D Sunil Kumar

Burgeoning menopausal symptoms: An urgent public health concern.

Introduction: Demographic and epidemiological transitions have increased the life expectancy of people in India. This has resulted in higher burden of morbidities related to aging. The National Health programmes have focused mainly on the health of women in reproductive age groups and neglected their health thereafter. Thus, there is a need to explore the bio-social correlates of menopausal symptoms among women, which can influence their quality of life. Subjects and Methods: This cross-sectional community-based study was conducted in the urban slum of Mysore for 3 months. A total of 100 postmenopausal women in the age group of 40–65 years residing in the field practice area of Urban Health Training Centre were selected by simple random sampling method from the database of households. Details regarding socio-demographic characteristics, postmenopausal symptoms, and factors associated with them were collected in a pretested structured pro forma by interview technique. Results: Among 100 women included in the present study, mean age at menarche and menopause was 13.45 ± 1.72 and 46.7 ± 5.2 years, respectively. The most common postmenopausal symptom was joint pain (92%) followed by physical and mental exhaustion (84%), depression (76%), irritability (73%), hot flushes, and night sweats (65%). There was a significant positive correlation between age of the women, duration of life after menopause, and postmenopausal symptoms. Conclusion: There is a high burden of postmenopausal symptoms which have shown an increasing trend with advancement of age. This calls for establishment of specific health interventions for postmenopausal women in the health-care settings.

PEM in Relation to Birth Order and Birth Interval in Children Aged 1–6 Years in Urban Slums of Mysore City

An indirect source of disease transmission is contaminated dental casts. To disinfect dental cast number of methods are employed. Spraying a disinfectant looks more handy and convenient method of disinfecting the cast. However in the process some mechanical properties of the material of the cast may be affected that are not desired. In this study three commercially available spray disinfectant namely-Iodophor, Unidex and Lysol were used to see their effect on the compressive strength of Type III (dental stone) gypsum product. The results were compared and statistically analyzed by one way analysis of Variance and Bonferroni test. It was found that Unidex (2.09% Acid glutarladehyde) affected the compressive strength of the Type III (dental stone) gypsum product in terms of significantly decreasing the strength. Though other two spray disinfectants also affected the compressive strength but Iodophor (1.64% available iodine) caused statistically non significant decrease and Lysol (cresol with soap solution) caused non significant increase in the compressive strength.

Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Life Term Prisoners in a Central Jail and its Association with Reasons for Crime

Background: For planning any prevention and control strategies, the knowledge of socio-demographic factors and criminal activities is necessary. There are many studies conducted on this issue, however only few of them pertain to Indian population. Moreover, India has diverse socio-demographic and cultural practices that may influence the quantity and quality of crime. Objectives: To study the socio-demographic characteristics of life term prisoners and its association with the reasons for committing crime. Materials and method: A cross sectional study was conducted on 300 life term prisoners of central prison of Gulbarga. Data was collected using pre-designed and pre-tested proforma. Chi-square test was applied to test the association at 5% level of significance using statistical package SYSTAT 13. Results: It was found that rural people, unmarried, illiterates, lower socio-economic status people were more likely to have committed the crime resulting in the conviction for life. Property dispute was the leading reason for committing crime in men and dowry in women. Gender, place of residence, education and socio-economic status were significantly associated with reasons for committing crime. Conclusion: A further multi-centric study at larger level is recommended to identify the independent predictors of crimes leading to life imprisonment. There is an urgent need for a focussed primary prevention strategies utilizing the information on independent predictors to control the population of our overcrowded prisons.

Mothers literacy status and its association with feeding practices and PEM among 1–5 year aged children in southern part of India, Mysore

Abstract Objective To estimate the prevalence of PEM in children aged 1 to 5 years and to study the association of mothers educational status with feeding practices and nutritional status of children aged 1 to 5 years. Methods A cross sectional study of 600 children of 1–5 year age group in urban slums of Mysore city was carried out with cluster random sampling method. The data was collected by using a predesigned and pretested proforma. Assessment of the nutritional status was done by clinical examination and anthropometry. WHO child growth standards, 2006 reference data were used to classify malnutrition. Results Among 600 children examined, 285 (47.5%) were males and 315 (52.5%) were females. Exclusive breast feeding was given in 295 (49.2%) of children. Pre lacteal feeds and top milk feeds were given in 123 (20.5%) and 108 (18%) of children respectively. The prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting was observed to be 31.3%, 42.2% and 14.2% respectively. About 12.8% of mothers were illiterate and this was significantly associated with feeding practices and nutritional status of children. Conclusions Mothers literacy status plays important role in feeding practices of their children which inturn is an important factor in determining the nutritional status of child.