Health status of police personnel in a selected subdivision of Bengaluru District, Karnataka, India

Introduction: Police personnel perform untiring duties to maintain law and order. The objectives of this study were to assess the physical and mental health status of police personnel in a selected rural subdivision of Bengaluru District. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 142 police personnel in 7 police stations of the selected rural subdivision using a universal sampling technique. A structured interview schedule was used, which included socio-demographic details, occupational details, anthropometry, blood pressure and blood sugar measurements, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) to screen for depression and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) to identify stress. Results: The mean age of the police personnel was 40.28±10.97 years. Most of the workforce were males (83%). About 68.3% of the studied group were obese. High random blood sugar and high blood pressure values were observed in 5.6% and 48.6% of the personnel who had no previous history of diabetes mellitus and hypertension. The prevalence of mild to severe depression was found to be 36% and that of high stress was 83.1%. Conclusion: The high prevalence of increased blood pressure, obesity, depression and perceived stress warrants the need for routine screening and application of various levels of prevention. Health promotion and improved working conditions can improve their health status

Activating the knowledge-to-action cycle for geriatric care in India

Despite a rapidly aging population, geriatrics - the branch of medicine that focuses on healthcare of the elderly - is relatively new in India, with many practicing physicians having little knowledge of the clinical and functional implications of aging. Negative attitudes and limited awareness, knowledge or acceptance of geriatrics as a legitimate discipline contribute to inaccessible and poor quality care for India's old. The aim of this paper is to argue that knowledge translation is a potentially effective tool for engaging Indian healthcare providers in the delivery of high quality geriatric care. The paper describes India's context, including demographics, challenges and current policies, summarizes evidence on provider behaviour change, and integrates the two in order to propose an action plan for promoting improvements in geriatric care

Are Medical Students and Interns at Risk of Acquiring Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA)?

Introduction: MRSA is conventionally considered as a nosocomial pathogen (though of late it is seen in the community). It is a pathogen which can infect patients and be carried innocuously, most commonly on the hands and for a longer duration in the anterior nares. This study was done on Medical Students and Interns in a medical college in India to check if they colonised with MRSA.. The risk factors among the subjects were found to be low. Objectives: This study was aimed at finding the prevalence of Nasal carriers of MRSA and contributing risk factors among Medical Students and Interns. Methods: This was a cross sectional study. The study group included medical students and interns above the age of 18 years. The study involved 150 medical students and interns. The students who participated in the study were 30 each from the first year to interns. Results: One subject was found to be positive for MRSA. Conclusion: From the study it was concluded that the prevalence of MRSA among medical students was low. It was also noticed that students were aware of the need for good hygiene practices

Perceived Professional Stress Levels among Employees in an Information Technology Company, Bangalore

"Background: In view of reported increased prevalence of stress levels among information technology (IT) professionals, this study was conducted to assess the extent of this problem. Objectives: To assess stress levels and factors associated with stress among employees working in an information technology company in Bangalore. Methods: One hundred and forty nine IT professionals participated in this cross-sectional study. The study variables included gender, total work experience, working hours, break time and number of dependents. The prevalence of stress was assessed utilising two standard scales: Ten point Perceived Stress Scale and Professional Life Stress Test. The data was analysed using SPSS and Epi Info. Results: Mean score for perceived stress scale was 35.73 and ac-cording to the professional life stress test, none of the respondents were stressed needing immediate intervention. There was no asso-ciation between stress and gender, work experience, number of dependents and duration of break time. Insomnia was the most common stress symptom among the employees. Conclusion: The prevalence of stress was neither high warning immediate intervention nor was it low to rule out it consequences if the current trends continues among IT professionals. Managements have to devise and adopt various stress management techniques to reduce stress and to prevent unpleasant consequences of stress on the employees and on the companies. " [Natl J Community Med 2016; 7(4.000): 231-234

Myelomatous pleural effusion: A rare case entity reported from a tertiary care cancer center in South India

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell neoplasm and constitutes 10% of hematologic malignancies. Malignant myelomatous pleural effusions are very rare and occur in <1% of cases of MM. In this article, we report a rare case of a patient who initially presented with pleural effusion and was subsequently found to be secondary to MM with an underlying raised IgG paraprotein. The patient symptomatically improved and was in partial remission with palliative radiotherapy, VTD chemotherapy, and bisphosphonates