Unmet need for contraception among eligible women of urban slums in Chennai

Background: Unmet need for family planning is a crucial indicator to assess demand for family planning programme. It was reported that women from the world’s poorest countries have a high unmet need for contraception. Unmet need is particularly high among immigrants, urban slum dwellers, and women in the post-partum period. The objective of this study was to assess the unmet need and factors influencing the unmet need for contraception among urban slum dwellers in Chennai, South India.Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study of 375 married women was conducted among 50 urban slums of Chennai. Multistage random sampling was employed. About 6-9 women from each slum were interviewed. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to obtain data.Results: The mean age of the participants was 32.1±7.3 years. The total unmet need was 13.8%, which included 9.3% for limiting and 4.5% spacing. The major reasons for contraception non-use among women with unmet need were no preference to use modern contraceptives (30.8%) and preference to get sterilized soon (21.2%). Age, education, religion, and number of living children were the factors associated with unmet need.Conclusions: It was noted that unmet need reduced with age and increased number of living children. Though the unmet need is considerably low compared to other studies it is evident that women are still uncertain to use modern contraceptive methods for spacing and are more likely to undergo sterilization after their desired family size is achieved.</jats:p

A Case of Cortical Deafness due to Bilateral Heschl Gyrus Infarct

We report the case of a 58-year-old male who presented with an episode of seizure and abrupt onset hearing loss. Neuroimaging revealed acute infarcts in bilateral Heschl gyri. Objective tests of peripheral auditory function were essentially normal and a diagnosis of cortical deafness was made

Social support influencing diabetes self-management behaviors: A cross-sectional study in Udupi Taluk

Background: India is witnessing an increase in diabetic cases as peoples′ lifestyle change. This rapid increase of cases has led to an increase in the healthcare burden of the country with a considerable financial strain occurring due to the cost spent on diabetes treatment annually. Proper management of diabetes is based on good self-management behaviors (diet control, physical activity, glucose monitoring, and adherence to medication). Globally, studies have indicated the link between self-management behaviors and social support. Proper self-management behaviors could be the key to reducing the healthcare burden arising due to diabetes. Objective: The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of compliance to treatment among diabetes patients and to assess the influence of social support on the self-management behaviors of diabetes patients. Materials and Methods: A two-stage cluster sampling technique was employed to recruit 330 patients with Type 2 diabetes. A validated questionnaire was used to collect data on social support and self-management behaviors. Results: Prevalence of compliance to treatment among diabetic patients was found to be 82.1%. This study showed that diabetes patients received highest social support for glucose monitoring (69.4%) followed by diet control (46.7%) and physical activity (31.2%). Chi-square test showed a statistical association between social support and diet control (P < 0.001), social support and physical activity (P < 0.001), and social support and glucose monitoring (P = 0.001). Conclusion: Presence of good social support was found to positively influence the self-management behavior of diabetes patients. Higher level of evidence can be generated to place interventions in this regard

Factors influencing the reproductive health of women in rural areas of Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh

Background: A woman’s health is an integral part of any country. There are numerous factors that influence a woman’s decision of her reproductive health. A better understanding of these factors could help address gaps and barriers influencing the reproductive health choices of women in rural areas.Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was carried out among women of ages 18-45 years in rural areas of Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh to study factors influencing the reproductive health choices of women in rural areas of Ujjain. 300 women were asked comprehensively about their reproductive health via a semi structured questionnaire which comprised of domains from their menarche history to their menopausal history. Data was analyzed and chi square test was used to find factors influencing the reproductive health choices of women.Results: The median age of the participants was 30.8 years (IQR: 25, 36). Around 61% of the participants were aware of the family planning methods but only 29% of the participants used modern contraceptive methods. Age, educational background of participants, employment, partner education were all factors significantly (p&lt;0.05) associated with the reproductive health choices of women.Conclusions: The reproductive health of   women was shown to be significantly associated with her education, her employment status, her age, and her partner’s education. Therefore, it is important to raise awareness among women, their partners and, the family members about importance of the reproductive health of a woman

Pulmonary alveolar hemorrhage following thrombolytic therapy

Santhosh Narayanan,1 NK Thulaseedharan,1 Gomathy Subramaniam,2 Geetha Panarkandy,1 Narayanan Arathi1 1Department of Medicine, 2Department of Radiodiagnosis, Government Medical College, Kozhikode, Kerala, India Abstract: We report a case of a 58-year-old male without any comorbidities who was thrombolysed with streptokinase for acute anterior wall myocardial infarction and developed massive hemoptysis with dyspnea and imaging features showing bilateral alveolar infiltrates. He was diagnosed with pulmonary alveolar hemorrhage and treated conservatively. His condition improved, and follow-up imaging showed resolution. Alveolar hemorrhage is a rare and life-threatening complication of thrombolytic therapy. Keywords: hemoptysis, alveolar hemorrhag