Elderly primigravida and a comparative analysis of their pregnancy outcome with younger primigravida

Background: Though pregnancy and child birth is a normal physiological process but a woman with advanced age is a risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcome. This study was conducted to find out the proportion of elderly primigravida and to compare their pregnancy outcome with that in younger primigravida of aged 20-25yrs.Methods: A retrospective study was carried out over a period of two years in a tertiary care hospital of Meghalaya. Secondary data on obstetrics outcome of 54 elderly primigravida aged ≥35 years (study group) was compared to 120 younger primigravida (control group) of aged 20-25 years, delivered during the period of study. The chi square test and Fisher’s exact test were used for statistical analysis and p value of <0.05 was taken as level of significance.Results: During two years of study period, 2048 patients had delivered, out of which 411 (20.1%) were primigravida, 54 (2.6%) were elderly primigravida, 120 (5.9%) were in the younger age groups and 66 (3.2%) were teenage pregnancy. Pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) with preeclampsia 12 (22.2%), preterm labour 2 (3.7%), instrumental delivery 6 (11.1%), caesarean section 32 (59.3%) were found significantly higher in study group.Conclusions: In our study, the prevalence of elderly primigravida was 2.6% and they had high rates of complications during antenatal period and course of labour than younger primigravida

Knowledge, attitude and practices of contraception among married women

Background: Aim of current study was to assess the knowledge, attitude &amp; practices of contraceptives among married women of reproductive age group.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in obstetrics &amp; gynaecology (obs. &amp; gynae) out door patient department (OPD), North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health &amp; Medical Sciences, Shillong, Meghalaya. 200 married women aged between 15-45 years were included in this study. Along with the socio-demographic characteristics of the women, their knowledge, attitude and practices on contraception were evaluated with the help of predesigned questionnaire.Results: It was observed that out of 200 women, majority of them were Christian (52%), illiterate (26.5%), housewife (43.5%) and belong to low socio economic status (31.5%). 174 (87%) had knowledge about contraceptive methods and it was mainly obtained from health workers (58.6%) followed by media (24.1%) and social circle (15.5%). 76 (38%)women were practicing contraceptive methods, out of which most of them were using condom (38.2%) followed by Oral Contraceptive Pills (OCPs) (27.6%), intra uterine contraceptive device (15.8%) etc. Though most of the women had knowledge about contraceptive methods majority of male 55.5% and female 51.5% were showing negative attitude towards family planning.Conclusions: The study showed, inspite of having good knowledge, utilization of contraceptives were less because of large family norm, religious myth, cultural &amp; political barrier

Evaluation of cervical smear in high risk women

Background: Objectives of current study were (i) To find out the pattern of cervical smear in females having risk factors. (ii) To observe the relationship between abnormal cervical smear with high risk factors.Methods:A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in the department of obstetrics and gynecology, Guwahati medical college & hospital from July 2009 to August 2010 with the help of Pathology department. 200 women attending gynecological OPD with associated risk factors were selected at random. Detailed history, demographic information, contraceptive history and coital history were taken. Smear was taken from endocervix with the help of Ayer’s spatula or cytobrush.Results:Out of 200 cases, in 110 (55%) the smear was reported negative for malignancy. 73(36.5%) had an inflammatory smear, 11 (5.5%) had CIN, 1(0.5%) had malignancy and 5(2.5%) the smear was inadequate for cytological examination. In the study mean age of Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia (CIN) was 42.64 ± 6.34 years. Low socio-economic status, high parity & the use of oral contraceptive pills were major risk factors.  Conclusion:Cervical smear should be routinely used as a reliable diagnostic aid for early detection carcinoma cervix especially in high risk cases. The need of the hour is to create awareness and easy accessibility to proper screening.

Ecological Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Adjoining Sediment of River Ecosystem

The present study was focused on heavy metal distribution patterns and the associated ecological risk assessment in the adjoining sediment of the Hindon River in Muzaffarnagar Region (U.P.), India. Lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), iron (Fe), aluminum (Al), sodium (Na), and potassium (K) were estimated from six sediment samples (Atali A and B, Budhana A and B, and Titavi A and B). The concentration of the heavy metals Zn, Pb, Cu, Ni, and Cd ranged from 25.5–74.7 mg kg−1, 29.8–40.6 mg kg−1, 7.0–29.2 mg kg−1, 14.7–21.8 mg kg−1, and 0.96–1.2 mg kg−1, respectively and followed the sequence Zn &gt; Pb &gt; Cu &gt; Ni &gt; Cd, while major elements followed the sequence Na &gt; Fe &gt; Al &gt; K. The enrichment factor (EF) and geo-accumulation index (Igeo) revealed that Atali A showed the highest enrichment and followed the sequence Zn &gt; Cu &gt; Pb &gt; Ni &gt; Cd. Contamination factor (CF) and contamination degree (CD) depicted that all of the sites (except Titavi B) were moderately to considerably contaminated. The highest degree of contamination (CF, CD, and PLI, pollution load index) was observed at Titavi A followed by Atali A and Budhana A. Eco-toxicological risk assessment (RI) indicated that the sites were moderately contaminated, predominantly by Ni and Pb and Zn. The results revealed that the metal contamination in sediment is alarming and might pose an adverse threat to ecosystem health

Chronic morbidity and health care seeking behaviour amongst elderly population in rural areas of Uttarakhand

Background: Ageing is a natural process, always associated with physiological and biological decline. Global population is ageing; the proportion of older persons has been rising steadily, from 7% in 1950 to 11% in 2007, with an expected rise to reach 22 % in 2050. With improving knowledge and awareness the health care seeking behavior has shown an increasingly positive trend. With increasing age, morbidity,   especially those arising from chronic diseases also increases. On the contrary, health care delivered at household level has definitely   gone down due to financial constraints and increasing cost of living, thus posing a problem for the elderly.  Aims & Objective: To find out the prevalence of chronic morbidity and health care seeking behaviour amongst the elderly in rural areas of Uttarakhand. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in rural areas of Uttarakhand to assess the chronic morbidity amongst elderly population. All the persons above the age group of 60 years of the eight villages were interviewed using a pre-defined, pre-tested, semi-structured and indigenously developed questionnaire. Results: The study group suffered from various chronic morbidities like hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases. Men were greater in number (158, 62.2%). Participants belonging mostly to nuclear families (156, 61.9%). Below the poverty line were (98, 38.9%). Half of the study population had one or the other chronic morbid condition. Majority of the elderly men contacted the health care facility whereas majority of the elderly women chose to use remedies. Conclusion: There is definitely a need of   provision of health care services for poor geriatric population. In addition to this government should take up some program for social security of this population along with creating an awareness about the same

Abstracts of National Conference on Research and Developments in Material Processing, Modelling and Characterization 2020

This book presents the abstracts of the papers presented to the Online National Conference on Research and Developments in Material Processing, Modelling and Characterization 2020 (RDMPMC-2020) held on 26th and 27th August 2020 organized by the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Science in Association with the Department of Production and Industrial Engineering, National Institute of Technology Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India. Conference Title: National Conference on Research and Developments in Material Processing, Modelling and Characterization 2020Conference Acronym: RDMPMC-2020Conference Date: 26–27 August 2020Conference Location: Online (Virtual Mode)Conference Organizer: Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, National Institute of Technology JamshedpurCo-organizer: Department of Production and Industrial Engineering, National Institute of Technology Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, IndiaConference Sponsor: TEQIP-