 with the age (60-74 years and financial status of rural residents. The travel propensity of elderly people increased significantly (p<0.05 with educational attainment and membership in senior organizations. The study revealed considerable differences in the socioeconomic status and social characteristics of seniors residing in rural and urban areas, and those variations significantly influenced their propensity for travel: urban residents traveled more frequently than rural residents. It can be concluded that place of residence was a crucial factor determining the tourist behavior of senior citizens, and urban dwellers were more likely to travel.

  6. Urban-rural differences in the association between access to healthcare and health outcomes among older adults in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xufan; Dupre, Matthew E; Qiu, Li; Zhou, Wei; Zhao, Yuan; Gu, Danan

    2017-07-19

    Studies have shown that inadequate access to healthcare is associated with lower levels of health and well-being in older adults. Studies have also shown significant urban-rural differences in access to healthcare in developing countries such as China. However, there is limited evidence of whether the association between access to healthcare and health outcomes differs by urban-rural residence at older ages in China. Four waves of data (2005, 2008/2009, 2011/2012, and 2014) from the largest national longitudinal survey of adults aged 65 and older in mainland China (n = 26,604) were used for analysis. The association between inadequate access to healthcare (y/n) and multiple health outcomes were examined-including instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) disability, ADL disability, cognitive impairment, and all-cause mortality. A series of multivariate models were used to obtain robust estimates and to account for various covariates associated with access to healthcare and/or health outcomes. All models were stratified by urban-rural residence. Inadequate access to healthcare was significantly higher among older adults in rural areas than in urban areas (9.1% vs. 5.4%; p China. The associations between access to healthcare and health outcomes were generally stronger among older adults in rural areas than in urban areas. Our findings underscore the importance of providing adequate access to healthcare for older adults-particularly for those living in rural areas in developing countries such as China.

  7. Assessment of difference in physical activities in urban and rural adolescents of Mangalore

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rashmi Kundapur

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: The increasing prevalence of adolescents who are overweight is one of the most pressing public health problems in India. Aims & Objectives: To find the difference in Physical Activities(PA among urban adolescents to that of rural in Mangalore. Materials and Methods: Cross sectional study among high school students using a standard questionnaire (PAQ-A to elicit total hours of PA during the past seven days. Results: Average age of the adolescents was 13.9. We could find 56% boys and 44% girls studying in urban schools and 53.3% boys and 46.6 % girls in rural. Seventy seven percent of the total students do running/jogging as their major PA and 66.6% students do cycling. Only 32.8% students had PA while coming to school every day and it was most common among boys in rural schools (55%. Total PA Score for rural areas was 453.5 with a mean of 3.06(out of 5. For Urban areas, total score was 376.3 with a mean of 2.5 and the difference in proportion was statistically significant. Conclusion: We found that the adolescents studying in the schools of rural areas had better physical activities compared to their urban school counterparts.

  8. Assessment of difference in physical activities in urban and rural adolescents of Mangalore

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rashmi Kundapur

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: The increasing prevalence of adolescents who are overweight is one of the most pressing public health problems in India. Aims & Objectives: To find the difference in Physical Activities(PA among urban adolescents to that of rural in Mangalore. Materials and Methods: Cross sectional study among high school students using a standard questionnaire (PAQ-A to elicit total hours of PA during the past seven days. Results: Average age of the adolescents was 13.9. We could find 56% boys and 44% girls studying in urban schools and 53.3% boys and 46.6 % girls in rural. Seventy seven percent of the total students do running/jogging as their major PA and 66.6% students do cycling. Only 32.8% students had PA while coming to school every day and it was most common among boys in rural schools (55%. Total PA Score for rural areas was 453.5 with a mean of 3.06(out of 5. For Urban areas, total score was 376.3 with a mean of 2.5 and the difference in proportion was statistically significant. Conclusion: We found that the adolescents studying in the schools of rural areas had better physical activities compared to their urban school counterparts.

  9. Fuel poverty in the UK: Is there a difference between rural and urban areas?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roberts, Deborah; Vera-Toscano, Esperanza; Phimister, Euan

    2015-01-01

    Fuel poverty is a significant policy issue. An argument often made is that rural households are more likely to be fuel poor due to the nature of rural housing stock and the more limited choice of energy sources in rural areas. This paper uses panel data to compare the level and dynamics of fuel poverty in rural and urban areas of the UK. In addition to descriptive analysis, discrete hazard models of fuel poverty exit and re-entry are estimated and used to assess the influence of housing and personal characteristics on the time spent in fuel poverty. The results indicate that, on average, the experience of fuel poverty in urban areas is longer with a higher probability of fuel poverty persistence. However, on average the rural fuel poor appear more vulnerable to energy price increases while living in private accommodation or a flat increases their probability of remaining fuel poor relative to their urban counterparts. These results indicate policy effectiveness may differ across rural and urban space. However, they also emphasise the limits of spatial targeting. Monitoring the dynamics of fuel poverty is important for ensuring that policy targets are effective and reaching those most in need. - Highlights: • Urban fuel poverty is more persistent on average than rural fuel poverty. • Rural fuel poor are on average more vulnerable to energy price shocks. • Fuel poverty policy measures may have different effects in rural and urban areas. • Both spatial and household targeting required for policy effectiveness. • Policy makers should to consider additional monitoring of dynamics of fuel poverty.

  10. Differences in prevalence of prescription opiate misuse among rural and urban probationers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Havens, Jennifer R; Oser, Carrie B; Leukefeld, Carl G; Webster, J Matthew; Martin, Steven S; O'Connell, Daniel J; Surratt, Hilary L; Inciardi, James A

    2007-01-01

    We compared the prevalence of prescription opiate misuse among 2 cohorts of felony probationers (N = 1525). Multiple logistic regression was utilized to determine the independent correlates of prescription opiate misuse among rural (n = 782) and urban (n = 743) probationers participating in an HIV-intervention study. After adjustment for differences in demographic and drug use characteristics, rural participants were almost five times more likely than their urban counterparts to have misused prescription opiates. The prevalence of prescription opiate misuse was significantly higher among the rural probationers; however, given the paucity of illicit opiates and relatively recent emergence of prescription opiates in rural areas, rural substance abuse treatment may be ill-prepared to treat prescription opiate misuse.

  11. Intimate relationship status variations in violence against women: urban, suburban, and rural differences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rennison, Callie Marie; DeKeseredy, Walter S; Dragiewicz, Molly

    2013-11-01

    Woman abuse varies across intimate relationship categories (e.g., marriage, divorce, separation). However, it is unclear whether relationship status variations in violence against women differ across urban, suburban, and rural areas. We test the hypothesis that rural females, regardless of their intimate partner relationship status, are at higher risk of intimate violence than their urban and suburban counterparts. Results indicate that marital status is an important aspect of the relationship between intimate victimization and geographic area and that rural divorced and separated females are victimized at rates exceeding their urban counterparts.

  12. Rural–Urban Disparity in Students’ Academic Performance in Visual Arts Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nana Afia Amponsaa Opoku-Asare

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Rural–urban disparity in economic and social development in Ghana has led to disparities in educational resources and variations in students’ achievement in different parts of the country. Nonetheless, senior high schools (SHSs in rural and urban schools follow the same curriculum, and their students write the same West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE, which qualifies them to access higher education in Ghana’s public universities. Urban SHSs are also recognized nationwide as good schools where students make it to university. Moreover, performance patterns with regard to admission of SHS graduates into university also vary between rural and urban schools; consequently, some parents do everything to get their children in urban SHSs, even consenting to placement in visual arts, a program deemed appropriate only for academically weak students. This study therefore adopted the qualitative-quantitative research approach with interview, observation, and questionnaire administration to investigate the critical factors that affect academic performance of SHS students, particularly those in visual arts as case study. Findings from six public SHSs in Kumasi—two each in rural, peri-urban, and urban areas—revealed that urban schools perform better than rural and peri-urban schools because they attract and admit junior high school graduates with excellent Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE grades, have better infrastructure, more qualified teachers, prestigious names, and character that motivate their students to do well. This suggests that bridging the rural–urban gap in educational resources could promote quality teaching and learning, and thereby raise academic achievement for SHS students in Ghana.

  13. Differences in the Fitness Levels of Urban and Rural Middle School Students in Croatia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Novak, Dario; Bernstein, Eve R.; Podnar, Hrvoje; Vozzolo, Yolanda

    2015-01-01

    Background: It is known that suburban youth are more fit than urban youth in Croatia. Method: Differences (p < 0.05) in fitness levels and motor abilities of 9,164 (F = 4,671, M = 4,493) Croatian children (age range: 11-14 years) from urban (F = 1,380, M = 1,268), mixed rural-urban (F = 274, M = 289), and rural (F = 3017, M = 2936) areas were…

  14. Educational Activities for Rural and Urban Students to Prevent Skin Cancer in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Velasques, Kelle; Michels, Luana Roberta; Colome, Leticia Marques; Haas, Sandra Elisa

    2016-01-01

    Excessive exposure to the sun during childhood is strongly associated with the development of skin cancer in the future. The only way to prevent the development of skin cancer is to protect against ultraviolet radiation, which can be achieved through strategic awareness during childhood and adolescence. The aim of this work was to evaluate the impact of educational activities for rural and urban students to promote the use of sunscreens and prevent skin cancer. This study was carried out with students (9-12 years) of rural (n=70) and urban (n=70) schools in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. The educational interventions were lectures and games. The impact of this strategy was evaluated through the application of a questionnaire before and after the interventions. Before the intervention, it was found around 50% of rural and urban students were not aware of the damage caused by sun exposure, often exposing themselves to UV radiation without use sunscreen ( ~ 25 %) and at the most critical times of the day/year. After the lectures we observed an improvement in the behavior of the students with regard to sun exposure and knowledge about skin cancer. The results of this study emphasize the importance of prevention strategies for skin cancer and promoting the use of sunscreens based educational strategies. The interventions were of great value in relation to disseminating knowledge on the subject.

  15. Rural-Urban Differences in Access to Preventive Health Care Among Publicly Insured Minnesotans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loftus, John; Allen, Elizabeth M; Call, Kathleen Thiede; Everson-Rose, Susan A

    2018-02-01

    Reduced access to care and barriers have been shown in rural populations and in publicly insured populations. Barriers limiting health care access in publicly insured populations living in rural areas are not understood. This study investigates rural-urban differences in system-, provider-, and individual-level barriers and access to preventive care among adults and children enrolled in a public insurance program in Minnesota. This was a secondary analysis of a 2008 statewide, cross-sectional survey of publicly insured adults and children (n = 4,388) investigating barriers associated with low utilization of preventive care. Sampling was stratified with oversampling of racial/ethnic minorities. Rural enrollees were more likely to report no past year preventive care compared to urban enrollees. However, this difference was no longer statistically significant after controlling for demographic and socioeconomic factors (OR: 1.37, 95% CI: 1.00-1.88). Provider- and system-level barriers associated with low use of preventive care among rural enrollees included discrimination based on public insurance status (OR: 2.26, 95% CI: 1.34-2.38), cost of care concerns (OR: 1.72, 95% CI: 1.03-2.89) and uncertainty about care being covered by insurance (OR: 1.70, 95% CI: 1.01-2.85). These and additional provider-level barriers were also identified among urban enrollees. Discrimination, cost of care, and uncertainty about insurance coverage inhibit access in both the rural and urban samples. These barriers are worthy targets of interventions for publicly insured populations regardless of residence. Future studies should investigate additional factors associated with access disparities based on rural-urban residence. © 2017 National Rural Health Association.

  16. Rural tobacco use across the United States: How rural and urban areas differ, broken down by census regions and divisions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, Megan E; Doogan, Nathan J; Kurti, Allison N; Redner, Ryan; Gaalema, Diann E; Stanton, Cassandra A; White, Thomas J; Higgins, Stephen T

    2016-05-01

    This project compared urban/rural differences in tobacco use, and examined how such differences vary across regions/divisions of the U.S. Using pooled 2012-2013 data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), we obtained weighted prevalence estimates for the use of cigarettes, menthol cigarettes, chewing tobacco, snuff, cigars, and pipes. NSDUH also provides information on participants' residence: rural vs. urban, and Census region and division. Overall, use of cigarettes, chew, and snuff were higher in rural, compared to urban areas. Across all tobacco products, urban/rural differences were particularly pronounced in certain divisions (e.g., the South Atlantic). Effects did not appear to be fully explained by differences in poverty. Going beyond previous research, these findings show that urban/rural differences vary across different types of tobacco products, as well as by division of the country. Results underscore the need for regulatory efforts that will reduce health disparities. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Determinants of apparent rural-urban differentials in measles vaccination uptake in Indonesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernandez, Renae C; Awofeso, Niyi; Rammohan, Anu

    2011-01-01

    Regional differences in vaccination uptake are common in both developed and developing countries, and are often linked to the availability of healthcare services and socioeconomic factors. In 2007, 0.9 million eligible Indonesian children missed measles vaccination, and 19 456 cases of measles were documented among Indonesian children. The authors investigated rural-urban differentials in measles vaccination coverage among young Indonesian children, and sought to identify key factors influencing the probability of a child receiving the first dose of measles vaccination in Indonesia. Data used in the analyses were sourced from the nationally representative Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey 2007. The influence of location of residence, household wealth, maternal and paternal education, total children ever born and use of skilled birth attendants on measles vaccination coverage was investigated using bivariate analysis and chi-square tests. The independent effects of these variables were established using binomial logistic regression analysis. Indonesia's 2007 first-dose measles national vaccination coverage was, at 72.8%, lower than the 2008 global first-dose measles vaccination average coverage of 82%. Bivariate analysis revealed that the first-dose measles vaccination coverage in rural areas of Indonesia was 68.5%, compared with 80.1% in urban regions (p rural residence in impairing vaccination coverage was marginal after controlling for the sex of the child, maternal age, maternal and paternal education, wealth, and access to skilled health workers. Apart from sustainable initiatives to increase measles vaccination coverage globally, it is important to close the rural-urban gap in Indonesia's measles vaccination uptake. Addressing critical determinants of inferior measles vaccination coverage in Indonesia's rural regions will facilitate major improvements in Indonesia's child health trends. This article suggests initiatives for addressing three of such

  18. Generalized Linear Mixed Model Analysis of Urban-Rural Differences in Social and Behavioral Factors for Colorectal Cancer Screening

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Ke-Sheng; Liu, Xuefeng; Ategbole, Muyiwa; Xie, Xin; Liu, Ying; Xu, Chun; Xie, Changchun; Sha, Zhanxin

    2017-09-27

    Objective: Screening for colorectal cancer (CRC) can reduce disease incidence, morbidity, and mortality. However, few studies have investigated the urban-rural differences in social and behavioral factors influencing CRC screening. The objective of the study was to investigate the potential factors across urban-rural groups on the usage of CRC screening. Methods: A total of 38,505 adults (aged ≥40 years) were selected from the 2009 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) data - the latest CHIS data on CRC screening. The weighted generalized linear mixed-model (WGLIMM) was used to deal with this hierarchical structure data. Weighted simple and multiple mixed logistic regression analyses in SAS ver. 9.4 were used to obtain the odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: The overall prevalence of CRC screening was 48.1% while the prevalence in four residence groups - urban, second city, suburban, and town/rural, were 45.8%, 46.9%, 53.7% and 50.1%, respectively. The results of WGLIMM analysis showed that there was residence effect (pregression analysis revealed that age, race, marital status, education level, employment stats, binge drinking, and smoking status were associated with CRC screening (p<0.05). Stratified by residence regions, age and poverty level showed associations with CRC screening in all four residence groups. Education level was positively associated with CRC screening in second city and suburban. Infrequent binge drinking was associated with CRC screening in urban and suburban; while current smoking was a protective factor in urban and town/rural groups. Conclusions: Mixed models are useful to deal with the clustered survey data. Social factors and behavioral factors (binge drinking and smoking) were associated with CRC screening and the associations were affected by living areas such as urban and rural regions. Creative Commons Attribution License

  19. Comparison of patterns of substance abuse disorders in urban and rural population

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Morad Rasouli-Azad

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: Studies of the prevalence of substance abuse in rural and urban population in different countries revealed variable results regarding to the study method, study population, age group and measuring tools. The purpose of this research is to compare the patterns of substance abuse disorders in urban and rural population in Mashhad.Materials and Method: Two groups consecutively admitted patients who referred to substance treatment clinics of Mashhad, were selected (110 urban and 100 rural patients. Samples were evaluated with structured demographic questionnaire and Structured Clinical Interview (SCID for DSM-IV. Data were analyzed by χ2 and independent t-test.Results: This study showed statistically significant differences between two groups in marital status, education level, monthly income and job. Also the samples were differed in substance type, history of injection and quit, abuse of nicotine, cannabis and alcohol in long life. Conclusion: Rural and urban societies have differences in patterns of substance abuse that can be originated from social-context differences

  20. Rural Education as Rural Development: Understanding the Rural School-Community Well-Being Linkage in a 21st-Century Policy Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schafft, Kai A.

    2016-01-01

    Despite the significant proportions of rural Americans, schools, and public school students situated in the geographic peripheries of an increasingly urbanizing country, rural education in the United States has consistently occupied both scholarly and policy peripheries. This is to the detriment of rural America, especially to the extent that…

  1. Teachers? Attitudes towards and Comfort about Teaching School-Based Sexuality Education in Urban and Rural Tanzania

    OpenAIRE

    Mkumbo, Kitila Alexander

    2012-01-01

    Teachers? attitudes towards sexuality education are among the important predictors of their willingness to teach sexuality education programmes in schools. While there is a plethora of studies on teachers? attitudes towards sexuality in developed countries, there is a paucity of such studies in sub-Saharan Africa in general and Tanzania in particular. This study examined teachers? attitudes towards and comfort in teaching sexuality education in rural and urban Tanzania. The results show that ...

  2. Population growth and rural-urban migration, with special reference to Ghana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Graft-johnson, K T

    1974-01-01

    While the population of Ghana is expected to double in 25 years at the current rate of increase (approximately 2.5% per annum), the population of urban centers is increasing even faster. The 1970 census shows the urban population growing by 4.8% per annum. This is mainly the result of rural to urban migration and, to a smaller extent, the increase in the number of urban centers from 39 in 1948 to 98 in 1960 to 135 in 1970. In the 1970 census only 57.1% of the population were enumerated in their locality of birth and only 20.9% in a locality other than their place of birth but in the same region. 4.1% were born outside Ghana, mostly in another West African country. 1 striking difference between urban and rural areas is the differing sex ratio of the working population. In rural areas there are 91.0 males aged 15-64 years for every 100 females while in urban areas there are 107.1. Most migration in Africa is for employment and those most likely to migrate are working-age males. Because secondary schools are scarce in rural areas, urban dwellers generally have a higher education level. There are no significant differences between overall labor force participation rates for females. The nationwide participation rate was 38.9% for both males and females (males 43.8%, females 34.1%); in urban areas the total was 40.0% (males 46.3%, females 33.7%) and in rural areas 38.5% (males 42.7%, females 34.3%). Ghanaian women have traditionally occupied a prominent place in the labor force. The theory that urban migration is due to urban-rural income disparities is not confirmed by figures. Considering the high amount of unemployment in urban areas, a rural dweller can average as much as a city dweller. In fact, poorly educated migrants are the ones most affected by urban unemployment. A recent study by Kodwo Ewusi considered the impact of many variables on migration; he found depressed social conditions at the place of origin are more compelling motivations than economic factors

  3. Rural transformations in the context of changing rural-urban connections

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Birch-Thomsen, Torben; Ørtenblad, Sinne Borby; Msese, Lukelo

    , the infrastructure, including road systems and means of communication, has in general increased and improved. This development has among a number of other things caused changing patterns of mobility. These changes are highly interrelated and connected to changing rural-urban linkages, which include flows of people......, capital, resources, agricultural commodities, goods, services, technology and information, between rural and urban locations. We emphasize that the rural-urban connections go beyond the spatial dichotomy and that the linkages often occur in a dynamic rural-urban continuum. Influenced by these changes......, this paper sets out to elucidate patterns and dynamics of rural transformation in Tanzania in the context of changing rural-urban linkages by presenting data from a particularly dynamic region; namely Njombe Region in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. Based on fieldwork conducted during 2014 and 2015...

  4. Child health inequities in developing countries: differences across urban and rural areas

    OpenAIRE

    Fotso Jean-Christophe

    2006-01-01

    Abstract Objectives To document and compare the magnitude of inequities in child malnutrition across urban and rural areas, and to investigate the extent to which within-urban disparities in child malnutrition are accounted for by the characteristics of communities, households and individuals. Methods The most recent data sets available from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) of 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are used. The selection criteria were set to ensure that the number ...

  5. A study on acceptance of mobileschool at secondary schools in Malaysia: Urban vs rural

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hashim, Ahmad Sobri; Ahmad, Wan Fatimah Wan; Sarlan, Aliza

    2017-10-01

    Developing countries are in dilemma where sophisticated technologies are more advance as compared to the way their people think. In education, there have been many novel approaches and technologies were introduced. However, very minimal efforts were put to apply in our education. MobileSchool is a mobile learning (m-learning) management system, developed for administrative, teaching and learning processes at secondary schools in Malaysia. The paper presents the acceptance of MobileSchool between urban and rural secondary schools in Malaysia. Research framework was designed based on Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The constructs of the framework include computer anxiety, self-efficacy, facilitating condition, technological complexity, perceived behavioral control, perceive ease of use, perceive usefulness, attitude and behavioral intention. Questionnaire was applied as research instrument which involved 373 students from four secondary schools (two schools in urban category and another two in rural category) in Perak. Inferential analyses using hypothesis and t-test, and descriptive analyses using mean and percentage were used to analyze the data. Results showed that there were no big difference (acceptance constructs between urban and rural secondary schools except computer anxiety.

  6. A matching decomposition of the rural–urban difference in malnutrition in Malawi

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-01-01

    Background Child malnutrition remains widespread in many developing countries. Malnutrition during infancy may substantially increase vulnerability to infection and disease, and the risk of premature death. Malnutrition in children may also lead to permanent effects and to their having diminished health capital later in life as adults. These negative consequences of child malnutrition entail that the reduction of child malnutrition is vital for the social-economic development of countries. Urban children generally have better nutritional status than rural children. Malawi is no exception in this regard. The objective of this paper is to explore how much of the rural-urban nutrition gap in Malawi is explained and how much is unexplained by differences in characteristics. Method Using data from the 2006 multiple indicator cluster survey (MICS), the paper used the Nopo decomposition method to decompose the rural-urban malnutrition gap. This nonparametric method takes into account the fact that the supports of the distributions of characteristics between the two areas can be different. Results The results show that 90% and 89% of the stunting and underweight gaps respectively would be eliminated if there were no urban children with combinations of characteristics which positively influence child nutrition that remain entirely unmatched by rural children. Further to that, 4% and 6% of the stunting and underweight gaps respectively would disappear if there were no rural children with combinations of characteristics which negatively affect child nutrition that remain entirely unmatched by urban children. Conclusions These findings suggest that the characteristics which negatively affect child nutrition in rural areas play a small role in the gap, and that most of the gap is largely due to the favourable characteristics such as better parental education and better household economic status among others that urban children have. The findings imply that in order to reduce

  7. Urban-rural disparity in utilization of preventive care services in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Xiang; Li, Ningxiu; Liu, Chaojie; Ren, Xiaohui; Liu, Danping; Gao, Bo; Liu, Yuanyuan

    2016-09-01

    Preventive care service is considered pivotal on the background of demographic ageing and a rise in chronic diseases in China. The disparity in utilization of preventive care services between urban and rural in China is a serious issue. In this paper, we explored factors associated with urban-rural disparity in utilization of preventive care services in China, and determined how much of the urban-rural disparity was attributable to each determinant of utilization in preventive care services. Using representative sample data from China Health and Nutrition Survey in 2011 (N = 12,976), the present study performed multilevel logistic model to examine the factors that affected utilization of preventive care services in last 4 weeks. Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition method was applied to divide the utilization of preventive care disparity between urban and rural residents into a part that can be explained by differences in observed covariates and unobserved part. The percentage of rural residents utilizing preventive care service in last 4 weeks was lower than that of urban residents (5.1% vs 9.3%). Female, the aged, residents with higher education level and household income, residents reporting self-perceived illness in last 4 weeks and physician-diagnosed chronic disease had higher likelihood of utilizing preventive care services. Household income was the most important factor accounting for 26.6% of urban-rural disparities in utilization of preventive care services, followed by education (21.5%), self-perceived illness in last 4 weeks (7.8%), hypertension (4.4%), diabetes (3.3%), other chronic diseases (0.8%), and health insurance (-1.0%). Efforts to reduce financial barriers for low-income individuals who cannot afford preventive services, increasing awareness of the importance of obtaining preventive health services and providing more preventive health services covered by health insurance, may help to reduce the gap of preventive care services utilization between

  8. Gender, Location and Rural-Urban Differences in the Goal ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The need to identify critical factors necessary to improve the mandate attainment of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Scheme informed this study on gender, location and rural-urban differences in the goal attainment of NYSC in South West Nigeria. Using a multistage sampling procedure, 120 outgoing youth corps ...

  9. HIV/AIDS-related sexual risk behaviors among rural residents in China: potential role of rural-to-urban migration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xiaoming; Zhang, Liying; Stanton, Bonita; Fang, Xiaoyi; Xiong, Qing; Lin, Danhua

    2007-01-01

    The relationship between rural-to-urban migration and the spread of HIV is well described, although most studies focus on sexual risk behaviors among rural-to-urban migrants at the urban destination areas. Few studies have examined the sexual risk behaviors of migrants who have returned from urban areas to their rural homes (“return migrants”) in comparison with those of local rural residents who have never migrated to cities (“non-migrants”). This study examines the potential association between rural-to-urban migration and sexual risk behaviors by comparing sexual risk behaviors between 553 return migrants and 441 non-migrants from same rural communities in China. Findings reveal that, after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, return migrants in rural areas had higher levels of sexual risk, including unprotected sex, than non-migrants. Among return migrants, sexual risk behaviors were associated with age, gender, marital status, and number of different jobs they had previously held in the cities. These findings underscore the importance for HIV/AIDS education and prevention efforts targeting the migrant population in urban destinations as well as the return migrant population in rural areas. PMID:17967110

  10. Urban vs. rural factors that affect adult asthma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jie, Yu; Isa, Zaleha Md; Jie, Xu; Ju, Zhang Long; Ismail, Noor Hassim

    2013-01-01

    In this review, our aim was to examine the influence of geographic variations on asthma prevalence and morbidity among adults, which is important for improving our understanding, identifying the burden, and for developing and implementing interventions aimed at reducing asthma morbidity. Asthma is a complex inflammatory disease of multifactorial origin, and is influenced by both environmental and genetic factors. The disparities in asthma prevalence and morbidity among the world's geographic locations are more likely to be associated with environmental exposures than genetic differences. In writing this article, we found that the indoor factors most consistently associated with asthma and asthma-related symptoms in adults included fuel combustion, mold growth, and environmental tobacco smoke in both urban and rural areas. Asthma and asthma-related symptoms occurred more frequently in urban than in rural areas, and that difference correlated with environmental risk exposures, SES, and healthcare access. Environmental risk factors to which urban adults were more frequently exposed than rural adults were dust mites,high levels of vehicle emissions, and a westernized lifestyle.Exposure to indoor biological contaminants in the urban environment is common.The main risk factors for developing asthma in urban areas are atopy and allergy to house dust mites, followed by allergens from animal dander. House dust mite exposure may potentially explain differences in diagnosis of asthma prevalence and morbidity among adults in urban vs. rural areas. In addition, the prevalence of asthma morbidity increases with urbanization. High levels of vehicle emissions,Western lifestyles and degree of urbanization itself, may affect outdoor and thereby indoor air quality. In urban areas, biomass fuels have been widely replaced by cleaner energy sources at home, such as gas and electricity, but in most developing countries, coal is still a major source of fuel for cooking and heating

  11. Rural-Urban Differences in Preventable Hospitalizations among Community-Dwelling Veterans with Dementia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thorpe, Joshua M.; Van Houtven, Courtney H.; Sleath, Betsy L.; Thorpe, Carolyn T.

    2010-01-01

    Context: Alzheimer's patients living in rural communities may face significant barriers to effective outpatient medical care. Purpose: We sought to examine rural-urban differences in risk for ambulatory care sensitive hospitalizations (ACSH), an indicator of access to outpatient care, in community-dwelling veterans with dementia. Methods: Medicare…

  12. Urban-Rural Differences in Health-Care-Seeking Pattern of Residents of Abia State, Nigeria, and the Implication in the Control of NCDs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Onyeonoro, Ugochukwu U; Ogah, Okechukwu S; Ukegbu, Andrew U; Chukwuonye, Innocent I; Madukwe, Okechukwu O; Moses, Akhimiem O

    2016-01-01

    Understanding the differences in care-seeking pattern is key in designing interventions aimed at improving health-care service delivery, including prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases. The aim of this study was to identify the differences and determinants of care-seeking patterns of urban and rural residents in Abia State in southeast Nigeria. This was a cross-sectional, community-based, study involving 2999 respondents aged 18 years and above. Data were collected using the modified World Health Organization's STEPS questionnaire, including data on care seeking following the onset of illness. Descriptive statistics and logistic regressions were used to analyze care-seeking behavior and to identify differences among those seeking care in urban and rural areas. In both urban and rural areas, patent medicine vendors (73.0%) were the most common sources of primary care following the onset of illness, while only 20.0% of the participants used formal care. Significant predictors of difference in care-seeking practices between residents in urban and rural communities were educational status, income, occupation, and body mass index. Efforts should be made to reduce barriers to formal health-care service utilization in the state by increasing health insurance coverage, strengthening the health-care system, and increasing the role of patent medicine vendors in the formal health-care delivery system.

  13. Working Memory Differences between Children Living in Rural and Urban Poverty

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tine, Michele

    2014-01-01

    This study was designed to investigate if the working memory profiles of children living in rural poverty are distinct from the working memory profiles of children living in urban poverty. Verbal and visuospatial working memory tasks were administered to sixth-grade students living in low-income rural, low-income urban, high-income rural, and…

  14. Differences in Pattern and Driving Forces between Urban and Rural Settlements in the Coastal Region of Ningbo, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mingxing Chen

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Rapid urbanization on the coast of China has attracted much attention. The objective of this study was to explore the differences in dynamics and related driving forces between urban and rural settlements. Applying the quantitative method, we demonstrate that substantial heterogeneity in settlement growth, landscape pattern metrics, change, land sources and driving forces is exhibited across the different types of urban and rural settlements. The spatial growth of urban settlements is dominated by in situ expansion, while rural settlements tend to be scattered and shrinking rapidly. The sprawl of human settlements has mainly occupied farm land, but reclamation projects are increasingly becoming important land sources for urban settlements. Local government has played a critical role in urban settlements, while the expansion of rural settlements is mainly driven by individual choice and village collective organizations. Such differences may account for differential options for the management of human settlements scientifically.

  15. Smoking and heavy drinking patterns in rural, urban and rural-to-urban migrants: the PERU MIGRANT Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taype-Rondan, Alvaro; Bernabe-Ortiz, Antonio; Alvarado, Germán F; Gilman, Robert H; Smeeth, Liam; Miranda, J Jaime

    2017-02-03

    Previous studies have found mixed results about cigarette and alcohol consumption patterns among rural-to-urban migrants. Moreover, there are limited longitudinal data about consumption patterns in this population. As such, this study aimed to compare the smoking and heavy drinking prevalence among rural, urban, and rural-to-urban migrants in Peru, as well as the smoking and heavy drinking incidence in a 5-year follow-up. We analyzed the PERU MIGRANT Study data from rural, urban, and rural-to-urban migrant populations in Peru. The baseline study was carried out in 2006-2007 and follow-up was performed five years later. For the baseline data analysis, the prevalence of lifetime smoking, current smokers, and heavy drinking was compared by population group using prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). For the longitudinal analysis, the incidence of smoking and heavy drinking was compared by population group with risk ratios (RR) and 95% CI. Poisson regression with robust variance was used to calculate both PRs and RRs. We analyzed data from 988 participants: 200 rural dwellers, 589 migrants, and 199 urban dwellers. Compared with migrants, lifetime smoking prevalence was higher in the urban group (PR = 2.29, 95% CI = 1.64-3.20), but lower in the rural group (PR = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.31-0.99). Compared with migrants, the urban group had a higher current smoking prevalence (PR = 2.29, 95% CI = 1.26-4.16), and a higher smoking incidence (RR = 2.75, 95% CI = 1.03-7.34). Current smoking prevalence and smoking incidence showed no significant difference between rural and migrant groups. The prevalence and incidence of heavy drinking was similar across the three population groups. Our results show a trend in lifetime smoking prevalence (urban > migrant > rural), while smoking incidence was similar between migrant and rural groups, but higher in the urban group. In addition, our results suggest that different

  16. Smoking and heavy drinking patterns in rural, urban and rural-to-urban migrants: the PERU MIGRANT Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alvaro Taype-Rondan

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Previous studies have found mixed results about cigarette and alcohol consumption patterns among rural-to-urban migrants. Moreover, there are limited longitudinal data about consumption patterns in this population. As such, this study aimed to compare the smoking and heavy drinking prevalence among rural, urban, and rural-to-urban migrants in Peru, as well as the smoking and heavy drinking incidence in a 5-year follow-up. Methods We analyzed the PERU MIGRANT Study data from rural, urban, and rural-to-urban migrant populations in Peru. The baseline study was carried out in 2006–2007 and follow-up was performed five years later. For the baseline data analysis, the prevalence of lifetime smoking, current smokers, and heavy drinking was compared by population group using prevalence ratios (PR and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI. For the longitudinal analysis, the incidence of smoking and heavy drinking was compared by population group with risk ratios (RR and 95% CI. Poisson regression with robust variance was used to calculate both PRs and RRs. Results We analyzed data from 988 participants: 200 rural dwellers, 589 migrants, and 199 urban dwellers. Compared with migrants, lifetime smoking prevalence was higher in the urban group (PR = 2.29, 95% CI = 1.64–3.20, but lower in the rural group (PR = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.31–0.99. Compared with migrants, the urban group had a higher current smoking prevalence (PR = 2.29, 95% CI = 1.26–4.16, and a higher smoking incidence (RR = 2.75, 95% CI = 1.03–7.34. Current smoking prevalence and smoking incidence showed no significant difference between rural and migrant groups. The prevalence and incidence of heavy drinking was similar across the three population groups. Conclusions Our results show a trend in lifetime smoking prevalence (urban > migrant > rural, while smoking incidence was similar between migrant and rural groups, but higher in the

  17. Connecting rural-urban economies?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Marianne Nylandsted; Birch-Thomsen, Torben; Lazaro, Evelyn

    The interlinked relationships between urban settlements and their rural hinterlands in Sub-Saharan Africa are perceived crucial in enhancing possibilities for livelihood diversification and poverty reduction. Urban settlements provide opportunities for investment in more remunerative economic...... activities, job/employment opportunities that retain potential migrants in the area, and access to services for the rural hinterlands. This paper examines the role of emerging urban centres (EUCs) as ‘drivers’ of rural development based on a study of two EUCs and their rural hinterlands in Tanzania. Findings...... and poverty reduction....

  18. Urban development and employment in Abidjan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joshi, H; Lubell, H; Mouly, J

    1975-04-01

    expectations and reality, it must be realized that an increasing share of the urban labor force will have to end up in the informal sector. Different attitudes towards work in the informal sector are needed on the part of both young people entering the labor force and of government policy makers. The latter should be seeking ways to increase productivity and incomes in the informal sector rather than for ways to destroy it. Current government policies include the training and educating of nationals to replace foreign technicians and managers, increasing the attractiveness of the rural milieu by the promotion of cooperatives, attempts to reform the land tenure system, the supply of electricity to villages, and the introduction of educational television; and adapting the educational system and technical training programs to the needs of the economy.

  19. analysis of differences in rural-urban households food expenditure ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Kwara households spend more on food (74.39% in rural and 75% in urban) than their Kogi counterpart (57.41% in rural and ... food consumption is likely to change with changes in prices, ... is the neoclassical model of consumer choice. This.

  20. Rural and Urban Youth Programs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Backman, Kenneth; And Others

    This publication provides a variety of information on prevention and intervention programs for rural and urban children and adolescents. Drawing from a rural sociological perspective, the introductory paper defines "rural," discusses rural-urban economic and social differences, and lists indicators of risk for rural youth. It discusses the extent…

  1. Parental encouragement of initiative-taking and adjustment in Chinese children from rural, urban, and urbanized families.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Xinyin; Li, Dan

    2012-12-01

    Due to the requirements of the competitive, market-oriented urban society, parents in urban and urbanized families are more likely than parents in rural families to encourage initiative-taking in child rearing in China. The socialization experiences of children from different types of families may be related to their adjustment. This study examined parental socialization attitudes, social and school adjustment, and their relations in Chinese children from rural, urban, and urbanized families. Participants were elementary school students (N = 1,033; M age = 11 years) and their parents in China. Data were obtained from parental reports, peer evaluations, teacher ratings, and school records. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed that parents in urban and urbanized families had higher scores than parents in rural families on encouragement of initiative-taking. Urban children, particularly girls, were more sociable, obtained higher social status, and had fewer school problems than their rural counterparts. Children from urbanized families were different from rural children and similar to urban children in social and school adjustment. Moreover, multigroup invariance tests showed that parental encouragement of initiative-taking was associated more strongly with children's sociable-assertive behavior and social standing in the urban and urbanized groups than in the rural group. The results indicate that particular socialization attitudes may vary in their adaptive value in child development as a function of specific social and cultural requirements in changing societies. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

  2. Rural-urban and racial-ethnic differences in awareness of direct-to-consumer genetic testing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salloum, Ramzi G; George, Thomas J; Silver, Natalie; Markham, Merry-Jennifer; Hall, Jaclyn M; Guo, Yi; Bian, Jiang; Shenkman, Elizabeth A

    2018-02-23

    Access to direct-to-consumer genetic testing services has increased in recent years. However, disparities in knowledge and awareness of these services are not well documented. We examined awareness of genetic testing services by rural/urban and racial/ethnic status. Analyses were conducted using pooled cross-sectional data from 4 waves (2011-2014) of the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). Descriptive statistics compared sample characteristics and information sources by rural/urban residence. Logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between geography, racial/ethnic status, and awareness of genetic testing, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. Of 13,749 respondents, 16.7% resided in rural areas, 13.8% were Hispanic, and 10.1% were non-Hispanic black. Rural residents were less likely than urban residents to report awareness of genetic testing (OR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.63-0.87). Compared with non-Hispanic whites, racial/ethnic minorities were less likely to be aware of genetic testing: Hispanic (OR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.56-0.82); and non-Hispanic black (OR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.61-0.90). Rural-urban and racial-ethnic differences exist in awareness of direct-to-consumer genetic testing. These differences may translate into disparities in the uptake of genetic testing, health behavior change, and disease prevention through precision and personalized medicine.

  3. Rural-urban migration in a developing country: Botswana, Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tarver, J D; Miller, H M

    1987-01-01

    Trends in internal migration in Botswana are analyzed, with a focus on rural-urban migration. Data are from the 1981 census and from a survey carried out in 1979. The authors note that even though the predominance of subsistence agriculture acts as a deterrent to rural-urban migration, it is probable that the total and percentage of people living in urban areas will increase. However, the magnitude and pattern of future migration will fluctuate over time as social and economic conditions change.

  4. Urban and rural land use in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sebastian Martinuzzi; William A. Gould; Olga M. Ramos Gonzalez; Maya Quinones; Michael E. Jimenez

    2008-01-01

    We have developed three land use regions for Puerto Rico: Urban, Suburban, and Rural (Gould et al. 2008; Martinuzzi et al. 2007). These three regions can also be considered urban, densely-populated rural, and sparsely-populated rural or as urban and wildland with a wildland-urban interface. The suburban use is the most dynamic in terms of population growth and land...

  5. ANALYSIS OF ECONOMIC GAPS BETWEEN URBAN AND RURAL ROMANIAN AREAS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Toader Valentin

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available In this paper the authors will perform a comparative analysis of the impact that the population residential areas have on the economic and social activity from Romania. Our analysis will be carried out for a time span of 10 years, between 2000 and 2009. The main purposes are to emphasize the economic gaps between the residential areas (urban and rural and to identify the factors that determine these gaps. The economic differences between rural and urban areas and their impact on the peoples standard of living represent an important issue for international institutions like IFRC, UNICEF or OECD. Also, this topic represents a frequent subject in the economic literature from poor and developing countries. Studies conducted by Huong and Booth (2010, Alister, Alana and Ayele (2007, Chao, Zhidong and Mingxing (2008, Mateoc-Srb, Mateoc, Darva?i and Manescu (2008 or Sahn and Stifel (2002 are representative examples. Most of these papers focus on the living standards differences generated by the differences between income and expenditures between urban and rural areas. To achieve our goals, we will use the statistical methods to analyze the data released by the National Institute of Statistics. We will try to find some correlations between the economic indicators household incomes, value and structure of household expenditures, structure of household expenditures the social indicators residential area, education level, age and occupation. The highlight of the gaps between the rural and urban areas will be the main objective during this analysis. We conclude that in Romania there are substantial differences between rural and urban areas. The income differences are determining different consumption patterns between rural and urban persons. In rural areas, the population is spending less in all goods and services aspect that reduce their standard of living. Anyway, the results obtained are the subject of at least two possible limits. The fact that the data

  6. Urban-rural differences in childhood and adolescent obesity in the United States: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, James Allen; Johnson, Asal Mohamadi

    2015-06-01

    A systematic literature review and subsequent meta-analysis were performed to investigate differences in childhood obesity between urban and rural areas in the United States. A search of published studies comparing childhood obesity in urban and rural settings was undertaken by probing PubMed and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) for articles that met predetermined inclusion criteria. A subsequent meta-analysis was conducted to determine the combined effect size and significance of differences in childhood obesity between urban and rural areas. Ten studies were identified for systematic review, five of which contributed to the meta-analysis. All but one study suggested that residence in rural areas was associated with higher prevalence or increased odds of childhood obesity, compared to children living in urban areas. A meta-analysis of 74,168 pooled participants ages 2-19 found that rural children have 26% greater odds of obesity, compared to urban children (odds ratio=1.26; 95% confidence interval, 1.21-1.32). Obesity rates are higher among rural children than urban children in the United States. To ensure successful targeted interventions and effective resource allocation, practitioners and policy makers alike should be cognizant of this disparity in childhood obesity.

  7. Family planning among women in urban and rural areas in Serbia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antić Ljiljana

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction. Family planning is an important aspect of population policy at the state level, because the demographic trends in Serbia are very unfavorable. Objective. The objective of this study was to examine the differences in family planning between the women in rural and urban areas of Serbia. Methods. This study represents the secondary analysis of the National Health Survey of the population in Serbia from 2006, which was conducted as a cross sectional study, on a representative sample of the population. Results. The respondents who used condoms as a method of contraception, were often younger, better educated, had better financial status, lived in Vojvodina, and had no children. Conclusion. Our study showed that there were differences in terms of family planning between the women of urban and rural areas, however, these differences could be explained by differences in age and education. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 175025: National Health Survey of the Population of Serbia

  8. An Empirical Analysis of Rural-Urban Differences in Out-Of-Pocket Health Expenditures in a Low-Income Society of China.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lidan Wang

    Full Text Available The paper examines whether out-of-pocket health care expenditure also has regional discrepancies, comparing to the equity between urban and rural areas, and across households.Sampled data were derived from Urban Household Survey and Rural Household Survey data for 2011/2012 for Anhui Province, and 11049 households were included in this study. The study compared differences in out-of-pocket expenditure on health care between regions (urban vs. rural areas and years (2011 vs. 2012 using two-sample t-test, and also investigated the degree of inequality using Lorenz and concentration curves.Approximately 5% and 8% of total household consumption expenditure was spent on health care for urban and rural populations, respectively. In 2012, the wealthiest 20% of urban and rural population contributed 49.7% and 55.8% of urban and rural total health expenditure respectively, while the poorest 20% took only 4.7% and 4.4%. The concentration curve for out-of-pocket expenditure in 2012 fell below the corresponding concentration curve for 2011 for both urban and rural areas, and the difference between curves for rural areas was greater than that for urban areas.A substantial and increasing gap in health care expenditures existed between urban and rural areas in Anhui. The health care financing inequality merits ample attention, with need for policymaking to focus on improving the accessibility to essential health care services, particularly for rural and poor residents. This study may provide useful information on low income areas of China.

  9. Composition of physiologically important fatty acids in great tits differs between urban and rural populations on a seasonal basis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martin N Andersson

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Fatty acids (FA have crucial functions in animals, affecting e.g. inflammatory responses, thermoregulation, and cell membrane fluidity. Diet and ambient temperature affect animals’ FA composition, which, in turn, may influence these physiological processes. Great tits (Parus major −common in both urban and rural habitats− are mainly granivorous during winter and insectivorous during summer. These diets show pronounced differences in FA composition. Such variation has context-dependent effects on physiology, because the thermal environment, food availability, and levels of pro-inflammatory environmental stressors differ between urban and rural areas. Thus, we investigated how great tit plasma FA composition varied between urban and rural habitats and across seasons. Eight FAs differed between urban and rural birds. Among these, arachidonic acid (omega (ω-6 polyunsaturated FA with thermoregulatory and pro-inflammatory properties was more abundant in urban than rural birds in winter, whereas ω-3 FAs with anti-inflammatory properties were more abundant in rural birds. The difference in pro- and anti-inflammatory FAs suggest that the negative health effects that urban birds suffer from being exposed to higher levels of pollutants might be enhanced by an elevated inflammatory response. Eight FAs differed between winter and summer birds. This variation reflected the diet change: FAs common in seeds, e.g. oleic- and linoleic acid, were present in higher amounts in winter birds, whereas ω-3 polyunsaturated FAs that are common in caterpillars were more abundant in summer birds. Overall, a larger seasonal variation was seen among the urban birds. This study is the first to reveal a difference in FA composition between urban and rural populations for all animals studied to date. Future experiments should unravel the physiological implications of this variation, and ultimately, link its effects to fitness of animals with different physiological and

  10. Rural versus urban differences in end-of-life care for lung cancer patients in Germany.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walter, Julia; Tufman, Amanda; Leidl, Reiner; Holle, Rolf; Schwarzkopf, Larissa

    2018-07-01

    To assess rural-urban differences in healthcare utilization and supportive care at the end-of-life in German lung cancer patients. We identified 12,929 patients with incident lung cancer in 2009 from claims data and categorized them to four district types (major city, urban, rural, remote rural). We compared site of death, unplanned hospitalizations, hospital days, outpatient doctor, general practitioner (GP) and home visits, structured palliative care, therapy with antidepressants, pain relief medication and chemotherapy, and therapeutic puncturing in the last 30 and 14 days of life using mixed models with logistic link function for binary outcomes and log link function for count data. We adjusted all models by age, sex, comorbidities, metastases location and presence of multiple tumors at diagnosis, survival in months, and type of tumor-directed treatment. We found significant differences in two of the outcomes measured. The likelihood of > 14 hospital days in the last 30 days was significantly higher in rural districts than in remote rural districts (1.27 [1.05, 1.52], p = 0.0003). The number of visits to the GP in the last 30 days of life was significantly lower in urban districts than in remote rural districts (β = - 0.19 [- 0.32, - 0.06], p = <0.0001). No other endpoints were associated with regional differences. Triggering factors for high and low utilization of healthcare were mostly age, comorbidities, and prior anticancer treatment. Healthcare utilization and supportive care did not differ significantly between different district types. Results reject the hypothesis of regional inequity in end-of-life care of lung cancer patients in Germany.

  11. Liberalizing rural-to-urban construction land transfers in China

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tan, Rong; Wang, Rongyu; Heerink, Nico

    2018-01-01

    China's land market is characterized by a dual urban-rural system, with the government in control of rural-urban land transfers. In recent years, different types of pilot projects have been implemented to experiment with liberalizing markets for rural-urban construction land transfers. The objective

  12. Winter Bird Assemblages in Rural and Urban Environments: A National Survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tryjanowski, Piotr; Sparks, Tim H; Biaduń, Waldemar; Brauze, Tomasz; Hetmański, Tomasz; Martyka, Rafał; Skórka, Piotr; Indykiewicz, Piotr; Myczko, Łukasz; Kunysz, Przemysław; Kawa, Piotr; Czyż, Stanisław; Czechowski, Paweł; Polakowski, Michał; Zduniak, Piotr; Jerzak, Leszek; Janiszewski, Tomasz; Goławski, Artur; Duduś, Leszek; Nowakowski, Jacek J; Wuczyński, Andrzej; Wysocki, Dariusz

    2015-01-01

    Urban development has a marked effect on the ecological and behavioural traits of many living organisms, including birds. In this paper, we analysed differences in the numbers of wintering birds between rural and urban areas in Poland. We also analysed species richness and abundance in relation to longitude, latitude, human population size, and landscape structure. All these parameters were analysed using modern statistical techniques incorporating species detectability. We counted birds in 156 squares (0.25 km2 each) in December 2012 and again in January 2013 in locations in and around 26 urban areas across Poland (in each urban area we surveyed 3 squares and 3 squares in nearby rural areas). The influence of twelve potential environmental variables on species abundance and richness was assessed with Generalized Linear Mixed Models, Principal Components and Detrended Correspondence Analyses. Totals of 72 bird species and 89,710 individual birds were recorded in this study. On average (± SE) 13.3 ± 0.3 species and 288 ± 14 individuals were recorded in each square in each survey. A formal comparison of rural and urban areas revealed that 27 species had a significant preference; 17 to rural areas and 10 to urban areas. Moreover, overall abundance in urban areas was more than double that of rural areas. There was almost a complete separation of rural and urban bird communities. Significantly more birds and more bird species were recorded in January compared to December. We conclude that differences between rural and urban areas in terms of winter conditions and the availability of resources are reflected in different bird communities in the two environments.

  13. Winter Bird Assemblages in Rural and Urban Environments: A National Survey.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Piotr Tryjanowski

    Full Text Available Urban development has a marked effect on the ecological and behavioural traits of many living organisms, including birds. In this paper, we analysed differences in the numbers of wintering birds between rural and urban areas in Poland. We also analysed species richness and abundance in relation to longitude, latitude, human population size, and landscape structure. All these parameters were analysed using modern statistical techniques incorporating species detectability. We counted birds in 156 squares (0.25 km2 each in December 2012 and again in January 2013 in locations in and around 26 urban areas across Poland (in each urban area we surveyed 3 squares and 3 squares in nearby rural areas. The influence of twelve potential environmental variables on species abundance and richness was assessed with Generalized Linear Mixed Models, Principal Components and Detrended Correspondence Analyses. Totals of 72 bird species and 89,710 individual birds were recorded in this study. On average (± SE 13.3 ± 0.3 species and 288 ± 14 individuals were recorded in each square in each survey. A formal comparison of rural and urban areas revealed that 27 species had a significant preference; 17 to rural areas and 10 to urban areas. Moreover, overall abundance in urban areas was more than double that of rural areas. There was almost a complete separation of rural and urban bird communities. Significantly more birds and more bird species were recorded in January compared to December. We conclude that differences between rural and urban areas in terms of winter conditions and the availability of resources are reflected in different bird communities in the two environments.

  14. Food systems: New-Ruralism versus New-Urbanism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azadi, Hossein; Van Acker, Veronique; Zarafshani, Kiumars; Witlox, Frank

    2012-08-30

    There is a growing debate on whether agricultural land in urban fringes should be maintained or converted to other uses. While 'pro-ruralists' believe agricultural land conversion can threaten food security and cause rural-urban migration, 'pro-urbanists' find it a necessary change for transition from a primitive agricultural-based community to an advanced industrial-based society which has the capacity to create mass productions. New-Ruralists follow an agricultural-based development approach that promotes small-medium farming and acknowledges rural lifestyle while New-Urbanists give a priority to large industrial-based sectors and encourage urban lifestyle. Given the unlike concerns of different societies, the paper concludes that the approaches might have different priorities in the less developed, developing, and developed world. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry.

  15. Use of Free, Open Access Medical Education and Perceived Emergency Medicine Educational Needs Among Rural Physicians in Southwestern Ontario.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Folkl, Alex; Chan, Teresa; Blau, Elaine

    2016-09-21

    Free, open access medical education (FOAM) has the potential to revolutionize continuing medical education, particularly for rural physicians who practice emergency medicine (EM) as part of a generalist practice. However, there has been little study of rural physicians' educational needs since the advent of FOAM. We asked how rural physicians in Southwestern Ontario obtained their continuing EM education. We asked them to assess their perceived level of comfort in different areas of EM. To understand how FOAM resources might serve the rural EM community, we compared their responses with urban emergency physicians. Responses were collected via survey and interview. There was no significant difference between groups in reported use of FOAM resources. However, there was a significant difference between rural and urban physicians' perceived level of EM knowledge, with urban physicians reporting a higher degree of confidence for most knowledge categories, particularly those related to critical care and rare procedures. This study provides the first description of EM knowledge and FOAM resource utilization among rural physicians in Southwestern Ontario. It also highlights an area of educational need -- that is, critical care and rare procedures. Future work should address whether rural physicians are using FOAM specifically to improve their critical care and procedural knowledge. As well, because of the generalist nature of rural practice, future work should clarify whether there is an opportunity cost to rural physicians' knowledge of other clinical domains if they chose to focus more time on continuing education in critical care EM.

  16. Promoting and developing a trail network across suburban, rural, and urban communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schasberger, Michele G; Hussa, Carol S; Polgar, Michael F; McMonagle, Julie A; Burke, Sharon J; Gegaris, Andrew J

    2009-12-01

    The Wyoming Valley Wellness Trails Partnership received an Active Living by Design grant late in 2003 for a project centered on a growing trail network linking urban, suburban, and rural communities in northeast Pennsylvania, a former coal region, in order to increase physical activity among residents. The partnership conducted research, collected information, created promotional documents, worked with partners on events and programs, and participated in trail planning. Local trail organizations continued planning and construction toward developing a trail network. Other partners spearheaded policy change in schools and worksites and worked toward downtown revitalization. The partnership assisted these efforts by providing a forum in which organizations could meet. The partnership became a central resource for information about local parks, trails, and outdoor recreational activities. The partnership increased awareness and use of recreational facilities. Trail partners constructed 22 miles of walking and biking trails. The partnership took advantage of an allied effort that created organizational capacity for wellness in schools and worksites. Messages promoting social and entertainment benefits of physical activity were more successful than those promoting health benefits. The existence of multiple small, independent trail organizations can help advance trail development through concurrent development efforts. Urban, suburban, and rural residents' conceptions of walkability may differ. Trails provide options for recreational and transportation-related physical activity across urban, suburban, and rural landscapes that are supported by all constituents. Trail builders can be strong allies in bringing active living to suburban and rural places.

  17. The prevalence of angina symptoms and association with cardiovascular risk factors, among rural, urban and rural to urban migrant populations in Peru

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gilman Robert H

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Rural-to-urban migration in low- and middle-income countries causes an increase in individual cardiovascular risk. Cost-effective interventions at early stages of the natural history of coronary disease such as angina may stem an epidemic of premature coronary deaths in these countries. However, there are few data on the prevalence of angina in developing countries, whilst the understanding the aetiology of angina is complicated by the difficulty in measuring it across differing populations. Methods The PERU MIGRANT study was designed to investigate differences between rural-to-urban migrant and non-migrant groups in specific cardiovascular disease risk factors. Mass-migration seen in Peru from 1980s onwards was largely driven by politically motivated violence resulting in less 'healthy migrant' selection bias. The Rose angina questionnaire was used to record chest pain, which was classified definite, possible and non-exertional. Mental health was measured using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12. Mantel-Haenszel odds ratios (adjusted for age, sex, cardiovascular disease risk factors and mental health were used to assess the risk of chest pain in the migrant and urban groups compared to the rural group, and further to assess the relationship (age and sex-adjusted between risk factors, mental health and chest pain. Results Compared to the urban group, rural dwellers had a greatly increased likelihood of possible/definite angina (multi-adjusted OR 2.82 (1.68- 4.73. Urban and migrant groups had higher levels of risk factors (e.g. smoking - 20.1% urban, 5.5% rural. No diabetes was seen in the rural dwellers who complained of possible/definite angina. Rural dwellers had a higher prevalence of mood disorder and the presence of a mood disorder was associated with possible/definite angina in all three groups, but not consistently with non-exertional chest pain. Conclusion Rural groups had a higher prevalence of angina as

  18. Rural-urban comparisons of dengue seroprevalence in Malaysia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cheng Hoon Chew

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Each year an estimated 390 million dengue infections occur worldwide. In Malaysia, dengue is a growing public health concern but estimate of its disease burden remains uncertain. We compared the urban-rural difference of dengue seroprevalence and determined age-specific dengue seroprevalence in Malaysia. Methods We undertook analysis on 11,821 subjects from six seroprevalence surveys conducted in Malaysia between 2001 and 2013, which composed of five urban and two rural series. Results Prevalence of dengue increased with age in both urban and rural locations in Malaysia, which exceeded 90 % among those aged 70 years or beyond. The age-specific rates of the 5 urban surveys overlapped without clear separation among them, while prevalence was lower in younger subjects in rural series than in urban series, the trend reversed in older subjects. There were no differences in the seroprevalence by gender, ethnicity or region. Poisson regression model confirmed the prevalence have not changed in urban areas since 2001 but in rural areas, there was a significant positive time trend such that by year 2008, rural prevalence was as high as in urban areas. Conclusion Dengue seroprevalence has stabilized but persisted at a high level in urban areas since 2001, and is fast stabilizing in rural areas at the same high urban levels by 2008. The cumulative seroprevalence of dengue exceeds 90 % by the age of 70 years, which translates into 16.5 million people or 55 % of the total population in Malaysia, being infected by dengue by 2013.

  19. Rural-urban comparisons of dengue seroprevalence in Malaysia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chew, Cheng Hoon; Woon, Yuan Liang; Amin, Faridah; Adnan, Tassha H; Abdul Wahab, Asmah Hani; Ahmad, Zul Edzhar; Bujang, Mohd Adam; Abdul Hamid, Abdul Muneer; Jamal, Rahman; Chen, Wei Seng; Hor, Chee Peng; Yeap, Lena; Hoo, Ling Ping; Goh, Pik Pin; Lim, Teck Onn

    2016-08-18

    Each year an estimated 390 million dengue infections occur worldwide. In Malaysia, dengue is a growing public health concern but estimate of its disease burden remains uncertain. We compared the urban-rural difference of dengue seroprevalence and determined age-specific dengue seroprevalence in Malaysia. We undertook analysis on 11,821 subjects from six seroprevalence surveys conducted in Malaysia between 2001 and 2013, which composed of five urban and two rural series. Prevalence of dengue increased with age in both urban and rural locations in Malaysia, which exceeded 90 % among those aged 70 years or beyond. The age-specific rates of the 5 urban surveys overlapped without clear separation among them, while prevalence was lower in younger subjects in rural series than in urban series, the trend reversed in older subjects. There were no differences in the seroprevalence by gender, ethnicity or region. Poisson regression model confirmed the prevalence have not changed in urban areas since 2001 but in rural areas, there was a significant positive time trend such that by year 2008, rural prevalence was as high as in urban areas. Dengue seroprevalence has stabilized but persisted at a high level in urban areas since 2001, and is fast stabilizing in rural areas at the same high urban levels by 2008. The cumulative seroprevalence of dengue exceeds 90 % by the age of 70 years, which translates into 16.5 million people or 55 % of the total population in Malaysia, being infected by dengue by 2013.

  20. Differences in students' mathematics engagement between gender and between rural and urban schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ayub, Ahmad Fauzi Mohd; Yunus, Aida Suraya Md.; Mahmud, Rosnaini; Salim, Nur Raidah; Sulaiman, Tajularipin

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to explore secondary school students' mathematics engagement focusing on the cognitive, affective and behavioural engagement domains. A total of 387 students (186 male and 201 female) from the urban and rural secondary schools in Pahang, Malaysia, were randomly selected. There were 158 students from the urban schools and 229 students from the rural schools. Descriptive analyses for mathematics engagement domains revealed behavioural engagement had the highest mean (M = 3.74, SD = .63), followed by cognitive engagement (M = 3.56, SD = .43) and affective engagement (M = 3.48, SD = .47). The mean for students' overall mathematics engagement was 3.56 (SD = .46). Further analyses showed there were significant differences in each of the engagement domains in mathematics learning (affective, cognitive and behavioural), where students in the urban schools showed significantly better in the mean scores for affective, cognitive, behavioural domains and the overall mathematics engagement as compared to the students in the rural schools. Similar findings also showed there were significant differences in the overall mathematics engagement mean between the genders. The findings indicated girls were significantly better than boys in all (affective, cognitive and behavioural) of the engagement domains in mathematics learning. It was also shown girls had higher overall mathematics engagement mean as compared to boys. However, the study also indicated the overall students' mathematics engagement was at a moderate level. Besides, the rural school students did not show high mathematics engagement as compared to the urban school students. Further analyses showed girls significantly had better mathematics engagement as compared to boys. Hence, it is recommended that in order to optimize students' mathematics engagement, they should be actively engaged in more participative learning activities in mathematics classrooms. Focus should be given to rural schools

  1. [Fertility in rural and urban areas of Mexico].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia Y Garma, I O

    1989-01-01

    Data from 6 fertility surveys conducted in Mexico between 1969-87 were used to compare rural and urban fertility and to determine whether a significant level of contraceptive usage could be achieved in rural areas despite their lack of socioeconomic development. Age-specific marital fertility rates were calculated for the 4 national-level and 2 rural fertility surveys. The index of fertility control developed by Coale and Trussel was calculated for rural, urban, and all areas. The marital total fertility rate in rural areas declined from 10.6 in 1970 to 7.4 in 1982, a decline of 2.5% annually. From 1982-87 the annual rate of decline in rural fertility slowed to 1.6%, reaching 6.8 children in 1987. The urban marital total fertility rate declined from 7.72 in 1976 to 5.03 in 1987, while the marital total fertility rate for Mexico as a whole declined from 9.04 in 1976 to 5.85 in 1987. The indices of fertility control showed slowly increasing use of contraception in rural areas starting from the very low level of 1969. The urban index of fertility control showed some contraceptive use for all age groups in all surveys. The increases in contraceptive usage were considerable in rural areas from 1976-82 and much less marked in urban areas. From 1982-87 the inverse was observed and the fertility decline in urban areas was more marked. The condition of natural fertility found in rural areas in 1969 subsequently disappeared. Over time, fertility decline and use of contraception have intensified. Contraception is widely practiced in urban areas and is continuing to become more prevalent. The rural fertility decline in 1976-82 suggests that at least sometimes increases in fertility control are more important in rural areas than in urban areas. The theory of modernization, which holds that fertility decline in developed countries is attributable to factors associated with the process of modernization, thus comes into question. However, it is probable that a sustained fertility

  2. The nurse work environment, job satisfaction and turnover rates in rural and urban nursing units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baernholdt, Marianne; Mark, Barbara A

    2009-12-01

    The aim of the present study was to determine whether there are differences in hospital characteristics, nursing unit characteristics, the nurse work environment, job satisfaction and turnover rates in rural and urban nursing units. Research in urban hospitals has found an association between the nurse work environment and job satisfaction and turnover rates, but this association has not been examined in rural hospitals. Rural and urban nursing units were compared in a national random sample of 97 United States hospitals (194 nursing units) with between 99 and 450 beds. Significant differences were found between hospital and nursing unit characteristics and the nurse work environment in rural and urban nursing units. Both nursing unit characteristics and the work environment were found to have a significant influence on nurse job satisfaction and turnover rates. Job satisfaction and turnover rates in rural and urban nursing units are associated with both nursing unit characteristics and the work environment. Both rural and urban hospitals can improve nurse job satisfaction and turnover rates by changing unit characteristics, such as creating better support services and a work environment that supports autonomous nursing practice. Rural hospitals can also improve the work environment by providing nurses with more educational opportunities.

  3. Promoting Compulsory Education in Rural China: What Are the NPOs Doing?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Huiquan

    2012-01-01

    Due to imbalanced social and economic development, education in poverty-stricken rural areas in China is lagging behind that of urban areas. The current study explores the role of the nonprofit organizations (NPOs) involved in rural compulsory education promotion. Results show that the NPOs are providing a variety of programs to promote rural…

  4. Urban-Rural Synergies : An Explorative Study at the NUTS3 Level

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Leeuwen, Eveline

    2015-01-01

    Regions are continually developing. Innovations in agricultural and industrial production affect urban and rural areas in different ways, and climate change and developments in transport and (tele)communication have strong effects on the interaction between them. Although urban and rural areas are

  5. Neighborhood-health links: Differences between rural-to-urban migrants and natives in Shanghai

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Danan Gu

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Background: It is well known that migrant workers tend to have different perceptions of neighborhood environments than urban natives. However, less is known about how these differences in perception may be linked to the health of members of these two groups. Objective: We investigated differences in links between perceived neighborhood social and physical environments and three health outcomes, self-rated health, social stress, and chronic conditions, between rural-to-urban migrants (migrant workers and Shanghai-born native urban residents in China. Methods: Data used in this study were based on a survey of 477 rural-to-urban migrants and 546 native urban residents aged 18-64, conducted in Shanghai in 2008. Logistic regression analyses were performed to model relationships for migrant workers and native residents. Results: We found that among migrant workers, more positive perceptions of neighborhood social environments (social cohesion and safety were linked to better self-rated health and lower levels of perceived stress but were not linked to chronic disease conditions; there were also no links between perceptions of physical environments and any of the three health outcomes of this study among migrant workers. By contrast, among urban natives, more positive perceptions of neighborhood social environments were linked to lower odds of chronic disease conditions but were not linked to self-rated health and perceived stress; more positive perceptions of physical environments (amenities and air quality were linked with lower odds of social stress and of chronic disease conditions. Conclusions: Neighborhood social and physical environments affected the health of migrant workers and urban natives differently.

  6. [A longitudinal study of urban-rural growth differences among infants fed with breast milk in six economically better areas in China].

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-07-01

    To understand the differences between urban and rural breast-fed infants' growth patterns. In economically better regions of six provinces in China, 1147 urban and 1058 rural subjects were recruited by the project respectively, and their longitudinal weight, length, and head circumference were measured from birth to 12 months old. The monitoring frequency was 16 times in total. Analysis was conducted to compare the growth patterns between 497 of urban and 764 of rural subjects meeting the breast-fed babies definition by WHO. During the first year after birth, urban breast-feeding boys' weight, length, head circumference increased by 7.13 kg, 26.9 cm, and 12.4 cm respectively, and 6.60 kg, 26.1 cm, and 11.9 cm for girls. The corresponding values of rural population were 6.70 kg, 25.7 cm and 12.4 cm for boys, and 6.20 kg, 25.0 cm, and 11.8 cm for girls respectively. The gaps existed in the three physical indexes between urban and rural breastfeeding babies were 110 - 480 g, 1.2 - 2.0 cm and 0.1 - 0.6 cm for boys, and 200 - 510 g, 1.3 - 1.7 cm, and 0.4 - 0.6 cm for girls. In about 50% of monitoring age points, monthly increments of urban boy's weight presented higher than rural samples, but only 17% for girl's weight, and boy/girl's length and head circumference. The urban-rural regional gaps in breast-fed infants' physical development were not optimistic and seemed to be wider in boys than in girls. There are still large room for improvement for growth of infants in rural areas.

  7. Particulate matter in rural and urban nursery schools in Portugal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nunes, R.A.O.; Branco, P.T.B.S.; Alvim-Ferraz, M.C.M.; Martins, F.G.; Sousa, S.I.V.

    2015-01-01

    Studies have been showing strong associations between exposures to indoor particulate matter (PM) and health effects on children. Urban and rural nursery schools have different known environmental and social differences which make their study relevant. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate indoor PM concentrations on different microenvironments of three rural nursery schools and one urban nursery school, being the only study comparing urban and rural nursery schools considering the PM 1 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 fractions (measured continuously and in terms of mass). Outdoor PM 2.5 and PM 10 were also obtained and I/O ratios have been determined. Indoor PM mean concentrations were higher in the urban nursery than in rural ones, which might have been related to traffic emissions. However, I/O ratios allowed concluding that the recorded concentrations depended more significantly of indoor sources. WHO guidelines and Portuguese legislation exceedances for PM 2.5 and PM 10 were observed mainly in the urban nursery school. - Highlights: • This is the only study comparing urban and rural nurseries considering PM fractions. • A low number of children in classrooms is enough to increase PM concentrations. • Children in urban nurseries are exposed to higher PM concentrations than in rural. • Children were mainly exposed to the finer fractions, which are worse to health. - PM levels were higher in the urban nursery than in the rural ones, which might have been related to traffic emissions. Still concentrations depended more significantly of indoor sources

  8. Urban-rural differences in adolescent eating behaviour: a multilevel cross-sectional study of 15-year-olds in Scotland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levin, Kate A

    2014-08-01

    Improving the diet of the Scottish population has been a government focus in recent years. Population health is known to vary between geographies; therefore alongside trends and socio-economic inequalities in eating behaviour, geographic differences should also be monitored. Eating behaviour data from the 2010 Scotland Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey were modelled using multilevel linear and logistic modelling. Data were collected in schools across urban and rural Scotland. Schoolchildren aged 15 years. Adolescents living in remote rural Scotland had the highest consumption frequency of vegetables (on average consumed on 6·68 d/week) and the lowest consumption frequency of sweets and crisps (on 4·27 and 3·02 d/week, respectively). However, it was not in the major four cities of Scotland (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen) but in the geography described by the classification 'other urban' areas (large towns of between 10 000 and 125 000 residents) that adolescents had the poorest diet. Deprivation and rurality were independently associated with food consumption for all but fruit consumption. Sharing a family meal, dieting behaviour, food poverty and breakfast consumption did not differ by rurality. Variance at the school level was significant for fruit and vegetable consumption frequencies and for irregular breakfast consumption, regardless of rurality. Young people from rural areas have a healthier diet than those living in urban areas. The eating behaviours examined did not explain these differences. Future research should investigate why urban-rural differences exist for consumption frequencies of 'healthy' and 'unhealthy' foods.

  9. Association between education and domestic violence among women being offered an HIV test in urban and rural areas in Kenya.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abuya, Benta A; Onsomu, Elijah O; Moore, DaKysha; Piper, Crystal N

    2012-07-01

    The objective of this study was to examine the association between education and domestic violence among women being offered an HIV test in urban and rural areas in Kenya. A sample selection of women who experienced physical (n = 4,308), sexual (n = 4,309), and emotional violence (n = 4,312) aged 15 to 49 allowed for the estimation of the association between education and domestic violence with further analysis stratified by urban and rural residence. The main outcome of interest was a three-factor (physical, sexual, and emotional) measure for violence with the main predictor being education. Nearly half of all domestic violence, physical (46%), sexual (45%), and emotional (45%) occurred among women aged 15 to 29. After adjusting for confounding variables, women who resided in urban areas and had a postprimary/vocational/secondary and college/university education were 26% (OR = 0.74, 95% CI: [0.64, 0.86]), p education respectively. This was 17% (OR = 0.83, 95% CI: [0.73, 0.94]), p women who resided in rural areas. A surprising finding was that women residing in rural areas with less than a primary education were 35% less likely to have experienced sexual violence (OR = 0.65, 95% CI: [0.43, 0.99]), p education. These findings suggest that physical, sexual, and emotional violence were prevalent in Kenya among married and formerly married women. This study indicates that more research is needed to understand factors for HIV/AIDS among Kenyan women who have specifically tested positive for HIV or identified as AIDS-positive and the implications for women's health.

  10. Rural-urban disparity in oral health-related quality of life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaber, Amal; Galarneau, Chantal; Feine, Jocelyne S; Emami, Elham

    2018-04-01

    The objective of this population-based cross-sectional study was to estimate rural-urban disparity in the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of the Quebec adult population. A 2-stage sampling design was used to collect data from the 1788 parents/caregivers of schoolchildren living in the 8 regions of the province of Quebec in Canada. Andersen's behavioural model for health services utilization was used as a conceptual framework. Place of residency was defined according to the Statistics Canada Census Metropolitan Area and Census Agglomeration Influenced Zone classification. The outcome of interest was OHRQoL measured using the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP)-14 validated questionnaire. Data weighting was applied, and the prevalence, extent and severity of negative oral health impacts were calculated. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses and binary logistic regression. The prevalence of poor oral health-related quality life (OHRQoL) was statistically higher in rural areas than in urban zones (P = .02). Rural residents reported a significantly higher prevalence of negative daily-life impacts in pain, psychological discomfort and social disability OHIP domains (P < .05). Additionally, the rural population showed a greater number of negative oral health impacts (P = .03). There was no significant rural-urban difference in the severity of poor oral health. Logistic regression indicated that the prevalence of poor OHRQoL was significantly related to place of residency (OR = 1.6; 95% CI = 1.1-2.5; P = .022), perceived oral health (OR = 9.4; 95% CI = 5.7-15.5; P < .001), dental treatment needs factors (perceived need for dental treatment, pain, dental care seeking) (OR = 8.7; 95% CI = 4.8-15.6; P < .001) and education (OR = 2.7; 95% CI = 1.8-3.9; P < .001). The results of this study suggest a potential difference in OHRQoL of Quebec rural and urban populations, and a need to develop strategies to promote oral health outcomes

  11. School Segregation and Disparities in Urban, Suburban, and Rural Areas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Logan, John R.; Burdick-Will, Julia

    2018-01-01

    Much of the literature on racial and ethnic educational inequality focuses on the contrast between Black and Hispanic students in urban areas and white suburban students. This study extends past research on school segregation and racial/ethnic disparities by highlighting the importance of rural areas and regional variation. Although schools in rural America are disproportionately white, they nevertheless are like urban schools, and disadvantaged relative to suburban schools, in terms of poverty and test performance. The group most affected by rural school disadvantage is Native Americans, who are a small share of students nationally but much more prominent and highly disadvantaged in rural areas, particularly in some parts of the country. These figures suggest a strong case for including rural schools in the continuing conversation about how to deal with unfairness in public education. PMID:29430018

  12. Rural-Urban Differences in Household Treatment-Seeking Behaviour for Suspected Malaria in Children at Bata District, Equatorial Guinea.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Romay-Barja

    Full Text Available Malaria remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality among children under five years old in Equatorial Guinea. However, little is known about the community management of malaria and treatment-seeking patterns. We aimed to assess symptoms of children with reported malaria and treatment-seeking behaviour of their caretakers in rural and urban areas in the Bata District.A cross-sectional study was conducted in the district of Bata and 440 houses were selected from 18 rural villages and 26 urban neighbourhoods. Differences between rural and urban caregivers and children with reported malaria were assessed through the chi-squared test for independence of categorical variables and the t-Student or the non-parametric Mann-Whitney test for normally or not-normally distributed continuous variables, respectively.Differences between rural and urban households were observed in caregiver treatment-seeking patterns. Fever was the main symptom associated with malaria in both areas. Malaria was treated first at home, particularly in rural areas. The second step was to seek treatment outside the home, mainly at hospital and Health Centre for rural households and at hospital and private clinic for urban ones. Artemether monotherapy was the antimalarial treatment prescribed most often. Households waited for more than 24 hours before seeking treatment outside and delays were longest in rural areas. The total cost of treatment was higher in urban than in rural areas in Bata.The delays in seeking treatment, the type of malaria therapy received and the cost of treatment are the principal problems found in Bata District. Important steps for reducing malaria morbidity and mortality in this area are to provide sufficient supplies of effective antimalarial drugs and to improve malaria treatment skills in households and in both public and private sectors.

  13. Quality-of life of the elderly in urban and rural areas in Serbia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Urosević, Jadranka; Odović, Gordana; Rapaić, Dragan; Davidović, Mladen; Trgovcević, Sanja; Milovanović, Verica

    2015-11-01

    The number of elderly people in the world is growing, in Serbia as well. Serbia is already among the top ten countries with the oldest population, it is the fact. Aging influences the quality of life in different ways. The aim of this study was to assess the health-related quality of life of the elderly in urban and rural areas in Serbia. The study included 100 elderly people aged 65 years and above in urban and rural areas in Serbia. The next questionnaires were used: a socio-demographic questionnaire and a Serbian version of standardized European Euro-QoL questionnaire (EQ-5D-3L), as a basic index for the assessment and description of the quality of life. In the structure of the respondents, according to the achieved social contacts (p = 0.012), the life of those with family members (p = 0.009), and health status (p = 0.000), in relation to the place of residence there was a statistically significant difference. There was a significant difference (p = 0.040), predominantly poor score for anxiety/depression within the rural population. The average value of quality of life in urban and rural areas was not statistically significant (p = 0.720). For those living in rural areas there was a statistically significant positive correlation between anxiety/depression and age, wealth status, marital status, living with family members and achieving social contacts, while a negative correlation was observed between anxiety/depression and education. On the basis of the data of our study, we can say that the presence of anxiety/depression among older people is greater in rural than in urban areas. The results of this study show that the perception of anxiety/depression among older in rural areas is bigger with the age and poverty increasing, the loss of a spouse, life without family members, lack of achievement of social contacts and lower education.

  14. Quality of life of the elderly in urban and rural areas in Serbia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Urošević Jadranka

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Background/Aim. The number of elderly people in the world is growing, in Serbia as well. Serbia is already among the top ten countries with the oldest population, it is the fact. Aging influences the quality of life in different ways. The aim of this study was to assess the health-related quality of life of the elderly in urban and rural areas in Serbia. Methods. The study included 100 elderly people aged 65 years and above in urban and rural areas in Serbia. The next questionnaires were used: a sociodemographic questionnaire and a Serbian version of standardized European Euro-QoL questionnaire (EQ-5D-3L, as a basic index for the assessment and description of the quality of life. Results. In the structure of the respondents, according to the achieved social contacts (p = 0.012, the life of those with family members (p = 0.009, and health status (p = 0.000, in relation to the place of residence there was a statistically significant difference. There was a significant difference (p = 0.040, predominantly poor score for anxiety/depression within the rural population. The average value of quality of life in urban and rural areas was not statistically significant (p = 0.720. For those living in rural areas there was a statistically significant positive correlation between anxiety/depression and age, wealth status, marital status, living with family members and achieving social contacts, while a negative correlation was observed between anxiety/depression and education. Conclusion. On the basis of the data of our study, we can say that the presence of anxiety/depression among older people is greater in rural than in urban areas. The results of this study show that the perception of anxiety/depression among older in rural areas is bigger with the age and poverty increasing, the loss of a spouse, life without family members, lack of achievement of social contacts and lower education.

  15. Rural-urban migration and urban unemployment in Nigeria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aigbokhan, B E

    1988-01-01

    This paper argues that urban unemployment in Nigeria has been due largely to a failure on the part of the government to pursue policies that reflect commitment on its part to its stated objectives, particularly with regard to employment opportunities. Rural-urban migration has been taking place in the country since the 1960s and at an increasing rate since the 1970s. Economic policies have contributed to this, notably the rural-urban imbalance resulting from the pattern of allocation of public investment expenditures and the wages determination process which tends to concentrate more on the urban sector. These have contributed to the widening urban-rural income differentials. In the face of such migration, the urban industrial sector has been able to absorb only a negligible proportion of migrants. A major factor that has contributed to this is the increased capital-intensity of the sector. Some laudable measures have been introduced this year, notably the establishment of the Directorate of Employment and the Directorate of Food, Road, and Rural infrastructure. The latter, if effectively implemented, should enhance rural income and thereby reduce the rural-urban income gap. The former should reduce the problem of open unemployment. While it is too early to assess the effects of these 2 measures on urban unemployment, they may not improve urban unemployment significantly. There is still the need to design policies to increase labor absorption in general.

  16. Comparative Analysis of Households Solid Waste Management in Rural and Urban Ghana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boateng, Simon; Amoako, Prince; Appiah, Divine Odame; Poku, Adjoa Afriyie; Garsonu, Emmanuel Kofi

    2016-01-01

    The comparative analysis of solid waste management between rural and urban Ghana is largely lacking. This study investigated the solid waste situation and the organisation of solid waste management in both urban and rural settings from the perspective of households. The study employed cross-sectional survey covering both rural and urban districts in the Ashanti and Greater Accra Regions of Ghana. The study systematically sampled houses from which 400 households and respondents were randomly selected. Pearson's Chi square test was used to compare demographic and socioeconomic variables in rural and urban areas. Multivariate Test, Tests of Between-Subjects Effects, and Pair-Wise Comparisons were performed through one-way MANOVA to determine whether or not solid waste situations in rural and urban areas are significantly different. The results revealed that location significantly affects solid waste management in Ghana. Urban communities had lower mean scores than rural communities for poor solid waste situation in homes. However, urban communities had higher mean scores than rural communities for poor solid waste situation in principal streets and dumping sites. The study recommends that the local government authorities implement very comprehensive policies (sanitary inspection, infrastructure development, and community participation) that will take into consideration the specific solid waste management needs of both urban and rural areas.

  17. Comparative Analysis of Households Solid Waste Management in Rural and Urban Ghana

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simon Boateng

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The comparative analysis of solid waste management between rural and urban Ghana is largely lacking. This study investigated the solid waste situation and the organisation of solid waste management in both urban and rural settings from the perspective of households. The study employed cross-sectional survey covering both rural and urban districts in the Ashanti and Greater Accra Regions of Ghana. The study systematically sampled houses from which 400 households and respondents were randomly selected. Pearson’s Chi square test was used to compare demographic and socioeconomic variables in rural and urban areas. Multivariate Test, Tests of Between-Subjects Effects, and Pair-Wise Comparisons were performed through one-way MANOVA to determine whether or not solid waste situations in rural and urban areas are significantly different. The results revealed that location significantly affects solid waste management in Ghana. Urban communities had lower mean scores than rural communities for poor solid waste situation in homes. However, urban communities had higher mean scores than rural communities for poor solid waste situation in principal streets and dumping sites. The study recommends that the local government authorities implement very comprehensive policies (sanitary inspection, infrastructure development, and community participation that will take into consideration the specific solid waste management needs of both urban and rural areas.

  18. Comparative Analysis of Households Solid Waste Management in Rural and Urban Ghana

    Science.gov (United States)

    Appiah, Divine Odame; Poku, Adjoa Afriyie; Garsonu, Emmanuel Kofi

    2016-01-01

    The comparative analysis of solid waste management between rural and urban Ghana is largely lacking. This study investigated the solid waste situation and the organisation of solid waste management in both urban and rural settings from the perspective of households. The study employed cross-sectional survey covering both rural and urban districts in the Ashanti and Greater Accra Regions of Ghana. The study systematically sampled houses from which 400 households and respondents were randomly selected. Pearson's Chi square test was used to compare demographic and socioeconomic variables in rural and urban areas. Multivariate Test, Tests of Between-Subjects Effects, and Pair-Wise Comparisons were performed through one-way MANOVA to determine whether or not solid waste situations in rural and urban areas are significantly different. The results revealed that location significantly affects solid waste management in Ghana. Urban communities had lower mean scores than rural communities for poor solid waste situation in homes. However, urban communities had higher mean scores than rural communities for poor solid waste situation in principal streets and dumping sites. The study recommends that the local government authorities implement very comprehensive policies (sanitary inspection, infrastructure development, and community participation) that will take into consideration the specific solid waste management needs of both urban and rural areas. PMID:27807453

  19. Urban-rural differences in a population-based breast cancer screening program in Croatia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stamenić, Valerija; Strnad, Marija

    2011-01-01

    Aim To investigate urban-rural differences in the distribution of risk factors for breast cancer. Methods We analyzed the data from the first round of the “Mamma” population based-screening program conducted in Croatia between 2007 and 2009 and self-reported questionnaire results for 924 patients with histologically verified breast cancer. Reproductive and anthropometric characteristics, family history of breast cancer, history of breast disease, and prior breast screening history were compared between participants from the city of Zagreb (n = 270) and participants from 13 counties with more than 50% of rural inhabitants (n = 654). Results The screen-detected breast cancer rate was 4.5 per 1000 mammographies in rural counties and 4.6 in the city of Zagreb, while the participation rate was 61% in rural counties and 59% in Zagreb. Women from Zagreb had significantly more characteristics associated with an increased risk of breast cancer (P < 0.001 in all cases): no pregnancies (15% vs 7%), late age of first pregnancy (≥30 years) (10% vs 4%), and the most recent mammogram conducted 2-3 years ago (32% vs 14%). Women from rural counties were more often obese (41% vs 28%) and had early age of first live birth (<20 years) (20% vs 7%, P < 0.001 for both). Conclusion Identification of rural-urban differences in mammography use and their causes at the population level can be useful in designing and implementing interventions targeted at the reduction of inequalities and modifiable risk factors. PMID:21328724

  20. Neighbourhood Environmental Attributes Associated with Walking in South Australian Adults: Differences between Urban and Rural Areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berry, Narelle M; Coffee, Neil T; Nolan, Rebecca; Dollman, James; Sugiyama, Takemi

    2017-08-26

    Although the health benefits of walking are well established, participation is lower in rural areas compared to urban areas. Most studies on walkability and walking have been conducted in urban areas, thus little is known about the relevance of walkability to rural areas. A computer-assisted telephone survey of 2402 adults (aged ≥18 years) was conducted to determine walking behaviour and perceptions of neighbourhood walkability. Data were stratified by urban (n = 1738) and rural (n = 664). A greater proportion of respondents reported no walking in rural (25.8%) compared to urban areas (18.5%). Compared to urban areas, rural areas had lower walkability scores and urban residents reported higher frequency of walking. The association of perceived walkability with walking was significant only in urban areas. These results suggest that environmental factors associated with walking in urban areas may not be relevant in rural areas. Appropriate walkability measures specific to rural areas should be further researched.

  1. Rural and Urban Differences in Vocational Rehabilitation Case Mix, Delivery Practices, and Employment Outcomes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ipsen, Catherine; Swicegood, Grant

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: To examine rural and urban differences in Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) case mix, delivery practices, and employment outcomes. Methods: Rehabilitation Services Administration 911 (RSA-911) case data do not include location indicators that allow for rural analyses. We compiled RSA-911 data with county and ZIP code information from 47 VR…

  2. Differences in Physical Activity and Academic Performance between Urban and Rural Schoolchildren in Slovenia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vedrana Sember

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available In Slovenia, the existing studies of relations between physical activity (PA, academic performance (AP and urbanization grade have used subjective self-reporting tools for assessing physical activity, which usually led to an underestimation of true PA. We have attempted to overcome this and have investigated the link between PA in rural and urban Slovenian schoolchildren by an objective assessment of PA, using a multi-sensor SenseWear PRO armband. The analysis showed that urban children in Slovenia are more physically active than rural children are and achieve better AP (mathematics grade. Additionally, children who are active between 60 and 120 minutes of MVPA/day have higher AP than their peers who are active less than 60 or more than 120 minutes, whereas the latter groups did not differ in academic performance.

  3. Breastfeeding practices in urban and rural Vietnam

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thu Huong

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The aim of this study was to describe and compare breastfeeding practices in rural and urban areas of Vietnam and to study associations with possibly influencing person and household factors. This type of study has not been conducted in Vietnam before. Methods Totally 2,690 children, born from 1st March 2008 to 30th June 2010 in one rural and one urban Health and Demographic Surveillance Site, were followed from birth to the age of 12 months. Information about demography, economy and education for persons and households was obtained from household surveys. Standard statistical methods including survival and regression analyses were used. Results Initiation of breastfeeding during the first hour of life was more frequent in the urban area compared to the rural (boys 40% vs. 35%, girls 49% vs. 40%. High birth weight and living in households with large number of assets significantly increased the probability for early initiation of breastfeeding. Exclusive breastfeeding at three months of age was more commonly reported in the rural than in the urban area (boys 58% vs. 46%, girls 65% vs. 53%. The duration of exclusive breastfeeding as well as of any breastfeeding was longer in the rural area than in the urban area (medians for boys 97 days vs. 81 days, for girls 102 days vs. 91 days. The percentages of children with exclusive breastfeeding lasting at least 6 months, as recommended by WHO, were low in both areas. The duration of exclusive breastfeeding was significantly shorter for mothers with three or more antenatal care visits or Caesarean section in both areas. High education level of mothers was associated with longer duration of exclusive breastfeeding in the rural area. No significant associations were found between duration of exclusive breastfeeding and mother’s age, household economy indicators or household size. Conclusion Intervention programs with the aim to promote breastfeeding are needed. Mothers should

  4. Urban and rural habitats differ in number and type of bird feeders and in bird species consuming supplementary food.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tryjanowski, Piotr; Skórka, Piotr; Sparks, Tim H; Biaduń, Waldemar; Brauze, Tomasz; Hetmański, Tomasz; Martyka, Rafał; Indykiewicz, Piotr; Myczko, Łukasz; Kunysz, Przemysław; Kawa, Piotr; Czyż, Stanisław; Czechowski, Paweł; Polakowski, Michał; Zduniak, Piotr; Jerzak, Leszek; Janiszewski, Tomasz; Goławski, Artur; Duduś, Leszek; Nowakowski, Jacek J; Wuczyński, Andrzej; Wysocki, Dariusz

    2015-10-01

    Bird feeding is one of the most widespread direct interactions between man and nature, and this has important social and environmental consequences. However, this activity can differ between rural and urban habitats, due to inter alia habitat structure, human behaviour and the composition of wintering bird communities. We counted birds in 156 squares (0.25 km(2) each) in December 2012 and again in January 2013 in locations in and around 26 towns and cities across Poland (in each urban area, we surveyed 3 squares and also 3 squares in nearby rural areas). At each count, we noted the number of bird feeders, the number of bird feeders with food, the type of feeders, additional food supplies potentially available for birds (bread offered by people, bins) and finally the birds themselves. In winter, urban and rural areas differ in the availability of food offered intentionally and unintentionally to birds by humans. Both types of food availability are higher in urban areas. Our findings suggest that different types of bird feeder support only those species specialized for that particular food type and this relationship is similar in urban and rural areas.

  5. Child gender preferences in an urban and rural community in Enugu ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Conclusion: Son preference exists in the rural and urban community in Enugu State however a balanced preference is also common especially in the urban area. Recommendation: Family education especially on gender equality and sensitivity was recommended. Keywords: Son preference, balanced preference, Urban, ...

  6. Urban Agriculture: Search for Agricultural Practice in Urbanized Rural Areas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Celile Özçiçek Dölekoğlu

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Rapid urbanization in developing countries involves unplanned migration, unemployment and poverty. The steady shrinking of rural areas and the use of agricultural land for other purposes are progressively increasing the pressure on natural resources. This development on the one hand increases the risk to food security, and on the other triggers climate change. The rural population who migrate to the cities or who are absorbed into urban areas continue their agricultural activities in the urban in order to provide themselves with an income or to maintain their food security. In the big cities of the developed world, contact with nature is kept by means of hobby gardens, recreational areas and urban and suburban plant and animal farming, and creative ideas such as roof gardens can be found. This development, known as urban agriculture, is practiced by 800 million people in the world. Urban agriculture has many economic, social and environmental benefits, but it may also have risks and adverse effects. In this study, the developments in this area in Turkey and the world are presented, and all aspects of its effects and outcomes are discussed.

  7. Premenstrual syndrome and dysmenorrhea: urban-rural and multiethnic differences in perception, impacts, and treatment seeking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Li Ping

    2011-10-01

    Attitudes toward menarche and menstruation are largely influenced by sociological, cultural, and family environmental factors. Recognizing the influential effects that these factors might have on shaping adolescents' attitudes is crucial in designing a more effective means of transmitting health information. This study aimed to gather an in-depth understanding of perceptions, impacts, and treatment seeking on menstruation-related issues from an ethnically mixed group of rural and urban girls. In total, 27 focus group discussions (172 participants) were conducted between November 2008 and April 2009. Participants were adolescent girls aged 13-19 years, recruited from 7 public secondary schools in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and 4 public secondary schools from the rural districts of Kelantan, in Malaysia. Many participants revealed that they were not given or had not received detailed information about the mechanism or physiology of menstruation prior to its onset. Thus, many described the onset of menarche as shocking, an event for which they were unprepared, and which has had a tremendous impact on their emotions. More positive acceptance of menarche was reported in the urban than with the rural groups. Despite the high prevalence of premenstrual syndrome and dysmenorrhea, participants across urban-rural and ethnic groups perceived the problems as completely normal, hence they relied on self-care methods and did not want to seek professional treatment. More rural girls compared to urban girls were embarrassed to talk to their mothers or consult their physicians regarding menstruation-related problems. Menstruation-related education would have a positive impact in improving adolescent girls' knowledge and in nurturing a positive attitude toward menstruation-related matters at home, at school, and in the community. Copyright © 2011 North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Cardiovascular risk assessment between urban and rural population in Malaysia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noor Hassim, I; Norazman, M R; Diana, M; Khairul Hazdi, Y; Rosnah, I

    2016-12-01

    Cardiovascular disease (CVD) caused significant burden to Malaysia as it accounted for 36% of total deaths. This study aims to evaluate the burden of cardiovascular risk factors among Malaysian adult and assess the difference between urban and rural population in the selected communities. This study is part of the ongoing Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) database, whereby the baseline data were collected since June 2008. CVD risk was measured using INTERHEART risk score which comprised of eleven risk factors i.e. age and gender, family history of heart attack, smoking status, exposure to second hand smoke, diabetes mellitus, hypertension status, waist-hip ratio, self-reported stress, depression, dietary habits and physical activity status. Majority of the studied participants had low cardiovascular risk (57%). Participants from rural area were generally older, had lower educational status, higher prevalence of smokers, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and more likely to be depressed. In comparison, urbanites had lower physical activities and more likely to be stressful. Mean INTERHEART score among rural participants were higher, especially for male, in comparison to urbanite (11.5±5.83 vs. 10.01±5.74, p<0.001). Contradict to common beliefs, participants in rural areas generally have higher cardiovascular risk factors compared to their urban counterparts. The rural population should be targeted for focused preventive interventions, taking account the socioeconomic and cultural context.

  9. Public beliefs on antibiotics and symptoms of respiratory tract infections among rural and urban population in Poland: a questionnaire study.

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    Maciek Godycki-Cwirko

    Full Text Available General public views and expectations around the use of antibiotics can influence general practitioners' antibiotic prescribing decisions. We set out to describe the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about the use of antibiotics for respiratory tract infections in adults in Poland, and explore differences according to where people live in an urban-rural continuum.Face to face survey among a stratified random sample of adults from the general population.1,210 adults completed the questionnaire (87% response rate; 44.3% were rural; 57.9% were women. 49.4% of rural respondents and 44.4% of urban respondents had used an antibiotic in the last 2 years. Rural participants were less likely to agree with the statement "usually I know when I need an antibiotic," (53.5% vs. 61.3% respectively; p = 0.015 and reported that they would consult with a physician for a cough with yellow/green phlegm (69.2% vs. 74.9% respectively; p = 0.004, and were more likely to state that they would leave the decision about antibiotic prescribing to their doctor (87.5% vs. 85.6% respectively; p = 0.026. However, rural participants were more likely to believe that antibiotics accelerate recovery from sore throat (45.7% vs. 37.1% respectively; p = 0.017. Use of antibiotic in the last 2 years, level of education, number of children and awareness of the problem of developing antimicrobial resistance predicted accurate knowledge about antibiotic effectiveness.There were no major differences in beliefs about antibiotics between urban and rural responders, although rural responders were slightly less confident in their knowledge about antibiotics and self-reported greater use of antibiotics. Despite differences in the level of education between rural and urban responders, there were no significant differences in their knowledge about antibiotic effectiveness.

  10. Rural-Urban Differences in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Diagnostic Prevalence in Kentucky and West Virginia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abner, Erin L; Jicha, Gregory A; Christian, W Jay; Schreurs, Bernard G

    2016-06-01

    Older adults living in rural areas may face barriers to obtaining a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD). We sought to examine rural-urban differences in prevalence of ADRD among Medicare beneficiaries in Kentucky and West Virginia, 2 contiguous, geographically similar states with large rural areas and aged populations. We used Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Public Use Files data from 2007 to 2013 to assess prevalence of ADRD at the county level among all Medicare beneficiaries in each state. Rural-Urban Continuum Codes were used to classify counties as rural or urban. We used Poisson regression to estimate unadjusted and adjusted prevalence ratios. Primary analyses focused on 2013 data and were repeated for 2007 to 2012. This study was completely ecologic. After adjusting for state, average beneficiary age, percent of female beneficiaries, percent of beneficiaries eligible for Medicaid in each county, Central Appalachian county, percent of age-eligible residents enrolled in Medicare, and percent of residents under age 65 enrolled in Medicare in our adjusted models, we found that 2013 ADRD diagnostic prevalence was 11% lower in rural counties (95% CI: 9%-13%). Medicare beneficiaries in rural counties in Kentucky and West Virginia may be underdiagnosed with respect to ADRD. However, due to the ecologic design, and evidence of a younger, more heavily male beneficiary population in some rural areas, further studies using individual-level data are needed to confirm the results. © 2015 National Rural Health Association.

  11. How do the definitions of urban and rural matter for transportation safety? Re-interpreting transportation fatalities as an outcome of regional development processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McAndrews, Carolyn; Beyer, Kirsten; Guse, Clare E; Layde, Peter

    2016-12-01

    Urban and rural places are integrated through economic ties and population flows. Despite their integration, most studies of road safety dichotomize urban and rural places, and studies have consistently demonstrated that rural places are more dangerous for motorists than urban places. Our study investigates whether these findings are sensitive to the definition of urban and rural. We use three different definitions of urban-rural continua to quantify and compare motor vehicle occupant fatality rates per person-trip and person-mile for the state of Wisconsin. The three urban-rural continua are defined by: (1) popular impressions of urban, suburban, and rural places using a system from regional economics; (2) population density; and (3) the intensity of commute flows to core urbanized areas. In this analysis, the three definitions captured different people and places within each continuum level, highlighting rural heterogeneity. Despite this heterogeneity, the three definitions resulted in similar fatality rate gradients, suggesting a potentially latent "rural" characteristic. We then used field observations of urban-rural transects to refine the definitions. When accounting for the presence of higher-density towns and villages in rural places, we found that low-density urban places such as suburbs and exurbs have fatality rates more similar to those in rural places. These findings support the need to understand road safety within the context of regional development processes instead of urban-rural categories. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Infections by pathogens with different transmission modes in feral cats from urban and rural areas of Korea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hwang, Jusun; Gottdenker, Nicole; Oh, Dae-Hyun; Lee, Hang; Chun, Myung-Sun

    2017-12-31

    In this study, we examine prevalences of three infectious pathogens with different transmission modes ( Bartonella henselae , hemoplasma, and Toxoplasma gondii ) in feral cats from urban and rural habitats. Infection status of the three pathogens in blood samples (n = 117) was determined through molecular or serological diagnostic methods. Overall prevalence of hemoplasma, Toxoplasma gondii , and Bartonella henselae was 47.9%, 50%, and 35.7%, respectively. Comparing the two habitats, only seroprevalence of Bartonella henselae was significantly higher in urban cats. Based on the results, we discuss how pathogens with distinct transmission modes may show different prevalence between urban and rural habitat types.

  13. Rural, urban and migrant differences in non-communicable disease risk-factors in middle income countries: a cross-sectional study of WHO-SAGE data.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oyinlola Oyebode

    Full Text Available Understanding how urbanisation and rural-urban migration influence risk-factors for non-communicable disease (NCD is crucial for developing effective preventative strategies globally. This study compares NCD risk-factor prevalence in urban, rural and migrant populations in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa.Study participants were 39,436 adults within the WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE, surveyed 2007-2010. Risk ratios (RR for each risk-factor were calculated using logistic regression in country-specific and all country pooled analyses, adjusted for age, sex and survey design. Fully adjusted models included income quintile, marital status and education.Regular alcohol consumption was lower in migrant and urban groups than in rural groups (pooled RR and 95%CI: 0.47 (0.31-0.68; 0.58, (0.46-0.72, respectively. Occupational physical activity was lower (0.86 (0.72-0.98; 0.76 (0.65-0.85 while active travel and recreational physical activity were higher (pooled RRs for urban groups; 1.05 (1.00-1.09, 2.36 (1.95-2.83, respectively; for migrant groups: 1.07 (1.0 -1.12, 1.71 (1.11-2.53, respectively. Overweight, raised waist circumference and diagnosed diabetes were higher in urban groups (1.19 (1.04-1.35, 1.24 (1.07-1.42, 1.69 (1.15-2.47, respectively. Exceptions to these trends exist: obesity indicators were higher in rural Russia; active travel was lower in urban groups in Ghana and India; and in South Africa, urban groups had the highest alcohol consumption.Migrants and urban dwellers had similar NCD risk-factor profiles. These were not consistently worse than those seen in rural dwellers. The variable impact of urbanisation on NCD risk must be considered in the design and evaluation of strategies to reduce the growing burden of NCDs globally.

  14. Impact of rural health development programme in the Islamic Republic of Iran on rural-urban disparities in health indicators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aghajanian, A; Mehryar, A H; Ahmadnia, S; Kazemipour, S

    2007-01-01

    By 1979 50 years of uneven development and modernization by governments prior to the Islamic Revolution had left rural parts of the Islamic Republic of Iran with extremely low economic and health status. This paper reports on the impact of the rural health development programme implemented as an effective and inexpensive way to improve the heath of the rural population, especially mothers and children. It describes the system of rural health centres, health houses and community health workers (behvarz) and demonstrates the effectiveness of the programme through declining measures of rural-urban disparities in health indicators. The implications of inexpensive rural health policies for other countries in the region such as Afghanistan and Central Asian countries with a similar sociocultural structure are discussed.

  15. Changing communication ecologies in rural, peri-urban and urban Kenya

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Poul Erik; Gustafsson, Jessica

    2017-01-01

    This article aims to discuss changing media ecologies in rural, peri-urban and urban Kenya. The article is based on a comprehensive baseline study of 800 households carried out in October 2014 in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. The survey recorded media access and use and civic engagement as well...... as demographic data. The findings suggest that media ecologies in rural, peri-urban as well as urban Kenya have undergone dramatic changes. The much hyped and unprecedented spread of mobile telephony has taken place simultaneously with the introduction of or increased access to radio and television including...... satellite television. Different emerging communication ecologies can be identified often with radio providing a solid foundation and in different ways combined with television and mobile phones. Even though mobile ownership, for example, has increased in all segments and areas, gender inequalities...

  16. Behavioral Correlations Associated with Fear of Humans Differ between Rural and Urban Burrowing Owls

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martina Carrete

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Behavioral studies are fundamental to understanding how animal populations face global change. Although much research has centered upon the idea that individuals can adaptively modify their behaviors to cope with environmental changes, recent evidence supports the existence of individual differences in suites of correlated behaviors. However, little is known about how selection can change these behavioral structures in populations subject to different environmental constraints. The colonization of urban environments by birds has been related to their inter-individual variability in their fear of humans, measured as their flight initiation distance to an approaching human, such that urban life would select for fearless individuals. This behavior has been demonstrated to be heritable and highly consistent throughout the adult lifespan of burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia. Here, we experimentally assessed, in field conditions, whether urban life involves changes in other behaviors such as exploration and antipredatory response through their correlation with fear of humans. Breeding urban birds were more fearless toward humans and were quicker to explore a new food resource and defend their nests from predators than their rural counterparts. However, while fear of humans positively correlated with exploration and antipredatory response in the rural population, it only correlated with exploration in the urban one. Predator release in urban environments could relax—and even counterselect—antipredator behaviors, thus dismantling the behavioral correlation existent in natural populations. Altogether, our results suggest that rural and urban animals may differ in some behavioral aspects, may be as a consequence of the selection processes acting during the colonization of urban areas as well as the different ecological environments encountered by individuals.

  17. Differences in Perceptions of and Practices Regarding Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorders Among VA Primary Care Providers in Urban and Rural Clinics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, Jessica P; Achtmeyer, Carol E; Bensley, Kara M; Hawkins, Eric J; Williams, Emily C

    2018-01-23

    Effective behavioral and pharmacological treatments are available and recommended for patients with alcohol use disorders (AUD) but rarely received. Barriers to receipt and provision of evidence-based AUD treatments delivered by specialists may be greatest in rural areas. A targeted subanalysis of qualitative interview data collected from primary care providers at 5 Veterans Affairs clinics was conducted to identify differences in provider perceptions and practices regarding AUD treatment across urban and rural clinics. Key contacts were used to recruit 24 providers from 3 "urban" clinics at medical centers and 2 "rural" community-based outpatient clinics. Providers completed 30-minute semistructured interviews, which were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using inductive content analysis. Thirteen urban and 11 rural providers participated. Urban and rural providers differed regarding referral practices and in perceptions of availability and utility of specialty addictions treatment. Urban providers described referral to specialty treatment as standard practice, while rural providers reported substantial barriers to specialty care access and infrequent specialty care referral. Urban providers viewed specialty addictions treatment as accessible and comprehensive, and perceived addictions providers as "experts" and collaborators, whereas rural providers perceived inadequate support from the health care system for AUD treatment. Urban providers desired greater integration with specialty addictions care while rural providers wanted access to local addictions treatment resources. Providers in rural settings view referral to specialty addictions treatment as impractical and resources inadequate to treat AUD. Additional work is needed to understand the unique needs of rural clinics and decrease barriers to AUD treatment. © 2018 National Rural Health Association.

  18. Commercial Sexual Behaviors Among Male Rural-to-Urban Migrants in Western China: Implications for HIV Prevention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Wenwei; Jiang, Junjun; Su, Jinming; Liang, Bingyu; Deng, Wei; Huang, Jiegang; Qin, Bo; Upur, Halmurat; Zhong, Chaohui; Wang, Qianqiu; Wang, Qian; Zang, Ning; Liao, Yanyan; Meng, Sirun; Ye, Li; Liang, Hao

    2017-07-01

    Rural-to-urban migrants are at high risk of HIV infection. The goal of this survey was to explore the commercial sexual behavior and condom use among male rural-to-urban migrants in western China. A cross-sectional survey on male rural-to-urban migrants in western China was conducted. Among all the subjects surveyed, 140 (7.4%) had commercial sexual behavior, which is associated with being aged older than 24 years, being of Han or other ethnic minorities, being divorced, separated, or widowed, having experienced drug abuse, having had heterosexual behavior, having had casual sexual partners, having had sex with a homosexual, and being from Xinjiang. A total of 31.4% of them never use condoms when buying sex. Not using condoms is associated with being from Chongqing, having a high school or above education, and having commercial sex monthly. Commercial sexual behavior and not using condoms are common among male rural-to-urban migrants in western China. Strategies and appropriate education should be developed to prevent HIV transmission due to high-risk sexual behaviors.

  19. Rural-urban migration and child survival in urban Bangladesh: are the urban migrants and poor disadvantaged?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Islam, M Mazharul; Azad, Kazi Md Abul Kalam

    2008-01-01

    This paper analyses the levels and trends of childhood mortality in urban Bangladesh, and examines whether children's survival chances are poorer among the urban migrants and urban poor. It also examines the determinants of child survival in urban Bangladesh. Data come from the 1999-2000 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. The results indicate that, although the indices of infant and child mortality are consistently better in urban areas, the urban-rural differentials in childhood mortality have diminished in recent years. The study identifies two distinct child morality regimes in urban Bangladesh: one for urban natives and one for rural-urban migrants. Under-five mortality is higher among children born to urban migrants compared with children born to life-long urban natives (102 and 62 per 1000 live births, respectively). The migrant-native mortality differentials more-or-less correspond with the differences in socioeconomic status. Like childhood mortality rates, rural-urban migrants seem to be moderately disadvantaged by economic status compared with their urban native counterparts. Within the urban areas, the child survival status is even worse among the migrant poor than among the average urban poor, especially recent migrants. This poor-non-poor differential in childhood mortality is higher in urban areas than in rural areas. The study findings indicate that rapid growth of the urban population in recent years due to rural-to-urban migration, coupled with higher risk of mortality among migrant's children, may be considered as one of the major explanations for slower decline in under-five mortality in urban Bangladesh, thus diminishing urban-rural differentials in childhood mortality in Bangladesh. The study demonstrates that housing conditions and access to safe drinking water and hygienic toilet facilities are the most critical determinants of child survival in urban areas, even after controlling for migration status. The findings of the study may

  20. THE IMPACT OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY ON RURAL TO URBAN MIGRATION IN JAVA, INDONESIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Renata Fauzia

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates if the improvement of agricultural productivity will decrease rural to urban migration. Since rural to urban migration occurs due mainly to disparity between urban and agricultural wage, we assume that boosting agricultural income will reduce migration to urban areas. It is hypothesized that increase in agricultural productivity would result in a rise in agricultural wage, and hence income, ceteris paribus, reduces rural-urban migration. The data used in this study is the 2010 provincial statistics in West Java, Central Java, and East Java, Indonesia. The agricultural productivity and migration equations were estimated by using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS. The research findings may offer the suggestion to reduce rural to urban migration by boosting rural income through focusing the policy on agricultural productivity. Enhancing investment in agricultural sector such as increasing the number of subsidized fertilizer, adding agricultural labor and livestock, increasing education of rural people, and utilizing agricultural land resource are expected to increase agricultural output.Thus, it would also minimize the wage differential between urban and rural area.

  1. Do the Preferences of Healthcare Provider Selection Vary among Rural and Urban Patients with Different Income and Cause Different Outcome?

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    Tsung-Hsien Yu

    Full Text Available Equal access to healthcare facilities and high-level quality of care are important strategies to eliminate the disparity in outcome of care. However, the existing literature regarding how urban or rural dwelling patients with different income level select healthcare providers is insufficient. The purposes of this study were to examine whether differences of healthcare provider selection exist among urban and rural coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG patients with different income level. If so, we further investigated the associated impact on mortality.A retrospective, multilevel study design was conducted using claims data from 2007-2011 Taiwan's Universal Health Insurance Scheme. Healthcare providers' performance and patients' travelling distance to hospitals were used to define the patterns of healthcare provider selection. Baron and Kenny's procedures for mediation effect were conducted.There were 10,108 CABG surgeries included in this study. The results showed that urban dwelling and higher income patients were prone to receive care from better-performance providers. The travelling distances of urban dwelling patients was 15 KM shorter, especially when they received better-performance provider's care. The results also showed that the difference of healthcare provider selection and mortality rate existed between rural and urban dwelling patients with different income levels. After the procedure of mediation effect testing, the results showed that the healthcare provider selection partially mediated the relationships between patients' residential areas with different income levels and 30-day mortality.Preferences of healthcare provider selection vary among rural and urban patients with different income, and such differences partially mediated the outcome of care. Health authorities should pay attention to this issue, and propose appropriate solutions to eliminate the disparity in outcome of CABG care.

  2. Do the Preferences of Healthcare Provider Selection Vary among Rural and Urban Patients with Different Income and Cause Different Outcome?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Tsung-Hsien; Chung, Kuo-Piao; Wei, Chung-Jen; Chien, Kuo-Liong; Hou, Yu-Chang

    2016-01-01

    Equal access to healthcare facilities and high-level quality of care are important strategies to eliminate the disparity in outcome of care. However, the existing literature regarding how urban or rural dwelling patients with different income level select healthcare providers is insufficient. The purposes of this study were to examine whether differences of healthcare provider selection exist among urban and rural coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) patients with different income level. If so, we further investigated the associated impact on mortality. A retrospective, multilevel study design was conducted using claims data from 2007-2011 Taiwan's Universal Health Insurance Scheme. Healthcare providers' performance and patients' travelling distance to hospitals were used to define the patterns of healthcare provider selection. Baron and Kenny's procedures for mediation effect were conducted. There were 10,108 CABG surgeries included in this study. The results showed that urban dwelling and higher income patients were prone to receive care from better-performance providers. The travelling distances of urban dwelling patients was 15 KM shorter, especially when they received better-performance provider's care. The results also showed that the difference of healthcare provider selection and mortality rate existed between rural and urban dwelling patients with different income levels. After the procedure of mediation effect testing, the results showed that the healthcare provider selection partially mediated the relationships between patients' residential areas with different income levels and 30-day mortality. Preferences of healthcare provider selection vary among rural and urban patients with different income, and such differences partially mediated the outcome of care. Health authorities should pay attention to this issue, and propose appropriate solutions to eliminate the disparity in outcome of CABG care.

  3. Rural-urban differences in the long-term care of the disabled elderly in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Mei; Zhang, Yang; Zhang, Zhenyu; Zhang, Ying; Zhou, Litao; Chen, Kun

    2013-01-01

    In China, the rapid rate of population aging and changes in the prevalence of disability among elderly people could have significant effects on the demand for long-term care. This study aims to describe the urban-rural differences in use and cost of long-term care of the disabled elderly and to explore potential influencing factors. This study uses data from a cross-sectional survey and a qualitative investigation conducted in Zhejiang province in 2012. The participants were 826 individuals over 60 years of age, who had been bedridden or suffered from dementia for more than 6 months. A generalized linear model and two-part regression model were applied to estimate costs, with adjustment of covariates. Pensions provide the main source of income for urban elderly, while the principal income source for rural elderly is their family. Urban residents spend more on all services than do rural residents. Those who are married spend less on daily supplies and formal care than the unmarried do. Age, incapacitation time, comorbidity number, level of income, and bedridden status influence spending on medical care (β=-0.0316, -0.0206, 0.1882, 0.3444, and -0.4281, respectively), but the cost does not increase as the elderly grow older. Urban residents, the married, and those with a higher income level tend to spend more on medical equipment. Urban residence and living status are the two significant factors that affect spending on personal hygiene products. The use of long-term care services varies by living area. Long-term care of the disabled elderly imposes a substantial burden on families. Our study revealed that informal care involves huge opportunity costs to the caregivers. Chinese policy makers need to promote community care and long-term care insurance to relieve the burden of families of disabled elderly, and particular attention should be given to the rural elderly.

  4. Extent of telehealth use in rural and urban hospitals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ward, Marcia M; Ullrich, Fred; Mueller, Keith

    2014-01-01

    Key Findings. Data from 4,727 hospitals in the 2013 HIMSS Analytics database yielded these findings: (1) Two-thirds (66.0% of rural defined as nonmetropolitan and 68.0% of urban) had no telehealth services or were only in the process of implementing a telehealth application. One-third (34.0%rural and 32.0% urban) had at least one telehealth application currently in use. (2) Among hospitals with "live and operational" telehealth services, 61.4% indicated only a single department/program with an operational telehealth service, and 38.6% indicated two or more departments/programs with operational telehealth services. Rural hospitals were significantly less likely to have multiple services (35.2%) than were urban hospitals (42.1%) (3) Hospitals that were more likely to have implemented at least one telehealth service were academic medical centers, not-for-profit institutions, hospitals belonging to integrated delivery systems, and larger institutions (in terms of FTEs but not licensed beds). Rural and urban hospitals did not differ significantly in overall telehealth implementation rates. (4) Urban and rural hospitals did differ in the department where telehealth was implemented. Urban hospitals were more likely than rural hospitals to have operational telehealth implementations in cardiology/stroke/heart attack programs (7.4% vs. 6.2%), neurology (4.4% vs. 2.1%), and obstetrics/gynecology/NICU/pediatrics (3.8% vs. 2.5%). In contrast, rural hospitals were more likely than urban hospital to have operational telehealth implementations in radiology departments (17.7% vs. 13.9%) and in emergency/trauma care (8.8% vs. 6.3%).

  5. Measuring Spatiality in Infrastructure and Development of High School Education in Hooghly District of West Bengal, India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shovan Ghosh

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available An increasing access and enrolment do not necessarily ensure school effectiveness or educational progress. They are, of course, other parameters of development of education, rather than being measures of standards of quality education. The present paper opts to scrutinize whether infrastructural development in schools at all ensures good educational development or not. To accomplish this, Education Infrastructural Index has been prepared through Access, Facility and Teacher Index whereas a combination of Enrollment Index and Literacy Index gave rise Educational Development Index. The study reveals that accessibility factor begets a division within rural spaces in the form of backward rural, rural and prosperous rural that manifests through the availability of the teachers and facilities. In the urban areas, wherein accessibility is not a matter of concern, facilities and teachers matter in making difference between the less developed and developed urban areas. The higher Educational Development Index at the non-rural areas indicates town- centric nature of the development of our educational system. Superimposition of the infrastructural and developmental parameters revealed that good infrastructure does not always ensure good educational achievement. In the light of these backdrops, the key purpose of this article is to measuring spatiality in infrastructure and development of high school education in Hooghly District of West Bengal, India.

  6. Rural-to-urban migration and its implications for poverty alleviation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skeldon, R

    1997-03-01

    This article examines rural-urban migration, its role in poverty alleviation in Thailand, and policy implications. The empirical research literature suggests that the poorest tend be left behind by wealthier migrants moving to urban areas. The youngest tend to migrate. The impact of remittances tends to appear more positive in international migration, but the impact of remittances among rural internal migrant families can also be substantial and be responsible for wealth differences within rural communities. Return migrants contribute to communities by bringing back new ideas and new attitudes toward family size. Migration can also produce negative impacts for sending communities, but the total analysis appears to favor positive impacts. The urban sector becomes another resource base for rural populations that can sustain rural populations during rapid change processes. The migrant population tends to be wealthier and better educated than rural populations, but poorer and less educated than urban populations. Informal sectors in urban areas may offer migrants flexible working hours, no taxes or deductions, less bureaucratic structures, and only 9% less income than the formal sector. Social networks reinforce migrant work in the informal sector and segmentation of the labor force. Social networks may be formalized into associations and help in securing migrant's housing and living. Migrants are integrated in a variety of ways into city life. Migrant communities are a source of energy, organizational skills, and talent. The incidence of poverty appears to be the greatest among women. Women migrants and women left behind by migrants must adjust to new conditions. Migration policies tend to focus on regulating the volume of migration. The author concludes that migration alleviates poverty and that policies should address city management, migrant adjustment processes, and training programs for nonmigrants.

  7. Changing rural urban linkages in Africa in a globalizing economy ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The role of rural-urban linkages is critically vital for Africa‟s development in this era of rapid socio-economic transformation. A better understanding of cities and how they relate both to the rural and urban development is needed in view of the continuous changes in development. This paper argues that many of Africa‟s ...

  8. Rural and Urban Differences in Air Quality, 2008-2012, and Community Drinking Water Quality, 2010-2015 - United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strosnider, Heather; Kennedy, Caitlin; Monti, Michele; Yip, Fuyuen

    2017-06-23

    The places in which persons live, work, and play can contribute to the development of adverse health outcomes. Understanding the differences in risk factors in various environments can help to explain differences in the occurrence of these outcomes and can be used to develop public health programs, interventions, and policies. Efforts to characterize urban and rural differences have largely focused on social and demographic characteristics. A paucity of national standardized environmental data has hindered efforts to characterize differences in the physical aspects of urban and rural areas, such as air and water quality. 2008-2012 for air quality and 2010-2015 for water quality. Since 2002, CDC's National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program has collaborated with federal, state, and local partners to gather standardized environmental data by creating national data standards, collecting available data, and disseminating data to be used in developing public health actions. The National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network (i.e., the tracking network) collects data provided by national, state, and local partners and includes 21 health outcomes, exposures, and environmental hazards. To assess environmental factors that affect health, CDC analyzed three air-quality measures from the tracking network for all counties in the contiguous United States during 2008-2012 and one water-quality measure for 26 states during 2010-2015. The three air-quality measures include 1) total number of days with fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) levels greater than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for 24-hour average PM 2.5 (PM 2.5 days); 2) mean annual average ambient concentrations of PM 2.5 in micrograms per cubic meter (mean PM 2.5 ); and 3) total number of days with maximum 8-hour average ozone concentrations greater than the NAAQS (ozone days). The water-quality measure compared the annual mean

  9. Rendimento escolar de alunos da área rural em escola urbana School performance of rural area students in urban school

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stella Maris Cortez Bacha

    2006-12-01

    Full Text Available OBJETIVO: analisar e comparar as notas dos boletins de alunos residentes na área rural e na área urbana, estando ambos estudando nas mesmas escolas urbanas. MÉTODOS: analisaram-se as notas do primeiro semestre de 2005 de 641 alunos do Ensino Fundamental das escolas públicas urbanas de Terenos, Mato Grosso do Sul (MS, sendo 81,1% residentes na área urbana e 18,9% na rural. Os alunos foram comparados segundo a sua performance nas disciplinas de Língua Portuguesa, Matemática, Ciências, Educação Física, Geografia, História e Educação Artística, considerando-se o local de residência (urbana e rural, turno de estudo (diurno ou noturno, tipo de escola (municipal ou estadual e gênero. RESULTADOS: não foram encontradas diferenças significativas nas performances dos alunos da primeira a quarta séries, em nenhuma disciplina. Da quinta a oitava séries encontraram-se performances ligeiramente melhores nos alunos que residem na área urbana, medido por meio do Teste t-Student. Contudo, ao se analisar conjuntamente todas as variáveis citadas acima, nenhuma delas foi preponderante na explicação da performance do aluno nas diversas disciplinas analisadas pela Regressão Linear Múltipla. CONCLUSÃO: no estudo realizado não foram encontradas diferenças significativas no rendimento escolar entre alunos da escola urbana e da rural, estando ambos estudando nas mesmas escolas urbanas.PURPOSE: to analyze and compare grades in bulletins of students who lived in rural area and in urban area, with both kinds studying in the same urban schools. METHODS: we analyzed the grades in the first semester of 2005 of 641 student in the basic education of the urban public schools of Terenos / MS, being 81.1% residents in urban area and 18.9% in rural area. The students were compared according to their performances in the discipline of Portuguese, Mathematics, Sciences, Physical Education, Geography, History and Artistic Education, considering the place of

  10. Health inequalities among rural and urban population of Eastern Poland in the context of sustainable development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pantyley, Viktoriya

    2017-09-21

    The primary goals of the study were a critical analysis of the concepts associated with health from the perspective of sustainable development, and empirical analysis of health and health- related issues among the rural and urban residents of Eastern Poland in the context of the sustainable development of the region. The study was based on the following research methods: a systemic approach, selection and analysis of the literature and statistical data, developing a special questionnaire concerning socio-economic and health inequalities among the population in the studied area, field research with an interview questionnaire conducted on randomly-selected respondents (N=1,103) in randomly selected areas of the Lubelskie, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie and eastern part of Mazowieckie Provinces (with the division between provincial capital cities - county capital cities - other cities - rural areas). The results of statistical surveys in the studied area with the use of chi-square test and contingence quotients indicated a correlation between the state of health and the following independent variables: age, life quality, social position and financial situation (C-Pearson's coefficient over 0,300); a statistically significant yet weak correlation was recorded for gender, household size, place of residence and amount of free time. The conducted analysis proved the existence of a huge gap between state of health of the population in urban and rural areas. In order to eliminate unfavourable differences in the state iof health among the residents of Eastern Poland, and provide equal sustainable development in urban and rural areas of the examined areas, special preventive programmes aimed at the residents of peripheral, marginalized rural areas should be implemented. In these programmes, attention should be paid to preventive measures, early diagnosis of basic civilization and social diseases, and better accessibility to medical services for the residents.

  11. Examining Rural-Urban Obesity Trends among Youth in the U.S.: Testing the Socioeconomic Gradient Hypothesis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeremy Reed Porter

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Adolescent obesity has increased three-fold in the U.S. during the last three decades. While this trend is well-known, relatively little is known about differences in obesity across the rural-urban continuum. This research addresses that gap by testing for such a relationship across time while accounting for variations in familial socioeconomic status.  Using 1986-2004 Monitoring the Future (MTF survey data, we estimate recent trends in rural-urban body weight, also testing for potential differences among the rural, small town, and urban high school seniors along socioeconomic gradients. Statistically significant differences disfavoring rural high school seniors in their BMI, their risk for the onset of obesity, and obesity itself over the past decade are identified, with significant interactions between demographics and parental education levels driving the largest disparities. These findings are rich and speak directly to the allocation of public health resources aimed at addressing issues associated with the adolescent obesity epidemic.

  12. Differences and similarities of motivating and demotivating factors of emergency nursing care in rural and urban emergency units – A study of selected rural and urban emergency units in the Volta Region of Ghana

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Confidence Alorse Atakro

    Full Text Available Objective: The objective of this study was to explore differences and similarities of motivating and demotivating factors of emergency nursing care in selected rural and urban emergency units in the Volta Region of Ghana. Materials and methods: This study was conducted at selected rural and urban emergency units in the Volta Region of Ghana. The study utilised qualitative exploratory descriptive design. Purposive sampling technique was employed in selecting emergency units and nurses. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews of 30 nurses. Data saturation was determined after interviewing 30 participants. Data analysis was done through qualitative content analysis. Results: Twenty-six (26 out of a total of thirty (30 participants were between the ages of twenty-five (25 and twenty-nine (29. Nurses working in the emergency units studied general nursing at the Nurses Training Colleges (NTCs. None of the respondents studied emergency nursing as a degree programme. Twenty four (24 out of thirty (30 participants had worked for about two years in emergency units. Four thematic categories that represented differences and similarities of motivating and demotivating factors for nurses in rural and urban emergency units were extracted from data. The thematic categories are: a Support from hospital management for provision of material resources; b Task shifting to nurses; c Stimulant for learning; d Interpersonal relations. Discussions: Evidence available in this study suggests that there are differences as well as similarities of motivating and demotivating factors within emergency units of rural and urban settings in the Volta Region of Ghana. Differences in resource allocation and task shifting was identified. Stimulating environments of emergency unit for learning and excellent interpersonal relations were found to be common motivations for both rural and urban emergency unit nurses. Keywords: Motivating, Demotivating, Emergency

  13. Rural electrification: benefits in different spheres; Eletrificacao rural: beneficios em diferentes esferas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cruz, Cassiano N.P. [Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), SP (Brazil). Eletrovento Ltda, Incubadora de Empresas de Base Tecnologica], e-mail: cassiano@eletrovento.com.br; Mourad, Anna L. [Instituto de Tecnologia de Alimentos (ITAL) Campinas, SP (Brazil). Centro de Tecnologia de Embalagem], e-mail: anna@ital.sp.gov.br; Morinigo, Marcos A. [Comissao de Servicos Publicos de Energia do Estado de Sao Paulo (CSPE), SP (Brazil)], e-mail: mmorinigo@sp.gov.br; Sanga, Godfrey [Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), SP (Brazil). Fac. de Engenharia Mecanica], e-mail: godfrey@fem.unicamp.br

    2004-07-01

    In the last few decades, there has been a constant migration of rural population to urban areas looking for employment and better quality of life. During the same period, industrial sector grew significantly and became economically more important than the rural sector. Consequently, the industrial sector became government's first development priority. In addition, the energy system was focused on large power plants energy production and high potentials long distance transmissions to large energy consumers, urban centers and industries. Limited efforts were done to provide energy to small and dispersed rural consumers as it seemed to be economically less attractive. This article, therefore, shows the importance of rural electrification over human, economical and social development including its impact across the rural communities' boundaries. While regarded as an important factor for development, rural electrification is, however, a function of many input factors in a mutual dependence relationships, reinforcement and feedback loops. Besides of the evident benefits of increased comfort and satisfaction levels to the rural population, other benefits of rural electrification includes improved access to information and communication media, agricultural mechanization and consequent improvement of the agricultural productivity. Agricultural sector is an important part of the industrial production chain: each R$ 1,00 invested in rural electrification generates R$ 3,00 along the production chain and increases the consumption of durable goods, Word Bank, Gazeta Mercantil (1999). For the population and urbanization control, rural electrification creates favorable conditions to maintain people in the rural areas as such reducing government expenditures for urban infrastructure which is more expensive than the rural one. Moreover, this reduces incidences of unemployment in big cities as it generates jobs in the rural sector. Implementation of a combined rural

  14. Rural African women and development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kabadaki, K

    1994-01-01

    70-90% of Africans still live in rural areas, and 25-30% of rural households are headed by women. Standards of living in rural areas are lower than in urban areas. Rural African women's involvement in development is in its initial stages, and social development for women is likely to be slow. Increasing women's opportunities for education is a means of promoting social justice and fairness. Schools should offer courses of practical value for those not planning on higher education and special programs and career counseling for gifted girls. Women's organizations, African leaders, and other influential parties should aggressively create awareness about the oppressive aspects of traditional attitudes, beliefs, and views about women. Laws on ownership of property, inheritance, access to credit, and employment must be equitable and enforced. Consciousness-raising among rural women is an effective means of encouraging rural women to seek and assume new roles and for questioning unreasonable expectations and norms. Women's professional associations serve important functions and fulfill the need for role models. The quality of rural women's life is effectively improved through formulation of policies relevant to women's needs and problems and improve rural conditions. Women should have fair representation at local and national levels of government. Women's role in agriculture is likely to be enhanced through improved transportation systems, electricity supply, and introduction of intermediate technology. This assessment of rural African women's contributions to economic growth emphasizes women's involvement in farming and the informal sector and their lack of equal remuneration or low wages. Illiteracy places women in a disadvantaged position when competing for employment in the formal sector. Lack of access to credit and limits on credit are other obstacles in the informal sector. The reduced participation of rural women in the formal and informal sector is due to lack of

  15. Impact of the rural health development programme in the Islamic Republic of Iran on rural-urban disparities in health indicators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aghajanian, A; Mehryar, A H; Ahmadnia, S; Kazemipour, S

    2008-01-01

    By 1979, 50 years of uneven development and modernization by governments prior to the Islamic Revolution had left rural parts of the Islamic Republic of Iran with extremely low economic and health status. This paper reports on the impact of the rural health development programme implemented as an effective and inexpensive way to improve the heath of the rural population, especially mothers and children. It describes the system of rural health centres, health houses and community health workers (behvarz) and demonstrates the effectiveness of the programme through declining measures of rural-urban disparities in health indicators. The implications of inexpensive rural health policies for other countries in the region such as Afghanistan and central Asian countries with a similar sociocultural structure are discussed.

  16. Differences in Sexual Practices, Sexual Behavior and HIV Risk Profile between Adolescents and Young Persons in Rural and Urban Nigeria.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan

    Full Text Available We aimed to determine differences in sexual practices, HIV sexual risk behaviors, and HIV risk profile of adolescents and young persons' in rural and urban Nigeria.We recruited 772 participants 15 to 24 years old from urban and rural townships in Nigeria through a household survey. Information on participants' socio-demographic profile (age sex, residential area, number of meals taken per day, sexual practices (vagina, oral and anal sex; heterosexual and homosexual sex; sex with spouse, casual acquaintances, boy/girlfriend and commercial sex workers, sexual behavior (age of sexual debut, use of condom, multiple sex partners, transactional sex and age of sexual partner, and other HIV risk factors (use of alcohol and psychoactive substances, reason for sexual debut, knowledge of HIV prevention and HIV transmission, report of STI symptoms were collected through an interviewer administered questionnaire. Differences in sexual behavior and sexual practices of adolescents and HIV risk profile of adolescents and young persons resident in urban and rural areas were determined.More than half (53.5% of the respondents were sexually active, with more residing in the rural than urban areas (64.9% vs 44.1%; p<0.001 and more resident in the rural area reporting having more than one sexual partner (29.5% vs 20.4%; p = 0.04. Also, 97.3% of sexually active respondents reported having vaginal sex, 8.7% reported oral sex and 1.9% reported anal sex. More male than female respondents in the urban area used condoms during the last vaginal sexual intercourse (69.1% vs 51.9%; p = 0.02, and reported sex with casual partners (7.0% vs 15.3%; p = 0.007. More female than male respondents residing in the rural area engaged in transactional sex (1.0% vs 6.7%; p = 0.005. More females than males in both rural (3.6% vs 10.2%; p = 0.04 and urban (4.7% vs 26.6%; p<0.001 areas self-reported a history of discharge. More females than males in both rural (1.4% vs 17.0%; p = 0.04 and

  17. Differences in Sexual Practices, Sexual Behavior and HIV Risk Profile between Adolescents and Young Persons in Rural and Urban Nigeria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Folayan, Morenike Oluwatoyin; Adebajo, Sylvia; Adeyemi, Adedayo; Ogungbemi, Kayode Micheal

    2015-01-01

    We aimed to determine differences in sexual practices, HIV sexual risk behaviors, and HIV risk profile of adolescents and young persons' in rural and urban Nigeria. We recruited 772 participants 15 to 24 years old from urban and rural townships in Nigeria through a household survey. Information on participants' socio-demographic profile (age sex, residential area, number of meals taken per day), sexual practices (vagina, oral and anal sex; heterosexual and homosexual sex; sex with spouse, casual acquaintances, boy/girlfriend and commercial sex workers), sexual behavior (age of sexual debut, use of condom, multiple sex partners, transactional sex and age of sexual partner), and other HIV risk factors (use of alcohol and psychoactive substances, reason for sexual debut, knowledge of HIV prevention and HIV transmission, report of STI symptoms) were collected through an interviewer administered questionnaire. Differences in sexual behavior and sexual practices of adolescents and HIV risk profile of adolescents and young persons resident in urban and rural areas were determined. More than half (53.5%) of the respondents were sexually active, with more residing in the rural than urban areas (64.9% vs 44.1%; p<0.001) and more resident in the rural area reporting having more than one sexual partner (29.5% vs 20.4%; p = 0.04). Also, 97.3% of sexually active respondents reported having vaginal sex, 8.7% reported oral sex and 1.9% reported anal sex. More male than female respondents in the urban area used condoms during the last vaginal sexual intercourse (69.1% vs 51.9%; p = 0.02), and reported sex with casual partners (7.0% vs 15.3%; p = 0.007). More female than male respondents residing in the rural area engaged in transactional sex (1.0% vs 6.7%; p = 0.005). More females than males in both rural (3.6% vs 10.2%; p = 0.04) and urban (4.7% vs 26.6%; p<0.001) areas self-reported a history of discharge. More females than males in both rural (1.4% vs 17.0%; p = 0.04) and urban

  18. Degradation of Rural and Urban Great Tit Song

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mockford, Emily J; Marshall, Rupert C; Dabelsteen, Torben

    2011-01-01

    Acoustic signals play a fundamental role in avian territory defence and mate attraction. Several studies have now shown that spectral properties of bird song differ between urban and rural environments. Previously this has been attributed to competition for acoustic space as a result of low......-frequency noise present in cities. However, the physical structure of urban areas may have a contributory effect. Here we investigate the sound degradation properties of woodland and city environments using both urban and rural great tit song. We show that although urban surroundings caused significantly less...... degradation to both songs, the transmission efficiency of rural song compared to urban song was significantly lower in the city. While differences between the two songs in woodland were generally minimal, some measures of the transmission efficiency of rural song were significantly lower than those of urban...

  19. Differences in the use of spirometry between rural and urban primary care centers in Spain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Márquez-Martín, Eduardo; Soriano, Joan B; Rubio, Myriam Calle; Lopez-Campos, Jose Luis

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this study is to evaluate the ability and practice of spirometry, training of technicians, and spirometry features in primary care centers in Spain, evaluating those located in a rural environment against those in urban areas. An observational cross-sectional study was conducted in 2012 by a telephone survey in 970 primary health care centers in Spain. The centers were divided into rural or urban depending on the catchment population. The survey contacted technicians in charge of spirometry and consisted of 36 questions related to the test that included the following topics: center resources, training doctors and technicians, using the spirometer, bronchodilator test, and the availability of spirometry and maintenance. Although the sample size was achieved in both settings, rural centers (RCs) gave a lower response rate than urban centers (UCs). The number of centers without spirometry in rural areas doubled those in the urban areas. Most centers had between one and two spirometers. However, the number of spirometry tests per week was significantly lower in RCs than in UCs (4 [4.1%] vs 6.9 [5.7%], Pspirometries was higher in RCs than in UCs (209 [73.0%] vs 207 [64.2%], P=0.003). RCs were more satisfied with the spirometries (7.8 vs 7.6, P=0.019) and received more training course for interpreting spirometry (41.0% vs 33.2%, P=0.004). The performance of the bronchodilator test showed a homogeneous measure in different ways. The spirometer type and the reference values were unknown to the majority of respondents. This study shows the differences between primary care RCs and UCs in Spain in terms of performing spirometry. The findings in the present study can be used to improve the performance of spirometry in these areas.

  20. Expanding health insurance to increase health care utilization: will it have different effects in rural vs. urban areas?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erlyana, Erlyana; Damrongplasit, Kannika Kampanya; Melnick, Glenn

    2011-05-01

    This study investigates the importance of medical fee and distance to health care provider on individual's decision to seek care in developing countries. The estimation method used a mixed logit model applied to data from the third wave of the Indonesian family life survey (2000). The key variables of interest include medical fee and distance to different types of health care provider and individual characteristic variables. Urban dweller's decision to choose health care providers are sensitive to the monetary cost of medical care as measured by medical fee but they are not sensitive to distance. For those who reside in rural area, they are sensitive to the non-medical component cost of care as measured by travel distance but they are not sensitive to medical fee. As a result of those findings, policy makers should consider different sets of policy instruments when attempting to expand health service's usage in urban and rural areas of Indonesia. To increase access in urban areas, we recommend expansion of health insurance coverage in order to lower out-of-pocket medical expenditures. As for rural areas, expansion of medical infrastructures to reduce commuting distance and costs will be needed to increase utilization. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Seroprevalence study of toxoplasmosis in pregnant women referred to Aleshtar rural and urban health centers in 2008

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    korosh Cheraghi pour

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available Background: Toxoplasmosis is one of the a parasitic infectious caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. Congenital toxoplasmosis can cause abortion or fetus damage in pregnant women. The purpose of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis (IgG & IgM among the pregnant women referred to Aleshtar rural and urban health centers in 2008. Materials and Methods: Total 331 blood samples were collected from 204 urban and 127 rural pregnant wemon referred to rural and urban health centers of Aleshtar. After recording their information in the questionnaire and preparation of sample, all samples were evaluated with IgG- and IgM-ELISA to detect anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies. Data were analysed by descriptive statistics and chi-square test. Results: In this study seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in urban and rural pregnant women were 36/2% and 44%, respectively. And 11. 2% of the urban and 9. 4% of the rural women suffered from acute Toxoplasma infection while 25% and 34. 6% of the urban and the rural cases had chronic infection, respectively. The results of analysis showed that there were significant relationships between seropositivity (IgG and IgM and education level, age, contact with raw meat, contact with cat, kind of food, washing vegetables, consumption of vegetables and milk in both urban and rural pregnant women (p<0. 05. There was no significant difference between seropositivity and other variables. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the high level of education and preferment health awareness can reduce the risk of toxoplasmosis. Nevertheless, %60. 8 of the pregnant women in this study didn’t have previous history of toxoplasma infection and are exposed to primary infectin and acute disease. Therefore, preventive measures and controlled programs are necessary.

  2. Substance abuse in outpatients attending rural and urban health ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Substance abuse in outpatients attending rural and urban health centres in Kenya. ... Objectives: To estimate the prevalence and pattern of substance use among patients attending primary health centres in urban and rural areas of Kenya. Design: A ... Socio-cultural factors might be responsible for the differences noted.

  3. Differences in Employee Motivation at Slovak Primary Schools in Rural and Urban Areas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hitka, Miloš; Stachová, Katarína; Balážová, Žaneta; Stacho, Zdenko

    2015-01-01

    In spite of turbulent urbanisation in Slovakia we assume that the 21st century is also a period of differences in value criteria of people living in rural and urban areas. The level of urbanisation, i.e. inhabitant movement from the countryside to towns and the level of suburbanisation, i.e. inhabitant movement from towns to the countryside, are…

  4. Rural vs urban hospital performance in a 'competitive' public health service.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia-Lacalle, Javier; Martin, Emilio

    2010-09-01

    In some western countries, market-driven reforms to improve efficiency and quality have harmed the performance of some hospitals, occasionally leading to their closure, mostly in rural areas. This paper seeks to explore whether these reforms affect urban and rural hospitals differently in a European health service. Rural and urban hospital performance is compared taking into account their efficiency and perceived quality. The study is focused on the Andalusian Health Service (SAS) in Spain, which has implemented a freedom of hospital choice policy and a reimbursement system based on hospital performance. Data Envelopment Analysis, the Mann-Whitney U test and Multidimensional Scaling techniques are conducted for two years, 2003 and 2006. The results show that rural and urban hospitals perform similarly in the efficiency dimension, whereas rural hospitals perform significantly better than urban hospitals in the patient satisfaction dimension. When the two dimensions are considered jointly, some rural hospitals are found to be the best performers. As such, market-driven reforms do not necessary result in a difference in the performance of rural and urban hospitals. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Growth and development in school-age children from Rostov region, Russia: Comparison between urban and rural settings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Voynov, V B; Kulba, S N; Arapova, Yu Yu

    2017-12-01

    The purposes of the current study were: (1) to describe growth and physical development and establish norms for schoolchildren from Rostov region in Russia; (2) to compare major characteristics of development between urban and rural children by sex and age. Nearly 200,000 children (198,712) aged between 7 and 17 years from 232 urban and rural schools of Rostov region (Southern Federal District of Russia) participated in the study. School age is a period of intensive growth and physiological and psychological development. Irregularities of personal development are caused by a multitude of factors, such as sex differences, heredity, socio-economic status of a family, standard of living, particular environmental conditions, and lifestyle. It has been established that children from the Southern Federal District of Russia had body mass index values higher than age-appropriate norms for all Russians (Total Russian, Rudnev et al., 2014) and World Health Organization charts. Children from urban settings were taller and heavier than children from rural settings. Sex is one of the most influential factors which play key role in determining specific characteristics of growth and personal development. According to our results, boys and girls both had similar age-related changes in weight and height, but their respective dynamics differed. Girls' height and weight values accelerated at the age 10 to 12 years and plateaued after the age fourteen, whereas in boys height and weight steadily increased with age, showing slight acceleration at the age 12 to 13 years, and reached a plateau by the age of seventeen. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  6. Rural Villagers and Urban Residents Exposure to Poultry in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Ying; Liao, Qiaohong; Zhou, Hang; Zhou, Lei; Li, Leilei; Wu, Jiabing; Zhang, Shunxiang; Yu, Zhangda; Wu, Xiaomin; Ma, Hanwu; Lu, Jianhua; Cowling, Benjamin J.; Yu, Hongjie

    2014-01-01

    Patterns of poultry exposure in rural and urban areas in China have not been systematically evaluated and compared. The objective of our study is to investigate patterns in human exposure to poultry in rural and urban China. We conducted a two-stage household-based clustered survey on population exposure to live/sick/dead poultry in Xiuning and Shenzhen. Half of the rural households (51%) in Xiuning raised poultry, mostly (78%) free-range. Around half of those households (40%) allowed poultry to stay in their living areas. One quarter of villagers reported having contact with sick or dead poultry. In Shenzhen, 37% urban residents visited live poultry markets. Among these, 40% purchased live poultry and 16% touched the poultry or cages during purchase. Our findings indicated that human exposure to poultry was different in rural and urban areas in China. This discrepancy could contribute to the observed differences in epidemiologic characteristics between urban and rural cases of influenza A(H7N9) and A(H5N1) virus infection. PMID:24769673

  7. Rural, Urban and Migrant Differences in Non-Communicable Disease Risk-Factors in Middle Income Countries: A Cross-Sectional Study of WHO-SAGE Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oyebode, Oyinlola; Pape, Utz J.; Laverty, Anthony A.; Lee, John T.; Bhan, Nandita; Millett, Christopher

    2015-01-01

    Background Understanding how urbanisation and rural-urban migration influence risk-factors for non-communicable disease (NCD) is crucial for developing effective preventative strategies globally. This study compares NCD risk-factor prevalence in urban, rural and migrant populations in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa. Methods Study participants were 39,436 adults within the WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE), surveyed 2007–2010. Risk ratios (RR) for each risk-factor were calculated using logistic regression in country-specific and all country pooled analyses, adjusted for age, sex and survey design. Fully adjusted models included income quintile, marital status and education. Results Regular alcohol consumption was lower in migrant and urban groups than in rural groups (pooled RR and 95%CI: 0.47 (0.31–0.68); 0.58, (0.46–0.72), respectively). Occupational physical activity was lower (0.86 (0.72–0.98); 0.76 (0.65–0.85)) while active travel and recreational physical activity were higher (pooled RRs for urban groups; 1.05 (1.00–1.09), 2.36 (1.95–2.83), respectively; for migrant groups: 1.07 (1.0 -1.12), 1.71 (1.11–2.53), respectively). Overweight, raised waist circumference and diagnosed diabetes were higher in urban groups (1.19 (1.04–1.35), 1.24 (1.07–1.42), 1.69 (1.15–2.47), respectively). Exceptions to these trends exist: obesity indicators were higher in rural Russia; active travel was lower in urban groups in Ghana and India; and in South Africa, urban groups had the highest alcohol consumption. Conclusion Migrants and urban dwellers had similar NCD risk-factor profiles. These were not consistently worse than those seen in rural dwellers. The variable impact of urbanisation on NCD risk must be considered in the design and evaluation of strategies to reduce the growing burden of NCDs globally. PMID:25849356

  8. Rural/Urban Disparities in Science Achievement In Post-Socialist Countries: The Evolving Influence of Socioeconomic Status

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erica L. Kryst

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Disparities in educational outcomes exist between students in rural areas as compared to students in urban settings. While there is some evidence that these rural disparities are present in eastern Europe, little is known about young peoples’ lives in the rural areas of this region. This paper presents an analysis of science achievement by location (rural v. urban using all available waves of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS. We examined the eighth grade data from five countries: Lithuania, Romania, the Russian Federation, Hungary, and Slovenia. Findings demonstrated that students attending rural schools had significantly lower science scores and that the rural disadvantage grew between 1995 and 2011 in some countries, but became non-significant in others. Overall, family socioeconomic status played an important role in determining the educational outcomes of rural students. The implications of these findings are explored in relation to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO 2015 Education for All goals.

  9. Urban-Rural Differences in Overweight Status and Physical Inactivity among US Children Aged 10-17 Years

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Jihong; Bennett, Kevin J.; Harun, Nusrat; Probst, Janice C.

    2008-01-01

    Context: Few studies have examined the prevalence of overweight status and physical inactivity among children and adolescents living in rural America. Purpose: We examined urban and rural differences in the prevalence of overweight status and physical inactivity among US children. Methods: Data were drawn from the 2003 National Survey of…

  10. Economic Activity of Children in Peru: Labor Force Behavior in Rural and Urban Contexts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tienda, Marta

    1979-01-01

    Rural children are more economically valuable than urban children to parents and are twice as likely to be economically active, although social, familial, and individual differences (such as age, sex, and education) can significantly influence labor force activity. (SB)

  11. Prevalence of glucose intolerance and associated risk factors in rural and urban populations of different ethnic groups in Kenya

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, D.; Friis, H.; Mwaniki, D.

    2009-01-01

    Objective: To assess the prevalence of glucose intolerance in rural and urban Kenyan populations and in different ethnic groups. Further, to identify associations between lifestyle risk factors and glucose intolerance. Research design and methods: A cross-sectional study included an opportunity...... intolerance among the rural ethnic groups. High BMI, WC, AFA, abdominal visceral and subcutaneous fat thickness, low fitness and physical activity, frequent alcohol consumption, and urban residence were associated with glucose intolerance. Conclusions: The prevalence of diabetes and IGT among different Kenyan...

  12. Infection prevention needs assessment in Colorado hospitals: rural and urban settings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reese, Sara M; Gilmartin, Heather; Rich, Karen L; Price, Connie S

    2014-06-01

    The purpose of our study was to conduct a needs assessment for infection prevention programs in both rural and urban hospitals in Colorado. Infection control professionals (ICPs) from Colorado hospitals participated in an online survey on training, personnel, and experience; ICP time allocation; and types of surveillance. Responses were evaluated and compared based on hospital status (rural or urban). Additionally, rural ICPs participated in an interview about resources and training. Surveys were received from 62 hospitals (77.5% response); 33 rural (75.0% response) and 29 urban (80.6% response). Fifty-two percent of rural ICPs reported multiple job responsibilities compared with 17.2% of urban ICPs. Median length of experience for rural ICPs was 4.0 years compared with 11.5 years for urban ICPs (P = .008). Fifty-one percent of rural ICPs reported no access to infectious disease physicians (0.0% urban) and 81.8% of rural hospitals reported no antimicrobial stewardship programs (31.0% urban). Through the interviews it was revealed that priorities for rural ICPs were training and communication. Our study revealed numerous differences between infection prevention programs in rural versus urban hospitals. An infection prevention outreach program established in Colorado could potentially address the challenges faced by rural hospital infection prevention departments. Copyright © 2014 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Determinants of under-five mortality in rural and urban Kenya.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ettarh, R R; Kimani, J

    2012-01-01

    The disparity in under-five year-old mortality rates between rural and urban areas in Kenya (also reported in other in sub-Saharan African countries), is a critical national concern. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of geographical location and maternal factors on the likelihood of mortality among under-five children in rural and urban areas in Kenya. Data from the 2008-2009 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey were used to determine mortality among under-five children (n=16,162) in rural and urban areas in the 5 years preceding the survey. Multivariate analysis was used to compare the influence of key risk factors in rural and urban areas. Overall, the likelihood of death among under-five children in the rural areas was significantly higher than that in the urban areas (ppoverty was a key predictor for mortality in the rural areas, but the influence of breastfeeding was similar in the two areas. The likelihood of under-five mortality was significantly higher in the rural areas of Coast, Nyanza and Western Provinces than in Central Province. The study shows that the determinants of under-five mortality differ in rural and urban areas in Kenya. Innovative and targeted strategies are required to address rural poverty and province-specific sociocultural factors in order to improve child survival in rural Kenya.

  14. Urbanizing rural waters

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hommes, Lena; Boelens, Rutgerd

    2017-01-01

    This article studies how urbanization processes and associated rural-urban water transfers in the Lima region (Peru) create water control hierarchies that align the municipal drinking water company, hydropower plants and rural communities on unequal positions. By scrutinizing the history of water

  15. Rural-urban differences in the long-term care of the disabled elderly in China.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mei Li

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: In China, the rapid rate of population aging and changes in the prevalence of disability among elderly people could have significant effects on the demand for long-term care. This study aims to describe the urban-rural differences in use and cost of long-term care of the disabled elderly and to explore potential influencing factors. METHODS: This study uses data from a cross-sectional survey and a qualitative investigation conducted in Zhejiang province in 2012. The participants were 826 individuals over 60 years of age, who had been bedridden or suffered from dementia for more than 6 months. A generalized linear model and two-part regression model were applied to estimate costs, with adjustment of covariates. RESULTS: Pensions provide the main source of income for urban elderly, while the principal income source for rural elderly is their family. Urban residents spend more on all services than do rural residents. Those who are married spend less on daily supplies and formal care than the unmarried do. Age, incapacitation time, comorbidity number, level of income, and bedridden status influence spending on medical care (β=-0.0316, -0.0206, 0.1882, 0.3444, and -0.4281, respectively, but the cost does not increase as the elderly grow older. Urban residents, the married, and those with a higher income level tend to spend more on medical equipment. Urban residence and living status are the two significant factors that affect spending on personal hygiene products. CONCLUSIONS: The use of long-term care services varies by living area. Long-term care of the disabled elderly imposes a substantial burden on families. Our study revealed that informal care involves huge opportunity costs to the caregivers. Chinese policy makers need to promote community care and long-term care insurance to relieve the burden of families of disabled elderly, and particular attention should be given to the rural elderly.

  16. Urban and Rural MSW Stream Characterization for Separate Collection Improvement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simona Ciuta

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available In the new legislation framework enacted by new member countries of the European Union (EU, the characterization of municipal solid waste (MSW represents an important instrument for local governments and sanitation operators in setting and achieving targets for waste recycling and recovery. This paper presents the results of a study conducted in accordance with the Romanian methodology for domestic wastes characterization ROMECOM, aiming to provide a proper basis for developing clear and realistic forecasts in current municipal waste management, based on MSW composition and generation rate. The analyzed MSW came both from areas where the waste is collected in mixed and separate ways, in urban and rural areas. The MSW composition by fraction is detailed for dense urban areas, urban areas, rural and touristic areas from Romania. Based on these results, the MSW composition was determined for the eight development regions in Romania, and a generation rate of 0.9·kgMSW inhabitant−1·day−1 for the urban region and 0.4·kgMSW inh−1·day−1 for the rural region was established. The calorific values of urban and rural areas were determined as 6801 kJ·kg−1 and 5613 kJ·kg−1, respectively. In the perspective of sustainable development in this technical area, based on the obtained results and on the prognosis made for the following years, two proposals for urban and rural areas were developed for MSW treating options improvement. The two systems are characterized by selective collection (different efficiencies for urban and rural areas with subsequent recovery of the separated materials and energy recovery of the residual waste in a large-scale waste to energy (WTE plant.

  17. Rural versus Urban

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schøning, Signe Wedel

    and take position within larger social structures of unequal power structures through such employment. The adolescents did not explicitly discuss power relations between urban and rural Denmark in their everyday social encounters, but when they employ Stylised vestjysk and Stylised københavnsk......This ethnographic project discerns how rural adolescents living in West Jutland, Denmark, carry out their daily lives under globalised conditions. The project shows how the young speakers (re)activate, align with and discard ideological perceptions of rural and urban Denmark. By investigating......, they continuously ascribe low social status to the former and high social status to the latter. Thus, the overall picture is one reproducing urban Denmark as a powerful and prestigious centre, whereas rural Denmark is disempowered....

  18. Rural:urban inequalities in post 2015 targets and indicators for drinking-water

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bain, R.E.S. [The Water Institute at UNC, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC (United States); Wright, J.A. [Geography and Environment, University of Southampton, Southampton (United Kingdom); Christenson, E. [The Water Institute at UNC, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC (United States); Bartram, J.K., E-mail: jbartram@unc.edu [The Water Institute at UNC, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC (United States)

    2014-08-15

    Disparities in access to drinking water between rural and urban areas are pronounced. Although use of improved sources has increased more rapidly in rural areas, rising from 62% in 1990 to 81% in 2011, the proportion of the rural population using an improved water source remains substantially lower than in urban areas. Inequalities in coverage are compounded by disparities in other aspects of water service. Not all improved sources are safe and evidence from a systematic review demonstrates that water is more likely to contain detectable fecal indicator bacteria in rural areas. Piped water on premises is a service enjoyed primarily by those living in urban areas so differentiating amongst improved sources would exacerbate rural:urban disparities yet further. We argue that an urban bias may have resulted due to apparent stagnation in urban coverage and the inequity observed between urban and peri-urban areas. The apparent stagnation at around 95% coverage in urban areas stems in part from relative population growth – over the last two decades more people gained access to improved water in urban areas. There are calls for setting higher standards in urban areas which would exacerbate the already extreme rural disadvantage. Instead of setting different targets, health, economic, and human rights perspectives, We suggest that the focus should be kept on achieving universal access to safe water (primarily in rural areas) while monitoring progress towards higher service levels, including greater water safety (both in rural and urban areas and among different economic strata)

  19. Rural:urban inequalities in post 2015 targets and indicators for drinking-water.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bain, R E S; Wright, J A; Christenson, E; Bartram, J K

    2014-08-15

    Disparities in access to drinking water between rural and urban areas are pronounced. Although use of improved sources has increased more rapidly in rural areas, rising from 62% in 1990 to 81% in 2011, the proportion of the rural population using an improved water source remains substantially lower than in urban areas. Inequalities in coverage are compounded by disparities in other aspects of water service. Not all improved sources are safe and evidence from a systematic review demonstrates that water is more likely to contain detectable fecal indicator bacteria in rural areas. Piped water on premises is a service enjoyed primarily by those living in urban areas so differentiating amongst improved sources would exacerbate rural:urban disparities yet further. We argue that an urban bias may have resulted due to apparent stagnation in urban coverage and the inequity observed between urban and peri-urban areas. The apparent stagnation at around 95% coverage in urban areas stems in part from relative population growth - over the last two decades more people gained access to improved water in urban areas. There are calls for setting higher standards in urban areas which would exacerbate the already extreme rural disadvantage. Instead of setting different targets, health, economic, and human rights perspectives, We suggest that the focus should be kept on achieving universal access to safe water (primarily in rural areas) while monitoring progress towards higher service levels, including greater water safety (both in rural and urban areas and among different economic strata). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Rural:urban inequalities in post 2015 targets and indicators for drinking-water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bain, R.E.S.; Wright, J.A.; Christenson, E.; Bartram, J.K.

    2014-01-01

    Disparities in access to drinking water between rural and urban areas are pronounced. Although use of improved sources has increased more rapidly in rural areas, rising from 62% in 1990 to 81% in 2011, the proportion of the rural population using an improved water source remains substantially lower than in urban areas. Inequalities in coverage are compounded by disparities in other aspects of water service. Not all improved sources are safe and evidence from a systematic review demonstrates that water is more likely to contain detectable fecal indicator bacteria in rural areas. Piped water on premises is a service enjoyed primarily by those living in urban areas so differentiating amongst improved sources would exacerbate rural:urban disparities yet further. We argue that an urban bias may have resulted due to apparent stagnation in urban coverage and the inequity observed between urban and peri-urban areas. The apparent stagnation at around 95% coverage in urban areas stems in part from relative population growth – over the last two decades more people gained access to improved water in urban areas. There are calls for setting higher standards in urban areas which would exacerbate the already extreme rural disadvantage. Instead of setting different targets, health, economic, and human rights perspectives, We suggest that the focus should be kept on achieving universal access to safe water (primarily in rural areas) while monitoring progress towards higher service levels, including greater water safety (both in rural and urban areas and among different economic strata)

  1. Discrimination, perceived social inequity, and mental health among rural-to-urban migrants in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Danhua; Li, Xiaoming; Wang, Bo; Hong, Yan; Fang, Xiaoyi; Qin, Xiong; Stanton, Bonita

    2011-04-01

    Status-based discrimination and inequity have been associated with the process of migration, especially with economics-driven internal migration. However, their association with mental health among economy-driven internal migrants in developing countries is rarely assessed. This study examines discriminatory experiences and perceived social inequity in relation to mental health status among rural-to-urban migrants in China. Cross-sectional data were collected from 1,006 rural-to-urban migrants in 2004-2005 in Beijing, China. Participants reported their perceptions and experiences of being discriminated in daily life in urban destination and perceived social inequity. Mental health was measured using the symptom checklist-90 (SCL-90). Multivariate analyses using general linear model were performed to test the effect of discriminatory experience and perceived social inequity on mental health. Experience of discrimination was positively associated with male gender, being married at least once, poorer health status, shorter duration of migration, and middle range of personal income. Likewise, perceived social inequity was associated with poorer health status, higher education attainment, and lower personal income. Multivariate analyses indicate that both experience of discrimination and perceived social inequity were strongly associated with mental health problems of rural-to-urban migrants. Experience of discrimination in daily life and perceived social inequity have a significant influence on mental health among rural-to-urban migrants. The findings underscore the needs to reduce public or societal discrimination against rural-to-urban migrants, to eliminate structural barriers (i.e., dual household registrations) for migrants to fully benefit from the urban economic development, and to create a positive atmosphere to improve migrant's psychological well-being.

  2. Return to Old Times: Rural Romanticism in American Education History.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warren, Donald

    1984-01-01

    Discusses the rural-urban dichotomy that regularly surfaces in educational history and argues that a full understanding of the role of cities is needed to overcome a rural romanticism that ill-serves public education policy. (CMG)

  3. Rural and Urban Differences in Passenger-Vehicle-Occupant Deaths and Seat Belt Use Among Adults - United States, 2014.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beck, Laurie F; Downs, Jonathan; Stevens, Mark R; Sauber-Schatz, Erin K

    2017-09-22

    Motor-vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death in the United States. Compared with urban residents, rural residents are at an increased risk for death from crashes and are less likely to wear seat belts. These differences have not been well described by levels of rurality. 2014. Data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) were used to identify passenger-vehicle-occupant deaths from motor-vehicle crashes and estimate the prevalence of seat belt use. FARS, a census of U.S. motor-vehicle crashes involving one or more deaths, was used to identify passenger-vehicle-occupant deaths among adults aged ≥18 years. Passenger-vehicle occupants were defined as persons driving or riding in passenger cars, light trucks, vans, or sport utility vehicles. Death rates per 100,000 population, age-adjusted to the 2000 U.S. standard population and the proportion of occupants who were unrestrained at the time of the fatal crash, were calculated. BRFSS, an annual, state-based, random-digit-dialed telephone survey of the noninstitutionalized U.S. civilian population aged ≥18 years, was used to estimate prevalence of seat belt use. FARS and BRFSS data were analyzed by a six-level rural-urban designation, based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture 2013 rural-urban continuum codes, and stratified by census region and type of state seat belt enforcement law (primary or secondary). Within each census region, age-adjusted passenger-vehicle-occupant death rates per 100,000 population increased with increasing rurality, from the most urban to the most rural counties: South, 6.8 to 29.2; Midwest, 5.3 to 25.8; West, 3.9 to 40.0; and Northeast, 3.5 to 10.8. (For the Northeast, data for the most rural counties were not reported because of suppression criteria; comparison is for the most urban to the second-most rural counties.) Similarly, the proportion of occupants who were unrestrained at the time of the fatal crash

  4. Gaseous pollutants on rural and urban nursery schools in Northern Portugal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nunes, R A O; Branco, P T B S; Alvim-Ferraz, M C M; Martins, F G; Sousa, S I V

    2016-01-01

    Indoor air quality in nursery schools is different from other schools and this has been largely ignored, particularly in rural areas. Urban and rural nursery schools have different environmental characteristics whose knowledge needs improvement. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate continuously the concentrations of CO2, CO, NO2, O3, CH2O and total VOC in three rural nursery schools and one urban, being the only one comparing urban and rural nurseries with continuous measurements, thus considering occupation and non-occupation periods. Regarding CO2, urban nursery recorded higher concentrations (739-2328 mg m(-3)) than rural nurseries (653-1078 mg m(-3)). The influence of outdoor air was the main source of CO, NO2 and O3 indoor concentrations. CO and NO2 concentrations were higher in the urban nursery and O3 concentrations were higher in rural ones. CH2O and TVOC concentrations seemed to be related to internal sources, such as furniture and flooring finishing and cleaning products. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Divergent Urban-Rural Trends in College Attendance: State Policy Bias and Structural Exclusion in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tam, Tony; Jiang, Jin

    2015-01-01

    Despite the massive expansion of higher education in China since 1998, the cohort trends of urban and rural "hukou" holders in college attendance have widened sharply. Prevailing explanations emphasize the advantages of urban students over rural students in school quality and household financial resources. We propose the structural…

  6. Differences in the distribution of risk factors for stroke among the high-risk population in urban and rural areas of Eastern China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mi, Te; Sun, Shangwen; Du, Yifeng; Guo, Shougang; Cong, Lin; Cao, Mingfeng; Sun, Qinjian; Sun, Yi; Qu, Chuanqiang

    2016-05-01

    Considering the program of screening for risk factors of stroke in Eastern China, the aim of this study was to compare the distribution differences in risk factors for stroke among the high-risk population living in urban and rural areas. A total of 231,289 residents were screened and basic information collected. Risk factors for stroke among the high-risk population were compared between the urban and rural groups. A total of 117,776 high-risk residents from urban areas and 113,513 from rural areas were included in the analysis. The prevalence of hypertension was much higher in rural areas (73.3%) than that in urban areas (64.1%). Dyslipidemia (48.9% vs. 26.9%), sport lack (46.6% vs. 31.6%), diabetes mellitus (21.3% vs. 16.5%), and atrial fibrillation (18.7% vs. 9.8%) were more prevalent in the urban group, while smoking (26.5% vs. 28.8%), previous stroke (10.1% vs. 16.9%), and transient ischemic attack (20.9% vs. 24.6%) were less prevalent. Among the population at high risk of stroke, there were significant differences in the distribution of the following risk factors between the urban and rural groups: hypertension, atrial fibrillation, dyslipidemia, lack of physical exercise, and a previous stroke.

  7. Gaseous pollutants on rural and urban nursery schools in Northern Portugal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nunes, R.A.O.; Branco, P.T.B.S.; Alvim-Ferraz, M.C.M.; Martins, F.G.; Sousa, S.I.V.

    2016-01-01

    Indoor air quality in nursery schools is different from other schools and this has been largely ignored, particularly in rural areas. Urban and rural nursery schools have different environmental characteristics whose knowledge needs improvement. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate continuously the concentrations of CO_2, CO, NO_2, O_3, CH_2O and total VOC in three rural nursery schools and one urban, being the only one comparing urban and rural nurseries with continuous measurements, thus considering occupation and non-occupation periods. Regarding CO_2, urban nursery recorded higher concentrations (739–2328 mg m"−"3) than rural nurseries (653–1078 mg m"−"3). The influence of outdoor air was the main source of CO, NO_2 and O_3 indoor concentrations. CO and NO_2 concentrations were higher in the urban nursery and O_3 concentrations were higher in rural ones. CH_2O and TVOC concentrations seemed to be related to internal sources, such as furniture and flooring finishing and cleaning products. - Highlights: • This is the only study comparing gaseous pollutants continuously measured in urban and rural nurseries. • Children's risk of exposure occurs mainly in the urban nursery school. • Outdoor air was the main determinant of CO, NO_2 and O_3 indoor concentrations. • There is a need to implement measures to reduce critical situations regarding IAQ. - Gaseous pollutant levels were higher in the urban nursery than in rural ones, except for O_3. High concentrations were due to lack of ventilation, outdoor air and internal sources.

  8. Development of a tool to measure person-centered maternity care in developing settings: validation in a rural and urban Kenyan population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Afulani, Patience A; Diamond-Smith, Nadia; Golub, Ginger; Sudhinaraset, May

    2017-09-22

    Person-centered reproductive health care is recognized as critical to improving reproductive health outcomes. Yet, little research exists on how to operationalize it. We extend the literature in this area by developing and validating a tool to measure person-centered maternity care. We describe the process of developing the tool and present the results of psychometric analyses to assess its validity and reliability in a rural and urban setting in Kenya. We followed standard procedures for scale development. First, we reviewed the literature to define our construct and identify domains, and developed items to measure each domain. Next, we conducted expert reviews to assess content validity; and cognitive interviews with potential respondents to assess clarity, appropriateness, and relevance of the questions. The questions were then refined and administered in surveys; and survey results used to assess construct and criterion validity and reliability. The exploratory factor analysis yielded one dominant factor in both the rural and urban settings. Three factors with eigenvalues greater than one were identified for the rural sample and four factors identified for the urban sample. Thirty of the 38 items administered in the survey were retained based on the factors loadings and correlation between the items. Twenty-five items load very well onto a single factor in both the rural and urban sample, with five items loading well in either the rural or urban sample, but not in both samples. These 30 items also load on three sub-scales that we created to measure dignified and respectful care, communication and autonomy, and supportive care. The Chronbach alpha for the main scale is greater than 0.8 in both samples, and that for the sub-scales are between 0.6 and 0.8. The main scale and sub-scales are correlated with global measures of satisfaction with maternity services, suggesting criterion validity. We present a 30-item scale with three sub-scales to measure person

  9. Determinants of child malnutrition in rural and urban Ecuadorian highlands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ortiz, Johana; Van Camp, John; Wijaya, Sylviana; Donoso, Silvana; Huybregts, Lieven

    2014-09-01

    To identify and compare the sociodemographic determinants of stunting, wasting and overweight among infants of urban and rural areas in the Ecuadorian highlands. Cross-sectional study. Nabon (rural) and Cuenca (urban) cantons, Azuay Province, Ecuador. A total of 703 children aged 0-24 months and their caregivers (227 rural and 476 urban) recruited during the period from June to September 2008. Stunting prevalence was significantly higher in the rural area (37·4 % v. 17·7 %; P child's age (OR = 1·04; 95 % CI 1·01, 1·07; P = 0·011), maternal education (OR = 0·95; 95 % CI 0·92, 0·99; P = 0·025) and facility-based delivery (OR = 0·57; 95 % CI 0·45, 0·74; P Rural determinants of stunting were maternal height (OR = 0·004; 95 % CI 0·00004, 0·39; P = 0·018), diarrhoea prevalence (OR = 2·18; 95 % CI 1·13, 4·21; P = 0·02), socio-economic status (OR = 0·79; 95 % CI 0·64, 0·98; P = 0·030) and child's age (OR = 1·07; 95 % CI 1·02, 1·11; P = 0·005). Urban determinants were: maternal BMI for stunting (OR = 0·91; 95 % CI 0·84, 0·99; P = 0·027), cough prevalence (OR = 0·57; 95 % CI 0·34, 0·96; P = 0·036) and facility-based delivery (OR = 0·25; 95 % CI 0·09, 0·73; P = 0·011) for overweight, and hygiene for wasting (OR = 0·57; 95 % CI 0·36, 0·89; P = 0·013). Infant malnutrition was associated with different sociodemographic determinants between urban and rural areas in the Ecuadorian highlands, a finding which contributes to prioritize the determinants to be assessed in nutritional interventions.

  10. Disparities in Prevalence of Cardiometablic Risk Factors in Rural, Urban-Poor, and Urban-Middle Class Women in India.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Indu Mohan

    Full Text Available Urbanization is an important determinant of cardiovascular disease (CVD risk. To determine location-based differences in CVD risk factors in India we performed studies among women in rural, urban-poor and urban middle-class locations.Population-based cross-sectional studies in rural, urban-poor, and urban-middle class women (35-70 y were performed at multiple sites. We evaluated 6853 women (rural 2616, 5 sites; urban-poor 2008, 4 sites; urban middle-class 2229, 11 sites for socioeconomic, lifestyle, anthropometric and biochemical risk factors. Descriptive statistics are reported.Mean levels of body mass index (BMI, waist circumference, waist-hip ratio (WHR, systolic BP, fasting glucose and cholesterol in rural, urban-poor and urban-middle class women showed significantly increasing trends (ANOVAtrend, p 80 cm (28.3, 63.4, 61.9%, waist >90 cm (8.4, 31.4, 38.2%, waist hip ratio (WHR >0.8 (60.4, 90.7, 88.5, WHR>0.9 (13.0, 44.3, 56.1%, hypertension (31.6, 48.2, 59.0% and hypercholesterolemia (13.5, 27.7, 37.4% (Mantel Haenszel X2 ptrend <0.01. Inverse trend was observed for tobacco use (41.6, 19.6, 9.4%. There was significant association of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and diabetes with overweight and obesity (adjusted R2 0.89-0.99.There are significant location based differences in cardiometabolic risk factors in India. The urban-middle class women have the highest risk compared to urban-poor and rural.

  11. Rural Education and Urbanization: Experiences and Struggles in China since the Late 1970s

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Shuqin; Law, Wing-Wah

    2015-01-01

    China has adopted an unbalanced policy for economic development to improve its domestic economy and international competitiveness for more than three decades. During this process, rural education has undergone a series of reforms. With reference to compulsory education, this article argues that rural education in China is a pragmatic instrument…

  12. Rural-Urban Migration in China: Temporary Migrants in Search of Permanent Settlement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beatriz Carrillo

    2004-08-01

    Full Text Available Massive population flows from rural to urban areas since the start of economic reform have had consequences on almost every social, economic and political issue in the People's Republic of China. This paper maps the developments of rural to urban migration in reform era China, explaining the repercussions of the household registration system on migration patterns, the economic and social inclusion of rural migrant workers into urban communities, and the formation of migrant communities based on ethnic ties in some of China's major cities. The paper ends with a discussion of the consequences of both regional and rural-urban inequalities on future population flows, and on the possibilities of social tensions brought by the increasing presence of rural migrants in urban China.

  13. Asthmatic/wheezing phenotypes in preschool children: Influential factors, health care and urban-rural differences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kutzora, Susanne; Weber, Alisa; Heinze, Stefanie; Hendrowarsito, Lana; Nennstiel-Ratzel, Uta; von Mutius, Erika; Fuchs, Nina; Herr, Caroline

    2018-03-01

    Different wheezing and asthmatic phenotypes turned out to indicate differences in etiology, risk factors and health care. We examined influential factors and urban-rural differences for different phenotypes. Parents of 4732 children filled out a questionnaire concerning children's health and environmental factors administered within the Health Monitoring Units (GME) in a cross-sectional study in Bavaria, Germany (2014/2015). To classify respiratory symptoms, five phenotype groups were built: episodic, unremitting and frequent wheeze, ISAAC (International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Children) - asthma and physician-diagnosed asthma (neither of the groups are mutually exclusive). For each phenotype, health care variables were presented and stratified for residence. Urban-rural differences were tested by Pearson's chi-squared tests. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to analyze associations between influential factors and belonging to a phenotype group, and to compare groups with regard to health care variables as outcome. Risk factors for wheezing phenotypes were male gender (OR = 2.02, 95%-CI = [1.65-2.48]), having older siblings (OR = 1.24, 95%-CI = [1.02-1.51]), and preterm delivery (OR = 1.61, 95%-CI = [1.13-2.29]) (ORs for unremitting wheeze). 57% of children with ISAAC asthma and 74% with physician-diagnosed asthma had performed allergy tests. Medication intake among all groups was more frequent in rural areas, and physician's asthma diagnoses were more frequent in urban areas. In accordance with previous research this study confirms that male gender, older siblings and preterm delivery are associated with several wheezing phenotypes. Overall, low numbers of allergy tests among children with physician's diagnoses highlight a discrepancy between common practice and current knowledge and guidelines. Residential differences in health care might encourage further research and interventions strategies. Copyright © 2017

  14. Empowering Women in Agricultural Education for Sustainable Rural Development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ugbomeh, George M. M.

    2001-01-01

    Discusses the concepts of agricultural education, women empowerment, and sustainable rural development. Suggests that, because women make up more than half of Nigeria's population, their empowerment would assist the efforts for sustainable rural development. (Contains 48 references.) (JOW)

  15. Quality and rural-urban comparison of tuberculosis care in Rivers State, Nigeria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tobin-West, Charles Ibiene; Isodje, Anastasia

    2016-01-01

    Nigeria ranks among countries with the highest burden of tuberculosis. Yet evidence continues to indicate poor treatment outcomes which have been attributed to poor quality of care. This study aims to identify some of the systemic problems in order to inform policy decisions for improved quality of services and treatment outcomes in Nigeria. A comparative assessment of the quality of TB care in rural and urban health facilities was carried out between May and June 2013, employing the Donabedian model of quality assessment. Data was analysed using the SPSS software package version 20.0. The level of significance was set at p facility infrastructures were more constrained in the urban than rural settings. Both the urban and rural facilities lacked adequate facilities for infection control such as, running water, air filter respirators, hand gloves and extractor fans. Health education and HIV counselling and testing (HCT) were limited in rural facilities compared to urban facilities. Although anti-TB drugs were generally available in both settings, the DOTS strategy in patient care was completely ignored. Finally, laboratory support for diagnosis and patient monitoring was limited in the rural facilities. The study highlights suboptimal quality of TB care in Rivers State with limitations in health education and HCT of patients for HIV as well as laboratory support for TB care in rural health facilities. We, therefore, recommend that adequate infection control measures, strict observance of the DOTS strategy and sufficient laboratory support be provided to TB clinics in the State.

  16. Analyzing Rural Versus Urban Differences in Career Dissatisfaction and Plans to Leave Among Pennsylvanian Physicians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vick, Brandon

    2016-01-01

    This study estimates whether physicians in rural Pennsylvania have higher odds of career dissatisfaction and plans to leave patient care in the next 6 years, compared to their urban counterparts. Rural-urban differences were estimated across specific subgroups of physicians (gender, race, and specialty) and with regard to specific sources of career dissatisfaction. The 2012 Pennsylvania Health Workforce Survey of Physicians allowed for analysis of 17,444 physicians younger than 55 years old actively practicing patient care. Multivariate, logistic regression was performed to estimate the associations with 2 outcome areas: career dissatisfaction and plans to leave patient care in the next 6 years. Controls included rural setting, age, sex, race, work hours, specialty, and practice characteristics. Over 12% of under-55 physicians are dissatisfied with their careers and over 18% report plans to leave patient care in the next 6 years. Rural physicians in Pennsylvania have 18.6% higher odds of reporting career dissatisfaction and 29.5% higher odds of leaving patient care in the next 6 years (P work (i.e., stress, practice demands, and lack of autonomy) and family situations and less related to income concerns. © 2015 National Rural Health Association.

  17. Gender and rural-urban migration in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davin, D

    1996-02-01

    Many men and women in China are migrating in search of better economic opportunities. Young women who migrate to urban centers in search of opportunity may stay away from their home villages for several years. At some point, however, they are likely to return home. This article considers the effect which such circular migration is having upon gender relations in China. The author's argument is presented in sections on China's 1990 census, migration and the sexual division of labor, migration and child care, the influence of returning migrants, the influence of young female returnees, and the fertility of returnees. She speculates that the demands and expectations of young women who return to their villages after spending some time earning high wages in urban areas will be affected by urban norms. While their return may lead to initial conflict, it is likely that the women will retain greater personal autonomy from their urban experience. Their return is also likely to lead to a higher degree of material consumption in the rural areas. Present circular migration in China has the potential to return human and financial resources to the villages, thereby helping to prevent the urban-rural gap between economic, social, cultural, and educational factors from growing even wider.

  18. Motorcycle emissions and fuel consumption in urban and rural driving conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, K S; Wang, W C; Chen, H M; Lin, C F; Hsu, H C; Kao, J H; Hu, M T

    2003-08-01

    This work reports sampling of motorcycle on-road driving cycles in actual urban and rural environments and the development of representative driving cycles using the principle of least total variance in individual regions. Based on the representative driving cycles in individual regions, emission factors for carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), nitrogen oxides (NO(x)=NO+NO(2)) and carbon dioxide (CO(2)), as well as fuel consumption, were determined using a chassis dynamometer. The measurement results show that the representative driving cycles are almost identical in the three largest cities in Taiwan, but they differ significantly from the rural driving cycle. Irrespective of driving conditions, emission factors differ insignificantly between the urban and rural regions at a 95% confidence level. However, the fuel consumption in urban centers is approximately 30% higher than in the rural regions, with driving conditions in the former usually poor compared to the latter. Two-stroke motorcycles generally have considerably higher HC emissions and quite lower NO(x) emissions than those of four-stroke motorcycles. Comparisons with other studies suggest that factors such as road characteristics, traffic volume, vehicle type, driving conditions and driver behavior may affect motorcycle emission levels in real traffic situations.

  19. Motorcycle emissions and fuel consumption in urban and rural driving conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, K.S.; Wang, W.C.; Chen, H.M.; Lin, C.F.; Hsu, H.C.; Kao, J.H.; Hu, M.T.

    2003-01-01

    This work reports sampling of motorcycle on-road driving cycles in actual urban and rural environments and the development of representative driving cycles using the principle of least total variance in individual regions. Based on the representative driving cycles in individual regions, emission factors for carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), nitrogen oxides (NO x =NO+NO 2 ) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), as well as fuel consumption, were determined using a chassis dynamometer. The measurement results show that the representative driving cycles are almost identical in the three largest cities in Taiwan, but they differ significantly from the rural driving cycle. Irrespective of driving conditions, emission factors differ insignificantly between the urban and rural regions at a 95% confidence level. However, the fuel consumption in urban centers is approximately 30% higher than in the rural regions, with driving conditions in the former usually poor compared to the latter. Two-stroke motorcycles generally have considerably higher HC emissions and quite lower NO x emissions than those of four-stroke motorcycles. Comparisons with other studies suggest that factors such as road characteristics, traffic volume, vehicle type, driving conditions and driver behavior may affect motorcycle emission levels in real traffic situations

  20. Microgeographic differentiation in thermal performance curves between rural and urban populations of an aquatic insect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tüzün, Nedim; Op de Beeck, Lin; Brans, Kristien I; Janssens, Lizanne; Stoks, Robby

    2017-12-01

    The rapidly increasing rate of urbanization has a major impact on the ecology and evolution of species. While increased temperatures are a key aspect of urbanization ("urban heat islands"), we have very limited knowledge whether this generates differentiation in thermal responses between rural and urban populations. In a common garden experiment, we compared the thermal performance curves (TPCs) for growth rate and mortality in larvae of the damselfly Coenagrion puella from three urban and three rural populations. TPCs for growth rate shifted vertically, consistent with the faster-slower theoretical model whereby the cold-adapted rural larvae grew faster than the warm-adapted urban larvae across temperatures. In line with costs of rapid growth, rural larvae showed lower survival than urban larvae across temperatures. The relatively lower temperatures hence expected shorter growing seasons in rural populations compared to the populations in the urban heat islands likely impose stronger time constraints to reach a certain developmental stage before winter, thereby selecting for faster growth rates. In addition, higher predation rates at higher temperature may have contributed to the growth rate differences between urban and rural ponds. A faster-slower differentiation in TPCs may be a widespread pattern along the urbanization gradient. The observed microgeographic differentiation in TPCs supports the view that urbanization may drive life-history evolution. Moreover, because of the urban heat island effect, urban environments have the potential to aid in developing predictions on the impact of climate change on rural populations.

  1. Urbanicity and lifestyle risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases in rural Uganda: a cross-sectional study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riha, Johanna; Karabarinde, Alex; Ssenyomo, Gerald; Allender, Steven; Asiki, Gershim; Kamali, Anatoli; Young, Elizabeth H; Sandhu, Manjinder S; Seeley, Janet

    2014-07-01

    Urban living is associated with unhealthy lifestyles that can increase the risk of cardiometabolic diseases. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where the majority of people live in rural areas, it is still unclear if there is a corresponding increase in unhealthy lifestyles as rural areas adopt urban characteristics. This study examines the distribution of urban characteristics across rural communities in Uganda and their associations with lifestyle risk factors for chronic diseases. Using data collected in 2011, we examined cross-sectional associations between urbanicity and lifestyle risk factors in rural communities in Uganda, with 7,340 participants aged 13 y and above across 25 villages. Urbanicity was defined according to a multi-component scale, and Poisson regression models were used to examine associations between urbanicity and lifestyle risk factors by quartile of urbanicity. Despite all of the villages not having paved roads and running water, there was marked variation in levels of urbanicity across the villages, largely attributable to differences in economic activity, civil infrastructure, and availability of educational and healthcare services. In regression models, after adjustment for clustering and potential confounders including socioeconomic status, increasing urbanicity was associated with an increase in lifestyle risk factors such as physical inactivity (risk ratio [RR]: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.14, 1.24), low fruit and vegetable consumption (RR: 1.17; 95% CI: 1.10, 1.23), and high body mass index (RR: 1.48; 95% CI: 1.24, 1.77). This study indicates that even across rural communities in SSA, increasing urbanicity is associated with a higher prevalence of lifestyle risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases. This finding highlights the need to consider the health impact of urbanization in rural areas across SSA. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary.

  2. Urbanicity and lifestyle risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases in rural Uganda: a cross-sectional study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Johanna Riha

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Urban living is associated with unhealthy lifestyles that can increase the risk of cardiometabolic diseases. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA, where the majority of people live in rural areas, it is still unclear if there is a corresponding increase in unhealthy lifestyles as rural areas adopt urban characteristics. This study examines the distribution of urban characteristics across rural communities in Uganda and their associations with lifestyle risk factors for chronic diseases.Using data collected in 2011, we examined cross-sectional associations between urbanicity and lifestyle risk factors in rural communities in Uganda, with 7,340 participants aged 13 y and above across 25 villages. Urbanicity was defined according to a multi-component scale, and Poisson regression models were used to examine associations between urbanicity and lifestyle risk factors by quartile of urbanicity. Despite all of the villages not having paved roads and running water, there was marked variation in levels of urbanicity across the villages, largely attributable to differences in economic activity, civil infrastructure, and availability of educational and healthcare services. In regression models, after adjustment for clustering and potential confounders including socioeconomic status, increasing urbanicity was associated with an increase in lifestyle risk factors such as physical inactivity (risk ratio [RR]: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.14, 1.24, low fruit and vegetable consumption (RR: 1.17; 95% CI: 1.10, 1.23, and high body mass index (RR: 1.48; 95% CI: 1.24, 1.77.This study indicates that even across rural communities in SSA, increasing urbanicity is associated with a higher prevalence of lifestyle risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases. This finding highlights the need to consider the health impact of urbanization in rural areas across SSA. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary.

  3. Rural model dedicated education unit: partnership between college and hospital.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harmon, Lisa M

    2013-02-01

    This article describes the pilot project development of a rural model Dedicated Education Unit (DEU) by a rural college nursing program and a rural hospital to increase student nurses' confidence and proficiency and improve recruitment of prepared rural staff nurses. Traditionally, for economies of scale, most student clinical rotations occurred in urban settings with the number of students per clinical instructor allowed by the state board of nursing. College budget constraints negated the placement of fewer than this mandated maximum number of students in a rural hospital with a clinical instructor; moreover, rural hospitals could not accommodate 10 students at one time. Rural nursing students were anxious in the urban settings, and this anxiety precluded learning in many instances. Rural hospitals face higher registered nurse vacancies than urban centers. Of the nurses applying for open positions, many were not prepared for the demands of rural nursing, resulting in increased turnover and high orientation costs. The rural model DEU addressed issues of both the nursing program and the hospital. The design and development of the rural model DEU and the advantages of the partnership for the college nursing program and the hospital are discussed. Initial outcomes and serendipitous findings from the pilot project are also discussed. Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.

  4. PERFORMANCES COMPARISON BETWEEN URBAN AND RURAL PIG FARMING SYSTEMS IN MANOKWARI, WEST PAPUA PROVINCE INDONESIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Desni Triana Ruli Saragih

    2015-10-01

    were no differences in household members, experience, average pig owned, working hours, selling period, litter size and number of farrowing. There are nine point of pig farming improvement that should be done to sustain pig farming systems in Manokwari Papua. Education may be improved by provide informal and skillful education. Pig ownership should be increased. Working hours must be increased. Pig keeping in the pens should be done by farmers. Managing pigs with additional time is important so that pigs will be maintained well. Litter sizes both in urban and rural are low, therefore further improvements are needed. Recording pig productivities must be done by every farmer. (Key words: Arfak pig farmers, Pig performance, Rural pig farming, Urban pig farming

  5. Factors influencing interest in recreational sports participation and its rural-urban disparity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chiehfeng Chen

    Full Text Available Recreational sports are important leisure activities. However, most studies investigating barrier factors and motivation for participation in recreational sports have been limited to specific areas (e.g., a city or school or demographic groups (e.g., adolescents. Therefore, this study set out to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the behavioral and socioeconomic factors influencing interest in recreational sports participation in Taiwan, as well as to evaluate the effect of any urban-rural divide.This study analyzed data collected by the "Taiwan Social Change Survey" (program five, wave 3 "Leisure Life" questionnaire. We used hierarchical linear modeling to assess respondent interest in recreational sports participation and evaluated the influence of behavioral factors, socioeconomic factors, and residence location (urban/rural.Of the 2,146 participants in this study, 50.3% were male, and the average age was 43.9 years. Location of residence (urban/rural accounted for 35.3% of the variation in interest in recreational sports participation, while the remaining 64.7% came from the individual level. Participants who lived in rural settings were less interested in recreational sports than their urban counterparts. Gender, educational attainment, participation frequency, health-motivated interest, and appearance-motivated interest were also associated with interest in recreational sports participation.Different communication strategies may be needed to effectively reach different demographic groups. We suggest that future public health campaigns aiming to increase recreational sports participation include tailored interventions and messages to effectively encourage leisure physical activities among all, regardless of demographic boundaries.

  6. Urban-Rural Variation in the Occurrence of Neural Tube Defects in Texas

    Science.gov (United States)

    This study examined the pattern and magnitude of urban-rural variation in anencephaly, spina bifida without anencephaly, and encephalocele in Texas using four different indicators of urban-rural status for the period 1999 to 2003.

  7. Fatty acid profiles of great tit ( Parus major) eggs differ between urban and rural habitats, but not between coniferous and deciduous forests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toledo, Alejandra; Andersson, Martin N.; Wang, Hong-Lei; Salmón, Pablo; Watson, Hannah; Burdge, Graham C.; Isaksson, Caroline

    2016-08-01

    Early-life nutrition is an important determinant of both short- and long-term performance and fitness. The avian embryo develops within an enclosed package of nutrients, of which fatty acids (FA) are essential for many aspects of development. The FA composition of yolk depends on maternal nutrition and condition prior to egg formation, which may be affected by the external environment. To test if maternal environment affects yolk FA composition, we investigated whether the FA composition of great tit ( Parus major) egg yolks differed between urban and rural habitats, and between deciduous and coniferous habitats. The results reveal differences in FA composition between eggs laid in urban and rural habitats, but not between eggs from the coniferous and deciduous habitats. To a large extent, this difference likely reflects dietary differences associated with urban habitats rather than dominating vegetation type. Specifically, urban yolks contained lower proportions of both ω-3 and ω-6 polyunsaturated FAs (PUFA), which are important for chick development. We also found a positive association between the proportion of saturated fatty acids and laying date, and a negative association between the proportion of ω-6 PUFA and clutch size. Given that urbanization is expanding rapidly, future studies should investigate whether factors such as anthropogenic food in the urban environment underlie these differences and whether they impair chick development.

  8. Injury morbidity in an urban and a rural area in Tanzania: an epidemiological survey

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    Setel Philip

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Injuries are becoming a major health problem in developing countries. Few population based studies have been carried out in African countries. We examined the pattern of nonfatal injuries and associated risk factors in an urban and rural setting of Tanzania. Methods A population-based household survey was conducted in 2002. Participants were selected by cluster sampling. A total of 8,188 urban and 7,035 rural residents of all ages participated in the survey. All injuries reported among all household members in the year preceding the interview and resulting in one or more days of restricted activity were included in the analyis. Results A total of 206 (2.5% and 303 (4.3% persons reported to have been injured in the urban and rural area respectively. Although the overall incidence was higher in the rural area, the incidence of major injuries (≥ 30 disability days was similar in both areas. Males were at a higher risk of having an injury than females. Rural residents were more likely to experience injuries due to falls (OR = 1.6; 95% CI = 1.1 – 2.3 and cuts (OR = 4.3; 95% CI = 3.0 – 6.2 but had a lower risk of transport injuries. The most common causes of injury in the urban area were transport injuries and falls. In the rural area, cuts and stabs, of which two thirds were related to agriculture, formed the most common cause. Age was an important risk factor for certain types of injuries. Poverty levels were not significantly associated with experiencing a nonfatal injury. Conclusion The patterns of injury differ in urban and rural areas partly as a reflection of livelihoods and infrastructure. Rural residents are at a higher overall injury risk than urban residents. This may be important in the development of injury prevention strategies.

  9. Assessing Differences in the Availability of Opioid Addiction Therapy Options: Rural Versus Urban and American Indian Reservation Versus Nonreservation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirchak, Katherine A; Murphy, Sean M

    2017-01-01

    Opioid misuse is a large public health problem in the United States. Residents of rural areas and American Indian (AI) reservation/trust lands represent traditionally underserved populations with regard to substance-use disorder therapy. Assess differences in the number of opioid agonist therapy (OAT) facilities and physicians with Drug Addiction Treatment Act (DATA) waivers for rural versus urban, and AI reservation/trust land versus non-AI reservation/trust land areas in Washington State. The unit of analysis was the ZIP code. The dependent variables were the number of OAT facilities and DATA-waivered physicians in a region per 10,000 residents aged 18-64 in a ZIP code. A region was defined as a ZIP code and its contiguous ZIP codes. The independent variables were binary measures of whether a ZIP code was classified as rural versus urban, or AI reservation/trust land versus non-AI reservation/trust land. Zero-inflated negative binomial regressions with robust standard errors were estimated. The number of OAT clinics in a region per 10,000 ZIP-code residents was significantly lower in rural versus urban areas (P = .002). This did not differ significantly between AI reservation/trust land and non-AI reservation/trust land areas (P = .79). DATA-waivered physicians in a region per 10,000 ZIP-code residents was not significantly different between rural and urban (P = .08), or AI reservation/trust land versus non-AI reservation/trust land areas (P = .21). It appears that the potential for Washington State residents of rural and AI reservation areas to receive OAT is similar to that of residents outside of those areas; however, difficulties in accessing therapy may remain, highlighting the importance of expanding health care insurance and providing support for DATA-waivered physicians. © 2016 National Rural Health Association.

  10. Schools at the Rural-Urban Boundary - Blurring the Divide?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burdick-Will, Julia; Logan, John R

    2017-07-01

    Schools mirror the communities in which they are located. Research on school inequality across the rural-urban spectrum tends to focus on the contrast between urban, suburban, and rural schools and glosses over the variation within these areas as well as the similarities between them. To address this gap and provide a richer description of the spatial distribution of educational inequality, we examine the school composition, achievement, and resources of all U.S. elementary schools in 2010-2011. We apply standard census definitions of what areas fall within central cities, the remainder of metropolitan regions, and in rural America. We then apply spatially explicit methods to reveal blurred boundaries and gradual gradients rather than sharp breaks at the edges of these zones. The results show high levels of variation within the suburbs and substantial commonality between rural and urban areas.

  11. Teachers' knowledge and attitudes towards seizure disorder: a comparative study of urban and rural school teachers in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akpan, M U; Ikpeme, E E; Utuk, E-Oe

    2013-01-01

    Knowledge and attitude of school teachers with regard to seizure disorder has an important impact on continuation of schooling of children with seizure disorder. Though school teachers in both rural and urban settings are exposed to the same training, their perception of seizure disorder could be influenced by the environment in which they reside. To determine the knowledge and attitudes of school teachers towards children with seizure disorder, and the influence of urban residence on perception of seizure disorder by the teachers. A self-administered questionnaire on knowledge and attitudes to seizure disorder were filled by school teachers drawn from both urban and rural settings in Akwa-Ibom State, Nigeria. One-hundred and thirty-two urban school teachers and an equal number of their rural counterparts completed the questionnaire. There were significantly more female teachers in the urban schools whereas the rural schools were dominated by male teachers with male to female ratio of 1:5.6 and 1.2:1, respectively. Majority of the urban (60.6%) and rural (57.6%) school teachers were National Certificate of Education holders. Thirty-eight (28.8%) of urban respondents versus eight (6.1%) of rural respondents thought seizure disorder was caused by evil spirits whereas 60 (45.5%) urban respondents compared to 80 (60.6%) of rural respondents felt seizure disorder was infectious. Majority of the respondents from both urban and rural schools (68.2% and 63.6% respectively) believed that the foam from the mouth of a convulsing child with seizure disorder is the infecting agent. However, 62.1% of urban respondents as well as 45.5% of rural respondents would advise that children with seizure disorder be admitted into special schools. There was no significant difference in the mean overall knowledge and attitudes of school teachers to seizure disorder in the two settings ( P = 0.33 for knowledge and 0.28 for attitudes). Teachers' high level of education however, had a positive

  12. Identifying socio-ecological networks in rural-urban gradients: Diagnosis of a changing cultural landscape.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnaiz-Schmitz, C; Schmitz, M F; Herrero-Jáuregui, C; Gutiérrez-Angonese, J; Pineda, F D; Montes, C

    2018-01-15

    Socio-ecological systems maintain reciprocal interactions between biophysical and socioeconomic structures. As a result of these interactions key essential services for society emerge. Urban expansion is a direct driver of land change and cause serious shifts in socio-ecological relationships and the associated lifestyles. The framework of rural-urban gradients has proved to be a powerful tool for ecological research about urban influences on ecosystems and on sociological issues related to social welfare. However, to date there has not been an attempt to achieve a classification of municipalities in rural-urban gradients based on socio-ecological interactions. In this paper, we developed a methodological approach that allows identifying and classifying a set of socio-ecological network configurations in the Region of Madrid, a highly dynamic cultural landscape considered one of the European hotspots in urban development. According to their socio-ecological links, the integrated model detects four groups of municipalities, ordered along a rural-urban gradient, characterized by their degree of biophysical and socioeconomic coupling and different indicators of landscape structure and social welfare. We propose the developed model as a useful tool to improve environmental management schemes and land planning from a socio-ecological perspective, especially in territories subject to intense urban transformations and loss of rurality. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Vejnettet og det urban-rurale landskab

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Juel Clemmensen, Thomas

    2008-01-01

    and form and space and time. With this description it becomes clear that the development of modern road systems, which can be linked to the realisation of the functional divided city, has created a modern city which form and structure compromises the simple dichotomies city-country and centreperiphery...... of the traditional conception of the city. In this perspective the modern city appears more like an urban-rural landscape where urban and rural elements constitutes a complex patchwork. The character of this urban-rural landscape challenges the division among the traditional disciplines of urban and landscape......The western culture of planning has a tradition of considering infrastructure predominantly from technical, technocratic or historical perspectives that removes the focus away from infrastructure’s role in the mediating between culture and nature and in the production of the “city” (see Graham...

  14. Recommendations to bridge rural/urban drug-use(r) research and practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leukefeld, C G; Edwards, R W

    1999-01-01

    This article presents recommendations developed by a group of United States drug-use(r) researchers interested in rural and urban research and practice who met in Lexington, Kentucky, in October 1996. Overall, there was consensus about the importance of better understanding the urban/rural drug and alcohol use/dependency continuum. It was emphasized that drug and alcohol use/dependency are chronic and relapsing disorders. Definitions of rural and urban are most important, and different definitions may be associated with factors that are masked by population density. Specific recommendations are presented in the following areas: Rural Factors, Epidemiology, HIV/AIDS, Treatment and Other Services, Migration, Youth, Protective Factors, Systems Perspective, Measurement, Confidentiality, Criminal Justice, Research, Policy Research, Economic Factors, Service Providers, and Managed Care.

  15. Dietary intake and rural-urban migration in India: a cross-sectional study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liza Bowen

    Full Text Available Migration from rural areas of India contributes to urbanisation and lifestyle change, and dietary changes may increase the risk of obesity and chronic diseases. We tested the hypothesis that rural-to-urban migrants have different macronutrient and food group intake to rural non-migrants, and that migrants have a diet more similar to urban non-migrants.The diets of migrants of rural origin, their rural dwelling sibs, and those of urban origin together with their urban dwelling sibs were assessed by an interviewer-administered semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. A total of 6,509 participants were included. Median energy intake in the rural, migrant and urban groups was 2731, 3078, and 3224 kcal respectively for men, and 2153, 2504, and 2644 kcal for women (p<0.001. A similar trend was seen for overall intake of fat, protein and carbohydrates (p<0.001, though differences in the proportion of energy from these nutrients were <2%. Migrant and urban participants reported up to 80% higher fruit and vegetable intake than rural participants (p<0.001, and up to 35% higher sugar intake (p<0.001. Meat and dairy intake were higher in migrant and urban participants than rural participants (p<0.001, but varied by region. Sibling-pair analyses confirmed these results. There was no evidence of associations with time in urban area.Rural to urban migration appears to be associated with both positive (higher fruit and vegetables intake and negative (higher energy and fat intake dietary changes. These changes may be of relevance to cardiovascular health and warrant public health interventions.

  16. Rural-Urban Disparities in Child Abuse Management Resources in the Emergency Department

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choo, Esther K.; Spiro, David M.; Lowe, Robert A.; Newgard, Craig D.; Hall, Michael Kennedy; McConnell, Kenneth John

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: To characterize differences in child abuse management resources between urban and rural emergency departments (EDs). Methods: We surveyed ED directors and nurse managers at hospitals in Oregon to gain information about available abuse-related resources. Chi-square analysis was used to test differences between urban and rural EDs.…

  17. Urban and rural populations and labour-force structures: current patterns and their implications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marcoux, A

    1990-01-01

    The discussion of the changing structure in urban and rural areas due to changing migration patterns reflects the effect on crop designation and production, the connection to development and fertility issues, and the labor force structure. Different patterns of migration by sex occur between Ethiopia where female rural-to-urban migration is the dominant trend and Indonesia where males moving to urban areas occurs. When countries are identified as primarily male urban and female rural, the migration pattern is male rural-to-urban and is concentrated in African countries, whereas the reverse with female urban and male rural occurs in Latin America and developed countries. The tendency of the age structure in developed and developing countries is for the concentration of the 20 -49 year olds in urban areas and the under 20 and over 49 in rural areas. It is determined that those under 20 have 3 times greater importance in developing rather than developed countries. While in Tunisia and the Near East the over-age-49 rural population has increased, in Cameroon, Myanmar, and Bangladesh, the rural under-age-30 population has increased suggesting different migration patterns; however, there is insufficient computerized data for analysis of regional world trends. The migration pattern of child bearing age women affects the aging rural population in either of two ways. 1) Women stay and bear children and help with farm production while male migrate, thus increasing the youth and over 50 populations. 2) Whole families move with only the aging remaining. The determinants of migration are complex. When there is inequality in land distribution, the most mobile population are those without land or with very small holdings. If agricultural workers are dependent on a landlord, then migration is decreased. Technology and mechanization which have predominated in the last decades can both displace labor in rural areas when situated next to farms and increase labor when multiple

  18. Stigmatization experienced by rural-to-urban migrant workers in China: findings from a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xiaoming; Zhang, Liying; Fang, Xiaoyi; Xiong, Qing; Chen, Xinguang; Lin, Danhua; Mathur, Ambika; Stanton, Bonita

    2007-12-01

    Global literature has suggested a potential negative impact of social stigma on both physical and mental health among those who are being stigmatized. However, limited data are available regarding the form of stigma and stigmatization against rural-to-urban migrant workers in developing countries, including China. This study, employing qualitative data collected from focus group discussions and in-depth individual interviews with rural-to-urban migrants in Beijing, China, was designed to understand the forms and context of stigmatization against rural migrant workers. The data in the current study show that rural-to-urban migrant workers in China had experienced various forms of stigmatization including labelling, stereotyping, separation, status loss and discrimination. Stigmatization occurred through different contexts of migrant workers' lives in urban destinations, including employment seeking, workplace benefits, and access to health and other public services. The current study is a necessary first step to assess the potential impact of stigmatization on both the physical and psychological well-being of rural-to-urban migrant workers.

  19. Sun exposure patterns of urban, suburban, and rural children

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bodekær, Mette; Petersen, Bibi; Philipsen, Peter Alshede

    2015-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Sun exposure is the main etiology of skin cancer. Differences in skin cancer incidence have been observed between rural and urban populations. OBJECTIVES: As sun exposure begins in childhood, we examined summer UVR exposure doses and sun behavior in children resident in urban, suburban......, and rural areas. METHODS: Personal, electronic UVR dosimeters and sun behavior diaries were used during a summer (3.5 months) by 150 children (4-19 years of age) resident in urban, suburban, and rural areas. RESULTS: On school/kindergarten days rural children spent more time outdoors and received higher UVR...... doses than urban and suburban children (rural: median 2.3 h per day, median 0.9 SED per day, urban: median 1.3 h per day, median 0.3 SED per day, suburban: median 1.5 h per day, median 0.4 SED per day) (p ≤ 0.007). Urban and suburban children exhibited a more intermittent sun exposure pattern than rural...

  20. Urban–rural inequalities in suicide mortality: a comparison of urbanicity indicators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Helbich

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Urban–rural disparities in suicide mortality have received considerable attention. Varying conceptualizations of urbanity may contribute to the conflicting findings. This ecological study on Germany assessed how and to what extent urban–rural suicide associations are affected by 14 different urban–rural indicators. Methods Indicators were based on continuous or k-means classified population data, land-use data, planning typologies, or represented population-based accessibility indicators. Agreements between indicators were tested with correlation analyses. Spatial Bayesian Poisson regressions were estimated to examine urban–rural suicide associations while adjusting for risk and protective factors. Results Urban–rural differences in suicide rates per 100,000 persons were found irrespective of the indicator. Strong and significant correlation was observed between different urban–rural indicators. Although the effect sign consistently referred to a reduced risk in urban areas, statistical significance was not universally confirmed by all regressions. Goodness-of-fit statistics suggested that the population potential score performs best, and that population density is the second best indicator of urbanicity. Numerical indicators are favored over classified ones. Regional planning typologies are not supported. Conclusions The strength of suicide urban–rural associations varies with respect to the applied indicator of urbanicity. Future studies that put urban–rural inequalities central are recommended to apply either unclassified population potentials or population density indicators, but sensitivity analyses are advised.

  1. Assessment Framework and Decision—Support System for Consolidating Urban-Rural Construction Land in Coastal China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fangfang Cai

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Urbanization transforms urban-rural landscape and profoundly affects ecological processes. To maintain a sustainable urbanization, two important issues of land-use need to be quantified: the comprehensive variation of urban-rural construction land and the specific models for consolidating these lands. The purpose of this study is to develop a framework to assess the change of urban-rural construction land and build a decision-support system for consolidating these lands. Four sub-layers were first built in the assessment framework, including the characteristic layer, the coordination layer, the potential layer and the urgency layer. Each layer encompassed specific indices for evaluating the change of urban-rural construction land in different aspects. The entropy method was then applied to the data resources from Landsat TM (Thematic Mapper images, statistical data and overall land-use and land consolidation planning of Nantong city in coastal China to allocate weightings to the indices in each sub-layer. Finally, the decision-support system was built based on the assessment results and the degree of importance for consolidating urban and rural construction land, respectively. The results of our study show an overall investigation and quantitative description of the change of urban-rural construction land and provide an effective framework for land consolidation and land use management.

  2. Do features of public open spaces vary between urban and rural areas?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veitch, Jenny; Salmon, Jo; Ball, Kylie; Crawford, David; Timperio, Anna

    2013-02-01

    Parks are an important setting for physical activity and specific park features have been shown to be associated with park visitation and physical activity. Most park-based research has been conducted in urban settings with few studies examining rural parks. This study examined differences in features of parks in urban compared with rural areas. In 2009/10 a tool was developed to audit 433 urban and 195 rural parks located in disadvantaged areas of Victoria, Australia. Features assessed included: access; lighting/safety; aesthetics; amenities; paths; outdoor courts/ovals; informal play spaces; and playgrounds (number, diversity, age appropriateness and safety of play equipment). Rural parks scored higher for aesthetics compared with urban parks (5.08 vs 4.44). Urban parks scored higher for access (4.64 vs 3.89), lighting/safety (2.01 vs 1.76), and diversity of play equipment (7.37 vs 6.24), and were more likely to have paths suitable for walking/cycling (58.8% vs 40.9%) and play equipment for older children (68.2% vs 17.1%). Although the findings cannot be generalized to all urban and rural parks, the results may be used to inform advocacy for park development in rural areas to create parks that are more supportive of physical activity for children and adults. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Lifetime excess cancer risk due to carcinogens in food and beverages: Urban versus rural differences in Canada.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheasley, Roslyn; Keller, C Peter; Setton, Eleanor

    2017-09-14

    To explore differences in urban versus rural lifetime excess risk of cancer from five specific contaminants found in food and beverages. Probable contaminant intake is estimated using Monte Carlo simulations of contaminant concentrations in combination with dietary patterns. Contaminant concentrations for arsenic, benzene, lead, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and tetrachloroethylene (PERC) were derived from government dietary studies. The dietary patterns of 34 944 Canadians from 10 provinces were available from Health Canada's Canadian Community Health Survey, Cycle 2.2, Nutrition (2004). Associated lifetime excess cancer risk (LECR) was subsequently calculated from the results of the simulations. In the calculation of LECR from food and beverages for the five selected substances, two (lead and PERC) were shown to have excess risk below 10 per million; whereas for the remaining three (arsenic, benzene and PCBs), it was shown that at least 50% of the population were above 10 per million excess cancers. Arsenic residues, ingested via rice and rice cereal, registered the greatest disparity between urban and rural intake, with LECR per million levels well above 1000 per million at the upper bound. The majority of PCBs ingestion comes from meat, with values slightly higher for urban populations and LECR per million estimates between 50 and 400. Drinking water is the primary contributor of benzene intake in both urban and rural populations, with LECR per million estimates of 35 extra cancers in the top 1% of sampled population. Overall, there are few disparities between urban and rural lifetime excess cancer risk from contaminants found in food and beverages. Estimates could be improved with more complete Canadian dietary intake and concentration data in support of detailed exposure assessments in estimating LECR.

  4. Urban vs. rural differences in prescription opioid misuse among adults in the United States: informing region specific drug policies and interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rigg, Khary K; Monnat, Shannon M

    2015-05-01

    In the United States, prescription opioid misuse (POM) has increased dramatically over the past two decades. However, there are still questions regarding whether rural/urban differences in adult POM exist, and more important, which factors might be driving these differences. Using data from the 2011 and 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, we conducted unadjusted and adjusted binary logistic regression analyses to determine the association between metropolitan status and POM. We found that urban adults were more likely to engage in POM compared to rural adults because of their higher use of other substances, including alcohol, cannabis, and other illicit and prescription drugs, and because of their greater use of these substances as children. This study fills an important gap in the literature by not only identifying urban/rural differences in POM, but by also pointing out factors that mediate those differences. Because patterns and predictors of POM can be unique to geographic region, this research is critical to informing tailored interventions and drug policy decisions. Specifically, these findings suggest that interventions should be aimed at urban illicit drug users and adults in manual labor occupations. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Healthy dietary practices among rural and semi-urban Blacks in the Northern Province of South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. Peltzer

    2002-09-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the study was to investigate five healthy dietary behaviours in a sample of rural and semi-urban South Africans. The sample consisted of 200 adults, 100 from an semi-urban area (Mankweng and 100 from a rural area (Tiberius in the central region of the Northern Province of South Africa. The two geographically different communities were chosen by convenience and the participants in the two communities were choosen by cluster sampling. Results indicate that about a third (30% in semi-urban and 34% in rural of the study sample are overweight and 18% are obese. A moderately high prevalence of six simple healthy dietary practices was found. However, there was a very low prevalence rate of eating fruits daily among both semi-urban (10% and rural dwellers (9%. Semi-urban dwellers showed significantly higher healthy diet behaviour than rural dwellers in regard to avoiding fat, trying to eat fiber, limiting red meat, and limiting salt. Men reported more than women that they tried to eat fiber and they had more often breakfast everyday. Being semi-urban and female were significantly associated with the healthy dietary index, whereas age, BMI, educational level and marital status were not. The results give insight into dietary health behaviour practices and the factors that influence them, which have practical implications for dietary health promotion.

  6. Myocardial infarction in Québec rural and urban populations between 1995 and 1997.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loslier, Julie; Vanasse, Alain; Niyonsenga, Théophile; Courteau, Josiane; Orzanco, Gabriela; Hemiari, Abbas

    2007-01-01

    There is abundant evidence of health inequities between urban and rural populations. The purpose of this paper is to describe the socioeconomic characteristics of Québec urban and rural populations and the relation between rurality and incidence of myocardial infarction (MI), care management and outcomes. Socioeconomic data by census subdivisions were available from the 1996 Canadian census, representing 7,137,245 individuals. Data on patients with MI were taken from the provincial administrative health database (MED-ECHO), which is managed by the Ministry of Health and contains clinical and demographic information collected when patients are released from acute care hospitals in Québec. We included a total of 37,678 cases compiled over the 3 years of follow-up in the analyses. Residents of rural areas with low urban influence have higher MI incidence rates than all of the other populations in the study. In comparison with urban populations, their observed rural counterparts are at a disadvantage with regard to education, employment and income. Although angioplasty and coronary artery bypass graft surgery rates were higher in more urban areas, the survival rate was lower than in rural areas. This study revealed geographic heterogeneity of MI incidence, revascularization rates and survival rates among urban and rural populations.

  7. Physical activity and cardiovascular risk factors among rural and urban groups and rural-to-urban migrants in Peru: a cross-sectional study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masterson Creber, Ruth M; Smeeth, Liam; Gilman, Robert H; Miranda, J Jaime

    2010-07-01

    To compare physical activity and sedentary behavior patterns of rural-to-urban migrants in Peru versus lifetime rural and urban residents and to determine any associations between low physical activity and four cardiovascular risk factors: obesity (body mass index > 30 kg/m²), systolic and diastolic blood pressure, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome. The PERU MIGRANT (PEru's Rural to Urban MIGRANTs) cross-sectional study was designed to measure physical activity among rural, urban, and rural-to-urban migrants with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). The World Health Organization (WHO) age-standardized prevalence of low physical activity was 2.2% in lifetime rural residents, 32.2% in rural-to-urban migrants, and 39.2% in lifetime urban residents. The adjusted odds ratios for low physical activity were 21.43 and 32.98 for migrant and urban groups respectively compared to the rural group. The adjusted odds ratio for being obese was 1.94 for those with low physical activity. There was no evidence of an association between low physical activity and blood pressure levels, hypertension, or metabolic syndrome. People living in a rural area had much higher levels of physical activity and lower risk of being overweight and obese compared to those living in an urban area of Lima. Study participants from the same rural area who had migrated to Lima had levels of physical inactivity and obesity similar to those who had always lived in Lima. Interventions aimed at maintaining higher levels of physical activity among rural-to-urban migrants may help reduce the epidemic of obesity in urban cities.

  8. Rural-Urban Differences in End-of-Life Nursing Home Care: Facility and Environmental Factors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Temkin-Greener, Helena; Zheng, Nan Tracy; Mukamel, Dana B.

    2012-01-01

    Purpose of the study: This study examines urban-rural differences in end-of-life (EOL) quality of care provided to nursing home (NH) residents. Data and Methods: We constructed 3 risk-adjusted EOL quality measures (QMs) for long-term decedent residents: in-hospital death, hospice referral before death, and presence of severe pain. We used…

  9. Comparisons of Contraceptive Use between Rural and Urban Teens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geske, Savannah; Quevillon, Randal; Struckman-Johnson, Cindy; Hansen, Keith

    2016-02-01

    The purpose of the study was to determine if barriers in rural areas might decrease an adolescent's likelihood of obtaining effective contraception. Previous studies have reported mixed results in comparisons of rural and urban contraception use. Electronic survey. Midwestern Public University. Undergraduate and graduate women. Questionnaire. Participants retrospectively recalled their contraceptive use and barriers to contraceptive use between the 9th and 12th grades. A Barriers to Contraception Use Scale was created using exploratory factor analysis and yielded 31 questions with 1 underlying factor: barriers. Participants were identified as rural or urban using the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) definition and the participant's self-identification. Overall, rural participants endorsed more barriers to accessing contraceptives than urban participants using the OMB definition (χ(2) (2; n = 388) = 2.04; P .05. The Barriers to Contraception Use Scale total score predicted whether an individual would have a prescription for contraceptives 70.5% of the time compared to the base rate of 54.1%. Although no rural-urban differences in actual contraception use were found, rural participants reported more barriers to accessing contraception, and those who endorsed more barriers were less likely to obtain contraceptives while in high school. Pregnancy prevention programs should thus take these barriers into account when developing future interventions. Copyright © 2016 North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Education and Rural Depopulation - The Experience of the Scottish Highlands and Islands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sewel, J.

    The charge has often been made that in peripheral regions of Scotland the secondary educational system has contributed to rural depopulation, since students often must leave the rural community for a distant, centralized secondary school located in an urban area where values and aspirations differ from those of rural communities. In a study of…

  11. Local traditions in the development of rural education

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gulløv, John Matthias

    This presentation discuss two issues of rural change: 1) cultural reproduction and transformation in the local contex and 2) the importance and effect of schooling and education in rural society, especially how school can support the rural community in times of change.......This presentation discuss two issues of rural change: 1) cultural reproduction and transformation in the local contex and 2) the importance and effect of schooling and education in rural society, especially how school can support the rural community in times of change....

  12. Factors Influencing the Consumption of Pulses in Rural and Urban ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Model results revealed that household sizes and education levels of the decision makers residing ... Key words: Pulses consumption, urban and rural areas, Tanzania and double hurdle model ...... Food and Agriculture Organization Statistics.

  13. Rural-urban variation in injury-related hospitalisation, health outcomes and treatment cost in New South Wales.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, Rebecca J; Lower, Tony

    2018-04-19

    To compare differences in injury characteristics, health outcomes and treatment costs between urban and rural residents who were hospitalised following an injury. A retrospective examination of injury-linked hospitalisation and mortality data in New South Wales from 1 January 2010 to 30 June 2014. Urban (496 325) and rural (213 139) residents who were hospitalised following an injury. Demographic and injury characteristics, injury severity, hospital length of stay, 28-day hospital readmission, 90-day mortality and treatment cost. Rural residents had an increased likelihood of being hospitalised for injuries from motorcycles, vehicles, animate causes, venomous animals or plants and assault compared to urban residents. Rural residents were less likely to be readmitted to hospital within 28 days and had a lower length of stay and age-adjusted length of stay than urban residents. Injury-related hospitalisations for urban and rural residents cost $4.4 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively. Annually, acute injury treatment ($1.1 billion), rehabilitation ($130 million) and subacute non-acute patient care ($57 million) cost $1.3 billion ($990 million for urban and $384 million for rural residents) in New South Wales. Fall-related injuries and transport incidents were the costliest injury mechanisms for both urban and rural residents. Injuries contribute substantially to hospitalised morbidity and its cost. The development and implementation of injury prevention strategies targeting the most common injuries for urban and rural residents will go some way towards reducing hospitalised injury and its cost. © 2018 National Rural Health Alliance Ltd.

  14. Wife beating refusal among women of reproductive age in urban and rural Ethiopia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gurmu, Eshetu; Endale, Senait

    2017-03-16

    Wife beating is the most common and widespread form of intimate partner violence in Ethiopia. It results in countless severe health, socio-economic and psychological problems and has contributed to the violation of human rights including the liberty of women to enjoy conjugal life. The main purpose of this study is to assess the levels and patterns of wife beating refusal and its associated socio-cultural and demographic factors in rural and urban Ethiopia. The 2011 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) data based on 11,097 and 5287 women in the reproductive age group (i.e. 15-49 years) living in rural and urban areas, respectively,were used in this study. Cronbach's alpha was used to assess the internal consistency of the measure of women's attitudes towards wife beating. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences was applied to analyze the data. A binary logistic regression model was fitted to identify variables that significantly predict respondents' refusal of wife beating. Separate analysis by a place of residence was undertaken as attitude towards wife beating vary between rural and urban areas. The likelihood of refusing wife beating in Ethiopia was significantly higher among urban women (54.2%) than rural women (24.5%). Although there was a significant variations in attitude towards refusing wife beating among different regions in Ethiopia, increasing educational level, high access to media, age of respondents were associated with high level of refusal of wife beating. In contrast, rural residence, being in marital union, high number of living children, being followers of some religions (Muslim followers in urban and Protestants in rural) were associated with low level of refusal of wife beating. The findings of this study reveal that wife beating in Ethiopia is a function of demographic and socio-cultural factors among which age and educational attainment of respondents, number of living children, religious affiliation, marital commitment and

  15. The Danish urban-rural gradient of allergic sensitization and disease in adults

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Elholm, G; Linneberg, A; Husemoen, L L N

    2016-01-01

    BACKGROUND: The reported prevalence of allergic sensitization among children is lower in rural areas than in urban areas of the world. The aim was to investigate the urban-rural differences of allergic sensitization to inhalant allergens in adults depending on childhood exposure living in an indu......BACKGROUND: The reported prevalence of allergic sensitization among children is lower in rural areas than in urban areas of the world. The aim was to investigate the urban-rural differences of allergic sensitization to inhalant allergens in adults depending on childhood exposure living...... in an industrialized country as Denmark. METHODS: A total of 1236 male participants of 30-40 years of age recruited from two epidemiological studies were divided into four groups with regard to place of upbringing; city, town, rural area and farm. Allergic sensitization was assessed by skin prick tests (SPTs) to 10...... sensitization and specific allergen sensitization in adults depending on their childhood exposure. In this highly homogenous western population, exposure to a less urbanized childhood was associated with lower risk of allergic sensitization and disease as an adult....

  16. A comparison of health inequalities in urban and rural Scotland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levin, Kate A; Leyland, Alastair H

    2006-03-01

    Previous research suggests that there are significant differences in health between urban and rural areas. Health inequalities between the deprived and affluent in Scotland have been rising over time. The aim of this study was to examine health inequalities between deprived and affluent areas of Scotland for differing ruralities and look at how these have changed over time. Postcode sectors in Scotland were ranked by deprivation and the 20% most affluent and 20% most deprived areas were found using the Carstairs indicator and male unemployment. Scotland was then split into 4 rurality types. Ratios of health status between the most deprived and most affluent areas were investigated using all cause mortality for the Scottish population, 1979-2001. These were calculated over time for 1979-1983, 1989-1993, 1998-2001. Multilevel Poisson modelling was carried out for all of Scotland excluding Grampian to assess inequalities in the population. There was an increase in inequalities between 1981 and 2001, which was greatest in remote rural Scotland for both males and females; however, male health inequalities remained higher in urban areas throughout this period. In 2001 female health inequalities were higher in remote rural areas than urban areas. Health inequalities amongst the elderly (age 65+) in 2001 were greater in remote rural Scotland than urban areas for both males and females.

  17. Differential embryotoxicity of the organic pollutants in rural and urban air particles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mesquita, Sofia R.; Drooge, Barend L. van; Oliveira, Eva; Grimalt, Joan O.; Barata, Carlos; Vieira, Natividade; Guimarães, Laura; Piña, Benjamin

    2015-01-01

    Airborne particulate matter (PM) is a recognized risk factor for human populations. Here we assessed the toxic potential of the organic constituents from PM collected in urban and rural sites during warm and cold periods of 2012/2013, and fractionated into 6 size fractions. The finest PM fraction (<0.5 μm) showed the highest biological activity (dioxin-like activity and fish embryotoxicity) in all samples, and the maximal activity was observed in rural samples from the cold period. Zebrafish embryo transcriptome analysis showed a strong induction of the AhR signaling pathway correlated to PAH concentrations. Oxidative stress-related genes and pancreatic and eye-lens gene markers appeared de-regulated in embryos exposed to urban extracts, whereas exposure to rural extracts affected genes implicated in basic cellular functions. The observed effects can be directly related to air pollution-related human disorders, suggesting different potential adverse outcomes for human populations exposed to air pollution from specific sources. - Highlights: • Embryotoxicity of airborne organic compounds collected in urban and rural areas. • Ultrafine particles (<0.5 μm) accumulated most of the observed toxicity. • Strong seasonal differences in rural areas, probably linked to wood combustion. • Rural and urban samples showed quantitative and qualitative differences in toxicity. • At least one independent toxic modes of action especially linked to urban emissions. - Quantitative and qualitative differences in embryotoxic effects of airborne particulate matter from urban and rural areas.

  18. Urban-rural differences in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus among 25-74 year-old adults of the Yangon Region, Myanmar: two cross-sectional studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aung, Wai Phyo; Htet, Aung Soe; Bjertness, Espen; Stigum, Hein; Chongsuvivatwong, Virasakdi; Kjøllesdal, Marte Karoline Råberg

    2018-03-30

    To investigate the association between urban-rural location and the occurrence of diabetes mellitus (DM) in the Yangon Region, and to estimate the proportion of urban and rural participants already diagnosed with DM, and of those, the proportion under treatment and under control. Two cross-sectional studies, using the WHO STEPs methodology. The Yangon Region of Myanmar, urban and rural areas. Men and women, aged 25-74 years, included during the study period from September-November 2013 (urban) and 2014 (rural areas) (n=1372). Institutionalised people, physically and mentally ill person, monks and nuns were excluded. The age-standardised prevalence of DM was 12.1% in urban and 7.1% in rural areas (p=0.039). In urban areas, the prevalence of DM was lowest in the highest educational groups (prural areas, those who were physically inactive had a low intake of fruit and vegetable and were overweight/obese had a higher DM prevalence than others. In a logistic regression, the OR for DM in rural compared with urban areas was 0.38 (0.22, 0.65), adjusted for sociodemographic variables and behavioural risk factors. In urban areas, 43.1% of participants had the experience of receiving blood glucose measurements by a doctor or health worker, and 61.5% of all cases of DM were already diagnosed, 78.7% were under treatment and 45.8% were under control. The corresponding proportions in rural areas were 26.4%, 52.4%, 78.1% and 32.0%, respectively. The prevalence of DM in the Yangon Region was high, and significantly higher in urban than in rural areas. More health services are needed to serve this population with a large proportion of undiagnosed diabetes. Preventive measures to halt and reduce the prevalence of DM are urgently needed. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  19. Urban rural differences in diet, physical activity and obesity in India: are we witnessing the great Indian equalisation? Results from a cross-sectional STEPS survey

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    Jaya Prasad Tripathy

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The rising morbidity and mortality due to non-communicable diseases can be partly attributed to the urbanized lifestyle leading to unhealthy dietary practices and increasing physical levels of inactivity. The demographic and nutrition transition in India has also contributed to the emerging epidemic of non-communicable diseases in this country. In this context, there is limited information in India on dietary patterns, levels of physical activity and obesity. The aim of the present study was thus to assess the urban rural differences in dietary habits, physical activity and obesity in India. Methods A household survey was done in the state of Punjab, India in a multistage stratified sample of 5127 individuals using the WHO STEPS questionnaire. Results No rural urban difference was found in dietary practices and prevalence of overweight and obesity except the fact that a significantly higher proportion of respondents belonging to rural area (15.6 % always/often add salt before/when eating as compared to urban area (9.1 %. Overall 95.8 % (94.6–97.0 of participants took less than 5 servings of fruits and/or vegetables on average per day. No significant urban rural difference was noted in both sexes in all three domains of physical activity such as work, transport and recreation. However, rural females (19.1 % were found to be engaged in vigorous activity more than the urban females (6.3 %. Males reported high levels of physical activity in both the settings. Absence of recreational activity was reported by more than 95 % of the subjects. Higher prevalence of obesity (asian cut offs used was seen among urban females (34.3 % as compared to their rural counterparts (23.2 %. Abdominal obesity was found to be significantly higher among females in both the settings compared to males (p < 0.001. Conclusions Poor dietary practices and physical inactivity seems to fuel the non-communicable disease epidemic in India. Non

  20. The business cycle and mortality: Urban versus rural counties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sameem, Sediq; Sylwester, Kevin

    2017-02-01

    Many studies have found that mortality declines during recessions, but do such results remain consistent in both urban and rural settings? To help uncover explanations for such a pro-cyclical nature of mortality, the present study revisits this topic but allows for associations between unemployment and mortality to differ between urban and rural areas. Using a total of 66 863 observations across 3066 counties of the U.S. from 1990 to 2013, we allow the coefficient on unemployment to differ between urban and rural counties. With an exception of deaths due to external accidents being pro-cyclical in rural settings, we find that the negative association between unemployment and mortality more generally holds for urban areas, particularly for females and the elderly. Moreover, we find death due to circulatory disease or influenza/pneumonia to be especially more prevalent in urban areas. Given that the negative associations between unemployment and mortality are generally stronger in cities, views attempting to explain pro-cyclical mortality should focus on characteristics in urban settings. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Canine parvovirus in Australia: A comparative study of reported rural and urban cases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zourkas, Elaine; Ward, Michael P; Kelman, Mark

    2015-12-31

    Canine parvovirus (CPV) is a highly contagious and often fatal disease reported worldwide. Outbreaks occur throughout Australia, and it has been suggested that disproportionally more CPV cases occur in rural locations. However, evidence to support this suggestion-and possible reasons for such a predisposition-has not existed until now. In this study a total of 4870 CPV cases reported from an Australian disease surveillance system between September 2009 and July 2014 were analysed. Australian postcodes were classified as rural or urban (based on human population density) and reported CPV cases were then categorised as rural or urban based on their reported home postcode. Parvovirus cases were predominately young (<12 months), entire, unvaccinated, mixed-breed dogs. More than twice as many of the reported cases were from a rural area (3321 cases) compared to an urban area (1549 cases). The overall case fatality rate was 47.2%; it was higher for those CPV cases reported from urban areas (50.6%) than rural areas (45.5%). A greater proportion of rural cases were younger, entire dogs compared to urban cases. The final multivariable model of CPV cases being reported from a rural area included age (<12 months) and vaccination status (never vaccinated) as significant predictors. Poor socioeconomic status might be a reason for the decision of rural owners not to vaccinate their dogs as readily as urban owners. The excess reporting of rural CPV cases compared to urban cases and the predictive risk factors identified in this study can be used by veterinarians to reduce the incidence of CPV by educating owners about the disease and promoting better vaccination programs in rural areas. This study also supports that the increased risk of CPV in rural areas may necessitate a need for increased vigilance around preventing CPV disease spread, additional care with puppies which are the most susceptible to this disease and tighter vaccination protocols, compared to urban areas

  2. Rural Versus Urban Use of Traditional and Emerging Tobacco Products in the United States, 2013-2014.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, Megan E; Doogan, Nathan J; Stanton, Cassandra A; Quisenberry, Amanda J; Villanti, Andrea C; Gaalema, Diann E; Keith, Diana R; Kurti, Allison N; Lopez, Alexa A; Redner, Ryan; Cepeda-Benito, Antonio; Higgins, Stephen T

    2017-10-01

    To examine urban-rural differences in US prevalences of traditional and emerging tobacco product use as well as dual or polytobacco use of these products. Our data were derived from wave 1 (2013-2014) of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study. We estimated weighted prevalences of adult tobacco use across urban-rural geographies and examined prevalences classified by gender, poverty level, and region of the country. Nationally, cigarette use and smokeless tobacco use, as well as dual or polytobacco use of traditional products, were more prevalent in rural than in urban areas. Conversely, cigarillo and hookah use and dual or polytobacco use of emerging products were higher in urban areas. There was no significant urban-rural difference in use of e-cigarettes. Gender, poverty, and region of the country did not seem to be driving most urban-rural differences, although differences related to cigarillo use and dual or polytobacco use of emerging products became nonsignificant after control for covariates. Our findings highlight important urban-rural differences in tobacco use. Whether the changing tobacco product landscape will contribute to a continuation of rural health disparities remains to be seen.

  3. Schools at the Rural-Urban Boundary – Blurring the Divide?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burdick-Will, Julia; Logan, John R.

    2018-01-01

    Schools mirror the communities in which they are located. Research on school inequality across the rural-urban spectrum tends to focus on the contrast between urban, suburban, and rural schools and glosses over the variation within these areas as well as the similarities between them. To address this gap and provide a richer description of the spatial distribution of educational inequality, we examine the school composition, achievement, and resources of all U.S. elementary schools in 2010–2011. We apply standard census definitions of what areas fall within central cities, the remainder of metropolitan regions, and in rural America. We then apply spatially explicit methods to reveal blurred boundaries and gradual gradients rather than sharp breaks at the edges of these zones. The results show high levels of variation within the suburbs and substantial commonality between rural and urban areas. PMID:29430017

  4. Urban bound migration and rural investment: the case of Mexico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silvers, A L; Crosson, P

    1983-02-01

    The authors investigate an agriculturally based policy for improving rural incomes and for retarding the rural-urban migration flow. The production of agricultural goods is characterized by a production function in which output increases with increases in agricultural labor inputs, capital, public infrastructure, land, and technology. Differences among regions in agricultural technology will reflect regional differences in education, the institutionalized form of productive organization, and differences in access to technological information channeled through more technically advanced cities. To pick up the effect of out-migration changes in state agricultural labor supply and upon agricultural output, the state's agricultural out-migration rate is included together with the agricultural labor force. The gross migrant flow between 2 locations is hypothesized to depend upon a set of variables influencing the individual's perception of the economic rate of return to be gained by moving, a set of variables reflecting the individual's propensity to relocate, the labor displacement effects of investments, and the at risk population at 1 location available to migrate. It is also taken into account that individuals differ in their response to information about origin and destination wage differentials and that individuals may or may not perceive a new ecnomic gain from migration but may base the decision on other considerations. Results of a statistical analysis using data from the Mexican census of population for 1960 and 1970 are: 1) size of the rural labor force was negatively associated with agricultural wages, contrary to expectations; 2) small farmers have benefited from the expansion of irrigation in Mexico; and 3) higher urban wages attract migration, and higher growth rate of agricultural income retards rural-urban migration. With respect to the 1950-60 decade both agricultural income and rural out-migration impacts could have been substantial but both the impact

  5. Job satisfaction: rural versus urban primary health care workers' perception in Ogun State of Nigeria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, P C; Ebuehi, O M

    2011-01-01

    Job satisfaction implies doing a job one enjoys, doing it well, and being suitably rewarded for one' efforts. Several factors affect job satisfaction. To compare factors influencing job satisfaction amongst rural and urban primary health care workers in southwestern Nigeria. A cross sectional comparative study recruited qualified health workers selected by multi stage sampling technique from rural and urban health facilities in four local government areas (LGAs) of Ogun State in Southwestern Nigeria. Data were collected and analysed using Epi info V 3.5.1 RESULTS: The response rates were 88(88%) and 91(91%) respectively in the rural and urban areas. While urban workers derived satisfaction from availability of career development opportunities, materials and equipment, in their current job, rural workers derived satisfaction from community recognition of their work and improved staff relationship. Major de-motivating factors common to both groups were lack of supportive supervision, client-provider relationship and lack of in-service training. However more rural 74(84.1%) than urban 62(68.1%) health workers would prefer to continue working in their present health facilities (p=0.04). There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups in job satisfaction with respect to tools availability and career development opportunities (pfactors influencing job satisfaction between rural and urban healthcare workers. There is need for human resource policy to be responsive to the diverse needs of health workers particularly at the primary level.

  6. Nutritional behaviours of pregnant women in rural and urban environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edyta Suliga

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Introduction. Monitoring of the environmental differences in the mode of nutrition is especially important in pregnant women, for whom normal body weight gain is especially important for both the course of pregnancy and the normal development of the foetus, and is inseparably associated with rational nutrition. Objective. The objective of the study was evaluation of the mode of nutrition of pregnant women according to the place of residence. Materials and methods. The investigation comprised 704 women. Information was collected by means of an anonymous survey concerning place of residence, consumption of selected products and beverages, and taking folic acid and other vitamin and/or mineral dietary supplements. Results. In the urban environment, pregnant women more frequently consumed vegetables, milk and dairy products, sea fish and wholemeal cereal products, drank more liquids, as well as more fruit and/or vegetable juices, and more often used the supplementation with folic acid, even before becoming pregnant. No significant differences were found in the consumption of fruits, pulses, products which are the source of complete proteins, confectionery products and sweets, according to the place of residence. Conclusions. The diet of pregnant women from the rural environment compared to that of women from urban areas, was characterized by worse quality. It is necessary to carry out health education in the area of adequate nutrition among pregnant women, and those who plan pregnancy, directed primarily to all women from the rural environment.

  7. Underperformance of Planning for Peri-Urban Rural Sustainable Development: The Case of Mentougou District in Beijing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jing Lin

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available As the basic cell of social structures and spatial units, rural settlement is now experiencing profound changes through the rapid urbanization process underway in China, particularly in peri-urban areas which serve as the main platform and battlefield for urban–rural integration in China’s latest round of new urbanization. Therefore, how to achieve better planning for rural settlement in peri-urban areas is becoming a pressing and paramount research agenda. This paper attempts to explore the possible reasons for the underperformance of planning practice for rural settlement in peri-urban areas of China by taking the Mentougou district of Beijing as a case study. Following a quick and comprehensive review of planning in Mentougou district, a systematic and critical evaluation is then conducted accordingly. It shows that the plans generally play a positive role in development orientation and implementation. Yet, there is still a lot of room for improvement, particularly in the following aspects: (1 lack of initiative and innovation at the local level; (2 lack of long-term vision and consistent implementation; (3 lack of rationale-oriented approach; (4 lack of scientific and in-depth research; (5 lack of multi-stakeholder participation. As a way forward, this paper thus proposes a revised planning scheme for local practice, including classification of typologies and the customized planning design for each typology. At last, this paper calls for more in-depth scientific research on some key topics in the planning field, domestically and internationally.

  8. Women's health care: the experiences and behaviors of rural and urban lesbians in the USA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barefoot, K Nikki; Warren, Jacob C; Smalley, K Bryant

    2017-01-01

    experiences with WHCPs emerged - few rural and urban lesbians had been asked about their sexual orientation by their WHCP (38.8% and 45.0%, respectively), been provided with appropriate safe-sex education by their WHCP (21.4% and 25.3%), had their last HIV/sexually transmitted infection screening instigated by their WHCP (if applicable; 15.7% and 19.5%), and reported that their WHCP seems knowledgeable about lesbian health concerns (56.5% vs 54.6%). In terms of preventive behavior, significantly fewer rural lesbians aged 40 years or more had received a mammogram in the past 3 years (63.2% vs 83.2%; χ2(1, N=163)=8.36, p=0.004) when compared to their urban counterparts. No other significant rural-urban differences in preventive behaviors emerged. A similarly low percentage of rural and urban lesbians indicated that they have received the HPV vaccination (22.8% and 29.0%, respectively) and/or have had a HIV/STI screening (43.0% and 47.8%), Pap test (62.0% and 64.5%) or breast exam (59.2% and 62.8%), in the past 3 years. The current findings highlight that rural lesbians in the USA, in comparison to urban lesbians, may experience elevated health risks related to being more likely to have at least one previous male sexual partner, less likely to be recommended the HPV vaccination by a WHCP, and, for those 40 or older, less likely to receive routine mammogram screenings. Furthermore, rural lesbians appear to engage in similarly low rates of HPV vaccination and regular HIV/STI screenings, Pap tests, and clinical breast exams as their urban counterparts. Given the increased cervical and breast cancer risks associated with rural living, the current findings underscore the dire need for health promotion efforts aimed at increasing rural lesbians' engagement in routine pelvic and breast exams.

  9. Psychological Development and Educational Problems of Left-Behind Children in Rural China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Xiaojun; Tian, Yuan; Zhang, Yongxin; Xie, Xiaochun; Heath, Melissa A.; Zhou, Zongkui

    2015-01-01

    With China's rapidly developing economy and increasing urbanization, many adults from rural areas migrate to urban areas for better paid jobs. A side effect of this migration is that parents frequently leave their children behind (left-behind children). This research investigated left-behind children's and non-left-behind children's psychological,…

  10. Rural-Urban Differences in Perceptions of Child Overweight Among Children and Adolescents, Their Guardians and Health Care Professionals in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tarasenko, Yelena N; Chen, Chen; Smalley, K Bryant; Warren, Jacob

    2016-01-01

    Children and adolescents residing in rural environments with higher prevalence of an overweight population may develop inaccurate perceptions of a healthy weight. This study examines rural-urban differences in perceptions of child overweight among overweight (85 ≤ BMI percentile children (BMI percentile ≥ 95), their guardians and health care providers (HCPs), and children's concomitant weight control. The cross-sectional study was based on the 2005-2010 NHANES data (1,844 overweight and obese children and adolescents, aged 8-15 years). Rurality was defined using the 2003 RUCC. The weight status was based on the standardized measures of children's height and weight. Children reported whether they considered themselves overweight and whether they were trying to lose weight. Proxy respondents (ie, guardians) reported whether they considered their child to be overweight and whether an HCP had ever told them their child was overweight. Weighted percentages and predicted probabilities from multivariable logistic regressions were calculated, accounting for the complex, multistage, probability sampling design and nonresponse. Rural residents comprised 18.8% of the study population; 41.8% of them were overweight and 58.2% were obese compared to 46.7% and 53.3% of urban peers, respectively. Misperceptions of children's weight status were 11.3 and 6.0 percentage points higher in rural children and their guardians, respectively. Recall of an HCP identification of child overweight was 6.3 percentage points lower among rural versus urban guardians. Obesity prevention efforts may be fostered by improving accuracy of child overweight perceptions. This may be particularly impactful in rural settings, where weight misperceptions are high. © 2015 National Rural Health Association.

  11. School nurse experiences with prescription opioids in urban and rural schools: A cross-sectional survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pattison-Sharp, Ella; Estrada, Robin Dawson; Elio, Alice; Prendergast, Melissa; Carpenter, Delesha M

    2017-01-01

    Few studies have examined the use of prescription opioids in schools. The current study aimed to: (1) describe the context within which school nurses encounter student opioid prescriptions; (2) assess school nurses' preferences for training and student education; and (3) explore urban-rural differences in school nurses' experiences and training preferences. A convenience sample of school nurses (n = 633) from North Carolina and South Carolina participated in a brief, anonymous, online survey. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically and statistical tests (t-tests and Chi-square tests) were performed to investigate urban-rural differences. Many school nurses (40.3%) had encountered a student with an opioid prescription, but only 3.6% had naloxone available in case of an overdose. Most school nurses (69.9%), especially rural school nurses, believed students would benefit from opioid education (74.9 versus 66.6%, p = 0.03). The majority of school nurses (83.9%) were interested in opioid-related training. Many school nurses encounter students with prescription opioids and would like additional opioid-related training. The potential benefits of providing naloxone access to prevent opioid-related deaths at schools should be explored.

  12. Prevalence Of Hypertension And Awareness Of The Causes And Effects Of Hypertension In Rural And Urban Communities Of Enugu State Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chinyere Okeke

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Developing countries face the double burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases and of the later hypertension is the most common. It is a major public health challenge with an ever increasing global prevalence which inherently increases the global disease burden whereas awareness of this disease and its determinants are poor. It contributes to about 500000 deaths every year. This was a cross-sectional descriptive community survey carried out in urban and rural communities of Enugu southeast Nigeria. A multi-staged sampling technique was used to recruit 260 participants and data was collected by administering questionnaires. Blood pressure measurement and weight of all the subjects were done. These were analysed using EPI info statistical software version 6.04. The result shows that the prevalence of hypertension in urban and rural areas was 15.4 and 13.8 respectively but was not statistically significantly different. About 17.6 and 23 were perceived hypertensives for urban and rural areas respectively. From the study 17 and 44.5 of urban and rural respondents respectively have suffered from hypertension related illnesses stroke kidney disease heart disease and eye problem. Approximately 45 of urban respondents and 83.7 of rural respondents believed that hypertension can be cured. The source of information and general knowledge of hypertension in urban and rural area was statistically significant pamp88040.05. In the urban area their method of cure include drugs and lifestyle modification while in the rural areas drugs and spiritual means was their way of curing the disease. Prevalence and awareness of hypertension is higher in the urban areas however both communities are grossly unaware of the hypertensive associated diseases. Proper health education is recommended to reduce the prevalence of complications of the disease change the trend and ultimately reduce the death in our environment.

  13. Location and Lifestyle: The Comparative Explanatory Ability of Urbanism and Rurality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lowe, George D.; Peek, Charles W.

    1974-01-01

    The article focuses on 2 questions pivotal to the issue of rural-urban differences: 1) "Do attitudinal differences remain among the rural and urban residents independent of differences generated by other potent variables?"; and 2) "Will any increase in the predictive utility of rurality be generated by use of a composite definition (residence plus…

  14. Colorectal Cancer, Socioeconomic Distribution and Behavior: A Comparative Analysis of Urban and Rural Counties in the USA

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    Kaamel M Nuhu

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC ranks second for all cancer related deaths among men and women together and third for either sex when considered separately. Disparities exist in CRC incidence and mortality between rural and urban counties in the USA. This study sought to explore socioeconomic and behavioral factors that may partly explain these observed differences.Methods: Using educational and income levels as measures of socioeconomic status (SES, and average alcohol consumption and smoking frequency as behavioral factors, data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS and the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER program for analysis were coupled.Results: Results showed statistically significant inequalities for CRC incidence (t = 2.678, p = 0.010 and mortality (t = 2.567, p = 0.013, as well as socioeconomic (i.e., poverty; t = 5.644, p < 0.001 and behavioral (i.e., smoking; t = 2.885, p = 0.006 factors between selected rural and urban counties. Regression analysis for colorectal cancer incidence and mortality rates at the rural, urban, and national levels yielded relative impacts of smoking frequency, alcohol consumption, and educational level.Conclusions: Health policies aimed at reducing disparities between rural and urban populations in the USA must therefore adequately address SES and behavioral factors.Key words: colorectal cancer, rural health, social determinants of health, health behavior 

  15. The Role of READ (Rural Education and Development) Foundation in Quality Education of Pakistan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farooq, Muhammad Sabil; Kai, Yuan Tong

    2016-01-01

    Education means all round development, this all round development means intellectual, social and emotional development. It is only education that can mould the behavior of an individual. READ (Rural Education and Development) Foundation is not-for-profit organization established in 1994 to address the dire need for education and literacy in…

  16. Helping behavior in a rural and an urban setting: professional and casual attire.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, Shauna B; Kennedy, Janice H

    2006-02-01

    This study assessed differences in helping behavior in a rural versus an urban location when directed toward either a professionally or a casually dressed woman. Convenience samples included 40 men and 40 women (10 people of each sex assigned to each condition: rural and professional, rural and casual, urban and professional, and urban and casual). A 21-yr.-old female confederate dropped an envelope near each target helper individually and recorded number of seconds for the target helper to retrieve or point out the dropped item. Analysis indicated significantly faster helping occurred in the rural than in the urban location and that men helped the confederate more often than women. No difference in frequencey of help was related to kind of attire.

  17. Region-Urbanicity Differences in Locus of Control: Social Disadvantage, Structure, or Cultural Exceptionalism?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shifrer, Dara; Sutton, April

    2014-11-01

    People with internal rather than external locus of control experience better outcomes in multiple domains. Previous studies on spatial differences in control within America only focused on the South, relied on aggregate level data or historical evidence, or did not account for other confounding regional distinctions (such as variation in urbanicity). Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study, we find differences in adolescents' loci of control depending on their region and urbanicity are largely attributable to differences in their social background, and only minimally to structural differences (i.e., differences in the qualities of adolescents' schools). Differences that persist net of differences across adolescents and their schools suggest the less internal control of rural Southern adolescents, and the more internal control of rural and urban Northeastern adolescents, may be due to cultural distinctions in those areas. Results indicate region is more closely associated than urbanicity with differences in locus of control, with Western and Northeastern cultures seemingly fostering more internal control than Midwestern and Southern cultures. These findings contribute to research on spatial variation in a variety of psychological traits.

  18. Attitudes towards suicide in urban and rural China: a population based, cross-sectional study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zou, Yaming; Leung, Ricky; Lin, Shao; Yang, Mingan; Lu, Tao; Li, Xianyun; Gu, Jing; Hao, Chun; Dong, Guanghui; Hao, Yuantao

    2016-05-26

    Suicide intervention programs have been guided by findings that attitude towards suicide and suicidal behavior may be causally linked. These findings also make it imperative to identify the factors that influence attitudes towards suicide. However, there has been little research on attitudes towards suicide among the general population, especially in low-income and middle-income countries. This population-based, cross-sectional study investigated the associated factors of attitudes towards suicide among a representative sample of urban and rural adult residents in China. A multi-stage, stratified random sampling approach was implemented to select participants. Data were collected by a survey using the Scale of Public Attitudes about Suicide (SPAS). The survey also collected some socio-demographic factors and suicidal history of participants. Statistical tests were conducted to identify associated factors that account for variations in attitudes towards suicide. The residents in China generally hold a neutral attitude towards suicide. Attitudes towards suicide among Chinese residents were associated with age, duration of formal education, marital status, job and suicidal ideation. Different attitudinal subscales seemed not to share the same risk factors. However, gender, ethnicity, religious belief, housing style and economic status might not influence residents' attitudes towards suicide. Attitudes towards suicide among Chinese urban and rural residents generally had no statistical difference with one notable exception: opinions on whether or not suicides and suicide attempts are different phenomena. Age, duration of formal education, marital status, job and suicidal ideation seem to have an impact on attitudes towards suicide among residents. Urban and rural residents have similar attitudes towards suicide with the only statistically significance difference being their opinions on whether or not suicides and suicide attempts are different phenomena.

  19. Homicide in post-Soviet Belarus: urban-rural trends.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stickley, Andrew; Leinsalu, Mall; Razvodovsky, Yury E

    2009-01-01

    To investigate the occurrence of homicide in urban and rural regions of Belarus in the post-Soviet period. All-age male and female homicide mortality and population data were obtained for the years 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005 for urban and rural regions of Belarus. These data were recalculated into three age categories and directly standardised. To assess relative changes in rural-urban homicide rates across time Poisson regression models were used to calculate rate ratios. Between 1990 and 1995 homicide rates rose sharply in urban and rural regions although the rise was greater in the former. Although there was little change in homicide rates in 2000, a notable divergence had occurred by 2005. While homicide rates rose slightly in rural areas, a large fall occurred in the rates of both men and women in urban areas. This resulted in significantly higher rural homicide rate ratios at the end of the study period. With some variations age-specific homicide rates followed this overall general pattern resulting in significantly higher homicide rate ratios in all rural groups aged 15 and above in 2005. It is probable that a combination of factors such as high levels of poverty, the effects of alcohol consumption, as well as the poor provision of emergency medical services underlie both the high levels of lethal violence and the growing rural-urban divergence in homicide rates in contemporary Belarus. Urgent action is now needed to address the deteriorating social and economic conditions underpinning violence, especially in rural regions.

  20. A community survey of the pattern and determinants of household sources of energy for cooking in rural and urban south western, Nigeria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Desalu, Olufemi Olumuyiwa; Ojo, Ololade Olusola; Ariyibi, Ebenezer Kayode; Kolawole, Tolutope Fasanmi; Ogunleye, Ayodele Idowu

    2012-01-01

    The use of solid fuels for cooking is associated with indoor pollution and lung diseases. The objective of the study was to determine the pattern and determinants of household sources of energy for cooking in rural and urban South Western, Nigeria. We conducted a cross sectional study of households in urban (Ado-Ekiti) and rural (Ido-Ekiti) local council areas from April to July 2010. Female respondents in the households were interviewed by trained interviewers using a semi-structured questionnaire. A total of 670 households participated in the study. Majority of rural dwellers used single source of energy for cooking (55.6%) and urban dwellers used multiple source of energy (57.8%). Solid fuel use (SFU) was higher in rural (29.6%) than in urban areas (21.7%). Kerosene was the most common primary source of energy for cooking in both urban and rural areas (59.0% vs.66.6%) followed by gas (17.8%) and charcoal (6.6%) in the urban areas, and firewood (21.6%) and charcoal (7.1%) in the rural areas. The use of solid fuel was strongly associated with lack of ownership of dwellings and larger household size in urban areas, and lower level of education and lower level of wealth in the rural areas. Kerosene was associated with higher level of husband education and modern housing in urban areas and younger age and indoor cooking in rural areas. Gas was associated with high income and modern housing in the urban areas and high level of wealth in rural areas. Electricity was associated with high level of education, availability of electricity and old age in urban and rural areas respectively. The use of solid fuel is high in rural areas, there is a need to reduce poverty and improve the use of cleaner source of cooking energy particularly in rural areas and improve lung health.

  1. Differences Between Rural and Urban Areas in Mortality Rates for the Leading Causes of Infant Death: United States, 2013-2015.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ely, Danielle M; Hoyert, Donna L

    2018-02-01

    The leading causes of infant death vary by age at death but were consistent from 2005 to 2015 (1-6). Previous research shows higher infant mortality rates in rural counties compared with urban counties and differences in cause of death for individuals aged 1 year and over by urbanization level (4,5,7,8). No research, however, has examined if mortality rates from the leading causes of infant death differ by urbanization level. This report describes the mortality rates for the five leading causes of infant, neonatal, and postneonatal death in the United States across rural, small and medium urban, and large urban counties defined by maternal residence, as reported on the birth certificate for combined years 2013-2015. All material appearing in this report is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission; citation as to source, however, is appreciated.

  2. Urban-rural differentials in child malnutrition: trends and socioeconomic correlates in sub-Saharan Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fotso, Jean-Christophe

    2007-03-01

    This paper examines levels and trends of urban-rural differentials in child malnutrition, and investigates whether residual differences exist between urban and rural areas, given comparable measures of socioeconomic status (SES) of households and communities. Using data from Demographic and Health Surveys of 15 sub-Saharan African countries, and multilevel modelling, it shows that urban-rural differentials are considerable in all countries, that they have narrowed in most countries due primarily to an increase in urban malnutrition, and have widened in few countries as a result of sharp decline in urban malnutrition. These urban-rural gaps are abolished in almost all countries when SES is controlled. These results suggest that policies and programs contributing to the attainment of the MDGs should pay particular attention to the urban poor.

  3. Urban-rural differences in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases risk factors among 25–74 years old citizens in Yangon Region, Myanmar: a cross sectional study

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    Aung Soe Htet

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Recent societal and political reforms in Myanmar may upturn the socio-economy and, thus, contribute to the country’s health transition. Baseline data on urban-rural disparities in non-communicable disease (NCD risk factors are not thoroughly described in this country which has been relatively closed for more than five decades. We aim to investigate urban-rural differences in mean values and the prevalence of selected behavioral and metabolic risk factors for non-communicable diseases and 10-years risk in development of coronary heart diseases (CHD. Methods Two cross-sectional studies were conducted in urban and rural areas of Yangon Region in 2013 and 2014 respectively, using the WHO STEPwise approach to surveillance of risk factors of NCDs. Through a multi-stage cluster sampling method, 1486 participants were recruited. Results Age-standardized prevalence of the behavioral risk factors tended to be higher in the rural than urban areas for all included factors and significantly higher for alcohol drinking (19.9% vs. 13.9%; p = 0.040 and low fruit & vegetable consumption (96.7% vs. 85.1%; p = 0.001. For the metabolic risk factors, the tendency was opposite, with higher age-standardized prevalence estimates in urban than rural areas, significantly for overweight and obesity combined (40.9% vs. 31.2%; p = 0.023, obesity (12.3% vs.7.7%; p = 0.019 and diabetes (17.2% vs. 9.2%; p = 0.024. In sub-group analysis by gender, the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia were significantly higher in urban than rural areas among males, 61.8% vs. 40.4%; p = 0.002 and 31.4% vs. 20.7%; p = 0.009, respectively. Mean values of age-standardized metabolic parameters showed higher values in urban than rural areas for both male and female. Based on WHO age-standardized Framingham risk scores, 33.0% (95% CI = 31.7–34.4 of urban dwellers and 27.0% (95% CI = 23.5–30.8 of rural dwellers had

  4. Differences in the use of spirometry between rural and urban primary care centers in Spain

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    Márquez-Martín E

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Eduardo Márquez-Martín,1 Joan B Soriano,2 Myriam Calle Rubio,3 Jose Luis Lopez-Campos1,4 On behalf of the 3E project 1Unidad Médico-Quirúrgica de Enfermedades Respiratorias, Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBiS, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, 2Instituto de Investigación Hospital Universitario de la Princesa (IISP, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cátedra UAM-Linde, 3Servicio de Neumología, Hospital Universitario Clínico San Carlos, 4Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the ability and practice of spirometry, training of technicians, and spirometry features in primary care centers in Spain, evaluating those located in a rural environment against those in urban areas.Methods: An observational cross-sectional study was conducted in 2012 by a telephone survey in 970 primary health care centers in Spain. The centers were divided into rural or urban depending on the catchment population. The survey contacted technicians in charge of spirometry and consisted of 36 questions related to the test that included the following topics: center resources, training doctors and technicians, using the spirometer, bronchodilator test, and the availability of spirometry and maintenance.Results: Although the sample size was achieved in both settings, rural centers (RCs gave a lower response rate than urban centers (UCs. The number of centers without spirometry in rural areas doubled those in the urban areas. Most centers had between one and two spirometers. However, the number of spirometry tests per week was significantly lower in RCs than in UCs (4 [4.1%] vs 6.9 [5.7%], P<0.01. The availability of a specific schedule for conducting spirometries was higher in RCs than in UCs (209 [73.0%] vs 207 [64.2%], P=0.003. RCs were more satisfied with the spirometries (7.8 vs 7.6, P

  5. Why is child malnutrition lower in urban than rural areas?

    OpenAIRE

    Smith, Lisa C.; Ruel, Marie T.; Ndiaye, Aida

    2004-01-01

    "While ample evidence documents that urban children generally have better nutritional status than their rural counterparts, recent research suggests that urban malnutrition is on the rise. The environment, choices, and opportunities of urbanites differ greatly from those of rural dwellers' from employment conditions to social and family networks to access to health care and other services. Given these differences, understanding the relative importance of the various determinants of child maln...

  6. Alcohol consumption and binge drinking in adolescents: comparison of different migration backgrounds and rural vs. urban residence - a representative study

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    Bleich Stefan

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Binge drinking is a constant problem behavior in adolescents across Europe. Epidemiological investigations have been reported. However, epidemiological data on alcohol consumption of adolescents with different migration backgrounds are rare. Furthermore representative data on rural-urban comparison concerning alcohol consumption and binge drinking are lacking. The aims of the study are the investigation of alcohol consumption patterns with respect to a urban-rural differences and b differences according to migration background. Methods In the years 2007/2008, a representative written survey of N = 44,610 students in the 9th. grade of different school types in Germany was carried out (net sample. The return rate of questionnaires was 88% regarding all students whose teachers respectively school directors had agreed to participate in the study. Weighting factors were specified and used to make up for regional and school-type specific differences in return rates. 27.4% of the adolescents surveyed have a migration background, whereby the Turkish culture is the largest group followed by adolescents who emigrated from former Soviet Union states. The sample includes seven large cities (over 500,000 inhabitants (12.2%, independent smaller cities ("urban districts" (19.0% and rural areas ("rural districts" (68.8%. Results Life-time prevalence for alcohol consumption differs significantly between rural (93.7% and urban areas (86.6% large cities; 89.1% smaller cities with a higher prevalence in rural areas. The same accounts for 12-month prevalence for alcohol consumption. 57.3% of the rural, re-spectively 45.9% of the urban adolescents engaged in binge drinking in the 4 weeks prior to the survey. Students with migration background of the former Soviet Union showed mainly drinking behavior similar to that of German adolescents. Adolescents with Turkish roots had engaged in binge drinking in the last four weeks less frequently than

  7. Prevalence of Internet addiction and risk of developing addiction as exemplified by a group of Polish adolescents from urban and rural areas

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    Beata Pawłowska

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available [b]Objective. [/b]The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of Internet addiction and the risk of developing this addiction in Polish adolescents attending junior high schools and high school in Lublin Province, to indicate the differences regarding the intensity of Internet addiction symptoms, and the types of online activity of adolescents residing in urban and rural areas. [b]Material and Methods[/b]. The examined group comprised 1,860 participants (1,320 girls and 540 boys with an average age of 17 years. 760 students lived in urban areas and 1,100 lived in rural areas. The following were used in the study: the Socio-demographic Questionnaire designed by the authors, the Internet Addiction Questionnaire designed by Potembska, the Internet Addiction Test by Young and the Internet Addiction Questionnaire (Kwestionariusz do Badania Uzależnienia od Internetu – KBUI designed by Pawłowska and Potembska. [b]Results[/b]. The adolescents living in urban areas showed a significantly greater intensity of Internet and computer addiction symptoms measured by the KBUI Questionnaire, compared to those living in rural areas. [b]Conclusions.[/b] The Internet addiction criteria were fulfilled by 0.45% of adolescents living in urban areas and 2.9% of those living in rural areas, whereas 35.55% of urban dwelling students and 30.18% of students living in rural areas showed a risk of developing this addiction. More adolescents living in urban areas, compared to those living in rural areas, use Internet pornography, play computer games, disclose their personal data to unknown individuals encountered on the Internet, use Instant Messaging (IM services, electronic mail and Facebook social networking service. Compared to their peers from urban areas, significantly more adolescents from rural areas use ‘Nasza Klasa’ (Our Classmates online social networking service.

  8. Prevalence of Internet addiction and risk of developing addiction as exemplified by a group of Polish adolescents from urban and rural areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pawłowska, Beata; Zygo, Maciej; Potembska, Emilia; Kapka-Skrzypczak, Lucyna; Dreher, Piotr; Kędzierski, Zbigniew

    2015-01-01

    The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of Internet addiction and the risk of developing this addiction in Polish adolescents attending junior high schools and high school in Lublin Province, to indicate the differences regarding the intensity of Internet addiction symptoms, and the types of online activity of adolescents residing in urban and rural areas. The examined group comprised 1,860 participants (1,320 girls and 540 boys) with an average age of 17 years. 760 students lived in urban areas and 1,100 lived in rural areas. The following were used in the study: the Socio-demographic Questionnaire designed by the authors, the Internet Addiction Questionnaire designed by Potembska, the Internet Addiction Test by Young and the Internet Addiction Questionnaire (Kwestionariusz do Badania Uzależnienia od Internetu - KBUI) designed by Pawłowska and Potembska. The adolescents living in urban areas showed a significantly greater intensity of Internet and computer addiction symptoms measured by the KBUI Questionnaire, compared to those living in rural areas. The Internet addiction criteria were fulfilled by 0.45% of adolescents living in urban areas and 2.9% of those living in rural areas, whereas 35.55% of urban dwelling students and 30.18% of students living in rural areas showed a risk of developing this addiction. More adolescents living in urban areas, compared to those living in rural areas, use Internet pornography, play computer games, disclose their personal data to unknown individuals encountered on the Internet, use Instant Messaging (IM) services, electronic mail and Facebook social networking service. Compared to their peers from urban areas, significantly more adolescents from rural areas use 'Nasza Klasa' (Our Classmates) online social networking service.

  9. Differences in Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage Cases between Urban and Rural Regions of Taiwan: Big Data Analytics of Government Open Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ting, Hsien-Wei; Chien, Ting-Ying; Lai, K Robert; Pan, Ren-Hao; Wu, Kuan-Hsien; Chen, Jun-Min; Chan, Chien-Lung

    2017-12-10

    This study evaluated the differences in spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH) between rural and urban areas of Taiwan with big data analysis. We used big data analytics and visualization tools to examine government open data, which included the residents' health medical administrative data, economic status, educational status, and relevant information. The study subjects included sICH patients of Taipei region (29,741 cases) and Eastern Taiwan (4565 cases). The incidence of sICH per 100,000 population per year in Eastern Taiwan (71.3 cases) was significantly higher than that of the Taipei region (42.3 cases). The mean coverage area per hospital in Eastern Taiwan (452.4 km²) was significantly larger than the Taipei region (24 km²). The residents educational level in the Taipei region was significantly higher than that in Eastern Taiwan. The mean hospital length of stay in the Taipei region (17.9 days) was significantly greater than that in Eastern Taiwan (16.3 days) ( p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in other medical profiles between two areas. Distance and educational barriers were two possible reasons for the higher incidence of sICH in the rural area of Eastern Taiwan. Further studies are necessary in order to understand these phenomena in greater depth.

  10. Differences in Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage Cases between Urban and Rural Regions of Taiwan: Big Data Analytics of Government Open Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hsien-Wei Ting

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This study evaluated the differences in spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH between rural and urban areas of Taiwan with big data analysis. We used big data analytics and visualization tools to examine government open data, which included the residents’ health medical administrative data, economic status, educational status, and relevant information. The study subjects included sICH patients of Taipei region (29,741 cases and Eastern Taiwan (4565 cases. The incidence of sICH per 100,000 population per year in Eastern Taiwan (71.3 cases was significantly higher than that of the Taipei region (42.3 cases. The mean coverage area per hospital in Eastern Taiwan (452.4 km2 was significantly larger than the Taipei region (24 km2. The residents educational level in the Taipei region was significantly higher than that in Eastern Taiwan. The mean hospital length of stay in the Taipei region (17.9 days was significantly greater than that in Eastern Taiwan (16.3 days (p < 0.001. There were no significant differences in other medical profiles between two areas. Distance and educational barriers were two possible reasons for the higher incidence of sICH in the rural area of Eastern Taiwan. Further studies are necessary in order to understand these phenomena in greater depth.

  11. Assessing Differences in the Availability of Opioid Addiction Therapy Options: Rural Versus Urban and American Indian Reservation Versus Non-Reservation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirchak, Katherine A.; Murphy, Sean M.

    2017-01-01

    Background Opioid misuse is a large public health problem in the United States. Residents of rural areas and American Indian (AI) reservation/trust lands represent traditionally underserved populations with regard to substance-use-disorder therapy. Purpose Assess differences in the number of opioid agonist therapy (OAT) facilities and physicians with Drug Addiction Treatment Act (DATA) waivers for rural versus urban, and AI reservation/trust land versus non-AI reservation/trust land areas in Washington State. Methods The unit of analysis was the zip code. The dependent variables were the number of OAT facilities and DATA-waivered physicians in a region per 10,000 residents aged 18–64 in a zip code. A region was defined as a zip code and its contiguous zip codes. The independent variables were binary measures of whether a zip code was classified as rural versus urban, or AI reservation/trust land versus non-AI reservation/trust land. Zero-inflated negative binomial regressions with robust standard errors were estimated. Results The number of OAT clinics in a region per 10,000 zip-code residents was significantly lower in rural versus urban areas (P = .002). This did not differ significantly between AI reservation/trust land and non-AI reservation/trust land areas (P = .79). DATA-waivered physicians in a region per 10,000 zip-code residents was not significantly different between rural and urban (P = .08), or AI reservation/trust land versus non-AI reservation/trust land areas (P = .21). Conclusions It appears that the potential for Washington State residents of rural and AI reservation areas to receive OAT is similar to that of residents outside of those areas; however, difficulties in accessing therapy may remain, highlighting the importance of expanding health care insurance and providing support for DATA-waivered physicians. PMID:26987797

  12. Secondhand smoke exposure is associated with smoke-free laws but not urban/rural status.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Kiyoung; Hwang, Yunhyung; Hahn, Ellen J; Bratset, Hilarie; Robertson, Heather; Rayens, Mary Kay

    2015-05-01

    The objective was to determine secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure with and without smoke-free laws in urban and rural communities. The research hypothesis was that SHS exposure in public places could be improved by smoke-free law regardless of urban and rural status. Indoor air quality in hospitality venues was assessed in 53 communities (16 urban and 37 rural) before smoke-free laws; 12 communities passed smoke-free laws during the study period. Real-time measurements of particulate matter with 2.5 µm aerodynamic diameter or smaller (PM2.5) were taken 657 times from 586 distinct venues; about 71 venues had both pre- and post-law measurements. Predictors of log-transformed PM2.5 level were determined using multilevel modeling. With covariates of county-level percent minority population, percent with at least high school education, adult smoking rate, and venue-level smoker density, indoor air quality was associated with smoke-free policy status and venue type and their interaction. The geometric means for restaurants, bars, and other public places in communities without smoke-free policies were 22, 63, and 25 times higher than in those with smoke-free laws, respectively. Indoor air quality was not associated with urban status of venue, and none of the interactions involving urban status were significant. SHS exposure in public places did not differ by urban/rural status. Indoor air quality was associated with smoke-free law status and venue type. This study analyzed 657 measurements of indoor PM2.5 level in 53 communities in Kentucky, USA. Although indoor air quality in public places was associated with smoke-free policy status and venue type, it did not differ by urban and rural status. The finding supports the idea that population in rural communities can be protected with smoke-free policy. Therefore, it is critical to implement smoke-free policy in rural communities as well as urban areas.

  13. Spatial-temporal change of land surface temperature across 285 cities in China: An urban-rural contrast perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Jian; Ma, Jing; Liu, Qianyuan; Liu, Yanxu; Hu, Yi'na; Li, Yingru; Yue, Yuemin

    2018-09-01

    As an important theme in global climate change and urban sustainable development, the changes of land surface temperature (LST) and surface urban heat island (SUHI) have been more and more focused by urban ecologists. This study used land-use data to identify the urban-rural areas in 285 cities in China and comparatively analyzed LST in urban-rural areas with the perspective of spatial-temporal dynamics heterogeneity. The results showed that, 98.9% of the cities exhibited SUHI effect in summer nighttime and the effect was stronger in northern cities than that in southern cities. In 2010, the mean SUHI intensity was the largest in summer daytime, with 4.6% of the cities having extreme SUHI of over 4°C. From 2001 to 2010, the nighttime LST of most cities increased more quickly in urban areas compared with rural areas, with an increasing tendency of the urban-rural LST difference. The difference in the urban- rural LST change rate was concentrated in the range of 0-0.1°C/year for 68.0% of cities in winter and 70.8% of cities in summer. For the higher LST increasing in urban areas compared with rural areas, there were more cities in summer than winter, indicating that the summer nighttime was the key temporal period for SUHI management. Based on the change slope of urban-rural LST, cities were clustered into four types and the vital and major zones for urban thermal environment management were identified in China. The vital zone included cities in Hunan, Hubei and other central rising provinces as well as the Beibu Gulf of Guangxi Province. The major zone included most of the cities in Central Plain Urban Agglomeration, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta. These results can provide scientific basis for SUHI adaptation in China. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Secular trends of obesity prevalence in Chinese children from 1985 to 2010: Urban-rural disparity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Yi; Ma, Jun; Wang, Hai-Jun; Wang, Zhiqiang; Hu, Peijin; Zhang, Bing; Agard, Anette

    2015-02-01

    To examine the trend of urban-rural disparity in obesity prevalence among Chinese children from 1985 to 2010. The data were from five cross-sectional surveys (1985, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010) of Chinese National Surveys on Students' Constitution and Health. Logistic regression was used to estimate the prevalence odds ratio (POR) of urban-rural areas for obesity prevalence in different surveys. The standardized prevalence of obesity in Chinese children increased rapidly from 0.1% in 1985 to 5.0% in 2010, and significant differences were found between two adjacent surveys in most of the age subgroups (Pobesity prevalence was significantly higher in urban than in rural children of all age subgroups at different survey points, the changing pace was faster in rural than in urban areas from 1995 to 2010. The PORs had increased in 1995 in most age subgroups and then began to decline in all age subgroups after 1995. The gradually decreasing urban-rural disparity suggests that the obesity prevalence in rural areas would contribute to a growing proportion of obese children. Therefore, rural children should be included in obesity prevention efforts even though obesity rates are still lower in rural than in urban areas. © 2014 The Obesity Society.

  15. Impact of new information technologies on training and continuing education for rural health professionals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crandall, L A; Coggan, J M

    1994-01-01

    Recently developed and emerging information and communications technologies offer the potential to move the clinical training of physicians and other health professionals away from the resource intensive urban academic health center, with its emphasis on tertiary care, and into rural settings that may be better able to place emphasis on the production of badly needed primary care providers. These same technologies also offer myriad opportunities to enhance the continuing education of health professionals in rural settings. This article explores the effect of new technologies for rural tele-education by briefly reviewing the effect of technology on health professionals' education, describing ongoing applications of tele-education, and discussing the likely effect of new technological developments on the future of tele-education. Tele-education has tremendous potential for improving the health care of rural Americans, and policy-makers must direct resources to its priority development in rural communities.

  16. Social vulnerability and environmental change along urban-rural interfaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    John Schelhas; Sarah Hitchner; Cassandra Johnson

    2012-01-01

    As the world becomes increasingly urbanized and interconnected, the distinction between urban and rural areas is diminishing. Creation of new urban–rural interface areas causes immediate changes in local natural and social environments, and theseareas are also susceptible to both short-term and long-term environmental changes. Different groups of people...

  17. Defining urban and rural areas: a new approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arellano, Blanca; Roca, Josep

    2017-10-01

    the centers and peripheries is made by setting a threshold of night-time light intensity that allows the inclusion of most of the centers and sub-centers; c) once identified urbanized areas, or AHIL, it is necessary to delimit the rural areas, or Areas Little Impacted by Light (ALIL), which are characterized by low intensity night light; d) finally, rurban landscapes are those with nightlight intensities between ALIL and AHIL. The developed methodology allows comparing the degree of urbanization of the different countries and regions, surpassing the dual approach that has traditionally been used. This paper enables us to identify the different typologies of urbanized areas (villages, cities and metropolitan areas), as well as "rural", "rurban", "periurban" and "central" landscapes. The study identifies 186,134 illuminated contours (urbanized areas). 404 of these contours have more than 1,000,000 inhabitants and can be considered real "metropolitan areas"; on the other hand there are 161,821 contours with less than 5,000 inhabitants, which we identified as "villages". Finally, the paper shows that 40.26% live in rural areas, 15.53% in rurban spaces, 26.04% in suburban areas and only 18.16% in central areas.

  18. Rural and urban married Asian immigrants in Taiwan: determinants of their physical and mental health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Walter; Shiao, Wen-Been; Lin, Blossom Yen-Ju; Lin, Cheng-Chieh

    2013-12-01

    Different geographical areas with unique social cultures or societies might influence immigrant health. This study examines whether health inequities and different social factors exist regarding the health of rural and urban married Asian immigrants. A survey was conducted on 419 rural and 582 urban married Asian immigrants in Taiwan in 2009. Whereas the descriptive results indicate a worse mental health status between rural and urban married Asian immigrants, rural married immigrants were as mentally healthy as urban ones when considering different social variables. An analysis of regional stratification found different social-determinant patterns on rural and urban married immigrants. Whereas social support is key for rural immigrant physical and mental health, acculturation (i.e., language proficiency), socioeconomics (i.e., working status), and family structure (the number of family members and children living in the family) are key to the mental health of urban married immigrants in addition to social support. This study verifies the key roles of social determinants on the subjective health of married Asian immigrants. Area-differential patterns on immigrant health might act as a reference for national authorities to (re)focus their attention toward more area-specific approaches for married Asian immigrants.

  19. Low HDL cholesterol as a cardiovascular risk factor in rural, urban, and rural-urban migrants: PERU MIGRANT cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lazo-Porras, María; Bernabe-Ortiz, Antonio; Málaga, Germán; Gilman, Robert H; Acuña-Villaorduña, Ana; Cardenas-Montero, Deborah; Smeeth, Liam; Miranda, J Jaime

    2016-03-01

    Whilst the relationship between lipids and cardiovascular mortality has been well studied and appears to be controversial, very little has been explored in the context of rural-to-urban migration in low-resource settings. Determine the profile and related factors for HDL-c patterns (isolated and non-isolated low HDL-c) in three population-based groups according to their migration status, and determine the effect of HDL-c patterns on the rates of cardiovascular outcomes (i.e. non-fatal stroke and non-fatal myocardial infarction) and mortality. Cross-sectional and 5-year longitudinal data from the PERU MIGRANT study, designed to assess the effect of migration on cardiovascular risk profiles and mortality in Peru. Two different analyses were performed: first, we estimated prevalence and associated factors with isolated and non-isolated low HDL-c at baseline. Second, using longitudinal information, relative risk ratios (RRR) of composite outcomes of mortality, non-fatal stroke and non-fatal myocardial infarction were calculated according to HDL-c levels at baseline. Data from 988 participants, rural (n = 201), rural-to-urban migrants (n = 589), and urban (n = 199) groups, was analysed. Low HDL-c was present in 56.5% (95%CI: 53.4%-59.6%) without differences by study groups. Isolated low HDL-c was found in 36.5% (95%CI: 33.5-39.5%), with differences between study groups. In multivariable analysis, urban group (vs. rural), female gender, overweight and obesity were independently associated with isolated low HDL-c. Only female gender, overweight and obesity were associated with non-isolated low HDL-c. Longitudinal analyses showed that non-isolated low HDL-c increased the risk of negative cardiovascular outcomes (RRR = 3.46; 95%CI: 1.23-9.74). Isolated low HDL-c was the most common dyslipidaemia in the study population and was more frequent in rural subjects. Non-isolated low HDL-c increased three-to fourfold the 5-year risk of cardiovascular outcomes. Copyright © 2015 The

  20. Urban versus rural differences in the occurrence of hip fractures in Japan’s Kyoto prefecture during 2008–2010: a comparison of femoral neck and trochanteric fractures

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Background To investigate the differences in the characteristics of femoral neck and trochanteric fractures between urban and rural areas of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Methods Fracture type (neck vs. trochanteric), age, sex, place where fracture occurred (indoors vs. outdoors), and cause of injury were surveyed among patients aged ≥65 years who sustained hip fractures between 2008 and 2010 and who were treated at 1 of 13 participating hospitals (5 urban, 8 rural). The ratio of sick beds to total number of beds at the participating hospitals was 19.6% (2,188/11,158) in the urban area and 34.9% (1,963/5,623) in the rural area. We also investigated the incidence of hip fracture in Tango medical district as a representative rural area. Results There were 1,346 neck (mean age, 82.4 years) and 1,606 trochanteric fractures (mean age, 85.0 years). The ratio of neck to trochanteric fractures was higher in the urban area than in the rural area in all age groups (65–74, 75–84, and ≥ 85 years). There were no apparent differences in place or cause of injury. The incidence of hip fracture in the women of Tango medical district was lower than the national average. Conclusions There was a difference in the ratio of neck to trochanteric fractures between urban and rural areas. This difference is estimated to be caused by the high and low incidence of neck fracture in urban and rural areas, respectively. PMID:24156244

  1. Migration magnet: The role of work experience in rural-urban wage differentials

    OpenAIRE

    Michaelsen, Maren; Haisken-DeNew, John

    2015-01-01

    This study uses the nationally representative Mexican Family Life Survey (MxFLS) to identify systematic differences in earnings returns to human capital endowments for formal and informal sector workers in rural and urban Mexico. Returns to experience are critical in explaining the large urban wage gap in a Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition and indeed drive pull migration from the rural informal sector to the urban informal sector, exacerbating urban population congestion in already over-crowded m...

  2. Spatial Recognition of the Urban-Rural Fringe of Beijing Using DMSP/OLS Nighttime Light Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuli Yang

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Spatial identification of the urban-rural fringes is very significant for deeply understanding the development processes and regulations of urban space and guiding urban spatial development in the future. Traditionally, urban-rural fringe areas are identified using statistical analysis methods that consider indexes from single or multiple factors, such as population densities, the ratio of building land, the proportion of the non-agricultural population, and economic levels. However, these methods have limitations, for example, the statistical data are not continuous, the statistical standards are not uniform, the data is seldom available in real time, and it is difficult to avoid issues on the statistical effects from edges of administrative regions or express the internal differences of these areas. This paper proposes a convenient approach to identify the urban-rural fringe using nighttime light data of DMSP/OLS images. First, a light characteristics–combined value model was built in ArcGIS 10.3, and the combined characteristics of light intensity and the degree of light intensity fluctuation are analyzed in the urban, urban-rural fringe, and rural areas. Then, the Python programming language was used to extract the breakpoints of the characteristic combination values of the nighttime light data in 360 directions taking Tian An Men as the center. Finally, the range of the urban-rural fringe area is identified. The results show that the urban-rural fringe of Beijing is mainly located in the annular band around Tian An Men. The average inner radius is 19 km, and the outer radius is 26 km. The urban-rural fringe includes the outer portions of the four city center districts, which are the Chaoyang District, Haidian District, Fengtai District, and Shijingshan District and the part area border with Daxing District, Tongzhou District, Changping District, Mentougou District, Shunyi District, and Fangshan District. The area of the urban-rural fringe

  3. The Approaches to Narrowing Urban-Rural Income Gap——From the Perspective of Rural Social Security

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2010-01-01

    From the situations about the incomes and life quality of the urban and rural residents,the thesis briefly introduces the status quo of the urban-rural income gap and explores the impact of the income gap on social economy:firstly,it hampers economic development;secondly,it is detrimental to the social development.Then the thesis analyzes the role of a sound social security in narrowing urban-rural income gap:at first,it broadens the institutional environment of improving the agricultural efficiency;secondly,it eliminates the uncertainties influencing the farmers’ income;thirdly,it improves the farmers’ capacity to increase income;at last,it enhances the farmers’ consciousness of wealth.Next the thesis inquires into the problems existing in the system of rural social security:the first problem is more obviously fragmented system;the second is inadequate security projects and narrower coverage;the third is an obvious lack of equality in urban and rural security;the fourth is even less sound management system;the last is the lagging of legislation.Afterwards the thesis proposes the countermeasures and suggestions to improve the system of rural social security and narrow urban-rural income gap:firstly,to integrate the social security system in rural areas;secondly,to perfect security projects and enhance the security system;thirdly,to integrate the administrative management of social security;at last,to enforce the legal system.

  4. ANALYSIS FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE WAGE DISPARITY BETWEEN FEMALE WORKERS IN URBAN AND RURAL AREAS IN SOUTH SUMATERA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lamazi

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to analyze the factors that influence wage disparity between working women (female workers in urban and rural areas in South Sumatera in 2013 using cross-sectional data from Susenas 2013. Methods used in this study are wage equation of Mincer (1994 and wage decomposition model of Blinder-Oaxaca. The results show that average wage disparity between working women in urban and rural areas are 34.93%. This disparity is caused by endowment (independent variables, namely, education, age, working hours (jam kerja, non-agricultural sector (non-pertanian, marital status (menikah, and the presence of children under the age of five (balita, by 11.82%. The rest of 88.18% are explained by other variables outside this study. Endownment variables such as senior high school (SMA education, higher education (pendidikantinggi and working hours (jam kerja are also found to be the cause of an increase in wage disparity of working women in urban and rural areas.

  5. Rural-urban Youth Migration and Informal Self-Employment in Ethiopia

    OpenAIRE

    Bezu, Sosina; Holden, Stein

    2014-01-01

    Empirical studies in the migration literature indicate that migration is often welfare improving for the migrant. But it is also possible that youth migrants become more susceptible and less competitive in urban areas because of lower endowment in education, experience, financial capital and social network. This report examines the experience of youth migrants, their challenges and opportunities using three sets of data that enable a mapping of youth migration from rural villages to the urban...

  6. Rural-urban migration and effects on agricultural labour supply in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    International Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development ... This study analyzed the effects of rural-urban migration on agricultural labour supply in ... Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, 3-point likert scale, multiple regression ...

  7. Knowledge, attitude and practice of modern contraception among single women in a rural and urban community in southeast Nigeria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ozumba, B C; Obi, S N; Ijioma, N N

    2005-04-01

    The contraceptive information and services offered to single women in most developing countries is compromised by stigma attached to premarital sex. This study was to ascertain the knowledge, attitude and practice of contraception among single women in a rural and urban community in southeast Nigeria, using a cross-sectional survey of 279 and 295 single women in Ngwo (rural) and Enugu (urban) community. The mean age of the population was 21.3 years. Contraceptive awareness was more among the urban than rural respondents (90.2% vs 34.1%). The major sources of contraceptive knowledge were mass media (68%) and peer groups (86.3%) for the urban and rural respondents, respectively. Most respondents in both groups had positive attitude towards contraception. More urban than rural respondents (68.3% vs 12.5%) began sexual activity during adolescence and the level of contraceptive use during first coitus were 48.4% and 13.7%, respectively. Of the currently sexually active respondents, 32.5% (rural) and 59.7% (urban) were using a form of modern contraception. Condoms, followed by oral pills were the most popular contraceptive method because they can easily procure them over the counter. Poor contraceptive information, highly critical behavior of family planning providers towards unmarried women seeking contraception and attitude of male partners militate against contraceptive practice. There is need to promote information and education on contraception among single women, their male partners and family planning providers.

  8. Rural-to-Urban Migrants' Experiences with Primary Care under Different Types of Medical Institutions in Guangzhou, China.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiazhi Zeng

    Full Text Available China is facing the unprecedented challenge of rapidly increasing rural-to-urban migration. Migrants are in a vulnerable state when they attempt to access to primary care services. This study was designed to explore rural-to-urban migrants' experiences in primary care, comparing their quality of primary care experiences under different types of medical institutions in Guangzhou, China.The study employed a cross-sectional survey of 736 rural-to-urban migrants in Guangzhou, China in 2014. A validated Chinese version of Primary Care Assessment Tool--Adult Short Version (PCAT-AS, representing 10 primary care domains was used to collect information on migrants' quality of primary care experiences. These domains include first contact (utilization, first contact (accessibility, ongoing care, coordination (referrals, coordination (information systems, comprehensiveness (services available, comprehensiveness (services provided, family-centeredness, community orientation and culturally competent. These measures were used to assess the quality of primary care performance as reported from patients' perspective. Analysis of covariance was conducted for comparison on PCAT scores among migrants accessing primary care in tertiary hospitals, municipal hospitals, community health centers/community health stations, and township health centers/rural health stations. Multiple linear regression models were used to explore factors associated with PCAT total scores.After adjustments were made, migrants accessing primary care in tertiary hospitals (25.49 reported the highest PCAT total scores, followed by municipal hospitals (25.02, community health centers/community health stations (24.24, and township health centers/rural health stations (24.18. Tertiary hospital users reported significantly better performance in first contact (utilization, first contact (accessibility, coordination (information system, comprehensiveness (service available, and cultural competence

  9. Rural-Urban Migration and Unemployment: Theory and Policy Implications

    OpenAIRE

    Zenou, Yves

    2010-01-01

    We develop a regional model where, in the city, unemployment prevails because of too high (efficiency) wages, while, in the rural area, workers are paid at their marginal productivity. We characterize the steady-state equilibrium and show that it is unique. We then consider two policies: decreasing urban unemployment benefits and subsidizing urban employment. We find that decreasing the unemployment benefit in the city creates urban jobs and reduces rural-urban migration since new migrants ha...

  10. Uncanny valley: A preliminary study on the acceptance of Malaysian urban and rural population toward different types of robotic faces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tay, T. T.; Low, Raymond; Loke, H. J.; Chua, Y. L.; Goh, Y. H.

    2018-04-01

    The proliferation of robotic technologies in recent years brings robots closer to humanities. There are many researches on going at various stages of development to bring robots into our homes, schools, nurseries, elderly care centres, offices, hospitals and factories. With recently developed robots having tendency to have appearance which increasingly displaying similarities to household animals and humans, there is a need to study the existence of uncanny valley phenomenon. Generally, the acceptance of people toward robots increases as the robots acquire increasing similarities to human features until a stage where people feel very uncomfortable, eerie, fear and disgust when the robot appearance become almost human like but not yet human. This phenomenon called uncanny valley was first reported by Masahiro Mori. There are numerous researches conducted to measure the existence of uncanny valley in Japan and European countries. However, there is limited research reported on uncanny valley phenomenon in Malaysia so far. In view of the different cultural background and exposure of Malaysian population to robotics technology compared to European or East Asian populations, it is worth to study this phenomenon in Malaysian context. The main aim of this work is to conduct a preliminary study to determine the existence of uncanny valley phenomenon in Malaysian urban and rural populations. It is interesting to find if there are any differences in the acceptance of the two set of populations despite of their differences. Among others the urban and rural populations differ in term of the rate of urbanization and exposure to latest technologies. A set of four interactive robotic faces and an ideal human model representing the fifth robot are used in this study. The robots have features resembling a cute animal, cartoon character, typical robot and human-like. Questionnaire surveys are conducted on respondents from urban and rural populations. Survey data collected are

  11. Early Vocabulary Development in Rural and Urban Mozambique

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul Vogt

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an adaptation of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (short version into three languages spoken in Southern Mozambique. The tool was adapted to study vocabulary development among children of 12 to 25 months of age in two communities: a rural, monolingual Changana speaking community and an urban bilingual Ronga and Portuguese speaking community. We present a norming study carried out with the adaptation, as well as a validation study. The norming study revealed various predictors for reported expressive and receptive vocabulary size. These predictors include age, socioeconomic status, reported health problems, caregiving practices, and location. The validation of the CDI among a small sample in both communities shows positive correlations between the reported expressive vocabulary scores and children’s recorded word production. We conclude that the adapted CDI is useful for research purposes and could be used as a template for adaptations into other languages from similar cultures.

  12. Research on differences in the factors influencing the energy-saving behavior of urban and rural residents in China–A case study of Jiangsu Province

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ding, Zhihua; Wang, Guangqiang; Liu, Zhenhua; Long, Ruyin

    2017-01-01

    As environmental problems grow increasingly prominent, energy-saving behavior research has gradually captured the attention of scholars throughout the world. This paper conducts a study of energy-saving behavior and the influencing factors using correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis and other research methods; it focuses first on urban and rural residents in Jiangsu Province and then regionally on North Jiangsu, Middle Jiangsu and South Jiangsu. The results show that (1) urban residents in Jiangsu Province tend to engage in more energy-saving activities than rural residents; regionally, the energy-saving tendencies of residents from the area can be ranked as follows: Middle Jiangsu residents > North Jiangsu residents > South Jiangsu residents. (2) Urban-rural differences and regional differences also exist in Jiangsu Province in terms of both buying choice behavior and daily use behavior. With regard to regional differences in the factors influencing buying choice behavior and daily use behavior to support energy saving, North Jiangsu residents are most influenced by a sense of responsibility for the environment, Middle Jiangsu residents by policies and regulations and energy-saving knowledge, and South Jiangsu residents by low-carbon energy-saving willingness and energy-saving knowledge. This paper offers differentiated guidance regarding policies based on its research conclusions. - Highlights: • The paper separates energy consumption behavior into buying choice and daily use behavior. • Urban-rural and regional differences exist in residents’ energy consumption behavior. • Urban residents show a greater tendency toward energy-saving behavior than rural residents. • Middle Jiangsu residents’ energy-saving behavior is higher than that of residents of North and South Jiangsu.

  13. Rural education in brazilian education: contradictions and perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adriana D'Agostini

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available This work focuses on the rural education. It aimed to analyze and discuss the rural education in the Brazilian educational context, indicating its character and its importance from the 1990s in the perspective of building an education aimed at human emancipation and that contradictory it is also supported and guided by neoliberal educational policies. From the studies of production on rural education was found challenges, problems, difficulties and contradictions that permeate the attempt to create a perspective of rural education. The concept of rural education was initially developed within the Movement of Landless Workers (MST and other social movements from the political pressure and demands for the state to take over public education / field took dimension of public policy. This complex situation currently directs rural schools, a critical perspective that seeks an education beyond the capital.

  14. Health and health-related indicators in slum, rural, and urban communities: a comparative analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mberu, Blessing U; Haregu, Tilahun Nigatu; Kyobutungi, Catherine; Ezeh, Alex C

    2016-01-01

    It is generally assumed that urban slum residents have worse health status when compared with other urban populations, but better health status than their rural counterparts. This belief/assumption is often because of their physical proximity and assumed better access to health care services in urban areas. However, a few recent studies have cast doubt on this belief. Whether slum dwellers are better off, similar to, or worse off as compared with rural and other urban populations remain poorly understood as indicators for slum dwellers are generally hidden in urban averages. The aim of this study was to compare health and health-related indicators among slum, rural, and other urban populations in four countries where specific efforts have been made to generate health indicators specific to slum populations. We conducted a comparative analysis of health indicators among slums, non-slums, and all urban and rural populations as well as national averages in Bangladesh, Kenya, Egypt, and India. We triangulated data from demographic and health surveys, urban health surveys, and special cross-sectional slum surveys in these countries to assess differences in health indicators across the residential domains. We focused the comparisons on child health, maternal health, reproductive health, access to health services, and HIV/AIDS indicators. Within each country, we compared indicators for slums with non-slum, city/urban averages, rural, and national indicators. Between-country differences were also highlighted. In all the countries, except India, slum children had much poorer health outcomes than children in all other residential domains, including those in rural areas. Childhood illnesses and malnutrition were higher among children living in slum communities compared to those living elsewhere. Although treatment seeking was better among slum children as compared with those in rural areas, this did not translate to better mortality outcomes. They bear a disproportionately

  15. Violence in Rural, Suburban, and Urban Schools in Pennsylvania.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flynn, Kalen; McDonald, Catherine C; D'Alonzo, Bernadette A; Tam, Vicky; Wiebe, Douglas J

    2018-01-01

    School violence is a public health issue with direct and collateral consequences that has academic and social impacts for youth. School violence is often considered a uniquely urban problem, yet more research is needed to understand how violence in rural and suburban schools may be similar or different from urban counterparts. Using school violence data from a state with urban, suburban, and rural counties, we explored the landscape of school violence in Pennsylvania (PA) through mapping, descriptive statistics, and factor analysis. Results show school violence is not solely an urban problem. Schools in all county types and across grade levels deal with violence to varying degrees, and the majority of schools across county types experience low levels of violence. Types of violence experienced by PA schools loaded onto three factors, suggesting that targeted interventions may be better suited to addressing school violence.

  16. Urban-rural and geographic differences in overweight and obesity in four sub-Saharan African adult populations: a multi-country cross-sectional study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ajayi, IkeOluwapo O; Adebamowo, Clement; Adami, Hans-Olov; Dalal, Shona; Diamond, Megan B; Bajunirwe, Francis; Guwatudde, David; Njelekela, Marina; Nankya-Mutyoba, Joan; Chiwanga, Faraja S; Volmink, Jimmy; Kalyesubula, Robert; Laurence, Carien; Reid, Todd G; Dockery, Douglas; Hemenway, David; Spiegelman, Donna; Holmes, Michelle D

    2016-10-28

    Overweight and obesity are on the rise in developing countries including sub-Saharan Africa. We undertook a four-country survey to show the collective burden of these health conditions as they occur currently in sub-Saharan Africa and to determine the differences between urban and rural populations and other socio-economic factors. Participants were nurses in two hospitals in Nigeria (200), school teachers in South Africa (489) and Tanzania (229), and village residents in one peri-urban (297) and one rural location in Uganda (200) who completed a standardised questionnaire. Their height and weight were measured and body mass index calculated. Factor analysis procedure (Principal component) was used to generate a wealth index. Univariate and multivariate analyses with binary logistic regression models were conducted to examine the associations between potential correlates and the prevalence of overweight and obesity with 95 % confidence intervals. The prevalence of overweight and obese (combined) was 46 %, 48 %, 68 %, 75 % and 85 % in rural Uganda, peri-urban Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania and South Africa (SA), respectively. Rural Uganda, Peri- urban Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania and SA had obesity prevalence of 10 %, 14 %, 31 %, 40 % and 54 %, respectively (p obesity, 414 (34 %). Female sex was a predictor of overweight and obesity (combined) in peri-urban Uganda [AOR = 8.01; 95 % CI: 4.02, 15.96) and obesity in rural Uganda [AOR = 11.22; 95%CI: 2.27, 55.40), peri-urban Uganda [AOR = 27.80; 95 % CI: 7.13, 108.41) and SA [AOR = 2.17; 95 % CI: 1.19, 4.00). Increasing age was a predictor of BMI > =25 kg/m 2 in Nigeria [Age > =45 - AOR = 9.11; 95 % CI: 1.72, 48.16] and SA [AOR = 6.22; 95 % CI: 2.75, 14.07], while marital status was predictor of BMI > =25 kg/m 2 only in peri-urban Uganda. [Married - AOR = 4.49; 95 % CI: 1.74, 11.57]. Those in Nigeria [AOR = 2.56; 95 % CI: 1.45, 4.53], SA [AOR = 4.97; 95 % CI: 3

  17. The impact of rural-urban migration on child survival.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brockerhoff, M

    1994-10-01

    Large rural-urban child mortality differentials in many developing countries suggest that rural families can improve their children's survival chances by leaving the countryside and settling in towns and cities. This study uses data from Demographic and Health Surveys in 17 countries to assess the impact of maternal rural-urban migration on the survival chances of children under age two in the late 1970s and 1980s. Results show that, before migration, children of migrant women had similar or slightly higher mortality risks than children of women who remained in the village. In the two-year period surrounding their mother's migration, their chances of dying increased sharply as a result of accompanying their mothers or being left behind, to levels well above those of rural and urban non-migrant children. Children born after migrants had settled in the urban area, however, gradually experienced much better survival chances than children of rural non-migrants, as well as lower mortality risks than migrants' children born in rural areas before migration. The study concludes that many disadvantaged urban children would probably have been much worse off had their mothers remained in the village, and that millions of children's lives may have been saved in the 1980s as a result of mothers moving to urban areas.

  18. Psychotherapy Utilization Among Rural and Urban Veterans From 2007 to 2010.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mott, Juliette M; Grubbs, Kathleen M; Sansgiry, Shubhada; Fortney, John C; Cully, Jeffrey A

    2015-01-01

    This study evaluated change in rural and urban veterans' psychotherapy use during a period of widespread effort within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to engage rural veterans in mental health care. National VHA administrative databases were queried for patients receiving a new diagnosis of depression, anxiety, or posttraumatic stress disorder in fiscal years (FY) 2007 and 2010. Using the US Department of Agriculture Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, we identified urban (FY 2007: n = 192,347; FY 2010: n = 231,471) and rural (FY 2007: n = 72,923; FY 2010: n = 81,905) veterans. Veterans' psychotherapy use during the 12 months following diagnosis was assessed. From FY 2007 to 2010, the proportion of veterans receiving any psychotherapy increased from 17% to 22% for rural veterans and 24% to 28% for urban veterans. Rural veterans were less likely to receive psychotherapy across both fiscal years; however, the magnitude of this disparity decreased significantly from 2007 (odds ratio [OR] = 1.51) to 2010 (OR = 1.41). Similarly, although urban veterans received more psychotherapy sessions, urban-rural disparities in the receipt of 8 or more psychotherapy sessions decreased over the study period (2007: OR = 2.32; 2010: OR = 1.69). Rural and urban veterans are increasingly making use of psychotherapy, and rural-urban gaps in psychotherapy use are shrinking. These improvements suggest that recent VHA efforts to engage rural veterans in care have been successful at reducing differences between rural and urban veterans with respect to access and engagement in psychotherapy. © 2014 National Rural Health Association.

  19. [Comparative study on the situation of neglected children aged 3-6 year-olds between urban and rural areas of China].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Min; Pan, Jian-ping; Zhang, Song-jie; Zhang, Hua; Yang, Zi-Ni; Wang, Wei-qing; Cao, Chun-hong; Wang, Fei; Yang, Xiao-mei; Niu, Qian; Shen, Hong

    2012-02-01

    To investigate and analyze the situation of urban and rural neglected children aged 3 - 6, in China, so as to provide basis for the analysis and comparison on relevant risk factors. 1163 urban children aged 3 - 6 (with 49.6% males and 4.5% with minority ethnicity) were investigated from 25 cities of 14 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in the whole country. Multi-stage stratified cluster sampling method was used. Again, using the same sampling method, 4096 rural children (of whom 50.6% were males with 6.2% as minorities) were chosen from 26 cities of 10 provinces or municipalities. Identification of children being neglected was based on "Child Neglect Evaluation Norms of Children Aged 3 - 6 Years in Urban/Rural China". SPSS-Windows 13.0 was employed for data analysis. Scores, frequency/degrees, age, sex and types (physical, emotional, educational, safety, medical and social) of children under negligence on every group of the regions, were calculated. χ(2) test (Chi-Square) and Analysis of variance (ANOVA) were processed to determine the significance of their differences. The overall frequencies of negligence were 28.0% and 53.7% respectively among the urban and rural children aged 3 - 6, while the total degrees of negligence were 42.2 and 44.4 respectively. Significant difference was found between children from the urban and the rural areas (P children on every age group (P children, in the urban or rural areas. Significant differences were found on male or female between urban and rural groups (P children aged 3 - 6 for the six types were from 5.1% to 12.9%, with the frequency in rural areas as 13.1% - 26.6%. Significant difference was found between urban and rural group for any other type (P children aged 3 - 6 for the different type were between 39.4 and 43.4, while in the rural areas as from 36.5 to 48.2, with significant difference for every type (P children from the urban than from the rural areas. The highest frequency of child negligence was

  20. Extracellular fluid management and hypertension in urban dwelling versus rural dwelling hemodialysis patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tonelli, Marcello; Lloyd, Anita; Pannu, Neesh; Klarenbach, Scott; Ravani, Pietro; Jindal, Kailash; MacRae, Jennifer; Unsworth, Larry; Manns, Braden; Hemmelgarn, Brenda

    2018-02-01

    Rural-dwelling hemodialysis patients have less frequent contact with nephrologists than urban-dwelling patients, and are known to have higher mortality. We hypothesized that rural-dwelling hemodialysis patients would have more evidence of poorly controlled extracellular fluid volume (ECVF) than otherwise similar urban-dwellers. We studied prevalent hemodialysis patients within a single renal program in Alberta, Canada and assessed ECFV using bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS). Our primary outcome was impedance vector length (ohm/m) as assessed by BIS using the Xitron Hydra 4200 device, where shorter vector length indicated poorer ECFV control. Because poor ECFV control can lead to hypertension, we also assessed pre- and post-dialysis blood pressure. We measured outcomes at baseline. We studied 228 hemodialysis patients, of whom 115 (50.4 %) and 113 (49.6 %) were urban- and rural-dwelling, respectively. There were no differences in volume control in urban versus rural participants; odds ratio (OR) for vector length in the lowest sex-specific quartile of vector length was 0.93 (95 % CI 0.54, 1.59) after adjusting for age, sex, diabetic status, years since dialysis initiation and phase angle. The odds of very poor blood pressure control (pre-dialysis blood pressure ≥180/100) did not differ between urban and rural participants [fully adjusted OR 0.96 (0.36, 2.60)]. Differences in ECFV control do not appear to explain higher mortality among remote- and rural- dwelling hemodialysis patients, compared to urban-dwellers.

  1. The Implication Of Mens Rural-Urban Migration On Household Decision Making In Soy Sub-County Kenya

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lumayo Mildred Fedha

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract While most regions in the world have been experiencing an increase in rural-urban migration some have experienced excessive rates. As mens rural-urban migration occurs one of the sectors that is mostly affected is the family institution where women take up the role of decision making in the household in their absence. This study is an outcome of the study conducted on the impact of rural-urban migration on household decision making in Soy sub-county. The study found that mens absence in the household affects different aspects within the family context. Mens rural-urban migration has led to an increase in the number of women-headed households in the rural areas. Women who are left in charge of households are expected to continue to perform their traditional roles at the same time taking on mens responsibilities within the household. However culture dictates that they consult men even when they are away. From a socio-cultural context mens prolonged absence has many implications on the family and community life and greatly affects institutions such as health education and agriculture. Therefore the presence of men is crucial to household security decision-making and mobility. The study recommends that as much as men are away from home women should be empowered to make household decisions for smooth running of household undertakings.

  2. Effects of rural-urban youth migration on farm families in Benue state, Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E.N. Mbah

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The study was assessed to determine the effects of rural-urban youth migration on farm families in Benue state, Nigeria during November 2014 to June 2015. Interview schedule was used to collect data from a sample of 80 respondents. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean scores and standard deviation. Results indicate that majority (76.3% of the respondents were males, middle aged and married. Major causes of rural-urban youth migration indicated by the respondents include inadequate employment opportunities in rural areas (M=3.6, search for better education (M=3.5, inadequate social infrastructure such as schools (M=3.4, poor medical care services in rural areas (M=3.4, looking for money through labour (M=3.4, apprenticeship programme (M=3.2, etc. Findings of the study also indicate that reduction of agricultural labour force (M=3.5, low agricultural productivity (M=3.3, high cost of labour (M= 3.3, reduction on demand for locally grown foods (M=2.9, decrease in dependency ratio in the rural areas (M=2.7, reduction on number of mouths to feed (M=2.7, among others were major effects of rural-urban youth migration among farm families. The study recommends that Nigerian government should provide adequate physical and social infrastructure in rural areas in order to encourage youths to remain in agriculture, reduce rural-urban youth migration as well as sustain agriculture for enhanced food security.

  3. Comparative prevalence of otitis media in children living in urban slums, non-slum urban and rural areas of Delhi.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chadha, Shelly K; Gulati, Kriti; Garg, Suneela; Agarwal, Arun K

    2014-12-01

    The study aimed to determine the prevalence and profile of otitis media in different parts of a city, i.e. non-slum urban areas, urban slums and rural areas. A door to door survey was conducted in identified areas of Delhi. A total of 3000 children (0-15 years) were randomly selected and examined for presence of otitis media. These children were equally distributed in the three areas under consideration. Data was analyzed to establish the prevalence of different types of otitis media. Chi-square test was then applied to compare disease prevalence among the three areas. 7.1% of the study population was identified with otitis media, which includes CSOM (4.26%), OME (2.5%) and ASOM (0.4%). In the non-slum urban parts of the city, 4.6% children had otitis media. This was significantly lower compared to 7% children in rural parts of Delhi and 9.9% in urban slums of the city. The prevalence of CSOM was considerably higher in slum areas (7.2%) as compared with rural (3%) and non-slum urban areas (2.6%). Ear infections are significantly more common in urban slums as compared to non-slum city areas and rural parts of Delhi. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Utilization characteristics and importance of woody biomass resources on the rural-urban fringe in botswana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nkambwe, Musisi; Sekhwela, Mogodisheng B M

    2006-02-01

    This article examines the utilization characteristics and importance of woody biomass resources in the rural-urban fringe zones of Botswana. In the literature for Africa, attention has been given to the availability and utilization of biomass in either urban or rural environments, but the rural-urban fringe has been neglected. Within southern Africa, this neglect is not justified; the rural-urban fringe, not getting the full benefits available in urban environments in Botswana, has developed problems in woody biomass availability and utilization that require close attention. In this article, socioeconomic data on the importance of woody biomass in the Batlokwa Tribal Territory, on the rural-urban fringe of Gaborone, Botswana, were collected together with ecologic data that reveal the utilization characteristics and potential for regrowth of woody biomass. The analysis of these results show that local woody biomass is very important in the daily lives of communities in the rural-urban fringe zones and that there is a high level of harvesting. However, there is no effort in planning land use in the tribal territory to either conserve this resource or provide alternatives to its utilization. The future of woody biomass resources in Botswana's rural-urban fringe is uncertain. The investigators recommend that a comprehensive policy for the development of the rural-urban fringe consider the importance of this resource. The neglect of this resource will have far-reaching implications on the livelihoods of residents as well as the environment in this zone.

  5. Suicidal Ideation among the Chinese Elderly and Its Correlates: A Comparison between the Rural and Urban Populations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianwen Wei

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Background: As China is going through a profound aging process, the mental health of the elderly is becoming an issue. As in many other societies, the elderly in China is a population at high risk of suicide; Methods: Data for the study were taken from the Sample Survey of the Aged Population in Urban/Rural China (SSAPUR accomplished in 2010 by the China Ministry of Civil Affairs. The valid sample for this study was composed of 18,683 individuals, including 9416 urban residents and 9267 rural residents both aged 60 or more years; Results: Logistic regression analyses showed that household income and expenditure, the number of children, chronic diseases, disability of daily living, depression, the frequency of visiting neighbors and having friends or relatives who can help or not had remarkable effects on the suicidal ideation among urban and rural old people. Gender, education, political affiliation, marital status and self-rated health status did not work on the dependent variable. However, some risk factors for suicidal ideation among the Chinese elderly were different between rural and urban regions; Conclusions: We should take different measures when facing the different groups of the elderly.

  6. Body mass index and self-perception of overweight and obesity in rural, urban and rural-to-urban migrants: PERU MIGRANT study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loret de Mola, Christian; Pillay, Timesh D; Diez-Canseco, Francisco; Gilman, Robert H; Smeeth, Liam; Miranda, J Jaime

    2012-01-01

    This study aimed to compare self-reported weight and body mass index (BMI) in order to determine discrepancies between subjective and objective obesity-related markers, and possible explanatory factors of overweight and obesity underestimation, in urban, rural and migrant populations. Data from the PERU MIGRANT study, a cross-sectional study, in low-income settings, of urban, migrant (rural-to-urban), and rural groups, including BMI, self-reported weight and socio-demographic indicators were analyzed. Percentage of concurrences between BMI and self-reported weight and Kappa coefficients for inter-rater agreement were calculated. Univariate and standardized descriptive analyses were performed to identify potential explanatory variables for weight underestimation in only overweight and obese individuals, using established BMI and waist circumference cut offs. 983 Participants-199 urban, 583 migrants and 201 rural-were analyzed. Based on BMI, overall prevalence of obesity was 20.1% (95% CI 17.6%-22.6%), and overweight was 38.3% (95% CI 35.2%-41.2%), with differences between study groups (poverweight category. In overweight and obese individuals, deprivation index (p = 0.016), age (p = 0.014) and waist circumference (poverweight, obesity, and underestimation of BMI status were found, with poor agreement between BMI and self-reported weight, showing the unawareness of weight status severity in this low-income setting.

  7. Factors influencing rural and urban emergency clinicians' participation in an online knowledge exchange intervention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curran, Janet A; Murphy, Andrea L; Sinclair, Douglas; McGrath, Patrick

    2013-01-01

    Rural emergency departments (EDs) generally have limited access to continuing education and are typically staffed by clinicians without pediatric emergency specialty training. Emergency care of children is complex and the majority of children receive emergency care in non-pediatric tertiary care centers. In recent decades, there has been a call to action to improve quality and safety in the emergency care of children. Of the one million ED visits by children in Ontario in 2005-2006, one in three visited more than once in a year and one in 15 returned to the ED within 72 hours of the index visit. This study explored factors influencing rural and urban ED clinicians' participation in a Web-based knowledge exchange intervention that focused on best practice knowledge about pediatric emergency care. The following questions guided the study: (i) What are the individual, context of practice or knowledge factors which impact a clinician's decision to participate in a Web-based knowledge exchange intervention?; (ii) What are clinicians' perceptions of organizational expectations regarding knowledge and information sources to be used in practice?; and (iii) What are the preferred knowledge sources of rural and urban emergency clinicians? A Web-based knowledge exchange intervention, the Pediatric Emergency Care Web Based Knowledge Exchange Project, for rural and urban ED clinicians was developed. The website contained 12 pediatric emergency practice learning modules with linked asynchronous discussion forums. The topics for the modules were determined through a needs assessment and the module content was developed by known experts in the field. A follow-up survey was sent to a convenience sample of 187 clinicians from nine rural and two urban Canadian EDs participating in the pediatric emergency Web-based knowledge exchange intervention study. The survey response rate was 56% (105/187). Participation in the knowledge exchange intervention was related to individual

  8. Instrumental and socioemotional communications in doctor-patient interactions in urban and rural clinics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Desjarlais-deKlerk, Kristen; Wallace, Jean E

    2013-07-08

    Location of practice, such as working in a rural or urban clinic, may influence how physicians communicate with their patients. This exploratory pilot study examines the communication styles used during doctor-patient interactions in urban and rural family practice settings in Western Canada. We analyzed observation and interview data from four physicians practicing in these different locations. Using a grounded theory approach, communications were categorized as either instrumental or socioemotional. Instrumental communication refers to "cure-oriented interactions" and tends to be more task-oriented focusing on the patient's health concerns and reason for the appointment. In contrast, socioemotional communication refers to more "care-oriented interactions" that may make the patient feel comfortable, relieve patient anxiety and build a trusting relationship. The physicians in small, rural towns appear to know their patients and their families on a more personal level and outside of their office, and engage in more socioemotional communications compared to those practicing in suburban clinics in a large urban centre. Knowing patients outside the clinic seems to change the nature of the doctor-patient interaction, and, in turn, the doctor-patient relationship itself. Interactions between urban doctors and their patients had a mixture of instrumental and socioemotional communications, while interactions between rural doctors and their patients tended to be highly interpersonal, often involving considerable socioemotional communication and relationship-building. Despite the different ways that doctors and patients communicate with each other in the two settings, rural and urban doctors spend approximately the same amount of time with their patients. Thus, greater use of socioemotional communication by rural doctors, which may ease patient anxiety and increase patient trust, did not appear to add extra time to the patient visit. Research suggests that socioemotional

  9. Instrumental and socioemotional communications in doctor-patient interactions in urban and rural clinics

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Background Location of practice, such as working in a rural or urban clinic, may influence how physicians communicate with their patients. This exploratory pilot study examines the communication styles used during doctor-patient interactions in urban and rural family practice settings in Western Canada. Methods We analyzed observation and interview data from four physicians practicing in these different locations. Using a grounded theory approach, communications were categorized as either instrumental or socioemotional. Instrumental communication refers to “cure-oriented interactions” and tends to be more task-oriented focusing on the patient’s health concerns and reason for the appointment. In contrast, socioemotional communication refers to more “care-oriented interactions” that may make the patient feel comfortable, relieve patient anxiety and build a trusting relationship. Results The physicians in small, rural towns appear to know their patients and their families on a more personal level and outside of their office, and engage in more socioemotional communications compared to those practicing in suburban clinics in a large urban centre. Knowing patients outside the clinic seems to change the nature of the doctor-patient interaction, and, in turn, the doctor-patient relationship itself. Interactions between urban doctors and their patients had a mixture of instrumental and socioemotional communications, while interactions between rural doctors and their patients tended to be highly interpersonal, often involving considerable socioemotional communication and relationship-building. Conclusions Despite the different ways that doctors and patients communicate with each other in the two settings, rural and urban doctors spend approximately the same amount of time with their patients. Thus, greater use of socioemotional communication by rural doctors, which may ease patient anxiety and increase patient trust, did not appear to add extra time to the patient

  10. Rural/Urban Disparities in Science Achievement in Post-Socialist Countries: The Evolving Influence of Socioeconomic Status

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kryst, Erica L.; Kotok, Stephen; Bodovski, Katerina

    2015-01-01

    Disparities in educational outcomes exist between students in rural areas as compared to students in urban settings. While there is some evidence that these rural disparities are present in eastern Europe, little is known about young peoples' lives in the rural areas of this region. This paper presents an analysis of science achievement by…

  11. Urban-Rural Humidity Contrasts in Mexico City

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jáuregui, E.; Tejeda, A.

    1997-02-01

    Data from one pair of urban-suburban (Tacubaya and Airport) andone pair of urban-rural (School of Mines and Plan Texcoco) temperature and humidity measuring stations were used to illustrate specific humidity(q) contrasts in Mexico City. Results show a marked seasonal variation of q from around 7.9 g kg-1 during the dry months to 10 g kg-1 in the wet season (May-October) on both urban and suburban sites. The mean monthly contrasts for this pair of stations, albeit small, show that the city air is somewhat drier during the first half of the year. Comparison of urban and rural q on an hourly basis shows that although urban air is more humid at night the reverse is true during the afternoon. Areal distribution of q shows two centres of maximum humidity over the city at night and a corresponding minimum during the afternoon. On average the urban-rural contrasts in q were found to be somewhat smaller than the estimated uncertainty. The above results are in agreement with mid-latitude experience.

  12. Social support and depressive symptom disparity between urban and rural older adults in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Hongwei; Cao, Qi; Shi, Zhenzhen; Lin, Weixia; Jiang, Haixia; Hou, Yucheng

    2018-09-01

    Depressive symptom disparity between urban and rural older adults is an important public health issue in China. Social support is considered as an effective way to alleviate depression of older adults. This study aimed to investigate the extent to which social support could explain the depressive symptom disparity between urban and rural older adults in China. This study used data drawn from the 2011 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study with 6,772 observations. Multiple data analysis strategies were adopted, including descriptive analyses, bivariate analyses, regression analyses and decomposition analyses. There were significant depressive symptom disparities between urban and rural older adults in China. Social support had significant association with depressive symptom of older adults while adjusting for covariates. About 25%-28% of the depressive symptom disparities could be attributed to urban-rural gaps in social support, in which community support contributed 21%-25%. Educational level and physical health status also contributed to the disparities. This study only established correlations between social support and depressive symptom disparity rather than casual relationships; and the self-reported measurement of depressive symptom and the unobservable cultural factors might cause limitations. The urban-rural gap in social support, especially community support was a prime explanation for depressive symptom disparities between urban and rural older adults in China. To reduce the depressive symptom disparities, effective community construction in rural China should be put into place, including improving the infrastructure construction, strengthening the role of social organizations, and encouraging community interpersonal interactions for older adults. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Scottish urban versus rural trauma outcome study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGuffie, A Crawford; Graham, Colin A; Beard, Diana; Henry, Jennifer M; Fitzpatrick, Michael O; Wilkie, Stewart C; Kerr, Gary W; Parke, Timothy R J

    2005-09-01

    Outcome following trauma and health care access are important components of health care planning. Resources are limited and quality information is required. We set the objective of comparing the outcomes for patients suffering significant trauma in urban and rural environments in Scotland. The study was designed as a 2 year prospective observational study set in the west of Scotland, which has a population of 2.58 million persons. Primary outcome measures were defined as the total number of inpatient days, total number of intensive care unit days, and mortality. The participants were patients suffering moderate (ISS 9-15) and major (ISS>15) trauma within the region. The statistical analysis consisted of chi square test for categorical data and Mann Whitney U test for comparison of medians. There were 3,962 urban (85%) and 674 rural patients (15%). Urban patients were older (50 versus 46 years, p = 0.02), were largely male (62% versus 57%, p = 0.02), and suffered more penetrating traumas (9.9% versus 1.9%, p rural patients (p rural major trauma group (p = 0.002). There were more serious head injuries in the urban group (p = 0.04), and also a higher proportion of urban patients with head injuries transferred to the regional neurosurgical unit (p = 0.037). There were no differences in length of total inpatient stay (median 8 days, p = 0.7), total length of stay in the intensive care unit (median two days, p = 0.4), or mortality (324 deaths, moderate trauma, p = 0.13; major trauma, p = 0.8). Long prehospital times in the rural environment were not associated with differences in mortality or length of stay in moderately and severely injured patients in the west of Scotland. This may lend support to a policy of rationalization of trauma services in Scotland.

  14. [Obesity, body morphology, and blood pressure in urban and rural population groups of Yucatan].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arroyo, Pedro; Fernández, Victoria; Loría, Alvar; Pardío, Jeannette; Laviada, Hugo; Vargas-Ancona, Lizardo; Ward, Ryk

    2007-01-01

    To characterize body morphology and blood pressure of adults of the Mexican state of Yucatan. Rural-urban differences in weight, height, waist, and hip circumferences, and blood pressure were analyzed in 313 urban and 271 rural subjects. No rural-urban differences in prevalence of obesity and overweight were found. Hypertension was marginally higher in urban subjects. Rural abnormal waist circumference was higher in young men and young women. Comparison with two national surveys and a survey in the aboriginal population (rural mixtecos) showed similar prevalence of obesity as ENSA-2000 and higher than mixtecos and ENEC-1993. Abnormal waist circumference was intermediate between ENSANUT-2006 and mixtecos and hypertension was intermediate between ENEC and mixtecos. The Maya and mestizo population of Yucatan showed a high prevalence of obesity and abnormal waist circumference not accompanied by a comparable higher hypertension frequency. This finding requires further confirmation.

  15. Exploring Diet Quality between Urban and Rural Dwelling Women of Reproductive Age.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Julie C; Moran, Lisa J; Teede, Helena J; Ranasinha, Sanjeeva; Lombard, Catherine B; Harrison, Cheryce L

    2017-06-08

    Health disparities, including weight gain and obesity exist between urban and rural dwelling women. The primary aim was to compare diet quality in urban and rural women of reproductive age, and secondary analyses of the difference in macronutrient and micronutrient intake in urban and rural women, and the predictors of diet quality. Diet quality was assessed in urban ( n = 149) and rural ( n = 394) women by a modified version of the Dietary Guideline Index (DGI) energy, macronutrient and micronutrient intake from a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and predictors of diet quality. Diet quality did not significantly differ between urban and rural women (mean ± standard deviation (SD), 84.8 ± 15.9 vs. 83.9 ± 16.5, p = 0.264). Rural women reported a significantly higher intake of protein, fat, saturated fat, monounsaturated fat, cholesterol and iron and a higher score in the meat and meat alternatives component of the diet quality tool in comparison to urban women. In all women, a higher diet quality was associated with higher annual household income (>$Australian dollar (AUD) 80,000 vs. urban and rural women; however, a higher macronutrient consumption pattern was potentially related to a higher lean meat intake in rural women. Women who are unemployed and on a lower income are an important target group for future dietary interventions aiming to improve diet quality.

  16. Integrated rural development programs: a skeptical perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruttan, V W

    1975-11-01

    In examining integrated rural development programs the question that arises is why is it possible to identify several relatively successful small-scale or pilot rural development projects yet so difficult to find examples of successful rural development programs. 3 bodies of literature offer some insight into the morphology of rural development projects, programs, and processes: the urban-industrial impact hypothesis; the theory of induced technical change; and the new models of institutional change that deal with institution building and the economics of bureaucratic behavior. The urban-industrial impact hypothesis helps in the clarification of the relationships between the development of rural areas and the development of the total society of which rural areas are a part. It is useful in understanding the spatial dimensions of rural development where rural development efforts are likely to be most successful. Formulation of the hypothesis generated a series of empirical studies designed to test its validity. The effect of these studies has been the development of a rural development model in which the rural community is linked to the urban-industrial economy through a series of market relationships. Both the urban economy's rate of growth and the efficiency of the intersector product and factor markets place significant constraints on the possibilities of rural area development. It is not possible to isolate development processes in the contemporary rural community in a developing society from development processes in the larger society. The induced technical change theory provides a guide as to what must be done to gain access to efficient sources of economic growth, the new resources and incomes that are necessary to sustain rural development. Design of a successful rural development strategy involves a combination of technical and institutional change. The ability of rural areas to respond to the opportunities for economic growth generated by local urban

  17. A case control study of differences in non-work injury and accidents among sawmill workers in rural compared to urban British Columbia, Canada

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maggi Stefania

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Using a cohort of British Columbian male sawmill workers, we conducted a nested case-control study of the impact of rural compared to urban residence as well as rural/urban migration patterns in relation to hospitalization for non-work injury. We postulate that for many types of non-work injuries, rates will be higher in rural communities than in urban ones and that rates will also be higher for workers who migrate from urban to rural communities. Methods Using conditional logistic regression, univariate models were first run with each of five non-work injury outcomes. These outcomes were hospitalizations due to assault, accidental poisoning, medical mis-adventure, motor vehicle trauma, and other non-work injuries. In multivariate models marital status, ethnicity, duration of employment, and occupation were forced into the model and associations with urban, compared to rural, residence and various urban/migration patterns were tested. Results Urban or rural residence and migration status from urban to other communities, and across rural communities, were not associated with hospitalization for medical misadventure, assault, or accidental poisoning. The likelihood of a rural resident being hospitalized for motor vehicle trauma is higher than for an urban resident. The likelihood that a rural resident is hospitalized for "other" non-work injury is higher than for an urban resident. Conclusion In a relatively homogenous group of workers, and using a rigorous study design, we have demonstrated that the odds of other non-work injury are much higher for workers resident in and migrating to rural regions of Canada than they are for workers resident in or migrating to urban places.

  18. A qualitative study of recruitment barriers, motivators, and community-based strategies for increasing clinical trials participation among rural and urban populations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friedman, Daniela B; Foster, Caroline; Bergeron, Caroline D; Tanner, Andrea; Kim, Sei-Hill

    2015-01-01

    Participation in clinical trials (CTs) is low among rural communities. Investigators report difficulty recruiting rural individuals for CTs. The study purpose was to identify recruitment barriers, motivators, and strategies to help increase access to and participation in CTs in rural and urban communities. Qualitative focus groups/interviews. Rural and urban counties in one southeastern state. Two hundred twelve African-American and white men and women ages 21+. Nineteen focus groups and nine interviews were conducted. Audio files were transcribed and organized into NVivo10. Recurring themes were examined by geographic location. Although similar barriers, motivators, and strategies were reported by urban and rural groups, perceptions regarding their importance varied. Recruitment barriers mentioned in both rural and urban groups included fear, side effects, limited understanding, limited time, and mistrust. Rural groups were more mindful of time commitment involved. Both rural and urban participants reported financial incentives as the top motivator to CT participation, followed by personal illness (urban groups) and benefits to family (rural groups). Recruitment strategies suggested by rural participants involved working with schools/churches and using word of mouth, whereas partnering with schools, word of mouth, and media were recommended most by urban groups. Perceived recruitment barriers, motivators, and strategies did not differ considerably between rural and urban groups. Major barriers identified by participants should be addressed in future CT recruitment and education efforts. Findings can inform recruitment and communication strategies for reaching both urban and rural communities.

  19. Climate shocks and rural-urban migration in Mexico: Exploring nonlinearities and thresholds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nawrotzki, Raphael J.; DeWaard, Jack; Bakhtsiyarava, Maryia; Ha, Jasmine Trang

    2016-01-01

    Adverse climatic conditions may differentially drive human migration patterns between rural and urban areas, with implications for changes in population composition and density, access to infrastructure and resources, and the delivery of essential goods and services. However, there is little empirical evidence to support this notion. In this study, we investigate the relationship between climate shocks and migration between rural and urban areas within Mexico. We combine individual records from the 2000 and 2010 Mexican censuses (n=683,518) with high-resolution climate data from Terra Populus that are linked to census data at the municipality level (n=2,321). We measure climate shocks as monthly deviation from a 30-year (1961-1990) long-term climate normal period, and uncover important nonlinearities using quadratic and cubic specifications. Satellite-based measures of urban extents allow us to classify migrant-sending and migrant-receiving municipalities as rural or urban to examine four internal migration patterns: rural-urban, rural-rural, urban-urban, and urban-rural. Among our key findings, results from multilevel models reveal that each additional drought month increases the odds of rural-urban migration by 3.6%. In contrast, the relationship between heat months and rural-urban migration is nonlinear. After a threshold of ~34 heat months is surpassed, the relationship between heat months and rural-urban migration becomes positive and progressively increases in strength. Policy and programmatic interventions may therefore reduce climate induced rural-urban migration in Mexico through rural climate change adaptation initiatives, while also assisting rural migrants in finding employment and housing in urban areas to offset population impacts. PMID:28435176

  20. Health and health-related indicators in slum, rural, and urban communities: a comparative analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mberu, Blessing U.; Haregu, Tilahun Nigatu; Kyobutungi, Catherine; Ezeh, Alex C.

    2016-01-01

    Background It is generally assumed that urban slum residents have worse health status when compared with other urban populations, but better health status than their rural counterparts. This belief/assumption is often because of their physical proximity and assumed better access to health care services in urban areas. However, a few recent studies have cast doubt on this belief. Whether slum dwellers are better off, similar to, or worse off as compared with rural and other urban populations remain poorly understood as indicators for slum dwellers are generally hidden in urban averages. Objective The aim of this study was to compare health and health-related indicators among slum, rural, and other urban populations in four countries where specific efforts have been made to generate health indicators specific to slum populations. Design We conducted a comparative analysis of health indicators among slums, non-slums, and all urban and rural populations as well as national averages in Bangladesh, Kenya, Egypt, and India. We triangulated data from demographic and health surveys, urban health surveys, and special cross-sectional slum surveys in these countries to assess differences in health indicators across the residential domains. We focused the comparisons on child health, maternal health, reproductive health, access to health services, and HIV/AIDS indicators. Within each country, we compared indicators for slums with non-slum, city/urban averages, rural, and national indicators. Between-country differences were also highlighted. Results In all the countries, except India, slum children had much poorer health outcomes than children in all other residential domains, including those in rural areas. Childhood illnesses and malnutrition were higher among children living in slum communities compared to those living elsewhere. Although treatment seeking was better among slum children as compared with those in rural areas, this did not translate to better mortality

  1. Health and health-related indicators in slum, rural, and urban communities: a comparative analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Blessing U. Mberu

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: It is generally assumed that urban slum residents have worse health status when compared with other urban populations, but better health status than their rural counterparts. This belief/assumption is often because of their physical proximity and assumed better access to health care services in urban areas. However, a few recent studies have cast doubt on this belief. Whether slum dwellers are better off, similar to, or worse off as compared with rural and other urban populations remain poorly understood as indicators for slum dwellers are generally hidden in urban averages. Objective: The aim of this study was to compare health and health-related indicators among slum, rural, and other urban populations in four countries where specific efforts have been made to generate health indicators specific to slum populations. Design: We conducted a comparative analysis of health indicators among slums, non-slums, and all urban and rural populations as well as national averages in Bangladesh, Kenya, Egypt, and India. We triangulated data from demographic and health surveys, urban health surveys, and special cross-sectional slum surveys in these countries to assess differences in health indicators across the residential domains. We focused the comparisons on child health, maternal health, reproductive health, access to health services, and HIV/AIDS indicators. Within each country, we compared indicators for slums with non-slum, city/urban averages, rural, and national indicators. Between-country differences were also highlighted. Results: In all the countries, except India, slum children had much poorer health outcomes than children in all other residential domains, including those in rural areas. Childhood illnesses and malnutrition were higher among children living in slum communities compared to those living elsewhere. Although treatment seeking was better among slum children as compared with those in rural areas, this did not translate to

  2. Dietary habits and growth: an urban/rural comparison in the Andean region of Apurimac, Peru.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrissi, Laura; Mottini, Giovanni; Sebastiani, Valeria; Boldrini, Laura; Giuliani, Alessandro

    2013-01-01

    The efficacy of interventions against children malnutrition crucially depends on a myriad of factors other than the simple food intake, that must be carefully studied in order to plan a balanced policy. The relation between dietary patterns and growth is at the very heart of the problem, especially in consideration of the fact that dietary pattern involves dimension other than pure caloric intake in its definition. In this work we investigated the relations between dietary pattern and growth comparing children from a rural and a urban area in Andean Peru, in terms of food habits and anthropometric variables to develop a model usable in context interventions against malnutrition. A sample of 159 children (80 from urban, 79 from rural area), aged from 4 to 120 months (72.7 ± 37.5 SD) was collected. The data were investigated by a multidimensional (principal component analysis followed by inferential approach) analysis to correlate the different hidden dimensions of both anthropometric and dietary observables. The correlation between these dimensions (in the form of principal components) were computed and contrasted with the effects of age and urban/rural environments. Caloric intake and growth were not linearly correlated in our data set. Moreover urban and rural environment were demonstrated to show very different patterns of both dietary and anthropometric variables pointing to the marked effect of dietary habits and demographic composition of the analyzed populations. The relation between malnutrition and overweight was at the same time demonstrated to follow a strict area-dependent distribution. We gave a proof-of-concept of the non-linear character of the relation between malnutrition (in terms of caloric intake) and growth, pointing to the need to calibrate interventions on food pattern and not only quantity to contrast malnutrition effects on growth. The education toward a balanced diet must go hand-in-hand with the intervention on caloric intake in order to

  3. Urban-rural disparities in the nutritional status of school adolescent girls in the Mizan district, south-western Ethiopia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berheto, Tezera M; Mikitie, Wondafrash K; Argaw, Alemayehu

    2015-01-01

    Malnutrition that occurs during adolescence has important consequences for the future growth and development of the individual, particularly in girls in developing countries. Besides limiting growth, adolescent malnutrition has important consequences for society. Despite this, there is a lack of information on the nutritional status of adolescent girls in Ethiopia. This study was therefore performed to help redress this lack of data and to provide information for future improvements by health planners and policy makers. A comparative cross-sectional study design was employed to determine the urban-rural disparity in nutritional status of adolescent school girls in the Mizan district in south-western Ethiopia. A two-stage sampling procedure was used to randomly select 622 adolescent girls, 311 each from urban and rural locations. Trained field workers used structured questionnaires to obtain the desired information from the respondents. Anthropometric measurements of height and weight were collected using standard procedures and appropriate quality control measures. Height-for-age Z-scores and body mass index (BMI)-for-age Z-scores were generated using AnthroPlus software. The independent sample t-test and χ2 test were used to determine statistical significance. There were no significant differences in the ages or physical activities of the two populations of girls studied. Consumption of cereal, vegetables, sweets, sugars, fats, meat, and eggs was similar between the two groups, although slight differences were found with regard to legumes, milk, and fruit consumption. No significant differences were found in the prevalence of mild underweight girls and overweight girls in the urban and rural groups (26.5% vs 22.3% and 7.5% vs 5.2%, respectively). Significant stunting was, however, present in the rural population (40.9% vs. 17.8% in the urban group). Although overall lower than the reference data provided by WHO, the mean BMI-for-age Z-scores and height-for-age Z

  4. Dietary habits and growth: an urban/rural comparison in the Andean region of Apurimac, Peru

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Andrissi

    Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: The efficacy of interventions against children malnutrition crucially depends on a myriad of factors other than the simple food intake, that must be carefully studied in order to plan a balanced policy. The relation between dietary patterns and growth is at the very heart of the problem, especially in consideration of the fact that dietary pattern involves dimension other than pure caloric intake in its definition. In this work we investigated the relations between dietary pattern and growth comparing children from a rural and a urban area in Andean Peru, in terms of food habits and anthropometric variables to develop a model usable in context interventions against malnutrition. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A sample of 159 children (80 from urban, 79 from rural area, aged from 4 to 120 months (72.7 ± 37.5 SD was collected. The data were investigated by a multidimensional (principal component analysis followed by inferential approach analysis to correlate the different hidden dimensions of both anthropometric and dietary observables. The correlation between these dimensions (in the form of principal components were computed and contrasted with the effects of age and urban/rural environments. RESULTS: Caloric intake and growth were not linearly correlated in our data set. Moreover urban and rural environment were demonstrated to show very different patterns of both dietary and anthropometric variables pointing to the marked effect of dietary habits and demographic composition of the analyzed populations. The relation between malnutrition and overweight was at the same time demonstrated to follow a strict area dependent distribution. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: We gave a proof-of-concept of the non-linear character of the relation between malnutrition (in terms of caloric intake and growth, pointing to the need to calibrate interventions on food pattern and not only quantity to contrast malnutrition effects on growth. The education toward a

  5. Exploring Diet Quality between Urban and Rural Dwelling Women of Reproductive Age

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julie C. Martin

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Health disparities, including weight gain and obesity exist between urban and rural dwelling women. The primary aim was to compare diet quality in urban and rural women of reproductive age, and secondary analyses of the difference in macronutrient and micronutrient intake in urban and rural women, and the predictors of diet quality. Diet quality was assessed in urban (n = 149 and rural (n = 394 women by a modified version of the Dietary Guideline Index (DGI energy, macronutrient and micronutrient intake from a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ and predictors of diet quality. Diet quality did not significantly differ between urban and rural women (mean ± standard deviation (SD, 84.8 ± 15.9 vs. 83.9 ± 16.5, p = 0.264. Rural women reported a significantly higher intake of protein, fat, saturated fat, monounsaturated fat, cholesterol and iron and a higher score in the meat and meat alternatives component of the diet quality tool in comparison to urban women. In all women, a higher diet quality was associated with higher annual household income (>$Australian dollar (AUD 80,000 vs. <$AUD80,000 p = 0.013 and working status (working fulltime/part-time vs. unemployed p = 0.043. Total diet quality did not differ in urban and rural women; however, a higher macronutrient consumption pattern was potentially related to a higher lean meat intake in rural women. Women who are unemployed and on a lower income are an important target group for future dietary interventions aiming to improve diet quality.

  6. Urban-rural disparities in child nutrition-related health outcomes in China: The role of hukou policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Hong; Rizzo, John A; Fang, Hai

    2015-11-23

    Hukou is the household registration system in China that determines eligibility for various welfare benefits, such as health care, education, housing, and employment. The hukou system may lead to nutritional and health disparities in China. We aim at examining the role of the hukou system in affecting urban-rural disparities in child nutrition, and disentangling the institutional effect of hukou from the effect of urban/rural residence on child nutrition-related health outcomes. This study uses data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey 1993-2009 with a sample of 9616 children under the age of 18. We compute height-for-age z-score and weight-for-age z-score for children. We use both descriptive statistics and multiple regression techniques to study the levels and significance of the association between child nutrition-related health outcomes and hukou type. Children with urban hukou have 0.25 (P system exacerbates urban-rural disparities in child nutrition-related health outcomes independent of the well-known disparity stemming from urban-rural residence. Fortunately, however, child health disparities due to hukou have been declining since 2000.

  7. Districts on the Edge: The Impact of Urban Sprawl on a Rural Community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Theobald, Paul

    1988-01-01

    Portrays the controversy surrounding schools and education in a rural community experiencing both an influx of urban and suburban newcomers and the effects of urban sprawl. Reports on surveys of student educational attitudes, household information, and outside activities, and on interviews with teachers, school administrators, and residents.…

  8. Comparison between motorcyclist’ violation behavior and accidents in urban and rural area in Indonesia: A comparative study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahmawati, N.; Widyanti, A.

    2017-12-01

    Some studies stated that the main factor related to the accident was driving behavior. This study aims to explore the differences between motorcyclist” behaviour and repetitive violation behaviour in two different area, urban and rural area in Indonesia. Respondents were selected based on convenience sampling method in Bandung as a representative of urban area and Kulon Progo as a representative of rural area. They were asked to fill in a questionnaire about driving behaviour, consists of 10 dimensions or 51 questions with Likert scales ranging from 1 (very often) to 6 (never). The results of this study shows that the motorcyclists’ behavior differ significantly between rural and urban area. Motorcyclists in the urban area (Bandung) are more committed to violations than in rural area (Kulon Progo). This result is not in line with previous studies in Australia and United States which stated that motorcyclists in rural area more frequently speeding than in urban area. Implications of the result are discussed.

  9. Treatment of early-stage prostate cancer among rural and urban patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baldwin, Laura-Mae; Andrilla, C Holly A; Porter, Michael P; Rosenblatt, Roger A; Patel, Shilpen; Doescher, Mark P

    2013-08-15

    Geographic barriers and limited availability of cancer specialists may influence early prostate cancer treatment options for rural men. This study compares receipt of different early prostate cancer treatments between rural and urban patients. Using 2004-2006 SEER Limited-Use Data, 51,982 early prostate cancer patients were identified (T1c, T2a, T2b, T2c, T2NOS; no metastases) who were most likely to benefit from definitive treatment (rural-urban residence overall, and for different sociodemographic and cancer characteristics, and different states based on logistic regression analyses, using general estimating equation methods to account for clustering by county. Adjusted definitive treatment rates were lower for rural (83.7%) than urban (87.1%) patients with early-stage prostate cancer (P ≤ .01). Rural men were more likely than urban men to receive non-definitive surgical treatment and no initial treatment. The lowest definitive treatment rates were among rural subgroups: 70 to 74 years (73.9%), African Americans (75.6%), American Indians/Alaska Natives (77.8%), single/separated/divorced (76.8%), living in New Mexico (69.3%), and living in counties with persistent poverty (79.6%). Between 2004 and 2006, this adjusted analysis found that men who were living in rural areas were less likely to receive definitive treatment for their early-stage prostate cancer than those living in urban areas. Certain rural patient groups with prostate cancer need particular attention to ensure their access to appropriate treatment. Rural providers, rural health care systems, and cancer advocacy and support organizations should ensure resources are in place so that the most vulnerable rural groups (men between 60 and 74 years of age; African American men; men who are single, separated, or divorced; and men living in rural New Mexico) can make informed prostate cancer treatment choices based on their preferences. Copyright © 2013 American Cancer Society.

  10. Urban/rural interface: Governing the chaos

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferreira, António

    2016-04-01

    Cities have become recently the home for more than half of the world's population. Cities are often seen as ecological systems just a short step away from collapse [Newman 2006]. Being a human construction, cities disrupt the natural cycles and the patterns of temporal and spatial distribution of environmental and ecological processes. Urbanization produces ruptures in biota, water, energy and nutrients connectivity that can lead to an enhanced exposure to disruptive events that hamper the wellbeing and the resilience of urban communities in a global change context. An important issue in what concerns urban sprawl is the interface between the urban and the rural territories. Being an extremely dynamic landscape, and assuring some quality of life and buffering some of the pervasive negative impacts of urban areas in terms of disrupting the function of the natural ecosystems, in limit situations this interface can act as a conveyor belt of catastrophic events originated in the rural world, into the urban space. The Coimbra 2005 wildfire is a fine example of how a poorly managed urban/rural interface can put populations in danger, by allowing the fire to spread towards the urban green infrastructure, burning houses in the process. Major river flows that flood urban areas are also good examples of the lack of management and planning can result in the loss of assets and even put in danger human lives. This presentation reviews the impact of extreme events and the transmission from the urban to the rural worlds, but also from the rural to the urban territories, and establishes the need to govern risk at various levels and using the full range of governance tools.

  11. Urban-Rural Differences Explain the Association between Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Level and Insulin Resistance in Korea

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    Bo Mi Song

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available An increasing number of studies report associations between low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OHD] level and insulin resistance; however, whether low vitamin D levels directly contribute to increased insulin resistance is unclear. We investigated the impact of residential area on the association between 25(OHD and insulin resistance in elderly Koreans. Using data from the Korean Urban Rural Elderly study, we conducted cross-sectional analyses in 1628 participants (505 men and 1123 women. Serum 25(OHD was analyzed as both continuous and categorized variables. Homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR was calculated using fasting blood glucose and insulin levels. In men, 25(OHD level was inversely associated with HOMA-IR (standardized β = −0.133, p < 0.001 after adjustment for age, body mass index, waist circumference, smoking, alcohol intake, exercise, and study year. However, we noted significant urban-rural differences in 25(OHD level (43.4 versus 65.6 nmol/L; p < 0.001 and HOMA-IR (1.2 versus 0.8 mmol·pmol/L2; p < 0.001. When we additionally adjusted for residential area, the association between 25(OHD and HOMA-IR was attenuated (standardized β = −0.063, p = 0.115. In women, the association between 25(OHD and HOMA-IR was not significant before or after adjustment for residential area. Environmental or lifestyle differences in urban and rural areas may largely explain the inverse association between serum 25(OHD and insulin resistance.

  12. Delays in accessing electroconvulsive therapy: a comparison between two urban and two rural populations in Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnston, Natalie E

    2015-10-01

    A comparison of the timing, rates and characteristics of electroconvulsive therapy use between urban and rural populations. The medical records of patients who received an acute course of electroconvulsive therapy at two rural and two urban psychiatric hospitals in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, in 2010 were reviewed retrospectively. Main outcome measures were the time from symptom onset, diagnosis and admission to commencing electroconvulsive therapy. Rates of use of electroconvulsive therapy were also compared between rural and urban hospitals using NSW statewide data. There was a significant delay in the time it took for rural patients to receive electroconvulsive therapy compared with urban patients when measured both from the time of symptom onset and from when they received a diagnosis. There were corresponding delays in the time taken for rural patients to be admitted to hospital compared with urban patients. There was no difference in the time it took to commence electroconvulsive therapy once a patient was admitted to hospital. NSW statewide urban-rural comparisons showed rates of electroconvulsive therapy treatment were significantly higher in urban hospitals. Patients in rural areas receive electroconvulsive therapy later in their acute illness due to delays in being admitted to hospital. The rate of use of electroconvulsive therapy also differs geographically. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.

  13. Perceived ease of access to alcohol, tobacco and other substances in rural and urban US students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warren, Jacob C; Smalley, K Bryant; Barefoot, K Nikki

    2015-01-01

    Ease of access to substances has been shown to have a direct and significant relationship with substance use for school-aged children. Previous research involving rural samples of middle and high school students reveals that perceived ease of access to substances is a significant predictor of recent use among rural adolescents; however, it is unclear if perceived access to substances varies between rural and urban areas. The purpose of the present study was to examine rural-urban differences in perceived ease of access to alcohol, smoking and chewing tobacco, marijuana, and seven other substances in the US state of Georgia in order to better inform and promote future substance use prevention and programming efforts in rural areas. Data were analyzed from the 2013 Georgia Student Health Survey II, administered in all public and interested private/charter schools in the state of Georgia. A total of 513 909 students (18.2% rural) indicated their perceived ease of access to 11 substances on a four-point Likert-type scale. Rural-urban differences were investigated using χ2 analysis. In general, it appeared the rural-urban differences fell along legal/illicit lines. For middle school students, a significant difference in perceived ease of access was found for each substance, with rural students reporting greater access to smoking tobacco, chewing tobacco, and steroids, and urban students reporting greater access to alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, inhalants, ecstasy, methamphetamine, hallucinogens, and prescription drugs. Rural high school students reported higher access to alcohol, smoking tobacco, chewing tobacco, and steroids, with urban students reporting higher access to marijuana, cocaine, inhalants, ecstasy, and hallucinogens. Perceptions of ease of access more than doubled for each substance in both geographies between middle and high school. The present study found multiple and fairly consistent differences between rural and urban students' perceived ease of access

  14. Rural versus urban academic hospital mortality following stroke in Canada.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fleet, Richard; Bussières, Sylvain; Tounkara, Fatoumata Korika; Turcotte, Stéphane; Légaré, France; Plant, Jeff; Poitras, Julien; Archambault, Patrick M; Dupuis, Gilles

    2018-01-01

    Stroke is one of the leading causes of death in Canada. While stroke care has improved dramatically over the last decade, outcomes following stroke among patients treated in rural hospitals have not yet been reported in Canada. To describe variation in 30-day post-stroke in-hospital mortality rates between rural and urban academic hospitals in Canada. We also examined 24/7 in-hospital access to CT scanners and selected services in rural hospitals. We included Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) data on adjusted 30-day in-hospital mortality following stroke from 2007 to 2011 for all acute care hospitals in Canada excluding Quebec and the Territories. We categorized rural hospitals as those located in rural small towns providing 24/7 emergency physician coverage with inpatient beds. Urban hospitals were academic centres designated as Level 1 or 2 trauma centres. We computed descriptive data on local access to a CT scanner and other services and compared mean 30-day adjusted post-stroke mortality rates for rural and urban hospitals to the overall Canadian rate. A total of 286 rural hospitals (3.4 million emergency department (ED) visits/year) and 24 urban hospitals (1.5 million ED visits/year) met inclusion criteria. From 2007 to 2011, 30-day in-hospital mortality rates following stroke were significantly higher in rural than in urban hospitals and higher than the Canadian average for every year except 2008 (rural average range = 18.26 to 21.04 and urban average range = 14.11 to 16.78). Only 11% of rural hospitals had a CT-scanner, 1% had MRI, 21% had in-hospital ICU, 94% had laboratory and 92% had basic x-ray facilities. Rural hospitals in Canada had higher 30-day in-hospital mortality rates following stroke than urban academic hospitals and the Canadian average. Rural hospitals also have very limited local access to CT scanners and ICUs. These rural/urban discrepancies are cause for concern in the context of Canada's universal health care system.

  15. Spatial assessment of landscape ecological connectivity in different urban gradient.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Sohyun

    2015-07-01

    Urbanization has resulted in remnant natural patches within cities that often have no connectivity among themselves and to natural reserves outside the urban area. Protecting ecological connectivity in fragmented urban areas is becoming crucial in maintaining urban biodiversity and securing critical habitat levels and configurations under continual development pressures. Nevertheless, few studies have been undertaken for urban landscapes. This study aims to assess ecological connectivity for a group of species that represent the urban desert landscape in the Phoenix metropolitan area and to compare the connectivity values along the different urban gradient. A GIS-based landscape connectivity model which relies upon ecological connectivity index (ECI) was developed and applied to this region. A GIS-based concentric buffering technique was employed to delineate conceptual boundaries for urban, suburban, and rural zones. The research findings demonstrated that urban habitats and potential habitat patches would be significantly influenced by future urban development. Particularly, the largest loss of higher connectivity would likely to be anticipated in the "in-between areas" where urban, suburban, and rural zones overlap one another. The connectivity maps would be useful to provide spatial identification regarding connectivity patterns and vulnerability for urban and suburban activities in this area. This study provides planners and landscape architects with a spatial guidance to minimize ecological fragmentation, which ultimately leads to urban landscape sustainability. This study suggests that conventional planning practices which disregard the ecological processes in urban landscapes need to integrate landscape ecology into planning and design strategies.

  16. Comparison of domestic violence against women in urban versus rural areas of southeast Nigeria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ajah, Leonard Ogbonna; Iyoke, Chukwuemeka Anthony; Nkwo, Peter Onubiwe; Nwakoby, Boniface; Ezeonu, Paul

    2014-01-01

    Background The perception and prevalence of domestic violence (DV) in rural areas is poorly understood; the result is that most efforts at eradicating this harmful practice are concentrated in urban areas. The objective of the study was to compare the burden and perception of DV among women living in rural and urban Igbo communities of southeast Nigeria. Methods This was a comparative, cross-sectional study of women residing in rural and urban communities in Enugu, Nigeria, who had gathered for an annual religious meeting from August 1–7, 2011. Data analysis involved descriptive and inferential statistics and was conducted with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, software version 17.0, at a 95% level of confidence. Results A total of 836 women who met the eligibility criteria participated in the survey. Of these, 376 were from Okpanku, a rural community, while 460 were from Ogui Nike, an urban community. The prevalence of DV among rural women was significantly higher than that among urban women (97% versus 81%, P<0.001). In particular, the prevalence of physical violence was significantly higher among rural women than among urban women (37.2% versus 23.5%; P=0.05). In contrast, rural and urban women did not differ significantly in the proportions that had experienced psychological or sexual violence. The proportion of women who believed that DV was excusable was significantly higher among rural dwellers than among urban dwellers (58.5% versus 29.6%; P=0.03). Conclusion The burden of DV against women may be higher in rural communities than in urban communities in southeast Nigeria. More rural women perceived DV as excusable; this finding suggests that factors that sustain DV could be strong in rural areas. A comprehensive program to curb DV in this area may need to significantly involve the rural areas. PMID:25336992

  17. The influence of negative climate changes on physical development of urban and rural areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina

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    Rahman NURKOVIĆ

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available The influence of negative climate changes on physical development of urban and rural areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been analysed in the paper. So, economy and society in urban and rural areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina are susceptible to environmental consequences of climate changes. In practice, this means that poorer countries in development of economic activities will suffer most due to climate changes, while some developed countries can be in a position to use new commercial possibilities. Presently, there is a significant scientific consensus that human activity affected the increase of atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases, respectively the carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone and chlorofluorocarbon, as a result of global changes of climate that will probably change dramatically during the next centuries in Bosnia and Herzegovina. More and more intensive industrialisation and urbanisation, as well as tourism, a growing phenomenon of the 21st century, have numerous negative direct, indirect and multiplicative effects on flora and fauna habitats of Bosnia and Herzegovina. For all mentioned above, this paper tries to indicate to a need for more significant investing into tourism development, which is presently at a very low level of development in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the past ten years a dynamical development of tertiary activities in urban and rural areas has been distinguished; among which shopping centres take a significant position. 

  18. Body Mass Index and Self-Perception of Overweight and Obesity in Rural, Urban and Rural-to-Urban Migrants: PERU MIGRANT Study

    OpenAIRE

    Loret de Mola, Christian; Pillay, Timesh D.; Diez-Canseco, Francisco; Gilman, Robert H.; Smeeth, Liam; Miranda, J. Jaime

    2012-01-01

    Objective: This study aimed to compare self-reported weight and body mass index (BMI) in order to determine discrepancies between subjective and objective obesity-related markers, and possible explanatory factors of overweight and obesity underestimation, in urban, rural and migrant populations. Materials and Methods: Data from the PERU MIGRANT study, a cross-sectional study, in low-income settings, of urban, migrant (rural-to-urban), and rural groups, including BMI, self-reported weight and ...

  19. The Importance of Broadband for Socio-Economic Development: A Perspective from Rural Australia

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    Julie Freeman

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Advanced connectivity offers rural communities prospects for socio-economic development. Despite Australia’s national broadband infrastructure plans, inferior availability and quality of rural Internet connections remain persistent issues. This article examines the impact of limited connectivity on rural socio-economic opportunities, drawing from the views of twelve citizens from the Boorowa local government area in New South Wales. The available fixed wireless and satellite connections in Boorowa are slow and unreliable, and remote regions in the municipality are still without any Internet access. Participants identified four key areas in their everyday lives that are impacted by insufficient connectivity: business development, education, emergency communication, and health. Rural citizens often already face challenges in these areas, and infrastructure advancements in urban spaces can exacerbate rural-urban disparities. Participants’ comments demonstrated apprehension that failure to improve connectivity would result in adverse long-term consequences for the municipality. This article suggests that current broadband policy frameworks require strategic adaptations to account for the socio-economic and geographic contexts of rural communities. In order to narrow Australia’s rural-urban digital divide, infrastructure developments should be prioritised in the most underserved regions.

  20. Association between Education and Domestic Violence among Women Being Offered an HIV Test in Urban and Rural Areas in Kenya

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abuya, Benta A.; Onsomu, Elijah O.; Moore, DaKysha; Piper, Crystal N.

    2012-01-01

    The objective of this study was to examine the association between education and domestic violence among women being offered an HIV test in urban and rural areas in Kenya. A sample selection of women who experienced physical (n = 4,308), sexual (n = 4,309), and emotional violence (n = 4,312) aged 15 to 49 allowed for the estimation of the…

  1. Marketing mix for rural development in Romania

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    POLGÁR (DESZKE Klára-Dalma

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The sustainable development supposes a uniformly increasing of living level for the entire population of a nation. The reducing of disparities between the urban and rural regions is a purpose of the rural development policy, as a part of Community Agriculture Policy and also subject of European financing programs. A marketing approach of rural development could ensure an integrated implementation of LEADER program in Romania. This paper defines the components of marketing mix for rural development and their content for Romanian rural development marketing.

  2. Burden of anaemia in rural and urban jat women in haryana state, India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maninder, Kaur; Kochar, G K

    2009-09-01

    A cross-sectional study was undertaken on 600 Jat women (rural=300, urban=300), aged 40 to 70 years from Haryana state in North India. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of anaemia and the dietary intake of rural and urban middle-aged (40-59 years) and older (60 and above) Jat women. The findings indicated that all the subjects exhibited a decline in the mean values of haemoglobin (Hb) concentration with advancement in age. The mean blood Hb concentration of urban middle-aged and older women was 10.1±1.3g/dl and 9.91.4g/dl respectively, which was higher than their rural counterparts at all age groups, although the differences were statistically non-significant (p>0.05). The overall prevalence of anaemia reached 88.7% (rural women= 91.3%, urban women =86%). Daily dietary intake of rural and urban subjects was below the recommended dietary allowances. Physical performance of both groups of the women showed a decline with a decrease in Hb concentration. A significant and positive correlation of Hb status was observed with grip strength and vital capacity while a negative association was witnessed with blood pressure and pulse rate in both the rural and urban women. Anaemia among these women may be attributed to inadequate dietary intake, illiteracy, and poor access to health services.

  3. Women in rural development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palmer, I

    1980-01-01

    The integration of women in rural development means something more than mere labor involvement, but there has never been a clear definition of what it means. 4 principal concerns of policy-makers are briefly described as they affect women: unemployment and inadequate employment; 2) the satisfaction of basic needs and women's participation in decision-making; 3) population issues; and 4) rural-to-urban migration. The actual inter-household and inter-personal distribution of more work and higher productivity work could result in some hard-working people working even longer hours because of additional tasks with others losing their intermittent employment opportunities due to mechanization. These contradictions can be particularly acute for women. The non-material basic need of decision-making powers is more important in the case of women than of men, yet the personal status of women is being threatened by the institution-building that accompanies peasant-based agricultural intensification plans and anti-poverty programs. The education of females has been seen as a possible factor favoring family planning. In addition, education for women can mean access to public information and new expectations from life for themselves. At this time more women than men seem to be migrating to towns and cities in a number of countries with varied economic structures. 3 cases studies of agricultural development in Kenya, Bangladesh and Java, Indonesia are presented.

  4. Agritourism Rural Development Public Administration

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    Maria MORTAN

    2006-02-01

    Full Text Available For Romania agritourism development represents the opportunity to differentiate between the rural and urban environment, as well as the best way for the preservation of traditions and customs in the rural areas, supplying a sustainable rural development. This work portrays agritourism as an element of rural development and critically analyzes the way in which the public administration should become involved in sustaining rural development in general and in sustaining agritourism development in particular.

  5. Differences in the prevalence of overweight, obesity and underweight among children from primary schools in rural and urban areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolnicka, Katarzyna; Jarosz, Mirosław; Jaczewska-Schuetz, Joanna; Taraszewska, Anna Małgorzata

    2016-06-02

    Overweight adversely affects not only the health and development of children and adolescents but also their health in adulthood, increasing the risk of chronic non-communicable diseases and disabilities. The frequency of nutritional disorders among children and adolescents is increasing in many countries worldwide, including Poland. To demonstrate differences in the nutritional well-being of school-age children depending on the school location: rural and urban areas. The study conducted in 2010 covered a total of 1,255 pupils, 627 girls and 628 boys, aged nine, from the area of five provinces of Poland: Pomorskie, Opolskie, Wielkopolskie, Podkarpackie and Masovian, representing the northern, southern, western, eastern and central regions of the country. Based on the height and weight measurements of children, the body mass index was calculated. The nutritional status was assessed according to the criteria of Cole et al. The prevalence of overweight and obesity in girls and boys in separate regions of the country (villages, cities with less than 100,000 residents and cities with more than 100,000 residents) did not differ significantly. The prevalence of overweight and obesity among children from rural and urban areas of Poland is similar. Analysis of regional differences in the prevalence of obesity, overweight and underweight among children and adolescents may indicate the direction of national and local activities aiming to reduce the inequalities resulting from nutritional well-being.

  6. What Aspects of Rural Life Contribute to Rural-Urban Health Disparities in Older Adults? Evidence From a National Survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, Steven A; Cook, Sarah K; Sando, Trisha A; Sabik, Natalie J

    2017-11-29

    Rural-urban health disparities are well-documented and particularly problematic for older adults. However, determining which specific aspects of rural or urban living initiate these disparities remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to assess associations between place-based characteristics of rural-urban status and health among adults age 65+. Data from the 2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System were geographically linked to place-based characteristics from the American Community Survey. Self-reported health (SRH), obesity, and health checkup within the last year were modeled against rural-urban status (distance to nearest metropolitan area, population size, population density, percent urban, Urban Influence Codes [UIC], Rural-Urban Continuum Codes [RUCC], and Rural-Urban Commuting Area [RUCA]) using generalized linear models, accounting for covariates and complex sampling, overall, and stratified by area-level income. In general, increasing urbanicity was associated with a reduction in negative SRH for all 7 measures of rural-urban status. For low-income counties, this association held for all measures and characteristics of rural-urban status except population density. However, for high-income counties, the association was reversed-respondents living in areas of increasing urbanicity were more likely to report negative SRH for 4 of the 7 measures (RUCC, UIC, RUCA, and percent urban). Findings were mixed for the outcome of obesity, where rural areas had higher levels, except in low-income counties, where the association between rurality and obesity was reversed (OR 1.033, 95%CI: 1.002-1.064). These results suggest that rural-urban status is both a continuum and multidimensional. Distinct elements of rural-urban status may influence health in nuanced ways that require additional exploration in future studies. © 2017 National Rural Health Association.

  7. Degradation of rural and urban great tit song: testing transmission efficiency.

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    Emily J Mockford

    Full Text Available Acoustic signals play a fundamental role in avian territory defence and mate attraction. Several studies have now shown that spectral properties of bird song differ between urban and rural environments. Previously this has been attributed to competition for acoustic space as a result of low-frequency noise present in cities. However, the physical structure of urban areas may have a contributory effect. Here we investigate the sound degradation properties of woodland and city environments using both urban and rural great tit song. We show that although urban surroundings caused significantly less degradation to both songs, the transmission efficiency of rural song compared to urban song was significantly lower in the city. While differences between the two songs in woodland were generally minimal, some measures of the transmission efficiency of rural song were significantly lower than those of urban song, suggesting additional benefits to singing rural songs in this setting. In an attempt to create artificial urban song, we mimicked the increase in minimum frequency found several times previously in urban song. However, this did not replicate the same transmission properties as true urban song, suggesting changes in other song characteristics, such as temporal adjustments, are needed to further increase transmission of an avian signal in the city. We suggest that the structure of the acoustic environment, in addition to the background noise, plays an important role in signal adaptation.

  8. Socio-economic status and cardiovascular risk factors in rural and urban areas of Vellore, Tamilnadu, South India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samuel, Prasanna; Antonisamy, Belavendra; Raghupathy, Palani; Richard, Joseph; Fall, Caroline H D

    2012-10-01

    We examined associations between socio-economic status (SES) indicators and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among urban and rural South Indians. Data from a population-based birth cohort of 2218 men and women aged 26-32 years from Vellore, Tamilnadu were used. SES indicators included a household possessions score, attained education and paternal education. CVD risk factors included obesity, hypertension, impaired glucose tolerance or diabetes, plasma total cholesterol to high density lipoprotein (HDL) ratio and triglyceride levels and consumption of tobacco and alcohol. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to assess associations between SES indicators and risk factors. Most risk factors were positively associated with possessions score in urban and rural men and women, except for tobacco use, which was negatively associated. Trends were similar with the participants' own education and paternal education, though weaker and less consistent. In a concurrent analysis of all the three SES indicators, adjusted for gender and urban/rural residence, independent associations were observed only for the possessions score. Compared with those in the lowest fifth of the score, participants in the highest fifth had a higher risk of abdominal obesity [odds ratio (OR) =6.4, 95% CI 3.4-11.6], high total cholesterol to HDL ratio (OR=2.4, 95% CI 1.6-3.5) and glucose intolerance (OR=2.8, 95% CI 1.9-4.1). Their tobacco use (OR=0.4, 95% CI 0.2-0.6) was lower. Except for hypertension and glucose intolerance, risk factors were higher in urban than rural participants independently of SES. In this young cohort of rural and urban south Indians, higher SES was associated with a more adverse CVD risk factor profile but lower tobacco use.

  9. A Mixed Methods Comparison of Urban and Rural Retail Corner Stores

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    Jared T McGuirt

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Efforts to transform corner stores to better meet community dietary needs have mostly occurred in urban areas but are also needed in rural areas. Given important contextual differences between urban and rural areas, it is important to increase our understanding of the elements that might translate successfully to similar interventions involving stores in more rural areas. Thus, an in-depth examination and comparison of corner stores in each setting is needed. A mixed methods approach, including windshield tours, spatial visualization with analysis of frequency distribution, and spatial regression techniques were used to compare a rural North Carolina and large urban (Los Angeles food environment. Important similarities and differences were seen between the two settings in regards to food environment context, spatial distribution of stores, food products available, and the factors predicting corner store density. Urban stores were more likely to have fresh fruits (Pearson chi2 = 27.0423; p < 0.001 and vegetables (Pearson chi2 = 27.0423; p < 0.001. In the urban setting, corner stores in high income areas were more likely to have fresh fruit (Pearson chi2 = 6.00; p = 0.014, while in the rural setting, there was no difference between high and low income area in terms of fresh fruit availability. For the urban area, total population, no vehicle and Hispanic population were significantly positively associated (p < 0.05, and median household income (p < 0.001 and Percent Minority (p < 0.05 were significantly negatively associated with corner store count. For the rural area, total population (p < 0.05 and supermarket count were positively associated (p < 0.001, and median household income negatively associated (P < 0.001, with corner store count. Translational efforts should be informed by these findings, which might influence the success of future interventions and policies in both rural and urban contexts.

  10. Rural Education and Economic Development in China, Mexico, Japan, and the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ranson, Baldwin

    1988-01-01

    Traces the histories of rural education and rural technology in four countries. Suggests that the economic function of education is the transmission of technologically relevant skills, and that technologically appropriate curricula are a necessary part of economic development policy. 30 references. (SV)

  11. Direct Energy Consumption Associated Emissions by Rural-to-Urban Migrants in Beijing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ru, Muye; Tao, Shu; Smith, Kirk; Shen, Guofeng; Shen, Huizhong; Huang, Ye; Chen, Han; Chen, Yilin; Chen, Xi; Liu, Junfeng; Li, Bengang; Wang, Xilong; He, Canfei

    2015-11-17

    Hundreds of millions of rural residents have migrated to cities in China in recent years. Different lifestyles and living conditions lead to substantial changes in their household energy. Here, we present the result of a survey on direct household energy use of low-skilled rural-to-urban migrants in Beijing. The migrants moved up the energy ladder immediately after arriving in the city by replacing biomass fuels with coal, electricity, and liquefied petroleum gas. After the original shift, pattern of household energy use by the migrants has not changed much over decades, likely due to the long-existing household registration system (Hukou). As a result, the mix of energy types used by the rural-to-urban migrants were different from those by long-term urban residents, although total quantities were similar. Shifting from biomass fuels to coal, the migrants emitted 2.4 times more non-neutral CO2 than rural residents and 14% more than urban residents. The migration also resulted in significant increase in emissions of SO2 and mercury but dramatic decreases in some incomplete combustion products including particulate matter. All these changes have significant implication on air quality, health, and climate considering the scale of urbanization in China.

  12. Decomposing the causes of socioeconomic-related health inequality among urban and rural populations in China: a new decomposition approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cai, Jiaoli; Coyte, Peter C; Zhao, Hongzhong

    2017-07-18

    In recent decades, China has experienced tremendous economic growth and also witnessed growing socioeconomic-related health inequality. The study aims to explore the potential causes of socioeconomic-related health inequality in urban and rural areas of China over the past two decades. This study used six waves of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) from 1991 to 2006. The recentered influence function (RIF) regression decomposition method was employed to decompose socioeconomic-related health inequality in China. Health status was derived from self-rated health (SRH) scores. The analyses were conducted on urban and rural samples separately. We found that the average level of health status declined from 1989 to 2006 for both urban and rural populations. Average health scores were greater for the rural population compared with those for the urban population. We also found that there exists pro-rich health inequality in China. While income and secondary education were the main factors to reduce health inequality, older people, unhealthy lifestyles and a poor home environment increased inequality. Health insurance had the opposite effects on health inequality for urban and rural populations, resulting in lower inequality for urban populations and higher inequality for their rural counterparts. These findings suggest that an effective way to reduce socioeconomic-related health inequality is not only to increase income and improve access to health care services, but also to focus on improvements in the lifestyles and the home environment. Specifically, for rural populations, it is particularly important to improve the design of health insurance and implement a more comprehensive insurance package that can effectively target the rural poor. Moreover, it is necessary to comprehensively promote the flush toilets and tap water in rural areas. For urban populations, in addition to promoting universal secondary education, healthy lifestyles should be promoted

  13. Analysing the Great Urban Divide: Turning the Lens to Rural to Understand Slums

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Praveen Dhanda

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Instead of looking at slums as strictly ‘urban problems’ requiring ‘urban solutions’, this paper attempts to build a structural link between growth of slums in urban areas and, what can be called, the ‘decay’ of the rural in India. It contends that uneven development of Indian cities with great spatial disparities – made evident by increasing number of slums – is related to uneven development between rural and urban areas. Thus, in order to grapple with the ‘enigma’ of slums, the political economy of rural areas – from where the migrants living in slums ‘originally’ belong – becomes the essential site to engage with. The paper foregrounds the need to study transformations in the rural domain in order to make sense of the growth of slums in cities. In a nutshell, the argument is that the ‘decay’ of the rural and the ‘swelling’ of the city are to be visualised in hyphenated terms since the rural-urban divide is at the heart of the ‘great urban divide’.

  14. Assessing the potential of rural and urban private facilities in implementing child health interventions in Mukono district, central Uganda

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rutebemberwa, Elizeus; Buregyeya, Esther; Lal, Sham

    2016-01-01

    keeping, essential drugs for the treatment of malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea; the sex, level of education, professional and in-service training of the persons found attending to patients in these facilities. A comparison was made between urban and rural facilities. Univariate and bivariate analysis...... was done. RESULTS: A total of 241 private facilities were assessed with only 47 (19.5 %) being in rural areas. Compared to urban areas, rural private facilities were more likely to be drug shops (OR 2.80; 95 % CI 1.23-7.11), less likely to be registered (OR 0.31; 95 % CI 0.16-0.60), not have trained...... attended to at least one sick child in the week prior to the interview. CONCLUSION: There were big gaps between rural and urban private facilities with rural ones having less trained personnel and less zinc tablets' availability. In both rural and urban areas, record keeping was low. Child health...

  15. A cross-sectional survey of Aedes aegypti immature abundance in urban and rural household containers in central Colombia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Overgaard, Hans J; Olano, Víctor Alberto; Jaramillo, Juan Felipe; Matiz, María Inés; Sarmiento, Diana; Stenström, Thor Axel; Alexander, Neal

    2017-07-27

    Aedes aegypti, the major vector of dengue, breeds in domestic water containers. The development of immature mosquitoes in such containers is influenced by various environmental, ecological and socioeconomic factors. Urban and rural disparities in water storage practices and water source supply may affect mosquito immature abundance and, potentially, dengue risk. We evaluated the effect of water and container characteristics on A. aegypti immature abundance in urban and rural areas. Data were collected in the wet season of 2011 in central Colombia from 36 urban and 35 rural containers, which were either mosquito-positive or negative. Immature mosquitoes were identified to species. Data on water and container characteristics were collected from all containers. A total of 1452 Aedes pupae and larvae were collected of which 81% were A. aegypti and 19% A. fluviatilis. Aedes aegypti immatures were found in both urban and rural sites. However, the mean number of A. aegypti pupae was five times higher in containers in the urban sites compared to those in the rural sites. One of the important factors associated with A. aegypti infestation was frequency of container washing. Monthly-washed or never-washed containers were both about four times more likely to be infested than those washed every week. There were no significant differences between urban and rural sites in frequency of washing containers. Aedes aegypti immature infestation was positively associated with total dissolved solids, but negatively associated with dissolved oxygen. Water temperature, total dissolved solids, ammonia, nitrate, and organic matter were significantly higher in urban than in rural containers, which might explain urban-rural differences in breeding of A. aegypti. However, many of these factors vary substantially between studies and in their degree of association with vector breeding, therefore they may not be reliable indices for vector control interventions. Although containers in urban areas

  16. [Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Mapuche individuals living in urban and rural environment in Chile].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ibáñez, Luis; Sanzana, Ruth; Salas, Carlos; Navarrete, Claudia; Cartes-Velásquez, Ricardo; Rainqueo, Angélica; Jara, Tamara; Pérez-Bravo, Francisco; Ulloa, Natalia; Calvo, Carlos; Miquel, Juan F; Celis-Morales, Carlos

    2014-08-01

    Metabolic Syndrome (MS) increases the risk of diabetes and mortality associated with cardiovascular disease. However, the prevalence of MS could differ by ethnicity and lifestyle factors. To determine the prevalence of MS in Mapuche individuals living in urban and rural environments in Chile and to investigate whether the prevalence and risk of MS in urban and rural environments differs by sex, age and nutritional status. A total of 1077 Mapuche participants were recruited from urban (MU = 288) and rural (MR = 789) settings. Body mass index, waist circumference and blood pressure were measured. A fasting blood sample was obtained to measure serum glucose, HDL cholesterol and triacylglycerol. The prevalence of MS was determined using the unified IDF and ATP-III criteria. An environment and sex interaction was found for the prevalence of MS (p = 0.042). The prevalence was significantly lower in male MR (13%) compared to other groups (22, 23 and 25% among female MR, female MU and male MU respectively). Also, the prevalence of central obesity and low HDL-cholesterol were significantly lower in male MR. MU are at an increased risk of developing MS compared to MR, with an odds ratio of 1.59 (95% confidence intervals 1.1 to 2.2). This risk increases along with age or body mass index of the population. The adoption of an urbanized lifestyle increases the risk of developing MS in Mapuche individuals. This risk is enhanced by age and nutritional status.

  17. Urban-Rural and Provincial Disparities in Child Malnutrition in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Yichao; Qi, Di

    2016-10-01

    This article investigates how the nutritional deprivation and inequality among children in China by provinces and urban/rural areas has changed over time from 1991 to 2009 using the China Health and Nutrition Survey data. The children who were undernourished in stunting and underweight have declined over years, but provincial disparities were significant and urban children performed better than the rural peers. The nutritional deprivation of children has been alleviated in China over time, but more efforts should be made by the government to improve the nutritional condition in less developed provinces and for those children who are severely undernourished.

  18. An Empirical Study of the Relationship between the Fixed Assets Investment and Urban-rural Income Gap during the Transition Period

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Yingliang; ZHANG; Xingxi; LIU; Fang; YANG; Yongbin; GUAN

    2014-01-01

    As the gap in income between urban and rural residents bigger and bigger,based on the data from 1978 to 2007,this paper makes an empirical study of the dynamic relation between the fixed assets investment and the difference in income between urban and rural residents. The outcome from the study indicates a long-term balance exists between the investment rate of the fixed assets and the difference in income between urban and rural residents. A short-term deviation from the balance can be adjusted through long time. To a certain extent,city-oriented fixed assets investment policy is the main cause of the big gap in income between urban and rural residents. The big gap in income between urban and rural residents in turn reinforces their social status,thus further strengthening the city-oriented instead of countryside-oriented fixed assets investment policy. Based on that,this paper puts forward some suggestions on adjusting the fixed assets investment policy so as to shorten the difference in income between urban and rural residents and realize the goal of harmonious development between city and countryside.

  19. Intellectually Gifted Rural-to-Urban Migrant Children's Attention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Hui; He, Yunfeng; Tao, Ting; Shi, Jian-Nong

    2016-01-01

    The term "intellectually gifted rural-to-urban migrant children" refers to intellectually gifted children who are in migration from rural to urban areas. We compared performances on seven attention tasks among intellectually gifted (n = 26) and average (n = 30) rural-to-urban migrant and intellectually gifted urban children (n = 31). Our…

  20. Rural-urban migration in Zambia and migrant ties to home villages.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ogura, M

    1991-06-01

    Rural to urban migration patterns in Zambia and migrant ties to home villages are discussed 1st in terms of a statistical overview of migration and urbanization, and followed by an examination of lengthening stays in towns and ties to the home village based on other studies and the author's field research and random sampling in 6 urban areas of Zambia. The primary population centers are the copperbelt which comprises 45% of the total urban population, and Lusaka which is 24% of the total urban population. 31% of the total population reside in Lusaka, 7 mining towns, Kabwe, and Livingstone. Migration and a high rate of natural population growth are responsible for the urban growth. Recent economic difficulties have reduced the flow of migration to urban areas and lead to the out migration in copper towns. independence also has had an effect on migration, such that female migration increased along with male migration. Female migration reflects female educational advances and the changing practice of housewives accompanying husbands. The informal sector absorbs a great number of the migrant labor force. Income gaps between urban and rural areas also contribute to migration flows. Other magnets in urban areas are better educational opportunities, a water supply, and the lure of city lights. Since independence, migrants have increased their length of stay in towns but continue to maintain links with their home villages. 87.5% of mine workers are estimated as intending to go back to their villages. Before the mid-1970s it is estimated in a Ngombe squatter camp that 65% of employed male household heads had sent money home the prior year, 58% had visited home within the past 5 years, but 25% had never visited in 10 years. 58% intended to return home and 36% intended to stay permanently. The author's research between 1987-89 found 3 types of squatter villages: those retired and not returning to home villages such as Kansusuwa, those workers living in compounds where farm

  1. Response to antiretroviral therapy of HIV type 1-infected children in urban and rural settings of Uganda.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Musiime, Victor; Kayiwa, Joshua; Kiconco, Mary; Tamale, William; Alima, Hillary; Mugerwa, Henry; Abwola, Mary; Apilli, Eunice; Ahimbisibwe, Fred; Kizito, Hilda; Abongomera, George; Namusoke, Asia; Makabayi, Agnes; Kiweewa, Francis; Ssali, Francis; Kityo, Cissy; Colebunders, Robert; Mugyenyi, Peter

    2012-12-01

    From 2006 to 2011, a cohort study was conducted among 1000 children resident in urban and rural settings of Uganda to ascertain and compare the response to antiretroviral therapy (ART) among urban versus rural children and the factors associated with this response. Clinical, immunological, and virological parameters were ascertained at baseline and weeks 24, 48, 96, and 144 after ART initiation. Adherence to ART was assessed at enrollment by self-report (SR) and pill counts (PC). Overall, 499/948 (52.6%) children were resident in rural areas, 504/948 (53.1%) were male, and their mean age was 11.9±4.4 years (urban children) and 11.4±4.1 years (rural children). The urban children were more likely to switch to second-line ART at a rate of 39.9 per 1000 person-years (95% CI: 28.2-56.4) versus 14.9 per 1000 person-years (95% CI: 8.7-25.7), p=0.0038, develop any new WHO 3/4 events at 127/414 (30.7%) versus 108/466 (23.2%), p=0.012, and have a higher cumulative incidence of hospitalization of 54/449 (12.0%) versus 32/499 (6.4%), p=0.003, when compared to rural children. No differences were observed in mean changes in weight, height, CD4 count and percentage, and hemoglobin and viral load between urban and rural children. Adherence of ≥95% was observed in 88.2% of urban versus 91.3% of rural children by SR (p=0.130), and in 78.8% of urban versus 88.8% of rural children by PC (pART than urban children.

  2. Rural Urban Disparity in and around Surabaya Region, Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vely Kukinul Siswanto

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available A shift in development towards the outskirts of urban areas changes the characteristics of the region and can ultimately lead to urban disparities in economic and social terms. The current study has tried to divide the study area covers the areas of surrounding Surabaya as urban, peri urban and rural areas with reference to three time periods (2008, 2009 and 2010 and shows that the typology in the study area changes each year. Furthermore, based on the theil index analysis, using a number of pre-prosperous household for social disparity and per capita GDP (Gross Domestic Product for economic disparity shows that urban and peri urban areas have medium and high level of social and economic disparity compare with rural area which have low levels of disparity. Through multivariate correlation analysis can be seen that the health center distance, electricity and water users effecting the social disparity. Moreover, the financial, industrial, electricity, trade, construction, transportation, agriculture, and mining sector's productivity have a significant relationship with the economic disparity. Health facilities, water and electricity improvement strategies to be followed for reducing the social disparity. Electricity improvement, water, services sector, transportation infrastructure, and industrial development to reduce the economic disparity.

  3. Land tenure insecurity and rural-urban migration in rural China

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ma Xian lei, Xianlei; Heerink, N.B.M.; Ierland, van E.C.; Shi Xiaoping, X.

    2016-01-01

    This paper examines the impact of land tenure security perceptions on rural-urban migration decisions of rural households, using data collected in Minle County in Northwest China. We find that tenure security perceptions play a significant role in household migration decisions in villages without

  4. Predictors of Physical Functioning Trajectories among Chinese Oldest Old Adults: Rural and Urban Differences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Fei; Park, Nan Sook; Klemmack, David L.; Roff, Lucinda L.; Li, Zhihong

    2009-01-01

    This article examined the differences between rural/urban older adults in their trajectories of activities of daily living (ADL) over a 4-year period. The sample included 2,490 community dwelling older adults who completed three waves (1998, 2000, and 2002) of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. Among them, 63.5% were from rural…

  5. Developing better casemix education for rural New South Wales.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bridges, J F; Mazevska, D; Haas, M

    2001-08-01

    Casemix is now an important mechanism for the planning, evaluation and funding of health services in Australia. In New South Wales (NSW) it was believed that while staff from most hospitals in metropolitan Sydney had become both literate and vocal about casemix, staff from rural areas were less familiar and much less likely to participate in casemix initiatives. In conjunction with the NSW Casemix Clinical Committee (NCCC), NSW Health considered a special program of casemix education for rural NSW. Before an education program was attempted, NSW Health inquired into the specific needs for casemix education in rural NSW. Qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis were used. Results of the quantitative analysis indicate that the understanding of casemix classifications is highest among managers. Of concern were the relatively low proportion of Allied Health staff who had more than a vague understanding of the Sub- and Non-Acute Patient (SNAP) classification; the lack of any knowledge of the Mental Health Costing And Service Classification (MH-CASC) by nursing staff; and the lack of any knowledge of the emergency department classification: Urgency, Disposition and Age-related Groups (UDAG), either by clinical or nursing staff. The results of the qualitative analysis show that casemix education for rural areas needs to differ from metropolitan education programs. The analysis also highlights the perception of casemix in rural areas and the special circumstances in rural hospitals that place limits on the ability to use casemix more fully.

  6. Trends in child immunization across geographical regions in India: focus on urban-rural and gender differentials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Prashant Kumar

    2013-01-01

    Although child immunization is regarded as a highly cost-effective lifesaver, about fifty percent of the eligible children aged 12-23 months in India are without essential immunization coverage. Despite several programmatic initiatives, urban-rural and gender difference in child immunization pose an intimidating challenge to India's public health agenda. This study assesses the urban-rural and gender difference in child immunization coverage during 1992-2006 across six major geographical regions in India. Three rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted during 1992-93, 1998-99 and 2005-06 were analyzed. Bivariate analyses, urban-rural and gender inequality ratios, and the multivariate-pooled logistic regression model were applied to examine the trends and patterns of inequalities over time. The analysis of change over one and half decades (1992-2006) shows considerable variations in child immunization coverage across six geographical regions in India. Despite a decline in urban-rural and gender differences over time, children residing in rural areas and girls remained disadvantaged. Moreover, northeast, west and south regions, which had the lowest gender inequality in 1992 observed an increase in gender difference over time. Similarly, urban-rural inequality increased in the west region during 1992-2006. This study suggests periodic evaluation of the health care system is vital to assess the between and within group difference beyond average improvement. It is essential to integrate strong immunization systems with broad health systems and coordinate with other primary health care delivery programs to augment immunization coverage.

  7. Height, weight, and education achievement in rural Peru.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cueto, Santiago

    2005-06-01

    The education system in Peru and many other developing countries faces several challenges, including improving education achievement and increasing education enrollment in high school. It is clear from several indicators that rural students have lower education outcomes than do urban students. In this study we used cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis to determine the relationship between height-for-age z-scores (HAZ), weight-for-age z-scores (WAZ), body-mass index (BMI), and education outcomes. The sample was composed of students from 20 elementary public schools in two rural zones in Peru. The descriptive results show that there was no association between any of the anthropometric variables and achievement (mathematics and reading comprehension) or advancing to high school without repeating a grade. However, BMI was associated with dropping out of school: children with higher BMI in 1998 were more likely to be out of school by 2001. The hierarchical multivariate analysis also showed no relationship between anthropometry and achievement at the individual level, but students with relatively higher HAZ in 1998 were more likely to be drop-outs by 2001. These results contradict prior findings that showed a positive association between anthropometric variables (especially HAZ) and education achievement. The results might be explained by the fact that the study was carried out at very poor sites, at altitudes between 3000 and 3500 meters above sea level. The scarce studies about development in high altitudes suggest that the patterns for height and weight for children and adolescents are different than at sea level. Another possible explanation has to do with the fact that in the contexts studied, children who are perceived as relatively heavier (BMI) or taller (HAZ) might be expected to be out of school and start working (in fact, this was the primary reason given by children for dropping out of school).

  8. Intimate partner violence against married rural-to-urban migrant workers in eastern China: prevalence, patterns, and associated factors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Chen

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Intimate partner violence (IPV is a significant public health issue among married rural-to-urban migrant workers, the largest group of internal migrants in China. This study aims to explore the prevalence, patterns and associated factors of intimate partner violence against married rural-to-urban migrant workers in eastern China. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in Zhejiang province in China between July 2015 and April 2016, and a total of 1,744 married rural-to-urban migrant workers ultimately took part in the study. Conflict Tactics Scales and several short demographic questions were applied. Data were principally analyzed with logistic regression. Results The majority of married rural-to-urban migrant workers were middle-aged couples with a low education level and a relatively long-term duration of migration in fixed migrant cities. Nearly 45% of married rural-to-urban migrant workers were experienced at least one incident of intimate partner violence during the past 12 months. The joint occurrence of multiple forms of violence is the most commonly reported features of intimate partner violence, especially three overlapping patterns of intimate partner violence. Some individual (education and age, relationship (marital satisfaction, premarital sex and extramarital affairs and social (duration of migration and number of migratory cities factors of the respondents, were negatively or positively associated with intimate partner violence against married rural-to-urban migrant workers. Conclusion The results indicated that one out of two married rural-to-urban migrant workers experienced at least one incident of intimate partner violence during the past 12 months in China. Accordingly, there is an obvious demand of intervention and treatment activities to prevent and reduce the occurrence of intimate partner violence among the millions of migrant workers in China.

  9. Nutritional Status in Community-Dwelling Elderly in France in Urban and Rural Areas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torres, Marion J.; Dorigny, Béatrice; Kuhn, Mirjam; Berr, Claudine; Barberger-Gateau, Pascale; Letenneur, Luc

    2014-01-01

    Malnutrition is a frequent condition in elderly people, especially in nursing homes and geriatric wards. Its frequency is less well known among elderly living at home. The objective of this study was to describe the nutritional status evaluated by the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) of elderly community-dwellers living in rural and urban areas in France and to investigate its associated factors. Methods Subjects aged 65 years and over from the Approche Multidisciplinaire Intégrée (AMI) cohort (692 subjects living in a rural area) and the Three-City (3C) cohort (8,691 subjects living in three large urban zones) were included. A proxy version of the MNA was reconstructed using available data from the AMI cohort. Sensitivity and specificity were used to evaluate the agreement between the proxy version and the standard version in AMI. The proxy MNA was computed in both cohorts to evaluate the frequency of poor nutritional status. Factors associated with this state were investigated in each cohort separately. Results In the rural sample, 38.0% were females and the mean age was 75.5 years. In the urban sample, 60.3% were females and the mean age was 74.1 years. Among subjects in living in the rural sample, 7.4% were in poor nutritional status while the proportion was 18.5% in the urban sample. Female gender, older age, being widowed, a low educational level, low income, low body mass index, being demented, having a depressive symptomatology, a loss of autonomy and an intake of more than 3 drugs appeared to be independently associated with poor nutritional status. Conclusion Poor nutritional status was commonly observed among elderly people living at home in both rural and urban areas. The associated factors should be further considered for targeting particularly vulnerable individuals. PMID:25133755

  10. Nutritional status in community-dwelling elderly in France in urban and rural areas.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marion J Torres

    Full Text Available Malnutrition is a frequent condition in elderly people, especially in nursing homes and geriatric wards. Its frequency is less well known among elderly living at home. The objective of this study was to describe the nutritional status evaluated by the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA of elderly community-dwellers living in rural and urban areas in France and to investigate its associated factors.Subjects aged 65 years and over from the Approche Multidisciplinaire Intégrée (AMI cohort (692 subjects living in a rural area and the Three-City (3C cohort (8,691 subjects living in three large urban zones were included. A proxy version of the MNA was reconstructed using available data from the AMI cohort. Sensitivity and specificity were used to evaluate the agreement between the proxy version and the standard version in AMI. The proxy MNA was computed in both cohorts to evaluate the frequency of poor nutritional status. Factors associated with this state were investigated in each cohort separately.In the rural sample, 38.0% were females and the mean age was 75.5 years. In the urban sample, 60.3% were females and the mean age was 74.1 years. Among subjects in living in the rural sample, 7.4% were in poor nutritional status while the proportion was 18.5% in the urban sample. Female gender, older age, being widowed, a low educational level, low income, low body mass index, being demented, having a depressive symptomatology, a loss of autonomy and an intake of more than 3 drugs appeared to be independently associated with poor nutritional status.Poor nutritional status was commonly observed among elderly people living at home in both rural and urban areas. The associated factors should be further considered for targeting particularly vulnerable individuals.

  11. Knowledge and attitudes toward organ donation: a community-based study comparing rural and urban populations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alghanim Saad

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The study was set to determine whether knowledge and attitudes toward organ dona-tion differ according to geographical location. Self-administered questionnaires were employed to collect data such as demographic characteristics, basic knowledge, attitudes and source of information about organ donation from subjects in rural and urban areas. The questionnaires were distributed randomly to 1,000 individuals in both areas during 2008. The data were analyzed in a descriptive fashion. Despite similarities in knowledge and attitudes of respondents in both areas, rural res-pondents were less likely to have information about organ donation, to report willingness to donate organs, and to have knowledge about "brain death" or the "organ donation card" than their counter-parts in urban areas. The study identified that the principle respondents′ source of information about organ donation was the television. More than 90% of respondents in rural and urban areas reported that the contribution of health care providers in providing them with knowledge about organ dona-tion and transplantation was "none" or "little". Respondents identified several reasons, which may influence their decisions to donate organs. In conclusion, the deficit in knowledge and attitudes of rural respondents about organ donation may be justified by the lack of information about this signi-ficant issue. Accordingly, health facilities, local mass media and educational institutions should provide intensive educational programs to encourage the public donate organs.

  12. Building Special Education Teacher Capacity in Rural Schools: Impact of a Grow Your Own Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sutton, Joe P.; Bausmith, Shirley C.; O'Connor, Dava M.; Pae, Holly A.; Payne, John R.

    2014-01-01

    Rural education has a legacy of unique challenges, with highest priority needs in the South. Chief among these challenges are the conditions of poverty associated with many rural districts and the education of students with disabilities. Compared with their urban and suburban counterparts, rural teachers experience higher rates of turnover, and…

  13. Does Urbanization Affect Rural Poverty? Evidence from Indian Districts

    OpenAIRE

    Calì, Massimiliano; Menon, Carlo

    2013-01-01

    Although a high rate of urbanization and a high incidence of rural poverty are two distinct features of many developing countries, there is little knowledge of the effects of the former on the latter. Using a large sample of Indian districts from the 1983-1999 period, the authors find that urbanization has a substantial and systematic poverty-reducing effect in the surrounding rural areas....

  14. Downscaling European urban-rural typologies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fertner, Christian

    2012-01-01

    Urban-rural typologies are usually very differently defined and case specific, but there are also a few, more widely used typologies at European scale. These typologies are however too coarse to be used in a national or regional context. In this note four typologies from the OECD, DG Regio...

  15. Low Elevation Coastal Zone (LECZ) Urban-Rural Population Estimates, Global Rural-Urban Mapping Project (GRUMP), Alpha Version

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Low Elevation Coastal Zone (LECZ) Urban-Rural Estimates consists of country-level estimates of urban, rural and total population and land area country-wide and...

  16. Intercomparison of iodine thyroid doses estimated for people living in urban and rural environments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Voigt, G.

    2000-01-01

    The radioecological model ECOSYS, developed in GSF-Institut fuer Strahlenschutz has been applied to calculate thyroid doses to the population due to I-131 exposures after the Chernobyl accident. The main contribution to the thyroid doses calculated is given by the consumption of milk and vegetables. Results are presented taking into account the different activity concentrations measured in milk of private family cows and mixed collective milk of a creamery in upper Bavaria, as well as different consumption behaviour of children and adults in rural and urban areas. Thyroid doses due to different milk consumption habits and a different milk origin in adults living in urban environments are estimated to be up to 12 times, in children up to 3 times lower than those estimated for rural environments. The dose contribution by vegetables, however, in any case exceeded the one by milk because of the high intake rates for the case investigated here. These values, however, may be overestimates for vegetables and have a very high uncertainty. For adults total thyroid dose by ingestion was higher in rural areas by a factor of 1.4, for children at the age of 10 years, total thyroid dose by ingestion was 1.5 times higher in urban environments for the conditions described here. (author)

  17. Comparison of domestic violence against women in urban versus rural areas of southeast Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ajah LO

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Leonard Ogbonna Ajah,1,2 Chukwuemeka Anthony Iyoke,1 Peter Onubiwe Nkwo,1 Boniface Nwakoby,3 Paul Ezeonu2 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria; 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria; 3Department of Community Medicine, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu, Nigeria Background: The perception and prevalence of domestic violence (DV in rural areas is poorly understood; the result is that most efforts at eradicating this harmful practice are concentrated in urban areas. The objective of the study was to compare the burden and perception of DV among women living in rural and urban Igbo communities of southeast Nigeria. Methods: This was a comparative, cross-sectional study of women residing in rural and urban communities in Enugu, Nigeria, who had gathered for an annual religious meeting from August 1–7, 2011. Data analysis involved descriptive and inferential statistics and was conducted with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, software version 17.0, at a 95% level of confidence. Results: A total of 836 women who met the eligibility criteria participated in the survey. Of these, 376 were from Okpanku, a rural community, while 460 were from Ogui Nike, an urban community. The prevalence of DV among rural women was significantly higher than that among urban women (97% versus 81%, P<0.001. In particular, the prevalence of physical violence was significantly higher among rural women than among urban women (37.2% versus 23.5%; P=0.05. In contrast, rural and urban women did not differ significantly in the proportions that had experienced psychological or sexual violence. The proportion of women who believed that DV was excusable was significantly higher among rural dwellers than among urban dwellers (58.5% versus 29.6%; P=0.03. Conclusion: The burden of DV against women may be higher in rural

  18. Use of mobile phones for improving vaccination coverage among children living in rural hard-to-reach areas and urban streets of Bangladesh.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uddin, Md Jasim; Shamsuzzaman, Md; Horng, Lily; Labrique, Alain; Vasudevan, Lavanya; Zeller, Kelsey; Chowdhury, Mridul; Larson, Charles P; Bishai, David; Alam, Nurul

    2016-01-04

    In Bangladesh, full vaccination rates among children living in rural hard-to-reach areas and urban streets are low. We conducted a quasi-experimental pre-post study of a 12-month mobile phone intervention to improve vaccination among 0-11 months old children in rural hard-to-reach and urban street dweller areas. Software named "mTika" was employed within the existing public health system to electronically register each child's birth and remind mothers about upcoming vaccination dates with text messages. Android smart phones with mTika were provided to all health assistants/vaccinators and supervisors in intervention areas, while mothers used plain cell phones already owned by themselves or their families. Pre and post-intervention vaccination coverage was surveyed in intervention and control areas. Among children over 298 days old, full vaccination coverage actually decreased in control areas--rural baseline 65.9% to endline 55.2% and urban baseline 44.5% to endline 33.9%--while increasing in intervention areas from rural baseline 58.9% to endline 76*8%, difference +18.8% (95% CI 5.7-31.9) and urban baseline 40.7% to endline 57.1%, difference +16.5% (95% CI 3.9-29.0). Difference-in-difference (DID) estimates were +29.5% for rural intervention versus control areas and +27.1% for urban areas for full vaccination in children over 298 days old, and logistic regression adjusting for maternal education, mobile phone ownership, and sex of child showed intervention effect odds ratio (OR) of 3.8 (95% CI 1.5-9.2) in rural areas and 3.0 (95% CI 1.4-6.4) in urban areas. Among all age groups, intervention effects on age-appropriate vaccination coverage were positive: DIDs +13.1-30.5% and ORs 2.5-4.6 (pmobile phone intervention can improve vaccination coverage in rural hard-to-reach and urban street dweller communities in Bangladesh. This small-scale successful demonstration should serve as an example to other low-income countries with high mobile phone usage. Copyright © 2015

  19. Teachers as Rural Educators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kristiansen, Andrew

    2014-01-01

    In the article, education is seen as a hierarchical cultural encounter between urban and rural values and ways of life. Good teachers do not only deliver curriculum, they also consider the needs and values of their students, as well as those of the local community. The article discusses how teachers' competence, knowledge and attitudes can affect…

  20. The Issue of Poverty in the Urban and Rural Communities in Romania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ELISA PARASCHIV

    2008-03-01

    Full Text Available The main objective of this work is to answer questions which are relevant for the process of preparing anti-poverty strategies.The major discrepancy between the rural and urban environment with respect to the aspects mentioned above is one of the main conclusions. However, the residence environment usually represents only one of the dimensions or one of the influential factors of poverty in Romania, without any systematic study of the differences/resemblances between urban and rural poverty. In this respect, the study represents a complementary study for the previous analyses, a synthesis of the existent knowledge of resemblances between urban poverty and rural poverty and, implicitly, of the adequate political instruments for combating each of these aspects. According to the arguments presented by the author, in Romania, poverty is territorially concentrated, at the level of both the communities and the households, from the perspective of consumerism, and rural poverty is the key issue of poverty in Romania.

  1. Prevalence of Internet addiction and risk of developing addiction as exemplified by a group of Polish adolescents from urban and rural areas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beata Pawłowska

    2015-02-01

    The Internet addiction criteria were fulfilled by 0.45% of adolescents living in urban areas and 2.9% of those living in rural areas, whereas 35.55% of urban dwelling students and 30.18% of students living in rural areas showed a risk of developing this addiction. More adolescents living in urban areas, compared to those living in rural areas, use Internet pornography, play computer games, disclose their personal data to unknown individuals encountered on the Internet, use Instant Messaging (IM services, electronic mail and Facebook social networking service. Compared to their peers from urban areas, significantly more adolescents from rural areas use ‘Nasza Klasa’ (Our Classmates online social networking service.

  2. Educational Barriers of Rural Youth: Relation of Individual and Contextual Difference Variables

    Science.gov (United States)

    Irvin, Matthew J.; Byun, Soo-yong; Meece, Judith L.; Farmer, Thomas W.

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the relation of several individual and contextual difference factors to the perceived educational barriers of rural youth. Data were from a broader national investigation of students’ postsecondary aspirations and preparation in rural high schools across the United States. The sample involved more than 7,000 rural youth in 73 high schools across 34 states. Results indicated that some individual (e.g., African American race/ethnicity) and contextual (e.g., parent education) difference factors were predictive while others were not. Extensions to, similarities, and variations with previous research are discussed. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are also discussed. PMID:24474843

  3. Work motivation and job satisfaction of health workers in urban and rural areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grujičić, Maja; Jovičić-Bata, Jelena; Rađen, Slavica; Novaković, Budimka; Šipetić-Grujičić, Sandra

    2016-08-01

    Motivated and job satisfied health professionals represent a basis of success of modern health institutions. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there was a difference in work motivation and job satisfaction between health workers in urban and rural areas in the region of Central Serbia. The study included 396 health professionals from urban setting, and 436 from a rural area, employed in four randomly selected health facilities. An anonymous questionnaire was used for data gathering. Statistical analysis was performed using χ2, Student t-test, Spearman's correlation coefficient, and logistic regression analysis. Urban health professionals were significantly more motivated and job satisfied than respondents from rural area. In relation to work motivation factors and job satisfaction of health professionals in urban and rural areas, there were no significant differences in working conditions and current equipment, and in terms of job satisfaction there were no significant differences in relation to income either. In order to increase the level of work motivation and job satisfaction of health workers in rural areas, apart from better income, they should get more assistance and support from their supervisors, and awards for good job performance; interpersonal relationships, promotion and advancement opportunities, managerial performance and cooperation at work should be improved; employment security should be provided, as well as more independence at work, with professional supervision of health workers.

  4. Screening mammography uptake within Australia and Scotland in rural and urban populations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leung, Janni; Macleod, Catriona; McLaughlin, Deirdre; Woods, Laura M; Henderson, Robert; Watson, Angus; Kyle, Richard G; Hubbard, Gill; Mullen, Russell; Atherton, Iain

    2015-01-01

    To test the hypothesis that rural populations had lower uptake of screening mammography than urban populations in the Scottish and Australian setting. Scottish data are based upon information from the Scottish Breast Screening Programme Information System describing uptake among women residing within the NHS Highland Health Board area who were invited to attend for screening during the 2008 to 2010 round (N = 27,416). Australian data were drawn from the 2010 survey of the 1946-51 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (N = 9890 women). Contrary to our hypothesis, results indicated that women living in rural areas were not less likely to attend for screening mammography compared to women living in urban areas in both Scotland (OR for rural = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.06-1.29) and Australia (OR for rural = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.01-1.31). The absence of rural-urban differences in attendance at screening mammography demonstrates that rurality is not necessarily an insurmountable barrier to screening mammography.

  5. Instrumental and socioemotional communications in doctor-patient interactions in urban and rural clinics

    OpenAIRE

    Desjarlais-deKlerk, Kristen; Wallace, Jean E

    2013-01-01

    Background Location of practice, such as working in a rural or urban clinic, may influence how physicians communicate with their patients. This exploratory pilot study examines the communication styles used during doctor-patient interactions in urban and rural family practice settings in Western Canada. Methods We analyzed observation and interview data from four physicians practicing in these different locations. Using a grounded theory approach, communications were categorized as either ins...

  6. Is There A Rural-Urban Technology Gap? Results of the ERS Rural Manufacturing Survey

    OpenAIRE

    Gale, H. Frederick, Jr.

    1997-01-01

    Advanced technology use is less prevalent in rural than in urban manufacturing plants, but plants of comparable size in the same industry use about the same level of technology, regardless of urban/rural location. The rural gap comes about because the mix of rural industries is more heavily weighted with "low-technology" industries. Both rural and urban businesses rate inadequate worker skills as the most important barrier to use of new production technologies and management practices, while ...

  7. Psychological health among Chinese college students: a rural/urban comparison.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jie; Qi, Qing; Delprino, Robert P

    2017-09-01

    The literature on suicide among the Chinese indicates that younger individuals from rural areas are at higher risk of suicide than their urban counterparts. While earlier studies have investigated the relationship between psychological health and major demographic variables, the relationship of psychological health as it relates to suicide by those from urban and rural areas have been rare. Studying the psychological health of college students from rural China in comparison with students who originate from urban areas may shed light on the mental health disparities of the two populations. This study examined the relationship of psychological health and rural/urban origins of college students in China. Data was obtained from 2 400 college students who completed a survey questionnaire while in attendance at a key university in Beijing China in 2013. Four standardised psychological health scales were administered to obtain measures of participants' self-esteem, depression, social support, and suicide ideation. Findings indicated that urban students had significantly higher scores than their rural counterparts on self-esteem and social support. However, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups on measures of depression and suicide ideation.

  8. [Hygienic assessment of intraschool environment in rural and urban secondary school institutions].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mylnikova, I V

    The purpose of the research is to assess the intra-environment indices in urban and rural secondary schools. In the course of special studies there was given the hygienic assessment of the climate, illumination and air quality of classrooms. In classrooms in rural schools microclimate indices were established to fail to meet hygienic requirements mainly on the temperature and humidity parameters. In rural schools, the temperature was decreased to 16-17 °C in 19.0 ± 8.6% of classrooms, humidity was elevated to 63.1% in 25.7 ± 7.4% of classrooms. Among urban schools the humidity in 49.6 ± 4.4% of classrooms reduced to 23.3 ± 0.3%, in 20.8 ± 5.4% of offices it was increased to 71.9 ± 0.9%. The coefficient of the natural illumination in rural schools has been reduced to 0.86-1.4% in 33.9 ± 14.2% of classrooms. In 25.1 ± 2.3% of classrooms in urban schools the level of natural light ratio was below the normative values and varied in the range of 0.32-1.3%. It is noted that in the offices of informatics natural light indices are significantly lower than in the classrooms for core subjects. The artificial lighting in urban schools was found to be lower than hygienic standards on the desks by 1.9 times, 2.2 times - at the board. There were obtained statistically significant handshaking health problems of urban schoolchildren due to intraenvironmental factors. The c dimate in surveyed gyms in rural schools is different in the low temperature and high humidity. The hygienic assessment of the air pollution classrooms’ medium was executed for a range of chemicals: formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter. Concentrations of formaldehyde; nitrogen dioxide, suspended solids in the air in classrooms in urban schools appeared to be higher than in rural schools. Carbon monoxide concentrations in classrooms in rural schools was found to exceed their values in urban schools. The air in classrooms of the one of the cities was found

  9. Trends in child immunization across geographical regions in India: focus on urban-rural and gender differentials.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Prashant Kumar Singh

    Full Text Available Although child immunization is regarded as a highly cost-effective lifesaver, about fifty percent of the eligible children aged 12-23 months in India are without essential immunization coverage. Despite several programmatic initiatives, urban-rural and gender difference in child immunization pose an intimidating challenge to India's public health agenda. This study assesses the urban-rural and gender difference in child immunization coverage during 1992-2006 across six major geographical regions in India.Three rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS conducted during 1992-93, 1998-99 and 2005-06 were analyzed. Bivariate analyses, urban-rural and gender inequality ratios, and the multivariate-pooled logistic regression model were applied to examine the trends and patterns of inequalities over time.The analysis of change over one and half decades (1992-2006 shows considerable variations in child immunization coverage across six geographical regions in India. Despite a decline in urban-rural and gender differences over time, children residing in rural areas and girls remained disadvantaged. Moreover, northeast, west and south regions, which had the lowest gender inequality in 1992 observed an increase in gender difference over time. Similarly, urban-rural inequality increased in the west region during 1992-2006.This study suggests periodic evaluation of the health care system is vital to assess the between and within group difference beyond average improvement. It is essential to integrate strong immunization systems with broad health systems and coordinate with other primary health care delivery programs to augment immunization coverage.

  10. Towards Rural Land Use: Challenges for Oversizing Urban Perimeters in Shrinking Towns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sá, João; Virtudes, Ana

    2017-12-01

    This article, based on the literature review, aims to study the challenges of the urban dispersion and oversizing of urban perimeters, in the cases where the towns are shrinking or spreading to the rural land-use. It is focused on the case of Portugal where during the last decades there was an escaping to the big cities alongside to the sea (Atlantic and Mediterranean) shore. In the Interior part of the country, which means near to the border with Spain, several towns are shrinking, despite their huge urban perimeters, proposed by the municipal master plans, since the middle of the nineties. Consequently, these urban perimeters are nowadays oversizing, with empty buildings and non-urbanized areas. At the same time, the social patterns of occupation of this territory have changed significantly, moving from a society with signs of rurality to an urban realm, understood not only in territorial terms but also regarding the current lifestyle. This deep changing has occurred not only in urbanistic terms but also in the economic, cultural and social organizations of the country, under a movement that corresponds to a decline of the small urban settlements in rural areas, far away from the cosmopolitan strip of land nearby the sea, in between the capital city, Lisbon and the second one Oporto. These transformations were not driven by any significant public policy for land-use actions. On the contrary, the production of urban areas, supporting the new model of economic and social development was largely left to the initiative of economic and social private agents and land owners. These agents were the leading responsible for the new urban developments and housing. In this sense, this research aims to present some strategies for the short time period regarding the devolution of urban areas to rural land use. In this sense, the next steps of spatial planning policies, under the role of local authorities (the 308 municipalities including Madeira and Azores islands, plus the

  11. Rural and urban energy scenario of the developing countries and related health assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vohra, K.G.

    1982-01-01

    The pattern of energy use in India is considered in order to assess the impact on health of rural and urban energy sources in the developing countries. The health impact of the 'non-commercial' sources of energy used in India is discussed, with particular reference to the use of firewood and farm wastes for domestic cooking. The commercial energy sources considered include coal, oil and electricity. The generation of electricity from coal, hydro sources and nuclear fuels is discussed with regard to their health impact. The production and use of biogas instead of dried animal dung for domestic cooking in the rural areas of India is proposed in order to reduce the health detriment. On the basis of the past trend in the use of commercial and non-commercial energy in India, projections are made for the future, taking into consideration health detriment and evironmental damage associated with different sources. Finally, bases for changing the energy-use pattern in the developing countries are discussed, with particular emphasis on renewable sources and nuclear energy. (author)

  12. The Urban-Rural Gradient In Asthma: A Population-Based Study in Northern Europe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Signe Timm

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The early life environment appears to have a persistent impact on asthma risk. We hypothesize that environmental factors related to rural life mediate lower asthma prevalence in rural populations, and aimed to investigate an urban-rural gradient, assessed by place of upbringing, for asthma. The population-based Respiratory Health In Northern Europe (RHINE study includes subjects from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Estonia born 1945–1973. The present analysis encompasses questionnaire data on 11,123 RHINE subjects. Six categories of place of upbringing were defined: farm with livestock, farm without livestock, village in rural area, small town, city suburb and inner city. The association of place of upbringing with asthma onset was analysed with Cox regression adjusted for relevant confounders. Subjects growing up on livestock farms had less asthma (8% than subjects growing up in inner cities (11% (hazard ratio 0.72 95% CI 0.57–0.91, and a significant urban-rural gradient was observed across six urbanisation levels (p = 0.02. An urban-rural gradient was only evident among women, smokers and for late-onset asthma. Analyses on wheeze and place of upbringing revealed similar results. In conclusion, this study suggests a protective effect of livestock farm upbringing on asthma development and an urban-rural gradient in a Northern European population.

  13. [Ageing and chronic diseases in Senegal. A comparison between rural (Ferlo) and urban (Dakar) populations].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duboz, P; Touré, M; Hane, F; Macia, E; Coumé, M; Bâ, A; Boëtsch, G; Guèye, L; Chapuis-Lucciani, N

    2015-02-01

    The objectives of this study were: to compare the prevalence of hypertension, overweight and obesity in rural (Ferlo) and urban (Dakar) Senegalese populations aged 50 and over. The survey was conducted on individuals aged 50 and older living in the rural area (N=478) and in the urban area (N=220). We have collected data about age, gender, marital status, education level, and knowledge, treatment of hypertension, height, weight and blood pressure. We have observed that overweight and obesity were more prevalent in the urban area (Dakar) than in the rural one (Ferlo). The risk of overweight or obesity decreased when age increased, and women had weight problems more often than men. The prevalence of arterial hypertension was lower in rural area (55.86%) than in Dakar (66.36%), but increased at an older age. However, the logistic regression showed that these increased proportion of hypertension in Dakar is linked to the more important proportion of overweight and obese people in this area. Moreover, rates of knowledge, treatment and control of hypertension are particularly low in the rural area of Senegal. In conclusion, age-associated diseases should be better managed in Senegal, particularly in rural areas.

  14. Exploring Marine Citizenship among Young People in Select Urban and Rural Villages in the Philippines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jabar, Melvin A.; Regadio, Crisanto Q., Jr.; Collado, Zaldy C.

    2018-01-01

    This article explores the understanding of marine citizenship among young people from two villages (urban and rural) in the Philippines. The purpose of the article is to examine the differences and similarities of their attitudes toward and engagement in marine environment conservation in rural and urban contexts. Young Focus Group Discussion…

  15. Hearing loss and social support in urban and rural communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hay-McCutcheon, Marcia J; Hyams, Adriana; Yang, Xin; Parton, Jason

    2018-04-19

    Perceived social support and hearing handicap were assessed in adults with and without hearing loss who lived in different geographical regions of Alabama. The Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults (HHIA) assessed emotional and social consequences of hearing loss. The Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Social Support Survey and the Social Functioning, Role Emotional and Mental Health scales of the SF-36 were administered. Data were collected from 71 study participants with hearing loss and from 45 adults without hearing loss. Degree of hearing loss and outcomes from the HHIA did not differ between adults who lived in rural or urban settings. Tangible support was poorer for adults with hearing loss who lived in rural settings compared to those who lived in urban settings. For adults without hearing loss, residency was not associated with tangible support. For these adults, income was associated with other types of social support (i.e. informational support, affection, positive social interaction). Adults with hearing loss living in rural areas had poor perceived tangible support. The provision of support to address a hearing loss could be worse for these adults compared to adults who lived in urban settings.

  16. Church Schools, Educational Markets and the Rural Idyll

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hemming, Peter J.; Roberts, Christopher

    2018-01-01

    Researchers have begun to explore the role that faith schools play in contemporary educational markets but the emphasis to date has been on urban rather than rural contexts. This article approaches the issue of marketisation through a qualitative case-study comparison of two Anglican primary schools in contrasting rural localities in England and…

  17. Quantifying the Spatiotemporal Patterns of Urbanization along Urban-Rural Gradient with a Roadscape Transect Approach: A Case Study in Shanghai, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhonghao Zhang

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Quantifying the landscape pattern change can effectively demonstrate the ecological progresses and the consequences of urbanization. Based on remotely sensed land cover data in 1994, 2000, 2006 and a gradient analysis with landscape metrics at landscape- and class- level, we attempted to characterize the individual and entire landscape patterns of Shanghai metropolitan during the rapid urbanization. We highlighted that a roadscape transect approach that combined the buffer zone method and the transect-based approach was introduced to describe the urban-rural patterns of agricultural, residential, green, industrial, and public facilities land along the railway route. Our results of landscape metrics showed significant spatiotemporal patterns and gradient variations along the transect. The urban growth pattern in two time spans conform to the hypothesis for diffusion–coalescence processes, implying that the railway is adaptive as a gradient element to analyze the landscape patterns with urbanization. As the natural landscape was replaced by urban landscape gradually, the desakota region expanded its extent widely. Suburb areas witnessed the continual transformation from the predominantly rural landscape to peri-urban landscape. Furthermore, the gap between urban and rural areas remained large especially in public service. More reasonable urban plans and land use policies should push to make more efforts to transition from the urban-rural separation to coordinated urban-rural development. This study is a meaningful trial in demonstrating a new form of urban–rural transects to study the landscape change of large cities. By combining gradient analysis with landscape metrics, we addressed the process of urbanization both spatially and temporally, and provided a more quantitative approach to urban studies.

  18. Determination of Urban Thermal Characteristics on an Urban/Rural ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Determination of Urban Thermal Characteristics on an Urban/Rural Land Cover Gradient Using Remotely Sensed Data. ... an urbanization process and the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon is known to significantly compromise urban environmental quality and has been linked to climate change and associated impacts.

  19. USING A DEA MANAGEMENT TOOLTHROUGH A NONPARAMETRIC APPROACH: AN EXAMINATION OF URBAN-RURAL EFFECTS ON THAI SCHOOL EFFICIENCY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    SANGCHAN KANTABUTRA

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines urban-rural effects on public upper-secondary school efficiency in northern Thailand. In the study, efficiency was measured by a nonparametric technique, data envelopment analysis (DEA. Urban-rural effects were examined through a Mann-Whitney nonparametric statistical test. Results indicate that urban schools appear to have access to and practice different production technologies than rural schools, and rural institutions appear to operate less efficiently than their urban counterparts. In addition, a sensitivity analysis, conducted to ascertain the robustness of the analytical framework, revealed the stability of urban-rural effects on school efficiency. Policy to improve school eff iciency should thus take varying geographical area differences into account, viewing rural and urban schools as different from one another. Moreover, policymakers might consider shifting existing resources from urban schools to rural schools, provided that the increase in overall rural efficiency would be greater than the decrease, if any, in the city. Future research directions are discussed.

  20. Children Education Investment of Rural Families in Hechuan District of Chongqing Municipality

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Xiaoling SONG; Dan YANG; Xiaohong SONG

    2015-01-01

    Taking 20 relative poor families in Hechuan District of Chongqing Municipality as survey samples,taking 275 households of rural families selected by stratified sampling method as research objects,and taking family education investment behavior of this rural area as research content,this paper studied current situations of rural family education investment behavior in Hechuan District,difference in investment behavior and related influence factors. It is intended to provide references for family education investment of rural areas in Hechuan District and even Chongqing Municipality,and promote development of rural education undertaking in China.

  1. Functional independence of residents in urban and rural long-term care facilities in Taiwan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Kwan-Hwa; Wu, Shiao-Chi; Hsiung, Chia-Ling; Hu, Ming-Hsia; Hsieh, Ching-Lin; Lin, Jau-Hong; Kuo, Mei-Ying

    2004-02-04

    To compare the score of functional independence measure (FIM) between urban and rural residents living in long-term care facilities (LTCF) in Taiwan. A total of 437 subjects in 112 licensed LTCF in Taiwan were randomly selected by stratification strategy. Physical therapists interviewed the subjects in nursing homes (NH) and intermediate care facilities (ICF) to obtain the basic data, and the FIM score. (1) There was no significant difference in basic demographic data between urban and rural LTC subjects. (2) Most of the subjects in urban and rural LTCF were males, less than 80 years old, single/widowed, having multiple diseases, using more than one assistive devices, and having social welfare financial support. (3) Motor abilities (eating, grooming, and transfer) and cognition (comprehension, social interaction and problem solving) in rural LTCF subjects were significantly (p institutions is better than those in urban areas. Our results may provide guidelines for the manpower and equipment supply estimation.

  2. Agrarian Reform and Rural Development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biswas, Margaret R.

    1979-01-01

    This paper presents the plight of the world's poor, which was discussed at The World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development in July, 1979. Urban bias is attributed to the failure of rural development. More participation of rural people is needed. Progress is being made. Examples of literary programs in Iraq and the Sudan are included.…

  3. Body mass index and self-perception of overweight and obesity in rural, urban and rural-to-urban migrants: PERU MIGRANT study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christian Loret de Mola

    Full Text Available This study aimed to compare self-reported weight and body mass index (BMI in order to determine discrepancies between subjective and objective obesity-related markers, and possible explanatory factors of overweight and obesity underestimation, in urban, rural and migrant populations.Data from the PERU MIGRANT study, a cross-sectional study, in low-income settings, of urban, migrant (rural-to-urban, and rural groups, including BMI, self-reported weight and socio-demographic indicators were analyzed. Percentage of concurrences between BMI and self-reported weight and Kappa coefficients for inter-rater agreement were calculated. Univariate and standardized descriptive analyses were performed to identify potential explanatory variables for weight underestimation in only overweight and obese individuals, using established BMI and waist circumference cut offs.983 Participants-199 urban, 583 migrants and 201 rural-were analyzed. Based on BMI, overall prevalence of obesity was 20.1% (95% CI 17.6%-22.6%, and overweight was 38.3% (95% CI 35.2%-41.2%, with differences between study groups (p<0.001. Only 43% of the whole sample had matching self-reported weight and BMI status, whereas 54% underestimated and 3% overestimated their BMI category. Kappa coefficient, between BMI and self-reported weight, for the entire sample was 0.16, rural residents had the lowest coefficient (0.01 and the most underestimation, especially in the overweight category. In overweight and obese individuals, deprivation index (p = 0.016, age (p = 0.014 and waist circumference (p<0.001 were associated with weight underestimation.Overall, high levels of overweight, obesity, and underestimation of BMI status were found, with poor agreement between BMI and self-reported weight, showing the unawareness of weight status severity in this low-income setting.

  4. Population, migration and urbanization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1982-06-01

    in rural areas. According to UN data, at the global level the trend in longterm and permanent migration is towards stabilization or decline in the rate of movement into developed countries like the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia from developing countries. Migrants in the Asian and Pacific region mostly tend to be in the 15-25 year age group. Most migrants streams are male dominant. The rural urban migration stream includes a large proportion of people who are better educated than their rural counterparts but generally less educated than the urban natives. Reasons for migrating in the Asian and Pacific region are economic, educational, sociocultural and political. A negative factor in rural migration is that it deprives villages of the ablest people.

  5. Challenges for Older Drivers in Urban, Suburban, and Rural Settings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rashmi P. Payyanadan

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Along with age-related factors, geographical settings—urban, suburban, and rural areas—also contribute to the differences in fatal crashes among older drivers. These differences in crash outcomes might be attributed to the various driving challenges faced by older drivers residing in different locations. To understand these challenges from the perspective of the older driver, a focus group study was conducted with drivers 65 and older from urban, suburban, and rural settings. Guided-group interviews were used to assess driving challenges, mobility options, opportunities for driver support systems (DSS, and alternate transportation needs. Content analysis of the interview responses resulted in four categories representing common challenges faced by older drivers across the settings: behavior of other drivers on the road, placement of road signs, reduced visibility of road signs due to age-related decline, and difficulties using in-vehicle technologies. Six categories involved location-specific challenges such as heavy traffic situations for urban and suburban drivers, and multi-destination trips for rural drivers. Countermeasures implemented by older drivers to address these challenges primarily involved route selection and avoidance. Technological advances of DSS systems provide a unique opportunity to support the information needs for route selection and avoidance preferences of drivers. Using the content analysis results, a framework was built to determine additional and modified DSS features to meet the specific challenges of older drivers in urban, suburban, and rural settings. These findings suggest that there is heterogeneity in the driving challenges and preferences of older drivers based on their location. Consequently, DSS technologies and vehicle automation need to be tailored to not only meet the driving safety and mobility needs of older drivers as a population, but also to their driving environment.

  6. EARLY CHILDHOOD AND RURAL EDUCATION: A NECESSARY MEETING AIMING THE ACHIEVEMENT OF JUSTICE WITH YOUNG CHILDREN LIVING IN RURAL AREAS

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    Maria Carmen Silveira Barbosa

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Over the past 40 years the Brazilian government has constituted a major basic education attendance programmed for Brazilian citizens. The 1988 Federal Constitution states the right to education for all Brazilians, whether living in rural or urban areas, and it set kindergarten as the first level in basic education, it constituted a space to be filled by a large contingent of children who, until then, were without an institutional educational space guaranteed for them. Although, the kindergarten coverage in large urban centers has been effective in numerical terms, especially, regarding the pre-school provision, in rural areas this is still not a reality. IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics - Demographic Census, 2010 reports that Brasil has 16,044 children under 6 years old, in other words, 12% of the total population of Brazil, 3,546 are living in rural areas. According to INEP (National Institute of Educational Studies - School Census, INEP, 2010, from the universe of children aged 0-6 years living in rural areas, only 12.1% attend day care centers and 67.6% attend preschools, a value lower than the urban areas where the coverage is 26% for attendance to day cares and 83% for attendance to pre-school classes. Besides questioning the exiguity of this coverage, especially from the point of view of the mandatory provision of pre-school, it is necessary to map the points of connection and tension between the areas, so it would be possible to give an expansion linked to a qualified and contextualized offer.

  7. Supply Chains and Rural Development in the Asia Pacific Region

    OpenAIRE

    Armbruster, Walter J.; Coyle, William T.

    2008-01-01

    Rapid income growth and urbanization are having profound impacts on the food system, food producers and rural areas in the developing Asia Pacific economies. Meeting the challenge of rural development will depend on better integrating rural areas with fast-growing urban areas where the composition of food demand is changing and the logistics of supply are growing more complex. Possible government options include investment in transportation infrastructure—roads, railroads and waterway—and pro...

  8. Trend of urban-rural disparities in hospital admissions and medical expenditure in China from 2003 to 2011.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fu, Rong; Wang, Yupeng; Bao, Han; Wang, Zhiqiang; Li, Yongquan; Su, Shaofei; Liu, Meina

    2014-01-01

    To assess the trend of urban-rural disparities in hospital admissions and medical expenditure between 2003 and 2011 in the context of Chinese health-care system reform. The data were from three different national surveys: the Third National Health Services Survey in 2003, the Fourth National Health Services Survey in 2008 and the national health-care reform phased assessment survey in 2011. There were 151421, 143380 and 48356 respondents aged 15 years or older in 2003, 2008 and 2011, respectively. The health insurance coverage expanded considerably from 27.7% in 2003 to 96.4% in 2011 among respondents aged 15 years or older. Hospitalization rate increased rapidly from 4.1% in 2003 to 9.6% in 2011. Urban respondents had higher hospital admissions than rural respondents, and the RR (95% CI) of hospitalization was 1.23 (1.17-1.30), 1.06 (1.02-1.10) and 1.16 (1.10-1.23) in 2003, 2008 and 2011, respectively. The urban-rural disparity in hospital admissions significantly narrowed over time. Urban respondents had a higher admission rate if insured and a lower admission if not insured than their rural counterparts. Of the six medical expenditure measures, the disparities in reimbursement rate and the proportion of hospitalization direct cost to the total consumer spending significantly narrowed. The health insurance coverage has been continually expanding and health service utilization has been substantially improved. Urban-rural disparities have been narrowed but still exist. Therefore, policy-makers should focus on increasing investment and reimbursement levels, developing a uniform standard health insurance system for urban and rural residents and improving the medical assistance system.

  9. Introduction: population migration and urbanization in developing countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kojima, R

    1996-12-01

    This introductory article discusses the correlation between migration and rapid urbanization and growth in the largest cities of the developing world. The topics include the characteristics of urbanization, government policies toward population migration, the change in absolute size of the rural population, and the problems of maintaining megacities. Other articles in this special issue are devoted to urbanization patterns in China, South Africa, Iran, Korea and Taiwan as newly industrialized economies (NIEs), informal sectors in the Philippines and Thailand, and low-income settlements in Bogota, Colombia, and India. It is argued that increased urbanization is produced by natural population growth, the expansion of the urban administrative area, and the in-migration from rural areas. A comparison of urbanization rates of countries by per capita gross national product (GNP) reveals that countries with per capita GNP of under US$2000 have urbanization rates of 10-60%. Rates are under 30% in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, China, and Indonesia. Rapid urbanization appears to follow the economic growth curve. The rate of urbanization in Latin America is high enough to be comparable to urbanization in Europe and the US. Taiwan and Korea have high rates of urbanization that surpass the rate of industrialization. Thailand and Malaysia have low rates of urbanization compared to the size of their per capita GNP. Urbanization rates under 20% occur in countries without economic development. Rates between 20% and 50% occur in countries with or without industrialization. East Asian urbanization is progressing along with industrialization. Africa and the Middle East have urbanization without industrialization. In 1990 there were 20 developing countries and 5 developed countries with populations over 5 million. In 10 of 87 developing countries rural population declined in absolute size. The author identifies and discusses four patterns of urban growth.

  10. Work motivation and job satisfaction of health workers in urban and rural areas

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    Grujičić Maja

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background/Aim. Motivated and job satisfied health professionals represent a basis of success of modern health institutions. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there was a difference in work motivation and job satisfaction between health workers in urban and rural areas in the region of Central Serbia. Methods. The study included 396 health professionals from urban setting, and 436 from a rural area, employed in four randomly selected health facilities. An anonymous questionnaire was used for data gathering. Statistical analysis was performed using χ2, Student t-test, Spearman's correlation coefficient, and logistic regression analysis. Results. Urban health professionals were significantly more motivated and job satisfied than respondents from rural area. In relation to work motivation factors and job satisfaction of health professionals in urban and rural areas, there were no significant differences in working conditions and current equipment, and in terms of job satisfaction there were no significant differences in relation to income either. Conclusion. In order to increase the level of work motivation and job satisfaction of health workers in rural areas, apart from better income, they should get more assistance and support from their supervisors, and awards for good job performance; interpersonal relationships, promotion and advancement opportunities, managerial performance and cooperation at work should be improved; employment security should be provided, as well as more independence at work, with professional supervision of health workers.

  11. Conducting a randomized trial in rural and urban safety-net health centers: Added value of community-based participatory research

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    Meera Muthukrishnan

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC is the second most common cancer in the US. Despite evidence that screening reduces CRC incidence and mortality, screening rates are sub-optimal with disparities by race/ethnicity, income, and geography. Rural-urban differences in CRC screening are understudied even though approximately one-fifth of the US population lives in rural areas. This focus on urban populations limits the generalizability and dissemination potential of screening interventions. Methods: Using community-based participatory research (CBPR principles, we designed a cluster-randomized trial, adaptable to a range of settings, including rural and urban health centers. We enrolled 483 participants across 11 health centers representing 2 separate networks. Both networks serve medically-underserved communities; however one is primarily rural and one primarily urban. Results: Our goal in this analysis is to describe baseline characteristics of participants and examine setting-level differences. CBPR was a critical for recruiting networks to the trial. Patient respondents were predominately female (61.3%, African-American (66.5%, and earned <$1200 per month (87.1%. The rural network sample was older; more likely to be female, white, disabled or retired, and have a higher income, but fewer years of education. Conclusions: Variation in the samples partly reflects the CBPR process and partly reflects inherent differences in the communities. This confirmed the importance of using CBPR when planning for eventual dissemination, as it enhanced our ability to work within diverse settings. These baseline findings indicate that using a uniform approach to implementing a trial or intervention across diverse settings might not be effective or efficient. Keywords: Colorectal cancer screening, Community-based participatory research, Health disparities, Medically underserved populations, Dissemination and implementation, Randomized trial

  12. Two Sides of the Same Coin: Preservice Teachers' Dispositions towards Critical Pedagogy and Social Justice Concerns in Rural and Urban Teacher Education Contexts

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    Han, Keonghee Tao; Madhuri, Marga; Scull, W. Reed

    2015-01-01

    This paper describes preservice teachers' (PTs) dispositions toward diversity, social justice education, and critical pedagogy (CP). PTs were enrolled in elementary Literacy Methods courses in two geographic locations, one rural and the other urban. We employed CP (Darder et al. in "Critical pedagogy: an introduction." In: Darder A,…

  13. Urbanization and its Political Challenges in Developing Countries

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    Kemal ÖZDEN

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Developing countries in the twenty-first century is experiencing rapid urbanization with a high concentration of people in the urban areas while the population of people in the rural areas is decreasing due to the rise in rural-urban push which has adverse consequences on the economic and political development of developing countries, in particular African cities. Therefore, this study seeks to analyze the trends and nature of urbanization in Africa from the pre-colonial era to the contemporary period of globalization in order to ascertain the implications of rapid urbanization on the processes of democratic transitions, on the vagaries of food sufficiency and crisis as well as its multiplier effects on the escalating rate of poverty and insurgency in the cities. These problems stem from the lack of good governance, high rate of corruption and the misappropriation of state resources through diverse economic liberalizing reforms and development strategies. Thus, this study affirms that urbanization is a process that requires objective management and institutional role differentiations and performance to create the organizational synergy, moderation and frugality necessary for the equitable distribution of the common wealth for the greatest good of all peoples not only in the urban areas but also in the rural areas which invariably will bring about political and economic development in African cities, and reduce the high incidences of poverty, insurgency and food crisis.

  14. Metabolic syndrome prevalence in elderly of urban and rural communities participants in the HIPERDIA in the city of Coimbra/MG, Brazil

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    Josiane Aparecida Teixeira de Paula

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Objective. To identify the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS, and the influence of gender and place of residence for elders served by the Family Health Strategy in the municipality of Coimbra (Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Methodology. The sample consisted of 435 individuals of both sexes, with mean of age 72 ± 8 years. Results. Women had higher prevalence rates of MS (urban= 40%, rural= 37% with differences (p<0.05, = 0.168 and 0.284 for men (urban= 13%, rural= 22%. Odds Ratio for SM was significant in age groups over 65 years in urban areas, with women having higher chances compared with men (OR=3.07 times, becoming 5.8 times aged 75 to 79 years. Women are more exposed to obesity (urban= 80.4 %, rural= 78.6% than men, regardless of place of residence (p<0.05, =0.46 and 0.47 respectively, and the urban women are still exposed to hypertension (65%, p= 0.022, = 0.12. Conclusion. The prevalence of MS and exposure to risk factors such as obesity and hypertension was higher in women, mainly in urban areas. Health professionals, like nurses, should note that the elderly population in urban areas have greater exposure to risk factors for MS, which should strengthen educational programs that promote healthy lifestyles.

  15. Temporal variations of surface water quality in urban, suburban and rural areas during rapid urbanization in Shanghai, China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Junying; Da Liangjun; Song Kun; Li Bailian

    2008-01-01

    As the economic and financial center of China, Shanghai has experienced an extensive urban expansion since the early 1980s, with an attendant cost in environmental degradation. We use an integrated pollution index to study the temporal variations of surface water quality in urban, suburban and rural areas between 1982 and 2005. Data on monitored cross-sections were collected from the Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center. The results indicated that the spatial pattern of surface water quality was determined by the level of urbanization. Surface water qualities in urban and suburban areas were improved by strengthening the environmental policies and management, but were worsening in rural areas. The relationship between economic growth and surface water quality in Shanghai showed an inversed-U-shaped curve, which reflected a similar pattern in most developed countries. This research suggests that decision makers and city officials should be more aware of the recent pollution increases in Shanghai. - An integrated pollution index documents the deterioration of water quality in greater Shanghai, recently most serious in rural sections

  16. Perceived needs of health tutors in rural and urban health training institutions in Ghana: Implications for health sector staff internal migration control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alhassan, Robert Kaba; Beyere, Christopher B; Nketiah-Amponsah, Edward; Mwini-Nyaledzigbor, Prudence P

    2017-01-01

    The population of Ghana is increasingly becoming urbanized with about 70% of the estimated 27 million people living in urban and peri-urban areas. Nonetheless, eight out of the ten regions in Ghana remain predominantly rural where only 32% of the national health sector workforce works. Moreover, the rural-urban disparities in the density of health tutors (staff responsible for pre-service training of health professionals) are enormous. This paper explores perceived needs of health tutors in rural and urban health training institutions in Ghana. This is a descriptive qualitative study conducted in the Greater Accra and Northern regions of Ghana. The Study used the deductive thematic and sub-thematic analysis approaches. Five health training institutions were randomly sampled, and 72 tutors engaged in separate focus group discussions with an average size of 14 participants per group in each training institution. Perceived rural-urban disparities among health tutors were found in the payment of extra duty allowances; school infrastructure including libraries and internet connectivity; staff accommodation; and opportunities for scholarships and higher education. Health tutors in rural areas generally expressed more frustration with these work conditions than those in urban areas. There is the need to initiate and sustain work incentives that promote motivation of rural health tutors to control ongoing rural-urban migration of qualified staff. It is recommended the following incentives be prioritized to promote retention of qualified health tutors in rural health training schools: payment of research, book and rural allowances; early promotion of rural staff; prioritizing rural tutors for scholarships, and introduction of national best health tutor awards.

  17. Socio-economic, environmental and nutritional characteristics of urban and rural South Indian women in early pregnancy: findings from the South Asian Birth Cohort (START).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dwarkanath, Pratibha; Vasudevan, Anil; Thomas, Tinku; Anand, Sonia S; Desai, Dipika; Gupta, Milan; Menezes, Gladys; Kurpad, Anura V; Srinivasan, Krishnamachari

    2018-06-01

    High frequency of low birth weight (LBW) is observed in rural compared with urban Indian women. Since maternal BMI is known to be associated with pregnancy outcomes, the present study aimed to investigate factors associated with BMI in early pregnancy of urban and rural South Indian women. Prospective observational cohort. A hospital-based study conducted at an urban and a rural health centre in Karnataka State. Pregnant women (n 843) aged 18-40 years recruited in early pregnancy from whom detailed sociodemographic, environmental, anthropometric and dietary intake information was collected. A high proportion of low BMI (32 v. 26 %, Pwomen were younger, had lower body weight, tended to be shorter and less educated. They lived in poor housing conditions, had less access to piped water and good sanitation, used unrefined fuel for cooking and had lower standard of living score. The age (β=0·21, 95 % CI 0·14, 0·29), education level of their spouse (β=1·36, 95 % CI 0·71, 2·71) and fat intake (β=1·24, 95 % CI 0·20, 2·28) were positively associated with BMI in urban women. Our findings indicate that risk factors associated with BMI in early pregnancy are different in rural and urban settings. It is important to study population-specific risk factors in relation to perinatal health.

  18. Poverty in Rural and Semi-Urban Mexico during 1992-2002

    OpenAIRE

    Verner, Dorte

    2005-01-01

    This paper analyzes poverty in rural and semi-urban areas of Mexico (localities with less than 2,500 and 15,000 inhabitants, respectively) and provides guidance on a social agenda and poverty alleviation strategy for rural Mexico. The analyses are based on INIGH and ENE data sets for 1992-2002. Monetary extreme poverty affected 42 percent of the rural dwellers in dispersed rural areas and 21 percent in semi-urban areas in 2002, slightly less than one decade earlier. Most of the rural poor liv...

  19. The Urban/Rural Dichotomy in the Distribution of Breast Cancer Across Pennsylvania.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boukovalas, Stefanos; Sariego, Jack

    2015-09-01

    Breast cancer rates clearly differ across the United States. This is due to a variety of factors, but at least one determinant is the population density. Breast cancer detection rates and treatment paradigms may differ in rural areas when compared with more urban ones. As the population becomes more mobile and diffuse, this may or may not be a worsening problem. The current analysis was undertaken to examine the breast cancer incidence and outcomes in a single state in an attempt to plan for resource allocation in the future. A retrospective analysis was performed using data available from the Pennsylvania Department of Health regarding breast cancer rates by county, the distribution of cases with regard to degree of rurality, death rates by county as a function of rurality, and the age distribution of all presenting cases. Data from 1999 were compared with those of 2009. The United States Census Bureau definition of rurality was used, which specifies that a county be classified as rural if the population density is less than 284 persons/square mile. Between 1999 and 2009, the population of Pennsylvania increased by approximately 3.4 per cent (421,325 people). The urban population increased by 3.9 per cent, whereas the rural population increased by only 2.2 per cent. During that same period, the number of cancer cases/100,000 population remained about the same: 391.41 in 1999; 390.7 in 2009. However, the distribution of cases shifted during that time toward more rural areas of the state: in 1999, there were 372.3 breast cancer cases/100,000 population compared with 2009 when the rate was 384.4/100,000 population. The number of cancer deaths/100,000 population actually dropped overall during the decade: 98.5 in 1999 versus 82.3 in 2009. Though this was true in both urban and rural counties, the decrease was much less pronounced in the rural areas. In urban counties, the death rate dropped from 100.5 to 81.5/100,000 population, whereas in rural counties, the drop was

  20. Importance of latrine communication in European rabbits shifts along a rural-to-urban gradient.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziege, Madlen; Bierbach, David; Bischoff, Svenja; Brandt, Anna-Lena; Brix, Mareike; Greshake, Bastian; Merker, Stefan; Wenninger, Sandra; Wronski, Torsten; Plath, Martin

    2016-06-14

    Information transfer in mammalian communication networks is often based on the deposition of excreta in latrines. Depending on the intended receiver(s), latrines are either formed at territorial boundaries (between-group communication) or in core areas of home ranges (within-group communication). The relative importance of both types of marking behavior should depend, amongst other factors, on population densities and social group sizes, which tend to differ between urban and rural wildlife populations. Our study is the first to assess (direct and indirect) anthropogenic influences on mammalian latrine-based communication networks along a rural-to-urban gradient in European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) living in urban, suburban and rural areas in and around Frankfurt am Main (Germany). The proportion of latrines located in close proximity to the burrow was higher at rural study sites compared to urban and suburban ones. At rural sites, we found the largest latrines and highest latrine densities close to the burrow, suggesting that core marking prevailed. By contrast, latrine dimensions and densities increased with increasing distance from the burrow in urban and suburban populations, suggesting a higher importance of peripheral marking. Increased population densities, but smaller social group sizes in urban rabbit populations may lead to an increased importance of between-group communication and thus, favor peripheral over core marking. Our study provides novel insights into the manifold ways by which man-made habitat alterations along a rural-to-urban gradient directly and indirectly affect wildlife populations, including latrine-based communication networks.

  1. Rural electrification in multiethnic Arizona: A study of power, urbanization and change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glaser, Leah Suzanne

    2002-01-01

    From as early as the 1880s until as late as the 1970s, electrical power served as a critical tool for bringing America's diverse western communities into an urban industrial era. This study examines the process of electrification in three demographically diverse rural regions of Eastern Arizona. These three regions include the valleys of the Southeast, the White Mountains, and the Navajo Reservation to the north. While federal programs aided rural residents, local and regional factors determined the timing and nature of electrification and its impact. Access to electricity depended upon economics and technological advances, as well as a combination of local community and regional characteristics such as location, landscape, demographics, politics, and culture. At the turn of the century, electricity, with its elaborate and extensive infrastructure of wires, towers, and poles, emerged across America's cultural landscapes as the industrial era's most prominent symbol of progress, power, and a modern, urban lifestyle. Technological innovations and mechanization flourished, but primarily in the urban areas of the Northeast. People living outside concentrated settlements, of all ethnic backgrounds, had few hopes for delivery due to the cost of building power lines to a limited market. Arizona's rural population has historically been ethnically diverse, and its landscape varies from desert valleys to mountains of alpine forest. The federal government owns much of the land. Aided by federal guidance and funding sources like the New Deal's Rural Electrification Administration (REA), the existing rural communities took the initiative and constructed electrical systems specific to their local and regional needs. While products of the communities that built them, these systems symbolized and defined newly urbanized regions within the context of old rural landscapes, lifestyles, and traditions. In some ways the rural electrification process urbanized rural Arizona. The

  2. Indoor air pollution and health of children in biomass fuel-using households of Bangladesh: comparison between urban and rural areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khalequzzaman, Md; Kamijima, Michihiro; Sakai, Kiyoshi; Ebara, Takeshi; Hoque, Bilqis Amin; Nakajima, Tamie

    2011-11-01

    Indoor air pollutants from biomass combustion pose a risk for respiratory diseases in children. It is plausible that distinct differences in the indoor air quality (IAQ) exist between urban and rural areas in developing countries since the living environment between these two areas are quite different. We have investigated possible differences in IAQ in urban and rural Dhaka, Bangladesh and the association of such differences with the incidence of respiratory and some non-respiratory symptoms in children of families using biomass fuel. Indoor air concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO(2)), dust particles, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and nitrogen dioxide were measured once in the winter and once in the summer of 2008. Health data on 51 urban and 51 rural children under 5 years of age from 51 families in each area were collected once a week starting in the winter and continuing to the summer of 2008. Mean concentrations of CO, CO(2,), dust particles, and major VOCs were significantly higher in urban kitchens than in rural ones (p urban children, the children in the rural area suffered significantly more from respiratory symptoms [IRR 1.63, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.62-1.64], skin itchiness (IRR 3.3, 95% CI 1.9-5.7), and diarrhea (IRR 1.8, 95% CI 1.4-2.4), while fewer experienced fever (IRR 0.5, 95% CI 0.4-0.6). No difference was observed for other symptoms. We found lower IAQ in the homes of urban biomass fuel-users compared to rural ones in Bangladesh but could not attribute the occurrence of respiratory symptoms among children to the measured IAQ. Other factors may be involved.

  3. Association of ambient air quality with children`s lung function in urban and rural Iran

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Asgari, M.M.; Dubois, A.; Beckett, W.S. [Yale Univ. School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (United States); Asgari, M. [Shaheed Beheshti Univ., Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Gent, J. [John B. Pierce Lab., New Haven, CT (United States)

    1998-05-01

    During the summer of 1994, a cross-sectional epidemiological study, in which the pulmonary function of children in Tehran was compared with pulmonary function in children in a rural town in Iran, was conducted. Four hundred children aged 5--11 y were studied. Daytime ambient nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter were measured with portable devices, which were placed in the children`s neighborhoods on the days of study. Levels of these ambient substances were markedly higher in urban Tehran than in rural areas. Children`s parents were questioned about home environmental exposures (including heating source and environmental tobacco smoke) and the children`s respiratory symptoms. Pulmonary function was assessed, both by spirometry and peak expiratory flow meter. Forced expiratory volume in 1 s and forced vital capacity--as a percentage of predicted for age, sex and height--were significantly lower in urban children than in rural children. Both measurements evidenced significant reverse correlations with levels of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter. Differences in spirometric lung function were not explained by nutritional status, as assessed by height and weight for age, or by home environmental exposures. Reported airway symptoms were higher among rural children, whereas reported physician diagnosis of bronchitis and asthma were higher among urban children. The association between higher pollutant concentrations and reduced pulmonary function in this urban-rural comparison suggests that there is an effect of urban air pollution on short-term lung function and/or lung growth and development during the preadolescent years.

  4. Differences in human versus lightning fires between urban and rural areas of the boreal forest in interior Alaska

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calef, Monika; Varvak, Anna; McGuire, A. David

    2017-01-01

    In western North America, the carbon-rich boreal forest is experiencing warmer temperatures, drier conditions and larger and more frequent wildfires. However, the fire regime is also affected by direct human activities through suppression, ignition, and land use changes. Models are important predictive tools for understanding future conditions but they are based on regional generalizations of wildfire behavior and weather that do not adequately account for the complexity of human–fire interactions. To achieve a better understanding of the intensity of human influence on fires in this sparsely populated area and to quantify differences between human and lightning fires, we analyzed fires by both ignition types in regard to human proximity in urban (the Fairbanks subregion) and rural areas of interior Alaska using spatial (Geographic Information Systems) and quantitative analysis methods. We found substantial differences in drivers of wildfire: while increases in fire ignitions and area burned were caused by lightning in rural interior Alaska, in the Fairbanks subregion these increases were due to human fires, especially in the wildland urban interface. Lightning fires are starting earlier and fires are burning longer, which is much more pronounced in the Fairbanks subregion than in rural areas. Human fires differed from lightning fires in several ways: they started closer to settlements and highways, burned for a shorter duration, were concentrated in the Fairbanks subregion, and often occurred outside the brief seasonal window for lightning fires. This study provides important insights that improve our understanding of the direct human influence on recently observed changes in wildfire regime with implications for both fire modeling and fire management.

  5. Child Development in the Face of Rural-to-Urban Migration in China: A Meta-Analytic Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Lamei; Mesman, Judi

    2015-11-01

    In the last 30 years, China has undergone one of the largest rural-to-urban migrations in human history, with many children left behind because of parental migration. We present a meta-analytic review of empirical studies on Chinese children's rural-to-urban migration and on rural children left behind because of parental migration. We examine how these events relate to children's emotional, social, and academic developmental outcomes. We include publications in English and in Chinese to uncover and quantify a part of the research literature that has been inaccessible to most Western scholars in the field of child and family studies. Overall, both migrant children and children left behind by migrant parents in China show significantly less favorable functioning across domains than other Chinese children. It appears that, similar to processes found in other parts of the world, the experience of economic and acculturation stress as well as disrupted parent-child relations constitute a risk for nonoptimal child functioning in the Chinese context. Further, we found evidence for publication bias against studies showing less favorable development for migrant children and children left behind. We discuss the results in terms of challenges to Chinese society and to future empirical research on Chinese family life. © The Author(s) 2015.

  6. Rural and urban suicide in South Korea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, B C Ben; Lester, David

    2012-10-01

    Suicide rates in 2005 in South Korea were higher in rural areas than in urban areas. Those in rural areas more often used pesticides and chemicals as a method for suicide, and there was a greater proportion of men and the elderly, both groups at higher risk for suicide in South Korea. These three factors may account for the high rural suicide rate in South Korea.

  7. Differences in the prevalence of overweight, obesity and underweight among children from primary schools in rural and urban areas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katarzyna Wolnicka

    2016-06-01

    The prevalence of overweight and obesity among children from rural and urban areas of Poland is similar. Analysis of regional differences in the prevalence of obesity, overweight and underweight among children and adolescents may indicate the direction of national and local activities aiming to reduce the inequalities resulting from nutritional well-being.

  8. Population Density and AIDS-Related Stigma in Large-Urban, Small-Urban, and Rural Communities of the Southeastern USA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalichman, Seth; Katner, Harold; Banas, Ellen; Kalichman, Moira

    2017-07-01

    AIDS stigmas delay HIV diagnosis, interfere with health care, and contribute to mental health problems among people living with HIV. While there are few studies of the geographical distribution of AIDS stigma, research suggests that AIDS stigmas are differentially experienced in rural and urban areas. We conducted computerized interviews with 696 men and women living with HIV in 113 different zip code areas that were classified as large-urban, small-urban, and rural areas in a southeast US state with high-HIV prevalence. Analyses conducted at the individual level (N = 696) accounting for clustering at the zip code level showed that internalized AIDS-related stigma (e.g., the sense of being inferior to others because of HIV) was experienced with greater magnitude in less densely populated communities. Multilevel models indicated that after adjusting for potential confounding factors, rural communities reported greater internalized AIDS-related stigma compared to large-urban areas and that small-urban areas indicated greater experiences of enacted stigma (e.g., discrimination) than large-urban areas. The associations between anticipated AIDS-related stigma (e.g., expecting discrimination) and population density at the community-level were not significant. Results suggest that people living in rural and small-urban settings experience greater AIDS-related internalized and enacted stigma than their counterparts living in large-urban centers. Research is needed to determine whether low-density population areas contribute to or are sought out by people who experienced greater AIDS-related stigma. Regardless of causal directions, interventions are needed to address AIDS-related stigma, especially among people in sparsely populated areas with limited resources.

  9. Onset of adult varicella in relation to rural or urban origin and its complications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raza, N.; Zaidi, K.

    2008-01-01

    To determine area of origin of adult varicella patients, whether rural or urban, to compare the mean interval between leaving the area of origin and onset of varicella in adults of rural origin in comparison with those of urban origin and to observe its complications. All patients over the age of 18 years, presenting with acute illness clinically, suggestive of varicella were included in the study. A specially designed proforma was filled for each patient separately, which included demographic features as well as area of origin, whether rural or urban, and the age at which they left the area of origin. These patients were examined, treated and assessed clinically on regular basis for the progress of the disease as well as for its possible local or systemic complications. Data analysis was done by using statistical programme SPSS-10. Out of 9155 adult patients, 156 (1.70%) had varicella, including 128 (82.1%) males and 28 (17.9%) females. Origin was rural in 125 (80.1%) and urban in 31 (19.9%) patients. Mean interval between leaving area of origin and developing varicella in those of rural origin was 01.79+01.78 years and that in patients of urban origin was 03.37+05.72 years (p+0.009). None of the patients developed any complication of the disease. Varicella in adults is generally a benign illness. It is more common among adult males of rural origin and the interval between leaving the area of origin and onset of varicella in these patients is significantly less as compared to that in adults of urban origin. (author)

  10. A comparison of particulate matter from biomass-burning rural and non-biomass-burning urban households in northeastern China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Ruoting; Bell, Michelle L

    2008-07-01

    Biomass fuel is the primary source of domestic fuel in much of rural China. Previous studies have not characterized particle exposure through time-activity diaries or personal monitoring in mainland China. In this study we characterized indoor and personal particle exposure in six households in northeastern China (three urban, three rural) and explored differences by location, cooking status, activity, and fuel type. Rural homes used biomass. Urban homes used a combination of electricity and natural gas. Stationary monitors measured hourly indoor particulate matter (PM) with an aerodynamic diameter urban kitchens, urban sitting rooms, and outdoors. Personal monitors for PM with an aerodynamic diameter urban kitchens during cooking. PM10 was 6.1 times higher during cooking periods than during noncooking periods for rural kitchens. Personal PM2.5 levels for rural cooks were 2.8-3.6 times higher than for all other participant categories. The highest PM2.5 exposures occurred during cooking periods for urban and rural cooks. However, rural cooks had 5.4 times higher PM2.5 levels during cooking than did urban cooks. Rural cooks spent 2.5 times more hours per day cooking than did their urban counterparts. These findings indicate that biomass burning for cooking contributes substantially to indoor particulate levels and that this exposure is particularly elevated for cooks. Second-by-second personal PM2.5 exposures revealed differences in exposures by population group and strong temporal heterogeneity that would be obscured by aggregate metrics.

  11. Married women's decision making power on modern contraceptive use in urban and rural southern Ethiopia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tilahun Tizta

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Women in developing countries are either under collective decision making with their partners or completely rely on the male partner's decision on issues that affect their reproductive live. Identifying the major barriers of married women's decision making power on contraceptive use has significant relevance for planning contextually appropriate family planning interventions. The objective of this study was to determine current modern contraceptive practices and decision making power among married women in Tercha Town and surrounding rural areas of Dawro zone, Southern Ethiopia. Methods Community based comparative cross-sectional design with both quantitative and Qualitative study has been employed in March and April 2010. The respondents were 699 married women of child bearing age from urban and rural parts of Dawro zone. After conducting census, we took the sample using simple random sampling technique. Results Current modern contraceptive use among married women in the urban was 293 (87.5% and 243 (72.8% in rural. Married women who reside in urban area were more likely to decide on the use of modern contraceptive method than rural women. Having better knowledge about modern contraceptive methods, gender equitable attitude, better involvement in decisions related to children, socio-cultural and family relations were statistically significant factors for decision making power of women on the use of modern contraceptive methods in the urban setting. Better knowledge, fear of partner's opposition or negligence, involvement in decisions about child and economic affairs were statistically significant factors for better decision making power of women on the use of modern contraceptive methods in the rural part. Conclusions High level of current modern contraceptive practice with reduced urban-rural difference was found as compared to regional and national figures. Urban women had better power to make decisions on modern

  12. Rural-urban migration, urban unemployment and underemployment, and job-search activity in LDCs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fields, G S

    1975-06-01

    A quantity adjustment framework is used to analyze unemployment and underemployment in less developed countries (LDCs). The basic premise of the formal theoretical model presented is that the same kinds of forces that explain the choices of workers between the rural and urban sectors can also explain thier choices between 1 labor market and another within an urban area and are most likely made simultaneously. The decision makers, whether family units or individuals, are presumed to consider the various labor market opportunities available to them and to choose the one which maximizes their expected future income. In the model the primary equilibrating force is taken to be the movement of workers between labor markets, not changes in wages. The point of departure is the received theory of rural urban migration in LDS, which is the model of Harris and Todaro (1970). The 1st step is a summary of the basic features of the model. While accepting their basic approach emphasizing movement of workers rather than changes in wages, it is shown that the particular implication of the model with respect to the equilibrium urban unemployment rate substantially overstates the rates actually observed by Turnham (1971) and others. The analysis is then extended to consider several important factors which have previously been neglected--a more generalized approach to the job search process, the possibility of underemployment in the so-called urban "murky sector," preferential treatment by employers of the better educated, and consideration of labor turnover--and demonstrate that the resulting framework gives predictions closer to actual experience. Harris and Todaro in their original discussion concluded that a combination of a wage subsidy in the modern sector and physical restriction of migration would be required to realize a first best state lying on the economy's production possibility frontier. Subsequently Bhagwati and Srinivasan (1974) challenged them and demonstrated that a

  13. Urban-rural variations in health in the Netherlands: does selective migration play a part?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verheij, R.A.; Mheen, H.D. van de; Bakker, D.H. de; Groenewegen, P.P.; Mackenbach, J.P.

    1998-01-01

    Study objective: urban-rural health differences are observed in many countries, even when socioeconomic and demographic characteristics are controlled for. People living in urban areas are often found to be less healthy. One of the possible causes for these differences is selective migration with

  14. Rural-to-urban migration and the shadow wage in LDCs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Renard, R

    1984-04-01

    "This paper discusses the amount of rural-to-urban migration which will be forthcoming when a new urban job is created for which an institutionally fixed wage above the market-clearing level is offered. A simple formula is proposed to estimate migration response. It can be used to calculate the shadow wage in cost-benefit analysis (CBA) in less developed countries (LDCs)." excerpt

  15. Urban-rural migration: uncertainty and the effect of a change in the minimum wage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ingene, C A; Yu, E S

    1989-01-01

    "This paper extends the neoclassical, Harris-Todaro model of urban-rural migration to the case of production uncertainty in the agricultural sector. A unique feature of the Harris-Todaro model is an exogenously determined minimum wage in the urban sector that exceeds the rural wage. Migration occurs until the rural wage equals the expected urban wage ('expected' due to employment uncertainty). The effects of a change in the minimum wage upon regional outputs, resource allocation, factor rewards, expected profits, and expected national income are explored, and the influence of production uncertainty upon the obtained results are delineated." The geographical focus is on developing countries. excerpt

  16. China’s Rural-Urban Migration: The Structure and Gender Attributes of the Floating Rural Labor Force

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guifen Luo

    2006-01-01

    On a more general level, the results of the study suggest that market-oriented economic reform brought about diverse effects on Chinese women in terms of labor market status. Though the institutional barriers put Chinese female rural workers in a position of disadvantage, the performance of female rural-urban migrant workers suggests that they are active beings rather than passive victims merely adapting to the social transformation. Female rural-urban migrant workers have been and still are playing important and speci? c roles at the crossover between the emerging capitalist economy and the traditional rural society. In doing so they are positive participants of globalization in a wider development perspective.

  17. Urban-Rural Excellence Gaps: Features, Factors, and Implications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hernández-Torrano, Daniel

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the presence of excellence gaps (i.e., differences between subgroups of students performing at the highest levels of achievement) in a sample of 563 students nominated as gifted by their teachers in urban, semi-urban, and rural settings in Spain. In general, the results suggested the existence of excellence…

  18. Knowledge of obstetric fistula prevention amongst young women in urban and rural Burkina Faso: a cross-sectional study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aduragbemi O Banke-Thomas

    Full Text Available Obstetric fistula is a sequela of complicated labour, which, if untreated, leaves women handicapped and socially excluded. In Burkina Faso, incidence of obstetric fistula is 6/10,000 cases amongst gynaecological patients, with more patients affected in rural areas. This study aims to evaluate knowledge on obstetric fistula among young women in a health district of Burkina Faso, comparing rural and urban communities. This cross-sectional study employed multi-stage sampling to include 121 women aged 18-20 years residing in urban and rural communities of Boromo health district. Descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression analysis were used to compare differences between the groups and to identify predictors of observed knowledge levels. Rural women were more likely to be married (p<0.000 and had higher propensity to teenage pregnancy (p=0.006. The survey showed overall poor obstetric fistula awareness (36%. Rural residents were less likely to have adequate preventive knowledge than urban residents [OR=0.35 (95%-CI, 0.16-0.79]. This effect was only slightly explained by lack of education [OR=0.41 (95%-CI, 0.18-0.93] and only slightly underestimated due to previous pregnancy [OR=0.27 (95%-CI, 0.09-0.79]. Media were the most popular source of awareness amongst urban young women in contrast to their rural counterparts (68% vs. 23%. Most rural young women became 'aware' through word-of-mouth (68% vs. 14%. All participants agreed that the hospital was safer for emergency obstetric care, but only 11.0% believed they could face pregnancy complications that would require emergency treatment. There is urgent need to increase emphasis on neglected health messages such as the risks of obstetric fistula. In this respect, obstetric fistula prevention programs need to be adapted to local contexts, whether urban or rural, and multi-sectoral efforts need to be exerted to maximise use of other sectoral resources and platforms, including existing routine

  19. Buzz in Paris: flower production and plant-pollinator interactions in plants from contrasted urban and rural origins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Desaegher, James; Nadot, Sophie; Dajoz, Isabelle; Colas, Bruno

    2017-12-01

    Urbanisation, associated with habitat fragmentation, affects pollinator communities and insect foraging behaviour. These biotic changes are likely to select for modified traits in insect-pollinated plants from urban populations compared to rural populations. To test this hypothesis, we conducted an experiment involving four plant species commonly found in both urban and rural landscapes of the Île-de-France region (France): Cymbalaria muralis, Geranium robertianum, Geum urbanum and Prunella vulgaris. The four species were grown in four urban and four rural experimental sites in 2015. For each species and each experimental site, plants were grown from seeds collected in five urban and five rural locations. During flowering, we observed flower production and insect-flower interactions during 14 weeks and tested for the effects of experimental site location and plant origin on flower production and on the number of floral visits. The study species had various flower morphology and hence were visited by different floral visitors. The effect of experimental sites and seed origin also varied among study species. We found that (1) insect visits on P. vulgaris were more frequent in rural than in urban sites; (2) for C. muralis, the slope relating the number of pollinator visits to the number of flowers per individual was steeper in urban versus rural sites, suggesting a greater benefit in allocating resources to flower production in urban conditions; (3) as a likely consequence, C. muralis tended to produce more flowers in plants from urban versus rural origin.

  20. Urban-rural differences in psychological distress in nine countries of the former Soviet Union.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stickley, Andrew; Koyanagi, Ai; Roberts, Bayard; McKee, Martin

    2015-06-01

    Studies have shown that the prevalence of mental illness can vary between urban and rural locations. This study extended research to the countries of the former Soviet Union (fSU) by assessing the association between settlement type and psychological distress and whether factors associated with psychological distress vary by settlement type. Data on 18,000 adults aged ≥18 years from the Health in Times of Transition (HITT) survey undertaken in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine in 2010/11 were analyzed. Settlement types were country capitals, regional capitals, cities/other urban settlements, and villages. Psychological distress was defined as the country-specific highest quintile of a composite score based on 11 questions. Logistic regression analysis with random effects was used to examine associations. In a pooled country analysis, living in a smaller urban settlement or village was associated with significantly higher odds for psychological distress compared to living in the country capital. Lower social support was a strong correlate of psychological distress in all locations except capital cities. The psychological distress measure has not been formally validated in the study countries. Lower levels of urbanicity are associated with greater psychological distress in the fSU countries. As many Western studies have linked greater urbanization to poorer mental health, this highlights the need for caution in extrapolating findings from one part of the world to others and the importance of undertaking research on the geographical correlates of mental health in different world regions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. The "rule of halves" does not apply in Peru: awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension and diabetes in rural, urban, and rural-to-urban migrants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lerner, Alana G; Bernabe-Ortiz, Antonio; Gilman, Robert H; Smeeth, Liam; Miranda, J Jaime

    2013-06-01

    To determine the awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension and diabetes by migration status. Cross-sectional study, secondary analyses of the PERU MIGRANT study. Rural, rural-to-urban migrants, and urban participants. Awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension and diabetes mellitus were calculated using weights to account for participant's group size. Of 205 of the 987 (weighted prevalence 24.1%, 95% confidence interval: 21.1%-27.1%) participants identified as hypertensive, 48.3% were aware of their diagnosis, 40% of them were receiving treatment, and 30.4% of those receiving treatment were controlled. Diabetes was present in 33 of the 987 (weighted prevalence 4.6%, 95% confidence interval: 3.1%-6%), and diabetes awareness, treatment, and control were 71.1%, 40.6%, and 7.7%, respectively. Suboptimal control rates, defined as those not meeting blood pressure or glycaemia targets among those with the condition, were 95.1% for hypertension and 97% for diabetes. Higher awareness, treatment, and control rates, for both hypertension and diabetes, were observed in rural-to-urban migrants and urban participants compared with rural participants. However, treatment rates were much lower among migrants compared with the urban group. These results identify major unmet needs in awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension and diabetes. Particular challenges are lack of awareness of both hypertension and diabetes in rural areas, and poor levels of treatment and control among people who have migrated from rural into urban areas.

  2. Differential impacts of social support on mental health: A comparison study of Chinese rural-to-urban migrant adolescents and their urban counterparts in Beijing, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhuang, Xiao Yu; Wong, Daniel Fu Keung

    2017-02-01

    The number of internal migrant children in China has reached 35.8 million by the end of 2010. Previous studies revealed inconsistent findings regarding the mental health status of rural-to-urban migrant adolescents, as well as the impact of peer, teacher and parental support on the mental health of Chinese adolescent migrants. Using a comparative approach, this study attempted to compare the mental health status between migrant and urban-born adolescents and to clarify the specific roles of different sources of social support in the mental health of migrant and urban adolescents. A cross-sectional survey using a cluster convenience sampling strategy was performed in Beijing, China. A structured questionnaire was filled out by 368 rural-to-urban migrant adolescents and 325 urban-born adolescents. A significant difference was found only for positive affect (PA) but not for negative affect (NA) between the two groups, favouring the urban-born adolescents. Social support from all the three sources were all predictive of PA among rural-to-urban migrant adolescents, while only peer support contributed to PA among urban-born adolescents. Unexpectedly, teachers' support contributed to an increase in NA among urban-born adolescents. The findings contribute to understanding of the mental health status of migrant adolescents in China and the differential impact of the various sources of social support on migrant and urban-born adolescents. Also the findings may inform the development of mental health services and programmes that can potentially benefit a large number of internal migrant adolescents in China.

  3. Childhood Asthma and Allergies in Urban, Semiurban, and Rural Residential Sectors in Chile

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    Leonie Kausel

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available While rural living protects from asthma and allergies in many countries, results are conflicting in Latin America. We studied the prevalence of asthma and asthma symptoms in children from urban, semiurban, and rural sectors in south Chile. A cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted in semiurban and rural sectors in the province of Valdivia (n=559 using the ISAAC (International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire. Results were compared to prevalence in urban Valdivia (n=3105 by using data from ISAAC III study. Odds ratios (+95% confidence intervals were calculated. No statistical significant differences were found for asthma ever and eczema symptoms stratified by residential sector, but a gradient could be shown for current asthma and rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms with urban living having highest and rural living having lowest prevalence. Rural living was inversely associated in a statistical significant way with current asthma (OR: 0.4; 95% CI: 0.2–0.9 and rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms (OR: 0.3; 95% CI: 0.2–0.7 in logistic regression analyses. Rural living seems to protect from asthma and respiratory allergies also in Chile, a South American country facing epidemiological transition. These data would be improved by clinical studies of allergic symptoms observed in studied sectors.

  4. Childhood asthma and allergies in urban, semiurban, and rural residential sectors in Chile.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kausel, Leonie; Boneberger, Anja; Calvo, Mario; Radon, Katja

    2013-01-01

    While rural living protects from asthma and allergies in many countries, results are conflicting in Latin America. We studied the prevalence of asthma and asthma symptoms in children from urban, semiurban, and rural sectors in south Chile. A cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted in semiurban and rural sectors in the province of Valdivia (n = 559) using the ISAAC (International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood) questionnaire. Results were compared to prevalence in urban Valdivia (n = 3105) by using data from ISAAC III study. Odds ratios (+95% confidence intervals) were calculated. No statistical significant differences were found for asthma ever and eczema symptoms stratified by residential sector, but a gradient could be shown for current asthma and rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms with urban living having highest and rural living having lowest prevalence. Rural living was inversely associated in a statistical significant way with current asthma (OR: 0.4; 95% CI: 0.2-0.9) and rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms (OR: 0.3; 95% CI: 0.2-0.7) in logistic regression analyses. Rural living seems to protect from asthma and respiratory allergies also in Chile, a South American country facing epidemiological transition. These data would be improved by clinical studies of allergic symptoms observed in studied sectors.

  5. Rural-urban differentials of premature mortality burden in south-west China

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    Chongsuvivatwong Virasakdi

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Yunnan province is located in south western China and is one of the poorest provinces of the country. This study examines the premature mortality burden from common causes of deaths among an urban region, suburban region and rural region of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan. Methods Years of life lost (YLL rate per 1,000 and mortality rate per 100,000 were calculated from medical death certificates in 2003 and broken down by cause of death, age and gender among urban, suburban and rural regions. YLL was calculated without age-weighting and discounting rate. Rates were age-adjusted to the combined population of three regions. However, 3% discounting rate and a standard age-weighting function were included in the sensitivity analysis. Results Non-communicable diseases contributed the most YLL in all three regions. The rural region had about 50% higher premature mortality burden compared to the other two regions. YLL from infectious diseases and perinatal problems was still a major problem in the rural region. Among non-communicable diseases, YLL from stroke was the highest in the urban/suburban regions; COPD followed as the second and was the highest in the rural region. Mortality burden from injuries was however higher in the rural region than the other two regions, especially for men. Self-inflicted injuries were between 2–8 times more serious among women. The use of either mortality rate or YLL gives a similar conclusion regarding the order of priority. Reanalysis with age-weighting and 3% discounting rate gave similar results. Conclusion Urban south western China has already engaged in epidemiological pattern of developed countries. The rural region is additionally burdened by diseases of poverty and injury on top of the non-communicable diseases.

  6. Rural-urban differentials of premature mortality burden in south-west China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cai, Le; Chongsuvivatwong, Virasakdi

    2006-10-14

    Yunnan province is located in south western China and is one of the poorest provinces of the country. This study examines the premature mortality burden from common causes of deaths among an urban region, suburban region and rural region of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan. Years of life lost (YLL) rate per 1,000 and mortality rate per 100,000 were calculated from medical death certificates in 2003 and broken down by cause of death, age and gender among urban, suburban and rural regions. YLL was calculated without age-weighting and discounting rate. Rates were age-adjusted to the combined population of three regions. However, 3% discounting rate and a standard age-weighting function were included in the sensitivity analysis. Non-communicable diseases contributed the most YLL in all three regions. The rural region had about 50% higher premature mortality burden compared to the other two regions. YLL from infectious diseases and perinatal problems was still a major problem in the rural region. Among non-communicable diseases, YLL from stroke was the highest in the urban/suburban regions; COPD followed as the second and was the highest in the rural region. Mortality burden from injuries was however higher in the rural region than the other two regions, especially for men. Self-inflicted injuries were between 2-8 times more serious among women. The use of either mortality rate or YLL gives a similar conclusion regarding the order of priority. Reanalysis with age-weighting and 3% discounting rate gave similar results. Urban south western China has already engaged in epidemiological pattern of developed countries. The rural region is additionally burdened by diseases of poverty and injury on top of the non-communicable diseases.

  7. Urban-rural solar radiation loss in the atmosphere of Greater Cairo region, Egypt

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robaa, S.M.

    2009-01-01

    A comparative study for measured global solar radiation, G, during the period (1969-2006) and the corresponding global radiation loss in the atmosphere, R L %, over urban and rural districts in Greater Cairo region have been performed. The climatic variabilities of G radiation at the urban and rural sites are also investigated and discussed. Monthly, seasonal and annual mean values of extraterrestrial radiation, Go, and R L % during four successive periods, (1969-1978), (1979-1988), (1989-1998) and (1999-2006) at the above two sites have been calculated and investigated. The results revealed that urban area was always received lower amount of solar radiation due to urbanization factors. The yearly mean values of G radiation were distinctly decreased from maximum value 21.93 and 22.62 MJ m -2 during 1970 year to minimum value 17.57 and 17.87 MJ m -2 during 2004 and 2006 years with average decrease rate 0.09 and 0.10 MJ m -2 per year for the urban and rural areas, respectively. Also, the seasonal and annual mean anomalies of G radiation have been also gradually decreased from maximum values during the eldest period (1969-1978) to minimum values during the recent period (1999-2006). R L % over the urban area was always higher than that rural area. The urban-rural R L % differences range from 0.61% in 1999 year to 4.19% in 2002 year and 2.20% as average value. The yearly mean of R L % values distinctly gradually increase from minimum value 29.47% and 27.28% during 1970 year to maximum value 43.50% and 42.60% during 2004 and 2006 years with average increase rate 0.28% and 0.32% per year for the urban and rural areas, respectively. The minimum value of R L % (26.88%) occurred at rural area during summer season of the eldest period (1969-1978) while the maximum value of R L % (51.27%) occurred at the urban area during winter season of the last recent urbanized period (1999-2006). The linear trend of the yearly variations of R L % revealed that G values will reach zero

  8. The association between socioeconomic status and health-related quality of life among Polish postmenopausal women from urban and rural communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaczmarek, M; Pacholska-Bogalska, J; Kwaśniewski, W; Kotarski, J; Halerz-Nowakowska, B; Goździcka-Józefiak, A

    2017-01-01

    In recent years, more scholarly attention has been paid to a growing range of geographic characteristics as antecedents of inequalities in women's health and well-being. The purpose of this study was to evaluate differences in health-related quality of life between rural and urban Polish postmenopausal women. Using a data set from a reproductive health preventive screening of 660 postmenopausal women aged 48-60 years, inhabitants of Wielkopolska and Lublin provinces, the association of place of residence, socioeconomic status and lifestyle factors with health-related quality of life (the SF-36 instrument) was evaluated using ANCOVA models and multiple logistic regression analysis with backward elimination steps. A consistent rural-to-urban gradient was found in all indices of physical health functioning and well-being but not in vitality, social functioning, emotional role and mental health scales with women in large cities being likely to enjoy the highest and those in villages the lowest quality of life. The rural-urban disparities in health-related quality of life were mediated by women's socioeconomic status. The likelihood of worse physical and mental functioning and well-being was 2-3 times greater for the low socioeconomic status rural women than their counterparts from more affluent urban areas. The educational attainment and employment status were the most powerful independent risk factors for health-related quality of life in both rural and urban women. Better understanding of the role of socioeconomic status that acts as a mediator in the association between area of residence and health-related quality of life may be useful in developing public health policies on health inequalities among women at midlife. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

  9. Plasmodium falciparum genotypes diversity in symptomatic malaria of children living in an urban and a rural setting in Burkina Faso

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    Konaté Amadou T

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The clinical presentation of malaria, considered as the result of a complex interaction between parasite and human genetics, is described to be different between rural and urban areas. The analysis of the Plasmodium falciparum genetic diversity in children with uncomplicated malaria, living in these two different areas, may help to understand the effect of urbanization on the distribution of P. falciparum genotypes. Methods Isolates collected from 75 and 89 children with uncomplicated malaria infection living in a rural and an urban area of Burkina Faso, respectively, were analysed by a nested PCR amplification of msp1 and msp2 genes to compare P. falciparum diversity. Results The K1 allelic family was widespread in children living in the two sites, compared to other msp1 allelic families (frequency >90%. The MAD 20 allelic family of msp1 was more prevalent (p = 0.0001 in the urban (85.3% than the rural area (63.2%. In the urban area, the 3D7 alleles of msp2 were more prevalent compared to FC27 alleles, with a high frequency for the 3D7 300bp allele (>30%. The multiplicity of infection was in the range of one to six in the urban area and of one to seven in the rural area. There was no difference in the frequency of multiple infections (p = 0.6: 96.0% (95% C.I: 91.6–100 in urban versus 93.1% (95%C.I: 87.6–98.6 in rural areas. The complexity of infection increased with age [p = 0.04 (rural area, p = 0.06 (urban area]. Conclusion Urban-rural area differences were observed in some allelic families (MAD20, FC27, 3D7, suggesting a probable impact of urbanization on genetic variability of P. falciparum. This should be taken into account in the implementation of malaria control measures.

  10. Study of knowledge, attitude and practices regarding dengue in the urban and rural field practice area of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Pune, India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Samir Singru

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Context: Dengue is the most common disease among all the arthropod-borne viral diseases. There is no specific treatment or vaccine available for dengue. The sole method of prevention and control is the knowledge attitude and practices (KAP for the same. Although, dengue is considered an urban- and semi-urban disease, in recent years, due to water storage practices and large-scale development activities in rural areas, dengue has become endemic in rural areas of India as well. Aims: To assess the KAP regarding dengue. Settings and Design: Urban and rural field practice area of a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital in Pune, India. Materials and Methods: A pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire was used to study the knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding dengue. Stratified random sampling technique was used. A modified B. G. Prasad criterion was used for socio-economic classification. Statistical Analysis Used: KAP represented as proportion (%. Chi-square test was used as a test of significance. P value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: 68.4% in urban areas and 40.4% in rural area knew that dengue is transmitted by mosquito. 62.6% in urban areas and 48% in rural areas respectively stated fever as a symptom of dengue. The use of anti-adult mosquito measures was 48.05% and 51.42% in urban and rural area respectively Conclusions: There is a definite need to increase the information education communication activities for dengue in the study area.

  11. Assessing the potential of rural and urban private facilities in implementing child health interventions in Mukono district, central Uganda-a cross sectional study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rutebemberwa, Elizeus; Buregyeya, Esther; Lal, Sham; Clarke, Sîan E; Hansen, Kristian S; Magnussen, Pascal; LaRussa, Philip; Mbonye, Anthony K

    2016-07-15

    Private facilities are the first place of care seeking for many sick children. Involving these facilities in child health interventions may provide opportunities to improve child welfare. The objective of this study was to assess the potential of rural and urban private facilities in diagnostic capabilities, operations and human resource in the management of malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea. A survey was conducted in pharmacies, private clinics and drug shops in Mukono district in October 2014. An assessment was done on availability of diagnostic equipment for malaria, record keeping, essential drugs for the treatment of malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea; the sex, level of education, professional and in-service training of the persons found attending to patients in these facilities. A comparison was made between urban and rural facilities. Univariate and bivariate analysis was done. A total of 241 private facilities were assessed with only 47 (19.5 %) being in rural areas. Compared to urban areas, rural private facilities were more likely to be drug shops (OR 2.80; 95 % CI 1.23-7.11), less likely to be registered (OR 0.31; 95 % CI 0.16-0.60), not have trained clinicians, less likely to have people with tertiary education (OR 0.34; 95 % CI 0.17-0.66) and less likely to have zinc tablets (OR 0.38; 95 % CI 0.19-0.78). In both urban and rural areas, there was low usage of stock cards and patient registers. About half of the facilities in both rural and urban areas attended to at least one sick child in the week prior to the interview. There were big gaps between rural and urban private facilities with rural ones having less trained personnel and less zinc tablets' availability. In both rural and urban areas, record keeping was low. Child health interventions need to build capacity of private facilities with special focus on rural areas where child mortality is higher and capacity of facilities lower.

  12. The extent of shifts in vegetation phenology between rural and urban areas within a human-dominated region.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dallimer, Martin; Tang, Zhiyao; Gaston, Kevin J; Davies, Zoe G

    2016-04-01

    Urbanization is one of the major environmental challenges facing the world today. One of its particularly pressing effects is alterations to local and regional climate through, for example, the Urban Heat Island. Such changes in conditions are likely to have an impact on the phenology of urban vegetation, which will have knock-on implications for the role that urban green infrastructure can play in delivering multiple ecosystem services. Here, in a human-dominated region, we undertake an explicit comparison of vegetation phenology between urban and rural zones. Using satellite-derived MODIS-EVI data from the first decade of the 20th century, we extract metrics of vegetation phenology (date of start of growing season, date of end of growing season, and length of season) for Britain's 15 largest cities and their rural surrounds. On average, urban areas experienced a growing season 8.8 days longer than surrounding rural zones. As would be expected, there was a significant decline in growing season length with latitude (by 3.4 and 2.4 days/degree latitude in rural and urban areas respectively). Although there is considerable variability in how phenology in urban and rural areas differs across our study cities, we found no evidence that built urban form influences the start, end, or length of the growing season. However, the difference in the length of the growing season between rural and urban areas was significantly negatively associated with the mean disposable household income for a city. Vegetation in urban areas deliver many ecosystem services such as temperature mitigation, pollution removal, carbon uptake and storage, the provision of amenity value for humans and habitat for biodiversity. Given the rapid pace of urbanization and ongoing climate change, understanding how vegetation phenology will alter in the future is important if we wish to be able to manage urban greenspaces effectively.

  13. Income-carbon footprint relationships for urban and rural households of Iskandar Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Majid, M. R.; Moeinzadeh, S. N.; Tifwa, H. Y.

    2014-02-01

    Iskandar Malaysia has a vision to achieve sustainable development and a low carbon society status by decreasing the amount of CO2 emission as much as 60% by 2025. As the case is in other parts of the world, households are suspected to be a major source of carbon emission in Iskandar Malaysia. At the global level, 72% of greenhouse gas emission is a consequence of household activities, which is influenced by lifestyle. Income is the most important indicator of lifestyle and consequently may influence the amount of households' carbon footprint. The main objective of this paper is to illustrate the carbon-income relationships in Iskandar Malaysia's urban and rural areas. Data were gathered through a questionnaire survey of 420 households. The households were classified into six categories based on their residential area status. Both direct and indirect carbon footprints of respondents were calculated using a carbon footprint model. Direct carbon footprint includes domestic energy use, personal travel, flight and public transportation while indirect carbon footprint is the total secondary carbon emission measurement such as housing operations, transportation operations, food, clothes, education, cultural and recreational services. Analysis of the results shows a wide range of carbon footprint values and a significance correlation between income and carbon footprint. The carbon footprints vary in urban and rural areas, and also across different urban areas. These identified carbon footprint values can help the authority target its carbon reduction programs.

  14. Income-carbon footprint relationships for urban and rural households of Iskandar Malaysia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Majid, M R; Moeinzadeh, S N; Tifwa, H Y

    2014-01-01

    Iskandar Malaysia has a vision to achieve sustainable development and a low carbon society status by decreasing the amount of CO 2 emission as much as 60% by 2025. As the case is in other parts of the world, households are suspected to be a major source of carbon emission in Iskandar Malaysia. At the global level, 72% of greenhouse gas emission is a consequence of household activities, which is influenced by lifestyle. Income is the most important indicator of lifestyle and consequently may influence the amount of households' carbon footprint. The main objective of this paper is to illustrate the carbon-income relationships in Iskandar Malaysia's urban and rural areas. Data were gathered through a questionnaire survey of 420 households. The households were classified into six categories based on their residential area status. Both direct and indirect carbon footprints of respondents were calculated using a carbon footprint model. Direct carbon footprint includes domestic energy use, personal travel, flight and public transportation while indirect carbon footprint is the total secondary carbon emission measurement such as housing operations, transportation operations, food, clothes, education, cultural and recreational services. Analysis of the results shows a wide range of carbon footprint values and a significance correlation between income and carbon footprint. The carbon footprints vary in urban and rural areas, and also across different urban areas. These identified carbon footprint values can help the authority target its carbon reduction programs

  15. Epidemiology of Hymenolepis nana infections in primary school children in urban and rural communities in Zimbabwe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mason, P R; Patterson, B A

    1994-04-01

    Fecal specimens were obtained on 3 occasions at 10-12 wk intervals from 315 children in 3 rural villages in Zimbabwe and from 351 children in the high-density suburbs of an adjacent small town. Specimens were examined qualitatively and quantitatively for eggs of Hymenolepis nana, and these were found in 142 (21%) children. Infections occurred more frequently in younger children in the urban area but in older children in rural areas. The prevalence in urban areas (24%) was higher than in rural areas (18%), and in urban areas infection correlated with low "hygiene scores" (determined by observation) and with the presence in the household of an infected sibling. The prevalence of infection in the 3 rural communities did not correlate with availability of water, number of households per toilet, with low "hygiene scores," or with the presence of an infected sibling. Treatment with a single oral dose of 15 mg/kg praziquantel cured 84% of the infected children. New or reinfections occurred more frequently in households that had an infected sibling in an urban but not rural setting. The study demonstrates distinct differences in the transmission of H. nana infection in rural and urban communities. The data suggest intrafamily transmission in urban areas, particularly in households with poor hygiene behavior, leading to primary infection early in life. In rural areas, the prevalence of infection and the incidence of reinfection were highest in children of school age, and there was little evidence for intrafamily transmission of the parasite.

  16. Oral health status of rural-urban migrant children in South China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Xiao-Li; McGrath, Colman; Lin, Huan-Cai

    2011-01-01

    In China, there is a massive rural-urban migration and the children of migrants are often unregistered residents (a 'floating population'). This pilot study aimed to profile the oral health of migrant children in South China's principal city of migration and identify its socio-demographic/behavioural determinants. An epidemiological survey was conducted in an area of Guangzhou among 5-year-old migrant children (n = 138) who received oral examinations according to the World Health Organization criteria. Parents' oral health knowledge/attitude, child practices, and impact of children's oral health on their quality-of-life (QoL) were assessed. The caries rate and mean (SD) dmft were 86% and 5.17 (4.16), respectively, higher than those national statistics for both rural and urban areas (P Oral hygiene was satisfactory (DI-S Oral health impacts on QoL were considerable; 60% reported one or more impacts. 58% variance in 'dmft' was explained by 'non-local-born', 'low-educated parents', 'bedtime feeding', 'parental unawareness of fluoride's effect and importance of teeth', and 'poor oral hygiene' (all P oral health-related QoL (both P Oral health is poor among rural-urban migrant children and requires effective interventions in targeted sub-groups. © 2010 The Authors. International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry © 2010 BSPD, IAPD and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  17. Differences in knowledge about birds and their conservation between rural and urban residents of Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edgar O. Vazquez-Plass; Joseph M. Wunderle

    2010-01-01

    People’s knowledge of birds and the opinions and perceptions about specific issues related to the conservation of birds were quantified in rural and urban communities in northeastern Puerto Rico. Data were collected using questionnaires in interviews with 131 citizens haphazardly selected within the study site. Our results indicate that urban residents had a...

  18. Cumulative Causation of Rural Migration and Initial Peri-Urbanization in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hao, Lingxin

    2012-01-01

    This paper posits that rural migration feeds the high demand for cheap labor in peri-urbanization, which is driven by globalization, flows of foreign capital, and entrepreneurial local governments. While the gravity model and push/pull perspective ignore the dynamics of migratory course, we use the cumulative causation of migration theory to conceptualize social expectations for outmigration and social resources from migrant networks in destinations. Four major findings are drawn from this demographic analysis based on micro data from China's 2000 Census. First, the expectation of outmigration significantly increases outmigration, and this effect is independent of push factors. Second, foreign direct investment (FDI) contributes to attracting rural labor migrants from other provinces to peri-urban areas as it does to cities. Third, social resources from migrant networks play an important role in attracting rural labor migrants to both city and noncity destinations. Fourth, the importance of wage differentials declines in gravitating rural labor migrants to peri-urban areas. These findings provide tentative evidence that rural labor migration is indispensable during initial peri-urbanization. Infused with flows of FDI and entrepreneurial local governments, rural migration has created a favorable initial condition for peri-urbanization.

  19. The shelf space and strategic placement of healthy and discretionary foods in urban, urban-fringe and rural/non-metropolitan Australian supermarkets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cameron, Adrian J

    2018-02-01

    Supermarkets are a key influence on eating behaviours, but it is unknown if the promotion of food within stores varies on a geographic gradient from urban, to urban-fringe and non-metropolitan areas. The present study aimed to assess the shelf space and strategic placement of healthy and discretionary foods in each of urban, urban-fringe and non-metropolitan Australian supermarkets. Design/Setting In-store audits were conducted in stores from one of the two major Australian supermarket chains in urban (n 19), urban-fringe (n 20) and non-metropolitan (n 26) areas of Victoria. These audits examined selected food items (crisps/chips, chocolate, confectionery, soft drinks/sodas, fruits and vegetables) and measured the shelf space and the proportion of end-of-aisle and cash register displays containing these products. Store size was measured as the sum of aisle length. Differences in the supermarket food environment with respect to location were assessed, before and after adjustment for neighbourhood socio-economic position. The strategic placement of discretionary foods was commonly observed in all supermarkets. Adjusting for store size (larger in urban-fringe and rural areas), urban stores had greater shelf space devoted to fruits and vegetables, and less checkouts with soft drinks, than urban-fringe and rural/non-metropolitan areas. Differences remained following adjustment for neighbourhood socio-economic position. No clear pattern was observed for end-of-aisle displays, or the placement of chocolate and confectionery at checkouts. The shelf space of healthy and discretionary foods in urban-fringe and rural stores parallels the prevalence of overweight and obesity in these areas. Interventions in urban-fringe and rural stores targeting the shelf space of healthy foods and the placement of soft drinks at key displays may be useful obesity prevention initiatives.

  20. The rural tourism’s development from the conception of people’s education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mónica Darías Fuertes

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The rural tourism needs the community’s participating in order to guarantee its sustainability and the achievement of its main goals: the client’s satisfaction and the local development with a positive impact on the community. The Popular Education and the participating action research altogether, make possible the direct involvement of the community in identifying their needs, decision making and designs of possible solutions. The purpose of this study is demonstrating the necessity of the community’s empowerment across the Popular Education to develop the rural tourism. The study has achieved key concepts’ systematizing who confirms the systemic approach of the community and the rural tourism. At the same time the study shows how theparticipating action research stimulatesthe community’s motivation and leadership from the collective work to develop the rural tourism.