ABSTRACT
Background: Body image refers to how individuals think, feel and behave in relation to their body and appearance. During adolescence self-perception about their appearance is important to the development of self-esteem and is also understood to be an important predictor of self-worth. Research has shown that inappropriate perception of the body image and dissatisfaction can lead to physical and psychic problems in the youth. In today's society, with the growing sense of ideal body image, adolescents and young adults try to lose or gain body weight to attain perfect body. The objective of the study is to find out the proportion of students dissatisfied with their body image, and the association of various determinants with body image dissatisfaction and self-esteem. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done among 125 first year medical students located in rural Haryana. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data on various determinants associated with body image dissatisfaction and self-esteem.Results: Body image dissatisfaction was present among 16.8% of the students. Low self-esteem was observed among 21.6% of the students. Low body mass index (<18.5) was found to be significantly associated with body image dissatisfaction. A moderately positive correlation (r=0.384, p<0.001) was observed between self-esteem and body image satisfaction.Conclusions: Study findings support the fact that body image dissatisfaction has its impact on self-esteem among college-going youth. It is imperative that effective interventions be planned to educate the youth on ideal body weight and protect this young generation from pressures and consequences of negative body image.
ABSTRACT
The study aims to determine knowledge regarding biomedical waste management policy, attitude & practice of BMWmanagement, prevalence of needle-stick injury and appropriate response to needle stick injury among the doctors working atAdesh Medical College and Hospital, India. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a questionnaire with closed-endedquestions. The questionnaire was distributed to all doctors working in the college. The resulting answers were graded and thepercentages for each question was obtained and analyzed. The results showed that the level of knowledge and awareness ofbiomedical waste generation, associated hazards, legislations and management practices among health care personnel is good.However, it was surprising that this is not getting translated to action, especially when their personal well-being is concerned. Itwas found that none of respondents had an excellent level of knowledge on responding appropriately to needle stick injury andonly 17.9% respondents had good knowledge about needle stick injury and its management while 82.1% respondents had anaverage knowledge. It may be concluded that the knowledge about BMW among doctors is good but there are poor levels ofknowledge and awareness about needle stick injury and its management. Regular monitoring and training are required at alllevels.
ABSTRACT
Leishmaniasis, a vector-borne disease, has been endemic in India since ancient times 1, 2. At present, it is a serious public health problem in Indian subcontinent, especially in state of Bihar. It is caused by obligate intracellular protozoa of the genus Leishmania and is responsible for a broad spectrum of clinical syndromes: Cutaneous lieshmaniasis (CL), Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and Mucocutaneousleishmaniasis (ML). VL, locally known as kala-azar in India, is the most aggressive form and if undervalued is fatal. Here we describe an imported case of visceral leishmaniasisreported in the State of Punjab which is non-endemic for the disease. The importance of the case lies in the fact that, a case of Visceral Leishmaniasis has been reported after a gap of 4 years in the State.
ABSTRACT
Background: It is a well-documented fact that men’s general knowledge and attitudes concerning the ideal family size, sex preference of children, ideal spacing between child births and contraceptive method use greatly influence women’s preferences and opinions. However, fertility and family planning research and programmes have ignored men’s role in the past, focussing their attention on women’s attitudes and behaviours in matters concerning reproduction. Aims & Objective: To assess men’s attitude towards family planning & to compare in which ways and to what extent the men’s attitude differs from their wives and its implications for future family planning programs. Material and Methods: A cross sectional survey was carried out in 305 eligible couples in Shahid Bhagat Singh Colony of Rajpura, Punjab. Information pertaining to the couple’s socio-demographic data, fertility intentions & attitude towards contraception was collected. Results: It was observed that among the women whose spouse approved of their contraceptive usage, 41.3% of the women were using contraceptives and 58.7% were not using any contraceptive. 79.7% of the women who had frequent (more often) discussions with their partners were currently using contraceptives and 20.3% did not use any form of contraceptives despite frequent discussions. As regards perception of ideal family size it was observed that in 68.7% (95 % CI: 63.2 – 74.2%) of cases there was agreement between husband and wife about the number of children that they should ideally have. Conclusion: Men’s fertility intentions, reproductive preferences and their attitude towards family planning seem to influence the fertility behaviour of their wives and their attitude towards the use of contraceptives. Therefore an attempt to promote reproductive health through increasing use of contraceptives needs to be made and family planning programmes need to target men specifically at all levels of the programme.