TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2019//
TI  - Health behaviors, outcomes and their relationships among young men aged 18-24 years in a rural area of north India: a cross-sectional study
JO  - PLoS one
A1  - Malhotra, Sumit
A1  - Kant, Shashi
A1  - Ahamed, Farhad
A1  - Rath, Ramashankar
A1  - Kalaivani, Mani
A1  - Gupta, Sanjeev Kumar
A1  - Ramadass, S.
A1  - Pathak, Vineet Kumar
A1  - Jaiswal, Abhishek
A1  - Parthasarath, Raghavan
A1  - Acharya, Bhabani Prasad
A1  - Dwarakanathan, Vignesh
SP  - e0220285
EP  - e0220285
VL  - 14
IS  - 7
N2  - BACKGROUND: There is limited information related to health behaviors and their related factors among young men in rural setting of India. This study was conducted to investigate multiple health risk behaviors and outcomes among young men aged 18-24 years in rural India. <br><br>METHODS: This was a community-based cross-sectional survey conducted in the Ballabgarh block of Faridabad district, Haryana, India. Information regarding socio-demographic details, substance use, injury & violence, mental health and sexual behaviors were collected using a semi-structured interview schedule. Age adjusted prevalence estimates of behaviors and outcomes are computed along with 95% Confidence Intervals. Mediation analysis was carried out to examine relationships between socio-demographic variables, select behaviors and outcomes reported in the study. <br><br>RESULTS: A total of 836 young men participated in the study, with mean (SD) age of 20.6 (1.9) years. The age-adjusted prevalence (with 95% Confidence Interval) for ever use of tobacco, alcohol, and other substances was 34.2% (33.9, 34.5), 23.4% (23.2, 23.6), and 4.5% (4.4, 4.5), respectively. Loneliness and suicidal thoughts were reported by 237 and 35 youth men with age adjusted prevalence as 28.6%, 95% CI: 28.4-28.8 and 4.3%, 95% CI: 4.23-4.31, respectively. A total of 330 young men met serious injury in past one year (prevalence 39.3%, 95%CI: 39.01-39.67). Almost one-third of men (prevalence 30.6%, 95%CI: 30.34-30.85) had engaged in pre-marital sexual intercourse. Current substance use was found to be significant mediator for associations with socio-demographic variables studied for dependent variables viz. pre-marital sexual intercourse and serious injury. <br><br>CONCLUSION: High prevalence of various risk behaviors and outcomes was found in young men aged 18-24 years in our rural setting. It is imperative that multi-component health intervention package be rolled out to address these.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1932-6203
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220285
ID  - ref1
ER  -