Factors associated with tobacco smoking among 6-10 grade school students in an Urban Taluka of Sindh

To determine the factors related to tobacco smoking among students of grade 6-10 in an urban setting in Sindh, Pakistan. Cross-sectional survey. The study was conducted in public and private schools of Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan, from January 2008 to June 2009. A sample of 501 students from grade 6-10 were selected through simple random sampling and probability proportional to size. Students answered to a pre-tested questionnaire on sociodemography and tobacco use. Descriptive statistics were used to determine frequency distribution. About 9% of the students were smoking some form of tobacco. Ten percent had tried cigarette smoking and about 80% and 61% were chewing Areca nuts and 'Paan' [concoction of Areca nuts, tobacco, hydrated lime, herbs and spices wrapped in betel leaf. Being old, male gender, peer influence, personal attitude toward future smoking, chewing 'Gutka' [concoction of tobacco, Areca nuts and hydrated lime] and having a more educated mother was associated with greater frequency of smoking any form of tobacco. High frequency of tobacco smoking, the attitude toward tobacco consumption and a very high consumption of Areca nuts and other chewable tobacco products by the children warrants urgent action in order to control the tobacco epidemic in Pakistan

Needle stick injuries among health care workers of public sector tertiary care hospitals of Karachi

To estimate the frequency of needle stick injuries [NSI] among health care workers [nurses, student nurses and paramedical staff] in public hospitals of Karachi. Cross sectional, observational. This study was conducted in three public tertiary care hospitals of Karachi, from November 2007 to January 2008. Data was collected by structured interview-based questionnaires in Urdu and English language. Questionnaire was designed to obtain information regarding demography, work experience, hepatitis vaccination status, and occurrence of needle stick injuries with associated factors. Needle stick injury that occurred in the previous month was the defined outcome. Data was entered in Epi Data and analyzed in SPSS version 15. A total of 417 health care workers participated in the study. Mean age of the participants was 24 +/- 11 years. Estimated proportion of participants with history of at least one time NSI was found in 66%. Around 13% [n=54] had one or more NSI in the previous one month at work and half of them were affected by non-sterile needle. None of them sought medical care. Almost 90% of them were not wearing gloves or taking any other protective measures at the time of injury. There can be serious consequences of needle stick injuries in public hospitals as large proportion of injuries involve non-sterile used needles and health care workers do not take appropriate measures of protection