ABSTRACT
Object: to determine the frequency of symptomatic osteoarthritis in general population of Karachi presenting with joint pain
Introduction: people easily get tired due to heavy duty occupations to keep pace with the society. Arthralgia commonly called as "Joint pain" is one of the most frequently observed complain, especially in individuals aged 50 above
Methods: a cross-sectional study was conducted at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre [JPMC] from 1[st] November 2013 to 25[th]November 2013. The data was collected from 316 patients presenting to the department of rheumatology and orthopedics with joint pain. A structured questionnaire was designed based on the clinical symptomatology of osteoarthritis. It was administered to the participants aged above 18 yrs. old. 17.7% of males and 82.3% of females participated in the study
Result: out of 316 patients with joint pain, 71.2% [n=225] was diagnosed osteoarthritis on the basis of symptoms present with a high prevalence in females than males. The most common joints to be involved in osteoarthritis were found to be knee joint [90.2%] and hip joint [55.7%]. The majority of the patients [n=109] had an X-ray of their joint and n=125 was getting analgesics as an effective therapy for osteoarthritis
Conclusion: the frequency of osteoarthritis is increasing in Karachi with globalization due to high level occupational stress along with recreational activity stress and other contributive factors. Female predominance as compare to that of man is quite alarming that needs to be controlled for maintaining future quality of life and providing ease for daily activities
ABSTRACT
A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence, causes and outcome of head injury in children at Neurosurgery Department of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre from 1st December, 2013 to 1st February, 2014. A total of 37 patients under the age of 12 years, presented with head injuries to the emergency department, were included in the study. A self-designed questionnaire was filled for these children after getting the oral consent from their parents. The questionnaire comprised a complete detail on the causes of head injury, clinical presentation on reaching the hospital, X-rays and Computed Tomography [CT] scans of the children and their reports. SPSS version 20 was utilized as an analytical tool. The mean age of patients was 6.93 years +/- 3.02. Out of these 37 patients, 54.1% were males and 45.9% were females. Road traffic accidents accounted for most of cases [48.6%] with marked peak observed in boys as compared to the girls. Majority had a good Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] score [43.2%] whereas a depressed fracture was found to be the dominant feature [21.6%] on X-rays. Additionally, 29.7% of children had intracranial hemorrhage while 32.4% also acquired other injuries. In total 29.7% were offered surgical intervention with majority [83.8%] landing in neurosurgical ward. As head injury in childhood is an important issue, keeping in view the lack of research in this field we need to properly highlight the burden of such injuries in childhood so that all the concerned governing authorities should take every possible step in preventing as well as managing this devastating health concern