Protect the Protector: Morbidity and Health Behavior among Police Personnel in National Capital Region of India.

INTRODUCTION: At the time of selection, police personnel undergo various health and fitness tests but subsequently health assessments are not done regularly. Unhealthy lifestyle and challenging work environment predispose them to various somatic sequelae, including cardiovascular diseases, musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, and psychological disorders, etc., There is limited epidemiological data on the morbidity profile among police personnel in India. AIM: To study the morbidity profile and the treatment-seeking behavior among police personnel in National Capital Region (NCR), India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted between May and November, 2014 on 300 police personnel working in the NCR, India. We administered a predesigned, pretested questionnaire (α = 0.63) to the study participants based on World Health Organization-STEPS tool for assessing morbidity profile, lifestyle risk factors, and treatment-seeking behavior after obtaining informed consent from the study participants. RESULTS: Health complaints were reported by around half (n = 149, 49.6%) of the participants with the morbidity risk of 0.71 per person. The most common complaints were related to the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal system. Only around half of the affected participants took any treatment. Hospitalization rate reflected from past 1-year hospital admissions among participants was (n = 23, 7.7%). Data analysis suggested morbidity status of police personnel to be significantly associated with lifestyle risk factors such as abdominal obesity (n = 129, 86.5%), obstructive sleep apnea (n = 54, 36.2%), and distress (n = 48, 32.2%). CONCLUSION: Busy and challenging work life and poor control of health lead to high morbidity among police personnel. Regular health checks and lifestyle promotional activities are highly recommended to maintain a healthy police force.

Application of ultrafiltration technique for the quality improvement of dahi.

Ultrafiltered milk (UF1 and UF2), ultrafiltrate retentate added milk (UF3 and UF4) and SMP added milk (UF0) were used for dahi preparation in the present study. Treatments were evaluated for rheological, textural and sensorial characteristics. Significant increase (p < 0.01) in values of firmness, stickiness, work of shear, work of adhesion and sensory scores, but significant decrease (p < 0.01) in whey syneresis values were observed with treatments UF1, UF2, UF3 and UF4 as compared to UF0. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that first four principal components (PC) explained 87.39 % relationship between samples and attributes. PC1 accounted for 48.34 % of data variance was characterized by protein content, firmness, work of shear, body & texture and opposed by total carbohydrates, stickiness, syneresis and work of adhesion. Total carbohydrates content (r = -0.982, P < 0.01), whey syneresis (r = -0.783, P < 0.01), stickiness (r = -0.729, P < 0.01) and work of adhesion (r = -0.684, P < 0.01) are negatively while body and texture (r = +0.600, P < 0.01), firmness (r = +0.574, P < 0.05) and work of shear (r = +0.538, P < 0.05) of dahi are highly positively correlated with protein content.

Perspectives of health care provider regarding TB-HIV referral strategy and non-uptake of HIV testing in Delhi - A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: DOTS provider and medical officer play an integral role in implementation of RNTCP. Understanding provider perspectives is an integral component of evaluating programme to improve services to identify the areas for quality improvement and universal HIV testing among TB patients. OBJECTIVE: To describe the perception of health care providers regarding TB-HIV referral strategy and reasons for non-uptake of HIV testing. METHODOLOGY: A qualitative study was undertaken at DOTS cum microscopic centre of TB-Chest clinic of Lok Nayak Hospital and DOTS cum microscopic centre of rural area of west Delhi. In-depth interview of DOTS provider and medical officer in-charge at DOTS centre was conducted. A topic outline guide used to assess the perception of study subjects. Thematic analysis of qualitative data was done. RESULTS: The source of knowledge regarding HIV testing among DOTS providers were training and monthly review meetings. All the study participants knew the rational of HIV testing and the consequences of not being tested and are highly motivated for referring the patients for HIV testing at the earliest. Some of the barriers to HIV testing reported by the health care providers were lack of awareness, associated stigma, long distance travel by the patients and non-availability of HIV testing kits. CONCLUSION: Health care providers were motivated for implementation of the strategy. Barriers to HIV TB testing strategy should be addressed.

Accuracy of body weight perceptions among students in a medical school in Central Delhi, India.

BACKGROUND: Body image is an important aspect of the complex creation of one's self-identity. The relationship between nutritional disorders, like obesity, and one's perception of her or his body is well documented. Obesity among medical students and health personnel is on the rise. Identifying and measuring the magnitude of distortion in body image self-perception among medical students is particularly relevant, as they are future healthcare providers. This paper assesses self-perceptions of body mass index (BMI) and physical activity among medical undergraduate students in an Indian medical school. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 161 sixth semester medical undergraduate students in a school in Delhi, India. A pretested questionnaire was used. Anthropometric measurements were taken. The participation rate was 93.6%. RESULTS: Out of the total 161 students, there were 60.9% males and 39.1% females. Most participants were classified as normal (55.9%) according to BMI. The proportions of actual obese, overweight and underweight students were 4.4%, 30.4% and 9.3%, respectively. However, the proportion of students perceiving themselves as obese or overweight was only 37.3%. A significantly higher proportion of females (57.2%) than males (20.4%) perceived themselves as overweight (P < 0.001). The agreement between actual BMI and perceived weight was poor (kappa statistic: 0.33). Among actual overweight and obese students, only one-third were physically active. CONCLUSIONS: Students who were overweight or obese often failed to perceive themselves as such and, perhaps consequently, were not engaging in weight control practices. There is a need to develop health promotion interventions that help build healthy body habitus perceptions among this group of Indian medical students.

Effect of preputial washing on bacterial load and preservability of semen in Murrah buffalo bulls.

AIM: To study the effect of preputial washing on bacterial load, preservability and semen quality in Murrah buffalo bulls. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 36 collections of three Murrah buffalo bulls maintained at Artificial Breeding Research Centre, ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, were collected at weekly intervals from each bull without preputial washing and latter ejaculates from same bull with preputial washing by infusing normal saline (0.85%), KMnO4 (0.02%) and savlon (2.0%) to first, second and third bull, respectively. The microbial load and semen quality were evaluated during different hours of storage at refrigerated temperature (0, 24 and 48 h) and after thrawing of cryopreserved (at -196°C) semen. RESULTS: The results of preservation of semen at refrigerated temperature showed that bacterial load was markedly lower in ejaculates of bulls subjected to preputial washing. Semen preserved at refrigerator temperature and cryopreserved, the effect of washing solution was significant for individual motility (IM), non-eosiniphilic count, hypo-osmotic swelling reactivity (HOST), total plate count (TPC) and acrosome integrity. KMnO4 was found to be the best in lowering bacterial load, sperm abnormalities and in improving semen quality such as motility, non-eosinophilic count, HOST and acrosome integrity even up to 48 h of preservation and cryopreserved semen. Effect of duration of preservation and stage of cryopreservation was also significant for IM, non-eosiniphilic count, HOST, sperm abnormalities and acrosome integrity. CONCLUSION: Overall the results suggested that preputial washing with KMnO4 solution improved the semen quality and reduced microbial load of Murrah buffalo bull's semen preserved at refrigerated temperature and cryopreservation.

Hypertension and its correlates among school adolescents in delhi.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is fast emerging as a major health problem amongst all school adolescents, particularly in urban areas. Regular screening of the students for this is required for preventing the emergence of complications later in life. Therefore, the present study was undertaken with the objective to determine the prevalence of hypertension amongst urban school adolescents and its correlation with anthropometric measurements. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a school in Central Delhi involving all 315 students of 9(th) and 11(th) standard. A preforma was filled by the students and anthropometric measurements along with blood pressure (BP) measurements were taken for each student. Data was analyzed using Epi-info 2005 and SPSS 16.0. RESULTS: Out of the total 315 students, 208 (66%) were boys and 107 (34%) were girls and the mean age was 14.31 ± 0.96 years. Overall prevalence of malnutrition was 24% and boys were found to be more obese as compared to girls. There were 5 students (1.6%) who were found to have systolic hypertension while 17 (5.4%) were found to have diastolic hypertension while 4.1% (n = 13) of the participants were systolic pre-hypertensive and 26% (n = 82) were in stage of diastolic pre-hypertension. Body mass index and gender were found to be independent predictor for systolic hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of hypertension and pre-hypertension was high amongst the school children. BP check-up for children and adolescents is thus recommended to take remedial action on time.

Usage and Perceived Side Effects of Personal Protective Measures against Mosquitoes among Current Users in Delhi.

Background. Mosquito-borne diseases constitute an important cause of morbidity and mortality. The use of personal protective measures (PPM) like mats, bednets, screening, repellents, liquid vaporizers, mosquito coils, and so forth has been advocated as an effective tool in control of mosquito-borne diseases, but data about the safety profile of personal protective measures is still scarce. Objective. To study the usage and side effects of personal protective measures against mosquitoes among current users in Delhi. Materials and Methods. A community-based cross-sectional study among 350 adult individuals selected by systematic sampling method. Data was collected using pretested semistructured questionnaire after taking written informed consent. Data was analysed using SPSS version 17. Chi-square/Fisher's Exact test was used for qualitative variables to find association and P value <0.05 was considered significant. Results. Out of 350 families selected, 210 belonged to rural area and 140 to urban area. Personal protective measures were used by 219 (62.5%) subjects. Liquid vaporizer was the most preferred method (41.4%). Most common perceived side effect of personal protective measures was headache (7.7%). Other perceived side effects were cough (3.2%), sore throat (2.7%), allergy (1.3%), and eye irritation (0.9%) predominantly among coil users. Conclusion. There is a need to have a close watch for side effects of personal protective measures among users. Further research is also needed to develop safe and effective personal protective measures against mosquitoes.

Sexual abuse of street children brought to an observation home.

This study was conducted to assess the magnitude and pattern of sexual abuse among male inmates of an observation home in Delhi. A total of 189 boys aged 6 to 18 years were assessed for sexual abuse using Finkelhors scale and Child Maltreatment History Self-Report followed by clinical examination using American Medical Associations guidelines. Majority of boys were runaways and 38.1 percent had suffered sexual abuse. On clinical examination, 61.1 percent showed physical signs and 40.2 percent showed behavioral signs of sexual abuse. Forcible sex was reported by 44.4 percent of victims and 25 percent had signs suggestive of sexually transmitted diseases. Strangers were the most common perpetrators of sexual abuse.

Risk factors of substance use among street children from Delhi.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the magnitude of and socio-demographic factors related to substance use among street children in Delhi. DESIGN: Observational study. METHODS: 115 male street children aged 6 to 16 years were interviewed at the time of their admission to an observation home. RESULTS: More than half of the subjects had indulged in substance use before coming to the observation home. The agents consumed were nicotine,inhalants, alcohol and cannabis. On application of multiple logistic regression, maltreatment of the child by family members was found significant predictor of substance use in the study group. CONCLUSION: Substance use in street children is associated with unstable homes and maltreatment.