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BACKGROUND: Healthcare expenditures exacerbate poverty, with about 39 million people falling into poverty every year because of such expenditures. Tobacco and alcohol consumption in addition to harmful health impact have economic consequences at household level. AIM: To evaluate healthcare, alcohol, and tobacco expenditures among households in rural Puducherry and their impact on household expenditure patterns. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in selected villages within 5 km of a medical college hospital in Puducherry from September 2016 to June 2017. Sociodemographic details and various household expenditures were obtained from 817 households with 3459 individuals. Data were analyzed using STATA (v14). RESULTS: Higher mean percentage of health expenditure was found among households with low socioeconomic status [17.7 (95% confidence interval (CI): 14-21.3)] and no health insurance schemes [13.4 (95% CI: 11.1-15.7)]. Households with low socioeconomic status [13.1 (95% CI: 7.5-18.7)] had higher tobacco-alcohol expenditure. Increased health expenditure among households was positively correlated with loan (rs = 0.48). Increased alcohol-tobacco expenditure among households was negatively correlated with food (rs= -0.52) and education (rs= -0.70) expenditure. CONCLUSION: Healthcare and alcohol-tobacco expenditure individually contributed to one-tenth of the household budget. Spending on healthcare, alcohol, and tobacco created significant negative influence on investment in human capital development.
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INTRODUCTION: Cancer is a major public health problem worldwide. There is an urgent need for a reinvigorated and tailored approach to promote cancer prevention and treatment-related health education, especially among the youth. OBJECTIVE: (1) To assess the knowledge and awareness of the students of adolescent age group about cancer. (2) To compare two methods of health education on improving awareness about cancer among these students. METHODOLOGY: We conducted an interventional study among students (both male and female) of adolescent age group (10-19 years) who attend Government school (Lakkur and Kugur) in Sarjapur PHC between May and September 2014. A standard pretested validated questionnaire-adopted from Cancer Awareness Measure-translated into Kannada was used. After pretest, health education was given by two modes: in Lakkur - child to child, and Kugur - routine (lecture). Following 2 days of health education, an immediate posttest was conducted. After 2 weeks, the second posttest was conducted. RESULTS: In Kugur School, 96 students and Lakkur School, 104 students participated. The mean age group of students in both the schools was 14 years. The preexisting knowledge scores between both the schools were not statistically significant. There was a significant increase in knowledge of the posttest scores in all three domains of cancer questionnaire in both the schools. Child to child program in Lakkur School was found to be more effective in increasing the knowledge scores. CONCLUSION: To increase the awareness of cancer among schools using child to child method for health education. School curriculum should include sessions on cancer education and reinforced to students periodically. To sustain this measure, school teachers could be trained in nuances of cancer prevention and treatment.
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INTRODUCTION: Shift Work Disorder (SWD) is a sleep disorder characterized by sleepiness and insomnia, which can be attributed to the person's work schedule. Awareness of the mechanisms behind shift work related health problems could be essential to schedule the shift work, employment routines, clinical treatment, and selection of employees. OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of SWD and to identify related health problems among nurses in a tertiary care hospital in Bangalore. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study in a tertiary care hospital in Bangalore between May and September 2014. Based on simple random sampling, 130 nurses were selected for the study. After obtaining written informed consent from the participants, structured interview schedule using Standard Shift Work Index and Bergen Shift Work Sleep Questionnaire (BSWSQ) was administered. RESULTS: The mean age of the 130 nurses was 27.4 ± 2.64 years. The prevalence of SWD was found to be 43.07%. Headache, back pain, gastritis, and menstrual disorders were the most common complaints, which are found in 78 (60.0%), 75 (57.6%), 42 (32.3%), and 39 (30.0%) cases, respectively. Anxiety and depression was found in 23 (17.6%) and 31 (23.8%) individuals, respectively. We also found a significant association of SWD with increasing age, more number of nights worked in a year, and longer duration of working hours. According to the BSWSQ, 70 (53.8%) nurses were found to have sleep problems. CONCLUSION: A high prevalence of SWD symptoms calls for a focus on the antecedents of work related sleep problems and appropriate intervention, such as behavioral changes, clockwise rotating shifts, and treatment.
