ABSTRACT
Background: Vaccine hesitancy (VH) has been identified by the World Health Organization as one among the top ten threats to global public health. There is limited literature regarding VH from developing countries like India. Methods: In this facility based cross-sectional study, 172 mothers of under-five children were assessed regarding VH using the parental attitude towards childhood vaccination questionnaire (PACV). Results: The prevalence of VH was 3.4% (n=6). Only 7.6% (n=13) of the study participants had ever refused vaccination for their child and the most common reason cited for their refusal was that they thought it was not safe (n=6). Government health facilities was the place of routine immunization for 60.5% (n=104) participants. Health care providers (n =79, 46%) were the major source of information regarding vaccines. Conclusions: Our study highlights the presence of very low prevalence of VH in Mangalore compared to similar studies from India and other parts of the world. The limited number of participants had refused vaccination due to concerns related to vaccine safety.
Subject(s)
Mothers , Vaccines , Child , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , India/epidemiology , VaccinationABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The Medical Council of India (MCI) has envisioned a change in the undergraduate medical curriculum by encouraging integrated teaching and Problem Based Learning (PBL). METHODS: In this cross-sectional study 110 medical teachers of Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore were assessed regarding their perception on PBL. Independent t-test was applied to find out the difference in the mean perception scores regarding PBL among the teachers in pre/para-clinical and clinical departments and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: PBL as a teaching method was preferred by 65.2% medical teachers. The teachers from clinical departments (Mean 4.1, SD 0.8) perceived PBL sessions to be more effective than the traditional methods than those from the pre-clinical and para clinical departments (Mean 3.7, SD 3.7) and this difference was found to be statistically significant. (P =0.028). CONCLUSION: PBL can complement integrated teaching and motivates students towards self-learning, and apply the learnt concepts of basic specialties to clinical problem solving.
Subject(s)
Education, Medical, Undergraduate/methods , Faculty, Medical/statistics & numerical data , Problem-Based Learning/methods , Students, Medical , Adult , Cross-Sectional Studies , Curriculum , Humans , India , Learning , Middle Aged , PerceptionABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Postpartum is the most neglected period in reproductive cycle of woman. Prevalence of anaemia in developing countries ranges from 50-95%. AIM: To estimate the prevalence of anaemia among postnatal mothers. SETTING AND DESIGN: A community based cross-sectional study among recently delivered mothers residing in field practice area of Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study sample included 401 respondents who were selected using stratified random sampling with proportionate allocation from all rural health centres. Data was collected by personal interviews followed by haemoglobin estimation by indirect cyanomethaemoglobin method. RESULTS: The prevalence of postnatal anaemia was 26.5% (Anaemia = Hb<12gm/dl). There were no cases of severe anaemia. Postnatal anaemia was predominantly seen in mothers of age < 20 years and half of the mothers with inter-pregnancy intervals less than two years were found to be anaemic. Illiteracy was identified as a significant variable (OR=11.23, 95% CI = 1.90-65.08) for postpartum anaemia. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of anaemia was significantly lower in the present study; however sustained efforts have to be made to further lower the prevalence of postnatal anaemia in order to promote the health and well-being of women.
