Study of Profile and Pattern of Information Sought from RTI Applications in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital of North India

Introduction: The Right to Information Act 2005 is asignificant development in Indian Democratic fabric. ItProvides a platform for Citizens where they have the right togain access to information which is under Public authority. Theaccess to information under the RTI act 2005 includes a rightto obtain Personal medical information generated within thehospitals and their research projects. The citizens are utilizingthe tool of RTI in health care services which has resulted inimproved care and better management of health centers. ThePresent study was conducted in 794 bedded tertiary careteaching hospital with an aim to find out the profile and patternof applications received through RTI act protocol.Material and Methods: This hospital record basedprospective observational study was carried out in Sherikashmir institute of medical sciences (SKIMS), a tertiary carehospital from October 2016 to February 2018. All the RTIapplications received during the study period were selectedfor the study. The data was collected by an investigator afterscrutiny of received applications and was verified from thedesignated PIO.Results: Among 119 applications, 115 cases (96.6%) weresolved by providing required information Among 115 resolvedRTI applications, majority i.e 47(40.8%) of cases wereresolved between 15-30 days, the process of 46 (40%) RTIapplications was expedited by issuing only one (1) reminderto concerned quarters, 105 cases were concluded at PIO levelwhile 10 applicants appealed to First appellant authority (FAA)which happened to be the Medical superintendent of Hospital,most of the applications were for Policy and Personal section(50, 42.01%), most common subject matter was informationregarding a Hospital staff member (21, 17.64%) and amongthe queries, most were information inquiry (83%, 69.74%).Conclusions: Healthcare personnel must acquire, process,store, retrieve and transfer clinical, administrative andfinancial health information. Privacy and confidentiality areimportant issues and their protection in the fiduciary doctorpatient relationship encourages citizens to seek necessarymedical care and disclosure of information is vital if largerpublic interest is involved.

Association of Hand Length With Height in Medical Students Enrolled in Skims Medical College, India.

Introduction: Stature is considered as one of the important parameters for personal identification. So, Stature reconstruction is important as it provides forensic anthropological estimation of the height of a person in the living state which plays a vital role in the identification of individual remains. Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate the association of hand length with height and to show if height could be predicted using hand lengthmeasurements in students of SKIMS Medical college. Methodology: The study of the anthropometric characteristics of 100 Medical College students of ages between 18-23 years of SKIMSMedical college, beminawith no obvious deformities or previous history of trauma to the spine or hand was undertaken. The study of these medical students, males (n=50) & females (n=50) was investigated. The anthropometric characteristics of their height and hand length were measured, analysed statistically for any significant difference, and correlation between the parameters studied. Results: The results show some significant differences between the anthropometric parameters, Pearson’s correlation analysis was used and showed a strong positive correlation, which means that high X variable scores go with high Y variable scores.(R is 0.8229) and it is significant. Results from the present study show that therewas a positive correlation between height and hand length indicating that height could be predicted using hand length. Conclusion: As age groups increase the mean length of hand also increase, so there is direct relation between length of hand and age groups. Definite proportion also exists between the height and hand length in an individual at all ages, irrespective of the sex. Height of an individual is 9 times the height of hand length. Thus we can predict height from hand length when it is difficult or not possible to measure height directly.

Smoking behaviour among young doctors of a tertiary care hospital in North India.

Background: Tobacco use is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced. There are more than one billion smokers in the world. Almost half of the world's children breathe air polluted by tobacco. Aim of current study was to study the smoking trends among young doctors in a tertiary care institute in north India. Methods: A descriptive observational cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted among 250 doctors of a tertiary care Hospital in Jammu & Kashmir (Sheri Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, SKIMS) during the two months of February-March, 2014. The predesigned tool adopted during data collection was a questionnaire that was developed at the institute with the assistance from the faculty members and other experts. Results: Among 250 participants, (20%) were smokers; among smokers, (76%) were regular smokers and (24%) were occasional smokers. Majority of smokers were in the age group of 21-30 years (80%) & started smoking between 11-20 years (70%). All of them were male (100%). No significant difference was observed among urban and rural students. Among smokers, majority (60%) was in the practice of smoking for last 6 months to 1 year and 26% smoked for <6 months; & (14%) smoked for more than 5 years .It was found more than half of the responding (60%) students used to smoke 5-9 cigarettes per day; 14% is <5 and 26% consumed 10 or more per day .Among smokers, peer pressure was found in 80% cases. (χ2 = 107, P <0.001). Among smokers, almost 20% had other addiction and among non-smokers only 5% had .Effect of parental smoking was significantly higher in smokers than non-smoker (χ2 = 66.2, P <0.001) .It was seen that peer pressure was the most important risk factor (60%) of initiation of smoking habit followed by parental influence (20%). Majority (78.4%) had no intention to quit in the next 6 months. Lack of Incentive (36.36%) and Addiction (27.27%) were the main reasons for not quitting. Conclusion: We need to create more awareness regarding hazards of smoking in general population especially in medical students, and afterwards provide psychological and pharmacological support for those who intend to quit, as medical students can themselves become a tool to fight this hazard at all levels.

A cross-sectional study to determine sex-wise prevalence of obesity in adults of Kashmiri population.

Background: Aim of current study was to determine the prevalence of obesity in both sexes in persons aged 18-45 years. Methods: Multistage and multiphasic sampling technique was utilized in this study to screen the obese subjects of both males and females based on WHO classification of obesity according to BMI of 18-45 years of age. Each household was visited and only the subjects having age of 18-45 years were included in this study and this comprised of 5107 subjects, then identified obese cases with the help of height and weight techniques. Only those people who had simple obesity were included in the study. People having secondary obesity, drug induced obesity and pregnant ladies were excluded from this study. The data was collected and analysed using statistical software and chi square and proportional statistical test were applied. Results: Out of 5107 screened population, 2652 were males and 2455 were females and the prevalence of male obesity in study population is 6.41% and that of females is 7.74%. Conclusion: The sex has a significant impact on obesity. We reported in our study a prevalence of obesity is more in females as compared to males. A lack of physical activity as well as low frequency of employment makes females more susceptible to obesity.

Redefining indications and evaluation of dissection versus diathermy method of tonsillectomy.

The current availability of randomized clinical trials have assessed the efficacy of the most common presumed indications for tonsillectomy, but the controversery still exists So, the present study was conducted to assess (1) Whether tonsillectomy leads to any significant benefits as compared to watchful waiting (2) evaluating the two most commonly used techniques for tonsillectomy i.e; cold dissection & diathermy. 170 patients were included,104 were assigned to the surgical group (Group A) & 66 patients acted as control (Group B).The surgical group underwent tonsillectomy.The efficacy of tonsillectomy viz-a-viz chronic tonsillitis related morbidity, school absenteeism, & work absenteeism, Group A beta hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis, otitis media, Rhinosinusitis, obstructive sleep apnea & psoriasis was studied.The results of our study were as; Majority among children (7-15 years)& the mean age of adult population was 23.02 years.Tonsillectomy definitely provided benefit in case of chronic tonsillitis, mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea on polysomnographic findings where as the Patients who had been included in this study to redefine otitis media & rhinosinusitis as an indication for tonsillectomy did not benefit much when compared to the watchful waiting groupThe three most commonly used techniques of tonsillectomy i.e; cold steel using ties & packs, cold steel using monopolar diathermy for hemostasis & using monopolar diathermy exclusively were evaluated.The operating time was least for the diathermy alone method. The intraoperative blood loss was minimal for the monopolar diathermy method. The primary hemorrhage rate was maximum in technique of cold steel with ties & packs as hemostasis.The secondary hemorrhage rate was maximum in monopolar diathermy method. The postoperative pain measured by using the verbal rating scale was considerable after using monopolar diathermy alone with 33% complaining of severe pain & 67% complaining of moderate pain.