Perception of community regarding common diseases prevailing in the a squatter settlement of Karachi, Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the perceptions of the community about prevalence of different diseases in Gulshan-e-Sikandarabad, an urban squatter settlement in Karachi and compare them with the data about disease pattern available at Primary Health Care Center in the same community. METHODS: A stratified random sample of ten percent of houses of the community was selected and both male and female heads of household were interviewed. Open ended questionnaire was used to record perceptions of responders. A total of 336 persons were interviewed out of which 196 (58%) were females and 140 (42%) were males. RESULTS: Age, education, nationality and ethnicity (Sikandarabad has inhabitants from Afghanistan as well. In our study 12 were Afghan nationals. Among Pakistani responders majority were Pathans, some were Punjabi, Saraiki etc.) had no statistically significant difference in responses. Gender had the most significant difference in responses. The perceived nine top most common diseases were similar to the top nine common diseases according to data of the health center of Ziauddin University located in Gulshan-e-Sikandarabad. CONCLUSION: The perceptions of community members about most of the common diseases prevalent in their community was similar to the disease pattern maintained at Primary Health Care center in the same locality. Anaemia and helminth infestation although common according to the health center record were not perceived as common by the community members.

Students' feedback of objectively structured clinical examination: a private medical college experience.

The aim of the study was to evaluate undergraduate students' perceptions regarding Objectively Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) to be used as a feedback to improve the assessment technique. At the end of OSCE, students were provided with a feedback questionnaire related to OSCE to obtain their views and comments. The feedback was obtained from two consecutive batches of third year medical students and was utilized to incorporate the improvements in the process, wherever possible. A great majority of students (93% from group 'A' and 95% from group 'B') regarded OSCE as a practical and useful assessment tool in early years of medical education. In this study, students appreciated OSCE and offered constructive feedback on structure and organization of the process. However, at some stations they felt that instructions were ambiguous and time allocation was inadequate for the assigned tasks. The overall feedback was very useful and facilitated a critical review of the process.

Knowledge of students regarding hepatitis and HIV/AIDS of a private medical university in Karachi.

OBJECTIVE: To determine and assess the level of awareness among students of a private medical college regarding HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B and C. METHODS: A survey was conducted to assess the awareness of medical students on HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and C. They were asked to fulfill a pre-tested structured questionnaire. The variables accessed were their knowledge of disease regarding etiology, mode of transmission, and prevention. RESULTS: A total of 267 students participated, with 117 (43.8%) students from pre-clinical years and 150 (56.2%) from the clinical years. The male female ratio was 1:2, mean age of respondents was 21 +/- 1.5 years. Majority of the students (98%) agreed that an infected person is a major source of transmitting these infections. Almost all (95%) students knew that blood transfusion was an important source of transmitting these infections. Wearing gloves (87%) and safe disposal of sharps waste (98%) were known by the students to be the ways to protect against these infections. A significant difference was noted on comparing the knowledge between preclinical and clinical students regarding medical / surgical procedures causing these infections (p<0.001) and also regarding the ways to protect against these diseases (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: There is a lack of awareness among the medical students entering into the profession. It is the need of the hour to emphasize on practicing universal precautions. In addition, some preventive measures should be taken by the management of the universities and medical students to avoid the occurrence of these problems.

Improving vaccination status of children under five through health education.

OBJECTIVE: To improve awareness and knowledge of mothers regarding vaccine preventable diseases and the immunization status of children under five through health education messages by medical students, at Gulshane-Sikanderabad, a squatter settlement adjacent to Ziauddin Medical University, Karachi. METHODS: The undergraduate medical students' visit families in the squatter settlement. This study compared the effect of intervention by medical students on vaccination status of children under five in the intervention households versus those without intervention. A baseline study was done in 1998 and a follow-up study was done after four years to assess the differences in knowledge and practices of mothers regarding immunization. RESULTS: A total of 110 houses from block I and 207 houses from block V were selected. An increase of 22% (52% vs 30%) in block-I (p = 0.003) and 19% (32% vs 13%) increase in block V was seen in the utilization of PHC Center for vaccination (p = 0.001). Mothers' knowledge regarding the age when first vaccine is administered to the child, increased in the follow-up from 60% to 76.5% (p < 0.01) in block I and from 50% to 62% in block V. The immunization status increased significantly in block I from 46.5% to 75% after the intervention (p < 0.005), no significant difference could be seen in block V (p = 0.16). In the follow-up survey a significant difference was seen in the vaccination status between the two blocks (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: The health education messages significantly increased the vaccination status of children under 5 in the intervention area.