ABSTRACT
Background: COVID 19 pandemic created immense mental & physical agony among human beings worldwide. The present study was conducted to assess the physical, mental, social and spiritual wellbeing of young adults and the elderly, during the lock-down phase of COVID-19. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted among 227 healthy adults in Bhubaneswar, capital of Odisha. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire pertaining to the physical, mental, social and spiritual health of participants. Results: During the lockdown, around two-thirds (65.4%) of the participants reported feeling helpless. The elderly felt more helpless than the young adults. One-third (73, 32.6%) of the participants experienced health issues during the lockdown period. The majority of the study participants (83.8%) mentioned that their family members shared tasks during lockdown which was a very positive sign observed in this study. Faith in God for the elderly and family support for the young adults made them mentally stronger. Conclusion: Managing pandemic needs a multipronged approach. But focusing on psychosocial health will prevent future unseen mental health pandemics and improve the resilience of mankind.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: In developing countries like India, low birth weight is a major public health issue. It is a leading cause of disease and mortality in infants. Low birth weight can be avoided by identifying at-risk pregnant women and taking the necessary precautions. Methods: From January to June 2019, a facility based retrospective case control study was conducted among pregnant women who gave birth at the hospitals. The information was gathered from the antenatal care files and the delivery room register and records. SPSS version 24.0 was used to process the data. To find an independent predictor of low birth weight, researchers used binary and multiple bivariate logistic regressions. Result: An aggregate of 450 neonatal birth records were reviewed in this study of which 150 were low birth weight babies and 300 were of normal birth weight. The mean � SD and median [IQR] for birth weight of case group was [2.0�4kg, 2.2[1.8-2.4] kg] and that for control [3.1�4kg, 3.0[2.7-3.3] kg] respectively. Conclusion: Preterm delivery, mothers with hypothyroidism have an increased chance of having low birth weight babies whereas mothers with regular antenatal check-up and mothers with primary and secondary education have a lesser possibility of having low birth weight babies.