A Retrospective Study to Estimate the Prevalence of Anemia and Associated Factors among First Year MBBS Students of Maharaja Agrasen Medical College, Agroha, Hisar.

Introduction: Anemia is a most common public healthproblem affecting around 1.9 billion population of the world.It is a severe public health problem in India. Medical studentsare vulnerable to develop anemia due to irregular eatinghabits due to hectic study schedule. Anemia among this agegroup has significant health consequences resulting in poorcognition, decreased attention span and memory affectingthe performance, depressed immunity, repeated infections,increased fatigue, and shortness of breath, dizziness, blurredvision, low endurance and irregular menstruation.Material and Methods: This study is conducted among 100students of both gender taking admission in MBBS first yearat MAMC, Agroha. Hemoglobin values and other relevantdetails of the students were taken from academic sectionsubmitted at time of admission. World Health Organizationcriteria were taken to determine the severity of anemia.Modified B.G. Prasad scale was used to assess the socioeconomic status of the family. Data was first entered into MSexcel sheet and then was exported to SPSS version 20.0 forappropriate analysis.Results: Prevalence of anemia came out to be 54% amongstudy subjects. Difference between the mean levels ofhemoglobin across the genders came out be statisticallysignificant (P=<0.001).Conclusion: Prevalence of anemia is high among the studysubjects with more prevalence among females study subjects.There is a need to accelerate efforts for achieving control ofanemia by strengthening multi-sectoral partnership involvinggovernment departments, academic institutions, bilateralagencies and food industry.

Comparison of Regression Equations For Predicted Values of Pulmonary Function Parameters In North Indian Subjects.

Pulmonary function parameters are the most important and widely used exploratory tool in respiratory disorders. Most of the studies on these parameters describe lung capacities and flow rates in terms of absolute values. There are various equations to derive the predicted values of these parameters. Most of these equations are framed for Caucasian, American or Africans, but are frequently used in Indian subjects. There are very few equations for Indian subjects, which are also region specific. Hence, the present study was undertaken to compare the various regression equations for calculating predicted parameters in North Indian subjects. We used eight regression equations which are frequently used for calculating predicted values. The data of 75 Indian healthy subjects was used in these equations for comparison. The regression equations provided predicted value of pulmonary function parameters which varied markedly (0.24-123%) based on type of regression formula used. The closet seems to be Chatterjee and Vijayan equation. The anthropometric variable used in these equations can have a lot of bearing on the predicted values. However, based on literature and our experience of using eight regression equations, we found that none of these is perfectly suited for North Indian subjects.

Pulmonary Function Parameters in Workers of Woolen Industry.

There is an increase in proportion of workers suffering from occupational diseases. In occupational respiratory diseases, pulmonary function tests are the most important and widely used diagnostic tool. Limited studies have been conducted to evaluate the effect of wool dust on pulmonary function parameters. Hence, the present study was undertaken to evaluate the pulmonary function parameters in workers of woolen industry. This study was done on 150 subjects of either gender who were divided into two groups of 75 each. Group I comprised of healthy subjects who served as controls and group II included workers of woolen industry. The values of lung function parameters i.e. volumes and flow rates in these workers were found to be lower than the healthy controls. The significant reduction in percentage predicted values of FEV1 (82 vs 59), FVC (79 vs 63) and MVV (77 vs 64) in workers as compared to healthy controls indicates obstructive pattern of respiratory abnormality. In male workers, percentage predicted FEV1% was significantly lower. The values of all other parameters were lower in female workers. There was a significant decrease in FEV1 and FVC with increase in age in group I and this negative correlation was statistically significant. The decrease in respiratory volumes and flow rates was more with increase in duration of exposure to wool dust. It can be concluded that wool dust present in environment of woolen industry affected the pulmonary function parameters of the workers leading to obstructive pattern of respiratory changes.