Descriptive Epidemiology of Unintentional Childhood Injuries in India: An ICMR Taskforce Multisite Study.

BACKGROUND: Children 0-14 years constitute about 31.4% of Indian population, among whom the magnitude and risk factors of childhood injuries have not been adequately studied. OBJECTIVE: To study the prevalence of and assess the factors associated with unintentional injuries among children aged 6 month - 18 years in various regions. METHODOLOGY: This multi-centric, cross-sectional, community-based study was conducted at 11 sites across India. States included were Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal between March, 2018 and September, 2020. A total of 2341 urban and rural households from each site were selected based on probability proportionate to size. The World Health Organization (WHO) child injury questionnaire adapted to the Indian settings was used after validation. Information on injuries was collected for previous 12 months. Definitions for types (road traffic accidents, falls, burns, poisoning, drowning, animal-related injuries) and severity of injuries was adapted from the WHO study. Information was elicited from parents/primary caregivers. Data were collected electronically, and handled with a management information system. RESULTS: In the 25751 households studied, there were 31020 children aged 6 months-18 years. A total of 1452 children (66.1% males) had 1535 unintentional injuries (excluding minor injuries) had occurred in the preceding one year. The overall prevalence of unintentional injuries excluding minor injuries was 4.7% (95% CI: 4.4-4.9). The commonest type of injury was fall-related (842, 54.8%) and the least common was drowning (3, 0.2%). Injuries in the home environment accounted for more than 50% of cases. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the study provide inputs for developing a comprehensive child injury prevention policy in the country. Child safe school with age-appropriate measures, a safe home environment, and road safety measures for children should be a three-pronged approach in minimizing the number and the severity of child injuries both in urban and rural areas.

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 and Kruskal's Gamma test. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Total of 512 participants were included in study, among which(10.3%)and 392 (76.6%) participants had neck pain and back pain alone, respectively, while 67 (13.1%) participants had both neck and back pain. Age, marital status, socioeconomic class, body mass index and type of occupation revealed statistically significant association with severity of pain. Among participants with prolonged computer usage, back rest fitting to natural back curve and adjustable height of chair were significant factors for occurrence of neck pain. Various body postures like prolonged sitting/ standing, frequent bending at waist/knee, pulling/pushing heavy objects, frequent weight lifting > 10 kg and repetitive movements of back/neck revealed as statistically significant risk factors for back/neck pain.

Quality of life among elderly population residing in urban field practice area of a tertiary care institute of Ahmedabad city, Gujarat.

INTRODUCTION: Overall improvement in the living standards of country's population is leading to longer life expectancy. To emphasize the medical and psychological difficulties faced by geriatric people is essential to know status of their quality of life (QOL). METHODOLOGY: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out at urban field practice area of one of the teaching institutes of Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Considering the prevalence of about 7.5% of 60 years and above people sample size of 250 was calculated. A predesigned questionnaire related to the QOL of elderly people devised by the World Health Organization-QOL was used. RESULTS: Mean age of the study population was 65.8 years with standard deviation of 5 years. Almost two-thirds of geriatrics were currently married and having spouse alive. List of common morbidities observed among study population was joint pain (42.8%), cataract (32.8%), hypertension (22.4%), diabetes mellitus (17.2%), and dental problems (12.4%). Scoring of QOL profile revealed that none of the geriatric had poor QOL, whereas 56% fall into category "good" and 50.8% had "excellent" QOL. QOL as per four different domains was significantly better among males as compared to females. Physical, environmental, and psychological domains were better in those who were educated and married individuals living with their spouse. CONCLUSION: Overall QOL was good to excellent. Social characteristics, such as education, marital status, and gender, all play role for the perceived QOL among the respondents.

Impact of anti-tobacco warning labels on behaviour of tobacco users in one of the cities of Gujarat, India.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco use continues to be the leading global cause of preventable deaths, killing nearly 6 million people worldwide each year. Tobacco control must be given the high priority by scaling up tobacco control measures. In India under Control of Tobacco Product Act, it is mandatory to keep the warning labels over all kind of tobacco products in order to minimise the use of tobacco. OBJECTIVES: Review of the knowledge regarding warning labels printed on tobacco products among its users and to evaluate the impact of them on addicting behaviour. METHODOLOGY: A Cross Sectional study was carried out among the group of people using tobacco in any form. Total 776 tobacco users were enrolled in the study. RESULTS: Mean age of tobacco user was 41.4 years. Out of total 776 tobacco users, 561 (72.3%) had ever noticed warning signals over the tobacco products. Among those who have noticed warning labels, 64.4 % became aware about health effects and 66% have thought to quit tobacco. Tobacco users of young age group (15-45) were more aware regarding warning labels. Females were less aware. As level of education increases number of tobacco users who tried to quit or reduced the daily quantity of tobacco intake were also increases. CONCLUSIONS: Positive impact of warning labels has been seen among the tobacco users who have noticed them. Not all the tobacco users were aware regarding the presence of warning labels as per the findings of present study.