A study of sociodemographic determinants, reasons and decision maker of medical termination of pregnancy in urban slums of Jamnagar, India

Background: Medical termination of pregnancy is defined as “willful termination of pregnancy before the age of viability of the foetus. The objective was to study the socio-demographic & obstetric profile and the reasons for procuring an abortion & choice of health care provider.Methods: A Cross-sectional study was done in urban slum in Jamnagar municipal corporation area by using 30 clusters sampling technique. Every women in the reproductive age group (15-49 years) was included in the study till the sample size of 15 was completed in each cluster and thus total 450 women were interviewed. 48 women out of the total of 450 ever married women in the reproductive age group who had ever undergone induced abortion were studied in detailResults: In the present study out of 450 eligible women, 48 (10.67%) had undergone an induced abortion and once only. 72.91% (35/48) of the women belonged to the age group 25-34 years and 89.59% (43/48) of the women were Hindus. Almost half of the total women (45.83%) had primary education, higher proportion of women were housewife 77.09% (37/48). According to Modified Prasad’s classification, 54.17 % of women belonged to lower social class (IV and V). One third (33.33%) of the women who underwent MTP had 1 living child. Majority 79.16% of the women preferred government hospital and in 45.83% cases both husband and wife acted as decision maker for MTP. Most common reason given for terminating the pregnancy was “birth spacing”. (52.09%) Other reasons given were, “family completed” (22.91%), “medical” (14.58%) & social (4.17%). Majority of the women (70.83%) accepted post abortion contraception.Conclusion: There is need to counsel women of reproductive age group that MTP is not a way to control unwanted birth and it is not free from risk. They should be motivated for various methods of contraception.

Assessment of Ear Nose and Throat morbidities prevalent in the school going children aged 5-14 years in rural area of Jamnagar

Background: India is home to more than 400 million children forming about 35% of its total population. Upper respiratory tract infections predispose a child to complications such as otitis media, tonsillitis, and sinusitis that further contribute to morbidity leading to hearing impairment and learning disability & even RHD. Unfortunately these morbidities are either not detected or remain untreated making situation worse. Aims and objectives:1. To assess the prevalence of common Ear Nose and Throat symptoms among children aged 5-14 years and to study its relationship with socio-demographic factors 2. To know regarding health seeking behavior in relations to Ear Nose and Throat morbidities. Materials and method: A cross-sectional study was done over a period of 2 months among 300 school children aged 5-14 years of six government schools of Jamnagar district. Assessment was done through clinical examination and oral questioners. Results: Prevalence of Ear Nose and Throat morbidity was 46.66%; Ear (14.33%), Nose(28.66%) and Throat(10%).Common Ear Nose and Throat problems were– common cold(23%), cough(9.67%), sore throat(8.34%) and ear ache(8.67%). Associations of Ear Nose and Throat morbidity with age and religion were statistically significant. Only 31.40% of children had taken treatment for the problems. Mother’s education had statistically significant association on health seeking behavior of school children. Conclusion: Prevalence of Ear Nose and Throat morbidity was very high among school children, only 1/3 children had taken treatment, indicating negligence towards problems on the part of parents as well as teachers suggesting strong need for sensitization of parents and teachers