BACKGROUND It is necessity to work more on non-invasive markers like right liver lobe size/albumin concentration ratio for predicting esophageal varices. We aimed to see the right liver lobe/albumin ratio in identifying esophageal varices among patients with cirrhosis caused by hepatitis B and C. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted among all indoor patients admitted to the Department of Internal Medicine, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, General Hospital, Sector H-11/4 Islamabad, Pakistan, during May-December 2016. A non-probability purposive sampling technique was used for data collection. Diagnosed cases of cirrhosis caused by hepatitis B and C virus infection aged 25 years or more were included. A pre-designed questionnaire was used for data collection. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS software version 20. RESULTS A total number of 160 patients were included. Mean ± SD age was 56.04 ± 10.22 years, while 96 (60%) were men. Child-Turcotte-Pugh grades showed 41.88% of the patients with grade A, followed by grade B (38.12%), and grade C (20%). Esophageal varices were observed in 76.25% of the patients. The sensitivity was 86.89%, while specificity was 78.95%. The positive predictive value was 92.98% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 86.64% - 96.91%) and negative predictive value was 65.22% (CI = 49.75% - 78.64%) with a diagnostic accuracy of 85%. CONCLUSION The use of the studied non-invasive markers of portal hypertension particularly the right liver lobe size/albumin concentration ratio, can help physicians to restrict the use of endoscopic screening only to patients presenting a high probability of esophageal varices.
Introduction: Patient satisfaction is one of the important factors to determine the success of health care facility. The real challenge is not getting ready with mere requirements, but also delivers services ensuring good quality. Thus, there is a need to assess the health care systems regarding patient satisfaction as often as possible. The aim of this study was to determine the patient satisfaction with health care services in out-patient department (OPD) of a dental college hospital in Pakistan.Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional pilot study was undertaken during the month of May 2015 in the OPD of Bibi Asifa Dental College and Hospital, Larkana, Pakistan. A randomly selected 100 patients were interviewed by using pre-structured questionnaires. The questionnaires had semi-structured, open-ended and closed questions. While analyzing, they were grouped into categories like availability of services, clinical care, waiting time and cost.Results: The overall opinions about the satisfaction level of patients for availability of health services in the hospital were good. As location of the hospital and timings of the OPD were convenient to the most of the patients 86% and 93% respectively. Availability of the doctors was also found adequate. However, regarding seating arrangements one fourth of the total patients were found to be unsatisfied. Efficiency of the doctor was found satisfactory by 83%, while majority of the patients did not faced any kind of language problem.Conclusion: According to patient’s opinion, the study revealed that the degree of satisfaction was satisfactory with respect to waiting time and availability of the doctors in the hospital, which need to be further explored and corrected.Update Dent. Coll. j: 2018; 8 (1): 55-60
Objectives: The main aim of this study was to determine the level of knowledge about rheumatoid arthritis disease among patients presenting with arthralgia in a tertiary care teaching hospital, Pakistan. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study during the period of September 2015 - March 2016 in the Medical Out-Patient Department, Shaheed Mohtarma Benzir Bhutto Medical University Hospital, a tertiary care teaching hospital in Larkana, Pakistan. Patients above 40 years of age of either gender were included in the study. A non-probability purposive sampling technique was employed to include the participants in the study. A pre-designed questionnaire with open and close ended questions was used. The questionnaire in English language was also translated in local language to facilitate the participants. All the statistical analysis was conducted using Stata statistical software 14. Results: A total number of 251 participants completed the questionnaires. 42 (56.6%) were from rural settings, while 233 (92.8%) were females. The overall mean age was 59 ± 8.69 years. There were 139 (55.4%) of the participants were ≥ 60 years of age. The average BMI was 23.1 ± 4.3. Moreover, 144 (57.4%) participants were found noneducated. The duration of the disease was less than 10 years in 154 (61.4%) of the participants. While, 157 (62.5%) participants were not knowing about factors which contribute to the onset of rheumatoid arthritis. We observed that, on the basis of responses to the relevant questions, only 4 (1.6%) participants were considered fully aware. Conclusion: We observed lack of knowledge in majority of the participants presenting with arthralgia. The public awareness and education through different vertical programs as well as through social media in the country which can play very important role. Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.18(4) 2019 p.808-813
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