BackgroundHealth professionals have an important role to play in the fight against tobacco. As individuals, health professionals can help educate the population; as community members, they can support anti-smoking policies; and, at a societal level, they can influence national and global tobacco control efforts. The objectives of the study was to estimate the prevalence of tobacco use among medical students in Chennai and to measure the extent of attitude toward, behavior around and knowledge of tobacco use among medical students.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted among 400 medical students from 4 randomly selected medical colleges, comprised of 1 government and 3 private medical colleges in and around Chennai, India. The Global Health Professional Students Survey (GHPSS), a standardized college-based tool, was administered to students in the four medical colleges.ResultsThe proportion of students who ever tried cigarette smoking was found to be 10.9% (males, 23.5% and females, 1.8%). The prevalence of exposure to tobacco smoke at home was found to be 34.2%. A majority of students agreed that smoking should be banned. The proportion of students who wanted to quit smoking cigarettes and who ever tried to stop smoking were 29.8% and 34.6% respectively. Only 23.6% of the students said they have received formal training in smoking cessation techniques.ConclusionAs indicated by the majority of the medical students queried, there is a need for formal training in smoking cessation techniques, and this training should be included in the medical curriculum, such that students can instruct or counsel their patients.
Background: Menstruation is a normal physiological process and irregular menstrual pattern is a problem affecting the quality of life among women in the reproductive age group. Although many factors contribute to the irregularity in menstrual cycles this study was conducted to find out the relationship between the body mass index (BMI) and irregular menstrual pattern.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the rural health and training centre of SRM hospital between August and October 2018 by using a convenience sampling method and data was collected from 163 women in the reproductive age group and analysed to find out the relationship between the BMI and menstrual irregularity.Results: The mean age of the study participants was 31.29 (±8.32) years and their mean age at menarche was 12.59 (±1.86) years. Majority of the study participants belongs to lower middle class (25%), Hindus (85%) by religion, married (82%), homemakers (53%) belongs to nuclear family (45%) having education up to high school level (61%). Only 44% of the participants have their BMI within normal range and 8% are obese. Irregular menstrual pattern was present in 13% of the study participants. The association between the BMI and the irregular menstrual pattern was found to be significant with a p<0.05.Conclusions: A significant association between the BMI and the irregular menstrual pattern highlights the importance of adapting simple and effective lifestyle and behavioural modifications in the reduction of excess weight thereby leading to healthy reproductive life among women.
Background: Physical inactivity is one of the leading risk factors for death worldwide. It is a key risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes. Physical activity has significant health benefits and contributes to prevent NCDs. Globally, 1 in 4 adults are not active enough. More than 80% of the world's adolescent population is insufficiently physically active. So the aim of this study is to assess the practice of physical activity among the medical interns, as they are the future doctors.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 124 medical interns. A pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Microsoft Excel 2010 spread sheet version 14.1.3 and statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 21 were used for data entry and analysis. The results are expressed as percentages and proportions.Results: In our study majority of the interns 66 (64.1%) had normal body mass index (BMI). The practice of non-exercise physical activity is more in female than male interns whereas the exercise physical activity is more in males comparing to female interns.Conclusions: Physical inactivity is an urgent public health priority, so long-term follow-up is needed to identify the factors promoting for the practice of physical activity among medical interns.
Background: India is the diabetic capital of the world with nearly 31.7 million people suffering from the disease in 2000 which is projected to become 79.4 million in the year 2030. The incidence of diabetes in India is around 8.8%. This study aims at developing a mini questionnaire to quickly assess the self-care practices among the diabetic patients attending rural health training centre and also to educate the diabetic patients about self-care practices and dietary pattern they need to follow.Methods: The study design is a community based cross-sectional study. All diabetic patients who visited rural health training centre attached to a private medical college aged 40 years and above in the period of June to July 2019 were included in our study. Institutional ethical clearance was taken before commencing the study. Construction of mini self-care practices questionnaire (MSCPQ) comprised of two phases. Trained medical students collected the data by interview method using semi-structured, pre-tested questionnaire.Results: The reliability of the MSCPQ using Cronbach’s alpha came to be 0.82 and the intra class correlation coefficient was 0.81; 95% CI (0.763-0.853) (p=<0.001). Around sixty six percent are having their health check-up regularly. Most (43%) of the study participants check their blood sugars monthly.Conclusions: Even though there are various factors contributing in facilitating self-care activities in patients living with diabetes, the role of health care physicians in educating about self-care practices are indispensable.
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