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The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on human health and has led to social isolation and health implications. In order to optimize public health, it is important to understand the role of social and behavioral sciences, including dietary patterns and lifestyle changes. This study aimed to identify the effect of lockdown on dietary patterns and its association with Body Mass Index (BMI) and lifestyle changes in the older Indian population (aged 60 and above).The study was conducted using an online web-based Google form and 674 participants took part over a one-month period. The k-means algorithm was used to identify non-overlapping dietary patterns and logistic regression was employed to determine the factors associated with changes in dietary patterns. Three dietary patterns were identified: pro-healthy, constant, and unhealthy.During the study, 33.1% of the participants decreased their physical activity while 61.6% increased their screen usage. 26.7% consumed a pro-healthy dietary pattern, while 61.9% consumed an unhealthy dietary pattern. Women reported lower consumption of the pro-healthy pattern (23.8%) and higher consumption of the unhealthy dietary pattern (64.5%) compared to men (30.6% and 58.3%, respectively). Adherence to the pro-healthy dietary pattern was positively associated with age. Participants with a lower BMI were less likely to consume a pro-healthy dietary pattern [AOR: 0.02; CI: 0.01, 0.2]. Those who increased their physical activity were more likely to follow the pro-healthy dietary pattern [AOR: 6.49; CI: 0.76, 55.76]. Those who had less sleep [AOR: 10.22; CI: 1.97, 52.92] and more screen time [AOR: 7.61; CI: 3.28, 17.62] had a higher risk of following an unhealthy dietary pattern.The lockdown had a significant impact on dietary patterns and was associated with unhealthy lifestyle outcomes among older Indian adults. From a public health perspective, promoting awareness of healthy dietary patterns and promoting healthy lifestyles through educational programs is a priority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Food that is instantly cooked and served at establishments is known as fast food. It consists of foods like pizza, ice cream, chicken nuggets, French fries, fried chicken, sandwiches, and chips. Medical students are no exception to the fact that today’s youth adhere intensely and fashionably to the fast-food culture. As medico has to work in stressful routine that seriously affects the eating habits and different food pattern. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence regarding consumption of fast food among medical students, its pattern, and to explore various factors influencing the students for it. Objectives: To study the consumption of fast food and its association with BMI among medical students in a tertiary care center of eastern India. Methodology: It is a cross-sectional study conducted in IMS & SUM Hospital, Bhubaneswar, Odisha during the month of October 2021 to January 2022. All the undergraduate MBBS students were taken as study population. A structured questionnaire was developed as study tool to capture all data, which were analyzed through SPSS version 26. Results: A total of 177 students participated in the study, among which 56% were male and rest 44% were female students. The mean age was found as 19.67 ± 3.33 years. Though majority students (93.8%) were being aware of the fact that consuming fast food leads to many diseases and disability, most of the students continue to eat fast food. It may be due to reasons of tasteless food at hostel canteen (34.69%), followed by new taste of fast food with company (30.25%) and to avoid wastage of time (4.07%). Conclusion: The superintendent of the hostel should be mindful of ensuring that all students receive food that is of a high standard. Because common people follow the example set by future doctors, medical professionals must be aware of this for the sake of their own well-being. In restaurants, wholesome snacks can take the place of deepfried dishes. Government and media should support these channels. By enacting strict restrictions to control the marketing of fast meals in the Indian market, the consumption of fast food by youngsters can be decreased. Levying a high fee on manufactured and imported prepared foods. Medical students’ choices of low-fat menu items and the amount of food they order may be limited by nutritional labelling of food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Subraham. Pany, Lipilekha. Patnaik, E. Rao, Sumitra. Pattanaik, Trilochan. Sahu Context: The care of sick members is the hallmark of a civilized society. End-of-life care and social security for [...]

Background: Mobile health intervention shows the positive effects on the management of chronic diseases. Therefore, the study was planned to study the effectiveness of a mobile-based application promotion of physical activity among newly diagnosed patients with type II diabetes. Methods: The present study was a parallel-design randomized controlled trial conducted over 2 years. The participants were type II diabetes patients between 18 and 60 years within 3 months of diagnosis who attended the endocrinology outpatient department having knowledge of using smart phone. The sample size was calculated to be 66 and 33 for each arm. The block random design method was adopted for allocation into different arms. A pretested interview schedule was used for the collection of data. Outcomes included body mass index, waist circumference, body fat percentage, and changes in the physical activity was obtained by global physical activity questionnaire (GPAQ). The information thus collected were processed and analyzed using SPSS v 20. Results: The study included 66 patients aged between 18 and 60 years, out of which 33 were enrolled into control and 33 into intervention group. The mean age of the participants was 42.29 ± 9.5 years ranged from 25 years to 59 years, 65.2% were males and 34.8% were females. It was observed that a higher proportion of intervention participants met WHO recommendations of physical activity level. Total metabolic equivalent of task (MET) value per minute (Mean ± SD) was 1347.27 ± 1028.5 in the control group and 1223.03 ± 584.87 in intervention group at baseline and was not different (P = 0.538). The total MET value per minute was found to be higher among the intervention group in all follow-ups. There was a significant decrease in weight, BMI, waist circumference, hip circumference, body fat percentage, and systolic blood pressure (SBP) in the intervention group. Conclusions: Cost-effective, simple mobile applications may help in routine clinical practice to encourage the patients for the promotion of physical activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The Menopause-specific Quality of Life (MENQOL) questionnaire was developed in 1996 to assess the health-related quality of life (QOL) in the menopausal transition and it addresses the degree to which menopausal symptoms had bothered women. The objective of this study was to translate the MENQOL questionnaire in the Odia- regional language of India and validate it for usage in the Odia-speaking menopausal women. Methods: The original English questionnaire MENQOL with 1-month recall period was translated by the researchers. According to instructions by Mapi Research Trust, the questionnaire was forward and backward translated, followed by participant testing and proofreading. Validity and reliability were evaluated by the following tests: internal consistency (reliability), stability (test-retest reliability) with Cronbach's alpha correlations, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and content validity index. Results: A total of 80 postmenopausal women participated in the study. The ICC score and Cronbach's alpha value of all the four domains such as vasomotor, psychosocial, physical, and sexual of both MENQOL English and Odia (MENQOL-E and MENQOL-O) versions recommended excellent homogeneity. The internal consistency using the Cronbach's alpha showed high reliability (0.993) between the MENQOL-E and MENQOL-O questionnaires. Conclusion: The MENQOL-O questionnaire will be used at the individual to community health-care settings to measure QOL and those identified with lower menopause-related QOL, they may get support and care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure influences the access to the healthcare of the marginalized and vulnerable population including under-five children (U5C). The aim of the study is to estimate the OOP expenditure and its predictors in Bhubaneswar, a region of eastern India. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a semi-structured interview schedule in 20 urban slums of Bhubaneswar. The survey was carried out by using the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) health consumption schedule 25.0 in which mothers of U5C with illness (n = 530) were interviewed. For data analysis, the nonparametric Wilcoxon rank-sum test and Kruskal–Wallis test were used as tests of significance. Results: The study revealed that the mean OOP expenditure for outpatient department (OPD) care was ₹375.9 (₹219.48). The mean approximated expenditure was ₹1669.8 (₹1131.9) for inpatient department (IPD) care. In OPD care, doctors' fee and medicine cost constituted 65.01% and 50.46% of OOP expenditure, respectively. In IPD care, medicine cost and doctors' fee contributed to 36.62% and 30.54% of OOP expenditure, respectively. The major significant predictors that contributed to increased OOP were gender and delay in approaching the source of treatment in OPD, whereas in IPD no such predictors were observed. Conclusions: This study prominently sheds light on the issue of accessibility and affordability of health services without a comprehensive health insurance scheme for U5C illness among the vulnerable urban slum dwellers to achieve universal health coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Lipilekha. Patnaik, Himanshu. Sahoo, Trilochan. Sahu Sir, Stroke is a major disabling health problem in developing countries like India. Stroke burden in India has been rising in the last [...]

Background. Diabetes and its complications are becoming a major threat to public health. Quality of life among diabetes patients is not optimum. Objective. To know the usefulness of the mobile health application for improvement of QoL and diabetes selfmanagement activities of the type 2 diabetes patients. Methods. The present study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital for 2 years from October 2016 to October 2018. In this study, 66 newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients, educated, techno-friendly smart phone users, aged between 18-60 years, were included. They were allocated to intervention and control group by block randomization method. Intervention group was allotted to use the android application and control group was allotted to use the website. The data were imported and analyzed by SPSS v 20. Results. Overall quality of life and general health was 70.26 ± 16.51; for physical health it was 59.52 ± 7.15, for psychological it was 63.38 ± 9.2, for social relations it was 74.87 ± 13.98 and for environment it was 71.87 ± ± 8.38. The score of overall quality of life was increased in both control and intervention group during follow-ups. It was found that there was significant improvement in glucose management, dietary control, physical activity, health care use and sum score. Wilk's lambda was significant for HbA1c both in control and intervention group. Conclusions. Mobile-based applications with focusing on diabetes self-management education may support to reduce the complications of diabetes and improve the QoL of diabetes patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a medical condition that is caused by insufficient production and/or secretion of insulin from the pancreas. Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) accounts for 90 to 95% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes and is the most common form. Diet plays an important role in T2DM. Aim: To explore the dietary habits of patients with T2DM. Materials and Methods: It was a hospital-based exploratory study and cross-sectional in nature done to provide inputs for the interventions and the informatics tool in the clinical trial of the researchers. A total of 100 consecutive OPD patients with T2DM were included. Dietary habits were explored using 72- hour recall method and analysed using SPSS. Results were expressed as proportions for categorical data and mean with standard deviation. Results: Out of 100 participants, 58% were male with mean age of 54.25±12.03 years. The mean BMI was 23.99±4.36 kg/m². Overweight and obesity was seen in 48% and 17%, respectively. Recall bias was 28% for dietary intake in past 24-48 hours and 48% for intake 48-72 hours. A 77% of patients told that they could follow the advice of their doctor or dietician, but 67% were taking the recommended diet. Out of study subjects, 51% told that they face difficulties in obeying the diet advice and the difficulties listed were food craving, traveling, nature of job, etc. More than 20% patients were not taking food on time and the reasons quoted were nature of the job, carelessness, etc. A 62% of patients were avoiding sweets but 77% were found taking foods with high glycaemic index. Conclusion: Intervention in the form of intensive diet education including behaviour change and communication activities during hospital visits may be needed regarding the role of various food items (with emphasis to high glycaemic index) in controlling diabetes and preventing complications, and has to be captured in the tool planned for public health informatics trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AASs), when taken in supraphysiologic doses, increase muscle strength and athletic performance. Evidence suggests that long-term use of AAS in supraphysiologic doses have adverse effects on health. Therefore, the study was conducted to find crude estimate of the prevalence of AAS use among attendees of the gymnasium, the factors that could have influenced them for AAS abuse and to assess the short- and long-term side effects as perceived by them. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in selected gymnasiums of a smart city of India using a predesigned and pretested questionnaire. Snowball sampling method was undertaken. The study was from July 2015 to June 2016. Informed written consent was taken. The analysis was done using SPSS v. 20.0. Results: Of 84 bodybuilders approached, 74 participants used AAS. All users were male with mean age of 26.5 + 0.55 years. The mean age of initiation of AAS abuse was 23 years, and 66.2% (49) were unmarried. Eighty-five percent (63) preferred injectable. Seventy percent (52) abusers were influenced by trainers for abuse. Most commonly abused was Nandrolone decanoate (55.4%). Seventy-three percent were not aware of any legal ban on steroids. Reported benefits include increased strength, muscle size, and power, while harms were increased acne, deepening of voice, swelling of feet, increased irritability, depressive thoughts, impaired judgment, panic disorder, and withdrawal effect. Conclusions: Frequency of ASS use was substantial among young bodybuilders. Awareness about side effects was not a deterrent factor. Abusers were highly influenced by coaches. Efforts should be made for preventing easy access to AAS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clicking selfie and sharing in social media is increasing day by day as an obsessive compulsive desire, which needs urgent attention. Objectives: To know the pattern of selfie taking and sharing of selfie in social networking sites and to correlate of selfie taking with self-esteem. Study area: Colleges of one university in India. A predesigned and pretested online questionnaire consisting of demographic characteristics, selfie related questions and Rosenberg self-esteem scale was used to collect data. Data were analyzed by using SPSS v20. Results: Among 595 participants, 23.1% of the students clicked selfies daily. The places where selfies clicked were public places (47.1%) followed by home (23.4%) and college (19.5%). Boredom (24.4%) was the main reason to click selfies. Negative mental health issues were seen among 56% of the participants like unhappiness, sadness, feeling worthless, depressed etc, when they didn't receive enough likes or comments in shared selfies. Among the students, 17.6% had selfitis and 20% had low self-esteem. No relation was seen between selfitis and low self-esteem. Conclusion: Counselling emphasizing on self-motivation and self-control on unnecessary use of social media, giving quality time to family and friends may be initiated as intervention method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Internet is the world's largest network of information and communication services. The internet is widely used in medicine and had a significant impact on research, training, and patient care. Objectives: (1) To assess internet use to obtain health information for patient care among physicians of a medical college hospital. (2) To investigate the utilization of the internet during their daily practice and to know the reasons for its use and nonuse. Materials and Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted for a period of 2 months of May and June 2015 in a Medical College Hospital of Eastern India. A convenient sample of 200 physicians was included in the study. Data regarding access of internet in workplace, time spent on the internet for medical and nonmedical purposes, opinions regarding use of the internet to update medical knowledge, obstacles that affect its use, etc., were collected. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 20. Results: It was seen that 47% doctors use laptop for accessing internet, followed by mobiles (34%). E-mail was the main purpose (41%) of internet use, followed by research (32.5%). Majority told that e-mail was the main purpose of last internet use (46.5%), followed by browsing medical resources (23%), research (15.5%), and patient care (12.5%). 97.5% agreed that they had ever browsed internet for patient care and 85.5% doctors agreed that they had obtained relevant information. 26.5% told that they need training for accessing free full-text electronic journals and 25% need training to access the sources for best clinical evidence for patient care. Other training needs were literature search (18%), downloading textbooks and other resources (15.5%), and searching internet sites for medical information (10%). Conclusion: Providing training for improvement of searching skills for obtaining up-to-date medical information, and evidence-based medicine from internet will improve their practice of medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Hypertension can be controlled by modifying lifestyle related risk factors and generating awareness about these risk factors among hypertensive patients. Aim: To assess the life style pattern, knowledge, attitude and practices related to hypertension among diagnosed patients of hypertension attending a tertiary care hospital. Materials and methods: Across sectional hospital based study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital during May and June 2014.102 diagnosed patients of hypertension attending the Medicine out-patient department were included in the study by convenience sampling. Apre-structured questionnaire was used and data related to demographic profile, history of hypertension, knowledge, attitude and practices regarding hypertension etc. were collected. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20. Results: Out of 102 participants, 55.9% were males and the mean age was 42.98 + 11.85. The mean systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure was 146.01 + 10.59 and 103.7 + 10.76 respectively. 50% of the patients led a sedentary life & only 13.7% were practicing fitness activities daily. 22.5% were current smokers, 12.7% were passive smokers and 8.8% were currently taking alcohol. About 26.5% patients were not concerned about their increased BP 5.9% didn't know any of the risk factors of hypertension &7.8% were unaware of the symptoms of hypertension. Logistic regression showed that occurrence of uncontrolled hypertension is reduced by 0.06 times in patients having satisfactory knowledge. Conclusion: Intervention in the form of lifestyle education during hospital visits will be helpful to increase the awareness about modifiable risk factors, controlling blood pressure and preventing complications among these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Induced abortion contributes significantly to maternal mortality in developing countries yet women still seek repeat induced abortion in spite of the availability of contraceptive services. Objectives: (1) To study the sociodemographic profile of abortion seekers. (2) To study the reasons for procuring abortions by married women of reproductive age group. Materials and Methods: It was a cross-sectional community-based study. All the married women of reproductive age group (15-49 years) with a history of induced abortion were selected as the subjects. Results: The most common reason for seeking an abortion was poverty (39.4%), followed by girl child and husband's insistence, which accounted for 17.2% each. More complications were noted in women undergoing an abortion in places other than government hospitals and also who did it in the second trimester. Conclusions: To reduce maternal deaths from unsafe abortion, several broad activities require strengthening such as decreasing unwanted pregnancies, increasing geographic accessibility and affordability, upgrading facilities that offers medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) services, increasing awareness among the reproductive age about the legal and safe abortion facilities, the consequences of unsafe abortion, ensuring appropriate referral facilities, increasing access to safe abortion services and increasing the quality of abortion care, including postabortion care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As a part of a larger study for evaluating the effectiveness of a community-based family welfare program, this study assessed the contraceptive behavior of couples preceding sterilization and termination of pregnancies, if any during the interim period. Methods: During May-June 2013, a cross-sectional study was undertaken in three districts of Odisha, an eastern state of India with poor maternal health indicators. Using a 15 x 14 cluster design with probability proportionate to size sampling 15 village clusters from each district were selected. Seven beneficiaries from the catchment area of two Accredited Social Health Activist of the selected villages were interviewed (14 respondents from each village) using a pretested predesigned questionnaire. Results: A total of 630 clients with either of the partner having undergone sterilization were interviewed. Male partner having undergone vasectomy was <1% (n = 3). The mean age (standard error mean [SEM]) of the respondent women was 34.54 ± 0.26 years. The mean age of the women at the time of sterilization was 27.12 (standard deviation [SD], 3.8, SEM 0.15 and median 26.83 years) years. Women as young as 22 years had undergone sterilization. Average family size was 2.81 with about 29 respondents (4.5%) having 5 or more children. The average duration between the last childbirth (LCB) to the date of sterilization was 18.37 months (range: 1-142 months, SD: 24 months, SE: 10 months). Seventy-two percent of the respondents did not use any method of contraception during this period. Methods adopted for contraception among the users was pill (20%) followed by condom (7%), and intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD) was least used (0.2%). Ten percent of the women had undergone abortion before sterilization either once (7.9%) or more than once (2.1%). Conclusion: There was a gross delay in sterilization after LCB. Postpartum sterilization or IUCD were also not used frequently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In India, constituting over 113 million adolescent girls, prevalence of anaemia is around 56% with a wide range from 33% reported from Andhra Pradesh to 98% in Rajasthan. Govt. of India and state govt.s with technical support from UNICEF and partners have started the Adolescent Girls Anaemia Control Programme since over a decade. The main objective is to reduce the prevalence and severity of anaemia by regular supply of IFA and deworming tablets to school going adolescent girls by making schools as the delivery channel and to out of school girls at the Anganwadi centers, where Anganwadi workers are the key persons in the implementation of this programme. Objective: To study the knowledge of Anganwadi workers regarding anaemia and its impact on the health of adolescent girls and the ongoing WIFS (Weekly iron folifer supplementation programme). Material & method: It was a cross-sectional study carried out in 30 villages of Khorda district, Odisha, selected by cluster sampling technique. 30 Anganwadi workers were interviewed to find out their knowledge about anaemia, its effect on the health of the adolescents and their role in counselling and distribution of IFA tablets in their village. Results: 50% of the AWWs were giving IFA tablets in the prescribed dosage and only 30% were aware about the duration of the supplementation. Almost 43.3% were completely ignorant about anaemia and its complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Stress among diabetic patients is much more as compared to normal individuals. A delayed recognition of stress undoubtedly worsens the prognosis for survival for many diabetic patients. Hence, this study was planned to develop an intervention model for the reduction of stress among diabetic patients and to evaluate the developed intervention model in the proposed group. Methods: This study was conducted in endocrinology outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital. Starting at random, the patients were allocated to control group and test group. Controls were given printed educational materials. Test group were counseled with intense lifestyle education using both printed materials and computers; they were contacted by telephones by the investigator every 3 weeks for 3 months and SMS were sent every week containing some educational tips. Results: Mean age was 54 ± 11.5 years overall ranging from 30 years to 80 years. About two-third of participants were males with similar distribution in both the groups (intervention = 66%, control = 64%). Half (50%) of the participants lived in joint families, followed by nuclear families (40%). Most (83%) were married and with either graduate or above graduate education (n = 39%). No significant difference was observed in socio-demographic characteristics among both control and intervention groups (P > 0.05). The average stress scores were similar (18.9) at baseline for control and intervention arms. At 3-month follow-up, however, these scores reduced to 17.05 in the intervention arm while they increased to 20.7 in the control arm. At 3 months follow-up, higher proportion of stress reduction was seen in the intervention group. Conclusions: Intervention in the form of intensive lifestyle education and phone calls and SMS significantly decrease their stress score. Mobile-based education has great potential to improve their mental status and increase patient-provider communication, and to decrease stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Use of tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world. Each year, tobacco products kill some 5 million people worldwide and this number is increasing. In India, approximately 5500 children and adolescents start using tobacco products daily, some as young as 10 years old. Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of tobacco use in urban field practice area of IMS and SUM Hospital and to identify the factors contributing towards it. Materials and Method: It was a community based cross sectional study conducted during June - August 2010 in the field practice area of IMS & SUM Hospital, Bhubaneswar. The sample size calculated was 300. Starting at random every 2nd household was visited and all the members 10 - 19 were included in the study. They were interviewed by predesigned and pretested questionnaire. Data on age, sex, tobacco use by them, tobacco use by other family members, knowledge regarding harmful effects etc. were collected. Statistical analysis comprised calculating proportions of tobacco users and cross-tabulation with the chi-square test. Results: The overall prevalence of tobacco use was 28.7%. Curiosity and peer pressure were the main reasons behind using tobacco. Tobacco use by parents or siblings had a significant influence on adolescents using tobacco. 65.1% of adolescent tobacco users were burrowing or stealing money for their tobacco use. 25.3% of adolescents had no knowledge regarding harmful effects of tobacco. Conclusion: Tobacco use by family members influences adolescents, as they develop inclination towards tobacco use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Myocardial infarction is a major health problem in developing countries like India. Early recognition of symptoms and prompt medical care are essential for providing appropriate treatment to prevent adverse clinical outcomes in patients with MI. Aims: 1. To determine the level of awareness of warning symptoms of MI among rural adults. 2. To assess the level of knowledge about modifiable risk factors of MI among these adults. Materials and Methods: It was a hospital based cross sectional study. 540 consecutive, consented OPD patients visited to rural health and training centre (RHTC) were taken as study subjects. Data in respect of age, sex, education, per capita monthly income, family size, awareness about MI warning symptoms and its risk factors were collected. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. Statistical analysis used: Proportions and Chi-squared test. Results: In present study, the participants identified 4.25 of out of 9 symptoms and 6.48 of out of 11 risk factors. The most frequent symptom identified was chest pain (95%) followed by pain in one shoulder/arm (66.85%). About 2.77% of rural adults don't know any of the MI symptoms. High Blood Pressure (88.7%) was the most frequently identified risk factor followed by tobacco use (smoking and smokeless-78%). The least frequently identified modifiable risk factor were sedentary life style (10.37%) and stress (20.55%). Conclusion: Educational interventions by interns and social workers posted in RHTC can be the first step to increase the awareness of early warning symptoms and risk factors of MI among rural adults visiting RHTC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractBackgroundMethodsResultsConclusionCTRI Registration number\nSUMMARYWHO and other health agencies recommend that tetanus toxoid (TT) should be replaced by tetanus-diphtheria (Td) vaccine taking into consideration the low coverage and waning immunity, especially for diphtheria. In this randomised, multicentre, non-inferiority study, the immunogenicity and safety of TeddyVac™ vaccine of Human Biologicals Institute were compared with an existing brand.The study involved 444 eligible subjects in two age groups at four centres across India. Group A included subjects of 18–60 years and Group B subjects of 10–18 years of age. All subjects received single dose of either TeddyVac™ or the comparator vaccine as per randomisation. Blood samples for antibody titre estimation were collected before vaccination and 4–6 weeks after vaccination. Immunogenicity was assessed by estimating seroconversion rate, seroprotection rate, and geometric mean titres of antibodies. Safety was evaluated by collection and analysis of data on solicited and unsolicited adverse events.Overall, 441 subjects completed the study. Both the vaccine arms showed comparable seroconversion after a single dose for both the components. Both arms showed increase in seroprotection and geometric mean titres after a single dose of vaccination for both vaccine components, being significantly better for the diphtheria component in the test vaccine arm. Only few minor local and systemic adverse events were observed in both the vaccine arms. No serious adverse event was reported.The study results indicate that the TeddyVac™ vaccine is immunogenic, safe and non-inferior to the comparator Vaccine when administered to healthy subjects of 10 to 60 years of age.CTRI/2021/07/035112In a randomised, multicentre study, TeddyVac™ vaccine of Human Biologicals Institute was found to be immunogenic, safe and non-inferior to an existing commercial brand when administered to healthy subjects of 10 to 60 years of age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The morbidity and mortality among under-five children are many times higher in slums than more privileged urban neighbourhoods. This could be correlated with the caregivers' behaviour too. Therefore, we intended to assess the health care seeking behaviour for their children among caregivers of under-five children in urban slums of Bhubaneswar city. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study conducted during Jan 2019 to April 2019 in Bhubaneswar, India. Data regarding health care seeking behaviour of 530 caregivers of under-five (U5) children residing in urban slums of Bhubaneswar, whose children suffered from any illness in last one month, were collected. Results: The most common childhood illnesses for which healthcare were sought were diarrhoeal diseases (30.4%) followed by respiratory infections (29.1%). A concept analysis of the predisposing factors was built up as "socio cultural context", "economic context", "education context", and "individual preference" to know the health care seeking pattern. The health care seeking behaviour among the caregivers of under-five children was significantly associated with sex of child, size of the household, social group of caregiver, mother with mass media knowledge, age, education and occupation of mother, mother having BPL card, if suffering from chronic disease, decision making person for seeking health care, time lapse in approaching the health care facility and income loss due to U5 children illnesses. Conclusions: The challenge is to know about signs and symptoms of ill-health and to recognise when to seek health care services. Measures can be taken to promote awareness for seeking timely appropriate care. There is a need to develop locally adapted behaviour change communication interventions for childhood Illnesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]