Charu Kohli

Prevalence of Hypertension and Determination of Its Risk Factors in Rural Delhi

Introduction. Hypertension is an important public health challenge in both economically developing and developed countries. It is one of the risk factors for cardiovascular mortality. Data is available on hypertension in urban population but few studies are reported in rural areas. Materials and Methods. It was a community based cross-sectional study conducted in two rural areas in Delhi among 1005 subjects selected using systematic random sampling method. WHO STEPS approach was used to collect data. Blood pressure, body mass index, and blood sugar were measured. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 16. Odds of hypertension among subjects with risk factors were calculated. p value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results. The prevalence of hypertension was 14.1% among study subjects. Hypertension was significantly higher in individuals more than 35 years than those less than 35 years. Hypertension was significantly higher in those who take alcohol and in subjects with raised total cholesterol level but in multivariate analysis only age, education, and cholesterol levels were independently associated with hypertension. Conclusion. There is significant burden of hypertension in rural areas in Delhi. Age, education, and cholesterol levels were independent risk factors of hypertension.

Awareness, Practices and Treatment Seeking Behavior of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients in Delhi

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a multisystem disorder that is associated with number of complications. Patient’s awareness and practices are crucial components in reducing the burden of diseases and its complications. Aim: To assess patient’s knowledge about their disease and its complications, practices, treatment seeking behavior and average expenditure incurred by its management. Subjects and Methods: A community based cross sectional study was conducted in rural and urban slum areas of Delhi selecting a total of 98 diabetic patients diagnosed during the two community surveys and interviewed using pretested and predesigned questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS software, version 17 (Chicago II, USA). Chi square, fisher or Mann–Whitney tests were used for test of significance and considered statistically significant at P < 0.05. Results: Of 98 participants, 31.6% (31/98) were from urban slum area, and 68.4% (67/98) were from the rural area. In both urban and rural areas, majority were Hindu, married, literate and unemployed. Significantly less subjects (61.3%, 19/31) of urban slum area than of rural area (85.1%, 57/67) could name at least one complication of DM (P < 0.01, odds ratio [OR] =3.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] =1.3–9.6). Majority of participants in both urban slum and rural area have knowledge about at least one component of management but significantly lesser in urban (83.9%, 26/31) than rural area (97.0%, 65/67) were reported (P = 0.02, OR = 6.2, 95% CI = 1.1–34.2). Significantly more subjects (29.0%, 9/31) in urban slum area than rural areas (7.5%, 5/67) reported that they were not taking any treatment for DM (P < 0.01, OR = 0.2, 95% CI = 0.1–0.6). In urban area, 32.2% (10/31) patients told that it is a burden on their family while in rural area 44.7% (30/67) of the patients told that they have to squeeze money from the family expenditure to afford drugs. Conclusion: Patients need to be made aware of the asymptomatic phase of DM and its long term complications. At the same time, efforts should be made to sensitize them about the importance of taking regular treatment and management.

Status of biomedical waste management in nursing homes of delhi, India.

INTRODUCTION Improper management of biomedical waste (BMW) poses a risk for health and environment. Healthcare workers have an important responsibility to properly segregate and train the staff in its disposal. OBJECTIVE To study the awareness, attitude and practices of health care workers in biomedical waste management and to observe the appropriateness of the same in the private nursing homes in Delhi, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted among private nursing homes in Delhi. In both south and east zones, 116 nursing homes were selected by random sampling method. Data was collected using a validated questionnaire of WHO. Data was analysed using SPSS software (version 16). Chi-square or fisher tests were used and accepted statistically significant if p-value was less than 0.05. RESULTS 41.7% of the workers in south zone and 25% in east zone had no knowledge about BMW generation (χ2=24.26, p=0.001). 57 (95%) workers in south zone and 55 (98.2%) in east zone agreed strongly that BMW management is helpful in reducing spread diseases in the community (χ2=1.22, p=0.5). On observation, it was found that 13 (21.7%) nursing homes in south zone and 15 (26.8%) in east zone did not have black bags. Practice of biomedical waste management in nursing homes in both the zones of Delhi was poor. CONCLUSION The study concluded that the awareness regarding biomedical waste management was not satisfactory among health care workers in private sector. There is a need of strict implementation of guidelines of BMW management.

Knowledge and practice of Accredited Social Health Activists for maternal healthcare delivery in Delhi.

Introduction: The role of community health workers in healthcare delivery system is considered inevitable to meet the goal of universal healthcare provision. The study was planned to assess the knowledge and practices for maternal health care delivery among Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers in North-East district of Delhi, India. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in North-East district of Delhi among 55 ASHA workers after taking written informed consent. Data were collected using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire consisted of items on sociodemographic profile of ASHA workers, knowledge, and practices about maternal health. The data was analyzed by using SPSS software version 17. Qualitative data were expressed in percentages and quantitative data were expressed in mean ± standard deviation (SD). Results: Mean age (±SD) of ASHAs was 31.84 ± 7.2 years. Most of the ASHAs workers were aware of their role in provision of maternal health services. Most of the ASHAs workers were aware of their work of bringing mothers for antenatal check-up (94.5%), counseling for family planning (96.4%), and accompanying them for hospital for delivery (89.1%). 87% of ASHAs knew that iron tablets have to be taken for minimum 100 days during pregnancy. 51 (92.7%) ASHAs reported that they used to maintain antenatal register. Some problems reported by ASHAs while working in community were shortage of staff at health center (16.4%), no transportation facility available (14.5%), no money for emergency, and opposition from local dais (12.7% each). Conclusion: Present study showed that ASHAs knowledge is good but their practices are poor due to number of problems faced by them which need to be addressed through skill based training in terms of good communication and problem solving. Monitoring should be made an integral part of ASHA working in the field to ensure that knowledge is converted into practices as well.

Noncommunicable disease risk profile of factory workers in Delhi

Background: Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are becoming more prevalent in India. The data for presence of NCDs and its risk factors among factory workers is deficient in India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional comparative study was carried out among 37 factory workers and equal number of comparable subjects from general population. Screening for presence of diabetes along with its risk factors was made in both the groups using pretested predesigned World Health Organization STEPwise approach to surveillance (WHO STEPS) questionnaire in rural area of Delhi. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 16 software. The estimation of risk in two groups was done with calculation of odds ratio (OR). P values less than 0.05 were considered significant. Results: A total of 74 participants were included in the present study. Hypertension and diabetes was present in 13.5 and 5.4% of factory workers and four (10.8%) and three (8.8%) subjects in comparative group, respectively. Seven (18.9%) factory and eight (21.6%) non-factory subjects fell in the category of current smoker or smokeless tobacco users. High density lipoprotein levels were found abnormal among one (2.7%) factory worker and nine (24.3%) subjects in comparative group (P-value = 0.01). Behavioral risk factors, alcohol consumption, and fruits and vegetable intake were significantly different among two groups. Conclusion: Factory workers were having better profile than non-factory subjects except for risk factors such as alcohol intake and inadequate fruits and vegetable intake. However, healthy worker effect phenomenon cannot be ruled out.

Mobile phone use and possible cancer risk: Current perspectives in India

Mobile communication is now essentially ruling our daily lives through better connectivity and intelligent smartphone services. There has been a tremendous growth in Indian communication industry along with growing concerns regarding health effects of mobile radiation exposure. Concerns posed are especially regarding carcinogenesis and other health-related effects of mobile radiation exposure. In the effort to establish or refute any such concerns, many studies have been undertaken in the past three decades, mostly case-control designs or cross-sectional surveys. However, most of them considerably failed to establish causal association primarily owing to potential biases and errors in their conduct and analysis. Past cohort studies have provided contradictory results leading to continued uncertainty regarding tumorigenic potential of mobile radiation exposure. In India, there remains a huge knowledge gap pertaining to this particular topic and only few studies are presently underway such as the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) cell phone study in the National capital region (NCR). International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields associated with wireless phone use as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B), causing major concerns worldwide among mobile companies and subscribers equivocally. The World Health Organization (WHO) is presently carrying formal risk assessment of all studied health outcomes from radio frequency field′s exposures and is likely to publish it by the year 2016.

Food safety in India: An unfinished agenda

Food safety refers to all those hazards which make the food unsafe to health. The unsafe food creates a vicious cycle of disease and malnutrition which affect all age groups but in particular children, the elderly, and the sick. Foodborne diseases are important hidden causes of morbidity. This article has been written with an objective to assess the current status of food safety and related issues in India and the measures to improve the same. Though most of the foodborne diseases are sporadic and often not reported in India, a nationwide study reported an alarming 13.2% prevalence at the household level. Currently, the mainstay for food safety in India is a legislative approach. The Indian food industry is regulated by the number of legislations covering sanitation, licensing, and permits. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India established by the Government of India develop the standards for food and regulate and monitor the manufacture, processing, storage, distribution, sale, and import of food so as to ensure the availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption. The literature review shows that the consumer awareness is not very good in India in relation to food safety. There is a need to initiate the public health surveillance for food safety and foodborne diseases. Legislations related to food safety should be enforced strictly. The consumer awareness should be an important part of all initiatives.

Usage and Perceived Side Effects of Personal Protective Measures against Mosquitoes among Current Users in Delhi

Background. Mosquito-borne diseases constitute an important cause of morbidity and mortality. The use of personal protective measures (PPM) like mats, bednets, screening, repellents, liquid vaporizers, mosquito coils, and so forth has been advocated as an effective tool in control of mosquito-borne diseases, but data about the safety profile of personal protective measures is still scarce. Objective. To study the usage and side effects of personal protective measures against mosquitoes among current users in Delhi. Materials and Methods. A community-based cross-sectional study among 350 adult individuals selected by systematic sampling method. Data was collected using pretested semistructured questionnaire after taking written informed consent. Data was analysed using SPSS version 17. Chi-square/Fishers Exact test was used for qualitative variables to find association and P value <0.05 was considered significant. Results. Out of 350 families selected, 210 belonged to rural area and 140 to urban area. Personal protective measures were used by 219 (62.5%) subjects. Liquid vaporizer was the most preferred method (41.4%). Most common perceived side effect of personal protective measures was headache (7.7%). Other perceived side effects were cough (3.2%), sore throat (2.7%), allergy (1.3%), and eye irritation (0.9%) predominantly among coil users. Conclusion. There is a need to have a close watch for side effects of personal protective measures among users. Further research is also needed to develop safe and effective personal protective measures against mosquitoes.

Addiction-like behavior associated with mobile phone usage among medical students in Delhi

Background: Mobile phone addiction is a type of technological addiction or nonsubstance addiction. The present study was conducted with the objectives of developing and validating a mobile phone addiction scale in medical students and to assess the burden and factors associated with mobile phone addiction-like behavior. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate medical students aged ≥18 years studying in a medical college in New Delhi, India from December 2016 to May 2017. A pretested self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Mobile phone addiction was assessed using a self-designed 20-item Mobile Phone Addiction Scale (MPAS). Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Version 17. Results: The study comprised of 233 (60.1%) male and 155 (39.9%) female medical students with a mean age of 20.48 years. MPAS had a high level of internal consistency (Cronbachs alpha 0.90). Bartletts test of sphericity was statistically significant (P < 0.0001), indicating that the MPAS data were likely factorizable. A principal component analysis found strong loadings on items relating to four components: harmful use, intense desire, impaired control, and tolerance. A subsequent two-stage cluster analysis of all the 20-items of the MPAS classified 155 (39.9%) students with mobile phone addiction-like behavior that was lower in adolescent compared to older students, but there was no significant difference across gender. Conclusion: Mobile phone use with increasing adoption of smartphones promotes an addiction-like behavior that is evolving as a public health problem in a large proportion of Indian youth.

Knowledge and Practices Related to Screening for Breast Cancer among Women in Delhi, India

Background: Breast cancer is a major public health problem globally. The ongoing epidemiological, socio-cultural and demographic transition by accentuating the associated risk factors has disproportionately increased the incidence of breast cancer cases and resulting mortality in developing countries like India. Early diagnosis with rapid initiation of treatment reduces breast cancer mortality. Therefore awareness of breast cancer risk and a willingness to undergo screening are essential. The objective of the present study was to assess the knowledge and practices relating to screening for breast cancer among women in Delhi. Methods: Data were obtained from 222 adult women using a pretested self-administered questionnaire. Results: Rates for knowledge of known risk factors of breast cancer were: family history of breast cancer, 59.5%; smoking, 57.7%; old age, 56.3%; lack of physical exercise, 51.9%; lack of breastfeeding, 48.2%; late menopause, 37.4%; and early menarche, 34.7%. Women who were aged < 30 and those who were unmarried registered significantly higher knowledge scores (p ≤ 0.01). Breast self-examination (BSE) was regularly practiced at-least once a month by 41.4% of the participants. Some 48% knew mammography has a role in the early detection of breast cancer. Since almost three-fourths of the participants believed BSE could help in early diagnosis of breast cancer, which is not supported by evidence, future studies should explore the consequences of promoting BSE at the potential expense of screening mammography. Conclusion: Our findings highlight the need for awareness generation among adult women regarding risk factors and methods for early detection of breast cancer.