Gender Difference In Awareness And Behaviours Of Medical And Dental Students About Corona Virus Disease (Covid-19) In Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: Medical and dental students are the future of health workforce and a potential volunteer pool in the COVID-19 crises. This study aimed to assess the level and gender differences in the awareness, attitude and behaviours of medical and dentals students about COVID-19 in Pakistan. METHODS: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted among medical and dental undergraduate students in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire having four sections: socio-demographics, knowledge, attitude and practices. RESULTS: A total of 1770 medical and dental students participated and completed the questionnaire. About 1239 (70%) of the respondents were female and 1526 (87%) were MBBS students. We found that 1685 (95%) of the students had adequate knowledge. Majority, 1565 (89%) of the students was concerned about COVID-19 and 1480 (84%) believed that disease will ultimately be controlled. Only about 1129 (64%) of the participants in our study had adequate practices. Male gender was associated with higher risk of inadequate practices. CONCLUSIONS: There were good knowledge and attitudes about COVID-19 among medical and dental students. However, one third of the participants did not have adequate practices and female had better practices than male students. This gap in the knowledge and practice calls for urgent interventions to improve practices.

Reasons For Delayed Presentation Of Patients With St Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction To Thrombolytic Therapy In Cardiology Department Of Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad.

BACKGROUND: ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Any delay in reperfusion therapy is associated with poor outcomes. This study was done to know the major reasons for delayed presentation to thrombolytic therapy. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) of Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad from March 2019 till June 2020. A total of 120 diagnosed STEMI patients late for thrombolysis therapy and admitted in the CCU were included in this study. Non-probability convenience sampling technique was used. Data was analysed using SPSS version 16.0. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 61.6±1.07 years. Most of them were married (111), unemployed (85) and lived in urban areas (69). The most important reasons for delayed presentation of STEMI patients to thrombolytic therapy were due to the attribution of symptoms by patients to other conditions/diseases (57.5% CI:48.53-66.47), attempted self-treatment (50.8% CI: 41.76-59.91), misdiagnosis of symptoms (50%, CI:40.92-59.08), living in an area far away from any hospital (45%, CI:35.48-53.60) and problems of transportation (37%, CI:28.17-45.78). CONCLUSION: The early arrival of patients to health care facility in time is critical in diseases like STEMI. There can be many reasons for delayed presentation of patients to thrombolytic therapy but the most important ones were attribution of symptoms by patients to other diseases, attempted self-treatment, misdiagnosis of symptoms, and problems of transportation.

Perspective About Mental Illnesses: A Survey Of Health Care Providers Of Abbottabad.

BACKGROUND: Mental Health problems are widespread globally and are the leading causes of disability. The lives of people living with mental illnesses are often drastically altered by the symptoms of the illness and made worse by the society's reaction. Stigmatizing attitude among general population is prevalent. Relatively less research has been done to explore the attitude of health care providers towards mental illness especially so in Pakistan. This study aims to investigate views of healthcare providers of Abbottabad regarding mental illnesses. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in major hospitals and medical institutes of Abbottabad wherein 640 selfadministered questionnaires based on Opening Minds Scale for Healthcare Providers (OMS-HC) were distributed among healthcare providers selected through non-probability convenience sampling; 553 (86.41%) were returned. Data was collected from June to September 2016 and analyzed using SPSS-16.0. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants is 26.12 years±7.612. Majority 346 (62%) were medical students, 60 (10.8%) were teachers, 50 (9%) were house officers, 70 (12.7%) were trainee medical officers, 27 (4.9%) were consultants. There were 313 (56.6%) females. The highest degree of stigma was observed among the 'Attitudes' of the people while it was relatively lower in Disclosure and Help Seeking domain and least in the factor of Social Distance. CONCLUSIONS: Stigma associated with mental illness is prevalent among healthcare providers..