Indian Journal of Community Health
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A study on Instinctive Feelings, Perceived Stressors and Factors that helped in reducing Stress during COVID 19 pandemic among Health Care Workers
Get PDFBackground: Healthcare workers at the forefront of the battle against COVID 19 are not only putting their own health and lives at risk but are also fighting to keep their own worries and emotional stress at bay. Aim & Objective: To evaluate emotions, perceived stressors, and factors that helped in reducing stress of healthcare workers who worked during a COVID19 pandemic. Settings and Design: This cross sectional study was conducted among Health Care staff involved in COVID 19 duty in tertiary care hospital of Gujarat. Methods and Material: Google form link was shared though what’s up and mail. The questionnaire was completed online. Consent for voluntarily participation was also obtained through online Google form. Statistical analysis used: Data was entered and analysed through Microsoft Excel 2010. Results: Total 106 participants responded to the questionnaire. It was extremely stressful for health care workers to see their colleagues getting infection, as well as the fear that they could transmit the disease to their families or friends. Main factors that helped to reduce the stress were positive attitude from colleagues, improvement of patients conditions and availability of protective equipment. Conclusions: Personal safety, the protection of family members and unpredictability of pandemic were the main concerns. Hospitals should prioritise stress monitoring for health care workers and provide targeted psychological guidance for HCWs during the pandemic
Time Series Analysis of COVID-19 Data- A study from Northern India
Get PDFThe continuing new Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused millions of infections and thousands of fatalities globally. Identification of potential infection cases and the rate of virus propagation is crucial for early healthcare service planning to prevent fatalities. The research community is faced with the analytical and difficult real-world task of accurately predicting the spread of COVID-19. We obtained COVID-19 temporal data from District Surveillance Officer IDSP, Dehradun cum District Nodal Officer- Covid-19 under CMO, Department of Medical Health and Family Welfare, Government of Uttarakhand State, India, for the period, March 17, 2020, to May 6, 2022, and applied single exponential method forecasting model to estimate the COVID-19 outbreak\u27s future course. The root relative squared error, root mean square error, mean absolute percentage error, and mean absolute error were used to assess the model\u27s effectiveness. According to our prediction, 5438 people are subjected to hospitalization by September 2022, assuming that COVID cases will increase in the future and take on a lethal variety, as was the case with the second wave. The outcomes of the forecasting can be utilized by the government to devise strategies to stop the virus\u27s spread
A comparative study on treatment seeking behaviour of geriatric population in rural and urban areas of district Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh
Get PDFBackground: Aging is a complex and universal life process. Treatment seeking behaviour in elderly is affected by socio-economic factors and by affordability, availability and accessibility of healthcare. Objectives: To study treatment-seeking behaviour of the study subjects. To compare treatment seeking behaviour among rural and urban study subjects. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the Kanpur district. Selection of villages in rural and mohallas in urban areas was done using a multistage random sampling technique. A total of 600 subjects were studied, including 400 from urban areas and 200 from rural areas. Elderly persons>60 years of age, both males and females were included in the study. Results: Overall, out of 600 study subjects, 59.8% were taking treatment in rural areas and in urban areas 77.6% were taking treatment. In urban areas, more females availed treatment compared to rural areas. Majority of study subjects (56.5%) sought treatment from a government hospital. Only 36% subjects had health insurance. Conclusion: In Urban areas more subjects availed treatment as compared to rural areas. Majority of subjects sought treatment from government health facilities. Lack of financial support and long waiting time were major reasons for not availing health care
Antenatal depression and its correlates - a cross-sectional study in an urban resettlement colony of Delhi
Get PDFBackground- Antenatal depression is affecting 10% pregnant women worldwide with higher prevalence in developing countries. This causes poor maternal and foetal outcome and also affects cognitive development of the child. Aim and objective: To estimate magnitude of antenatal depression and its risk factors. Methodology- A cross-sectional survey was done at the antenatal clinic of community health department catering to an urban resettlement colony, East Delhi. Estimated sample size was 216 (including 10% non-response rate). Pregnant women attending the ANC clinic from October 2019 to February 2020 were enrolled. EPDS questionnaire was used to assess depression during pregnancy. Results-The antenatal depression was found in 11.8% subjects as per EPDS score. Working female and belonging to Muslim religion, past history of abortion, complications in previous pregnancy, financial debt, physical violence and substance use in family showed significant association with antenatal depression. Conclusion –Depression was prevalent among antenatal women and was found to be associated with various risk factors
The compelling necessity for improvement in cancer screening in India in this decade
Get PDFIn 2020, cancers of the breast, lip and oral cavity and cervix were the three most common cancers in India.(1) The national programme for prevention and control of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and stroke (NPCDCS) recommends a population-based screening for identifying pre-cancerous lesions and early detection of these three cancers by front line health workers.(2) Data about cancer screening has been included in the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5).(3) We have tried to understand the current status of cervical, breast and oral cancer screening in India
Developing public health capacities of Frontline Public Health Workforce in Uttarakhand
Get PDFRecent COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of increase in the ability of public health workforce to detect and respond to the public health threats. For timely implementation of an adequate response and mitigation measure, the standardized and sustainable capacity building programme for frontline public health workforce is the need of hour. National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in partnership with U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), developed a three-month in-service Basic Epidemiology Training programme. This is a tailor-made programme for frontline public health workforce to strengthen epidemiological skills. This training was a practical interactive approach to field epidemiology for three months on the job training for frontline public health workforce that addressed the critical skills needed to conduct surveillance effectively at the local level while focusing on improving disease detection, reporting and feedback. The training also demonstrated the role of learning model in form of interaction between the mentor and the mentees. The importance of handhold support given by the mentors to the mentees in quality outbreak investigations and documentation
Prevalence of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Patients with Advanced Renal Failure: A Tertiary Care Centre Study from North Indian Population
Get PDFAbstract: Viral hepatitis (Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) & Hepatitis C Virus (HCV)) related liver disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality especially in the patients with advanced renal failure who are treated with dialysis, and this is due to high number of blood transfusion sessions and/or cross contamination from the dialysis circuits. Aims & Objectives: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of HBV and HCV infections in patients with advanced renal failure (ARF). Materials & Methods: A cross-sectional study was done in joint collaboration of Department of Nephrology and Department of Gastroenterology, KGMU, Lucknow, from June 2018 to June 2020 among, CRF patients. Clinical data such as age, gender, duration of dialysis; number of transfusions, Serum sample was collected from each patient. Serological markers for HBV and HCV were determined with ELISA by using commercial diagnostic kits. HCV-RNA and HBV-DNA were determined quantitatively by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. Results: A total 934 patients with advanced renal failure attended the nephrology OPD. Out of 934 patients, 65 (6.96%) patients screened positive for HBV/HCV infection. The results of this study also showed that the prevalence of viral hepatitis infection in the haemodialysis (HD) and without HD patients is 8.25% and 6.3% respectively. Conclusion: It has been found that viral infections, particularly HBV and HCV infections are common in advanced renal failure patients who are on HD
Validity of point-of-care device for diagnosing anemia in workers exposed to lead
Get PDFDetecting anemia in occupational health settings is critical in a high-risk population for anemia like the lead-exposed. Whether the point-of-care devices are sensitive to detect anemia in individuals with high levels of lead exposure is unknown. We compared hemoglobin (Hb) levels from HemoCue® Hb 301 System and standard analyzer, Mindrey-BC 5300, in individuals (n=58) exposed to lead (mean levels = 44.9 ?g/dL) for a chronic period (mean duration of exposure = 105 months). We observed high sensitivity (0.95), specificity(0.95) in detecting anemia by hemocue, and high agreement between the methods. The significant difference in Hb values between the methods (0.171g/dL, p=0.018) was clinically minimal. We conclude that hemocue is a good method for rapidly detecting anemia and estimating Hb levels among the lead-exposed in resource-limited settings
Translation and Validation of Marathi Version of Oral Health Impact Profile?14, a Measure of Oral Health?Related Quality of Life
Get PDFBackground: A quality of life (QoL) assessment tool needs to be translated and validated in the language of the participants to whom it is administered. Therefore, the oral health impact profile-14 (OHIP-14) scale, developed originally in English, has been translated into different languages like Hindi, Gujrati, etc. The Marathi version of OHIP-14 will be useful to assess in regions where the Marathi language is prominently spoken. Thus, the present study was carried out to translate and validate the Marathi version of the OHIP-14 instrument to measure the oral health-related quality of life. Aims & Objectives: To translate and validate the English Version of the OHIP-14 instrument in the Marathi Language. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study in which 128 participants were selected through a convenient sampling method. The English version of the OHIP-14 was translated using the forward-backward translation technique, and participants were given English and the Marathi versions of the OHIP-14 questionnaire. The filled questionnaires were subjected to statistical analysis. Result: The difference in mean scores was not statistically significant(p=0.828). Pearson’s correlation coefficient test was 0.999, suggesting that the translated Marathi version is highly correlated with the original English version. Conclusion: The Marathi version of OHIP-14 is a valid, and reliable instrument for assessing QoL among the population who speak Marathi
A perspective on Master of Public Health (MPH) Graduates in India: Current role and way head
Get PDFThe public health sector of any country deals on the forefront and utilizes the multidisciplinary approach. In India the Masters of Public Health graduates are trained in unstandardized manner and lack a regulatory body. The gap created in serving the unserved can easily be fulfilled by utilization of this workforce in systematic manner, The emerging competition in the field, undervalued sector in terms of monitory benefits, poor demand and limited training institutions for MPH graduates along with the contribution of MPH during COVID 19 pandemic has been emphasized in the article. The perception of those working in the field has been highlighted with the way ahead of MPH program in India