Background: Epidemiology batch posting (EBP) is conducted only in a few Indian medical colleges for undergraduate students to orient them with research methodologies. EBP is designed to overcome the lacuna in knowledge on attitude towards scientific research amongst medical students. The objective of the study was to study the effect of EBP in improving attitude towards research among medical students.Methods: A pre-post study was conducted on a batch of 40 students (consecutive sampling technique) posted for EBP in Department of Community Medicine, at VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi during October-November 2017. This was well above the required sample size of 16 calculated using G Power 3.1. Data was collected using R-ATR (revised attitude towards research) Data was found to be non-parametric by applying tests of normality. Hence Wilcoxon sign rank test was used to find the statistical significance in change of attitude between pre and post-tests.Results: Participants mean age was 20.50±1.58 yrs and 75% of them were males. The median attitude towards research usefulness increased from 5.25 to 6.75 following EBP. In the domain of positive predisposition towards research, there was an overall positive change in attitude from a median of 4.00 to 5.25. A negative change was shown in ‘research anxiety’ domain, from a median score of 5.00 to 3.00.Conclusions: Authors recommend that Indian medical curriculum should mandate a small group learning model such as EBP for all undergraduate medical students to bring about a positive attitude towards research and to reduce their anxiety levels.
Background: According to a WHO study, 13 of the 20 most-polluted cities in the world are in India, which is more than half of the world's most polluted cities. Delhi is at 11 th position. Pollution in Delhi hit almost 30 times the WHO safe limit. On 8 th Nov 2017, toxic smog enveloped Delhi, which alarmed the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to declare a public health emergency. They also advised citizens to stay indoors and schools to be shut. Air Quality Index (AQI) of neighboring Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Noida, and Gurgaon were also in the emergency category.Aim: To assess perception on air pollution and the willingness to contribute to control air pollution among the general population of Delhi.Methodology: A community-based cross-sectional study, in seven localities of South Delhi district of Delhi using simple random sampling. 384 adult members (>18 years) residing in the selected households for more than 6 months and who volunteered for the study were recruited. The sample size was calculated using Epiinfo software version 7.2.2.2 (developed by CDC). A pre-tested semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Ethical clearance was obtained from administrative authorities and institutional ethical committee. Data was analyzed using a SPSS 21.Results: Among 384 participants, 57.6% believed that the current air quality was worse than it was 5 years ago. People with high income (31.4%) perceived fewer symptoms due to current air quality. More men (61%) perceived air quality to be worse, but women perceived symptoms of air pollution more. Less-educated residents are the targetable population for improving environment. Regarding willingness to contribute for control of air pollution, all the positive questions received a median score of 4 or 5 (on a Likert scale of 1-5, where 1 is strongly disagree and 5 is strongly agree).
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.