Prevalence of unmet need for contraception among married women aged 15–49 years in urban and rural areas of Telangana

BACKGROUND: As reported by the National Family Health Survey-5, over 70% of currently married women aged 15–49 years have a demand for family planning. Women encounter a multitude of obstacles when it comes to accessing and adopting contraception, including limited knowledge, social disapproval, and inadequate availability of family planning resources. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of unmet need for contraception and factors affecting contraceptive behavior among reproductive age group women aged 15–49 years living in urban and rural areas of Telangana. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study was conducted in urban and rural areas of Telangana among 306 reproductive age group women aged 15–49 years. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire, and the Chi-square test was used to assess the significance. RESULTS: The unmet need for contraception was found to be 18.6%, and it was significantly higher in urban than in rural (24.2% and 13.1%, respectively). Spacing need was 6.2% and limiting need was 12.4%, significantly higher among urban (17%) than in rural (7.8%). The occupation of the correspondent was found to be significantly associated with an unmet need for contraception. CONCLUSION: A high unmet need for contraception was observed among women in Telangana, highlighting the existence of a knowledge–action gap in promoting positive attitudes and behaviors toward contraception. Further research is necessary to explore the underlying factors contributing to the rising unmet need and training of frontline health-care workers to raise awareness about family planning methods and address associated stigmas

Nosocomial Infection in MICU: An Observational Study

Introduction: Nosocomial infections are infections; patients acquire while admitted to a health-care facility and generally develop 48 h or later after admission. These infections can lead to serious problems such as sepsis and even death. Materials and Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted for 6 months to estimate the incidence of nosocomial infections acquired in the medical intensive care unit (MICU), their risk factors, the causative pathogens, and the outcome. The patients admitted for more than 48 h to the MICU and willing to give consent were included in the study. Of 496 patients in MICU, 216 patients stayed 48 h and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score during the first 24 h of admission to the MICU. Results: The incidence of nosocomial infections in MICU was 14.9% (32 out of 216). Age, APACHE II score >13, MICU stay >7 days, and comorbidities such as peripheral venous line, central venous catheter, duration of urinary catheterization, duration of endotracheal intubation, nasogastric tube, and mechanical ventilator of >7 days were found to be independent risk factors of acquiring nosocomial infections (P < 0.05). Important causative organisms for nosocomial infections were Pseudomonas aeruginosa in 18 patients (32.72%), Escherichia coli in 11 (20.0%), Acinetobacter species in 8 (14.54%), and Klebsiella pneumoniae in seven patients (12.72%). Mortality among patients with nosocomial infections was 25% (8/32) and among those without nosocomial infections was 6.5% (12/184), P = 0.002. The length of ICU stay was higher in patients with nosocomial infections (15.42 ± 6.93 days) than in those without nosocomial infections (6.7 ± 5.14 days), P < 0.001. Conclusion: Nosocomial infections are common in ICU settings and contribute to significant mortality and morbidity. Infection control strategies are necessary to reduce nosocomial infection rates as well as ICU mortality and morbidity

Plant- and Nutraceutical-based Approach for the Management of Diabetes and its Neurological Complications: A Narrative Review

WOS: 000497948900004PubMed: 31612820Diabetes is an important metabolic disease affecting many organs and systems in the body. the nervous system is one of the body systems affected by diabetes and neuropathic complications are troublesome in diabetic patients with many consequences. As diabetes has deleterious influences almost on bodily systems, an integrative approach seems to be necessary accepting the body as a whole and integrating body systems with lifestyle and living environment. Like some traditional health systems such as Ayurveda, integrative approach includes additional modalities to overcome both diabetes and diabetic complications. in general, these modalities consist of nutraceuticals and plant products. Prebiotics and probiotics are two types of nutraceuticals having active ingredients, such as antioxidants, nutrient factors, microorganisms, etc. Many plants are indicated for the cure of diabetes. All of these may be employed in the prevention and in the non-pharmacological management of mildto-moderate diabetes. Severe diabetes should require appropriate drug selection. Being complementary, prebiotics, probiotics, plants and exercise may be additive for the drug therapy of diabetes. Similarly, there are complementary approaches to prevent and cure neurological and/or behavioral manifestations of diabetes, which may be included in therapy and prevention plans. A scheme is given for the prevention and therapy of comorbid depression, which is one of the most common behavioral complications of diabetes. Within this scheme, the main criterion for the selection of modalities is the severity of diseases, so that personalized management may be developed for diabetic patients using prebiotics and probiotics in their diets, plants and drugs avoiding possible interactions