Indian Journal of Community Health
Not a member yet
1720 research outputs found
Sort by
Prevalence of depression and health related quality of life among patients with diabetes mellitus and hypertension attending a secondary care hospital in district Faridabad, Haryana
Get PDFBackground: Diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension (HT) have significant effect on the mental health of the patient. and. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of depression, and the quality of life among patients with diabetes mellitus and hypertension who attended a secondary care hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 618 patients who had DM and/or HT. PHQ-9 and WHO-BREF QOL questionnaire were administered to assess depression and health related quality of life respectively. Results: More than 2/3rd of patients had depression. Among those who had depression, nearly half (46%) had moderate depression and 2.1% had severe depression. The proportion of severely depressed patients was higher in diabetes mellitus group compared to the hypertension group. Patients that were depressed had poorer quality of life compared to non-depressed, and the difference was statistically significant. Conclusion: Patients with diabetes mellitus and hypertension may be screened for depression and managed accordingly
Knowledge, preferences, practices, and attitudes about breastfeeding among postnatal mothers in Uttarakhand, India: a cross-sectional study
Get PDFBackground: Breastmilk is the natural and safest first food for the newborn. It has nutritional, immunological, behavioural, and offers mother-infant bonding. Objective: The objective of the study was to explore the knowledge, practice, and attitudes of mothers towards breastfeeding. Material & Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among conveniently selected 950 postnatal mothers attending the immunization clinic and paediatric OPD with their children for vaccination and treatment of other minor illnesses from April 2018 to November 2019 in selected hospitals of Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. Mothers were face-to-face interviewed using structured knowledge, preference, practices, and attitude questionnaires about newborn breastfeeding. Tools were validated and tested for reliability. Results: The average knowledge scores (11.72±1.78) indicated that mothers have good knowledge about breastfeeding. Most mothers (81.45%) fed their babies with colostrum, and 82% were exclusively breastfeeding. It was also reported about top feeds like honey, coconut water, grape water, ghuttee, lactogen among about 20% of the participants. The average score of the Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale (IIFAS) (58.11±6.44) lay in the range of neutral attitudes related to breastfeeding practices among the mothers. Conclusion: Breastfeeding practices were adequate among many mothers, but there were practices of throwing colostrum, topfeed baby and early initiation of weaning. Thus, it is necessary to create awareness among the mothers and their families about the correct practices of feeding the newborn baby; eventually, the attitude will change
A follow up study of discharged COVID-19 patients admitted at tertiary care hospital of Ahmedabad city
Get PDFIntroduction: Though there is limited information on late sequelae of COVID-19, reports of persistent symptoms in persons who recovered from COVID-19 illness have emerged. The most frequently reported symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, cough. Objectives: 1.To identify the persistence or development of various symptoms among discharged COVID-19 patients 2.To study the outcome of COVID-19 infection after one month of discharge 3.To assess the difference in the quality of life pre and post COVID-19 status of study participants by using EuroQol Visual Analogue scale. Material & Methods: A Longitudinal study was carried out among all discharged confirmed COVID-19 patients aged more than 18 years and above in 1st December 2020 to 31st December 2020. 50% of patients discharged in December 2020 were selected by simple random sampling method. Status of present symptoms at the time of discharge and after one month of discharge were taken through telephonic interview. Results: COVID-19patients had persistent symptoms like fatigue, cough, & anosmia respectively at the time of discharge. 7 (4.6%) patients found dead at the time follow up after one month. According to EQ-VAS, 79 (52.3%) COVID-19 patients perceived improved quality of life at the time of follow up one month after discharge as compare to the time of discharge. Conclusion: There is significant improvement in quality of life seen among the patients at the time of follow up than at the time of discharge. At the time of follow up, 4.6% deaths observed and some patients had persistent symptoms like fatigue, dyspnea
The unspoken plight of married adolescent girls in rural Tamil Nadu: Narrative summary on unmet sexual and reproductive health needs and barriers
Get PDFBackground: Young women who marry as adolescents face a number of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) issues. This study aimed to identify unmet SRH needs of adolescent girls and barriers they face in achieving them in rural Tamilnadu, India. Methodology: This qualitative study used narratives to understand participants and their immediate family’s SRH needs and barriers based on World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Totally, 14 in-depth interviews with young women and 14 focus group discussions with family members were conducted. The collected data were recorded digitally and transcribed verbatim and analysed by content analysis method. Results: Unmet SRH needs, primarily constituted of family planning methods, menstrual hygiene, sexual health, and Sexually Transmitted Diseases STD awareness. Barriers to healthcare access are societal stigma, taboos, intimate partner violence, and early marriage. Conclusions: The topic of family planning was taboo, menstruation as a negative influence on their daily activities, engaging in sexual activities was to provide sexual pleasure to their partners, to comply with their partners\u27 wishes when under the influence of alcohol, and to produce children and lack of education regarding obtaining consent for sexual activity. We can conclude that it is important to understand how the SRH needs of adolescent girls can be met and need better-suited policies and services
Job Burnout Assessment Among Officer Grade Bank Employees of Meerut District
Get PDFBackground: India is in a transitioning state and so is it’s banking sector with wide socioeconomic differences and rapidly growing economy. In order to ensure smooth implementation of these policies, bank employees in banks are required to put in extra labor and hours of work and the fact that policies keep on changing time to time are a constant stressors in bank employees which may lead to burnout. Methods and Material: This was cross sectional study carried out among of Officer grade bank employees of urban block Meerut district situated in Uttar Pradesh. A total of 216 samples were collected through self-designed and semi structured questionnaire which included socio demographic profile and Shirom-Melamed Burnout Questionnaire (SMBQ) for assessing burnout. The simple random sampling technique was applied through computer random tables method for selection of banks and data was analyzed through SPSS19 and Microsoft excel .Results: 19.4% bank officers have pathological burnout and 55.1% of bank officers who are at brink of developing burnout. Conclusions: The Physical fatigue factor was found to be the least responsible for burnout in our study and the prevalence of burnout was found significantly more among married bank officers, living with nuclear type of family
Folate supplementation as a strategy to reduce Neural Tube Defects
Get PDFFolic acid is a vitamin known to prevent neural tube defects, megaloblastic anaemia, cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, etc. The main natural sources of folate are plant and vegetables e.g. green leafy vegetables, broccoli, asparagus, citrus fruits (orange, strawberry), beans, nuts, cauliflowers, beets, corn etc. and meat products like liver. The primary function of folate is its contribution in the synthesis and repair of the DNA. The bioavailability of food folate is approximately 50%. The bioavailability of folic acid taken with meal compared to with water on empty stomach is 85% and 100% respectively.(1) Hence, it is easier to achieve the recommended daily allowances with fortified food as compared to natural food due to higher stability and bioavailability of synthetic folate when compared to natural food.(2
Practice of menstrual hygiene among school going adolescent girls in the rural areas of district Muzaffarnagar
Get PDFBackground: Every year, May 28 is considered as the Global Menstrual Hygiene Day. Many studies have revealed that most of the adolescent girls had incomplete and inaccurate information about the menstrual physiology and hygiene. Hygiene related practices during menstruation are of considerable importance, as it has a health impact in terms of increased vulnerability to reproductive tract infections (RTI) and other health problems. Aim & Objectives: To find out the menstrual hygiene practices and their association with socio-demographic characteristics of study participants. Material and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 286 school going adolescents girls in the age group of 11-19 years in 5 schools (three government and two private) in the rural area of district Muzaffarnagar. Study was conducted in December, 2021 using a pre- designed, pre-tested questionnaire. Data was analysed statistically and chi square test was applied. Results: Most of the girls achieved menarche at the age of 10-13 years (79.7%). Mothers of around 83.5% girls were illiterate and these girls were less aware about menstrual hygiene practices. Only 63% girls knew about menstruation before menarche. According to 75.5% girls, source of menstrual bleeding was vagina and only 65.7% girls knew about the physiology of menstruation. Conclusion: The study shows that there is significant lack of knowledge among girls regarding menstruation. Only 62% girls use sanitary pads as absorbent material due to various reasons like shyness, high cost, etc. Majority of girls had restrictions of not touching kitchen items and not to take bath during menses. There is a need to make the girls aware regarding menstrual hygiene by various health awareness programs in schools and the community
Household symptomatic contact screening of sputum smear positive tuberculosis patients at the DOTS clinic of SGT hospital, Gurugram
Get PDFBackground: Contact screening was conducted under ICMR (REFERENCE ID: 2019-07811) programme in villages near SGT hospital, Gurugram. Objective: To evaluate risk factors, extent of spread of tuberculosis among household contacts of tuberculosis cases and to create awareness. Methods and Material: Address of TB cases were taken from RNTCP register at DOTS clinic, SGT medical college. Then all household contacts of positive cases were screened, counselled and advised to approach ASHA Workers if such symptoms appear. Data was analysed using appropriate statistical methods. Results:21 Index cases along with 94 household contacts were screened. 61.90% families still use chullahs for cooking. 76.1% families have overcrowding. 3) 61.90% families had inadequate ventilation 4) 19.05%families were aware about the spread of this disease. 5)Only 23.80% families practised adequate sanitation methods and precautions6) 42.8% Index cases had a history of smoking. 7) 44.4% 4 continue to smoke with infection. The association of adequate sanitation with presence of awareness was found to be statistically significant. (p-value<0.05). Other factors were not significantly associated with level of awareness regarding prevention of tuberculosis spread among study participants. Conclusions: Contact screening is an effective tool and it gives the real-time picture of TB in India
Current Status of Anaemia Among 6- 59-Month Old Children In India – What Does the NHFS Fact Sheet Speak?
No full textIntroduction-
India has the highest rate of child anemia among developing countries. To gain the most up-to-date picture of child anemia in India. We used the data of 6 to 59 months old children from the fifth cycle of the National Family Health Survey conducted in 2019–21. The study\u27s goals were to shape the pervasiveness of anaemia in children in state of India, age group and zone, as well as the relationship between socioeconomic factors and anaemia.
Methodology-The presented study is a secondary data analysis based on the data from the NFHS-5 and secondary literature.
Results- The study found that in India in 2019– 21, 67.1% of children of specified age 6-59 months were anaemic, an increase of 8.5% points since the NFHS-4 study conducted in 2015–16 i.e., 67.1% and as compared with NFHS-4 (58.6%), despite of the significant increase in the consumption of iron-folic acid (IFA) tablets under INIPI. The data show that the number was higher in rural India (68.3 percent) compared to urban India (64.2 percent). Unfortunately, recent Economic development and the national anaemia control programme have not resulted in a significant reduction in anaemia prevalence in India.
Conclusion- According to the study, the percentage of children in India was anemia increased by 8.5% in NFHS-5 as compared with previous NFHS-4 survey which found to be at 58.6%
Stress, Coping Strategies and Social Support as Predictors of Mental Health of Police Personnel of North India
Get PDFIntroduction: The profession of a police personnel is extremely stressful. Coping strategies and social support are known to be robust buffers of stress Objective: To study Stress, Coping Strategies and Social Support as Predictors of Mental Health of Police Personnel of Uttar Pradesh, North India. Method: This was a cross-sectional study comprising of 300 male police personnel. Assessment was done using Occupational Stress Questionnaire, Brief COPE Scale and Mental Health Inventory. Multiple Regression Analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: Ambiguity stress, the belonging and appraisal support are found to be the strongest predictor of mental health of constables. Stress in the area of organizational structure, the appraisal support and maladaptive coping strategies are essential predictors of mental health of inspectors. Beside this, social support, belonging support, appraisal support and active coping are significant predictor of mental health of Officers