RESUMO
Background: Examinations are formal tests conducted to assess a student's knowledge. Despite their paramount importance, they can impact students physically and mentally by causing stress and anxiety. Hence, identifying the changes that hamper a student's lifestyle, during examinations, in order to prevent the development of unhealthy behavioral patterns is the goal of this study. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study conducted among undergraduate medical students of Mysuru over a period of 2 months from February 2023 to April 2023 in 120 participants. Data was collected using an online questionnaire, entered into M.S. Excel and analyzed using SPSS software. Frequencies and percentages were calculated for all the categorical variables. Results: 61.7% of the study participants showed extreme examination stress. Only 39.3% consumed 3 balanced meals daily. A complete lack of physical activity was observed in 38.1%. Regular caffeine consumption was noted in 46.4% and 27.4% showed unusual amounts of junk food daily. Irregular sleeping patterns were found in 23.8%, sleeping at odd times beyond 1 am was noted in 59.5% and deficient sleep duration (<6 hours) was observed in 46.6% of the surveyed population. Conclusions: The findings from this survey highlight the significant impact of examinations on the lifestyle-related behaviors of undergraduate students such as high prevalence of extreme examination stress, irregular eating habits, lack of physical activity, and sleep deprivation.
RESUMO
Background: Poor knowledge and poor practice in menstrual health and hygiene management results in unhealthy practices which in turn impacts on overall health of the girl child resulting in increased reproductive tract infection and inhibiting the girl’s scholastic performance. Methods: A school based cross-sectional study was conducted among 3 randomly selected rural schools. Adolescent girls in 8th to 10th standards, who have attained menarche, were included in the study and surveyed using a pretested self-administered questionnaire to evaluate their knowledge, perception and practices related to menstrual health and hygiene management. Data was analyzed using SPSS v22 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY, USA). Results: Mean age was 14.32(±0.98) years and mean age at menarche was 12.74 (±1.11) years. 51.6% knew about menstruation at menarche. 57.5% knew about sanitary pad, 21.6% knew that hormones as the reason for menstruation and 5.2% marked uterus as the organ responsible for menstruation. 63.4% of the participants perceived that menstruation is a normal & healthy part of life. 83.7% were using sanitary pad, 25.5% flush the menstrual material in the toilet as a disposal method. Conclusions: 21.6% of the participants were found to have good knowledge about menstruation, 63.4% of the participants feel that menstruation is a normal & healthy part of life and 83.7% use sanitary pads. Hence this study emphasizes the need of educating the adolescent girls regarding MHHM.
RESUMO
Background: Social media is a form of electronic communication, through which people can share ideas and information. With the advent of internet and social networking sites, humans have become social more virtually than in person. This has led to people living more isolated lives affecting one’s health. Hence the objective is to assess the effects of social media on students and factors associated. Methods: It was a Cross sectional study among 367 undergraduates from a medical college in Mysuru, over a duration of 2 months. A self-administered questionnaire with socio- demographic variables and a standard GHQ-12 (general health questionnaire) was used for the scoring of their distress levels. Descriptive statistics were taken and Chi-square test was done for statistical significance. Results: Out of 367 students, the mean age of students were 21.5 years. The prevalence suggestive of distress was found to be 72.4% (265), and severe psychological distress was found to be 3.27%. Among usage of apps, people using 1 app had 48.5% distress, 2 apps had 75.6% distress, 3 apps had 63.3% distress and 4 apps 74.2% distress. There was no significant association between factors and severity of distress. Conclusions: From the above study, we have shown that social media with all its influence has a negative impact on the students’ behavior. With this the youth need to be educated on its use and its limitations counselled regarding its ill effects and necessary tolls for seeking help be made available at their disposal.
RESUMO
Background: Altered bowel habits, is a commonly encountered presentation, especially among training professionals. During training, young doctors move to rural areas, experience the stress factors in food and environment causing the altered bowel habits. Hence correlating altered bowel habits among young medical doctors when exposed to relative culture barriers was the main aim of the study. Methods: It was a cross sectional study among interns and postgraduates from all over the country for a duration of 2 months from January 2023 to March 2023 for 150 participants. A self-administered questionnaire with socio- demographic variables and a standard PAC-SYM was used for the scoring of altered bowel habits. Data entered into Excel and analysed using SPSS software. Descriptive statistics were taken and Kruskal Wallis test was done for statistical significance. Results: 60% of the students belong to 20-24 age group. 55% of participants were female. 48.7% of mothers were homemakers and 46.6% were professionals. 90% of students were exposed to rural areas and 32% of them stayed there for more than 2 months. Gender, duration of stay, frequency of food consumption and bathroom comfort were statistically significant with the symptoms of altered bowel habits. Conclusions: From the above study, we have tried to prove poor water supply, poor hygiene, and multiple people sharing the toilet are significant stressor factors for the medical trainee during their stay in rural health centres across the country.
RESUMO
Background: Child growth and development is multifactorial influenced by the environment, living conditions, socio-demography and various other demographic factors. Infant feeding practices breastfeeding practices are important components to be addressed. Therefore, online counselling provides a good service for mothers to access useful information. Objectives of the study were: to assess the need and effectiveness of an online nutritional web portal for under five mothers, and to find the barriers in the usage of the website. Methods: It was a quasi-experimental study, for a duration of one month. It was conducted in JSS urban primary health centre, under the department of community medicine in Medhar bloc. Necessary consents from the participants were taken. An online self-structured questionnaire was assessed pre and post the intervention. Study duration was for one month. Results: The major findings from the study shows that only the educated class of mothers, i.e. 6 of the 30 mothers went through one round of online nutritional counselling. They did find counselling useful for further practices and there was an increase in their knowledge. Among those who didn’t access the website, they cited housework, not aware and discomfort with the website as their reasons not to use. Conclusions: There is surely a need for online nutritional counselling for mothers with under five, as it will provide them quick access to valuable information regarding feeding. There are many barriers, one is awareness and education on website usage and linking it to the individual needs.
RESUMO
Background: The second-largest industry in the world in terms of employment is agriculture. In other ways, working in agriculture is among the riskiest professions in the whole world. Each year, many farm workers have illnesses and workplace accidents. All people are exposed to some degree to pesticides, but farmers are more susceptible owing to the additional danger of occupational exposure. Methods: Purposive sampling was utilized in this cross-sectional research on chilly farm workers in the Dammuru village of Bellary district, Karnataka. An MS Excel spreadsheet was used to input the collected data, which was then analysed using SPSS version 23. Results: Out of 220 participants, 165 (or 75% of them) utilized items that were classified as class I (very hazardous), followed by 33 (or 15%) as class II (moderately hazardous), 16 (or 7.247%) as class III (somewhat hazardous), and 6 (or 2.72%) as class U (unsafe materials) (unlikely to present an acute hazard). The majority of the 220 individuals, 202 (91.81%) experienced health concerns, whereas the minority, 18 (8.18%), had no health issues. Conclusions: More than half of the survey participants reported having health issues, with a lack of information about the appropriate use of pesticides and improper use of protective gear being the major causes. 18 people (8.18%) did not have any health issues whereas 202 (91.81%) did.