Background: Depression in old age is an emerging public health problem leading to morbidity and disabling effect on the quality of life. Depression in elderly is not yet perceived as a public health problem and is grossly underdiagnosed and undertreated. The physical and social environment plays an important role on the mental health of the elderly. Hence the present study was undertaken to assess and compare the depression among elderly residing in old age homes (OAHs) and community. The objective of the study was to assess and compare depression among elderly residing in OAHs and those living in community.Methods: A cross sectional study was done from October to December, 2016 among 100 elderly, of which 50 were inmates of old age homes and 50 were living in community selected by house to house survey. A pre tested, externally validated short form geriatric depression scale (GDS-15) in the local language is used after taking informed consent.Results: Prevalence of depression was high among inmates of old age homes (80%) compared to those of community (52%), this difference was statistically significant (p=0.003). On analyzing the association between sociodemographic factors and depression among the elderly residing in the community, it was found that marital status and presence of chronic disease were significantly associated with depression (p<0.05). Whereas among the elderly residing in old age homes, no significant asociation was found between depression and the sociodemographic factors.Conclusions: High prevalence of depression observed among the studied population indicates the need of screening for depression among elderly.

Background: “Burnout” is defined as a state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion, or a coping mechanism to working conditions that are stressful, demanding and lack of recognition. Effects of burnout are many and can eventually threaten one’s job satisfaction, relationship and also health. High patient load, long working hours, poor logistics and infrastructure support and unreasonable demands from patients make clinicians vulnerable for stress and burnout. Objective was to study the prevalence of burn out in clinicians and factors associated with burnout.Methods: The study was an observational descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among Doctors in clinical departments of a Tertiary Medical care setting in October-November 2015. Sample size was 97. Study was conducted using Maslach Burnout Inventory with additional questions on demographic factors, work experience, hours of work and speciality. The inventory comprised 22 items on a seven-point Likert scale. Frequency of symptoms (ranging from ‘0=never’ to ‘6=every day’). Burnout was measured in three dimensions - emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP) and personal accomplishment (PA). The data was collected after taking Institutional ethics committee approval and verbal consent from participants. Data was analyzed using MS Excel 2007.Results: About 15% 0f clinicians showed high emotional exhaustion, 9% high depersonalization, and 18% low Personal accomplishment. More Females showed burnout than males and more clinicians from surgical branches showed burnout when compared to medical branches.Conclusions: Burnout exists among healthcare professionals and measures should be taken to identify causes and take remedial actions.

Background: More than 1/3rd of older adults fall each year and 10-20% of falls cause serious injuries. Vast majority of these falls (>99.9%) are unintentional. This research is focused to identify prevalence of the risk of fall among elderly and  associated factors were assessed in the present study. We are going assess the risk of falls and associated factors among elderly.Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted in urban field practice area of Community Medicine Department, Andhra Medical College among people of age >60 years during November 2017. A sample size of 100 is obtained by taking prevalence of falls among elderly on the last 6 months as 36.8% and absolute precision is 10%. A structured interview schedule has been adopted for the study which was developed by Peninsula Health Falls Prevention Services.Results: Mean age is 69±7 years. 65% are females. 20% have medium to high risk of fall. 17% have severely impaired cognitive status. 19% have history of fall one or more times in last 3–12 months.Conclusions: 20% risk of fall may not be neglected as fall in elderly can lead to disability. It is recommended to health care providers to assess the risk of fall among elderly patients seeking their services using fall risk assessment tool (FRAT) and advice accordingly.

Background: Tuberculosis is a communicable disease which requires special attention in HIV patients. According to newer guidelines, the treatment regimen for tuberculosis has been changed from intermittent DOTS to daily FDC. This study was taken up to explore effectiveness of fixed dose combination in comparison to intermittent DOTS. Objective was to compare the treatment outcomes for tuberculosis among HIV positive TB patients receiving intermittent DOTS with those receiving daily fixed dose combination (FDC).Methods: A retrospective cohort study was done during November 2017. The data was collected from patient records in an ART centre, attached to King George Hospital, Visakhapatnam. All the HIV patients newly registered for anti-tubercular treatment at the ART center, during 1st quarter of 2016(intermittent DOTS) were compared with those registered during 1st quarter of 2017(FDC). The treatment outcomes include (1) treatment success (completed/ cured), and (2) other treatment outcomes (lost to follow up (LFU), Death). Data was analysed using MS Excel. Association of factors affecting treatment outcomes was tested using chi-square test.Results: Out of a total 83 patients, 34 were on intermittent DOTS and 49 on FDC. The percentage of treatment success in intermittent DOTS was higher than FDC (p=0.06, chi-square value=3.42). The percentage of deaths in FDC is high when compared to intermittent DOTS (P=0.74, chi-square=3.1762). In subject receiving FDC, it was observed that more females had treatment success as compared to males (p=0.28, chi square=1.13).Conclusions: There is no statistically significant difference in the TB treatment outcomes of intermittent DOTS and FDC.

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