ABSTRACT
Viral hepatitis is still considered a major cause of the burden of disease in India. It is the most common cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer. Prisoners are one of the groups at most risk for hepatitis. This study aimed to estimate the pooled estimates of the prevalence of hepatitis B and C among prisoners in India. The study followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for study selection. The extensive search was done through databases of PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar. All cross-sectional studies conducted to find the prevalence of hepatitis B and C among prison inmates in India published till June 2020 were screened and included in this meta-analysis. The analysis was conducted using the random-effects model. The heterogeneity was estimated using the I2 indicator. After extracting the required data, the meta-analysis was performed using the software Stata, version 12 (StataCorp LLC, College Station, Texas). The study is registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO; registration no: CRD42020185137). Out of a total of 970 articles searched through the database of PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar, five studies that met the inclusion criteria were included and analyzed. Hepatitis B and C prevalence were given in four studies each. The results showed that the overall prevalence of hepatitis B and C in prisoners was 8% (95% CI: 4-12) and 7% (95% CI: 1-13). The studies show high heterogeneity with no evidence of publication bias. The prevalence of hepatitis B and C among male prisoners was 4.48% (95% CI: 3.64%-5.32%) and 6.35% (95% CI: 5.48%-7.23%), respectively, while the prevalence among female prisoners was 1.53% (95% CI: 0.31-2.75) and 2.10% (95% CI: 0.28-3.93), respectively. The study findings show a high prevalence of hepatitis B and C in prisoners, which is of particular concern. Appropriate and effective interventions to reduce the transmission of hepatitis B and C in prisons are essential.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is a multifactorial disease and can be described as a noncommunicable disease of epidemic magnitude. Little is known about the predictors of depression in this population, especially among the Indian population. This study explores the predictors for depression in patients with type 2 DM. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed for a period of 7 months during 2018-2019. The data were collected from 250 subjects at the diabetic clinic and psychiatry outpatient department of a tertiary care teaching hospital. T2DM with an age group of 18-60 years were included. Exclusion criteria were clinical evidence of any significant Axis I psychiatric disorder according to the International Classification of Diseases-10 Diagnostic Criteria for Research other than depression and substance use disorders. Data were analyzed with multiple linear regression analysis using SPSS-23 version. RESULTS: Male and female patients were 127 (50.80%) and 123 (49.20%), respectively. The prevalence of depression was 49.20% among 250 patients with T2DM. Female patients had higher depression than male patients. We found age (P = 0.013), female gender (P = 0.041), locality of the patient (P = 0.021), body mass index (BMI) (P = 0.018), and fasting blood sugar (FBS) (P = 0.045) as significant predictors of depression among T2DM patients. CONCLUSIONS: The study concludes that females and elderly patients were more affected by depression. The predictors of depression were age, gender, locality, BMI, and FBS among diabetic patients. The findings indicate to screen the patients of T2DM for depression, predominantly female and elderly patients, at regular intervals as per clinical demand.
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BACKGROUND: Awareness about disease among tuberculosis (TB) patients plays a crucial role toward successfully achieving targets for control, prevention, and their relatives treatment adherence and is not well studied or documented. This study sought to explore the awareness and perceptions of TB patients in a tertiary care centre in northern India. METHODS: This was an exploratory study conducted between January and December 2016 among 1,000 pulmonary TB patients and their relatives. Structured and validated interview schedule was used to assess participants knowledge and perception regarding TB, which comprised of 41 questions. Ethical clearance was taken and written informed consent was obtained from each study participants. Data analysis was done using SPSS 22.0 version. RESULTS: A total of 1,000 study participants (mean age 40.2 ± 9.6 years, females 51%) were enrolled. More than two-third of the study participants were from Uttarakhand. Study participants had highest knowledge score (61.85%) regarding sign and symptoms, followed by scores in the aspect of prevention and treatment of TB (52.7%). However, a lower proportion (51.5%) knew about its causation. Overall knowledge score was 54.8%. Around half of the subjects (49.7%) disagreed that TB is a major health problem. CONCLUSIONS: Regardless of non-satisfactory knowledge of participants, their perception regarding TB was better. As to the associated factors, we found that participants' knowledge had significant association with religion, educational status, occupation, family income per month, type of family, and source of health information. Although there was insignificant difference between family monthly incomes, source of health information and perception regarding TB.
ABSTRACT
CONTEXT: Anaemia is defined as a decreased concentration of blood haemoglobin. It is one of the most common nutritional deficiency diseases observed globally affecting both developing and developed countries. AIMS: To find out the prevalence of anaemia among the beneficiaries of Anaemia Mukt Bharat and its association with age and gender. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Uttarakhand by AIIMS Rishikesh in a month-long campaign including 5,776 beneficiaries. Camps were organized at the hospital campus, schools, district hospitals, Community Health Centre (CHC), Primary Health Centre (PHC), subcentres (SC), Anganwadi Centres (AWCs), slum areas, adolescent health day celebration sites and Village Health and Nutrition Day (VHND) sites. METHODS AND MATERIAL: Data on age and gender along with haemoglobin level using HemoCue Haemoglobinometer was collected. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: These data were entered into Microsoft Excel and analysed to calculate the prevalence of anaemia and its association with age and gender using Epi Info software version 7. Pearson's Chi-square test was applied. P value <0.05 was considered as significant. RESULTS: Out of 5,776 participants 53.2% were anaemic. Females (54.6%) were more anaemic than males (45.1%). 33.5% of pregnant females were found to be anaemic. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of anaemia was very high among the study participants. It shows that anaemia is a major public health problem so efforts should be taken to reduce the prevalence of anaemia and promote the health of an individual, community as well as the country.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Menstruation is a normal physiological process among reproductive age group females. Although some of them show the abnormal menstrual pattern, which is influenced by several factors, including sociodemographic status, psychosocial stress, improper sleep level, etc. The identification of these risk factors associated with abnormal menstrual patterns may permit risk stratification among adolescent girls. This study was planned to determine various factors which depict menstrual cycle pattern among adolescent girls in urban India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A school-based case-control study was carried out in urban India from May to December 2019. Urban locality and schools were randomly selected, and data were collected in two phases. Adolescent girls in the age group of 10-19 years studying in government and private (both Hindi medium and English medium) schools of urban India were screened for the abnormal menstrual pattern. Equal numbers of age-matched controls were also enrolled. Data were collected with the help of self-administered predesigned pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, unpaired t-test, and McNemar tests were used to analyze data using SPSS version 23.0. RESULTS: A total of 100 cases and 100 age-matched controls (mean age 14.8 ± 1.5 years) were included in the study, almost half of the cases and controls have normative menarche. Improper sleep patterns increased stress levels, and low education status of mothers show statistically significant (P = 0.047) association with abnormal menstrual patterns. CONCLUSION: More stress, improper sleep levels, and low education status of mothers among school-going adolescent girls were strongly associated with abnormal menstrual patterns with more symptoms during menstruation.
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World Health Organization Global Status 2018 Report on alcohol and health states that global total alcohol per capita consumption has drastically risen from 2005 to 2016. Presence of inherited metabolic traits (MTs) such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity predisposes to early and more severe liver damage, even with smaller quantity and shorter duration of exposure to alcohol. This editorial highlights the need for screening of individuals with either addiction of alcohol or alcoholic liver disease for personal and family history of diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and other MTs for risk stratification and specific interventions. Health education and awareness regarding deleterious effects of alcohol among those who have a personal or family history of MTs should be ensured.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Viral hepatitis is preventable, yet a global health priority. As hepatitis B (Hep B) remains an occupational risk for healthcare workers (HCWs), the Government of India recently mandated universal adult Hep B vaccination for all HCWs. However, in the absence of institutional policy, its real-time utilization in a hospital was dependent on individual's general awareness. Therefore, this study was designed to assess baseline knowledge, attitude, and practices among undergraduate medical and nursing students, the future HCWs, regarding Hep B at an apex healthcare institute at Uttarakhand. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive survey was carried out using self-administered questionnaire among undergraduate medical and nursing students of a medical college between July and September 2018. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Ver 22.0) was used for analysis. RESULTS: The study comprised 180 medical and 183 nursing students. About 55.0% of medical and 33.9% of nursing students were correctly aware about the disease; 98.3% of medical and 86.9% of nursing students were aware about vaccine. About 80.6% of medical and 87.4% of nursing students showed positive attitude, recognizing disease as a public health problem. However, only 82.8% of medical and 70.0% of nursing students underwent vaccination; mere 62.4% and 49.2% of vaccinated completed three-dose vaccination schedule, respectively. Furthermore, around 7% of them checked their titer post vaccination. CONCLUSION: Despite comparatively low awareness level about the disease, most students had sufficiently high knowledge about vaccine and underwent vaccination. However, only half of them could complete three-dose vaccination schedule. Only a handful of subjects underwent post-vaccination titer assessment, an instrumental approach to safeguard them against accidental Hep B exposure.
