Public awareness, practices and attitudes towards contraception among urban versus rural population of Lahore

Objective: To see the difference in contraceptive awareness and its actual use among urban versus rural population and to find out a reason for low contraceptive prevalence

Study design: Comparative study

Place of study: Gynae OPD, Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore [Urban group] and Shahdara DHQ, Hospital [Rural group]. Population: Total 200 females with 100 in each group

Main outcome: Awareness about different methods of contraception and source of information in both groups. Frequency of contraceptive use and attitude of male partner towards its usage

Conclusion: Awareness about contraception is quite high even in rural females but actual practice is low. Half of husbands of rural population were noncooperative. Family planning services / should target the non-cooperative husbands to make CPR high

How aware are patients about hepatitis? A KAP [knowledge, attitude and practices] survey of pregnant women

Hepatitis B and C have become major public health problems worldwide. Estimates of prevalence of these diseases in Pakistan range from 5-15% . This places a huge financial burden on the available health resources. Currently available drugs for the treatment of hepatitis are very expensive and achieve eradication of the disease in around 50% of patients. The best strategy for controlling the menace of hepatitis and its complications lies in prevention. Any such plan should focus on public education. Considerable myths and misconceptions abound in the general public about hepatitis especially about the mode of spread and preventive measures

Aims and Objectives: the present study was undertaken to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding hepatitis in a group of pregnant females attending an ante natal clinic

Results: results of this study have demonstrated that the knowledge about hepatitis is not adequate. Almost half of the subjects believed that hepatitis B and C could spread through food and water. Forty percent of the respondents never insisted on sterilization of dental or barber instruments even when they knew that these were important sources of spread of hepatitis. 55% of the respondents were of the opinion that hepatitis B and C was an absolute contraindication to breast feeding. 77% knew that hepatitis B could be prevented by vaccination but only 67% were actually vaccinated. Almost 50% of the respondents believed that vaccination against hepatitis B also prevented hepatitis C. Hepatitis was considered a social stigma by 40% of the respondents

Conclusions: over all the results of this study suggest that more attention needs to be given to providing correct health education to the public. Misconceptions and myths about hepatitis can only be dispelled by adopting a rational health education strategy

Safety of repeat caesarean section after one or more C-sections

Objective: to determine the maternal morbidity and mortality associated with multiple repeat caesarean Section

Study Design: retrospective study

Place of study: federal Postgraduate Medical Institute and Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore

Population: total 179 case record, 92 cases of previous one, 61 cases of previous two c-section, and 26 cases of previous three c-section, studied during the period of one year i.e 1/1/2006 to 3 1/12/2006

Main outcome: operative and post operative complications and difficulties

Results: out of 179 cases, 135 were elective and 44 emergency scar. Dehiscence was seen in 23 cases. Duration of operation was high with increasing rates of c-section. Maximum 3 hour, ICU care in only 1 patient. Only one caesarean hysterectomy because of bladder injury needed 6 units of blood i.e. no maternal mortality. One baby was IUD

Conclusion: higher order c-section is not a serious threat to mother and baby provided there is optimal antenatal care, counselling, adequate pre and post operative care, meticulous surgical technique, but patient must be made aware of the risks of operative delivery and frequently repeated pregnancy

Two year review of ovarian tumors in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore

Ovarian mass is common in patients presenting at the Gynaecology Department. These tumors are usually benign and a few are malignant. In the management of these patients certain important factors like age, parity, nature of tumor have to be considered. A retrospective analysis was carried out in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology to asses the management of these tumors according to international standards. In this study a total 104 cases of ovarian mass that were admitted from 1[st] January 1998 to 31[st] December 1999 were analyzed. Pain lower abdomen, mass abdomen, abdominal distention were the commonest mode of presentation. Ninety-one cases were benign and 13 were malignant. Most of the patients were above the age of 40. The ovarian mass was unilateral in 76 cases, bilateral in 26 cases, it was cystic in most of the cases and solid in a few. Simple removal of cyst was done in a few cases. Malignant tumor were managed by debulking surgery

diagnostic ability of combined obstetric ultrasonography with clinical assessment for IUGR babies

IUGR [Intrauterine Growth Retardation] is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in neonates in developing countries. Its early and correct diagnoses are probably the most important step in being able to decrease morbidity and mortality from this condition. In a retrospective analysis of 1947 deliveries conducted in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore for the year 1999 - 2000. The total incidence of singleton IUGR babies was found to be 6 percent [90], 4.34 percent [65] babies were correctly diagnosed for IUGR, while 1.67 percent [25] babies were missed for the diagnoses of IUGR. The combined method of obstetric USG and clinical assessment for the diagnosis of IUGR could yield a 72.22 percent sensitivity, 96.02 percent specificity, 53.70 percent positive predictive value and a 98.18 percent negative predictive value for the correct diagnoses of IUGR singleton babies prenatally