ABSTRACT
Background & Objective: Oral health is essential for general health and well-being throughout life and is a marker for overall health status. Poor oral health can have a significant effect on quality of life. Oral health behavior plays an important role in maintaining optimal oral health. Awareness regarding it can lead to the enhancement of oral health. Aim is to evaluate the Oral hygiene knowledge, attitude and practices among Dental and Medical students in Kanpur City. Methodology: The present study is a cross sectional descriptive survey. 400 students were selected from dental and medical colleges of Kanpur city as the targeted population for the study. Convenience sampling technique was used. A pre- tested, self-structured, close- ended questionnaire consisting of 15 questions was administered to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding oral hygiene to the targeted population. The data was collected, compiled and then percentage and frequency distribution were calculated. Results: It was seen that 80% dental students and 67% medical students considered that oral health is a part of overall health. It was also seen that the frequency of tooth brushing among dental students was found to be 100% twice a day and amongst medical students it was 51% twice a day. Finally the visit to the dentist in every 6 months amongst dental students was higher (100%) than the medical students (35%). Conclusion: From the study conducted, we can conclude that the awareness regarding knowledge and behaviours amongst dental and medical students was found to be satisfactory. Hence, there is a need for implementation of more preventive programs immediately on oral health promotion which can further help in increasing the knowledge, attitude and practices of the students.
ABSTRACT
Background & Objective: The prevention and control of tobacco use is an emerging issue of global significance and of central importance to oral health and dental care. The dental profession is in an excellent position to play a major role in several emerging issues, such as helping the public and policymakers understand the chronic nature of tobacco dependence and supporting cessation services for all people. Objective is to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of dental surgeons in Kanpur city towards tobacco cessation. Methodology: A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted among dental surgeons by using self-administered questionnaire with23 closed-ended questions. A total of100 dental practitioners who fulfilled the eligibility criteria, participated in the study. Out of this 85 people returned the filled questionnaire form and the response rate was 85%. Descriptive statistics included computation of percentages. Results: Most of the respondents were male (80%) and had practiced dentistry for 5-10 years (91.8%). All the respondents (100%) had the knowledge of harmful effects of tobacco use. A less percentage (8.3%) used tobacco themselves. All the respondents (100%) did not maintain any records on tobacco use. Most of the respondents (82.4%) provided information on harmful effects of tobacco to less than thirty percent of the patients. Only 48.2% dental surgeons advised users to quit. Conclusion: The results of this study call for sensitizing health professionals on a larger scale on the issue of tobacco use and its treatment.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To assess the unit cost of level II neonatal intensive care treatment delivered through public hospitals and its fiscal implications in India. Design: Cost analysis study. Setting: Four Special Care Newborn Units (SCNUs) in public sector district hospitals in three Indian states, i.e. Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, for the period 2010. Methods: Bottom-up economic costing methodology was adopted. Health system resources, i.e. capital, equipment, drugs and consumables, non-consumables, referral and overheads, utilized to treat all neonates during 2010 were elicited. Additionally, 360 randomly selected treatment files of neonates were screened to estimate direct out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure borne by the patients. In order to account for variability in prices and other parameters, we undertook a univariate sensitivity analysis. Main Outcome Measures: Unit cost was computed as INR (Indian national rupees) per neonate treated and INR per bed-day treatment in SCNU. Standardized costs per neonate treatment and per bed day were estimated to incorporate the variation in bed occupancy rates across the sites. Results: Overall, SCNU neonatal treatment costs the Government INR 4581 (USD 101.8) and INR 818 (USD 18.2) per neonate treatment and per bed-day treatment, respectively. Standardized treatment costs were estimated to be INR 5090 (USD 113.1) per neonate and INR 909 (USD 20.2) per bed-day treatment. In the event of entire direct medical expenditure being borne by the health system, we found cost of SCNU treatment as INR 4976 (USD 110.6) per neonate and INR 889 (USD 19.8) per bed-day. Conclusions: Level II neonatal intensive care at SCNUs is cost intensive. Rational use of SCNU services by targeting its utilization for the very low birth weight neonates and maintenance of community based home-based newborn care is required. Further research is required on cost-effectiveness of level II neonatal intensive care against routine pediatric ward care.