Prevalence of Depression and Anxiety among 10th Standard Exam Going Children in Rural Area of Kancheepuram District

Depression is a common illness worldwide, with an estimate of about 350 million as on 2016. Anxiety is a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome. The annual years of healthy life lost per 100,000 people from anxiety disorders in India has increased by 7.2% since 1990, an average of 0.3% a year. The purpose of this study is to know whether the students are depressed and anxious during exam times and if so, in what grade of depression and anxiety the majority of students comes under .And with the results, to make general awareness and pacify the school student regarding their exams. Materials and Methods:  A cross sectional study will be conducted among the school students studying 9th and 10th standard in the field practice areas of the Department of Community Medicine Pondicherry institute of Medical Sciences, Duration of the study is one month (February 2017). Considering the prevalence of Anxiety and Depression as 25%, with 20% absolute precision the sample size calculated was 312. Results: Most of the 9th and 10th standard students are having mild depression, ie 119 students (n) which constitutes about 38.1%. Also on comparing 9th and 10th standard students, 9th standard students are having minimal depression ie 65 students which constitutes about 60.2 %, whereas 10th standard students are having mild depression ie 70 students which constitutes about 51.8%.. Providing counselling for students, the teacher of a class should know the different difficulties of each student of their class and try to solve them in a smooth manner by doing these activities we can reduce the percentage of depression and anxiety among school children’s for an extent

Social capital as a mediator of the influence of socioeconomic position on health: Findings from a population-based cross-sectional study in Chandigarh, India

Background: Social capital has been recognized as part of the WHO's Social Determinants of Health model given that social connections and relationships may serve as resources of information and tangible support. While the association between socioeconomic position and health is relatively well established, scant empirical research has been conducted in developing countries on the association between social capital and health. Objective: Based on the WHO's Social Determinants of Health framework, we tested whether social capital mediates the effect of socioeconomic position on mental and physical health. Methods: A population-based study was conducted among a representative sample (n = 1563) of men and women in Chandigarh, India. We used standardized scales for measuring social capital (mediator variable) and self-rated mental and physical health (outcome variable). Results: A socioeconomic position index (independent variable) was computed from education, occupation, and caste categories. Mediation model was tested using path analysis in IBM SPSS-Amos. Participants' mean age was 40.1 years. About half of the participants were women (49.3%), and most were relatively well educated. The results showed that socioeconomic position was a significant predictor of physical and mental health. Social capital was a significant mediator of the effect of socioeconomic position on mental health but not physical health. Conclusion: Besides removing socioeconomic barriers through poverty alleviation programs, interventions to improve social capital, especially in economically disadvantaged communities, may help in improving population health

Three Years Experience of Third Year Undergraduate Medical Students in Different Teaching Learning Methods: A Qualitative Study

Introduction: India is a second largest populous country producing more than sixty thousand doctors every year. Still in India research on teaching learning methods are subtle. To improve the quality of knowledge and skills of medical students, there is a need to analyse the existing teaching learning methods as well as innovating new methods. Aim: To compare the three years experience of third year MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) students in three different teaching learning methods (Tutorials, Integrated Teaching sessions and Routine Lectures). Materials and Methods: Qualitative study was carried out among 60 third year MBBS students in medical college in south India. A semi-structured questionnaire was developed, with the help of literature review and is distributed among 66 students. Six participants excluded due to incomplete information. Questionnaire consisted of totally 16 questions. For the first ten questions answers were captured in Likert scale of one to five (one-poor; five- excellent). Eleventh to sixteenth questions were asked as an open-ended question to mention some positive and negative things about each method. Questions with Likert scale were analysed using Kruskal Wallis H Test and the open ended questions were analysed by thematic analysis. Results: Overall mean rank for Tutorial was 129.03 followed by Integrated Teaching (mean rank 86.33) and Routine Lecture (mean rank 56.14). Students gave better scores for Tutorials in areas such as easily understandable, better attention span and students involvement in the session. Students gave better scoring for Integrated Teaching in areas such as well organized, integration with other departments, ideal usage of audio visual aids and providing detailed information to the students. Drawbacks of Integrated Teaching were failure to attract the students, prolonged sessions (long duration), boring and minimal involvement of students. Lecture classes on the other hand purely depend upon the ability of the faculty. Conclusion: In three years of students experience, when comparing to Routine Lecture and Integrated Teaching, Tutorial was considered as the best teaching learning method by students because of involvement of students, easily understandable, focussed and increased student teachers interaction

Additional file 1: of Level, causes, and risk factors of stillbirth: a population-based case control study from Chandigarh, India

Table - Association of maternal and foetal causes of stillbirths. This cross tabulation shows the association between maternal and foetal causes of stillbirth. (DOCX 38 kb

Xpert negative means no TB: A mixed-methods study into early implementation of Xpert in Puducherry, India

Introduction: Xpert MTB/RIF was implemented in 2016 as the initial diagnostic test for extrapulmonary, pediatric, and human immunodeficiency virus–associated tuberculosis (TB) and as an add-on test for sputum microscopy–negative patients under Revised National TB Control Programme, Puducherry, India. We intended to study the change in TB case notification rates (CNRs) after 2015 and explore the enablers and barriers for implementation of Xpert. Materials and Methods: Sequential mixed-methods study, quantitative phase followed by a descriptive qualitative phase (key informant interviews with healthcare providers in the program). Results: The TB (all forms) CNR increased in 2016 followed by a drop to 2015 levels in 2017. There was a reduction in patients notified as sputum-negative pulmonary TB and pediatric TB during 2016–2017. Healthcare providers used a negative Xpert result in ruling out TB among patients who would previously get diagnosed clinically. Perceived benefits of Xpert were efficiency, rapid results, and detecting resistance. Barriers included poor awareness among medical colleges and the private sector, difficulty in motivating sputum microscopy–negative patients for Xpert, and incompletely filled referral forms. Conclusion: Xpert-negative results should be interpreted cautiously after clinical assessment. Identified barriers should be addressed to ensure that all eligible undergo testing

Stillbirths : Rates, risk factors, and acceleration towards 2030

An estimated 2·6 million third trimester stillbirths occurred in 2015 (uncertainty range 2·4-3·0 million). The number of stillbirths has reduced more slowly than has maternal mortality or mortality in children younger than 5 years, which were explicitly targeted in the Millennium Development Goals. The Every Newborn Action Plan has the target of 12 or fewer stillbirths per 1000 births in every country by 2030. 94 mainly high-income countries and upper middle-income countries have already met this target, although with noticeable disparities. At least 56 countries, particularly in Africa and in areas aff ected by confl ict, will have to more than double present progress to reach this target. Most (98%) stillbirths are in low-income and middle-income countries. Improved care at birth is essential to prevent 1·3 million (uncertainty range 1·2-1·6 million) intrapartum stillbirths, end preventable maternal and neonatal deaths, and improve child development. Estimates for stillbirth causation are impeded by various classifi cation systems, but for 18 countries with reliable data, congenital abnormalities account for a median of only 7·4% of stillbirths. Many disorders associated with stillbirths are potentially modifi able and often coexist, such as maternal infections (population attributable fraction: malaria 8·0% and syphilis 7·7%), non-communicable diseases, nutrition and lifestyle factors (each about 10%), and maternal age older than 35 years (6·7%). Prolonged pregnancies contribute to 14·0% of stillbirths. Causal pathways for stillbirth frequently involve impaired placental function, either with fetal growth restriction or preterm labour, or both. Two-thirds of newborns have their births registered. However, less than 5% of neonatal deaths and even fewer stillbirths have death registration. Records and registrations of all births, stillbirths, neonatal, and maternal deaths in a health facility would substantially increase data availability. Improved data alone will not save lives but provide a way to target interventions to reach more than 7000 women every day worldwide who experience the reality of stillbirth