Ultra-Processed Grains and Risk of Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Results from the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) Study.

Background: Ultra-processed grains, commonly consumed in Western diets, undergo refining processes that often remove beneficial components and include additives to enhance taste, texture, or durability, potentially influencing gastrointestinal health. This study examines the association between ultra-processed grain consumption and the risk of developing IBD using data from the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study.

Methods: This analysis included 124,590 participants from 21 countries who had dietary data available in the PURE study.

Frequency of myopia and associated risk factors in the adolescent population (10-16 years) of Karachi, Pakistan: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of myopia and explore its risk factors in adolescents aged 10-16 years in Karachi, Pakistan.

Methods And Analysis: This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted with 335 adolescents from 4 public and 2 private schools in Karachi. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire.

The burden of cardiovascular events according to cardiovascular risk profile in adults from high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries (PURE): a cohort study.

Background: Current strategies to prevent adverse cardiovascular outcomes focus primary prevention in high-risk groups and secondary prevention in people with known cardiovascular disease. We aimed to determine the proportion of events occurring in lower-risk groups globally.

Methods: We included people aged 40 years to younger than 75 years who were enrolled in the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study, which is an ongoing, international, prospective, population-based cohort study that started recruiting adults from households selected to be broadly representative of the sociodemographic composition of their communities.

Association of health knowledge with adoption of heart healthy behaviours: a cross-cohort analysis using data from the PURE Study.

Aims: This study aims to assess aspects of health knowledge: i) awareness of health effect of tobacco smoking and ii) awareness of preventive actions for heart disease and stroke, and their relationships with adoption of heart healthy behaviours (smoking cessation and utilisation of antihypertensive treatment).

Methods: In this multi-cohort study, we recruited adults aged 35 to 70 years from 21 countries. Data on health effects of tobacco smoking (10 questions) and health actions to prevent heart disease or stroke (11 questions) were collected at baseline.

Feasibility of digital healthcare in enhancing healthcare access in semiurban areas of Karachi, Pakistan: a qualitative descriptive study.

Objective: Our research aimed to assess the feasibility of digital health in enhancing healthcare access in the semiurban areas of Karachi, Pakistan.

Study Design And Setting: This qualitative descriptive study was employed at three villages in Gadap, Karachi, Pakistan, with varying socioeconomic contexts, using a feasibility framework. Ethical approval was provided by the Ethical Review Committee (ERC) of The Aga Khan University.

Feasibility of co-creating and delivering a youth-led noncommunicable diseases risk reduction intervention in schools of slums in Karachi, Pakistan: protocol for a mixed-methods, pre- and post-intervention study.

Background: Adolescents are more susceptible to the shared risk factors of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including physical inactivity, tobacco use (smoking and smokeless), and unhealthy diets. However, there is limited literature from Pakistan that involves school-going adolescents in developing and delivering NCD risk-reduction interventions among their younger peers.

Objective: This study aims to assess the feasibility of co-creating and delivering a youth-led NCD risk reduction intervention in schools of slums in Karachi, Pakistan.

Assessment of the quality of care provided to women with gestational diabetes mellitus by different hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan.

Background: Since gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) prevalence is increasing in Pakistan, the quality of care provided to women with GDM is crucial for improving maternal and neonatal outcomes. Therefore, our study aimed to assess the quality of existing healthcare services related to GDM management across different hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan.

Methods: We used Donabedian's model to evaluate the input, process and output phases.

Correction: Conducting tobacco control surveys among schoolchildren in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan: A feasibility study.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.

Development and validation of a Non-INvaSive Pregnancy RIsk ScoRE (INSPIRE) for the screening of high-risk pregnant women for gestational diabetes mellitus in Pakistan.

Introduction: The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is on the rise in low-income and middle-income countries, such as Pakistan. Therefore, the development of a risk score that is simple, affordable and easy to administer is needed. Our study aimed to develop a Non-INvaSive Pregnancy RIsk ScoRE (INSPIRE) for GDM screening in Pakistani pregnant women based on risk factors reported in the literature.

Marketing Strategies and Consumer and Sellers Perception About Oral Nicotine Pouches in Karachi, Pakistan.

The availability of novel nicotine products like oral nicotine pouches (ONP) has been rising in South Asian countries, including Pakistan. We aimed to assess ONP marketing strategies at point-of-sale (POS) and understand the perceptions among consumers and sellers regarding its use in Karachi, Pakistan. We conducted a mixed-methods study in low, middle, and high socioeconomic neighborhoods of District East Karachi.

Level of compliance to smoke-free laws by restaurants in Karachi: an observational study.

Introduction: Exposure to secondhand smoke is a significant public health concern. Our study assessed the level of implementation of smoke-free laws in restaurants in Karachi, Pakistan.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study in District East, Karachi.

Implementation strategies for providing optimised tuberculosis and diabetes integrated care in LMICs (POTENTIAL): protocol for a multiphase sequential and concurrent mixed-methods study.

Introduction: Almost a quarter of patients with tuberculosis (TB) in Pakistan may also have diabetes, with an additional quarter in a pre-diabetic state. Diabetes is a risk factor for TB. When it co-occurs with TB, it leads to poorer outcomes for both conditions, considerably increasing the burden on individuals, families and the healthcare system.

Conducting tobacco control surveys among schoolchildren in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan: A feasibility study.

Most of the world's 300 million smokeless tobacco (ST) users live in South Asia but ST policies for that region are poorly researched, developed and implemented. Longitudinal studies to understand the uptake and use of ST and smoking, and influences on these, such as health promotion strategies, are lacking. We planned to conduct longitudinal surveys among secondary school students in three countries with the highest ST burden: Bangladesh, India and Pakistan to explore ST and smoking uptake, use and health promoting strategies.

Concordance of weight status between mothers and children: a secondary analysis of the Pakistan Demographic and health survey VII.

Background: Familial concordance of weight status is an emerging field of study that may guide the development of interventions that operate beyond the individual and within the family context. There is a dearth of published data for concordance of weight status within Pakistani households.

Methods: We assessed the associations between weight status of mothers and their children in a nationally representative sample of households in Pakistan using Demographic and Health Survey data from 2017-18.

Obesity and risk of hypertension in preadolescent urban school children: insights from Pakistan.

Background: Childhood obesity and hypertension are growing concerns globally, especially in developing countries. This study investigated the association between overall and central obesity at baseline, and prehypertension or hypertension at follow-up among preadolescent school children in urban Karachi, Pakistan.

Methods: This is a sub study with cohort design embedded within a feasibility trial on School Health Education Program in Pakistan (SHEPP) in preadolescents aged 6-11 years, attending two private schools conducted from 2017 to 2019.

Sex-Specific Association of Ambient Temperature With Urine Biomarkers in Southwest Coastal Bangladesh.

Introduction: Men are vulnerable to ambient heat-related kidney disease burden; however, limited evidence exists on how vulnerable women are when exposed to high ambient heat. We evaluated the sex-specific association between ambient temperature and urine electrolytes, and 24-hour urine total protein, and volume.

Methods: We pooled a longitudinal 5624 person-visits data of 1175 participants' concentration and 24-hour excretion of urine electrolytes and other biomarkers (24-hour urine total protein and volume) from southwest coastal Bangladesh (Khulna, Satkhira, and Mongla districts) during November 2016 to April 2017.

Conducting a diabetes mellitus prevention trial in women with GDM in Pakistan: a feasibility study.

Background: Women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) are at a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) than women without GDM. Despite this elevated risk, few trials on the prevention of T2DM among South Asian women with GDM have been reported. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the feasibility of conducting a diabetes prevention program on women with a history of GDM to inform the development of a contextually relevant definitive trial.

Engagement of private healthcare sector in addressing noncommunicable diseases at primary care level in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Background: The private healthcare sector is a critical stakeholder in the provision of health care services, including noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), and engagement with the sector is increasingly being advocated in efforts to achieve Universal Health Coverage.

Aim: This study was conducted to explore the role of the private health sector in delivering NCD-related primary care services in selected countries of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR): Jordan, Oman, Pakistan, Sudan, and the Syrian Arab Republic.

Methods: We adapted the analytical framework for this study from the "Framework for action to implement the United Nations political declaration on noncommunicable diseases".

Behavioural support and nicotine replacement therapy for smokeless tobacco cessation in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan: A pilot randomized controlled trial.

Background And Aims: Smokeless tobacco (ST) use in South Asia is high, yet interventions to support its cessation are lacking. We tested the feasibility of delivering interventions for ST cessation in South Asia.

Design: We used a 2 × 2 factorial design, pilot randomized controlled trial with a duration of 26 weeks, including baseline and follow-up (6, 12 and 26 weeks) assessments.

Obesity and Risk of Hypertension in Preadolescent Urban School Children: Insights from a Developing Country.

Background: Childhood obesity and hypertension are growing concerns globally, especially in developing countries. This study investigated the association between overall and central obesity at baseline, and prehypertension or hypertension at follow-up among preadolescent school children in Karachi, Pakistan.

Methods: This is a sub study with cohort design embedded within a feasibility trial on School Health Education Program in Pakistan (SHEPP) in preadolescent aged 6-11 years, attending two private schools, were enrolled from 2017 to 2019.

Associations of the glycaemic index and the glycaemic load with risk of type 2 diabetes in 127 594 people from 20 countries (PURE): a prospective cohort study.

Background: The association between the glycaemic index and the glycaemic load with type 2 diabetes incidence is controversial. We aimed to evaluate this association in an international cohort with diverse glycaemic index and glycaemic load diets.

Methods: The PURE study is a prospective cohort study of 127 594 adults aged 35-70 years from 20 high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries.

Association between maternal experiences of intimate partner violence and child stunting: a secondary analysis of the Demographic Health Surveys of four South Asian countries.

Objectives: To determine the association between maternal exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) and child stunting using the Demographic Health Survey (DHS) data comparing four South Asian countries.

Design: A secondary analysis.

Setting: Data from the seventh round of the DHS data of four South Asian countries; Pakistan, Nepal, India and Maldives.