Gautam Sarker

Risk Correlates of Diarrhea in Children Under 5 Years of Age in Slums of Bankura, West Bengal

Background: Diarrheal diseases are an important cause of mortality and morbidity globally in children under 5 years of age. Objective: To find the prevalence and risk factors of diarrhea among children under 5 years. Materials and Methods: A population-based analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in the urban slums of Bankura, West Bengal on the prevalence of diarrhea and feeding practices, nutrition, and immunization among 152 children under 5 years (69 males and 83 females). Results: Overall prevalence of diarrhea was 22.36%; 21.73% males and 22.89% females were affected with diarrhea. There were 57.69% diarrhea cases in children of 7-12 months age group, followed by 25.71% in those of 13-24 months age group; with increasing age, the prevalence of diarrhea gradually decreased. Diarrhea was noted to be 20.33% in exclusively breastfed children and 31.57% in children who were breastfed for less than 6 months. In bottle-fed children, the frequency of diarrhea was 26.08%. The prevalence of diarrhea was 21.83% in completely immunized children and 30% in partially immunized children. Risk of diarrhea was 19.80% in normal participants and 27.45% in undernourished children. Conclusion: The present study identified a high prevalence of diarrhea in children under the age of 5 years. Findings of the study also revealed the demographic features, feeding practices, immunization practices, and nutritional status as risk factors of diarrhea, which can be tackled by effective education of the community.

Determinants of contraceptive practices among eligible couples of urban slum in bankura district, west bengal.

Background: Primary care physicians should be aware of the alarming population growth in the developing countries including India. Objectives: To find couple protection rate (CPR) and risk variables that affect contraceptive practice among eligible couples in an urban slum of Bankura district. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional observational study of 3 months was undertaken on 200 eligible couples in Bakultala urban slum, Lokepur, Bankura district, West Bengal to get relation between various factors that could affect contraceptive practices. Results: Majority of the study population (59%) was young adults (20–29 years age); 65% belonged to nuclear families; one-third were married in less than 18 years of their age. CPR was 67.50%; 49% used permanent methods. Among contraceptive users, significantly higher numbers of couples were married during 18–24 years of age (75%), belonged to nuclear family (70%), literate up to class 10 (73%), having three or more living children (77.50%), and from socioeconomic status of class II (80%). Female literacy rate was higher than national average; 92.50%wives of eligible couple were literate; and tubectomy was commonest contraceptive methods. Conclusion: CPR was high, though different factors like age at marriage, type of family, number of living children, literacy status of female partner, and socioeconomic status significantly affected contraceptive behavior of the study population.

Appraisal of cognitive function of diabetics in a rural healthcare teaching institute

Context (Background): Cognitive dysfunctions as the unexplored complications in diabetics need to be systematically studied. Aims: To assess the correlation between type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and associated cognitive dysfunctions with varying age groups and duration. Settings and Design: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care teaching institute in eastern India. Materials and Methods: In this study the participants were allocated into five groups according to duration of diabetes, for example, less than 3 months, 3 months-5 years, 6-10 years, 11-20 years, and more than 20 years. Each of these groups was then classified into following six subgroups according to age: group A (20 years or less), group B (21-30 years), group C (31-40 years), group D (41-50 years), group E (51-60 years), and group F (more than 60 years). A predesigned, pretested, semi-structured questionnaire was used to find the cognitive functions based on the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) in diabetics and age-matched nondiabetic participants. Statistical Analysis Used: Statistical analysis using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 11.0 to calculate proportions and significance test were done in this study. Results: There was noticeable attenuation of cognitive functions in diabetics in all age groups irrespective of duration of the morbidity. Further, a distinct pattern of incremental cognitive dysfunctions was also noticed as the age progressed in diabetics and in healthy controls. Conclusion: Diabetics are more at risk of cognitive dysfunctions than age-matched controls, which needs more elaborative studies.