Association of trisomy 21 with anorectal malformation: a cytogenetic study

Background: Anorectal malformations (ARM) are congenital malformations of digestive system resulting from the disturbed development of hindgut during embryogenesis. ARMs involve both sexes; can occur either isolated or in association with other congenital abnormalities and may be associated with chromosomal abnormalities. Association of trisomy 21 with anorectal malformation is well documented. Present study was conducted to assess prevalence of association of trisomy 21 in patients with anorectal malformation.Methods: Total 48 children with diagnosis of anorectal malformation, who were admitted in Department of Paediatric Surgery, King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, were selected for the study. Blood samples were collected and their cytogenetic analysis was carried out in the Cytogenetics laboratory, Department of Anatomy, KGMU-U.P, Lucknow, India.Results: Among the 48 study subjects, karyogram could be successfully obtained for 45 cases (93.75%). Numerical anomalies were observed in 8.9% cases. Trisomy 21 was found in 6.7%. The prevalence of trisomy 21 was found to more in males (4.5%) as compared to females (2.2%). Prevalence was highest in birth order 3(20%), followed by birth order 2(7.14%) and lowest in birth order 1(3.85%). Trisomy in association with ARM; was observed in children born to females aged >30 years. It was found unrelated to the history of consanguinity.Conclusions: Prevalence of association of trisomy 21 with ARM was found to be 6.7%. This coexistence emphasizes the need for a thorough investigation of patients with ARM

Current practices in family planning: a population based study

Background: To study the knowledge, current practices of family planning methods and acceptance post motivation.Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted at family planning OPD of AIIMS, New Delhi, India. A total of 1516 couples who came for MTP at any gestation couple were enquired about knowledge, currently used contraceptive method and reason for abortion. Couple was counseled and allowed to choose contraceptive method using cafeteria approach. Mean values of continuous data were tested using t-test/ANOVA. Categorial data were compared using chi-square/ Fischers exact test.Results: Mean±SD age of the women was 28.89±5.21 years with 9.98±4.56 weeks POG. Around 81% of women had one or more living children with 62.67% women with at least one abortion previously. Majority used male condoms (42.10%) followed by natural method (21.01%), Cu-T (3.80%), OCPs (1.65%), injectable (0.30%), I-pill (0.24%). Awareness was maximum for male condoms, Cu-T, OCPs, female sterilization (100%) and least for female condoms (20%) and LNG-IUS (8.46%). Contraceptive failure (68.90%), congenital abnormality in the fetus (22.40%), maternal disease (5.90%), rape (1.60%), completed family (0.80%) and not using any method (0.30%) were the reasons of abortion. Majority of abortions were in first trimester (70%). Post-motivation around 69.30% of the couples accepted some form of contraception. Female sterilization (32.50%) method accepted by the couples as compares to temporary methods (36.70%) such as Cu-T, OCPs, Injectables etc.Conclusions: Despite of awareness the family planning programme is unsuccessful largely due to inappropriate attitude. Behavioral modification and communication goes a long way to slove the problem

Comparative effectiveness of videotape and handout mode of instructions for teaching exercises: skill retention in normal children

Abstract Background Teaching of motor skills is fundamental to physical therapy practice. In order to optimize the benefits of these teaching and training efforts, various forms of patient education material are developed and handed out to patients. One very important fact has been overlooked. While comparative effectiveness of various modes of instruction has been studied in adults, attention has not been paid to the fact that learning capabilities of children are different from that of adults. The intent of the present study is to compare the effectiveness of video and handout mode of instructions specifically on children. Methods A total of 115 normal elementary-age children aged 10 to 12 years of age were studied. The children were randomized into two groups: A) the video group, and B) the handout group. The video group viewed the video for physical therapy exercises while the handout group was provided with paper handouts especially designed according to the readability of their age group. Results Statistical analysis using the student's't' test showed that subjects of both the video and handout groups exhibited equal overall performance accuracy. There was no significant difference between the groups both in acquisition and retention accuracy tests. Conclusion The findings of the present study suggest that if the readability and instructional principles applicable to different target age groups are strictly adhered to, then both video as well as handout modes of instructions result in similar feedback and memory recall in ten to twelve year-old children. Principles of readability related to the patient age are of utmost importance when designing the patient education material. These findings suggest that the less expensive handouts can be an effective instructional aid for teaching exercises to children with various neuromuscular, rheumatic, and orthopedics conditions and the most costly videotape techniques are not necessarily better.</p