Demographic profile and outcome analysis in paediatric intensive care unit at tertiary care hospital in the sub-Himalayan region

Background: Care of critically ill children continues to be one of the most challenging aspects of the field of paediatrics. Our study therefore, was done to see the demographic and morbidity pattern of the disease at a tertiary care hospital in the Sub Himalayan region and also the modifications that can lead to better outcomes.Methods: This was a retrospective record-based study which reviewed the admissions in to the PICU of tertiary care centre in the Sub Himalayan region of North Bengal for a period of 2 years (April 2018 to April 2020) with age group more than one month to twelve years of age from both medical and surgical sub-specialties. Data collected in pre-designed pro forma. Descriptive study analysis was done.Results: Out of the total 776 cases analysed 59% were male. LRTI comprised of maximum percentage of cases 27.8%, followed by sepsis (21.6%) and meningo encephalitis (16.7%). A maximum of 39% stayed for 3-7days in PICU, and 29.9% expired. Out of the total deaths, meningo encephalitis was responsible for maximum (27.6%).Conclusions: Our study is the first of its kind depicting the the demographic and morbidity patterns of the disease at a PICU in a tertiary care hospital in the Sub Himalayan region. Outcome analysis showed that PICU mortality rate was higher than in relevant recent studies.

A Study on Smoking and Associated Psychosocial Factors Among Adolescent Students in Kolkata, India.

Tobacco use among school children and adolescents is an increasing problem world-wide, particularly in the developing countries. A cross-sectional observational study was carried out in six co-educational high schools in Kolkata, West Bengal among 526 students of 15-19 years to determine the prevalence of smoking and to fi nd out any difference among the smokers and non-smokers regarding factors related to family relations, peer group and personal characteristics. The overall rate of smoking was found to be 29.6%, mean age of initiation of smoking was earlier in males. Among smokers 75% students started smoking by 15 years. Smoking of father and peer group, family confl ict and pornography addiction were found to have signifi cant association with smoking of students. Early school health based interventions addressing these factors might help in effectively tackling this problem.