scholarly journals Awareness about sanitary toilets in a rural area of north Karnataka, India: a cross sectional study

Author(s):  
Sidharaj Jeratagi ◽  
Yogesh Kumar ◽  
Maheshwar D. Mallapur

Background: As improvement in sanitation is one of the goal among Millennium Development Goals, awareness and lack of sanitary toilet in rural areas is still a major public problem.  The objectives were to study the awareness level about sanitary toilet in a rural area.Methods: Study participants included 400 adults from Sonatti village of Belgaum district of north Karnataka. Pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect necessary information including socio demographic variables by house to house survey. Ethical clearance was obtained from IEC on human subjects of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Belgaum. Informed consent was taken before collecting data from all the participants.Results: In this study most of study participants 173 (43.3%) were aged between 18 to 30 years. Majority of 164 (41.0%) were farmers and most of them 197 (49.2%) belonged to Class IV socioeconomic strata. Only 3(0.7%) had a household latrine. About 80% of participants showed average knowledge, 50% of participants showed good attitude and 62% of participants showed average practice. Awareness of sanitary toilet use was significantly associated with higher socioeconomic status and higher education.  Conclusions: The present study revealed that awareness about sanitary latrine was very poor. Practice of open air defecation was very high. The overall assessment of participants revealed that there is a need to create more awareness regarding sanitary toilet use in rural areas.

Author(s):  
Yachana Choudhary ◽  
Manju Dubey ◽  
Manju Toppo ◽  
D. K. Pal

Background: India is facing critical problem of paucity of certified physicians in rural areas, although majority of the population resides in rural areas. According to rural health statistics report 2015, there is a deficit of 659 doctors in rural areas. The study was done with the objective to capture the perception among medical students (interns / postgraduates) about their preference of work place after graduation/post-graduation and to know the factors responsible for preference / non-preference.Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out, among 203 medical students in a government medical college of Bhopal (M.P) from January to March 2016. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to obtain information regarding their preference to serve in rural areas and reasons associated with their choices. The data was entered in MS excel and analysis was performed using Epi-Info7.Results: The study participants included 203 medical students, only 33 (16.26%), were willing to work in rural area. The major reasons for non-preference of rural area were lack of primary facilities like equipments, paramedical staff, non favorable working conditions. Majority of them responded that good salary, better lifestyle and security for doctors especially for females would make them work there.Conclusions: Very less proportion of study participants preferred rural area as their preferred work place. Our study has shown a need for intervention to overcome these perceptions and attitudes of the students towards practice in rural area in order to reverse this disparity.


Author(s):  
Shiren Ali Al Hamzawi

Estimates of Trichomonas vaginalis prevalence in pregnant women are variable with few studies in Iraq.T. vaginalis is a worldwide prevalent sexually transmitted infection,but fortunately,it is very treatable. Researchers believed that pregnancy is one of the effective factors for T. vaginalis infection in women.A cross-sectional study performed in Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at Maternity and Children Teaching Hospital in Al-Diwaniya city on two hundred female pregnant patients between the ages of 16-45 years. These females had no intercourse for 2–3 days,not using drugs (antibiotics,antiprotozoal or steroids) for the last 15 days. Vaginal discharges of any type with or without itching,burning sensation or both were their main complaints. Vaginal swabs were taken from all participating patients for direct wet mount microscopy and culture for the detection of Trichomonas vaginalis infection. The study showed that twelve out of two hundred examined pregnant women (6%) presented with T. vaginalis infection. The infection was more in those with mothers’ age (26-35) years,housewives,low education,higher parity,and of rural residents. Other maternal variables were not significantly associated with T. vaginalis infection. The study showed a prevalence of (6%) of T. vaginalis infection in pregnant female attendees. Infection was more in those with mothers ’age (26-35) years,housewives,low educational level,higher parity,and living in rural areas.


2021 ◽  
pp. 12-15
Author(s):  
Smarajit Banik ◽  
Sandip Saha ◽  
Sudipan Mitra ◽  
Ujjwal Pattanayak ◽  
Rajib Sikder ◽  
...  

Background: Diabetes mellitus is one of the important causes of morbidity and mortality. With a rise in non communicable diseases in India, diabetes has become a modern epidemic showing a rising trend in West Bengal also. A large number of diabetes patients come to the diabetes clinic of our tertiary care hospital in North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, Darjeeling, West Bengal. The large proportion of patients presenting with this condition prompted us to study the Sociodemographic and Anthropometric Prole of such patients. Methods: This was a descriptive hospital based cross sectional study involving a total of 344 diabetic patients enrolled in the diabetes clinic of a tertiary care teaching hospital from December 2019 to February 2020. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data and was analyzed in Microsoft excel sheet and using SPSS 20.0 software. Results: Among the 344 study participants, we found that 220 (63.95%) were males and 124 (36.05%) were females. Diabetes was more common among those aged 51-60 years 108 (31.40%). Family history was present among 188 (54.65%) of the diabetic patients. Almost 160 (46.51%) patients have diabetes 1.1 – 5 years. Hypertension was present among 216 (62.79%) patients. Almost 218 (63.37%) of the patients were overweight and 84 (24.42%) were obese. Conclusions: The diabetic patients presenting to this tertiary care hospital belong lower socioeconomic strata and having limited education in their age group. There is high proportion of obesity and hypertension among them.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 1566
Author(s):  
Vinay Jishtu ◽  
Pramod K. Jaret ◽  
Prem Chand Machhan ◽  
Nidhi Chauhan

Background: Acute undifferentiated fever illness (AUFI) is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries, owing to its non-specific features. The aim of the study was to delineate the causes and clinical parameters associated with AUFI.Methods: A cross-sectional study was done among 156 patients of AUFI, admitted in the Department of Medicine, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India, from November 2018 to October 2019.Results: The mean age of the study participants was 37.37±14.2 years. The study participants admitted for acute undifferentiated febrile illness had fever with mean duration of 8.38±3.7 days before hospitalization. The most common aetiology of AUFI was found to be enteric fever (44%), followed by scrub typhus (35%). The majority of the cases presented from the month of September to December.Conclusions: The aetiology and clinical spectrum of AUFI is wide and variable. To outline a proper algorithm to contain it, meticulous analysis of the hospital data at each level is necessary.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0253808
Author(s):  
Dhan Bahadur Shrestha ◽  
Nagendra Katuwal ◽  
Ayush Tamang ◽  
Agrima Paudel ◽  
Anu Gautam ◽  
...  

Background Medical students are more prone to burnout than the general population and students of other faculties due to the demanding nature of medical education with limited time and resources. Burnout has a negative impact on the academics and personal life of the students which can continue into their professional life and ultimately hamper patient care. The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence of burnout among medical students of a medical college and find its association with age, gender, and year of study. Materials and methods This cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students of a medical college in Kathmandu, Nepal from 14 January to 7 March, 2021. Stratified sampling followed by a simple random sampling technique was employed to select study participants. Data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire using the English version of the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory adapted for students (OLBI-S) and analyzed in STATA version 15. Results The prevalence of burnout was found out to be 65.9% (n = 229). And of the remaining, 12.7% were exhausted, 11.4% were disengaged and 10.0% were neither exhausted nor disengaged. Burnout had no significant association with age in years, gender, and year of study. Conclusions This study shows an alarming prevalence of burnout in almost two-thirds of medical students. These results indicate the necessity of employing effective strategies by relevant authorities for the mental well-being of future physicians. Further multicenter prospective studies are required for a better understanding of the prevalence and associated factors of burnout.


Author(s):  
Neelima S. Chauhan

Background: It is estimated that around 15.6 million abortions take place in India every year. There is significant variance in the estimates for the number of abortions reported and the total number of abortions taking place. Emergency contraception (EC) prevents an accidental pregnancy. It prevents a woman from having to go through the trauma of getting pregnant when she does not want to.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the knowledge of emergency contraception among women attending the gynecological outpatient department. A total of 280 married women were included in the study. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire, which included questions on demographic variables, religion, education, knowledge and practices about EC.Results: Majority of the participants were in the age group of 20-25 years (122; 43.6%). Hinduism was the predominant religion followed by eighty five percent (n=238) of the women. Only 2.1% (n=6) of the women were uneducated while the rest had some form of schooling. Most of them belonged to the age group of 20-25 years (122; 43.6%). Majority of the participants (244; 87.1%) reported that they had never heard about EC. And only 4.3% have ever used EC.Conclusions: Despite EC being available for more than a decade in India, many women still have not heard of it. Although awareness is increasing it is essential to integrate information about EC in family welfare materials and developing new strategies to increase awareness and share information about EC.


Author(s):  
Kevin A. John ◽  
Poonam R. Naik

Background: Medical students have been reported to suffer from higher perceived stress compared to general population and students in the other academic fields. The objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of stress and to identify the potential stressors among undergraduate medical students using perceived stress scale (PSS).Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 301 undergraduate medical students at a private medical college in Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka. The extent of the stress was assessed using PSS-10 and a questionnaire was used to identify the potential academic, psychosocial and environmental stressors.Results: The mean PSS score was found to be 26.34±3 in this study. Moderate stress was observed in 68% of the study participants. The PSS score was higher among the 2nd year MBBS students. Stress was observed more among female medical students (74%). Inadequate study leave (92.4%), vastness of academic curriculum (84.1%), poor quality of food in mess or home (70.4%), accommodation away from home (60.1%) and high parental expectations (48.5%) were found to be the potential stressors in this study.Conclusions: The study results thereby highlight the need to plan tailored interventions to address the various stressors and prevent stress among the medical students. 


Author(s):  
Anupam Parashar ◽  
Nidhi Chauhan ◽  
Rahul Gupta ◽  
Vineet Kumar

Background: Bio-ethics i.e. health care ethics is a set of moral principles, beliefs and values that guide us in making choices about medical care. This novel study was carried out with an objective of assessment of knowledge regarding the medical ethics among the resident doctors of Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla Himachal Pradesh.Methods: This descriptive analytical cross-sectional study was conducted at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla, Himachal Pradesh among the resident doctors using predesigned, structured, self-administered anonymous close-ended questionnaire. We analyzed the data using Stata software version 12.Results: There were a total of 61 study participants, who consented to participate, of which more than half were females (52.5%). The mean age of the study participants was 28.6±0.63 years. Regarding the source of knowledge about medical ethics most of the study participants had acquired the information during their experience at their workplace (42.6%). A majority of the male participants disagreed that confidentiality while providing the health care services should be abandoned (54.3%). More than 90% of the study participants agreed that incorporation of medical ethics is necessary in undergraduate curriculum.Conclusions: Incorporation of a formal structured teaching on medical ethics in the undergraduate curriculum is the need of the hour. Besides research work, the medical ethics committee in the institution should also act as the guiding hands to address the grievances faced by the doctors during medical practice.


Author(s):  
Tarun Kumar Sarkar ◽  
Pulak Kumar Jana ◽  
Jasmine M. ◽  
Timiresh Kumar Das ◽  
Mrinmoy Adhikary ◽  
...  

Background: Thalassemia is more prevalent in India. The main treatment of Thalassemia is blood transfusion. But the transfusion of blood has many side effects like iron overload, transfusion related infections etc. The objectives of the study were to assess the adequacy of blood transfusion for thalassemic patients and to determine the magnitude of transfusion transmitted infections among those patients.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital, West Bengal for 1 month with the sample size of 116. The blood samples from the patients were taken from the patients attending for blood transfusion in transfusion centre of Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital for two weeks dated from 24.04.2017 to 05.05.2017 to check for the hemoglobin, ferritin level and hepatitis B, C and HIV infection.Results: Among the 116 patients, even after transfusion, 94% of the study participants have their hemoglobin levels below 7 gm/dl. Only 2 individuals got their hemoglobin levels more than 9 gm/dl and only 1 patient got HIV infection post transfusion which accounts for 0.9% of study population.Conclusions: Frequent Hb estimation will help to maintain the adequacy of blood transfusion and proper screening of the blood before transfusion can help in reducing these transfusion transmitted infections.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 594-597
Author(s):  
Ankeeta Menona Jacob

The global burden of injuries in 2017 showed that 57.2 million people were affected. The study aimed to assess the patterns of injuries and costs related to the treatment of injuries. Injury in rural areas tends to be under-reported, which hinders estimation of the true prevalence of physical injuries for implementing injury prevention strategies at the community level. A community-based, cross-sectional study was conducted in the field practice area of a private medical college from May to August 2019. Physical injuries sustained by 1723 individuals over three months were collected and were classified based on ICD-10. Descriptive data were expressed using frequencies and percentages and median (Interquartile Range). Independent T-test, Mann Whitney U test, Chi-square test was used to determine statistical differences between the variables. The total number of injuries recorded was 105(6.9%) among 1723 individuals. The most common injuries were superficial injuries in 77 (70.0%), of which 98(89.1%), of which the upper 55(50.0%) limb was more affected than lower limbs 43(39.1%). The overall 3-month injury rate was 60.94(49.6-72.23) per 1000 persons. The median amount of money spent on the treatment of injuries was INR 225.0(50.0-1000.0).


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