Background: The objective is to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding first aid towards home related injuries among mothers of children less than 5 years of age at tertiary care hospital of Islamabad. Methods: A questionnaire based cross sectional study was conducted in Fauji Foundation Hospital Islamabad. 400 participants were selected using convenience sampling the mother of children under 5 years of age were included and mother of children with any major co morbidity, congenital abnormalities and who didn’t give consent were excluded from the study. A pretested, structured, self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection after obtaining permission from Institutional Ethical Committee. Statistical analysis was carried using SPSS version 20. Frequencies and percentages were computed, descriptive statistical analysis was done. Chi- Square was applied for association between socio demographic variables and knowledge of mothers regarding first aid. Results: About 44% of the mothers and 63% children fall in age group of 31 and 2-5 years respectively. Half of the mothers (48%) are below intermediate level of education. About 34% of the respondents stated bleeding as most urgent and important injury requiring first aid. Regarding attitudes, 50% of the mothers strongly agree towards necessity of first aid and lack of awareness about dealing with domestic injuries. Sixty-five (65%) of the mothers had given first aid to their child. About 33%, 75%, 44% and 39% of the mothers have faced a child with difficulty in breathing; bleeding, burning and insect/sibling bite respectively. Age of mother (p=0.041), education of mother (p=0.001) and total no of children (p=0.001) were significantly associated with knowledge of first aid. Conclusion: Although home accidents are a common problem, mother’s knowledge regarding home accidents was deficient although majority of the respondents have positive attitude.

Background: To assess the energy drink consumption patterns and perceived risks and benefits among medical students. The present study was carried out on 332 medical students from Foundation University Medical College. All the students enrolled in foundation university medical college were invited to participate. 332 students, who gave their consent were enrolled in the study. Data was collected by distributing a preformed structured questionnaire among medical students present in their classes. Data was entered and analyzed on SPSS version 17. Results: Out of 332 students 307 (92.5%) said that they were familiar with energy drinks whereas 212 (63.9%) admitted to consuming energy drinks. sting and the red bull came out to be the most popular brands. 78 (36.7%) students said mental awareness to be the main motivator for energy drink consumption. The majority (94.3%) of the study population were aware of the untoward effects of energy drinks experienced. The most common of them was insomnia, students (49.05%) experienced it. 91 (42.92%) of the students said that their parents don’t object to their taking of these drinks. Conclusion: Although the consumption of energy drinks was common among medical students, the knowledge of ingredients and health risks of energy drinks among them was unsatisfactory. Keywords: Energy drink, Medical students, Caffeine, Frequency of consumption.

Background: The objectives of this study were to assess the role played by and the impact of electronic media in the formation of viewpoints for COVID-19 among medical students of Foundation University, Islamabad. Methods: After obtaining ethical approval, we conducted a cross-sectional study using non-probability consecutive sampling over a period of 06 weeks. A 28 closed-ended item questionnaire was used to collect data from students of first to final year MBBS. Data was analysed using SPSS version 20. Results: Out of 232 respondents, 26.3% were male and 73.3% were female. Nearly all (99.6%) had access to electronic media, and the majority (93.5%) received information and updates about COVID-19 through it. Most students (91.8%) felt that it is the right tool to spread awareness regarding COVID-19, and 90.5% felt it could help slow the spread of disease by promoting healthy behavioural practices. Most (80.2%) concurred that electronic media has a more beneficial than harmful influence on its users during the pandemic. However, 70.3% of students felt that unverified and exaggerated news resulted in fear, panic and stress. More female students believed that electronic media promoted panic buying (85.9%, p = 0.03), leads to mental health problems (84.8%, p = 0.014), hence requires regulation (93.5%, p = 0.03) compared to male students. Conclusion:   Electronic media played an important role in the spread of information regarding COVID-19. However, regulation of the integrity and volume of information is required to prevent panic, stress and fear.

Objective: To evaluate the health and nutritional status of the orphanage, to find frequency of nutritional deficiencies by physical examination findings and to assess their dietary intake and contrast it with individual recommended daily allowances. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Four orphanages of Rawalpindi, from Jan to May 2020. Methodology: Study was conducted at four orphanages of Rawalpindi on 276 children and adolescents. Children and adolescents in age group of 5-18 years and if they are resident of institution for more than 60 months were included in the study, while children who were extremely sick and mentally retarded were excluded from the study. Data was collected through questionnaire including demographic information, anthropometric assessment, nutritional deficiencies on physical examination and 24 hours food recall. Data was analyzed on SPSS 24. Results: Results showed that 34 (17%) children and adolescents were underweight, 99 (49.5%) stunted, 21 (10.5%) showed thinness and 9 (4.5%) were overweight. Most common nutrient deficiency was protein calorie malnutrition, Iron deficiency and vitamin A and B 12 deficiency. Study population was consuming less protein, Iron and fats in diet as compared to recommended daily allowances. Conclusion: Institutionalized children and adolescents are at risk of developing malnutrition due to financial constraints and ignorance of caregivers, which can lead to ill health of children. Programs are required to be undertaken for nutritional development of the orphanage children.