ABSTRACT
Background: Population-based screening coverage for breast and cervical cancer screening in the community is inadequately reported in India. This study assessed screening rates, awareness, and other factors affecting screening, among rural women aged 25� years in Vellore, Tamil Nadu. Methods: Women aged 25� years, from five randomly selected villages of a rural block were included in this cross-sectional study in Vellore, Tamil Nadu. Households were selected by systematic random sampling, followed by simple random sampling of eligible women in the house. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to assess screening practices, awareness, and other factors related to cervical and breast cancer. Results: Although 43.8% and 57.9% were aware of the availability of screening for cervical and breast cancer respectively, screening rates were only 23.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 18.4-28.4%) and 16.2% (95% CI: 11.9-20.5%), respectively. Adequate knowledge (score of ?50%) on breast cancer was only 5.9%, with 27.2% for cervical cancer. Only 16.6% of women had ever attended any health education program on cancer. Exposure to health education (breast screening odds ratio [OR]: 6.89, 95% CI: 3.34-14.21; cervical screening OR: 6.92, 95% CI: 3.42-14.00); and adequate knowledge (breast OR: 4.69, 95% CI: 1.55-14.22; cervix OR: 3.01, 95% CI: 1.59-5.68) were independently associated with cancer screening. Conclusion: Awareness and screening rates for breast and cervical cancer are low among rural women in Tamil Nadu, a south Indian state with comparatively good health indices, with health education being an important factor associated with screening practices.
ABSTRACT
Background: Pharmacovigilance is multidisciplinary field of the detection, assessment, understanding, and prevention of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). The incidences of ADRs about 95% are undocumented worldwide. However, there is a lack of information on ADR burden in developing countries due to lack of resources, infrastructure, and expertise.Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted on 90 staff nurses 90interns and 90 postgraduates. The validated questionnaire contained items to check knowledge including 7 questions, 9 questions to analyze attitude and 5 for practices. Comparison between knowledge, attitude and practice data obtained from resident doctors and nurses was performed using Chi square test.Results: A total of 270 healthcare professionals participated in the study. In our study the participants had good knowledge regarding the purpose of monitoring and reporting ADRs etc. The result shows that health care professionals felt reporting of ADRs is a professional obligation and all ADRs should be reported. There was no significant difference in the knowledge and attitude between interns and nurses but few questionnaires show significant variations between post graduate and staff nurse. The practice of ADR reporting was significantly higher in postgraduate compared to nurses.Conclusions: This study concluded that post graduate, intern and staff nurse had good knowledge and positive attitude towards pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting, but unfortunately the actual practice of ADR reporting is still deficient among staff nurse and intern. This can be improved by adequate training and motivation.
ABSTRACT
Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) was first described in 1874 by Hebra and Kaposi. [1] It is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by photosensitivity, pigmentary changes, premature skin aging, and malignant tumor development due to cellular hypersensitivity to ultraviolet radiation resulting from a defect in DNA repair. The basic defect in XP is in nucleotide excision repair (NER), leading to deficient repair of damaged DNA. A 12-year-old boy presented with a large growth over the right side of the forehead. The lesion was first noticed before two years as a 2 x 2 cm 2 mass. It was slowly growing and attained the present size of 10 x 8 x 7 cm 3 . The surface showed ulceration with areas of hemorrhage and blackish pigmentation. Also, the patient had hyperpigmented macules over the skin since early childhood. The macules appeared initially over the face and later developed over the other areas of the body. The macules were more over the sun exposed areas. He also had photophobia and both eyes showed corneal opacities. Histopathological examination of the excised growth showed features consistent with melanoma. This case is being presented because of its rare association with xeroderma pigmentosum patients in India.