Indian Journal of Community Health
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Consumer Price Index (CPI) – Types & Sources
Get PDFThe consumer price index is an important parameter to measure inflation. It reflects the relative changes in the prices of goods and services and its effect on inflation. These changes affect the real purchasing power of consumers and their welfare. It is used for regulation of wages, calculation of dearness allowance for workers and employees and for policy formations. Consumer price indices are of different types. Each type has its own significance. It is often difficult to identify the sources of consumer price indices and their specific uses
Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra: The Health Perspective
Get PDFIn 2023, India became the most populated country in the world with a population of 1.42 billion, providing it potential for significant economic growth by leveraging the demographic dividend.(1,2) As India becomes the global super power that the nation has potential to be, it is imperative to prioritize the well-being of the citizens. The government, being the elected representative body of people, holds the responsibility for ensuring the welfare of the masses. The Government of India periodically introduces welfare programs to cater to a diverse spectrum of the population.(3) As per the 2022 Union Budget, there are 740 central sector schemes.(4) The effectiveness of any program lies in its ability to reach its eligible beneficiaries. Unfortunately, several welfare schemes provided by the government do not reach its eligible recipients due to lack of awareness.(5) An information drought occurs, especially in rural areas despite the government’s best efforts in creating awareness through radio, TV, print or online media.(6
Acceptance of COVID-19 Vaccination Among Health Care Workers in India
Get PDFBackground: The coronavirus disease 2019 has been spread almost all over the world in the last two years, including in India. Vaccines are a critical tool in the battle against COVID-19, and India has flagged the largest vaccination drive on 16 January 2021. Although public acceptance was varying, which can lead to non-acceptance.
Aim & Objective: To estimate an acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine and its associated factors.
Settings and Design: An analytical cross-sectional study among health care workers in India
Methods & Material: It was conducted using a validated, self-administrated online survey questionnaire, and data were analyzed using SPSS 23 version. The outcome variable was healthcare workers’ acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Results: A total of 450 HCWs participated, including 205(45.6%) women and 245(54.4%) men. A total of 270 (60%) subjects will accept vaccines, while 33.3% were unwilling to accept and wait for vaccines. Male gender (OR=3.14), being married and experienced (OR=11.49), vaccine effectiveness (OR=6.4), vaccine safety (OR=3.4), and past history (OR=2.28) were significantly associated. On applying logistic regression for associated factors, gender (B= -1.145, S.E.= 0.200, Wald 32.748), being married (B= -1.482, S.E.= 0.216, Wald 46.937), for experienced (B= -0.865, S.E.= 0.200, effectiveness (B= -1.856, S.E.= 0.245, Wald 57.431), Safety (B= -1.224, S.E.= 0.202, Wald 36.633) and past history (B= -0.357, S.E.= 0.248, Wald 2.071) found significant. Recommendation: Proper information is crucial and healthcare workers’ attitudes about vaccines are an important factor for acceptance and recommendation of the vaccine to the public for population-wide coverage
Prevalence of Smartphone Addiction and its Relation with Depression among School-going Adolescents
Get PDFBackground: Smartphone addiction among adolescents is an increasingly recognized problem worldwide. It affects the
psychological well-being of an individual.
Aim and objective: The current study aimed to assess smartphone addiction’s prevalence and its relation to depression among adolescents.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 400 school-going adolescents. Smartphone Addiction Scale - Short version (SAS-SV) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) were used to assess the prevalence of smartphone addiction and depression. Data were analyzed using Epi info software for windows (CDC, Atlanta). Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: The mean age of study participants was 14.4 years (SD=1.5 years). The prevalence of smartphone addiction was 23%, while depression was present among 45% of the study participants. Comparatively higher duration of smartphone use was significantly associated with smartphone addiction. Depression was significantly higher among smartphone addicts (77.2%) as compared to their counterparts (35.4%).
Conclusion and Recommendation: The smartphone usage of adolescents, if not monitored, could lead to its addiction and thus increase the risk of depression among them. To prevent smartphone addiction, limiting children’s screen time is recommended. In this regard, parents can play a pivotal role by becoming responsible digital role models for their children
Perspectives of Teachers at Medical Colleges Across India regarding the Competency based Medical Education Curriculum – A Qualitative, Manual, Theoretical Thematic Content Analysis
Get PDFBackground: Competency-based medical education (CBME) curriculum has been implemented in India since 2019 with a goal to create an “Indian Medical Graduate” (IMG) possessing requisite knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, and responsiveness. Objectives: To explore teachers’ perceptions across India at medical colleges on the newly implemented competency-based medical education curriculum.
Methods: This was a qualitative cross?sectional study conducted among teachers working at medical colleges across India, between February and April 2022 (n = 192). The data collection was done using Google forms online survey platform on teachers’ perception regarding CBME, its specific components, and perceived bottlenecks. We analyzed this qualitative data using manual, theoretical thematic content analysis following the steps endorsed in Braun and Clarke’s six-phase framework.
Results: The majority of the teachers (64.1%) have positively responded to the CBME curriculum’s implementation. However, it came with a caution that the curriculum should continuously evolve and adapt to regional demands. The foundation course, early clinical exposure, and the family adoption program were the specific components of CBME curriculum over which the teachers raised concerns. The need for additional teachers in each department (department-specific teacher or faculty per hundred students ratio to be worked out) and the need for enabling faculty preparedness through adequate training was highlighted. Concerns were also raised regarding implementing CBME with teachers without a medical background (especially in preclinical departments). Conclusion: It is the need of the hour for the curriculum to incorporate a systematic feedback mechanism built into the system, though which such critical appraisals can be meaning collated and acted upon, to ultimately evolve, thereby creating an “Indian Medical Graduate” for the needs of todays’ society
Vulnerability to Mental Health Problems in Indian Population during Lockdown amidst COVID-19 Pandemic: An Alarm not to Snooze
Get PDFBackground: Lockdown measures are being implemented in several parts of the world to control the spread of novel coronavirus. This unprecedented crisis has significantly affected the lives of people in different ways.
Aim: To understand the experiences and vulnerability to mental health problems during lockdown among the Indian population during COVID-19 pandemic.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using an online survey form circulated through various social media platforms from April 12 to May 3, 2020 containing self-reported questionnaires to collect lockdown related experiences and scales to assess anxiety (GAD-7) and depression (PHQ-9). A convenience sampling method was used.
Results: 442 valid responses were received from different states of India. Statistical analysis revealed that one-third of the respondents suffered from some form of anxiety and depression during a lockdown. Less than 10% of them had severe levels of symptoms. The majority were males aged 18-45 years and private sector employees. Delivering essential services was involved with significant anxiety and depression. Availability of food and daily essentials was the most common problem. Difficulty in availing medicines and financial crisis were significant predictors of anxiety and depression. Worsening of interpersonal relationships was associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression.
Conclusions: The study concluded that experiences during the lockdown and associated psychological outcomes are important factors to consider and appropriate preventive measures to be taken in case of any future lockdowns
Status of Anaemia amongst women in India: trend analysis of NFHS data
Get PDFThe study was taken up to assess the changing trend in prevalence and severity of anaemia in women of reproductive age over the last 15 years by analyzing National Family Health Survey (NFHS) factsheet data and to draw a comparison between the prevalence of anaemia across different states/UTs of India. NFHS 3, 4 and 5 factsheets have been referred for the same. An increase in the prevalence of anaemia from 53% to 57% in all women aged 15-49 years is seen, 50.4% to 52.2% in pregnant women and 53.2% to 57.2% in non-pregnant women between NFHS 4 and 5. West Bengal has the highest prevalence of anaemia, followed by Tripura (67.2%) and Assam with 65.9% among women of 15-49 years. NFHS 5 data shows an increase in the prevalence of anaemia in all women by 4%, 1.8% in pregnant women and a increase by 4 % in non-pregnant women. Anemia Mukt Bharat campaign launched in 2019, was expected to reduce or inert the anaemia burden, but NFHS 5 data indicates a surge in anaemia incidences significantly across women of all age groups over the last five years. Hence, there is a need for revamping and implementing the programmes in a better way
Development and evaluation of a user friendly android application for advocacy of “Organ Donation” among residents of Western Rajasthan, 2022
Get PDFIntroduction: Organ donation is either when a person allows healthy transplantable organs/tissues to be removed after death, or when the donor is alive. Digitization in various aspects of healthcare is replacing humans, eliminating biases and judgement errors. The use of an android application reduces subjectivity in need assessment, accessing basic information and contacting the right facilities to register for organ donation. Objectives: To develop an android application to increase awareness among participants. To assess knowledge, attitudes and practices related to organ donation through the application. To evaluate satisfaction levels regarding the android application. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 384 participants of urban and rural areas of Pali district over four months. A predesigned pretested questionnaire was used for data collection by trained volunteers and analyzed using Epi info (version 7.2). Results: The study was conducted among 192 urban and 192 rural participants of Pali district whose average age was 27.5 years in urban and 24 years respectively ,60.2% were females ,29.2% were married, 96% belonged to Hindu religion and 43% were medical students .Although 82.8% of the participants had heard about organ donation only 17.2% had pledged to donate organs. The rural and urban differences were marked stating religion as a determinant of their attitude for organ donation (p-value 0.009), that infants and elders could not donate organs (p-value 0.014), that organ donation was costly (p -value 0.00), that doctors should not advocate organ donation (p-value 0.014). The median agreement was above 5 on the Likert’s scale regarding the application being better than print media, increasing insight to organ donation and giving a sense of social responsibility. Conclusions: Awareness about organ donation is marred by myths, but the community had a positive attitude to use the application for increasing awareness levels
Prevalence and Pattern of Ocular morbidity amongst school going children in rural and urban areas of Aligarh
Get PDFIntroduction: Many ocular diseases have their origin in early childhood and if the morbidity goes unnoticed it may adversely affect the child’s school performance and may also cause severe ocular disability in the later part of life. An early recognition and intervention leads to lifelong impact. Objective: To study the prevalence and pattern of various ocular morbidities in school going children of urban and rural areas of Aligarh. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study carried out from October 2017 to July 2019 in 10 schools in Aligarh, a district in North Western UP. Schools from urban and rural areas were listed and 5 urban and 5 rural schools were selected by lottery method. Results: Of the total 9982 students enrolled in study, 5742 children were from urban schools, and 4240 children were from rural schools. A total 2189 students were found to be suffering from various ocular morbidities, yielding an overall prevalence of ocular morbidity of 21.93%. The prevalence in urban and rural schools was 22.41% and 21.27% respectively (P=.286). Refractive error was found to be the most common ocular morbidity followed by Vitamin A Deficiency. Conclusion: Refractive errors and Vitamin A deficiency were the most common ocular disorders identified which are preventable and treatable causes of childhood blindness. These conditions can be easily identified by regular eye screening programs and promptly corrected. Awareness among school teachers should also be improved and they should play an active role in identifying the ocular problems and referring them for timely management
The MILLET MISSION: The potential to combat non-communicable diseases and future research opportunities in India
Get PDFNCD Burden and the role of nutritionChronic diseases, often known as non-communicable diseases (NCDs), pose a significant threat to worldwide public health. As per World Health Organisation (WHO), NCDs account for 74% of all fatalities worldwide, with cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease, and diabetes being the leading causes.[1] Inadequate nutrition, including diets heavy in sugar, salt, saturated and trans fats, and deficient in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein sources, is a significant risk factor for NCDs. The World Health Organization suggests a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds and low in processed foods, sugar, saturated and trans fats.[2