Risk factors of occupation related back pain and neck pain among patients attending tertiary care hospital, Ahmedabad, India

Introduction: Neck/back pain is one of the common health problems associated with significant impact on health resulting in sickness absenteeism. Neck/back pain is one of important causes of disability adjusted life years worldwide. The Objectives of study were: To identify various occupations related risk factors and their possible role in occurrence of back pain/neck pain and Visual analogue scale(VAS) assessment of their perceived pain. Methods: The study was conducted at one of the tertiary care hospital at Ahmedabad city, India. All patients above age of 18 years attending physiotherapy department for treatment of back pain/neck pain and gave consent were taken as study participants. Information about certain body postures in their lifestyle or at workplace which can have effects on back pain/neck pain were asked. VAS for perceived pain was anchored by “no pain” (score 0) and “pain as bad as it could be” (score 100). Data were entered in MS Excel and analyzed by frequency, contingency coefficient and Goodman & Kruskal’s Gamma test. Result and Conclusion: Total of 512 participants were included in study, among which 53 & 392 participants had Neck pain and Back pain alone, respectively, while 67 participants had both Neck and Back pain. Age, Marital status, socioeconomic class, BMI and type of occupation revealed statistically significant association with severity of pain. Various body postures like prolonged sitting/ standing, frequent bending at waist/knee, Pulling/Pushing heavy objects, frequent weight lifting > 10 kg. and repetitive movement of back/neck revealed as statistically significant risk factors for back/neck pain

A study on epidemiology of unintentional childhood injury at one of the districts of Gujarat State: An Indian council of medical research task force study

Context: Childhood injuries are a less explored area of public health. In the presence of public health problems such as communicable and noncommunicable diseases, childhood injury has gained less attention from the health system. Aims: The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of various types of unintentional injuries (UI) amongst children and to assess the factors associated with same. Settings and Design: The study was conducted at Ahmedabad District of Gujarat State, and this is a cross-sectional sStudy. Subjects and Methods: The current study was a part of a multicentric national level research supported by Indian Council of Medical Research. Total 11 sites were selected across India, which all followed a uniform methodology. One of the selected sites was Dholka taluka of Ahmedabad district, Gujarat. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2341 households. The study participants were children aged from 6 months up to 18 years. A total of 3018 children and their caretakers were interviewed using software-based questionnaire. Statistical Analysis Used: Statistical analysis was performed by frequencies and Percentage, Chi-square Test, Z-Test. Results: The overall prevalence of injuries was 7.62%. Gender and area of residence were significantly associated with UI. Fall-related injuries had the highest prevalence (3.38%), followed by road traffic injuries (RTI) (1.62%). The prevalence of burn-related injuries and poisoning was higher among females compared to males. No mortality was observed due to UI. Conclusions: Majority of the injuries were of minor or trivial type. Fall-related injury and RTI were the most common types of UIs among children

Assessment of the relation between obesity, serum lipids, and dietary intake of vegetable oils

Introduction: The study was conducted to assess the association between consumption of particular variety of cooking oil and its effect on serum lipid profile and also on body mass index (BMI). Material and Methods: The study was conducted at one of the tertiary care hospitals, Ahmedabad city, India. Patients with ≥18 years age who were undergoing “lipid profile” test at central laboratory department of selected hospital and giving consent were the study participants. Details of serum lipid profile were taken from report along with which anthropometric measurements were done and details of diet were taken. Data were entered into MS Excel and were analyzed by frequency, contingency coefficient, and Fisher's exact test. Results: Total 1000 participants were included in the study, among which 274 (27.4%) had raised lipid levels and 729 (72.9%) were preobese or obese. Association between variety of cooking oil used and cholesterol-high-density lipoprotein ratio revealed contingency coefficient value of 0.042 with P value of 0.416. Association between BMI and variety of cooking oil used revealed Fisher's exact value as 83.015 with P < 0.001. Conclusion: Statistical association was not found between serum lipid profile and type of oil used for cooking. Obesity indices revealed significant statistical association with both variety of cooking oil used and serum lipid profile. Dyslipidemia was found to have statistical significant association with raised blood pressure and raised blood glucose

Screening of Gestational Diabetes and Hypertension Among Antenatal Women in Rural West India

Background: Hypertension and gestational diabetes are among the leading causes of maternal and perinatal mortality, especially in rural areas of developing countries with meager health facilities. With early diagnosis and timely treatment, these adverse events can be decreased. The primary aim of this study was to implement a screening program for gestational diabetes and hypertension, and to assess risk factors associated with these conditions among antenatal women in the rural area of the Gujarat province in India. Methods: A cross–sectional study was conducted at one of the rural areas of Gujarat province in India. Following a random  cluster sampling procedure, the village of Davas was selected. A multistage random sampling method was utilized, resulting in a sample of 346 antenatal women. Screening guidelines from the American Diabetes Association were followed for gestational diabetes screening. Results: The majority of antenatal mothers (55.50%) were between 21-25 years of age. 242 antenatal women were multigravida, and among them, 85.96% had institutional delivery at their last pregnancy. Of the total 346 women, 17.60% were prehypertensive. The prevalence of systolic hypertension was 1.40%, diastolic hypertension was 0.90%, and gestational diabetes was 1.73%. Conclusion: Socioeconomically upper class, a family history of hypertension, and BMI ≥ 25 were strong risk factors for hypertension during pregnancy and gestational diabetes. Health education should be made readily available to antenatal mothers by paramedical workers regarding symptoms of hypertension and gestational diabetes mellitus for early self identification