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Objectives: This research paper aims at finding the association between maternal malnutrition with their choice of feeding practices (breast, bottle, or mix) of infants who are under 6 months of age. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was undertaken from 1st March 2019 to 31st August 2019 at the inpatient and outpatient of the pediatric department of Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar. The data was collected on a predesigned proforma recording demographic characteristics of the responders and their feeding practices; exclusive breastfeeding or mixed (breast+ bottle) feeding. Additionally, maternal malnutrition was assessed by calculating their BMI. The data were analyzed in SPSS version 23. Chi-squared was used to analyze the data. Results: A total of 278 mothers of infants 1-6 months were interviewed about their feeding practices and BMI recorded. The association between maternal malnutrition and breast/bottle feeding was insignificant (P>0.05). Conclusion: There is no association between maternal malnutrition and the choice of bottle feeding of infants. Keywords: Infants, bottle feeding, breastfeeding, maternal malnourishment, body mass index

Objective: To determine the diagnostic utility of mean platelet volume in patients presenting with early neonatal sepsis. Materials and methods: This validation study was conducted in the Department of the Pediatrics ward, Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar. After seeking parental consent, a brief history of Neonatal Sepsis and co-morbidities was obtained. The patient's clinical record was reviewed for the presence of any of the conditions indicated in the exclusion criteria for this study. A questionnaire about the patient’s demographics, disease duration, and treatment records was compiled. Samples were taken and examined of such newborns with consent from the patient's guardians (n=322). 4 ml venous blood was collected from each subject. 2 ml was used for blood culture, and 2 ml was used for Mean Platelet Volume estimation each at hours 0, 24, and 48. Data was collected and analyzed using the SPPS 24. Results: A total of 322 newborns (154 males, 168 females) were enrolled. The Sepsis group as diagnosed by blood culture, had 201 cases while the control group had 121 participants. There was a significant difference (p-value less than 0.05) between the two groups for Mean Platelet Volume. The values for sensitivity, specificity, and negative and positive predictive values as compared to blood culture as the gold standard were 77.58, 55.31, 50.00, and 81.08 percent, respectively. Conclusion: The mean platelet volume has high diagnostic utility in patients with neonatal sepsis.

Objectives: The study aimed to assess the students’ perception of the educational environment in the pediatric unit of Khyber teaching hospital using Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measures (DREEM). Material and Methods: This cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted at the Department of Child Health Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar, Pakistan, from May to November 2019. The sample size included 220 students fourth-year students. The study instrument was the DREEM questionnaire, which has 50 items that assess five do­mains. There are 50 items with 5 subscales and the maximum score is 200.  Descriptive statistics were used to calculate the mean and standard deviation of the DREEM and the five domains Results: Of the 220 Students, 100 completed the questionnaire, resulting in a response rate of 45%. The total DREEM score was 113.14/200 (56.57%). The results showed that student’s perception of their learning environment was 27.31/48 (56.89%), the perception of teachers was 25.45/44 (57.84%), self-perception of their academics was 18.97/32 (59.28%), their perception of the atmosphere was 27.7/48 (57.7%), and social self-perception was 13.7/28 (48.96%). Conclusion: The study found that the atmosphere in the pediatric ward of Khyber Teaching Hospital was perceived positively by the students. However, the total DREEM score and points in the subdomains did not fall in the excellent category and remained one step below the highest rank. Therefore, there is room for improvement in the educational climate at the pediatric ward of Khyber Teaching Hospital. Keywords: Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measures (DREEM), educational environment measures.

Objectives: The present study aimed to evaluate the knowledge among hypertensive patients. MethOds: A questionnaire based descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in the outpatient setting of Benazir Bhutto hospital Rawalpindi, Sir Ganga Ram hospital Lahore, Nishtar hospital Multan and Bahawal Victoria hospital in Bahawalpur, Pakistan. Knowledge regarding hypertension was assessed by using Hypertension Fact Questionnaire. Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 was used to analyze data. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize data and chi square test was used to assess the association between categorical and dependent variable. Non parametric tests (Mann Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis test) were used to find statistical difference in the scores based on categorical variable. Results: Among the 340 participants, mean age (SD) was 50.25 (11.49), with 60.6% of females dominating the entire cohort. Majority of the participants (73.6%) belonged to urban area. About 35.6% had HTN for more than 5 years, 53.5% had family history of hypertension and 53.2% had hypertension along with co-morbidity. The mean score of hypertension knowledge was 8.43+3.44. The result of the study demonstrated that hypertensive patients have average knowledge. cOnclusiOns: The current study findings revealed the importance of educational programs to increase the awareness of the patients regarding the importance of lifestyle modifications and medication for control of disease.