Willingness to volunteer of medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Assessment at a tertiary care hospital in India

Background and ObjectivesThe involvement of medical students in strategies to control COVID-19 might be considered to cope with the shortage of healthcare workers. This study aims at assessing the level of knowledge about COVID-19, willingness to volunteer, potential areas of involvement and reasons for deterrence towards volunteering among medical students. MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate medical students of a tertiary care teaching hospital in New Delhi. A web-based questionnaire was used to elicit demographic information, knowledge of COVID-19, willingness to volunteer and reasons for deterrence for working during COVID-19 pandemic and self-declared knowledge in six domains. ResultsA total of 292 students participated in the study with a mean age of 19.9{+/-}3.1 years. The mean (S.D.) knowledge score of COVID-19 was 6.9 (1.1) (maximum score 10). Knowledge score was significantly different among preclinical (6.5), paraclinical (7.18), and clinical groups (7.03). Almost three fourth (75.3%) participants were willing to volunteer in COVID-19 pandemic, though 67.8% had not received any training in emergency medicine or public health crisis management. Willingness to work was maximum in areas of social work and indirect patient care (62.3% each). Lack of personal protective equipment was cited as a highly deterrent factor for volunteering (62.7%) followed by fear of transmitting the infection to family (45.9%), fear of causing harm to the patient (34.2%), and absence of treatment (22.2%). Interpretation & conclusionsMajority of the students were willing to volunteer even though they had not received adequate training. Students may serve as an auxiliary force during the pandemic, especially in the non-clinical setting.

Prevalence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Community Based Study From Northern India

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) varies from 4% to 20% in different Asian nations. Prevalence of IBS in native North Indian community is not known. METHODS: Between November 2008 to December 2009, we estimated the prevalence of IBS in a rural community of Ballabgarh block, located in Haryana state. A structured questionnaire based on Rome III module was used to collect symptoms related to IBS from all the participants in a door to door survey. A Rome III criterion was used for diagnosis of IBS. IBS was further classified based on predominance of symptoms as constipation predominant, diarrhea predominant, mixed and unspecified based on Rome III module. RESULTS: There were 4,767 participants (mean age 34.6 +/- 10.8, males 50%). Overall, 555 (11.6%; 95% CI, 10.7-12.5) had constipation, 542 (11.4%; 95% CI, 10.5-12.3) diarrhea and 823 (17.3%; 95% CI, 16.2-18.4) abdominal pain. The overall prevalence of IBS was 4% (95% CI, 3.5-4.6). The prevalence of constipation predominant IBS was 0.3% (95% CI, 0.16-0.49), diarrhea predominant IBS 1.5% (95% CI, 1.18-1.90), mixed IBS 1.7% (95% CI, 1.35-2.11) and unsubtyped IBS 0.5% (95% CI, 0.32-0.75). The prevalence of IBS was significantly higher in females compared with males (4.8% vs 3.2%, P = 0.008). However, there was no significant difference between males and females in the prevalence of different subtypes of IBS. The prevalence increased with age. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of IBS in a North Indian community is 4%. IBS poses a significant burden on the rural adults.