Knowledge, Attitude and Practices in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients in Rural Northern India

Background: - Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Generating awareness on prevention of Diabetes is of key importance. For generating awareness, an idea on the level of awareness in general population has to be generated. The present study was conducted with the  aim  to   assess Knowledge, Attitude  and Practices (KAP )  among  diabetic  patients  from  a  rural  area. Methods:- The  study  was conducted on diagnosed cases of T2 DM  patients  visiting  Community  Health  Centre,  Ranbir  Singh  Pura, Jammu, J&K   for a follow-up. The study was conducted from October through December 2014   using a pre designed, pre-structured & validated questionnaire. Results: - 230 T2 DM patients comprising 128 males and 102 females   were enrolled   during   the study   period. The  knowledge score  of  the  patients  was  found  to  be  10.13±2.09, attitude  score  was 3.13±1.26  and  practice  score  was  2.86±1.39  out  of   maximum   possible  scores  of  14,6  and  5   for   knowledge, attitude  and  practices  respectively. Knowledge  scores  had  a  strong  association  both  with  attitude  as  well  as  practice  scores (p<0.05). Conclusions: - Knowledge of diabetic patients was good   but   attitude and practices needed   improvement.&nbsp

Community Based Assessment of Biochemical Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Diseases in Rural and Tribal Area of Himalayan Region, India

Context. Evident change in nutrition and lifestyle among individuals of urban and rural areas raises suspicion for similar change in tribal area population of India. Aim. To study the biochemical risk factor for CVDs in rural and tribal population of Sub-Himalayan state of India. Settings and Design. Cross-sectional study in rural (low altitude) and tribal (high altitude) area of Himachal Pradesh, India. Methodology. Blood lipid profile using standard laboratory methods. Statistical Analysis. Chi-square test and multiple linear regression analysis. Results. Total of 900 individuals were studied in both areas. As per Asian criteria, obesity (BMI 27.5–30.0 kg/m2) was observed to be significantly high (P=0.00) as 13.7% in tribal area as compared to 5.5% in rural area. Normal level of TC (<200 mg/dL) and LDL (<130 mg/dL) was observed in the majority of the population of both areas, whereas, at risk level of HDL (<40 mg/dL) was present in half of the population of both rural and tribal areas. The prevalence of borderline to high level of TGs was observed to be 60.2% and 55.2% in rural and tribal (P=0.10) area, respectively. Conclusion. Prevalent abnormal lipid profile in tribal area demands establishment of an effective surveillance system for development of chronic diseases

Patient profile and treatment outcome of rectal cancer patients treated with multimodality therapy at a regional cancer center

BACKGROUND: Incidence of rectal cancer has wide geographical variation. Disease pattern in developing countries is different from developed countries as majority of the patients present in advanced stage because of delayed referral and lack of uniform treatment practices. AIMS: Present study describes the patient profile and treatment results from a tertiary care cancer center in India. SETTING AND DESIGN: Tertiary care Regional cancer center. Retrospective analysis 89 patients with rectal adenocarcinoma treated between 1995 and 2002 were analyzed. METHODS: Patients with adenocarcinoma rectum were evaluated in a G.I. Oncology clinic and were treated using multimodality protocols involving surgery, radiotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: A descriptive analysis of patient and disease profile,treatment patterns and out come was performed. Survival analysis was performed using Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: Mean age of the patients was 45.4 years and majority of them had tumor in lower third of rectum with evidence of extrarectal spread. Seventy five percent of the patients underwent curative resection with abdominoperineal resection being the commonest procedure. Forty seven percent of patients were given short course preoperative radiotherapy and the remaining received postoperative radiotherapy. Sixty four percent of patients could complete planned adjuvant chemotherapy. Operative mortality was 2% and 23% had morbidity. Local recurrence rate was 8.9%. 5-year disease free and overall survival was 54% and 58% respectively. CONCLUSION: Majority of rectal cancer patients present with locally advanced and low rectal growths leading to low sphincter salvage rates. Despite the advanced stage of presentation optimal oncologic results can be obtained by using a good surgical techniques in combination with adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Short course preoperative radiotherapy seems to be more feasible in Indian context. Timely referral and uniform treatment guidelines throughout the country are needed for optimal management of rectal cancer in India