Maternal and child health, public health

ABSTRACT:
Background: Proliferation of the internet has provided better opportunities for communication, information and social interaction. The excessive undisciplined use by individuals has led to the emergence of the concept of internet addiction. Psychological and environmental factors in the lives of college students may leave them disproportionately vulnerable to Internet addiction. The The main objective of this study was to measure prevalence of internet addiction and the usage pattern among undergraduate medical students.
Materials & Methods: The present cross-sectional study was carried out among 95 undergraduate students of II MBBS, selected by simple random sampling, in Kurnool Medical College, Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, from January to February, 2016. A 20 item Young’s Internet Addiction test which is a Likert scale based interview schedule was used to measure the prevalence of internet addiction. Data was entered in MS Excel 2007 and analyzed. Chisquare test was applied and p value < 0.05 considered significant.
Results: Among the 95 study subjects, 62.2% were males and 37.8% were females. Males were more addicted to internet than females. The prevalence of internet addiction among the study subjects in the present study was 52.63% mild, 24.21% moderate, while 23.16% students reported normal internet usage. It was found that severity of internet addiction is inversely proportional to academic performance.
Conclusion: Internet addiction is a growing health problem among medical students, hence necessary preventive and therapeutic interventions are vital to promote healthy and safe usage of Internet.

Keywords: Internet addiction, medical students

The Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAPI) is a well-validated screening tool for assessing potential for child physical abuse, and has been translated into many different languages. To date the CAPI has not been translated into Arabic or used in any studies in Arabic-speaking populations. This study reports on the process of adapting the CAPI into Arabic Language which was undertaken following the International Society of Pharma-economics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) guidelines. The translation/adaptation process was multi-stage, and involved the use of a Delphi process, cognitive debriefing, back translation, and a pilot testing of the Arabic CAPI at two primary health care centers with a population of pregnant women (n = 60). Following "literal translation" 73 out of the 160 items needed re-phrasing to adapt the items to the Oman context. No differences were found when comparing results of the translated or back-translated versions to source; however, eight items needed further amendment following translated to back-translated comparison and feedback from the pilot. Iterations were resolved following in-depth interviews. Discrepancies were due to differences in culture, parenting practices, and religion. Piloting of the tool indicated mean score value of 155.8 (SD = 59.4) and eleven women (18%) scored above the cut off value of 215. This Arabic translation of the CAPI was undertaken using rigorous methodology and sets the scene for further research on the Arabic CAPI within Arabic-speaking populations.

Described as the ‘invisible epidemic’, non-communicable
diseases (NCDs) are the world’s leading cause of death.
Most are caused by preventable factors, including poor
diet, tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol and physical
inactivity. Diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular and chronic
lung diseases were responsible for 38 million (68%) of
global deaths in 2012. Since 1990, proportionate NCD
mortality has increased substantially as populations have
aged and communicable diseases decline. The majority
of NCD deaths, especially premature NCD deaths (<70
years, 82%), occur in low-income and middle-income
countries, and among poor communities within them.
Addressing NCDs is recognised as central to the post-
2015 agenda; accordingly, NCDs have a specific objective
and target in the Sustainable Development Goals. While
deaths from NCDs occur mainly in adulthood, many have
their origins in early life, including through epigenetic
mechanisms operating before conception. Good nutrition
before conception and interventions aimed at preventing
NCDs during the first 1000 days (from conception to age
2 years), childhood and adolescence may be more costeffective
than managing established NCDs in later life with
costly tests and drugs. Following a life-course approach,
maternal and child health interventions, before delivery
and during childhood and adolescence, can prevent NCDs
and should influence global health and socioeconomic
development. This paper describes how such an approach
may be pursued, including through the engagement of
non-health sectors. It also emphasises evaluating and
documenting related initiatives to underwrite systematic
and evidence-based cross-sectoral engagement on NCD
prevention in the future.

Background: Migrants carry with them a burden of health risks and public health implications due to their poverty, unequal access to social benefits including health care services like immunization. Aims & Objectives: To describe the socio-demographic profile and the primary immunization status of migrant children in the age group 12 to 23 months and also identify the various factors related to immunization failure if any in Sriperumbudur Taluk, Kanchipuram District of Tamil Nadu. Material & Methods: A community based cross sectional descriptive study was done among 173 migrant children in the age group of 12 to 23 months from 12 construction sites in the study area between July 2016 – September 2016. The data was collected using a pre-designed, structured questionnaire. Results: The age group of mothers varied from 18-39yrs. About 46 (26.6%) mothers were illiterate. Majority of the children 159 (91.9%) had a birth certificate. Almost all 171 (98.8%) children were having immunization card. Only one child was found to be partially immunized. Lack of time was found to be the reason for not taking the child for immunization. All others 172 (99.4%) were fully immunized. Conclusion: Awareness should be created among migrant workers regarding importance of immunization through regular health education activities.

Focused Antenatal care was introduced following failure of the Standard ANC model, to limit the number of visits to the clinic, restrict tests, clinical procedures and actions to those which would improve the outcome of both the mother and the newborn. FANC is intended to prevent or identify and treat conditions that may threaten the health of the newborn and/or the mother, and help a woman to approach pregnancy and birth as a positive experience, and to a large extent it helps to provide a good start for the newborn child. This study assessed the predictors of compliance of FANC among pregnant women at Kisumu East District Hospital. Data was collected from 258 women of reproductive age group through cross-sectional study, and one-stage exit interviews from the Antenatal clinic (ANC) and post natal ward. 74.1% of women reported satisfaction with history taking and clinical examination. On the other hand, history taking and obstetric examination were only carried out in 75.3% and 93.5% respectively at the first visit but the rates were lower with consecutive visits. Significant predictors of FANC compliance that were found to have a p-value < 0.05 were: residence (p-value= 0.001, OR=1.1, CI=.5-2.36), maternal education (OR= 3.6, CI=1.7-7.7), Household financial status (OR= 5.2, CI= 2.8-9.6), woman's source of income (OR=4.1, CI=.7-3.3) and awareness of FANC (OR=1.9, CI=1.1-3.5). This study showed that the compliance to FANC service was very low despite the presence of skilled and friendly service providers in the facilities. Factors associated with poor compliance included limited knowledge and poor attitude among participants and KEDH staff. Based on this study, it is recommended that stakeholders improve awareness of the new FANC model, improve counseling/ health education and upgrade antenatal clinic infrastructure as well as supplies at KEDH. It is also recommended for further research to elucidate the implications of poor compliance.