ABSTRACT
Background & objectives: Undertaking tribe-specific assessment of health status provides the required data for planning appropriate interventions. Hence, a study was conducted to assess the health profile of the Koraga tribe. Methods: This community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among a particularly vulnerable tribal group, the Koragas residing in the Udupi district. Data were collected using a pro forma and were analyzed using the SPSS software version 16.0. Results: A total of 273 participants aged ?18 yr and 94 children aged ?17 yr were recruited through screening and referral services organized in Koraga hamlets of the Udupi district. Among the adults, 59.7 per cent were females and their median age was 35 yr. About 13.9 per cent had elevated blood pressure and 18.4 per cent had impaired/elevated random blood sugar levels. About 47.6 per cent were underweight and 35.2 per cent were anaemic. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that individuals with morbidities were more likely to be aged ?45 yr [45-60 yr: adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=4.3; 95 per cent confidence interval (CI)=1.3-13.8 and >60 yr: AOR=6.4; 95 per cent CI=1.7-23.7] and overweight or obese [23-24.9 kg/m2: AOR=8.1; 95% CI=1.3-48.2 and >25 kg/m2: AOR=7.9; 95% CI=1.6-38.4]. Of the 26 Koraga children aged ?5 yr, 30.7 and 42.3 per cent had their height for age and weight for age below the third percentile, respectively. Further, 15.3 per cent of under-five children and 27.9 per cent of 6-17 yr old children were severely wasted. About 21.2 per cent of the children aged ?17 yr were found to be anaemic and 56.3 per cent had symptoms of respiratory tract infection in the past 15 days. Interpretation & conclusions: Malnutrition was prevalent among Koraga adults and children, which warrants designing and implementing appropriate social and health interventions in this population.
ABSTRACT
Directly Observed Treatment Short Course is the internationally recommended strategy to ensure cure of tuberculosis. However, it is equally important to review the shortcomings if any of such an important strategy against tuberculosis to make it more useful. This Descriptive study carried in a Tuberculosis Unit was to find out the treatment outcome of patients registered under Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program. The data was collected from the tuberculosis register and was analyzed using SPSS 13.0 version. Study included 563 patients, 68% were males and 32.0% were females. Category I had majority of the patients 307 (54.52%); Category II had 133 (23.6%), and Category III had 116 (20.6%) patients. In Category I, 175 (57.0%) patients were cured and 13(4.2%) had treatment failure. In Category II, 61 (45.9%) were cured and 11(8.3%) had treatment failure. In Category III, 105 (90.5%) had complet treatment. Out of 236 patients who were cured, majority were under the care of government health workers 125(53%), followed by anganwadi 32(13.6%) and social workers 27(11.4%). Joint efforts of DOTS providers cured 53 (22.4%) patients. Ensuring early diagnosis and high cure rate of Tuberculosis cases is the only effective way to stop the spread of Tuberculosis.