Background:India has one of the highest road traffic accident rates in the world. To lessen this burden, information on the contributing factors is necessary.Materials and Methods:We studied a series of cases of non-fatal road traffic accidents in two tertiary care hospitals in Pimpri, Pune, India. A total of 212 non-fatal road traffic accidents admitted over a period of one year in these two hospitals constituted the study sample. The study variables were, the gender of the accident victims, mode of accident, days of week on which the accident took place, time of day when the injury was sustained, part of the body injured, nature of injury, and self-reported reasons for the accident.Statistical Analysis:data were summarized using percentages. The Chi-square test for goodness of fit was applied, to see whether there was any association between the different weekdays or time of day and the accidents.Results:Male : female ratio was almost 5 : 1, which was statistically significant (Chi-Square for goodness of fit = 95.11, df = 1, P < 0.0001). The maximum accidents occurred on Sundays and Mondays and the least around midweek (Wednesday). This pattern was also statistically significant (Chi-square for goodness of fit = 30.09, df = 6, P < 0.001). Pedestrians were the most vulnerable group, followed by drivers and pillions of two wheelers. These categories of road users contributed to almost 80% of the cases of Road Traffic Injuries (RTIs). Accidents were more likely in the time zone of 8 pm to midnight, followed by 4 pm to 8 pm (Chi-square for goodness of fit = 89.58, df = 5, P < 0.0001). A majority of the patients sustained multiple injuries followed by injuries to the lower limbs. A majority reported impaired visibility and fatigue as the cause of accident. Almost half (46.22%) of the injured admitted to drinking alcohol on a regular basis.Conclusion:Wide pavements and safe zebra crossings should be provided for pedestrians, as the highest casualty in this study were pedestrians. More accidents occurred on Sundays and Mondays and in the late evenings. Extra supervision by traffic police may be considered on Sundays / Holidays and the day following. Roads should be well lit to improve visibility after sunset.

Background:Scientific writings provide a link between production of knowledge and its use. They guide to plan for necessary improvements in treatment and prevention modalities. Inadequate and incomplete reporting of research studies weakens the medical literature.Aim:The aim of the study was bibliometric analysis of dissertations submitted by medical post-graduate (PGs) students.Material and Methods:It was a cross-sectional record based study carried out at one of the medical colleges at Pune. All the dissertations including observational studies submitted by PGs were analyzed using a pre-tested, structured assessment tool with strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology (STROBE) as the reference from 1st March 2009 until 30th March 2011. Data was compiled in excel sheet and it was imported into. SPSS 15 software (Statistical package for the social sciences, manufactured by IBM, Chicago Illinois in November 2006) for further analysis.Results:A total of 220 dissertations were analyzed in the present study. Nearly 73.18% (161/220) of dissertations were from clinical subjects, 15% (33/220) were from para-clinical and 11.8% (26/220) were from pre-clinical subjects. The majority of dissertations reported findings incompletely and inadequately without uniformity.Conclusion:PGs should be more vigilant in reporting their research in dissertations to increase their usefulness. They should adopt tools like STROBE, etc., to report data to create more uniformity in reporting. Adoption of such guidelines will also reduce chances of oversights and mistakes in reporting and dissertation writing.

BACKGROUND Biomedical waste management is an important issue for public health. Biomedical waste not only causes health hazard to medical personnel, but also is an important threat to the public and to the environment. The objective of the study is to assess the biomedical waste management practices and to evaluate the knowledge regarding biomedical waste management practices among healthcare workers. MATERIALS AND METHODS This cross-sectional study was conducted in Assam Medical College and Hospital, Dibrugarh, Assam during April '17-Sept '17. Using purposive sampling method, a total of 138 healthcare personnel were selected, with three groups of 46 each of doctors, nurses and grade IV workers working in the hospital. Data was collected using a pre-tested, structured questionnaire. Data compilation and analysis was done by using Microsoft Excel 2007. RESULTS The study has found that the highest numbers of blue/ white bins (96.2%) and yellow bins (90.7%) were correctly located. Red bags were available sufficiently and only 90 (7%) (yellow bags) were available. Collection, separation, storage and transportation of all the bags in the hospitals were done 100% daily. The usage of personal protective equipment was also found to be satisfactory, but all the personal protective equipment was not available 100%. The training of the health care workers was also found to be inadequate in the hospital. The knowledge and practices of biomedical waste management among the healthcare workers were also found to be inadequate in the hospital. Hepatitis B vaccination status among the health care workers was also found to be inadequate. CONCLUSION The study concluded that the biomedical waste management practices among the healthcare workers/ personnel was found to be average. There must be proper implementation of management policy as well as training and immunisation among the health workers in the health facilities.