Estimation of haemoglobin using non-invasive portable device with spectroscopic signal application.

An estimated 52% of non-pregnant women of reproductive age in India are estimated to be affected by anaemia, which is categorised as a chronic condition. In 2019-2021, the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) which was undertaken revealed the following statistics about the prevalence of anaemia in the state of Karnataka. To estimate haemoglobin levels using non-invasive portable device among nursing students. A cross sectional study was done among students of Nursing college in central Karnataka for a period of 3 months. Total of 140 students were included in the study. EzeCheck haemoglobin estimation was done twice and was recorded in the same Google form. The frequency and percentage of variation of results between Haematology Analyzer and EzeCheck devices was presented with a range of difference such as 0, less than 1, 1.0 to 1.9, 2.0 to 2.9, 3.0 to 3.9, and 4.0 and above. The total prevalence of anaemia among nursing students was 57.8% and most of the students had moderate degree of anaemia (28.6%). Two readings of haemoglobin were taken and difference of readings were calculated and majority of the students had difference of < 0.5 gm/dl (61.4%) and only 1.4% of the students had difference of > 2 gm/dl. The mean difference of haemoglobin of two readings was 0.5 ± 0.5 gm/dl. The technology employed in this study bridges the gap between patients and anaemia diagnosis by providing screening services. The device provides the diagnosis via a non-invasive, IoT-enabled service at a low cost.

The Prevalence of Thyroid Diseases in Pregnancy and it's Relation to Iron Deficiency - A Hospital Based Study.

The thyroid gland and it's function are both affected physiologically by pregnancy. During pregnancy, the thyroid gland expands by 10% in iodine-sufficient women and to a higher extent in iodine-deficient women. Anemia is a worldwide health problem affecting 33% of non-pregnant women and 38% of pregnant women. According to Western literature, the prevalence of hypothyroidism in pregnancy is roughly 2.5 percent. In India, there are few reports of prevalence of hypothyroidism during pregnancy, with prevalence rates ranging from 4.8 percent to 11 percent. Hypothyroidism was shown to be prevalent in 13.13 percent of pregnant women in Dhanwal et al study, with the majority of these hypothyroid pregnant women having subclinical hypothyroidism. There were only few studies in India regarding this, hence this study was carried out with objectives of 1) To assess the prevalence of thyroid diseases in pregnancy 2) To evaluate association between iron deficiency and thyroid disorders in early pregnancy. MATERIAL: This was across sectional study conductedbetween Jan 2017 to June 2019 at JSS Hospital, a tertiary care hospital in Mysuru.500 consecutive pregnant women aged 18-45 years in first trimester of pregnancy were recruited.Under all aseptic precautions, venous blood of about 5ml was drawn and sent for analysis of Hb, TSH, T3, T4, Anti TPO antibody and Serum Ferritin which were measured by chemiluminiscence method for all pregnant women. TSH value>2.5 but less than or equal to 10 with normal T4 were considered to have subclinical hypothyroidism, TSH value>10 irrespective of T4 values and TSH value >2.5 with low T4 values were considered to have overt Hypothyroidism(American Thyroid Association and National Guidelines). OBSERVATION: Out of 500 women, 9 were excluded because of pre analytical error, hence there were 491 pregnant women in the study. Among 491 pregnant women,156(31.77%) were hypothyroid and 7(1.42%) had thyrotoxicosis. Among 156 Hypothyroid women, 9(5.76%) had overt hypothyroidism and 147(94.23%) had subclinical hypothyroidism. Predominant symptom in Hypothyroid women was fatigue(35.6%) followed by hair loss(31.7%), cold intolerance(16.9%),dry skin(6.72%), constipation(2.65%), weight gain(2.24%) and poor memory(2.04%).Goitre was present in 10(6.41%) women. Among 491 pregnant women, 211(42.9%) had iron deficiency and 280(57%) had normal ferritin.Among 156 hypothyroid women,60 (38.46%) had low ferritin and 96(61.53%) had normal ferritin. Chi square analysis did not show any significant association between iron deficiency and hypothyroidism(p value of 0.168). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of hypothyroidism was very high in our setting compared to that seen in other published reports that is 31% of pregnant women. There was no association found between hypothyroidism and iron deficiency in this study.