ABSTRACT
Over 8 lakh deaths occur every year due to diseases associated with tobacco use in India. The cancer registry data reveals that 48% of cancers in males and 20% in females are tobacco related and are totally avoidable. The present study evaluated socio demographic profile of diamond cutting and polishing workers of Surat city. Additively, the prevalence of various forms of tobacco use and factors related with it in diamond cutting and polishing workers was also studied. The present study was a cross sectional study of 295 diamond cutting and polishing workers selected randomly from different diamond units and interviewed with pre designed and pre tested semi st ructured questionnaire. Data on socio demographic characteristics, various forms of tobacco use and its related factors was collected and analysed with MS Excel and Epi info7. It was seen that the mean age of diamond workers was 29.51±9.02. About 71.2 % workers had history of tobacco use in different forms, from them, 68.1 % were currently consuming tobacco and 3.1 % had already quit their habit. Mean age of starting tobacco was 21.44±6.35 among current users. Mawa-masala (79.6%), khainee (22.39%) and Gutkha (4.48%) were preferred forms of smokeless tobacco among current-users. Smoking form of tobacco was used by 11.4 % of current user, out of which 9.4 % were bidi smokers and 2 % were cigarette smokers. Most common reason for tobacco initiation was peer pressure (74.13%), followed by psychological stress (47.76%). It was concluded that the prevalence of tobacco use among diamond workers is very high compared to that in general population. Preventive strategies are warranted to reduce the future burden of tobacco-related morbidity among these workers.
ABSTRACT
Musculoskeletal disorders are common in physiotherapists and are continually growing. Many physiotherapists report the onset of musculoskeletal pain during undergraduate course. In fact, physiotherapy students are potentially exposed to the same risks as graduates. So this study is done to find out whether the physiotherapy students are having same musculoskeletal problems as graduate physiotherapists. The objective of the study was 1.) To study the prevalence and distribution of musculoskeletal pain among physiotherapy students at Government Physiotherapy College, New Civil Hospital Surat. 2.) To find out factors related with musculoskeletal symptoms among physiotherapy students. A crosssectional study was carried out at Physiotherapy College, Surat. A pre designed semi structured questionnaire was given to physiotherapy students of all four years (114 students). After signing the consent they completed the questionnaire which took approximately 20-25 min. Following Variables were collected: age, sex, height and weight, year of study, pain and related factors. It was found that around 52% of the students had a musculoskeletal pain in last 12 months. Most common site of pain was lower back 22(37.29%), neck 15(25.42%) and upper back 11(18.64%). Dull aching was the most common pain among 39(66.10%) students. Prolonged standing was the most aggravating factor. As duration of study increased, number of students having musculoskeletal pain also increased. These findings suggest that physiotherapy students are having Musculoskeletal problems during their under graduate course itself. Some preventive measures and educational activities should be done during undergraduate course itself to minimize the problem in future.