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Background: Despite technological advances and changes that the medical fraternity has experienced in the last few decades, the physical appearance of physicians still influences the patients' perception of doctors. The basis of medical practice depends on a robust doctor–patient relationship and efforts should be made to build rapport to foster a partnership to provide patient-centered care. Objective: The aim of this objection is to determine the patient's perception of doctors' appearance and its influence on the doctor–patient relationship. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among patients attending OPD in health-care centers of Manipur from January 2022 to February 2022. Five hundred and forty-four patients were interviewed using a pretested structured questionnaire. A Chi-square test was performed to check for an association between independent and outcome variables (P < 0.05). Results: Mean age of the participants was 36.40 years (±12.55). A percentage of 60.80 were females and 64% of the participants were from the tertiary care center, Imphal West. A percentage of 60.5 preferred doctors' attire to be formal with a white coat. A percentage of 52.9 of them perceived that doctors' attire will make them seem more approachable. A percentage of 39.7 had preferences in doctors' gender. Participants from urban health-care centers had significantly more preference for the doctors' attire to be a formal dress with a white coat (P = 0.04). Age group, gender, type of setting, and education level were significantly associated with gender preference (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The majority of the participant had no preference over the doctor's gender and preferred doctors' attire to be formal with a white coat. The doctor's hair dye, facial piercing, and tattoos didn't bother a majority of the patients.

ABSTRACT: Background: Sleep and mental health are deeply interlinked, with poor sleep quality, a common issue among medical students, having a profound impact on their mental well-being. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students in a tertiary care hospital in Imphal, Manipur. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire consisting of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21). Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, and Pearson correlation test were applied, and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 425 respondents took part in the study, including 268 undergraduate and 157 postgraduate students. Most participants, 236 (55.5%) had poor sleep quality. Among the participants, 168 (39.5%) had depression, 167 (39.3%) had anxiety, and 95 (22.4%) had stress. Poor sleep quality was significantly associated with academic year among undergraduate students (P = 0.005), increased total screentime per day (P = 0.024), and increased screentime before sleep (P = 0.007). Depression, anxiety, and stress were significantly associated with younger age (P = 0.001), the undergraduate course being pursued (P = 0.001, 0.003, and 0.001), and increased screen time before sleep (P = 0.021, 0.046, and 0.039). Depression, anxiety and stress scores had a significant positive correlation with the global PSQI score. Conclusion: More than half of the participants experienced poor sleep quality, with four out of ten experiencing depression or anxiety, and two out of ten experiencing stress. Hence, medical institutes must implement sleep hygiene education and screen time reduction initiatives to enhance students' sleep quality and overall well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite technological advances and changes that the medical fraternity has experienced in the last few decades, the physical appearance of physicians still influences the patients' perception of doctors. The basis of medical practice depends on a robust doctor-patient relationship and efforts should be made to build rapport to foster a partnership to provide patient-centered care. Objective: The aim of this objection is to determine the patient's perception of doctors' appearance and its influence on the doctor-patient relationship. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among patients attending OPD in health-care centers of Manipur from January 2022 to February 2022. Five hundred and forty-four patients were interviewed using a pretested structured questionnaire. A Chi-square test was performed to check for an association between independent and outcome variables (P < 0.05). Results: Mean age of the participants was 36.40 years (±12.55). A percentage of 60.80 were females and 64% of the participants were from the tertiary care center, Imphal West. A percentage of 60.5 preferred doctors' attire to be formal with a white coat. A percentage of 52.9 of them perceived that doctors' attire will make them seem more approachable. A percentage of 39.7 had preferences in doctors' gender. Participants from urban health-care centers had significantly more preference for the doctors' attire to be a formal dress with a white coat (P = 0.04). Age group, gender, type of setting, and education level were significantly associated with gender preference (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The majority of the participant had no preference over the doctor's gender and preferred doctors' attire to be formal with a white coat. The doctor's hair dye, facial piercing, and tattoos didn't bother a majority of the patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competing Interests: Declaration of interests PDM is a founding director, patron, and former founding board member of headspace. He is the executive director of Orygen, Australia's National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health and lead agency for five headspace centres across northwest Melbourne. He is a past President of the International Association for Youth Mental Health, and a past President of the IEPA; Early Intervention in Mental Health and of the Schizophrenia International Research Society. S-JB has provided paid expert witness work for UK charities and legal organisations. She is the author of two books related to the brain, education, and learning, for which she receives royalties. She gives talks in schools in the state and private sector, at education conferences, for education organisations, and for other public, private, and third sector organisations (some talks are remunerated). She is a member of the Rethinking Assessment group, the Steering Committee of the Cambridge Centre of Science Policy, the Technical Advisory Group for the UK Government Department of Education's Education and Outcomes Panel-C Study, the Singapore Government National Research Foundation Scientific Advisory Board, and the Singapore Government Human Potential Scientific Advisory Board. She was a member of the Times Education Commission (2021–22). IBH has received honoraria for consultancy and educational activities from Janssen Cilag. He was a member of the Clinical Advisory Group for the evaluation of the Better Access to Psychiatrists, Psychologists and General Practitioners through the Medicare Benefits Schedule initiative, and is a member of Mental Health Reform Advisory Committee (Department of Health). He is the Chief Scientific Advisor to and a 3·2% equity shareholder in InnoWell, which aims to transform mental health services through the use of innovative technologies. FAEA has received honoraria for consultancy from Grand Challenges Canada and is a past member of the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Mental Health. AMC is a director of headspace, Australia's National Youth Mental Health Foundation, and the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder. AD is the Academic Secretary for the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, a research advisory group member of the UK National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, a member of the UK Trauma Council, and an evidence panel member of the Early Intervention Foundation. TF's research group receives funding for consultancy to Place2Be, a third sector organisation that provides mental health training, support, and interventions to schools across the UK. JH is executive director of Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario and receives funding from Graham Boeckh Foundation and other donors through the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Foundation. AJ is a trustee of the Samaritans and MQ. She has received fees for lecturing from the Scottish Association of Mental Health. She is an advisory board member of Our Future Health, UK. FK-L's work is the subject of publishing contracts with multiple companies in the EU, Magellan, Cobalt Therapeutics in the USA, and the National Health Service in the UK. Although she has received no remuneration to date, she might receive royalties in the future. She is a non-executive director of Orygen. CK is the founder of Wida, a digital mental health platform. He has received consulting fees from the UN Children's Fund. He has received grants from MQ: Transforming Mental Health in the UK, the Royal Academy of Engineering in the UK, the National Institutes of Health in the USA, the Medical Research Council in the UK, and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. DR is a Chief Scientific Advisor to headspace, Australia's National Youth Mental Health Foundation. JT receives book royalties from Simon and Schuster, legal consulting fees from Bergman and Little and the Attorney General's office of the State of Tennessee, and honoraria for speaking engagements. EK is the immediate past President of the IEPA: Early Intervention in Mental Health, and during the period of the Commission was the President elect and President. All other authors declare no competing interests.

A cross sectional study with 368 males (husbands of women delivered at Regional Institute of Medical Sciences hospital) revealed that 89% of them were aware of contraception. But only the meaning of birth spacing was known to 13% of them correctly. Education, income and parity were significantly associated with knowledge on birth spacing.