Prevalence of goitre among school children in Belgaum District.

Objective. A school survey was conducted to estimate the prevalence of goitre among schoolchildren in Belgaum district. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted in primary, middle and high schools of villages selected. All the children of the selected schools were examined for the presence of goitre and the salt samples obtained from their homes were tested for iodine content. Results. Overall prevalence of goitre was 16.7%. Prevalence of palpable goitre was 16.4 % and visible goitre was very low (0.3%). Higher prevalence was found among females (21.1%) when compared to that of male children (12.8 %). Prevalence of goitre increased significantly with advancement of age until 16-yr. 72.1 % children were consuming rock salt and only 27.9 % were consuming powdered salt at their homes. Estimation of Iodine content in the salt samples showed that 68.7 % of the sample had inadequate iodine content. Prevalence of goitre was significantly high among children who consumed rock salt (16.2%) as compared to those who used powdered salt (11%). Conclusion. Strict implementation of salt codization and marketing in rural area is desired. Also health education programme be showed.

Effectiveness of reproductive health education among rural adolescent girls: a school based intervention study in Udupi Taluk, Karnataka.

BACKGROUND :Adolescence is the most important and sensitive period of one's life [1] . According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Committee, adolescence is defined as the period between 10 and 19 years, the second decade of life. OBJECTIVE :To determine the effectiveness of an educational intervention program on knowledge of reproductive health among adolescent girls. SETTINGS AND DESIGN :This educational intervention study was carried out over a period of one year. A total of 791 rural girls in the age group 16-19 years were randomly selected from coastal villages in Udupi District, Karnataka. MATERIALS AND METHODS :Adolescent girls were educated regarding reproductive health and their awareness levels were evaluated immediately following intervention. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS :Data was tabulated and analyzed using SPSS version 11.0 for Windows. Findings were described in terms of proportions and percentages. Chi square test was used to test the effect of the intervention. RESULTS :A significant increase in overall knowledge after the intervention (from 14.4 to 68%, P < 0.01) was observed regarding contraception. Knowledge regarding ovulation, first sign of pregnancy and fertilization improved by 37.2% (95% CI = (35.2, 39.2), P < 0.001). Knowledge regarding the importance of diet during pregnancy improved from 66 to 95% following the intervention. CONCLUSION : This study clearly showed that an educational intervention program can bring about a desirable change in knowledge among adolescent girls regarding reproductive health.

Acceptability and effectiveness of a breast health awareness programme for rural women in India.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer being one of the leading cancers among women in developing countries, prevention or identification of the disease at an early stage is of paramount importance in saving as well as improving the quality of life. Breast health awareness appears to be a pragmatic method for this. OBJECTIVE: To determine the acceptability and effectiveness of an educational intervention programme on breast health awareness for rural women by trained female health workers. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Community based non-randomised educational intervention study carried out over a period of 1 year. Three hundred and sixty rural women in the age group 30--59 years were randomly selected (and age-wise stratified), from a coastal village in Southern India. METHODS: Women were educated on breast health and breast self-examination by specifically trained health workers and their awareness and proficiency levels were evaluated at the end of 1 and 3 months post-intervention. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: This was done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences Version 10. RESULTS: Following the educational intervention, a significant increase in overall awareness regarding breast cancer (z=-15.807; P< 0.001) as well as in the performance of self-examination of the breast 321/342 (93%) was observed. Forgetfulness or being too busy appeared to be the two most frequently perceived barriers. CONCLUSION: This study clearly shows that a community oriented educational intervention programme emphasizing on proper technique can bring about the desirable behavioural change among women.

Acute respiratory infections in children: a community based longitudinal study in south India.

A community based longitudinal study was conducted in Malpe, a coastal village of Udupi district, Karnataka state, to investigate acute respiratory infections (ARI) in children. A cohort of 91 children under 3 years of age were followed up for 1 year, leading to 2047 fortnightly observation. On an average every child had 11.3 months of follow up. The overall incidence of ARI was 6.42 episodes per child per year. On an average each episode lasted for 5.06 days. Mean duration of ARI during one year was 32.5 days per child. Most of the ARI episodes in children (91.3%) were of simple Cough & Cold (no pneumonia). However, 8.2% developed pneumonia and only 0.51% had severe pneumonia. Incidence of ARI was almost same in male and female children. There was no significant difference in incidence among various age groups. But the incidence of pneumonia was significantly higher among infants (p<0.00002). Children of poor housing with smoke producing conditions suffered more frequently (p,002).

Prevalence of goitre among school children in coastal Karnataka.

OBJECTIVE: A cross sectional study was conducted in the rural field practice area of Department of Community Medicine, KMC, Manipal to find out the prevalence of goitre among school children in the age group of 8-10 years. METHODS: A total of 722 children were selected from the study population by the method of probability proportion to size (PPS) stratified sampling giving due representation to both Government and private schools. Children were clinically examined for the presence of goitre and graded according to WHO guidelines. Urine and salt samples were collected from subsample to estimate the urinary iodine excretion level and iodine content in the salt respectively. RESULTS: Over all prevalence of goitre was 30 percent. Prevalence among males was 28.8 percent and among females it was 31.2 percent. In the both sexes goitre rate increased with the advancement of age. Prevalence of grade I and grade II goitre was 29.4 and 0.6 percent respectively. Prevalence of goitre was significantly higher among children who had urinary iodine excretion level less than optimum (<10 mcg/dl). Estimation of iodine content in the salt sample revealed that 48.3 percent of samples had adequate iodine content (>=15 ppm). There was significant increase in the goitre rate as the iodine content in the salt decreased (p=0.01). CONCLUSION: Prevalence of goitre among school children was high and therefore constituted a public health problem in this region.