ABSTRACT
Background: Even though appropriate medical care seeking could prevent a significant number of child deaths, significant numbers of children die without ever reaching a health facility or due to delays in seeking care.1 This study aimed to compare health seeking behaviour among malnourished children in rural and urban areas.Methods: Cross sectional study carried out in rural and urban areas of Jabalpur district among 1237 children of age group 06-59 months in randomly selected in eight wards and two blocks of Jabalpur District. Where 720 children were from urban wards and 517 from rural villages. Multistage random sampling technique was used for the selection of study subjects. Predesigned questionnaire used to collect data.Results: Out of 720 children of urban area, percentage of acute malnutrition (low weight-for-height) was 136 (18.8%) while in rural area, out of 517 children percentage of acute malnutrition (low weight-for-height) was 102 (19.7%). Out of 136 malnourished children in urban, 32 (23.5%) were having illness while in rural out of 102, 43 (42.1%) were having illness. In rural areas, the mother or primary care giver of the study subjects preferred nearby government hospital (21.9%) the most during illness. While in urban, registered private practitioner (47%) were mostly preferred for consulting during sickness. Still 16.3% of the caregiver in rural area preferred quacks.Conclusions: This shows that the approach of health seeking behaviour is better in urban areas as compared to rural as people still prefer quacks in rural areas.
ABSTRACT
Background: The sexual behavior of trucking populations has been associated with the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STI) and HIV in India and elsewhere in the world. The objective of the study was to describe the Health seeking and sexual risks behaviors among the long distance truck drivers and to estimate the prevalence of STI symptoms in the long distance truck driver. Methods: Cross sectional study conducted on the Long Distance truck drivers plying on national highway passing through Bhopal state Highway, who halted at road side group of “Dhabas” (road side hotels) at 3 exits ways of Bhopal City M.P (India). A total of 309 truck drivers approached over a period of 90 days. Out of these 251 consented for the study. Result: The study revealed that 49 % of the long distance truck driver had CSW exposure in last 6 months. The prevalence of STI symptoms was found to be 21.51 % among the long distance truck drivers. The Truck Driver who had exposure with CSW more than five times in the last 6 months were found to be more careless regarding using condoms while having intercourse with the CSW’s. Conclusion: Effort like availability of condoms in the high risk group settings is required. Dhabas should be made to function as a sentinel centre for promoting awareness for HIV/AIDS and STIs.