Background: India is the first country to implement National family planning programme in 1952. Use of contraceptives can prevent at least 25% of all maternal deaths by allowing women to prevent unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions, and protect themselves from sexually transmitting diseases. Even though there is wide availability of various types of contraceptives, the rate of population growth and unplanned pregnancies is still high. The acceptance and knowledge of contraceptive methods varies within the societies and factors responsible operate at the individual, family and community level.Methods: A hospital based, cross-sectional study was conducted during August 2018 at McGann Hospital, Shimoga. The study sample included 200 women in the age group of 20 to 40 years attending immunization clinic with their children. Informed consent was taken from the subjects after explaining the purpose of the study to them. A pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data by face-to-face interview of the study participants.Results: Out of 200 women 51% were aged between 20 to 24 years of age. Majority (72%) were Hindus. 67.5% were currently using contraception. Among acceptors of family planning 42.3% had undergone tubectomy. OCP was the most commonly used temporary method of contraception. Age of the woman, religion, education, husband’s education and number of children were found to be significantly associated with contraceptive usage.Conclusions: Factors influencing fertility and contraceptive practices should be properly assessed and addressed. Newly married couples should be motivated for accepting spacing methods.
Background: As per the WHO estimates, Slums are home to an estimated 8280 lakh people, representing around one third of the world’s urban population. Health is a major economic issue for slum residents. Objective of the study was to assess utilization of health care facilities by slum dwellers with special reference to maternal and child health.Methods: A list of all slums and the number of households therein was collected from city municipal corporation Shivamogga of which 10 slums were selected by simple random sampling all the households in the selected slums were included in the study. Quantitative data were collected from the households of selected slums after taking informed consent using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Information about health care seeking with reference to maternal and child health was obtained by checking the available medical records and as self-reported by the respondents. Data were analyzed by using SPSS software.Results: In this study, among the 339 households studied 93.5% of the women had more than 4 antenatal visits and 99.1% of the deliveries were institutional, the most frequently contacted healthcare facility was government medical college. Conclusions: The availability of better healthcare facilities like government medical college in the proximity of these slums has led to good health seeking behaviour among them.
Background: India is the second most populous country in the world. Studies have shown that quality of primary health care in low to middle income countries is very poor. Patient’s perception of quality of health care service provided has strong relation with the utilization the services. Hence it’s important to monitor the health care delivery systems in the country to gain more knowledge about the health care delivery systems.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in selected primary healthcare centres (PHCs) in Shimoga. 5 PHCs were selected by simple random sampling. 30 patients attending the facility were randomly chosen for exit interview. Data regarding patient’s perception of quality of health care provided by the facility was collected using a questionnaire.Results: Majority of the participants (68%) found the services provided by the facility to be satisfactory. Patients showed high satisfaction towards explanation provided the regarding problem by doctor (84%) and cleanliness of the facility (87.3%). Poor satisfaction was seen towards availability of medicines (54%) and behaviour of the paramedical staff (46%).Conclusions: There is a need to improve the quality of services provided by the primary healthcare centres to achieve better patient satisfaction and utilization.
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