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Background: Ensuring that the patient comprehends and correctly implements the physician's/health care worker's instructions is crucial in the treatment of Tuberculosis (TB). Our study aimed to assess the Heath Literacy (HL) of patients with TB using the Newest Vital Sign (NVS) HL tool translated to Kannada language. Aim and Objectives: To develop a translated version of the NVS HL tool in the Kannada language and assess the HL of patients with TB. Material and Methods: Two professional translators translated the NVS-United Kingdom version to Kannada language independently. The content of the translated version was assessed by a team of six medical and non-medical personnel, followed by back-translation of the modified version. The translated NVS tool, which was modified to culturally adapt the contents to the Indian scenario, was pilot tested among 15 individuals from the general population to determine the internal validity of the questionnaire, which indicated good reliability (Cronbach's alpha 0.806). Further, a cross-sectional study was conducted at a TB center in Karnataka, India. The translated NVS was administered to 50 patients with drug-sensitive and drug-resistant TB each. The correlation between the HL scores and educational and socioeconomic status was determined. Results: The median HL score of the study participants was 1, and the median time to answer the questionnaire was 10 minutes. The percentage of patients with limited, intermediate, and adequate HL scores were 54%, 32%, and 14%, respectively. A moderate positive correlation was seen between the educational level and the NVS scores (r = 0.480, P < 0.001). Conclusion: A large number of patients with TB have limited HL. The HL status of an individual correlates with the level of education but not with gender or socioeconomic status. NVS-Kannada is a reliable tool to measure HL in the Kannada-speaking population.

Introduction: There is a need to incorporate innovative teaching methods other than conventional didactic lectures to generate interest of medical undergraduates in learning Pharmacology. Game-based Learning (GBL) is a new strategy in medical education that can create a fun based atmosphere for learning. Aim: To assess the effectiveness of GBL as a tool in learning process and in memory retention of the knowledge acquired in pharmacology using treasure hunt competition. Materials and Methods: The quasi-experimental study was conducted on 4th semester MBBS students of Kanachur Institute of Medical Sciences, Mangaluru, Karnataka, India, from February to March 2019, as a part of the Advanced Course in Medical Education (ACME) project work, Medical Council of India. Entire phase II students (N=150) were included in the study. Students were divided into the GBL group and the Facilitated Learners (FL) group. Both groups were exposed to their respective GBL and FL based learning. Before and after the respective GBL and FL sessions, a pretest and two post-test multiple choice questions based tests were conducted. The second post-test was conducted one month later as a surprise one. Thereafter, a questionnaire was given to pen down the perceptions about GBL. Pretest and post-test marks were analysed by one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) followed by the Tukey-Kramer test. Perceptions about GBL were entered in percentage. Results: The mean scores of the GBL group were significantly more (p-value

This study aimed to assess the health literacy (HL) of patients having diabetes mellitus, their understanding of prescription instructions (PI), and the correlation between HL and understanding of PI. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 263 adult diabetic patients who were assessed for their understanding of route of intake of the prescribed medication(s), frequency of intake, number of medication(s) to be consumed each time, indication for the medication(s), and the relation of drug intake with food. The HL of the patients was assessed by using Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine, a screening test comprising of 66 health-related words. The number of correctly pronounced words was used to assign a grade-equivalent reading level. There was a significant difference in the understanding of PI in patients with low and high HL levels. A significant difference was observed between the mean total score for interpreting PI in patients with 7 or fewer years of education compared with the other groups with a higher educational status (P