Unmet needs for family planning in UHTC area of Government Medical College Bhavnagar.

Background & Objectives: India, with 1.22 billion populations, is the second most populous country in the world. India contributes 17.31% population in the world. Demographers expect India's population to surpass the population of China by 2030. Recent data of NFHS III revealed that 13% of married women have unmet need for family planning in India so this study was planned to estimate the prevalence of unmet need for Family Planning among married women of reproductive age residing at UHTC area Government Medical College Bhavnagar and to find out the determinants of unmet need for Family Planning in the study population. Methods: This was a cross sectional descriptive study conducted in UHTC catchment area of Government Medical College; Bhavnagar from August 2011 to October 2011. The calculated sample size was 140 (P=9.76, L=5%). A total 150 married women of reproductive age group (15-49 years) were interviewed for the same with their informed consent. The data were entered and analysed in software epi.info.3.5.1. Results: The prevalence of unmet need for Family Planning in UHTC catchment area was found to 18.7%. The unmet need was higher for temporary methods of Family Planning (10.0%), in the women age group of 20-29 years (71.5%), Illiterate (42.8%), Muslim women(42.8%), poor knowledge of contraception(82.1%), no advice on Family Planning (57.1%) and no male participation (75.0%). These entire variable were found to be associated with high unmet need for Family Planning (P<0.05). Interpretation & Conclusion: The present study concluded that the percentage of unmet need years, low education and also in Muslim religious women. To decrease unmet need family planning measures should be specifically directed toward this group of women. Health education and strategic behaviour change communication for appropriate target audience is requiring cope up unmet need.

Diagnosis of acute malaria by laser based cell counter with comparison of conventional and recent techniques in Indian scenario.

Malaria is one of the most important parasitic diseases in humans affecting 103 countries worldwide. AIMS: The present study aims to determine the diagnostic utility of cell counter data--hemoglobin, total leukocyte count, platelet count and depolarized laser light (DLL)-based purple-coded events (PCEs) in detection of acute malaria. This is a retrospective study of 523 patient data that came for complete blood count for the first time. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-five of the 523 patients showed microscopic evidence of malaria. Platelet count showed the highest sensitivity of 77.77% (105/135). PCEs (> or = 1) showed 43.7% (59/135) sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that a low platelet count (< 150 x 109/L) is a good hematological parameter for presumptive diagnosis of malaria. If we change the cut-off for PCEs from > or = 1 to > or = 2, the sensitivity would be 56.29% (76/135) and the specificity would be 94.58% (367/388), respectively. The sensitivity of DLL was low, particularly with a low parasitic index (PI). The number of PCEs does not correlate with the PI. The cut-off number of PCEs in DLL-based malaria detection should be modified in highly endemic areas.