Sajida Naseem

Postgraduate Medical Trainees Understanding Of Biostatistics: A Pre- And Post-research Methodology Workshop Experience

OBJECTIVE To evaluate understanding of biostatistics among postgraduate medical trainees before and after biostatistics workshop. STUDY DESIGN Quasi experimental study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Regional Centre, Islamabad, College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan, from March to September 2017. METHODOLOGY Two hundred and seventy postgraduate trainees were enrolled after taking informed consent. Structured questionnaire containing 21 multiple choice questions regarding understanding and application of biostatistics was given to all participants on the first and the last day of workshop and compared pre- and post-workshop by McNemar test of significance. SPSS version 21 was used for data analysis with p-value <0.05 as significant level. RESULTS The response rate was 100%. Among these participants, males were 81 (30%) and females were 189 (70%), mean age was 28.5 ±2.5 years. One hundred and twenty-five (46%) postgraduate trainees were from Islamabad. Most of the doctors were in the first year (37%) and second year (57%) of their training. With total correct answers of 42.9% (preworkshop) and 57% (post-workshop), p-value was <0.001. CONCLUSION Understanding regarding application of biostatistics in research among PGTs improved significantly and immediately after teaching biostatistics in research methodology workshop.

Satisfaction of Female Patients with Health Care Services at the Peri-urban Community Health Centre in Islamabad

Objective To evaluate the satisfaction levels of female patients with the availability and quality of health care services provided at the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Nurpur Shahan, a deprived peri-urban locality in Islamabad. Methods This cross-sectional study was carried out among 346 randomly selected female patients who attended the CHC in Nurpur Shahan from January to March, 2018. Data was collected by face to face interviews using a pre-tested self-designed questionnaire. Data was analysed using SPSS version 23 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Results Female patients were largely satisfied with the behaviour (96%) and competence (97.1%) of doctors, the attitude of the paramedical staff (93.6%), quality of medicines (93.6%) and basic facilities at the CHC including drinking water, bathrooms, and cleanliness. Patients had mixed satisfaction levels with various aspects of antenatal services, post-natal care, immunization services as well as the location of CHC (58.7%), availability of prescribed medicines (67.1%) and affordability of laboratory tests at the centre (63.3%). Major areas of discontent were health education regarding breastfeeding and immunization, the average waiting time to see a doctor, the waiting area, and family planning services. Conclusion Although patient satisfaction levels with certain health care services were good, there is considerable room for improvement in other aspects of provided services at the CHC.

Oral Health Practices Among Pakistani Physicians

Introduction In most healthcare models, the first interaction of a patient is with a general physician. The inspection of the oral cavity is a mandatory component of the general physical examination performed by a physician. This helps detect any oral pathology and make suitable referrals. Therefore, adequate oral health awareness is essential for physicians. Our study aimed at evaluating the oral health practices among physicians working in a private teaching setup in Islamabad, Pakistan. Methods A cross-sectional study involving 144 physicians teaching undergraduate medical students at Shifa College of Medicine and its affiliated hospital, Shifa International Hospital, was conducted. Participants were interviewed through a self-designed questionnaire. Later, each participant demonstrated their teeth brushing technique on a standard model of the oral cavity, which was assessed against a checklist conforming to the modified bass technique. A video clip showing the aforementioned brushing technique was shown at the end of the interview. The collected data was analyzed on IBMs statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) version 21. Results Toothpaste was the top choice (97.2%) of teeth cleaning tool with 69% participants brushing their teeth two times a day and 56.9% using toothbrushes with bristles of medium texture. The use of mouthwash (32.6%) and dental floss (11.1%) was considerably low. Dental caries and teeth discoloration were seen in 46.5% and 43.8% physicians, respectively. An alarmingly low number of physicians (31.9%) claimed to have read guidelines regarding oral health. This translated into most participants (78.5%) visiting a dentist only when needed. Only 4.9% participants performed all components of the modified bass technique to clean teeth on the oral cavity model, with up to 22.9% unable to perform a single step accurately. Conclusion The oral health knowledge and practices of physicians were found to be suboptimal and necessitate the integration of oral health awareness in the medical curriculum. A multiprofessional approach with physicians in crucial roles is required to address the burden of dental diseases globally.

Knowledge of Postgraduate Medical Trainees Regarding Epidemiology

Introduction An understanding of epidemiology is fundamental for designing research and understanding evidence-based medicine (EBM). The purpose of our study was to determine the knowledge of epidemiology among postgraduate medical trainees. Methods We carried out a cross-sectional study from January 2017 to June 2017 at the Regional Centre Islamabad, College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan. About 204 postgraduate medical trainee were enrolled in the study after taking written consent. All of the participants were working as a postgraduate medical trainee in different hospitals of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. A self-designed structured questionnaire containing 20 multiple choice questions regarding knowledge of epidemiology was given to all the participants. Knowledge of epidemiology was measured and compared with gender, hospital, and previous history of research. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 21.0 (IBM, Armonk, NY) was used for data analysis. Results Out of 204 participants, 46.1% participants were males while 53.9% were females. The mean age of the participant was 28.5 ± 2.5. Majority fo the trainees (33.8%) were training in an Internal Medicine residency program. Most of the trainees (76%) had average knowledge of epidemiology while 18.6% of the trainees had good knowledge. Only 17.6% had some experience of research projects in the past, but this was not related to knowledge of epidemiology (p > 0.05). Conclusion Only 18.6% of the postgraduate trainees had good knowledge regarding epidemiology and 76% had average knowledge. This knowledge did not relate to their gender, hospital settings, and previous experience of conducting research proposals and articles.

Prevalence of non-communicable diseases and their risk factors at a semi-urban community, Pakistan

Introduction Pakistan is currently facing the double burden of communicable (38%) and non- communicable diseases (49%) according to WHO NCD Country Profiles 2014. About 50% of all deaths are attributed to NCDs. The objective of this study was to determine the burden of non-communicable diseases in semi urban community of Islamabad. Methods We carried a cross sectional study to estimate the burden of non-communicable diseases in an urban setting, a community based cross sectional survey covering 1210 households was carried out over a period of three months. Households were selected through consecutive non-probability sampling, among which adult females and males who were permanent resident of the community were interviewed through a structured questionnaire in urdu language. SPSS version 21 was used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Results About 38.7% individuals had High BP / IHD, 34.4% had oro-dental health problems, 24.3% were physically disabled and 14.6% had diabetes. Among the risk factors, 48.2% were tobacco user, 13.60% were drug abuser and 1.8% alcoholics. Conclusion We conclude that the prevalence of non-communicable diseases is quite high in the above setting as compared to the National indicators, which demands timely intervention to curtail the existing burden of NCD.