ABSTRACT
Background: Migraine is a debilitating neurological disorder. As a leading cause of disability worldwide, it affects health-related quality of life (HRQoL). There are limited studies assessing the prescription pattern and improvement in HRQoL post-treatment. Aims and Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the drug use pattern and compare the effects of medications on HRQoL as per Migraine Disability Assessment Score (MIDAS). Materials and Methods: A prospective observational cross-sectional study was conducted on migraine patients attending neurology OPD at a tertiary care hospital. One hundred and seven patients were recruited by periodic sampling over 6 months. Prescription indicators assessed were number of antimigraine drugs per prescription, frequency of prescribed drugs, prescriptions by generic name, etc. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The HRQoL was assessed after 3 months of medications by telephonic questionnaire. The change was analyzed by Wilcoxon matched pair signed-rank test. Results: Majority patients were in the third (40.2%) and fourth decade (32.7%) with a female preponderance (72.9%). Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were commonly prescribed for aborting acute attacks with naproxen (24.1%) followed by diclofenac (2.71%). Prophylactically topiramate (27.51%), amitriptyline (18.6%), and propranolol (3.1%) were prescribed. About 36.43% of drugs were prescribed by generic names. Improvement in HRQoL was reflected by a significantly reduced MIDAS (13.95 ± 5.20 to 11.39 ± 5.07 [P < 0.05]). Conclusion: In our study, there was low generic prescribing. Naproxen was most prescribed for acute migraine and topiramate for prophylaxis. The HRQoL significantly improved after 3 months of antimigraine medications causing lesser disease burden.
ABSTRACT
Background: To increase research productivity among post-graduate (PG) students, there is inclusion of research dissertation or thesis in their academic curriculum. However, thesis or research project during the residency remains is the last priorities due to high demands on the PG student’s energy and time in terms of patient care. There are a very few such studies conducted in our nation pertaining to perception of PG students toward thesis. Aim and Objectives: This study is to assess the attitude and perception of medical PG residents toward research dissertation or thesis during residency training. Materials and Methods: This was an observational, cross-sectional study with the 2nd and 3rd year MS/MD PG students as participants. Study tool was pre-validated questionnaire consisting 40 questions under following domains: University regulations (5), attitude toward thesis (4), perception toward benefits of thesis (15), perception toward obstacles of thesis (13), and practice in regard to thesis (3). A study was initiated after approval of Institutional Ethics Committee. After obtaining written informed consent, a questionnaire was given to each student and was collected after 25–30 min. Confidentiality of responses was ensured by maintaining anonymity of responders. Data were entered into Excel and a descriptive analysis was done. Results: Of these 55 pre/paraclinical and 70 clinical PG students (n = 125) returned completely filled questionnaire. The mean age of the students was 27.40 ± 2.20 and was in the 2nd or 3rd year of the residency. 256% participants were from clinical whereas 44% were from pre/paraclinical branches. The majority of postgraduate students preferred observational studies (80%) over interventional study for thesis (19.2%). 61.6% PG students felt that thesis should be mandatory. Majority of students agreed to benefit of thesis which helps them to develop skills such as literature search (92.8%), data processing (84%), statistical analysis (73.6%), interpretation of results, and discussion (80.8%). PG students felt that there are few obstacles in their thesis such as inadequate lab facilities (66.4%), inadequate study tools (62.4%), and incompetent technical staff (55.2%). Conclusion: A number of barriers such as lack time, funding, and poor availability of research facilities for conduct of research need to be addressed to further enhance PG student’s positive attitude toward thesis.