impact of spouse's educational status on family size in lower middle socioeconomic group of Rawalpindi city

Objective: To establish a relationship between family size and educational status of female and male subjects belonging to lower middle socioeconomic group of Rawalpindi city

Study Design: Cross sectional comparative study

Place and Duration of Study: Rawalpindi city over a period of six months, from September 2015 to February 2016

Material and Methods: The 200 participants of this study were categorized according to their educational status after noting their demographic profiles. Comparison of the number of offsprings in different educational categories was done

Results: The data suggested that both illiterate women and men had the maximum number of offsprings. Sixty percent of illiterate wives and fifty-eight percent of illiterate husbands had five or more offsprings each. Amongst the better-educated respondents of both groups, seventy six percent had three or less offsprings. In this regard, the majority of post Matric qualified husbands had the least number of offsprings. Fisher's Chi-square test was used to establish the relationship between educational status and family size. A highly significant relationship was seen when these variables were co-related statistically [p-value=0.001]

Conclusion: The results emphasise the importance of education of couples, especially in the densely packed lower-middle socioeconomic groups, as data showed that better educated participants had a smaller family size

Type 2 diabetes mellitus; antioxidant status in patients with variation in duration

To access the Antioxidant Status in Patient with Variation in Duration of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. 90 selected patients suffering from Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus [DM] and 30 subjects as control group. Case Control Study, Rawal Institute of Health Sciences, Islamabad. July 2013 - March 2014. Out of 120 selected subjects, 90 were of DM type 2and 30 were assigned as control group [group 1]. Based on duration, patients of DM type 2 were divided into; group 2, 3 and 4; group 2 - patients with DM [type 2] duration less than 5 years, group 3 - with DM duration between 5-10 years and group 4-with duration of DM more than 10 years. Smokers, renal failure, coronary artery disease, thyroid disease and previous antioxidant treatment patients were excluded from the study. Diabetes mellitus type 2 was diagnosed according to the standards set by American Diabetes Association. The fasting plasma glucose levels were measured by glucose oxidase method; HbA1c by automated kit on Cobas Integra of Roche. The TAC was measured by calorimetric TAC Assay Kit [BioVision] while Vitamin C and E were measured by using ELISA Kit [HUMAN]. Cut off values for HbA1c was taken as ;6%; FBS 110 mg/dl; TAC 1.16 mmol/L; Vitamin C 2 mg/dl; Vitamin E 9.5nmol/ml. As the duration of type 2 diabetes increases, it was seen that vitamin C levels and TAC levels in all groups except between groups 1 and 2 decreased significantly; however, anti-oxidant vitamin E, was found to be significantly decreased in all the groups as the duration increases. A significantly increased level of HbA1c were noticed in groups 2, 3 and 4 as compared to group 1 as the duration of diabetes increases; however, the levels were found to be non-significant when group 4 was compared with that of group 2 and group 3. When fasting blood sugar was compared between the diabetic groups a significant increased levels were noticed in all the groups with the exception between group 3 and 4. A significant differences between each group and within the groups was observed when HbA1c, vitamin E, vitamin C, and TAC were compared using ANOVA. A statistical significant correlation was observed when HbA1c was correlated with FBS; however, it shows an inverse relationship with TAC, vitamin C and vitamin E. A significant inverse correlation of FIBS was noticed with TAC, vitamin C, and vitamin E. A significant positive correlation was seen when TAC was correlated with vitamin C and vitamin E. A similar trend of significant positive correlation was seen when vitamin C was correlated with vitamin E. The levels of total anti-oxidant capacity, vitamin C, and vitamin E gradually decrease with duration of diabetes and are associated with oxidative stress. These antioxidant vitamins [vitamin C and vitamin E] should be supplemented in diabetics to increase their quality of life. TAC status may be taken as early marker to detect complications in diabetic type 2 patients especially of longer duration

Patient safety: a survey of knowledge of general practitioners in Karachi

To study the knowledge of General Practitioners on Patient's Safety. Descriptive cross sectional study. Malir district, Karachi, from Feb 2012 to April 2012. Responses to a closed ended questionnaire by general practitioners [GPs] was recorded using non probability convenient sampling. The variables were derived from aspects of patient safety issues. The questionnaire used 11 potential risk factors to explore GP's views on patient safety. A total of 68 GPs responded out of the total 150 GPs running their private clinics or filter clinics of private hospitals in the Malir district area. The risk factors most frequently judged as a threat to patient safety were a poor doctor-patient relationship, insufficient continuing education on the part of the GP and a patient age based guidelines and patient privacy in the reception/ waiting room were not perceived as risk factors by most of the GPs. GPs in the present study judged a broader range of factors than in previously published research on patient safety in primary care, including a poor doctor-patient relationship, to pose a potential threat to patient safety. Other risk factors such as infection prevention, deviation from guidelines and incident reporting were judged to be less relevant than considered conventionally

Beliefs of women regarding food during lactation

To study the women's beliefs regarding diet during lactation and to see the relationship between dietary beliefs and their educational status. Descriptive study. Vaccination centre established at Paediatrics out-patient department [OPD] of Military Hospital, Rawalpindi from February to July 2006.One hundred and seventy mothers were interviewed by using a close ended questionnaire, based on convenience sampling technique. Data was analysed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences [SPSS 17]. Relationship between educational status and dietary beliefs was analysed and the results were considered significant if 'r-value' is more than 0.5 with 'p-value' less than 0.05. It was noticed that more women were convinced that amount of diet should be increased during lactation. It was also observed that almost equal number of women had the belief that some of the foods are to be restricted or not be restricted during lactation. The concept, however, changed with education and women with higher education advocated that no food should be restricted. A positive relationship was found between the education of the respondents and their belief regarding hot and badi effects of food. Women with lesser education had strong belief about hot or cold foods. The findings reported in this study together with those previously reported by various authors, it is conclusive that the education has an influence on beliefs of the individuals. It is critically important for researchers to conduct additional research that addresses the concerns on the false beliefs so as to remove them from the society through education of health professional and the masses especially the women. The information thus obtained from the studies will help in addressing issues for improvement of nutritional knowledge and dietary practices in women

Impact of multiparity on iron content in multiparous women

Background: The effect of multiple pregnancies, a very common pattern in reproductive lifestyle of Pakistani women, needs to be addressed to see if it affects the iron content and hence cause iron deficiency. Recognising this deficiency prior to development of anaemia can prevent disastrous consequences that can complicate the life of the mother and foetus especially in developing countries. The objective of this study was to assess the effect that the stress of multiple pregnancies has on the iron status of the body. Methods: This comparative study was conducted in a focus group of female population. Two hundred subjects were selected by convenient sampling and grouped depending on their parity status. Data regarding diet, and socioeconomic history was collected on pre-designed questionnaire. Serum Ferritin was used to assess iron deficiency using the Electrochemiluminescence Immunoassay [ECLIA]. Data was statistically analysed using SPSS-17. Results: Mean value of serum Ferritin in the nulliparous group was 76.52 +/- 4.92 ?g/mL with 16% of nulliparous subjects showing lower than normal values. Thirty-six percent of uniparous subjects showed low serum Ferritin values, mean value being 45.74 +/- 4.51 Eta g/mL. Seventy-two percent of the multiparous subjects showed iron deficiency with Ferritin levels of <20 Eta g/mL. Mean serum Ferritin in this group was 25.21 +/- 2.75 Eta g/mL. The differences between the Ferritin levels of the study groups were highly significant [p<0.01]. Conclusions: Multiparous women had lower serum Ferritin levels than the control group suggesting that the stress of multiple pregnancies takes its toll on the iron content of the body. Keywords: Multiparous, Ferritin, Iron deficiency, Electrochemiiluminescence Immunoassay