ABSTRACT
Background: The Information technology has revolu?onized many changes throughout the society, and also in bringing up the economic growth of the country.IT professionals are prone to various job-related complaints and symptoms which can be reduced or eliminated by using proper ergonomics. The present study was carried out to study the prevalence of Musculoskeletal disorders among the Informa?on technology (IT) professionals and to determine the factors associated with musculoskeletal problems. Objec?ves:1.To study the prevalence of Musculoskeletal disorders among the Informa?on Technology (IT) professionals. 2. To determine the factors associated with Musculoskeletal disorders among IT Professionals. Methodology: A cross-sec?onal study was done among 400 Informa?on technology professionals of selected IT companies of Visakhapatnam city using mul?stage sampling technique. Structured Interview schedule was taken to collect socio-demographic, personal and working details of employees. Standardised Nordic Musculoskeletal ques?onnaire was used to assess the work-related musculoskeletal symptoms in rela?on to various body regions during last 12 months and last 1 week. Results:The overall musculoskeletal disorders among IT professionals was 74% of which lower back (56.7%) is the most common body region affected in the last 12 months followed by neck (43%), shoulder (28.2%), wrist/hand (8.5%), elbow (5.7%), knee (4%) and ankle (3.7%). Conclusions: The study concludes that, prevalence of work-related health problems among IT professionals are of concern. Work related musculoskeletal problems were widely reported and it was observed that, individuals who have regular physical ac?vity are less prone to Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD).
ABSTRACT
Background: Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer in the world, and it is the main cause of death and morbidity in Indian women. Breast self-examination (BSE) is a routine exam that can detect 40% of breast abnormalities and involves two key components that is looking and feeling. Women should learn what is normal for them, so that they can recognize any changes immediately. Aim & objectives: 1) To assess Knowledge and Practice about Breast Self-Examination. 2) To assess awareness about warning signs of Breast cancer. Methodology: A Descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 55 Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) in the month of January 2021 in the Rural field practice area of Rural Health Centre (RHC) attached to the Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College, Visakhapatnam. A predesigned, semi structured questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge and practice of BSE. Data was entered in MS Excel and analysed using SPSS Version 17. Chi square test was applied to find out the statistical associations if any between categorical variables. Results: In the present study only 1.8% of the ASHA workers were found to have good knowledge. 41.8% and 56.3% had average and poor knowledge respectively about BSE. Out of 55 ASHA workers, 39 (71%) have heard of BSE, 25.4% were practicing regularly and 14.5% of them were practicing correct method. Conclusion: The Knowledge and Practice of BSE among ASHA workers was observed to be inadequate which points out the need for training programs to educate them.
ABSTRACT
Background: Teaching in India is still controlled by teacher-centered class room which would make them bored and exhausted. Educators now strive to provide the most productive class room experience for their students by facilitating small group discussions within the larger class such as seminar presentation by the students etc. Hence the present study was done to assess the perception of medical students regarding seminars in the curriculum towards a small group teaching activity. Objective is to assess the perception of medical students regarding seminars as a teaching learning activity.Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted among 4th semester undergraduate medical students of Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh in the month of June 2016 to assess their perception regarding seminars in the curriculum. A pre-designed, pre-tested self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data.Results: Total number of study participants were 136. Majority 110 (80.9%) of them agreed that seminar is a good academic activity and is helpful in learning. Around 96 (70%) of the students opined that seminars help students engage in higher order thinking tasks. Majority 93.4% agreed that seminars help students to overcome nervousness. About 91.9% felt seminars improve self-confidence and personality development.Conclusions: Students view that, seminars are more effective in deep understanding of the subject and critical thinking than didactic lectures and helps the students to improve self confidence and communication skills.
ABSTRACT
Background: Adolescent girls constitute 1/5th of total female population in the world. Poor personal hygiene and defective menstrual management practices among adolescents give rise to repeated reproductive tract infections (RTIs) which are otherwise preventable. So the present study was undertaken to study the knowledge, status of hygiene and practices regarding menstruation among adolescent girls. The objectives of the study were to study the knowledge and practices of menstrual hygiene among study population and to identify beliefs, perception regarding menstruation and menstrual practices among the study population.Methods: A cross-sectional study was done in the month of November 2017 in the rural field practice area of the Department of Community Medicine, Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam. The study was done in a high school selected by simple random sampling among 400 adolescent girls who had attained menarche and were present in the schools during the days of survey after obtaining Institutional Ethics Committee approval, permission from the school authority and informed consent was taken from study participants. The sample size was calculated Using 4PQ/L2 with 5% absolute precision (p=36% from previous studies).Results: Mean age of study participants was 14.2yrs ±1.05. About 206(48.4%) knew about menstrual cycle before their menarche. Majority of study participants (78.3%) used sanitary pad as protective material. Regarding hygienic practices during menstruation 78.8% had daily bath.Conclusions: Awareness about menarche before its onset was still poor in rural areas.