ABSTRACT
The current study was aimed to investigate the changes in tobacco usage and their correlations among students from a private university in Dhaka, Bangladesh, during the lockdown periods due to the COVID19 pandemic. It is designed as a cross-sectional study in which 572 students participated, among which 207 were smokers, in a self-administered online survey on Google Classrooms through Google forms. The socioeconomic characteristics of the participants, COVID-19, and tobacco use-related information were collected using a close-ended questionnaire. Participating students were asked if their tobacco consumption had changed during the COVID-19 lockdowns compared to before the pandemic. Among the smokers, 31.9% stated an increase in tobacco use in the extended lockdown periods imposed by the authorities to contain coronavirus infection and the rest had no change in such behavior. Tobacco intake in the form of cigarette smoking was substantially increased among the participants who thought the lockdown period was more stressful than preCOVID times (aOR = 5.767, 95% CI: 2.5-13.26, p < 0.001), participants whose caffeine intake increased (aOR = 3.524, 95% CI: 1.70-7.29, p < 0.002), participants who attended any social events during lockdowns (aOR = 2.720, 95% CI: 1.26-5.86, p p<0.012) and those who reported it was dif?cult to procure cigarettes during the lockdown periods (aOR = 2.932, 95% CI: 1.36- 6.32, p < 0.007). This study explored that stressful condition due to extended lockdowns, higher caffeine intake, and dif?culty in getting cigarettes were signi?cant elements for increased tobacco use among the selected students.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To determine the renal size in normal North Indian children by renal sonography. Design: Hospital based (outpatient based) cross sectional observational study. Material and methods: Total 1198 normal children aged 1 month to 12 years were included in the study. Sonographic assessment of renal size (length, width and thickness) was performed using Philips, multi frequency (3.5, 5 and 7.5 Mhz) linear and convex probes in B-mode. The mean renal dimensions and volume were calculated for each age group with ± 2SD. The renal length and calculated renal volume were correlated with somatic parameters like age, weight, height, and body surface area (BSA). Linear Regression equations were derived for each variable. Results: A strong correlation was seen between renal size and renal volume with various somatic parameters (age, weight, height, BSA), (coefficient of correlation = 0.9). Conclusion: This study provides values of renal size (mean± 2SD) in normal North Indian children and its correlation with age, weight,height, and BSA. Renal size can be easily calculated by derived linear regression equation.