Sickle cell disease status among school adolescents and their tribal community in South Gujarat

Objectives: to create awareness, to screen samples of school adolescents and then to reach their community through them by doing surveillance for sickle cell disease. Design: Field based cross-sectional study. Settings: St Xavier`s high school and Vanraj high school of Umarpada taluka of Surat district. Subjects: School adolescents, their parents and friends. Method: After taking permission from school authority, blood samples of 948 school adolescents were taken for DTT test and then for electrophoresis. Blood samples of motivated parents and friends of those adolescents found positive for DTT was taken in subsequent visit and results were communicated to them. Results: Blood samples of 948 school adolescents, out of 1081 were tested for DTT test. It was positive in 242 samples, giving a prevalence of 25.5% for sickle cell disease. On subjecting the positive blood samples to electrophoresis, the proportion of sickle cell trait and sickle cell disease was found to be 92% and 8% respectively. Then electrophoresis was done in 64 parents and friends, 24 (37.5%) of them were found positive of which, 14 (58%) were having sickle cell trait and 10 (42%) having sickle cell disease. Conclusion: approaching community can be possible through school adolescents for conduction of surveillance of sickle cell anemi

Study on breastfeeding practices among rural women in the field practice areas of a tertiary care teaching hospital

Background: Breastfeeding is one of the most important determinants of child survival, birth spacing, and prevention of childhood infections. The beneficial effects of breastfeeding depend on breastfeeding initiation, its duration, and the age at which the breast-fed child is weaned. Data from NFHS-4 suggest that in India, in Gujarat where only 56% of infants are exclusively breastfed and 50% of infants are initiated with breastfeeding within one hour of birth. This study was planned to identify the gaps in breastfeeding practices so that necessary interventions can be designed and thereby implemented. The objective is to study the breastfeeding practices of mothers having children below 2 years of age in the field practice areas of the medical college and to associate the findings of these practices with the socio-demographic characteristics of the population.Methods: The study conducted was a community based cross-sectional one in the six villages of RHTC of PIMSR. The study was conducted by surveying a total of 204 mothers to study their breastfeeding practices which were categorized into ‘good’ and “not so good’ practices. From this the total score was calculated and associated with socio-demographic variables.Results: Majority of the mothers were in the age group 18-22 and educated up to ‘primary’ and most of them were from social class IV and V. Only 23% of the mothers had adequate knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding. About 70% practiced both early initiation of breastfeeding and feeding colostrum whereas nearly 80% practiced exclusive breastfeeding.Conclusions: It is concluded from the study that even though the practice of breastfeeding was found quite good, the gaps in the knowledge and practice must be addressed through health education and support through peer and health groups. Documenting the success stories will go a long way for community education and behavioral change in communication at the community level for adequate breastfeeding practices

Impact of Curriculum Implementation Support Programme in changing the Knowledge, Attitude and Perceptions of Medical faculties towards Competency Based Medical Education in a Private Medical College

Background: CBME is a skill-based curriculum focusing on the desired competencies stated to be achieved by merits. To sensitize and train the faculty about CBME, the Curriculum Implementation Support Program (CISP) workshops have been held at various colleges across India. Aim& Objective: To find out the changes in the knowledge, perceptions and attitudes among medical teachers regarding CBME following CISP training. Methods and Material: The study carried out was cross-sectional and the data was collected before and after conduction of the CISP training programme. All the medical teachers who were enrolled in the CISP training were included in the study. The outcome result for knowledge-based questions was recorded as multiple choice options and that for attitudes and perceptions was recorded with a 5-point Likert scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Statistical analysis used: Descriptive statistics were calculated using numbers and simple proportions. Results: There was a significant improvement in the knowledge and perceptions of medical teachers following CISP training showing its impact. The perceived challenges as felt by the faculties also reduced substantially. Conclusions: Capacity building programmes must be conducted at regular intervals for faculties for successful implementation of all the components of CBME

Youth Tobacco Survey among the School Going Adolescents in a Block of Vadodara District, Gujarat.

Background: Tobacco use is the leading cause of Preventable death, Tobacco use during adolescence increases the risk of persistent addiction, leading to regular and sustained tobacco use in adulthood. Objective: To assess the prevalence and practice of tobacco use among the school going adolescents in a block of Vadodara district, Gujarat. Material & Methods: Multiphase sampling was done to select the sample students (13 to 17 years) from private and government schools in a selected block of Vadodara. A cross-sectional study including 1045 students was carried out using a pre-designed and pre-tested proforma. Results: Out of 1045 students, 3% (n=32) tried cigarette smoking ever, one or two puffs and 1.8% (19 students) of students were current cigarette or beedi smokers. Around 27.9% students and 23% students admitted that at least one of their parents and friends smoked cigarettes, respectively. About 24% and 44% of the students were exposed to passive smoking at home and outside home, respectively. Conclusions: Present study provides the baseline information of prevalence of smoking and attitude of school going adolescents towards smoking in Gujarat. The result gives an alarm to work upon tobacco control among adolescents and make them aware about the hazards