Heel pain and its associations

Objective: Heel pain is an everyday increasing problem in young people more commonly in females. It is estimated that about one million people with complaint of heel pain seek medical advice per year. Therefore, it was needed to highlight its clinical associations

Methods: One hundred and thirty-eight cases with heel pain were registered. For comparison, 134 subjects were registered as control. All subjects were segregated into gender groups. Each gender group was further subdivided into young [age < 40] and old [age > 40] groups. Three parameters were considered, i] blood pressure, ii] body mass index [BMI] and iii] serum uric acid level

Results: The overall male to female ratio was 1: 3. There was significant difference [p < .05] in the means of systolic and diastolic blood pressure of old [> 40] cases of both gender groups. The Odds ratio showed association between DBP and heel pain in female group only. There was significant difference [p < .05] in the means of BMI of cases from those of age and gender matched controls. The Odds ratios also showed strong association between increased BMI and heel pain. There was significant difference [p < .05] in the means of uric acid levels of cases from those of controls in female groups only. Similarly, the Odds ratio in this group showed association between hyperuricemia and heel pain. When above parameters were analysed for anindependentrisk factor, increased BMI and hyperuricemia were found to be associated with heel pain as isolated and independent risk factors

Conclusion: In our study, the female cases outnumbered the male cases by 1: 3.The results showing the association between heel pain and increased BMI were well consistent with the international studies. For hyperuricemia, the association with heel pain was also consistent with international studies. Similarly, the hypertension was also found in the cases with heel pain in old groups only. The obesity and hyperuricemia were found to beisolated and independent risk factors associated with the heel pain

Private and public nursing schools in Karachi, Pakistan

Nursing is a field which is directly affecting patients' quality of life. For this, there is a dire need to bring competent and professional nurses who pass on the dignity of their nursing profession. This heavy responsibility to produce such competent and professional nurses lies on educational institutions and nursing schools. Educational institutions play a vital role in offering a standard of education for future nurses. Hence, it is essential or educational institutions of nursing to undergo a quality assurance process in order to monitor their efficiency and standards of nursing education. While comparing two nursing institutions, we found some issues and challenges in both private and public institutions. Public institution has the resources, but poor strategic planning for initiating the new programs; while private institute cannot expand their programs due to lack of resources. Private institute has a better education system as compared to the public institute despite of limited possessions