Background: Growing urbanization and lifestyle changes lead people to dine away from home more often, contributing to the unregulated opening of eating establishments that often have inadequate hygiene conditions. Hence a study was undertaken to know prevalence and determinants of intestinal parasitic infections among food handlers of Bagalkot city, Karnataka, India. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done among food handlers of 46 food establishments enlisted in Bagalkot hotel and refreshment association. A total of 266 food handlers were interviewed using proforma regarding sociodemographic data and personal hygiene followed by stool examination for intestinal parasites. Results: Out of 266 food handlers, 39 (14.7%) were tested positive for intestinal parasitic infections. Most common parasite isolated was A. Lumbricoides (5.3%) followed by E. Histolytica (1.5%), Giardia (1.5%), T. Solium (0.8%), T. Trichura (0.8%) and H. Nana (0.8%). Mixed infections constituted 4.1%.Female gender, rural residence and socioeconomic status and personal hygiene was significantly associated with intestinal parasitic infections. Conclusions: Strict hygienic practices, complete treatment of infected persons and regular surveillance is important for controlling intestinal parasitic infections.

Background: Globally, more than 300 million people of all ages suffer from depression. With an ageing population, depression among the elderly is likely to increase in the coming years, with higher prevalence among the elderly people than that in the general adult population. This study was intended to know the prevalence of depression and factors associated with depression among elderly people.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the urban field practice area of Navodaya Medical College, Raichur. A pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was used to interview the elderly person, after taking verbal consent. Depression was assessed using geriatric depression scale (short version). The study duration was from 1st September 2018 – 31st December, 2018 with 360 sample size.Results: Out of 360 elderly people, the prevalence of depression was found to be 31.4 %. The prevalence of depression was more in females 31.9% (63 out of 197). Significant association of depression was noted with age, socio-economic status, marital status, type of family, education and occupation with p<0.05.Conclusions: Around 1/3rd of the study participants were found to be suffering from depression. Depression was significantly associated with age, illiteracy, nuclear family, dependent on family members. Family support to the elderly population may prevent depression.

Introduction: Menstrual-related problems are one of the most common problems among adolescent girls and might adversely affect their performance in academic and other activities of daily life. Aims & Objectives: 1. To determine the prevalence of school absenteeism among adolescent school girls during menstruation. 2. To assess the restrictions which are imposed on adolescent school girls during menstruation. 3. To evaluate the various factors associated with school absenteeism during menstruation. Methods: A study was conducted by carrying out a questionnaire and focus group discussion between October 2019-January 2020 in seven schools of Bangalore city after obtaining the assent and informed consent signed by their parents. Result: The mean age of the girls was 14.45 ± 1.71. The proportion of school absenteeism during menstruation was (30.25%). The majority (89.25%) of the students among the school absentees missed one day of school during menstruation. Among the school absentees, pain/discomfort was one of the main reasons for missing school, accounting for (69.42%). (46.25%) of the students were restricted from any kind of religious activities. Pain during menstruation, shame, fear of leakage, lack of toilet or water supply, lack of a place to dispose of sanitary pads and absence of a private place to manage periods were some factors that were associated with school absenteeism during menstruation. Conclusion: Considerably high school absenteeism among adolescent girls due to menstruation was noted in this study, highlighting the need for improved interventions that reach girls at a young age.

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Background: Adolescent boys are more inclined towards risky behaviors like smoking than girls and those who initiate smoking early in life are more likely to continue to smoke as adults. Peers in schools have a major role on influencing, initiating and continuation of smoking among boys. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to compare the prevalence of tobacco use among boys studying in single-sex school and co-education school and to study the factors associated with tobacco use in both the schools.Methods: A comparative study was conducted in two randomly selected high schools in the urban field practice area of the medical institution; one of it being boys only (single-sex) and another co-education (co-ed) school. All the students studying in 8th, 9th and 10th standard were included in the study. A self-administered, pretested, structured questionnaire adapted from the WHO youth tobacco questionnaire was used to collect the data on tobacco usage, knowledge and attitude along with socio-demographic profile. Data was entered into Microsoft excel and analyzed using EPI info 6.Results: A total of 467 boys participated in the study. Over all prevalence of tobacco use was 21.8% from both the schools. Tobacco use was found to be more in boys’ school 68 (25.7%) when compared to co-education school (16.8%). Prevalence of smoking was found to be 38 (14.4%) and 17 (8.4%) in the two schools, this difference was found to be statistically significant with χ2=4.59, p=0.032.Conclusions: Vulnerability of boys to smoking and risky behaviours in general, more so in single sex schools need to be emphasized and apt interventions designed to prevent its use among boys in various settings ought to be explored.