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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. 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]

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: 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]