ABSTRACT
Background and Objective: There have been numerous studies of oral health status of school children and young population; however, similar studies in elderly population in India are lacking. With advances in medical science and consequent increase in life expectancy, elderly population is on the rise and is a subject of growing concern for public health policy. Hence, an attempt was made to study factors influencing decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) index, oral health awareness, and dental treatment-seeking behavior of elderly population. Methods: A cross-sectional community-based survey was conducted between September 2014 and December 2014 in villages in rural Maharashtra. Sociodemographic and health-related information were collected from 352 participants 60 years of age and above in 10 villages. Results: Prevalence of dental caries was 76.4% in a study population with median DMFT score of 12 with interquartile range of 7–22. The majority of the participants cleaned their teeth with fingers using charcoal and mishri. Only 17.2% participants used toothbrush. About 39% participants had experienced dental pain, of which majority did not visit dentist. The median DMFT index who used toothbrush and toothpaste was significantly less when compared with participants who did not use tooth brush and tooth paste. The majority of the participants had one or more missing teeth, but only 2.2% were using dentures. Conclusion: There is an urgent need for comprehensive oral health educational programs, and accessible and affordable oral health services to be provided to rural community.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The importance of fostering clinicians who are also scientists is well recognized. It is of value to assess medical students’ inclination towards and self-perceived readiness for a research career, as this has implications on the future development of such individuals. Methods: A questionnaire was self-administered to all consenting first year medical students from eleven universities in ten countries. Questions were asked pertaining to inclination towards research careers, confidence in research methodology and ability to understand medical literature. Results: A total of 1354 questionnaires were completed, with a mean response rate of 76.5%. While 24.8% students expressed an interest in pursuing a research career, 48.3% were undecided. Students with prior research experience and students who were attending graduate medical school programmes were more likely to have an interest in a research career after graduation. Males were more interested in learning about biostatistics than females, while the reverse was true for learning about research ethics. Discussion: Most students in their first year of medical school are not inclined towards a research career. This finding applies internationally, across different countries and medical school systems. Thus, the onus is on medical schools to help transform the perception and attitudes of their students during the course of their training, so that a greater proportion will be interested in and ultimately pursue research careers.