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Background:With 3.95 lakhs of active COVID-19 cases in India and Tamilnadu being the second largest hub of COVID-19, the health and social impact on the public, especially the health care warriors would be considerable.Objective:To evaluate and compare the levels of knowledge, preventive behavior and risk perception of South Indian Health Care Professional(HCP) Students regarding COVID-19.Material And Methods:An institution based cross sectional questionnaire survey was conducted in a tertiary care centre and teaching hospital in May-June 2020 amongst 873 students pursuing various HCP course s. The questionnaire comprised four sections -demographic details, COVID–19 related knowledge, preventive behavior and risk perception.Result:Females volunteered to complete the survey (n= 623; 71.4%) more than males (n= 250; 28.6%). Most participants had received awareness about COVID-19 (n=860; 98.5%) from many resources of information. While females (97.50 ± 8.94) had significantly higher scores on items for preventive behavior than males (94.7±15.55; p=0.006), the scores were similar for knowledge and risk perception. There was a statistically significant difference inrisk perception among various courses with students pursuing Pharmacy having higher risk perception. Items regarding use of masks in general and hospital set ups and availability of antivirals for COVID-19 received many incorrect responses.Conclusion: HCPstudents presented with high levels of COVID-19 related knowledge and preventive behavior, but moderate risk perception. Continuing educational programs and preventive behavioral training are the need of the hour to strengthen the knowledge and alleviate anxiety of HCP students towards the pandemic.
ABSTRACT
Background: Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of death in india. it is also one of the few malignancies where an infectious etiological agent human papilloma virus (HPV) has been identified. With the advent of HPV vaccination, it is possible to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with carcinoma cervix. But biggest hurdle to achieve this is the lack of awareness about the availability and use of HPV vaccine. This study was conducted to know knowledge and awareness of HPV infection and vaccination among medical and paramedical students. We also evaluated the acceptability and coverage of HPV vaccine among these students.Methods: This study was conducted among a total of 520 female students of the Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara University with the help of a questionnaire. The study group included 207 MBBS students, 167 BDS students, 89 nursing students and 57 physiotherapy students.Results: Most of the students were in 18-20 years’ age group. Nearly 40.57% of the students knew that HPV is sexually transmitted and 29.80% were aware that this infection can be prevented. Availability of HPV vaccine was known to 75% of the students and the main source of their information was through their college teachings. Nearly 43.75% of the students knew HPV vaccine protects against cervical cancer and 26.73% of the students were vaccinated. Overall knowledge and awareness were better among medical students.Conclusions: A lot of work needs to be done so as to make the target population accept HPV vaccine. There is a great difference between awareness of availability of the vaccine and its use. This emphasizes the need for health care professionals to take special interest in promoting this vaccine in the general population.
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Background: To resolve the mystery of Attention Deficit Hyperkinetic Disorder (ADHD) in adults and toassess its prevalence & association with various risk factors.Methodology: This cross sectional analytical study was carried out with specific inclusion & exclusioncriteria on different selected variables. This study was undertaken in the campus of R D Gardi MedicalCollege, Ujjain over medical & paramedical students. Chi square qualitative statistical analysis was doneto evaluate the association of risk factors with the outcome of disease.Results: The prevalence of ADHD in the study group was found to be 15.9% (56 out of 353 patients).Themost common type of ADHD found in the study population was - Inattentive type (50%) – 28 out of 56,followed by Hyperactive type (18%) – 10 out of 56, Combined type (32%) – 18 out of 56. Among thediagnosed 56 Adult ADHD patients 59% were males and 41% were females. Level of education was foundto be a statistically significant factor in association with occurrence of ADHD in adulthood. Other factorsconsidered in study like age, gender, presence or absence of other co- morbid psychiatric disorders werenot found to be statistically significant in association with ADHD. Also variables of past history like rashdriving, road traffic accidents, frequent quarrels, substance abuse or learning difficulties in school were notfound to be significantly associated with adult ADHD in our study.Conclusions: It was concluded that such studies should be undertaken frequently at different locations indifferent time frames to tackle this devastating problem in early stages.
ABSTRACT
The use of illicit drugs among young people is a growing social problem in Japan. All healthcare professionals are expected to play a role in preventing drug abuse; thus, it is important to give lectures to paramedical students not only to acquire accurate knowledge about illicit drugs but also to promote their self-awareness as future health care workers. To evaluate effective education for drug abuse prevention, we conducted an awareness survey of students in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyushu University and the College of Healthcare Management, Fukuoka. Over 90% of students were affected by drug abuse resistance education in elementary, junior high, and high schools. According to this, most of the students tended to have an understanding of health hazards such as central nervous system toxicity. A normative consciousness of avoiding drug usage was high but in response to dealing with friends involved in drug abuse, 14.5% of students answered “it depends on their decision” and 9.1% answered “no idea.” The reasons for drug abuse given included easy availability (63.6%), fear of exclusion from the group (60.0%), and escaping distress (41.8%). The nature of this problem in young people might be attributed to their relationship with family or friends. In this survey, we obtained information regarding knowledge and awareness of drug abuse among paramedical students. We think that it is necessary to focus the education on understanding of factors leading to the use of illicit drugs, such as psychological problems, rather than their harmful effects on health.