A Comparative Study on Health Expenditure among Individuals with Diabetes and Hypertension in Rural Tamil Nadu

Introduction: Recent data reveal the diabetic prevalence in adult population to be around 8.8% and prevalence of hypertension 25–29%. Out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure on the treatment of chronic diseases continues to be the major impediment and a burden on the people. 78% of Indian population spend out of their pockets financing for health in India. Aim and Objectives: The aim of the study is to compare OOP expenditure of diabetes and hypertension. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in the rural field practice area of tertiary medical college in Trichy district of India. Mean cumulative expenditures on diabetes hypertension in medications and investigations were compared. Results: Mean cumulative OOP expenditure was Indian rupee (INR) 1435/month (approximately INR 17,200 annually) for diabetes and INR 313 (approximately INR 3756 annually) for hypertension. Comparative cumulative OOP expenditure per month between the two groups was found to be highly significant (0.009). Conclusion and Recommendations: Out of Pocket Expenditure on diabetes treatment in the present setting was 4 times the treatment of hypertension. Policymakers should consider subsidizing the cost of diabetes expenditure.

A Study on the Resting Preference of Mosquito Species in Wells 27-31in Vellore in Tamilnadu, South India.

The resting preferences of mosquito species was investigated in domestic wells. In addition to the routine adult surveys in human dwellings, adult collections were also made in domestic wells using an innovated equipment operating on the principles of spray sheet collections. Above the water surface, wells provide humid and dark microclimate along the inner walls. It has been observed that this microclimate provides very congenial resting place for few mosquito species; specially for the males and for the females between their gonotropic cycles. Larval collections in the wells did not reveal breeding of majority of the mosquito species collected by this technique. Investigations were conducted in 87 wells in 11 localities during 2005. A total of 4969 mosquitos were collected of which 69.1 % (3441) were males and 30.9% (1528) were females. From among the mosquitos collected 96.5% were Cu.quinquifasciatus, 0.26% All stephensi, 3.0% Aedes agypti and 0.24% Armegeres sp. The results of the analysis of the physical and chemical parameter of water samples of the study wells before and after the surveys endorsed the utility of this technique for entomological investigations in outbreak situations, for monitoring the liquidation of outbreak foci and for other research purposes.

Impact of integration of NLEP into PHC system in Madurai district, Tamil Nadu, and status of integration of leprosy patients into the community.

Based on the encouraging results of the integration in Tamil Nadu, the Government of India introduced integration in the entire country. In this study on integration, Madurai district was taken as the study area. The impact of integration on essential indicators of leprosy elimination was analyzed and the results are discussed so that they will be useful to other states that are still considering integration.

A study of health and health related social problems in the geriatric population in a rural area of Tamil Nadu.

About 200 individuals aged 60 years and above, out of 317 total geriatric population of a small village in Tamil Nadu were subjected for complete clinical examinations with the objective of finding major health problems and associated social problems prevalent among these study population. Main causes of illness were found to be arthritis, cataract, bronchitis, skin diseases and malnutrition.

Association of rhinitis in adult asthmatic.

In a study of 124 adult patients with bronchial asthma, 65% of them had associated rhinitis. In the asthmatics who had associated rhinitis, both diseases usually started within two years of one another but either disease might develop first. In 21% of the patients, asthmatic attacks were preceded or precipitated by rhinitis symptoms. In the patients who had asthma alone or those associated with rhinitis, no significant difference were found in terms of age and sex distribution, age of onset, and a positive family history of asthma, rhinitis or allergic diseases. Response to skin prick test using six different types of allergens also showed no difference in the two groups of patients. Sensitivity to house dust was common among both groups of patients as well as in the normal controls suggesting a common occurrence of house dust mite in our community and making the skin prick test using this allergen unsuitable as a test for atopy in our population.