ABSTRACT
CONTEXT: Despite the nationwide implementation of the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program in India, adverse outcome after treatment is on rise. Program guidelines propose follow-up of cured patients for 2 years which is rarely done. OBJECTIVES: The main objectives of this study is (1) To find the response of treatment in terms of failure and drug resistance (recurrence of symptoms and mortality experience) and (2) Collect client perspective about the program and suggest the same to program managers. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Community-based tracking of 365 cured adult Category I pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) cases drawn from three nearby TB units was done with a structured designed questionnaire. It was done to record the adverse events after 1-3 years of completion of treatment and also to record the client perspective about the program. In case of nonsurvivors, verbal autopsy was conducted by interviewing the next available relative. RESULTS: A total of 365, only 226 (60%) could be covered mainly due to wrong/incomplete address and 35 cases did not survive. Of 191 survivors who were tracked, 94.7% had sputum microscopy at the completion of treatment. Total 54 (23.9%) cases had adverse outcomes, including 31 with symptoms suggestive of TB and 23 died directly/indirectly due to TB. This cohort of cured cases, posttreatment, observed 15 times (annualized) high mortality than their counterparts. Clients or relatives largely rated the program as good/very good. CONCLUSIONS: Post-treatment tracking is must to detect an adverse outcome which is high. Most survivors and relatives of expired cases rated the program as good to very good.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Second key strategy of National AIDS Control Program (NACP IV) is comprehensive care and support by providing quality services through zero stigma and discrimination. Quality of services can be improved by eliminating stigma and discrimination and making health care provider aware of associated occupational hazards. Nursing staff play crucial role and are more at risk therefore their understanding, perception and skill must be assessed in different domains of learning to improve the contents and methodology of trainings. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Total 85 nursing staff underwent 1 day training in 3 batches focusing on Universal Work Precautions (UWP), Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) and sensitization of the participants towards PLHA (People living with HIV/AIDS). Their learning was evaluated under different domains (cognitive, psychomotor and affective) using structured questionnaire. RESULTS: In pretest evaluation scores showed minor and statistically not significant variations in terms of participant's gender, age, designation work experience and status of having received any similar training in the past. Impact of the training was visible as overall mean scores increased from 10.6 ± 2.7 to 13.8 ± 5.8; gain being statistically highly significant (P value < 0.001). Gain was highest in cognitive (from 58% to 77%) followed by psychomotor (from 48% to 62%) and minimal in affective domain (from 75% to 76%). CONCLUSIONS: After undergoing the training, participants were benefitted more in cognitive domain than psychomotor and affective domain. Acquired knowledge, skill and communication skill if evaluated as done in this study will improve the methodology of such trainings making them more effective.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Multiple choice questions (MCQs) are frequently used to assess students in different educational streams for their objectivity and wide reach of coverage in less time. However, the MCQs to be used must be of quality which depends upon its difficulty index (DIF I), discrimination index (DI) and distracter efficiency (DE). OBJECTIVE: To evaluate MCQs or items and develop a pool of valid items by assessing with DIF I, DI and DE and also to revise/ store or discard items based on obtained results. SETTINGS: Study was conducted in a medical school of Ahmedabad. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An internal examination in Community Medicine was conducted after 40 hours teaching during 1(st) MBBS which was attended by 148 out of 150 students. Total 50 MCQs or items and 150 distractors were analyzed. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Data was entered and analyzed in MS Excel 2007 and simple proportions, mean, standard deviations, coefficient of variation were calculated and unpaired t test was applied. RESULTS: Out of 50 items, 24 had "good to excellent" DIF I (31 - 60%) and 15 had "good to excellent" DI (> 0.25). Mean DE was 88.6% considered as ideal/ acceptable and non functional distractors (NFD) were only 11.4%. Mean DI was 0.14. Poor DI (< 0.15) with negative DI in 10 items indicates poor preparedness of students and some issues with framing of at least some of the MCQs. Increased proportion of NFDs (incorrect alternatives selected by < 5% students) in an item decrease DE and makes it easier. There were 15 items with 17 NFDs, while rest items did not have any NFD with mean DE of 100%. CONCLUSION: Study emphasizes the selection of quality MCQs which truly assess the knowledge and are able to differentiate the students of different abilities in correct manner.
