Prevalence of Bronchial Asthma in School Going Children: A Cross-Sectional Study from Uttar Pradesh

Background: Asthma is coined as a chronic inflammatory disorder and disarrays of the airways and respiratory tract which manifests as recurrent episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and cough. The World Health Organization recognizes asthma as a major health problem. Although asthma can occur at any age, children and young adults are the age groups which are affected more commonly. Objectives: The objective of this study is to find the prevalence of bronchial asthma in school?going children (6–16 years) and its associated factors. Materials and Methods: A cross?sectional study among the school?going children in the age group of 6–16 years was done in the field practice areas of urban health and training center and rural health and training center of the Department of Community Medicine, JNMCH, A. M. U., Aligarh, U.P. the study done for a period of one year. The validated questionnaire (International Study on Allergy and Asthma in Childhood) was used. The sample size was taken as 902. The data were entered and analyzed in the SPSS statistical software version 20.0. Chi-square was used. Results: The prevalence of asthma among the study population was found to be 26.9%. Family history of smoking and history of allergy in an individual came out to be a significant factor associated with asthma. The association is also significant between asthma and the diet of an individual. Conclusions: Asthma among school children is a public health problem in urban and rural areas. There was a rising pattern in the prevalence of asthma at national and subnational levels.

HIV/AIDS and Depression: When Two Conditions Coincide – Prevalence and Associated Factors.

Introduction: Depression is the most common mental illness among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA). While depression is common among other chronic illnesses, it is expected to be more with HIV/AIDS, which is a more stressful state. Thus, in this study, we tried to estimate the prevalence of depression along with its associated factors in people with HIV/AIDS. Method: This cross-sectional study was done at one ART Centre in North India. Over a period of one year, HIV/AIDS patients taking antiretroviral therapy were interviewed, estimating depression with PHQ-9. Using multivariate logistic regression, we examined the association of various factors with depression among HIV patients. Results: We observed that 16% of PLHA suffered from depression, while 3% had moderate and moderately severe depression. Among the factors associated with depression, we found alcohol consumption [OR 2.553; 95%CI 1.180 - 5.526], lower CD4 cell counts [OR 2.630; 95%CI 1.297 - 5.330], side effects from ART [OR 2.442; 95%CI 1.302 - 4.577], unsatisfaction from family support [OR 2.683; 95%CI 1.334 - 5.394] and no improvement from ART [OR 0.412; 95%CI 0.190 - 0.896] to be individually and significantly associated. Conclusion: Higher prevalence of depression among HIV/AIDS patients and its association with various factors should worry policymakers, prompting them to take necessary action.

Clinico-epidemiological study of safe and unsafe chronic suppurative otitis media

Introduction: Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media (CSOM) remains one of the most commonest chronic infectious diseases worldwide particularly in children and adolescents. India has been classified as the high prevalence country with national prevalence of 4%. Knowledge of differential regional prevalence of risk factors is required for adequate health education of masses and for customised preventive and control measures in respective areas. Aims: To study the clinical and sociodemographic profile of patients with CSOM. Methods: The study was carried out in the department of Otorhinolaryngology, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, AMU, Aligarh from November, 2017 to December, 2019. Patients with CSOM attending the otorhinolaryngology OPD and those admitted in IPD were included in the study. Results: A total 200 cases of chronic suppurative otitis media including both safe (mucosal) and unsafe (squamous) type were studied. The mean age of participants was 22.8 ± 15.18 years. Of the total participants, 111 (55.5%, 95% CI 48.6 to 62.2) were males, 89 (44.5%, 95% CI 37.8 to 51.4) were females and the majority (60.5%, 95% CI 53.6 to 67) of them were from rural background. Around onefourth of the patients were illiterate (23%, 95% CI 17.7 to 29.3) and the patients mostly belonged to lower side (lower middle, upper lower and lower) of the spectrum of Kuppuswamy socioeconomic classification. The distribution of age-group, gender and laterality (side of involvement) was similar (P>0.05) in both safe and unsafe type. Overall, 151(75.5%, 95% CI 69.9 to 80.9) patients were found to have conductive hearing loss, 30 (15%, 95% CI 10.7 to 20.6) with mixed and 19 (9.5%, 95% CI 6.2 to 14.4) did not have any hearing loss at presentation. The distribution of patients with regards to hearing loss was found to be similar in both safe and unsafe groups (P = 0.311). Conclusion: CSOM particularly afflicts younger age populations from rural background with poor socioeconomic status. Appropriate timely interventions in the form of health promotion, education about the risk factors and improvement in the living conditions will result in decrease in incidence and prevalence of the disease. Moreover, knowledge of symptoms and signs of the disease is likely to result in early seeking of healthcare and hence better treatment outcomes and prevention of complications.

Prevalence of Sexually Transmitted Infections and its Associated factors among women living with HIV/AIDS

Background: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are significant public health problem in India. Studies have shown a considerably higher prevalence of STIs among females as well as in high-risk groups. Thus, we conducted this study to estimate the prevalence of STIs and to find out its associated factors among women living with HIV/AIDS. Material & Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the ART centre, Aligarh. A total of 170 HIV positive women were approached with study tools comprising of pre-structured proforma. NACO STIs Syndromes were used to estimate STIs. Data was analyzed using the SPSS version 20.0, keeping significance at p<0.05. Results: We found the self-reported prevalence of STIs in HIV positive women to be 18.2% (31/170) at the time of interview and 49.4% (84/170) ever since the diagnosis of HIV. Most of the HIV women were presently having vaginal/cervical or urethral discharge syndrome (93.5%) and genital ulcer syndrome (16.1%). STIs were significantly associated with uneducated females and with irregular use of condoms. Conclusion: This study found the prevalence of STIs to be still higher among HIV positive women, in spite of years of targeted interventions reducing it. A proper action and further researches are required to explore and manage variables associating STIs for reducing its prevalence

Iodine Deficiency in School Children in Aligarh District, India.

We carried out this study to assess iodine deficiency disorders among school children of 6-12 years age group in Aligarh district of India. The prevalence of goiter was 5.2%. Median Urinary Iodine Excretion level was 150 µg/L; 22.5% of students had biochemical iodine deficiency. 50.4% households were consuming adequately iodized salt.

Prevalence of Risk Factors of Hypertension in Village Mirzapur, Aligarh.

Background: The risk factors of many non-communicable diseases including hypertension are similar and include increasing age, a high salt intake, sedentary lifestyle, obesity and tobacco addiction. Due to the epidemiological transition in countries like India, many of these risk factors are on the rise. For the control and treatment of hypertension, these factors must be managed and prevented. Aim: The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of risk factors of hypertension, and to evaluate the association between these factors and prevalence of hypertension. Materials and Methods: This was a cross sectional study, conducted in the month of December, 2015 at Mirzapur, a village in Aligarh District, Uttar Pradesh. The study population comprised of all the residents of the village ≥ 40 years of age, on the day of survey after prior consent. The data entry and other statistical calculations were done through SPSS version 20 and MS- Excel. Results: The study included 160 people above 40 years of age. The prevalence of sedentary lifestyle was 36.3%, obesity- 23.1% and average salt intake- 7.23 (2.60) grams. The tobacco addiction level, including both smoked and smokeless forms were found to be very high-45.6% in this study. Increasing age and obesity were significantly associated with hypertension. Conclusion: There is a substantial prevalence of risk factors of hypertension in India that may be the reason behind the increase in non-communicable diseases.