scholarly journals A cross sectional study on the prevalence of self-medication in a Chennai based population, Tamil Nadu, India

Author(s):  
Vinithra Varadarajan ◽  
Christina Mary P. Paul ◽  
Swapna S. ◽  
Preethi S. ◽  
Keerthana Kumar ◽  
...  

Background: Self -medication is a major public health problem in India because of the easy availability of drugs even without prescription to the lay population. The objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of self-medication use among the common population in the last three months and to identify certain suspected risk factors that might be associated with it.Methods:An analytical cross- sectional study was conducted on 180 participants chosen by simple random sampling from the rural and urban field practice areas of A. C. S. Medical College in Thiruvallur district. Data was collected through a questionnaire collecting background information of the person like age, address, income, to a series of questions on self-medication and alternative medicines. Data entry was done in SPSS and p values were based on chi- square values.Results: The overall prevalence of self-medication use in the last three months was found to be 51.7% with a 95% CI of 44.7-59. Self-medication use was 2.07 times more common among subjects aged above 35 years of age and this association was statistically significant (P Value = 0.016).  The commonest reason quoted for the practice of self – medication was financial constraints (40.80%) and the commonest ailment for which self- medication was practiced was quoted as common cold (73.02%).Conclusions:Study revealed a very high prevalence of self-medication emphasizing on the need for creating awareness on the ill-effects of the same. 

Author(s):  
Mariavinifa X. ◽  
Govindarajan P. K. ◽  
John William A. Felix

Background: There has been rapid growth on the internet not only in India, but also in worldwide. It is a major public health problem affecting an enormous number of individuals. The objective of the present study was to determine the prevalence of Internet addiction and its associated factors among college students using smartphone in Tamil Nadu.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in Annamalai University from October 2019 to October 2020.A total of five hundred students from various streams (medicine, dental, bachelor of physiotherapy, engineering, arts and science) were selected conveniently and a self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. A questionnaire consisting of socio-demographic data, questions on internet usage and Young's internet addiction test were used to gather data. Descriptive Statistics was defined in terms of percentage and frequency. Inferential statistics was analysed with Chi-Square test.Results: Out of the five hundred students, 45.4% were males, 54.6 % were females .The users were divided into groups, 38.8 % as normal users, 37% as mild addicts, 21% as moderate addicts, 3.2% as severe addicts. Thus overall prevalence of internet addiction was 61.2%. Degree of internet addiction was significantly associated with age, time spent daily on the internet and using internet for social media, online communications and playing online games.Conclusions: The present study showed a prevalence of internet addiction is high among college students. Therefore, it’s essential to make awareness among the students to enhance their quality of life through the prevention of addictive usage of the internet.  


Author(s):  
Shalini Rawat ◽  
Ashwini Yadav ◽  
Kamaxi Bhate

Background: Hypertension is a major public health problem and also major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. The prevalence and severity of hypertension increases with age, and it becomes difficult to control blood pressure with increasing age particularly in women. Thus present study aims to explores the risk factors contributing for hypertension among women.Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in the field practice area of Rural Health Training Centre of Community Medicine Department for one month duration September to October 2017. All the women reporting to general OPD for routine visit to RHTC were included. Informed consent was obtained. The participants who were already known hypertensives and were already on medication were excluded. Total 200 subjects were included in the study. Percentages, chi-square test and P-value were calculated using Epi Info software.Results: Out of total 200 women maximum were in the age group of 40-60 years (64%) followed by (22.5%)in  60-70 years. 40% of women were found to be  normotensive, 16%  were in stage one 12% were in stage two and 32% were showing elevated blood pressure. Hypertension was found to be significantly associated with modifiable risk factors like BMI, physical activity, waist circumference. 66.66% of women who were obese were found to be hypertensive. 91.91% of women who had family history of hypertension were themselves hypertensive and 97 (48.5%) women who had diabetes out of them 82.47% were both diabetic as well as hypertensive.Conclusions: Screening, detection and treatment of NCDs, are key components of the response to non-communicable diseases.


Author(s):  
Arunkumar M. ◽  
Gopalakrishnan S. ◽  
Umadevi R.

Background: Tobacco is the leading global cause of preventable death which kills millions of people and causes huge economic damage every year. Smoking form of tobacco is a major modifiable risk factor for number of chronic non-communicable diseases. In spite of various statutory warnings, smoking still remains a major Public health problem especially in young males. In order to reduce the magnitude and for effective control, the risk factors and distribution should be well known. This study was planned with the objective of assessing the prevalence and determinants of smoking among rural young males of Kancheepuram district, Tamil Nadu, India.Methods: This community based cross sectional study was carried out between March and May 2018 among rural young males aged between 18 to 29 years. Sample size of 431 was calculated by using 4PQ/L2 and the respondents were selected from sampled households using systematic random sampling. Data were collected using a pre-tested, structured questionnaire, which were analyzed using SPSS version 16.0 and presented using descriptive and analytical statistics.Results: Among 422 participants interviewed, the prevalence of smoking was 23%. Factors found to be protective against smoking were employment status and sedentary type of jobs. Factors found to be significantly associated with smoking were individuals with smoking friends and family members, habit of alcoholism, employment and low education status.Conclusions: Since smoking is a preventable cause of morbidity and mortality, efforts should be made to control its use by intensive health education, implementing counsellingfacilities and rigorous enforcement of anti-tobacco legislation. 


Author(s):  
Saravanan Chinnaiyan ◽  
Bhavya Babu

Background: Infertility is a major public health problem that affects 15% of the global population. Fertility is the ability to conceive pregnancy and has a positive social value whereas; infertility has a negative social value in Indian culture. So, infertility is a serious problem in developing and undeveloped countries are more than of biological.Aim: To assess the knowledge, attitude, perception, and practices, and myths about male infertility in the slums of Chennai.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study carried out in the Slums of Chennai from January 2020 to March 2020. A total of 125 male and 125 female participants of the age group ≥18 years were recruited for the study by simple random sampling. Results: The study revealed that there is adequate knowledge of the common causes of infertility, but clinical knowledge is comparatively low. Both men and women shared almost equal knowledge of infertility. Conclusion: Educational programmes, regular campaigns by Accredited social health activists (ASHAs) and the involvement of community are recommended to increase knowledge about the causes of infertility as well as decrease the stigma associated with this condition.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Anup Latne ◽  
Prabhakar Jirvankar

Hypertension is a major public health problem all over the world. The incidence of hypertension is increasing year after year and the prevalence of hypertension is increasing day by day due to increased life expectancy and aging population and their sedentary lifestyle. Hypertension is known to cause microvascular changes and increased cardiovascular risk from it. Microalbuminuria possibly reflects a state of increased renal endothelial permeability and is an easily measured marker of rather diffuse endothelial dysfunction, low grade inflammation and vascular disease burden2. Microalbuminuria has been determined as an important prognostic indicator and has been reported to be associated with increased cardiovascular risk and progressive renal damage. Reliable data on the prevalence of microalbuminuria in the general population and its association with cardiovascular risk factors is limited. Till now, there is little data available regarding screening and early treatment of hypertensive patients with microalbuminuria, as in the case of microalbuminuric non diabetic subjects. With these perspective this cross sectional study of microalbuminuria in non-diabetic hypertensive patients was undertaken to study prevalence of microalbuminuria in Non Diabetic hypertensive patients. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of microalbuminuria in non-diabetic hypertensive patients and to correlate the presence of microalbuminuria with the patients of different clinical profiles. Materials and Methods: This was observational, cross sectional study of Patients diagnosed with hypertension either admitted in ward or attending OPD of Medical College and Tertiary Care Centre. Urine microalbumin creatinine ratio was used for estimation of microalbuminuria. Conclusion: It was proved that microalbuminuria prevalence was directly proportional to the duration of hypertension, the stage of hypertension. Prevalence of microalbuminria was low in ACE inhibitor and ARB treated hypertensive patients.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Demelash Wachamo ◽  
Fisseha Bonja

Abstract Background Opportunistic infections are late complications of HIV infection is the depletion of the immune system. It is a major public health problem and high morbidity AIDS patients die of AIDS-related infections in developing countries like Ethiopia. Identification of opportunistic infections (OIs) is important to develop a specific intervention. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the burden and associated factors of opportunistic infections.Method A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 420 randomly selected HIV/AIDS patients taking anti-retroviral therapy. Data was collected from selected hospitals in Sidama Zone based on population proportion to size. Data was collected by a pre-tested questionnaire and a pre-tested checklist from the medical records of patients. Data entry and analyzed for descriptive and logistic regression models by SPSS v.23. The result declared as statistically significant at p < 0.05.Result The magnitude of opportunistic infections was 39.6%. Major identified OIs was oral candidacies 23.2%, recurrent bacterial pneumonia 21.5%, Herpes zoster 6.3%, and Pulmonary Tuberculosis 6.0%.The magnitude of opportunistic associated with; older age [AOR=2.69, 95% CI: 1.33-5.43], No formal education [AOR=3.12, 95% CI: 1.06-9.25], Low monthly income [AOR=2.27, 95%CI:1.35-3.83], initial CD4 count less than 200 cells/mm3 [AOR=1.91, 95% CI:1.05-3.46), WHO clinical stage II [AOR=2.43, 95% CI:1.34-4.42] and stage III and IV [AOR=4.27, 95% CI: 2.12-8.59], had no extra medicine additional to ART (prophylaxis) had [AOR= 5.91, 95% CI: 3.31-10.56], who interrupt ART medicines [AOR=2.03, 95% CI: 1.09- 3.80] and Khat chewing [AOR=5.48, 95% CI: 2.32-12.96] when compared to their counterparts.Conclusions The overall magnitude of opportunistic infections was high when compared with other studies. Health officials and clinicians need to give attention on the strengthening of the provision if ART with prophylaxis on early-stage and adhrerence, implementation of the TB/HIV collaboration activity, and early initiation of ART to reduce opportunistic infections.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 30
Author(s):  
Bharatkumar Balkrishna Pandya ◽  
Upendrakumar Rameshbhai Chaudhari ◽  
Avirat A. Bhatt ◽  
Nilesh Thakor

Background: Nutritional Anemia and visual impairment among school age children are recognized as major public health problem in India. Authors objective was to study prevalence of anemia and visual impairment among school going adolescents of Vadodara and Surat city of Gujarat, India.Methods: This cross sectional study was carried during period from April 2015 to March 2016. Total 8 schools were selected from Vadodara and Surat city by purposive sampling. After taking the permission of principals of schools and informed written consent of the parents of children, 859 children from these schools were examined for anaemia and visual impairment. The data was collected by predesign, pretested proforma and analysed using SPSS version 17 (Trial version).Results: Out of total 859 children 421(49.1%) were female. Mean age of the study children was 8.95±1.52 years. The prevalence of anemia in children in present study was 61.6 % (529 children). The prevalence of anemia in female (274, 65.1%) was higher than males (255, 58.2%). Moderate visual impairment and blindness was 5.9% in girls and 8.2% in boys respectively. Severe visual impairment and blindness was 2.1% in girls and 2.7% in boys respectively and the gender difference was not statistically significant. Though 61(7.1%) children had moderate to severe visual impairment to blindness only 21 (2.4%) children were wearing spectacles.Conclusions: High prevalence of anaemia and visual impairment among these children needs great attention and health education.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Assaye Belay Gelaw ◽  
Solomon Abebaw Andargie

Abstract Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and it is the most important of public health problem worldwide. A critical element in tackling the COVID-19 crisis is personal behavioral change; however, there is a paucity of evidence about peoples’ awareness towards COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, the aim of this was to assess the community’s awareness status towards COVID-19 in Sheka, Southwestern Ethiopia.Methods: Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted 10th to 21th April 2020. Four hundred-nineteen individuals participated during the study. Both univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to identify significant factors of awareness status, and variables with p-value<0.05 indicated it significantly influences the awareness status of the individuals towards COVID-19.Results: According to the study’s results, nearly half (49.4 %) of the participants had awareness about COVID-19 pandemic. Factors such being female equal (AOR: 0.476, 95%CI: 0.293, 0.772),education being secondary and above(AOR:2.178,95%CI:1.323,3.586),and prevention methods being fully used (AOR,8.127,95%CI: 1.273, 51.871)were significantly influencing the awareness status of the community towards COVID-19 pandemic than their counterparts.Conclusion: The study showed that there is a low awareness status among people towards COVID-19.Hence, programs to improve awareness towards COVID-19 pandemic is essential to prevent and control the pandemic.


Pharmacy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oumar Bassoum ◽  
Ndèye Sougou ◽  
Mayassine Diongue ◽  
Mamadou Lèye ◽  
Mouhamad Mbodji ◽  
...  

Background: Bacterial resistance is a major public health problem worldwide. One solution to this scourge is to sensitize the general public on rational use of antibiotics. Our goal was to assess people’s knowledge and opinions about antibiotic use and bacterial resistance in an urban setting. Method: We performed a cross-sectional study. A convenience sampling was done. A questionnaire was administered to 400 persons during face-to-face interviews. Results: Most respondents thought that antibiotics are effective against colds/flu (69.8%), cough (72.3%) and sore throat (64.4%). At the same time, 42.8% stated that antibiotic therapy can be stopped as soon as the symptoms disappear. Only 8.8% and 41.8% of people knew that handwashing and vaccination prevented bacterial resistance. Globally, 7% of people had a good knowledge. Socio-demographic variables were not associated with the level of knowledge. The main sources of information were entourage and pharmacy staff. Regarding the opinions, 78.3% of surveyed participants the people thought that that people overuse antibiotics. Additionally, 28% said that they have no role to play against bacterial resistance. Conclusion: People living in an urban setting had a low knowledge about antibiotic use and bacterial resistance. There is a need to implement awareness campaigns. Further studies on population practices toward antibiotic use are necessary.


2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Gupta ◽  
K Dhanker ◽  
NA Ingle ◽  
N Kaur

ABSTRACT Objectives To assess the oral health status and treatment needs of inmates of, District Jail Mathura. MATERIALS AND METHODS A cross sectional study was carried out on the inmates (N=870) in the district jail of Mathura. Proforma related to general demographic information was filled by the examiner and the subjects were clinically examined using WHO 1997 “Oral Health Assessment Form RESULTS This study revealed that 92.5% of the inmates were male. 53.8% never visited the dentist & 87% never received any type of dental care during imprisonment. Prevalence of pro-mucosal lesion was 59.8%. Inmates had poor periodontal conditions and 79% inmates had dental caries with mean DMFT of 4.79. CONCLUSION Periodontal disease, mucosal lesions and dental caries are major public health problem among the inmates, which require special attention and efforts from government and other organizations to meet their treatment needs.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document