Factors associated with quality of life of patients with epilepsy attending a tertiary care hospital in Kolkata, India

Epilepsy is one of the most important neurological diseases with prolonged morbidity and disability leading to profound fi nancial loss. There have not been many studies investigating factors infl uencing the quality of life in an epilepsy patient in India. This study was conducted among the epilepsy patients attending a tertiary care hospital in West Bengal, India. Two hundred and four epilepsy patients attending the Outpatient Clinic of the Department of Neuromedicine, Medical College, Kolkata were interviewed with the Bengali version of QOLIE 9 (i.e. Quality of life in Epilepsy 9 questionnaire). The mean of total QOLIE score was 18.02 ± 4.87, the range being 10 to 30. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that workdays lost due to epilepsy in last three months, use of two or more antiepileptic drugs, higher frequency of seizure, and longer time gap between onset of seizure and consultation with neurologist were signifi cant predictors for poorer quality of life score in the epilepsy patient.

Disability among geriatric females: an uncared agenda in rural India

In our country India females are neglected since birth. As aging is increasing geriatric females are more prone to suffer from different morbid conditions and ultimately develop disability. As social factors and chronic diseases are the major reasons for geriatric disability, the study was undertaken with the following objectives: To assess the prevalence of chronic diseases and disability and associated factors among geriatric females in a rural area of West Bengal. Cross-sectional, Observational Community based study was conducted in a rural community of West Bengal, India by house-to-house visits, clinical examination, observation and interview with a pre-designed pre-tested proforma. Prevalence of disability was 23.8%. Different socio-demographic and chronic diseases were found associated with disability. On analysis of different chronic diseases it was observed that Acid peptic disorder, tuberculosis, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, osteoporosis, genitourinary disorder and osteoarthritis were significantly associated with disability. Among the risk factors of disability considered for this study 82.1% could be explained by logistic regression analysis. These data highlighted the different risk factors associated with disability. No single measure; but rather a multi-dimensional approach should be the model for the prevention of geriatric female disability

An epidemiological study on incidence, symptoms and complications of measles in bordering districts of West Bengal.

The present study was carried out to find out the incidence of measles in under five children and its complications in four selected urban slums of inter-state border districts of West Bengal. 20 cluster sampling technique was followed and in each cluster 250 under five children were covered. Paramedical workers found out the children of the target age group who had the history of measles in past one year and Medical Officer confirmed the case following standard case definition. Incidence of measles was round to be 3.3% in Purulia, 5.5% in Bankura. 4.6% in Midnapur, 5.7% in Haldia-Tamluk and with an overall rate of 4.8%. Incidence was higher in 0-11 and 12-23 months age group and decreased with increasing age, but no sex difference in incidence of Measles was observed. Only 20% of cases were vaccinated with measles vaccine and 26% received Vitamin A in oil. Diarrhoea was the commonest complications followed by cough and cold, pneumonia and weight loss. The study highlighted the necessity of timely measles vaccine coverage, additional dose at a higher age and Vitamin A oil supplementation through IEC activities.