Prevalence of Health Problems, Professional and Financial Satisfaction among Doctors Working Across Vadodara City: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: The present study was conducted to know the distribution of various health problems among doctors and to assess professional and financial satisfaction levels among doctors. Methods: A Google Form questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 122 doctors in Vadodara selected purposively after taking consent. Google form was circulated by email and WhatsApp groups. The form consisted of questions related to demographic details, health problems, financial and job satisfaction. All the responses were recorded and analyzed in MS Excel 2019. Results: Among the 122 doctors, 89 (72.95%) were male and 33 (27.04%) were female and 101 (82.78%) doctors were taking treatment for some ailment. Around 86.9% of doctors regularly opt for a health check-up. Among the health problems reported by doctors, the most common were musculoskeletal ailments (72.13%) followed by hypertension (28.9%), diabetes (17.2), cardiac (12.3%), endocrinal (10.65%), eye (9.01), mental (6.55) problems. Approximately 37.70% of doctors answered that health problems temporarily affect their work; 5.73% of doctors felt the need to modify their work pattern. About 91.80% of doctors were satisfied by their profession, while 108 (88.52%) doctors were financially satisfied with their work. Conclusion: More than half of the professionals complained of musculoskeletal problems. The majority of health care professionals were professionally and financially satisfied.

Evaluation of the effect of Block Level Awareness Campaign on performance indicators of National Leprosy Elimination Program in Vadodara district, Gujarat, India.

Background: Leprosy is probably the oldest disease affl icting mankind and a public health problem for centuries. Many cases are hidden or undiagnosed, especially due to social stigma, and neglect of painless patches. Between years 2001 and 2005, during which time active surveillance for detection of leprosy was in practice, a steep fall in the prevalence rate (PR) of leprosy was observed. However, during later years, leprosy program discontinued active surveillance for detection of leprosy cases. Presently block level awareness campaign (BLAC) is a special measure undertaken in a campaign mode during September–November in priority areas, (PR > 1/10000 population), during which information, education and communication (IEC) activities and active surveillance of leprosy cases is done. Aims: To evaluate the effect of Block Level Awareness Campaign on performance indicators of national leprosy elimination program (NLEP) in Vadodara district. Methods: The campaign was carried out for 6 days in 12 talukas of Vadodara district by the district leprosy offi ce, Vadodara. Trained teams of health workers carried out information, education and communication (IEC) activity and active surveillance by undertaking house to house survey in each primary health centre (PHC) area. Suspected cases were identifi ed by the team and confi rmed clinically by medical offi cers in the primary health centre of the corresponding areas. A district nucleus team (DNT) validated these confi rmed cases. These data were compared with the district’s national leprosy eradication programme (NLEP) data for the same year, 2012 and the previous year, 2011. Results: A total of 1,574,586 persons, comprising 76%of the population surveyed, were screened for leprosy, which resulted in detection of 358 clinically confi rmed new cases of leprosy, out of which 225 (62.8%) were paucibacillary (PB) and 133 (37.2%) were multibacillary (MB) leprosy. Of these cases, 14 (4%) had deformities, and 37 (10.3%) were children. Limitations: Only 76% of the population could be covered. Histopathological confi rmation of the diagnosis was not undertaken. Because of the large number of health workers invovled, variations in their skills may have infl uenced the diagnosis of suspected cases. Conclusions: Active surveillance linked to focused block level campaigns can be useful tools to detect new hidden leprosy cases.

Dietary Pattern of Schoolgoing Adolescents in Urban Baroda, India.

Diet plays a very important role in growth and development of adolescents, during which the development of healthy eating habits is of supreme importance. There is a dual burden of undernutrition and overnutrition in this age-group. The study assessed the food habits, food preferences, and dietary pattern of schoolgoing urban adolescents in Baroda, India. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in this study. A quantitative survey was carried out using a pre-tested self-administered structured questionnaire among 1,440 students from class 6 to 12 in 7 English medium and 23 Gujarati medium schools. Focus group discussions, 5 each with adolescent boys and girls, were held, along with 5 focus group discussions with teachers of Gujarati and English medium schools. Nearly 80% of adolescents had consumed regular food, like dal, rice, chapati, and vegetables, including green leafy vegetables. Nearly 50% of them had consumed chocolates, and about one-third consumed fast foods. Nearly 60% of adolescents had their breakfast daily while the remaining missed taking breakfast daily. Nearly one-third of adolescents were missing a meal once or twice a week. A large majority had consumed regular foods. However, more than half of them had consumed chocolates, soft drinks, and over one-third had taken fast foods.