Study of clinico- epidemiological profile of COVID-19 positive pregnant females in a tertiary care hospital of Kumaon region.

Introduction: Pregnant females are considered as a high-risk group for the prevention and control of various communicable diseases. Therefore, this research was undertaken to study the clinic-epidemiological profile and biochemical parameters of COVID-19-positive pregnant females in a tertiary care hospital. Methods: This hospital-based retrospective study was done on COVID-19-positive pregnant females admitted during April 2020-March 2021. A total of 139 patients were included in the study. Clinical, epidemiological, hematological, and biochemical profiles were described using frequency, percentages, mean, standard deviation using Microsoft Excel software. Results: The mean age of study participants was 25.36 ± 3.79 years, mean duration of pregnancy was 37.53 ± 3.31 weeks. The majority of the patients were asymptomatic (89.2%). Abdominal pain was the most common symptom (66.7%) among symptomatic. All patients were managed conservatively. Conclusion: The study showed the mild nature of COVID-19 among pregnant females as the majority of them pregnant were asymptomatic and few presented with mild symptoms.

Anxiety Disorder in Homemakers of Kumaon Region of Uttarakhand, India.

BACKGROUND: Anxiety is graded as the sixth major contributor to nonfatal health loss worldwide and is included in the top ten causes of years lived with disability. National Mental Health Survey 2015-2016 too reported the prevalence of anxiety spectrum disorders as 3.5%, and way higher among females than males. The present study was undertaken to find the prevalence of anxiety disorders in homemakers aged 15-59 years and identify factors causing anxiety disorders in this population. METHODS: In the present cross-sectional study, a total of 324 ever-married, apparently healthy women aged less than 60 years were included using systematic random sampling from the four selected urban areas after applying proportional sampling. A generalized anxiety disorder-7 (Hindi version) questionnaire was used for screening the anxiety disorders. Additional information was collected using a pretested questionnaire for assessing determinants. The data so collected were coded and compiled in MS Excel and analyzed using IBM®SPSS® Statistics (version 17.0). RESULTS: Forty-four (13.6%) out of 324 women were screened positive for anxiety disorder. Moderate anxiety was present in 10.2% and severe anxiety in 3.4% of study subjects. Anxiety symptoms were significantly higher among women with perceived economic instability 4.3 (95% CI 1.5-12.2) and non-cordial relation with family members (11.5 [95% CI 2.4-55.5] with in-laws and 20.2 [95% CI 4.3-94.2] with husband) Health of the children was also seen to be major reason of anxiety (31.1 [95% CI 3.8-256.6]). CONCLUSION: Anxiety disorder is a significant mental health problem affecting over 13% homemaker women in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, India.

Smartphone use and the quality of life of medical students in the Kumaun Region, Uttarakhand.

BACKGROUND: Once a device for telecommunication, now a powerful device bringing the whole world in one's palm, smartphones are increasingly becoming a common commodity among the medical students. Smartphones foster social interaction and facilitate multitasking and learning, but they also have some adverse effects. Young people, especially students, who are always inquisitive towards new technology, are likely to be affected by both these positive and negative impacts. OBJECTIVE: To assess smartphone use and its association with the quality of life (QOL) of medical students. MATERIALS AND METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the undergraduate medical students of Government Medical College (GMC), Haldwani. All the students enrolled in MBBS course in GMC, Haldwani, who gave consent for participation and were present on the day of questionnaire administration, were included in the study. Smartphone addiction scale (SAS-SV), and WHO-BREF questionnaires for QOL were used for assessing smartphone use, and QOL of the medical students, respectively. RESULTS: A total of 395 medical students were included in the study; out of them, 42% considered themselves addicted to the smartphone. According to SAS-SV, smartphone addiction was found among 43.8% medical students. It was seen that the junior-most and senior-most batches were significantly less addicted to the smartphone (p-value < 0.001). Male students were more addicted (OR = 1.45, CI = 0.962-2.174) to the smartphone as compared to females. The QOL of the students was significantly affected by smartphone use in all domains assessed (p-value ranging from < 0.001 to 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Smartphone addiction is high among medical students and it has a significant negative impact on their QOL.

Knowledge, attitude, and practice of first aid among the commercial drivers in the Kumaon region of India.

BACKGROUND: First aid assistance is one of the important life-saving skills. According to World Health Organization, over 50 million people are injured or disabled and over 1.2 million people die following Road Traffic Accident (RTA) every year. Providing the basic care until emergency medical services arrive is the essence of first aid, which will prevent a number of RTA-related mortality and morbidity. AIM: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding first aid among the commercial vehicle drivers operating in and from Haldwani. METHOD: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among the commercial drivers operating in and from Haldwani Block of Uttarakhand, from November 2018 to January 2019. Participants were selected using consecutive sampling technique. The questionnaire used for data collection was semistructured and pretested. RESULTS: All participants were male with the mean age (standard deviation) of 40.4 (8.7) years. Overall 96.4% and 81.7% had heard about first aid and the "Good Samaritan" law. Among participants, 96% knew that first aid should be provided immediately and 90.5% were willing to be trained in first aid. First aid kit was available in 84.9% of the vehicles. In total, 211 (91%) participants had attended RTA victim/s in the past, and 192 (91%) of them provided assistance to RTA victims. CONCLUSIONS: Although the study showed a positive attitude toward giving first aid to RTA victims, the knowledge and practice of first aid was not universal.

Knowledge about tuberculosis among pulmonary tuberculosis patients: A cross-sectional study from Uttarakhand.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major health problem in India. The Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) is working towards elimination of TB in the country by 2025. As the RNTCP relies on passive case finding, it is crucial for the success of the RNTCP that TB patients have knowledge about their disease. The present study aimed to assess the knowledge of TB among pulmonary TB (PTB) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional questionnaire based study using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire among new and previously treated PTB patients at Haldwani Block of Nainital District of Uttarakhand State of North India. Data was analyzed using the software Epi Info version 7.2.0.1. RESULTS: A total of 111 PTB patients with mean age of 36.3 years were included for final analysis. Only 43.2% PTB patients were aware that TB is caused by germs, 48.6% knew that it is not a hereditary disease. Only 13.5% PTB patients knew that vaccine is available and majority (68.5%) were aware of covering mouth and nose while coughing and sneezing for prevention of the disease. Overall, only two-third (65%) patients had good knowledge about TB. CONCLUSIONS: About one-third of PTB patients had poor knowledge about TB. This highlights that to achieve elimination of TB, RNTCP needs to change the present information, education, and communication (IEC) system which is based on a bio-medical framework, and to design a culturally sensitive health education system. Alternatively, the Programme needs to shift from passive case finding to active case finding strategy.

Coping mechanism used by homemakers in Kumaon region (Uttarakhand, India) to deal with stress in their day-to-day life.

CONTEXT: Chronic stress, if not appropriately addressed, can cause a variety of mental health disorders. In patriarchal societies like India, little is known about the coping mechanisms used by homemakers to deal with stress in their lives. AIM: To identify usual coping mechanisms used by the homemakers residing in Kumaon region, India, to deal with stress in their day-to-day lives. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This is a population-based, cross sectional study done in the urban field practice area of a teaching tertiary care health facility in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 324 ever-married, apparently healthy homemakers age 18-59 years residing in the area for at least 6 months were interviewed. Systematic random sampling along with population proportionate to size method was used to recruit study participants. Pretested, semi-structured questionnaire was used to elicit information on coping mechanisms used by the study participants. Standardized questionnaires were used to determine possible depressive or anxiety disorders. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Data were entered in Microsoft Excel Sheet followed by analysis in SPSS and Epi Info. Chi-square test, Chi-square for trend, and Fisher's exact test were used. RESULTS: Multiple ways including praying, watching TV, taking care of children, and talking to family and friends were identified as the usual coping mechanism used by study participants. Coping mechanism varied with the mental health status and other sociodemographic characteristics of the study participants. CONCLUSION: Coping strategy was predominantly "emotion-based" in the study population. Understanding of usual coping mechanism used by women may help counselors and clinicians in fine-tuning their therapeutic approach as per needs and preferences of such women.