Assessing attitude towards condom use among truck drivers at transhipment location, Meerut District, India, using multidimensional condom attitude scale.

Background: In India, unsafe sex has been documented among truck drivers. This study explores the factors influencing their attitude of trucker towards condom use. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was adapted for this study in which 25 factors were chosen to assess attitude toward condom use on 7 point validated Likert scale UCLA Multidimensional Condom Attitude Scale on 5 subcomponents -Reliability, Pleasure, Stigma associated with condom use, embarrassment about negotiation and use of condom and about purchasing condom. Hundred truck drivers were recruited using convenient sampling and Mann-Whitney U and Kruskall Wallis Test were used to validate the subcomponents among those practicing unsafe sex. Results: Positive attitudes regarding reliability and effectiveness of condom were significantly higher among adult entrants and those resting more than 10 hours during journey whereas positive attitude regarding pleasure associated with condoms and stigma towards it is significantly higher among truck drivers travelled long distances and resting more than 10 hours. Conclusion: Adolescent entrants, those who have not travelled long distances and not rested more than 10 hrs requires improvement in the attitude towards condom use.

Exploring unsafe sexual practices among truck drivers at Meerut District, India: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Despite implementation of HIV prevention programmes for truck drivers in India, unsafe sex behavior among truck drivers has been documented. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess knowledge about HIV Transmission and modes of prevention, pattern of condom use with high risk partners and explore the practice of unsafe sex and its risk factors among truck drivers. METHODS: This exploratory cross-sectional study design was conducted on a recruited convenient sample of 100 truck drivers above 18 years from March to May 2015. Binary logistic regression was used to compute unadjusted odds ratio [95% Confidence Interval] for establishing association of risk factors with unsafe sex. RESULTS: Overall, only 7% had complete knowledge about HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention. 54% of truck drivers have sex with a high risk partner (commercial sexual worker or men having sex with men) and thirty-eight percent reported unsafe sexual practices due to inconsistent condom use with them. The various risk factors found significantly associated with unsafe sex were mean age of first intercourse (OR= 0.92, 95% CI: 0.75 - 0.97), access to pornography (OR = 4.4, 95% CI: 1.8 - 10.7) and conuming psychoactive substance before sex (OR = 4.06, 95% CI: 1.09 - 15.02). CONCLUSION: Socio-demographic, occupational factors, pornography access and consuming psychoactive substances seems to influence the sexual behaviour of truckers.

How are our medical students using the computer and internet? A study from a medical college of north India.

BACKGROUND: In today's world, use of Internet has become indispensable. Medical students have much to gain from the Internet technology that has revolutionized the medical field. There is a very rapid change in the way communication technology is being handled and our medical students should also be ready to embrace it. Very few studies have been done on this topic in India. The aim was to find out the knowledge, practice, and barriers of Internet use among the medical undergraduates of Subharti Medical College, Meerut. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the MBBS students belonging to the first, second, third, and fourth years of their course during August to October 2009. A pretested questionnaire was used collecting information on their Internet usage patterns, knowledge about information technology, and barriers to using it. Data were entered in Microsoft Excel and appropriate statistical tests were applied for analysis. RESULTS: The proportion of respondents having a laptop were more in cohort of students belonging to the admission year 2009 (65.8%) followed by 2008 (54.7%), 2007 (53.0%), and 2006 (38.0%), i.e., a gradual increase in newer cohorts. About half (57.4%) of the students had some sort of formal training in computer and Internet use. Knowledge about Internet was more among the junior cohorts compared to the senior cohorts (P<0.0001). Only about one-fifths of the respondents used Internet for searching literature for projects from medical journals on the Internet. Majority of the respondents accessed Internet for less than 3 hours per week. About one-tenth (8.0%) of the students felt that Internet is totally useless in medical field. The major barrier (54.4% of the respondents) to using Internet was lack of time. CONCLUSIONS: Further research should focus on designing and implementing computer and Internet training for medical students.

Do the medical, dental and nursing students of first year know about hepatits B? A study from a university of North India.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the knowledge about hepatitis B among the medical, dental and nursing students of first year in Subharti University, a private medical university of North India. METHODS: A cross sectional institutional study was conducted among the first year students of medical, dental and nursing colleges of Subharti University. The total subjects studied were 250. Data was collected when the student came up for hepatitis B vaccination in the Department of Community Medicine. Data was entered in MS Excel and analyzed using Epi Info for Windows. Bivariate analysis using Chi-square test was applied. RESULTS: Overall, 83.32% of the study subjects had heard of hepatitis B. Only 42% knew that virus is a cause of hepatitis B. Awareness of mother to child transmission of hepatitis B was present in only 12% of the study subjects. Unsafe blood transfusion as a risk factor of hepatitis B was known by 35.2%, whereas, prevalence of knowledge regarding reused needles and unsafe sex as risk factors was lesser. Forty-four percent of the study subjects were not aware of vaccination against hepatitis B. There was a significant difference in the proportion of students of the different faculties about the correct knowledge about hepatitis B. CONCLUSION: The knowledge about hepatitis B was very low among the students entering in the medical, dental and nursing profession. This highlights the importance of informed and evidence based education programmes among the students of these healthcare professions.