A Cross Sectional Study on The Health-Related Demography of The Scheduled Caste (SC) Population in Selected Areas of Thiruvananthapuram District, Kerala State, India

This study was conducted to know the health statistics of the historically marginalized Scheduled Caste people (SC) in 5 SC predominant village councils of Thiruvananthapuram district. This is an observational, cross-sectional survey study planned after due approval from the institutional ethical committee. The Ayurveda Mobile Health Care Programme (AMHCP) project team of the institute conducted door-to-door household surveys and face to face interviews between April 2022 and March 2023 to collect data. A total of 6047 (2800 males and 3247 females) SC individuals from 1612 households were surveyed through 230 tours. Very few participants of the survey had socioeconomic characteristics like addictions (12.82%), drinking unpurified water (3.42%) or houses with open or no drainages (1.31%). Also, none of them were using open field for toilet purpose (0%). As far as most common reasons for visit to health care centre is concerned, non-communicable diseases were the reason for 86.04% to visit. It has become imperative that diet and lifestyle related-awareness be raised, although Kerala is one of the states with highest literacy rate, as the comparitive proportion of Anaemic and Diabetic population is on a rise. On screening, 8.38% were hypertensive, 53.36% were Anaemic and 27.62% had abnormal blood sugar levels. The data gathered through the current study can provide preliminary data for acquiring insights and can definitely aid in future decision making of our nation. The study recommends the expansion of health care facilities to the residents of most remote locations of Kerala.