ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Road traffic continues to be a major developmental issue and a public health concern. Road accidents in India kill almost 1.5 lakh people annually, and India accounts for almost 11% of the accident-related deaths in the world. Prevention of road traffic accidents is very crucial by creating awareness and taking proper measures toward road safety. AIMS: The aims of this study were to assess the knowledge about road safety regulations and to assess the attitude and practices regarding road safety regulations. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a pharmacy college. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Study participants were all 4 academic years' pharmacy students who know driving two- or four-wheeler motor vehicle. Data were collected from a sample of 132 by predesigned pretested semi-structured questionnaire. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data were presented in proportions with confidence interval using SPSS ver. 22. RESULTS: 81.1% of the participants knew the minimum age to obtain driving license. Only 16% follow the road signs strictly and 76% wear helmet for long-distance ride. Poor attitude was observed for wearing helmet for short-distance ride, pillion rider wearing helmet, and drink and drive. CONCLUSIONS: Majority of the participants were aware of road safety regulations. In spite of having positive attitude toward road safety measures by participants, they could not translate attitude into practice.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The health of women is of particular concern because, in many societies, they are disadvantaged by discrimination rooted in sociocultural factors. Women need to breach many social barriers to empower and to get access for quality health care services. Health seeking behavior is one of the important determinants of women health. OBJECTIVES: To assess healthcare seeking behavior among rural women in Telangana. METHODS: Cross-sectional study with sample size of 200 was conducted in three villages attached to a medical college. Women of aged 20 years and above were included in the study. Data was collected by predesigned pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Data was presented in proportions with confidence interval and Chi-square test was applied to find the association between variables by using SPSS ver. 23. RESULTS: Only 34.5% [95% CI: 27.9, 41.5] of the subjects seek medical care as soon as symptoms appear and 69% [95% CI: 62.1, 75.3] of the participants were aware of nearby functioning health centres. Majority (60.5%) of the subjects Visits qualified medical practitioner during illness. CONCLUSIONS: The present study found that there is still a need to create awareness about the importance of healthcare and available health centers as significant proportion of women population approached unqualified medical practitioners and seeking home remedies as first consultancy source for their health remedies.
