Indian Journal of Community Health
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Determination of Gender using Discriminant Analysis of Hand Dimensions among Adult Participants
Get PDFBackground: The estimation of gender using hand dimensions is a crucial role in forensic investigation and legal sciences.
Objectives: In this study, the mean score of hand measurements have been derived and linear discriminant analysis has been applied to predict gender from hand dimensions. An Independent t-test has been employed to know discrimination between male and female. The accuracy of gender estimation has been derived and checked by ROC curve.
Material and Methods: A sample of 150 participants has been collected for the completion of this study, where 78 males and 72 females were found aged between 18 and 24 years. The breadths and lengths of left and right hands of the participants have been measured.
Results: Respondents’ mean score of length and breadth of left hand were found 17.69 ± 1.30 and 7.56 ± 1.17, respectively. It was found to be significantly different in the respondents’ mean scores of males and females.
Conclusions: The hand dimensions of males were higher than females. The prediction of a number of females and males were 76 and 74, respectively, and its accuracy was observed 0.87. This research can be applied for larger sample and would be helpful in predicting gender discrimination among adults through hand dimensions
Obesity in Adolescents: Prevalence and Association with Sociodemographic and Lifestyle Factors
Get PDFIntroduction: Overweight and obesity has become a worldwide epidemic and is a growing public health concern. The increase in prevalence and severity of obesity among children and adolescents has been attributed largely to behavioral factors such as changing eating habits and sedentary lifestyles.
Objective: To determine prevalence of obesity and abdominal obesity among adolescents and its association with sociodemographic factors and lifestyle.
Methods: Present cross-sectional study was conducted in the urban field practice area under the Community Medicine Department of LLRM Medical College, Meerut, among 872 adolescents. All localities in the field area were covered and house to house survey was done. Questions were asked about eating patterns, physical activity and sedentary lifestyle. Data was collected and analyzed using appropriate statistical tests.
Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 17.43, 6.88%, respectively. Obesity was significantly higher among females, those who indulged in unhealthy eating habits were physically inactive, watched television for a longer duration and ate junk while watching television.
Conclusion: In the present study, we found that high junk food consumption and a sedentary lifestyle were found to be significantly associated with childhood overweight/obesity. As a result, timely interventions should be taken to improve awareness about healthy lifestyle behavior to prevent obesity and its complications among adolescents
Personal Life of Medical Journal Editor: Artificial Intelligence as almost First Author may come to Rescue
Get PDFUtopic or dystopic future is on the horizon unless it is already here. Maybe it is utopic for medical journal editors if artificial intelligence (AI) is writing medical research papers submitted to medical journals because in due course of time, AI may evolve to become AI editors and AI peers relieving humans from burning the midnight oil to run medical journals as medical journal editors while seeking human peers for review of submitted articles before editing and publishing as many peer-reviewed articles as humanely and appropriately possible
Rabies elimination policy guidelines: Where do we stand?
No full textIntroduction: Rabies is one of the Neglected Tropical diseases. India accounts for 35% of rabies-related human deaths globally. Despite effective preventive and control strategies, India hasn\u27t been able to eliminate rabies. Methodology: A narrative review was done by comparing various policies and programmes related to rabies control and elimination in India and other countries, and the gaps persisting in the Indian guidelines and its implementation were assessed. Results: There are multiple gaps in the Indian programme implementation ranging from multiple stockouts of vaccines, unavailability of rabies immunoglobulin, and lack of a robust surveillance system to lack of refreshing training of the health staff. Recommendations: For effective implementation, the population should have increased awareness, with increased production and an effective supply chain of vaccines and immunoglobulins. There should also be a robust surveillance system with periodic refresher training of the health staff
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene: A Global Imperative for Health
No full textClean water, proper sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) can have a significant impact on human health. Lack of financial resources prevent developing nations from making investments in WASH infrastructure, such as water treatment plants and sanitation facilities. Achieving universal access to clean water and sanitation is hampered by poor governance and insufficient policy frameworks. Governments, civil society organizations, and the private sector need to collaborate to invest in infrastructure and technology, promote good hygiene practices, and undertake education and awareness-raising programmes in order to ensure that everyone has access to clean water and sanitation
Quality of Life in People Living with HIV/AIDS attending ART Plus Centre in Kanpur Nagar
Get PDFBackground: HIV/AIDS affects an individual physically as well as mentally, socially and financially. ART treatment has increased life expectancy so Quality of Life (QOL) has become an important aspect. Aim & Objective: To assess QOL in people living with HIV/AIDS attending ART Plus center in Kanpur Nagar. Material and Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out on 407 registered patients at ART Plus centre from 1st march 2021 to 31st December 2021.WHOQOL-HIV BREF instrument was used to assess Quality of life. Result: Overall QOL score of male patients (14.62±2.05) was found higher than female patients (13.46±1.92). Married study subjects had maximum overall QOL score (14.65±2.00) and minimum QOL score was found in Widowed (12.99±1.84). Maximum overall QOL score was found in Class I (15.62±2.08) and minimum score was found in Class V (13.60±2.00) of modified BG Prasad socioeconomic classification. The study showed that there was an association between QOL scores with gender, marital status and socioeconomic status. Conclusion: In this study QOL score was found higher in male, married study subjects with higher socioeconomic status
Evaluation of healthcare waste management among health functionaries of Gujarat
Get PDFIntroduction: Health Care Waste (HCW) is generated by various activities in healthcare facilities like hospitals, clinical, research institutions, laboratories, blood banks, etc. HCW is both infectious and hazardous and, unless rendered noninfectious and safe, can prove to be hazardous to people coming in contact with it. Objectives: To assess the Knowledge and Practice regarding HCW Management among health functionaries of districts of Gujarat and its association between the designation and qualification with the Knowledge and Practice score. Methodology: It was an observational and cross-sectional study using pretested, reliable, and valid questionnaire. A sample size of 152 was calculated based on the findings of a pilot study. We have implemented our study in Gujarat, divided into four parts (Saurashtra, Central, South, and North Gujarat). Study sites were selected equally in all four areas. Results: A total of 163 healthcare participants were involved in the study, most respondents were from primary healthcare centers (31.7%), followed by medical college hospitals (14.5%). In our study, Bhavnagar district had the highest number of contributors (21.7%), followed by Morbi district (19.1%). The hospital administrator category had the highest knowledge score, while Infection Control or Waste Management Officer had the highest practice score. MBBS/AYUSH graduates had the highest knowledge and practice scores. It is also apparent that staff nurses had better knowledge and practice scores than ANM. Conclusion: The overall assessment score was good for all health workers. Doctors\u27 better knowledge and practice scores signify qualification\u27s role in BMW management
Community Medicine Outpatient Department: Patient profile and reasons for bypass of lower-level public health facilities
Get PDFBackground: The General OPD under the department of Community Medicine at LLRM Medical College, Meerut was inaugurated with the vision to improve quality of OPD services by reducing the patient burden and waiting time at specialist OPDs. Aim & Objective: To describe the profile of patients attending the Community Medicine OPD in LLRM Medical College, Meerut and to estimate the extent and reasons for bypass of lower-level public health facility by patients attending the general OPD. Settings and Design: A hospital based descriptive study was conducted in the general OPD. Methods and Material: Data of all patients from 1st July,2023 to 31st August,2023 was collected from the registers maintained in the OPD. A sample of 215 patients were selected by systematic random sampling to study the objective to assess bypass of lower-level public health facility. Statistical analysis used: Descriptive statistics. Results: A total of 2570 patients attended the general OPD from 1st July,2023 to 31st August,2023. Around 12.8% patients required referral to specialist OPDs. Most common presenting complaints were respiratory symptoms (29.8%). It was seen that 58.8% patients had bypassed the lower-level public health system and the most common reasons were non-availability of a facility nearby (26.8%), not satisfied with previous experience (23.7%), non-availability of treatment (21.6%) and investigations (17.5%), and lack of awareness of services available at the public health facility (15.4%). Conclusions: The general OPD serves as a model for other medical colleges to emulate and improve the quality of services at tertiary care centres
Routine Childhood Immunization: Its health, developmental, economic and social benefits
Get PDFIntroduction: Immunization plays a pivotal role in public health. It is one of the most cost-effective inventions that have helped bring down a significant amount of burden of diseases among under-five children, some of which are now on the verge of extinction. Objective: To assess the diverse benefits of routine childhood immunization. Methodology: A literature review was conducted using electronic database to understand the broader benefits of immunization. Results: Studies have shown that routine childhood immunization have been able to reduce the incidence of influenza and other targeted diseases (diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type b, measles, mumps, polio, and rubella) by 17% and 100% respectively. Conclusion: Vaccines are known to have protective and positive health benefit which extends beyond infancy and childhood. It is therefore one of the best strategies in public health to reduce morbidity and mortality and enable child survival
Integrating diversity into the medical curriculum
Get PDFIn the field of medical education, diversity refers to the presence and representation of persons from a diversified range of personal backgrounds, experiences, and characteristics across the student community, faculty members, and employees in the institution. The scope of diversity in medical education is immense and it plays a vital role in creating an effective learning environment. Once students are exposed to a group of diverse students and patients during their undergraduate training, there is a significant improvement in cultural competence, which becomes crucial in our mission to deliver patient-centered care. Considering the merits of diversity in the medical curriculum for medical students, there is an indispensable need to take specific measures to ensure that diversity is integrated in the curriculum, as it will also ensure the delivery of equitable and culturally competent medical care. As important is to ensure the integration of diversity into medical curriculum, equal importance has to be given to the measurement of various initiatives that have been taken to promote diversity in medical education. In conclusion, diversity in medical education is the need of the hour to create a fruitful learning environment for medical students. This calls for the need to take measures for the integration of diversity into the medical curriculum and subsequently identify strategies and indicators to measure and monitor the progress of diversity initiatives in medical institutions