Prevalence and correlates of nicotine dependence among the construction site workers at IGIMS, Patna.

Introduction: Nicotine dependence has increased over the years and so has the prevalence of smokeless tobacco use. If the dependence is increasing, we must look for newer tobacco cessation strategies and implemented them. Tobacco causes premature deaths and nicotine dependence has both psychological and physical dependence. Method: The study was planned and an interview was conducted to collect the sociodemographic details, tobacco, and fagerstrom nicotine dependence scale - smokeless tobacco (FTND-ST) for nicotine dependence. The questionnaire was adopted from the WHO questionnaire and a pre-tested, predesigned, semi-structured questionnaire was used. Result: About almost half of the population is dependent on nicotine (51.6%). Daily smokeless tobacco users who are married and have a tobacco user in the family are mostly dependent on smokeless tobacco. Severity of smokeless tobacco dependence for nicotine dependence among smokeless tobacco users were associated with low academic achievement, increased awareness of side effects, and increase in duration and frequency of use. Conclusion: Nicotine dependence has increased despite efforts in the field in the recent years. Therefore, we need to have a mechanism for combining behavioral therapy and pharmacotherapy that may increase smoking cessation rates.

Hepatitis B in hepatocellular carcinoma patients and its correlation with alpha-fetoprotein and liver enzymes.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in India ranges from 0.7 to 7.5 for men and 0.2 to 2.2 for women, per 100,000 population per year. The major risk factors for the development of HCC are infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus, and cirrhosis of liver. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and liver enzymes are widely used by clinicians for diagnostic purpose in HCC. Aims and Objective: This study was conducted in HCC patients related to HBV infection and to assess the significance of AFP and liver enzymes in it. Materials and Methods: Blood samples of 68 patients were taken. The samples were analyzed for AFP and liver enzymes (alanine aminotransferase [ALT], aspartate aminotransferase [AST], and alkaline phosphatase [ALP]). Liver enzymes were estimated by auto analyzer OLYMPUS AU400. AFP was analyzed by chemiluminescence immunoassay. Results: The mean values of AFP in serum hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) negative and positive patients ranges from 22745.4 to 23269.3 ng/ml with P = 0.921. The mean value of ALP in HbsAg-negative patients was 418 U/ml, whereas in positive patients, it was 310 U/ml. Both the groups did not show any significant changes in AFP levels. The ALP showed slight rise in negative group. The other parameters did not show significant rise in all patients. Conclusion: These values suggest that there was no significant influence of viral etiology on AFP and liver enzymes level in HCC patients.

Lifestyle factors influencing medical and nursing student's health status at the rural health-care institute.

BACKGROUND: Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) may be influenced by lifestyle behavior, acquired during transition in student life at university. Health is a major concern globally. The developing counties are facing a double burden of disease, both communicable and NCD. This study is aimed to assess the lifestyle and its associated factors that can affect the health status of medical and nursing students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among medical and nursing students of Sasaram, Bihar, by universal sampling. The study population consisted of 303 medical and 233 nursing students. The 536 students in the study, included 195 from rural areas and 341 from urban areas. Simple Lifestyle Indicator Questionnaire was used and Chi-square statistics was computed to determine the association of demographic variables with lifestyle behavior using Epi InfoTM 7 analysis software. RESULTS: Mean age and body mass index were 21 ± 2.59 years and 22.12 ± 3.77, respectively. After statistical analysis utilizing the Chi-square test, it was shown that the difference was found to be nonsignificant (P > 0.05) in all the following variables, such as gender, age, marital status except in designation, and alcohol and tobacco intake which showed the difference to be highly significant. CONCLUSIONS: The maximum number of students in the study population showed intermediate healthy lifestyle (57.1%), despite being the upcoming health-care providers of future. Fruits were rarely present in diet in 82%, no physical activity in 21.2%, and tobacco and alcohol were consumed by 11.7% and 13%, respectively. Targeted intervention for healthy diet, physical activity, stress, tobacco, and alcohol reduction can lead to healthy lifestyle. Independence and autonomy gained in the transition phase in student life needs guided supervision to raise responsible adults. It may help to assist or to plan accordingly in future to improve lifestyle of the students.