Sural nerve conduction: Amplitude and distal latency of sensory nerve action potential

Background: The sensory nerve action potential (SNAP) is an important factor in the electro diagnostic evaluation of a patient with suspected peripheral neuropathy. Sural nerve is the most frequently studied nerve in the electrophysiology. For proper diagnosis sural sensory conduction abnormalities, a reference data are required for each electrophysiology laboratory. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the study was to find out normative reference data of amplitude and distal latency (DL) of sural SNAP for Northern Kerala population. Materials and Methods: The study was designed as cross-sectional and observational study and analysis of values was done using SPSS version 16. A total of 250 healthy subjects of age 15–50 from Northern Kerala participated in the study which included equal number of males and females. Results: Normative reference data for sensory amplitude and DL were derived in the present study. Sensory amplitude was more and DL was found to be less in female population, indicating faster nerve conduction in female. Conclusion: The reference data derived here can be utilized to detect any abnormality sural nerve sensory conduction. The gender effect on sural nerve sensory conduction parameters can be attributed to the height difference, as nerve conduction velocity is inversely proportional to height.

Physiology teaching methodology – Perspective of undergraduate medical students

Background: Proper understanding of concepts of physiology forms basis of good clinical practice. To make the lectures in physiology more interesting and understanding, one has to review the teaching methods at regular intervals. Aims and Objectives: This study is designed to get feedback regarding teaching methods in physiology from MBBS students of Government Medical College, Kozhikode, to make teaching more effective. Materials and Methods: Two hundred randomly selected students who successfully completed 1st-year MBBS are included in the study group. The standard questionnaire is shared to study group through Google forms and adequate time is given to record their responses. Descriptive statistics are used. Frequency is expressed in percentage. Results: Most of students prefer interactive teaching methodologies such as group discussion as their preferred mode of learning rather than conventional didactic lectures in whole batch. Students also like to have integration with other subjects and early clinical exposure to understand the concepts precisely. Conclusion: Teaching in small groups with proper integration and alignment with other subjects will make maximum results rather than the traditional teacher centered medical education. Periodic review of teaching methods is very much essential to make the subject more interesting.

Prevalence of depression in healthcare workers of a COVID-19 First Line Treatment Centre in North Kerala

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic had a widespread impact over the health-care system all over the world. This had resulted in varying degrees of psychological issues on healthcare workers. Aim and Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of depression among healthcare workers of a COVID-19 first line treatment center (CFLTC). Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study, 240 healthcare workers who volunteered for the study at COVID first line treatment centre-3 NIT mega boys’ hostel, Kozhikode, Kerala were recruited. They were interviewed, basic demographic data and patient health questionnaire-9 was administered. The data were analyzed with Microsoft Excel. The prevalence among various categories of healthcare workers were compared. Results: The prevalence of depression among healthcare workers was 52%. The prevalence of depression is each category of staff-doctors, staff nurses, cleaning staffs, and patient caretakers-separately. It was found that depression is inversely proportional to the knowledge, experience, medical qualification, and training. Conclusion: The prevalence of undetected depression is high among healthcare workers working in unconventional environment as in warfront situations such as COVID pandemic. The present study emphasizes the importance of proper screening of depression among healthcare workers in such circumstances in years to come.