scholarly journals Sociocultural Factors That Potentially Affect the Institution of Prevention and Treatment Strategies for Hepatitis B in Chinese Canadians

2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Wu ◽  
Colina Yim ◽  
Alex Chan ◽  
Michael Ho ◽  
Jenny Heathcote

BACKGROUND: Despite the availability of screening for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection and effective treatments now available, many at-risk individuals fail to seek appropriate medical attention.OBJECTIVE: To identify the barriers to care for CHB infection in a Chinese Canadian community.METHODS: A survey conducted in English or Chinese collected information from individuals with CHB infection that evaluated the level of understanding and identified the barriers that may prevent Chinese patients from undergoing monitoring, screening and/or treatment for CHB infection.RESULTS: Among the 204 patients enrolled, common misconceptions were that sharing food transmits hepatitis B and that patients with severe disease are always symptomatic. Patients with a better understanding of hepatitis B were better educated, younger and were being followed at a tertiary care centre (P<0.01 for all). Prominent barriers to health care were time, inconvenience and language difficulties. Patients under the care of family physicians who had extended office hours were less likely to cite time (P=0.06) and distance (P=0.05) as barriers.CONCLUSION: Patient misconceptions that severe liver disease due to hepatitis B infection is symptomatic may factor into the unwillingness to spare the time and undergo the inconvenience associated with regular medical follow-up. Implementation of programs that increase awareness of the silent progression of CHB infection and provide culturally responsive clinics, better able to work within patients’ time constraints may improve Chinese patients’ access to health care.

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. S50
Author(s):  
Parveen Malhotra ◽  
Vani Malhotra ◽  
Ramesh Verma ◽  
Yogesh Abhishekh

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Shaneel Harsh ◽  
Ananya Adhikari ◽  
Parmatma Parazuli ◽  
Rahul Pathak ◽  
Prem K Khadga ◽  
...  

Background and Aims: This study aims at determining the demographic profile and extra-intestinal manifestations of Ulcerative Colitis in the Nepalese patients treated in a tertiary referral centre.Methods: The study was conducted between February 1, 2014 and January 31, 2015 at the Department of Gastroenterology Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal. The clinical and epidemiologic data from patients diagnosed to have Ulcerative Colitis were obtained and analysed.Results: During the study period, 60 patients were identified as having ulcerative colitis. Mean age at diagnosis was 34.6 years. The mean duration of illness at diagnosis was 3.7 years. Extra-intestinal manifestations (EIM) were seen in 16.6% of the patients. Sacroilitis was the most common EIM seen in11.6% followed by peripheral arthritis in 6.6% of the patients. Episcleritis, Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis and Erythema Nodosum were seen only in 1.6% each. At the time of presentation, 38.3% (n=23) had proctosigmoiditis , 50% (n=30) left sided colitis and pancolitis was seen in 11.7% (n=7).53.3% patients had mild disease, 38.3% and 8.3 % presented with moderate to severe disease respectively.Conclusion: Peak age of onset for UC in the study was third and fourth decade which was similar to the various studies from Asia and West. Musculoskeletal manifestation was the most common extra- intestinal manifestation of UC in Nepalese population. As Nepal is perhaps the most diverse country in terms of ethnicity, cultural variation, socio-economic status and health care facilities, a comprehensive nationwide data bank involving ethnicity and geographical variation is needed for a better definition of the disease characteristics.Journal of Advances in Internal Medicine 2015;04(01):1-5.


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 545-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Yousuf Rathor ◽  
Mohammad Arif Shahar ◽  
Ahmad Marzuki Bin Omar ◽  
Azarisman SM Shah ◽  
Mohammad Hadzri Hasmoni ◽  
...  

Objective: Patients beliefs determine their response to an illness and its management especially if it is chronic. Studies assessing patient’s knowledge of their epilepsy are scarce. We report the first objective study evaluating knowledge, attitude and practices of epilepsy patients referred to a tertiary care centre in East Coast of Malaysia.Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study using pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire among consenting epilepsy patients.Results: The demographic details and responses to a questionnaire assessing their insight towards epilepsy were recorded. Among 132 respondents, 51.5% were male and 48.5 % were female. Their age ranged from 14 to 70 years (mean = 31.63 ± 13.41). Majority (53.8%) of them aged equal or less than 30 years. The median number of years they had epilepsy was 8.0 (4.0, 18.8) years and average duration of seizure prior to seeking medical attention was 1.0 (0.3, 4.5) years. The average number of years they were receiving treatment from a hospital was 5.50 ± 5.84. Most (90.9%) did not know the cause of epilepsy; however 93.9 % were aware that it can be treated with modern drugs. While only 22.7 % believed that faith healers can treat epilepsy, 74.2% had tried other forms of treatment. Negative attitude was reflected in the belief that epilepsy is due to supernatural powers (1.5%) and that epilepsy is contagious (17.4 %). Positive attitude included that PWE can take a job (66.7%), allowing a child with epilepsy to study (80%), not objecting children to play with a child with epilepsy (54.5%), marry (65.9%) and having children (58.3%).Conclusions: Patients with epilepsy are not knowledgeable about their disorder. This is true regardless of age, educational background, or number of years with epilepsy. The results suggest that there is a critical need to enhance epilepsy education and improve attitudes towards epilepsy beyond seizure control.Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.16(4) 2017 p.545-553


Author(s):  
Sirisha Paidi ◽  
Aashritha Thonangi

Background: Emergency obstetric care in health care requires a linked referral system to be effective in reducing maternal morbidity and mortality. This review is aimed at summarizing the proportion of referrals from urban, rural and tribal areas of surrounding districts to tertiary care centre, King George Hospital, Visakhapatnam for a 6 month period; from May 2018 to October 2018.Methods: Retrospective study done at a tertiary care teaching hospital, including 3157 cases referred from the surrounding urban, rural and tribal areas.Results: Out of the 3157 referred cases, most of them (1658) were from rural areas, 1030 from urban and 469 from tribal areas. Referrals done in view of post caesarean pregnancies were more in urban and rural areas whereas more preeclampsia and anaemia cases were referred from tribal areas. Various indications of referral are documented. Majority of them were unbooked cases.Conclusions: Specific guidelines regarding whom to refer, how to refer and when to refer would be helpful in making timely referral. These would also help to decrease the burden on the tertiary care centers which deal with a huge caseloads in spite of limited infrastructure and manpower. Adequate attention and better care can be given to complicated cases if the total case load is reduced. Stringent documentation in referral slip and better co-ordination are required for a strong health care system.


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