34 research outputs found
Reactions from Traditional Medical Systems to COVID-19 outbreak: Time to tread cautiously
No full textDepression and its determinants among hypertensive subjects from the primary health care centres at Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu
No full textBackground: Depression among elderly persons has become a serious health problem. Despite an increasing number of research studies exploring prevalence of depression among hypertensive patients in high income countries, limited data is available from low and middle income countries particularly in India. People with chronic diseases are more likely to have depression than those without any chronic diseases.Methods: This was across-sectional study. Totally 496 subjects were selected from 4 different Primary Health Centres (PHCs) who attended outpatient department during the study period. The patient health questionnaires (PHQ-9) were used to estimate the prevalence of depression among hypertensive subjects. Basic demographic and behavioral details were also collected. This study was carried out from April to August in 2016 in Tirunelveli district, Tamilnadu, India.Results: The study show 5.8% of subjects had no depression, 42.1% subjects with mild depression, 45.3% had moderate and 6.6% had high depression among hypertensive subjects. Totally 94% hypertensive subjects had depression.Conclusions: The high depression has found more in male, employed, illiterate, non-vegetarian, drinkers, and smokers subjects then compare to other subjects.</jats:p
Bibliometric analysis of yoga scientific publications : An analysis of PubMed database 1948 - 2018
No full textFactors associated with high stress levels in adults with diabetes mellitus attending a tertiary diabetes care center, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
No full textOBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine perceived stress levels among adults aged >20 years with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) in a tertiary care diabetes center, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, assess their association with sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and assess the possible risk factors for stress and coping strategies. METHODS: A mixed-methods (triangulation design) study with quantitative methodology (survey) and qualitative methodology (interviews) was carried out. Stress levels were assessed among type 2 DM patients attending a diabetes clinic using a 5-point perceived stress scale-10. One-on-one interviews were carried out with 376 participants with DM having high/very high stress levels to understand the reasons for perceived stress and explore their coping mechanisms. RESULTS: The prevalence of high/very high stress was 35% among DM patients. Age 30-40 years, working in professional jobs, and lack of physical activity were factors significantly associated with stress. The perceived major stress inducers were related to family, work, financial issues, and the disease itself. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed high levels of stress in more than one-third of DM patients. Potential solutions include regular, formal assessment of stress levels in the clinic, providing integrated counseling and psychological care for DM patients, and promoting physical activity
Adverse events in India’s Ayush interventions for cervical and lumbar spondylosis: a systematic review
No full textAbstract Introduction Low back and neck pain are common musculoskeletal disorders with multiple treatment options. India’s traditional medical systems, known as Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa and Homoeopathy) offer range of interventions and are widely used. In view of limited documentation of adverse events following Ayush interventions for lumbar and cervical spondylosis, we synthesized evidence and estimated proportion of studies reporting adverse events. Methods We systematically searched all published documents from biomedical and multidisciplinary abstract and citation databases and Ayush-specific repositories from their inception to April 2021. We selected studies as per inclusion criteria and extracted information, adhering to PRISMA guidelines. We systematically reviewed the qualitative evidence form the selected studies. Results Majority (94%) of the selected 113 studies were interventional studies and included 77 (68.1%) journal articles and 35 (31%) academic dissertations. Among the Ayush systems, considerable proportion was from Ayurveda (32.7%), followed by Siddha (24.8%), Yoga (22.1%), Unani (15.9%) and Homoeopathy (4.4%). Almost three-fourths of the studies were on lumbar spondylosis (65%; n = 74), followed by cervical spondylosis (31%; n = 35), and the remaining four included both. Thirteen percent of the 113 studies described adverse events [Yoga = 9.7%; Unani = 1.8% and Homoeopathy = 1.8%]. More adverse events were reported among the studies on lumbar (9.7%) than cervical spondylosis (2.7%). The nature of interventions were non-pharmacological (10.6%; n = 12), pharmacological (n = 2; 1.8%) or combined (n = 1; 0.9%). Conclusions Only one in eight studies reported any adverse event following Ayush interventions for cervical and lumbar spondylosis. There could be certain degree of underreporting of adverse events and requires further exploration. PROSPERO Registration ID CRD42020167433
Research output from India’s Siddha system of medicine during 1972–2019: Bibliometric analysis points need to focus on quantity and quality
No full textIntroduction:
The Siddha system of medicine (SSM) is one of the Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM). In recent times, it has received adequate support from the Indian Ministry of Ayush. Like many such indigenous systems of medicine globally, the SSM is based on its own theoretical principles, philosophy, and methods of practice. Nevertheless, SSM conducts and needs basic and applied research using scientific methods. Such research is evidenced by research publications. In the absence of a review, we did a bibliometric analysis of research publications from SSM for the period of 1972–2019.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
We used the term “Siddha” to retrieve the data from the PubMed database. We retrieved data from the National AYUSH research portal and homepages of institutions mandated to do research in SSM. We abstracted bibliometric information and used Epi info (Version 7.2) for analysis. We described the trends and key characteristics.
Results:
Of a total of 2009 retrieved articles, we included 1457 (73%) for analysis. Between 1972 and 2001, the median number of publications per year was three (range: 0–13). Beyond 2012, the publications increased exponentially with an annual growth of 23%. The maximum number of publications (n = 224) was in 2019. Among 43 countries that produced the papers, India topped it (88%). Of 1457, 1.7% (n = 25) of publications from Siddha institutions were indexed in PubMed.
Conclusion:
A bibliometric review of research output from SSM suggests that the publications have increased in the last two decades. The review recommends improving research output from SSM in terms of quantity and quality
Public health preparedness, syndromic surveillance, and response during the largest religious gathering at the Catholic pilgrimage center of Velankanni in South India: 2016
No full textBackground:
The dynamicity and mobility of the population in a mass gathering setting pose a challenge to traditional disease surveillance methods and strain the local health services. Velankanni is one of the most sacred Christian pilgrimage places located in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, India. We participated in the Velankanni festival to describe the public health preparedness, surveillance, and response activities carried out during the festival.
Methods:
This was a cross-sectional study. We reviewed the national and international guidelines and published literature and discussed with the key stakeholders. We developed a checklist to observe public health preparedness activities. We facilitated the staff and monitored the activities by the implementers. We established the syndromic surveillance in the designated locations of the event and used tracker software to capture the data. Emergency medical teams were formed with trained health personnel to respond to medical emergencies.
Results:
The team monitored all the public health activities. There are 59 primary care public health facilities and nine ambulatory Mobile Medical Units, with 160 medical officers available at the site. Of the 16,169 persons who attended the medical camps, 9863 (61%) were males and 8408 (52%) were aged 15–44. Acute diarrheal disease was the most frequent of the reported syndromes, followed by injuries, acute febrile illness, and animal bites.
Conclusions:
There was no outbreak of any disease either identified or reported. Our findings suggest that risk assessments should be used, and establishing an Incident Command Center is vital for executing command and control mechanisms during mass gatherings
