Knowledge and Perception of Public Towards Medico Legal Autopsy in Nepal

Introduction: Autopsy is an important tool to determine the cause of death. This study was conducted with the objectives to assess the knowledge and perception of Nepalese people towards medico legal autopsy. Methods: It was a questionnaire based cross sectional study performed among the general public of Nepal. A standard pretested questionnaire was used to collect the responses on knowledge and perception of the people about medico legal autopsy. Independent samples t-test was used to compare the mean score of knowledge among the various groups. P value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Mean age of the respondents was 29.06 years (SD = 10.50) and 72.31% were male (n = 188, N = 260). Mean score of knowledge was 6.65 (SD = 1.76) out of a total ten. The score was significantly higher (p = 0.02) among the respondents whose relatives had undergone an autopsy than those whose were not. It was comparable among the educated and uneducated groups.  A total of 75.77% respondents (n = 197, N = 260) would not reject the autopsy of their relatives. Conclusion: People lack knowledge mostly in basic elements of medico legal autopsy. Most of the people showed positive perception towards autopsy and those who were negative, feared of disfigurement of the bodies after an autopsy

Effect of gender preference on fertility: cross-sectional study among women of Tharu community from rural area of eastern region of Nepal

BACKGROUND: Son preference is predominant in developing countries especially South Asian countries and its effect is most visible when the fertility is on transition. Nepal is a country in South Asia where the fertility has declined and son is valued highly. This study examines the parent’s gender preference for children and its effect on fertility and reproductive behaviors. METHODS: Study was conducted in Sonapur village development committee of Sunsari district among women of Tharu community of reproductive age (15–49) currently in union and having at least one child. Data was collected by house to house survey. Data was analyzed with IBM SPSS 20 version. Multinomial and binary logistic regression were used to analyze the relationship among variables. RESULTS: Three hundred women of reproductive age were included in the study. Current average age of the respondents was 31.97 years and mean age at marriage was 18.87 (SD +/-2.615). Child Sex ratio (male: female) of the respondents who didn’t want any more children was 1.41. The birth spacing following male baby was 3.09 years whereas the average birth spacing following female baby was 2.71 years. Age of the respondents and education status of the respondents were also significantly associated with contraceptive practice. Presence of only female children in family significantly increased the desire of other children (AOR = 10.153, 95% CI = 2.357-43.732). CONCLUSION: This study finds that the gender preference affects the fertility and reproductive behavior of the respondents and it is necessary to reduce son preference for the health and well being of children and women

Longlasting insecticidal nets for prevention of Leishmania donovani infection in India and Nepal: paired cluster randomised trial

Objective To test the effectiveness of large scale distribution of longlasting nets treated with insecticide in reducing the incidence of visceral leishmaniasis in India and Nepal

Effects of Utilization of Maternal Health Care Services on Child Spacing: A Study from Eastern Nepal

Objective: This study was conducted to explore the effect of utilization of Antenatal Care Service on subsequent birth interval. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 517 women giving birth during five years period preceding survey. The Cox proportional hazard model was used to analyze birth interval as a multivariate life table model. Results: ANC utilization was higher among mothers living in mountain, Indo-Aryan high caste and mothers having more than 10 years of schooling. Regression analysis showed that being Tibeto-Mongoloid caste, mothers with female index child and mother with dead index child had higher risk of having next birth. Conclusion: There is a strong positive relationship between the utilization of ANC service and less risk of child bearing. (RR=1.873, p = 0.008) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jcmsn.v10i4.12973 JCMS Nepal 2014; 10(4):22-25</p

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of nursing students regarding hand hygiene in Western region of Nepal

Background &amp; Objectives: Hospital acquired infections (HAIs) are thought to be transmitted by the hands of health care workers (HCWs). Reducing HAIs requires that HCWs take responsibility for ensuring that hand hygiene becomes an everyday part of patient care. This study was conducted with objectives of assessing the level of Knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) regarding hand hygiene among nursing students in the Western Region of Nepal.Materials &amp; Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among nursing students posted in different wards of two hospitals of Pokhara. A self administered questionnaire containing different set of questions regarding knowledge, attitude and practice on hand hygiene were used for data collection. Results: A total of 99% of the participants reported that they were acquainted with the WHO recommended steps of hand washing. The knowledge on hand hygiene was moderate (84%) among the total study population. Knowledge regarding the minimum time needed for alcohol based hand rub (20 sec) was known correctly by only 24% of the participants. A total of 90% of the participants had positive attitude towards hand-hygiene. A total of 29% of the correspondents believed that they had not been properly instructed in hand hygiene during their practice, 56% of the participants exhibited good practice regarding hand hygiene and 91% realized that the presence of an infection prevention team would have positive influences on their hand hygiene practices.Conclusion: Moderate knowledge among majority of the nursing students reflected upon their positive attitude and practice regarding hand hygiene among them. Essentially, most of the nursing students considered hand hygiene as an essential part of their role. Improvement of accessibility to hand hygiene facilities would play an important role to improve the compliance to hand-hygiene in current practice. </p

Health Seeking Behavior and Utilization of Health Care Services in Eastern Hilly Region of Nepal

noBackground &amp; Objectives: Preventive, promotive, curative, and rehabilitative health care services depend not only in availability &amp; accessibility of it but also on awareness and attitude of the people and various inter-woven social structure that determines in making choice. The objective of this study was to explore health seeking behavior and utilization of health care services in the rural places in VDCs of Ilam district of Eastern Nepal.Materials &amp; Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in between period of March 25th 2013 to April 10th 2013 Fikkal and Pashupatinagar VDCs in Ilam district with sample of 300 people. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire.Results: One fifth of the populations were found to be seeking traditional healers’ service and 80 percent among modern treatment system were relying on private treatment facility for treating sickness. People who had lived more than 20 years in that place and who felt modern health services were costly were likely to use service of traditional healers. Similarly people suffering from chronic illness, having health facility more than 30 minutes and using stretcher or walking as means of transportation were using government health centers more compared to private services.Conclusion: Significant people still use traditional healers’ service and the government health facility utilization was low as compared to private. The people living for longer period in that place and having the concept that modern health centers are costly were primary user of traditional healing system. Health facility nearby or people who could afford for automobile travel facilities were using costly private health centers.JCMS Nepal. 2015; 11(2):8-16</p

Knowledge of first aid methods and attitude about snake bite among medical students: a cross sectional observational study

Abstract Background Snake bite is a neglected public health problem in tropical and subtropical region. The study was conducted with objectives to determine the knowledge of first aid methods in snake bite and the perception of snake bite among the medical students of Gandaki Medical College, Pokhara, Nepal. Methods We conducted a cross sectional survey among 302 (231 preclinical and 71 clinical) Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) students of Gandaki Medical College using a pretested questionnaire to assess the knowledge of first aid of snake bite based on WHO protocol and perception of snakebite. The study duration was from January to May 2018. The total score of the knowledge was obtained and compared among variables using Mann-Whitney U test. Chi square test was used for comparing the responses with the level of students. P value of < 0.05 was considered as significant. Results Among 302 respondents, 193(63.9%) were from Mountain districts. The families of 25 (8.3%) respondents were bitten by snakes. The correct responses were significantly higher from the 71 (23.5%) clinical students for most of the questions and the knowledge score of clinical students was significantly higher than the 231 (76.5%) preclinical students. Twenty eight (9.27%) students believed that the snake should be killed after it bites the victim and 25 (8.28%) believed that the snake will capture the image of the offender who teases it and takes revenge later. School books were the commonest source of such knowledge among the preclinical students. Conclusion Most of the preclinical students had inadequate knowledge of first aid of snake bite. The common source of the knowledge was school books which often provide faulty knowledge. Only a few students had negative perception about snakes. Incorporation of proper first aid measures in the textbooks of various levels is essential