Mental health in India: Challenges ahead

With the advent of latest technologies and rapid industrialization human beings have made advancement to a great extent, in the materialistic world. He has mechanized his instruments in such a sophisticated way so as to carry out complicated and heavy tasks in comparatively lesser time and utilizing lesser manpower. In this pursuit of progress, he became more and more ambitious which further led him to stressful life and to make compromises with his other aspects of life intentionally and sometimes unintentionally. One has to consider all the aspects of individual’s physical, mental, social and psychological angles which play an important role in maintaining the individual’s overall personality development as well as wellbeing so that he may lead a productive life. These factors along with the environmental and surroundings influences the behavior of individual. In the present day life though human beings may have progressed socially, economically and also intellectually but somewhere he tended to neglect his emotions, feelings, tolerance and above all there is a growing concern of loneliness amongst all age groups. There is an imbalance between the amount of stress a person takes up with the amount he can cope up with, which has led to increase in behavioral and mental health problems. Burden of mental disorders had risen over last few decades in general mental health is often equated with the cognitive and emotional wellbeing - it is all about the way one thinks, feels and behaves. Mental health, can also mean an absence of a mental disorder. Various factors which has led to the rise in mental health problems are - growing population, continuous stress, over exertion, high ambition, socioeconomic conditions, loneliness, drug abuse, expectations, competitions and failures etc. The list is unending. It has been observed that there is a growing concern worldwide among developed as well as developing nations regarding the rise in behavioral and mental health disorders. According to the World Health Organization, mental health is “a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community. WHO estimated that globally over 450 million people suffer from mental disorders. Currently mental and behavioral disorders account for about 12 percent of the global burden of diseases. This is likely to increase to 15 percent by 2020. Major proportions of mental disorders come from low and middle income countries. (1) In 2010, a study conducted in NIMHANS, Bangalore reported that the burden of mental and behavioral disorders ranged from 9.5 to 10.2 per 1000 population which is very low compared to western countries mainly due to underreporting. (2)&nbsp

Health Problems among Elderly Patients visiting Primary Health Centre of Deoli Block in Wardha District, Central India: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract Elderly is also known as senior citizens. There is a rapid growth in number of older population in India. The common health problems namely musculo-skeletal, cardiovascular, neurological, endocrinological systems, cataract, hearing difficulties, etc. are known to impair the quality of life (QOL) of the elderly population. The prevalence of common health problems among the elderly patients (≥60 years) visiting the Deoli P.H.C was evaluated. A cross-sectional study was carried out and a pretested questionnaire was used for data collection. Most of the population in our study was illiterate. Most of them used assistive devices like spectacles, hearing aids, walking sticks, knee caps, lumbar belts etc. Most of the elderly reported ophthalmic problems, followed by cardiovascular, musculo-skeletal problems, GIT problems, insomnia, etc

Prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) in pregnant women in India: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Asymptomatic bacteriuria is prevalent during pregnancy. If it goes undetected, it can lead to urinary tract infection with severe maternal and neonatal complications. Until date, India does not have any guidelines to test for ASB during pregnancy. Objective: To estimate the pooled prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnant women at national level in India. Material and Methods: We searched Medline, Embase, Web of Science, and Google Scholar using search strategy with keyword. Two authors independently assessed the eligibility of study. The checklist of the JBI was used for evaluating the quality of reporting. The extracted data were analyzed, and the results were reported using a random-effects model with 95% confidence interval (CI). Subgroup analysis was conducted for zones of India, parity and trimester. Publication bias is reported as funnel plot. Result: Pooled prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria among pregnant women in India is 13.5% [CI 11.1; 15.8]. Subgroup analysis based on the various geographic zones of the country the pooled prevalence ranged from 9.2% in central zone to 14.8% in south zone. Distribution of prevalence of ASB as per parity was approximately identical. The prevalence of ASB was found to be high in third (21.8%). Conclusion: The prevalence of ASB is found to be high among Indian pregnant women, especially in third trimester. It is therefore recommended for guideline to screen and treat every pregnant woman for ASB to prevent further complications

Determinants and Associated Disability of Leprosy Patients Attending GMLF, Sevagram

Background: Leprosy, as an oldest disease known to a man and already eliminated from India in 2005, still poses a public health problem with steady new case detection rate. Method: The present study was carried out in Gandhi memorial leprosy foundation, Wardha, with the aim to find out proportion of multibacillary leprosy cases and various grading of disability and factors associated with it in this part of country. All the successive new OPD patients were included in study and examined for type of leprosy and grade of disability if present. Analysis done by Descriptive statistics. Result: 66 % had multibacillary type of leprosy and 44 % the disability. Higher age group, females, illiterate and less educated, unskilled and low income group were mostly affected. Conclusion: high proportion of multibacillary cases and disabilities reflects the need for active thrust to identify new cases

Prevalence and barriers of menstrual hygiene practices among women of reproductive age group in rural field practice areas of a tertiary care center in Rishikesh

Background: Menstruation is a natural, physiological process experienced by all adolescent girls and women. The reproductive age group is the largest and most susceptible to various health and illness-related risk factors. This study aims to find the prevalence of satisfactory menstrual hygiene management (MHM) among women of reproductive age group and we also want to explore the cultural practices and beliefs related to menstruation and barriers to satisfactory MHM. Material and Methods: This study was conducted in rural field practice areas of Department of Community and Family Medicine , AIIMS, Rishikesh including 271 participants; women of reproductive age group using a mixed method study design (sequential quan–qual). Quantitative data were collected by household surveys and government schools using a validated structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted to have insights about understanding menstrual hygiene and barriers to satisfactory hygiene practices. Results: It was found that only 70 (29.6%) participants adhered to satisfactory menstrual hygiene practices. The age group of 20–24 years had a higher proportion compared to other groups. Through FGD, the main themes derived were practices related to menstruation (maintenance of personal hygiene), daily activities (physical and mental problems during menses), and barriers faced (cultural, economic, privacy concerns, and shyness). Conclusion: The prevalence of satisfactory menstrual hygiene practices was very low only 29.6%, which is a cause of concern; either Taboos associated with menstruation, socio-cultural, economic barriers, or lack of awareness related to menstrual hygiene in the community can be contributing factors for low prevalence

Prevalence and risk factors of tobacco abuse in Rishikesh

Introduction: Tobacco is the most common form of substance abuse. Commonest evil of modern society is use of tobacco, though alcohol is equally harmful as tobacco but the accessibility of tobacco and its product are far easier for any individua. Aim & Objective: To determine the prevalence of tobacco abuse in the community and its association with sociodemographic factors of study participants. Materia & Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 804 study participants of age group 15 – 60 years in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. Since the population of urban and rural area is almost equal, so to get equal representative 402 study participants were selected from each area. Data was collected in MS Excel and analyzed using SPSS version 23 using appropriate statistical techniques like percentage, chi-square test and p-value. Results: Overall prevalence of substance abuse was found to be 37.4% out of which the prevalence of current users was 31.34%. Conclusion: Present study revealed that in spite of having strict law for prohibition of substance abuse, people are still addicted. There is a need to change either in law or in behavior of people at large

Abstracts of Scientifica 2022

This book contains the abstracts of the papers presented at Scientifica 2022, Organized by the Sancheti Institute College of Physiotherapy, Pune, Maharashtra, India, held on 12–13 March 2022. This conference helps bring researchers together across the globe on one platform to help benefit the young researchers. There were six invited talks from different fields of Physiotherapy and seven panel discussions including over thirty speakers across the globe which made the conference interesting due to the diversity of topics covered during the conference. Conference Title:  Scientifica 2022Conference Date: 12–13 March 2022Conference Location: Sancheti Institute College of PhysiotherapyConference Organizer: Sancheti Institute College of Physiotherapy, Pune, Maharashtra, Indi