Hemant Mahajan

Assessment of KAP, Risk Factors and Associated Co-Morbidities in Hypertensive Patients.

Objective: (1) To assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of hypertensive patients. (2) To assess the risk factors and associated co-morbidities in them. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Shivaji Nagar urban slum which is a field practice area of Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, of TN Medical College Mumbai. Hypertensive patients above 40 years of age were included in this study. The information was gathered by personal interview using semi-structured proforma. Results: Out of 340 subjects 176 (51. 76% ) were males. Majority of subjects 43.82% belonged to joint family and 64.11% subjects were from III, IV, V socioeconomic class. 39.7% patients were unemployed and unskilled. 131 (38.52%) patients had the family history of Hypertension. majority of the patients 117 (34.41%) had Smokeless tobacco addiction, followed by Cigarettes smoking 45 (13.23%). Alcohol consumption and smokeless tobacco chewing both in 43 (12.64%) patients. 90 (26.47%) patients had Diabetes Mellitus along with Hypertension followed by Anaemia 68 (20%) and Osteoarthritis / Osteoporosis 51 (15 %). 221 (65%) hypertensive patients had BMI equal to or more than 25 Kg/ m 2 . Poor knowledge, attitude and practices were in 83.42%, 69.11%, 73.24% patients respectively. Mean systolic BP, Diastolic BP, Body mass index and weight was 145.58 mm of Hg, 92 mm of Hg, 25.09 Kg/ m 2 and 67.8 Kg respectively. Conclusion: Most of the patients had associated co-

Utilization of Maternal and Child Health Care Services by Primigravida Females in Urban and Rural Areas of India

Maternal complications and poor perinatal outcome are highly associated with nonutilisation of antenatal and delivery care services and poor socioeconomic conditions of the patient. It is essential that all pregnant women have access to high quality obstetric care throughout their pregnancies. Present longitudinal study was carried out to compare utilization of maternal and child health care services by urban and rural primigravida females. A total of 240 study participants were enrolled in this study. More illiteracy and less mean age at the time of marriage were observed in rural population. Poor knowledge about prelacteal feed, colostrums, tetanus injection and iron-follic acid tablet consumption was noted in both urban and rural areas. Very few study participants from both areas were counselled for HIV testing before pregnancy. More numbers of abortions (19.2%) were noted in urban study participants compared to rural area. Thus utilization of maternal and child health care (MCH) services was poor in both urban and rural areas. A sustained and focussed IEC campaign to improve the awareness amongst community on MCH will help in improving community participation. This may improve the quality, accessibility, and utilization of maternal health care services provided by the government agencies in both rural and urban areas.

Immunization Coverage: Role of Sociodemographic Variables

Children are considered fully immunized if they receive one dose of BCG, three doses of DPT and polio vaccine each, and one measles vaccine. In India, only 44% of children aged 12–23 months are fully vaccinated and about 5% have not received any vaccination at all. Even if national immunization coverage levels are sufficiently high to block disease transmission, pockets of susceptibility may act as potential reservoirs of infection. This study was done to assess the immunization coverage in an urban slum area and determine various sociodemographic variables affecting the same. A total of 210 children were selected from study population using WHOs 30 cluster sampling method. Coverage of BCG was found to be the highest (97.1%) while that of measles was the lowest. The main reason for noncompliance was given as childs illness at the time of scheduled vaccination followed by lack of knowledge regarding importance of immunization. Low education status of mother, high birth order, and place of delivery were found to be positively associated with low vaccination coverage. Regular IEC activities (group talks, role plays, posters, pamphlets, and competitions) should be conducted in the community to ensure that immunization will become a “felt need” of the mothers in the community.