Suburban India Research Articles

Application of TOPSIS for ranking the perception of benefits and problems associated with Digital Payment system in suburban India

Application of TOPSIS for ranking the perception of benefits and problems associated with Digital Payment system in suburban India

An audit of drug utilization patterns, rationality, and cost analysis of antimicrobial medicines in a tertiary care teaching hospital in central suburban India

Background: Antimicrobial medicine (AMM) utilization patterns and rational drug use are important topics in today’s world wrought with AMM resistance, irrational prescription of antibiotics, and lack of proper training such as stewardship programmes for medical graduates and general practitioners. Our objective was to perform an audit of the antimicrobial drug utilization pattern, evaluate the rationality of drug use, and perform a cost analysis of these drugs.Methods: An observational cross-sectional study design was implemented. The study location was a tertiary care teaching hospital in suburban central India. Patients were recruited from the general medicine and general surgery departments.Results: Out of 189 patients, the average age was 45.714 years and 67.725% were females. A total of 595 AMMs were prescribed to 189 patients with an average of 3.148±1.578 drugs per patient. 6.5% drugs prescribed were generic, 95% prescribed were included in the national essential medicine list, and 90% of patients’ prescriptions were rational. The total expenditure on AMMs was ₹726043.610, with a median expenditure of ₹987.320.Conclusions: Drug utilization patterns vary between medicine and surgery departments. They also vary between different institutions within the same country. Creating a structured standardized training program to uniformly train healthcare professionals in conservative antibiotic prescription practices is needed. This study hopefully paves the way for future studies to target critical areas in AMM prescription and to prospectively assess the impact of a structured antibiotic stewardship program on AMM utilization patterns.

Effectiveness of ELT in Rural India : A Study Based on Learners of Suburban India

Effectiveness of ELT in Rural India : A Study Based on Learners of Suburban India

Prevalence of Hypertension and Associated Risk Factors in Suburban Tamil Nadu

Background: Hypertension (HTN) is an important risk factor for cardiovascular mortality in India. HTN prevalence data are predominantly available for urban and rural populations in India but not in the mushrooming suburban areas. This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of HTN and associated risk factors in suburban Tamil Nadu. Methods: In this Kovai Medical Center Hospital Non-Communicable Disease Study, we enrolled adults >20 years of age residing at Thadagam (suburban) in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu, India. All participants had a detailed questionnaire and anthropometric measurements. Blood samples were taken for glycosylated hemoglobin, nonfasting lipid profile, and serum creatinine. Prevalence of HTN (self-reported cases of HTN or systolic blood pressure ≥140 mm Hg and or diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mm Hg) was estimated. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors influencing HTN. Results: A total of 1030 participants were involved in this study. The prevalence of HTN was 47.1% in this area, with similar prevalence in both genders. The ratio of known HTN to newly diagnosed HTN was 1:1.3. Nearly 5% of adults between 20 and 39 years had HTN in this cohort. On multivariate logistic regression, after adjustment for age and sex, HTN was significantly associated with diabetes and atherosclerosis. Conclusions: This study identified a high prevalence of HTN in suburban region of Tamil Nadu. Aggressive screening protocols and targeted treatment are the need of the hour to reduce the burden of HTN and cardiovascular diseases in suburban India.

Prospective study of hypermature cataract in Kanchipuram district: Causes of delayed presentation, risk of lens-induced glaucoma and visual prognosis

Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate the reasons for delayed presentation, lens-induced glaucoma (LIG) incidence, intra- and post-operative course and visual outcome among patients with hypermature cataract in Kanchipuram district. Materials and Methods: A prospective interview-based study was undertaken among 304 patients with hypermature over 3 years in the Ophthalmology department of a medical College located in Kanchipuram. Presence of LIG was noted. After small incision cataract surgery, intra- and post-operative complications, final best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at 6 weeks were noted and compared with delayed presentation using Chi-square test. Results: Good visual acuity in the other eye was the reason for delayed presentation in 160 (52.6%) patients. Poor post-operative visual acuity was associated with delayed presentation (r = −0.203, n = 304 and P Conclusion: Hypermature cataract and LIG are still seen in rural and suburban India and are more likely to develop in patients having good visual acuity in the fellow eye following previous cataract surgery. As delayed presentation is associated with poor postoperative outcome, it is important to educate the community about the need for early surgery.

Life-cycle cost and financial analysis of energy components in mass housing projects – A case project in sub-urban India

Abstract Environmental concern based designs are becoming essential in urban India. Shift of population from rural to urban cities is leading to the associated burden of mass housing facilities. The paper discusses the economic feasibility of using energy conservation green components by performing their life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) in large mass housing projects. A total of six components including solar applications have been evaluated for a case project placed in Mumbai suburban location in India. LCCA is performed from the projections of Wholesale price indices and wholesale market price fluctuations of the commodities. Labour cost projections are performed from minimum wages provided by the ministry. For calculation of savings, exponential increase in electricity tariff is considered. The capital cost of energy components contributes in the range of 5–7% to the conventional built up area cost. LCCA suggests that the significant share of cost is related to maintenance, repair and replacement activities of all components. Financial analysis results suggest that the components provide a payback of 11 years at 8% discounting rate and 7 years at non discounted values. The results of this study are expected to benefit investors in mass housing projects for their financial and budgetary decision making in implementing energy efficient based design.

Emotional Expression and Control in School-Age Children in India and the United States

The present study compared 6- to 9-year-old children's reports of their decisions to express anger, sadness, and physical pain; methods of controlling and communicating felt emotion; and reasons for doing so in response to hypothetical situations across three groups: old-city India ( n = 60), suburban India ( n = 60), and suburban United States ( n = 60). Both groups of Indian children were less likely to report expressing their anger, sadness, and pain than U.S. children, and were less likely to report direct verbal expression than U.S. children. Indian children reported a desire to maintain social norms as a reason to control anger and sadness more than U.S. children, whereas U.S. children reported a desire to communicate felt emotion as a reason to express all three feelings more than Indian children.

Depressive disorders in school children of suburban India: an epidemiological study

There is a dearth of research on the prevalence of depressive disorders in children from suburban and rural areas in the Indian subcontinent. Therefore, the present study was aimed at assessing the prevalence of depressive disorders and the associated risk factors in the primary and secondary school children in suburban India. This was a cross-sectional, school-based epidemiological study involving 1,851 children from standard I to VII age group. Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Age Children (K-SADS-PL), a semi-structured interview was used to diagnose depression in this sample. Using K-SADS-PL, prevalence of depressive disorder was 3.13% (n=58); major depressive disorder was diagnosed in 15 (0.81%), dysthymia in 28 (1.51%) and depressive disorder NOS in 15 (0.81%). Age (OR 1.396, CI 1.121-1.738), class attendance (OR 0.251, CI 0.103-0.613), family history of psychiatric illness (OR 0.204, CI 0.069-0.605) and birth complications (OR 0.128, CI 0.029-0.558) emerged as significant predictors of depression; the model explained 24.1-32.3% of the variance in this sample. The present study confirms the findings from previous studies that childhood depression is a distinct diagnostic entity affecting a significant number of children and adolescents.

Bicycle and cycle rickshaw injury in suburban India

To study pattern of injury associated with bicycle and cycle rickshaw. Between June 2002 and June 2003, a hospital based prospective study was done of patients who presented with injury due to bicycle and cycle rickshaw in emergency department. Age, time of trauma, mode of trauma, contributing factors and type of injury were recorded. Out of total of 41 patients, 23 were injured from bicycle and 18 from cycle rickshaw. In the bicycle group all patients were either traveling on crossbar or rear fender. 91% had sustained injuries due to spokes and 83% had soft tissue injury. In the rickshaw group contributing factors to injury were traveling on rear board and school children traveling on overloaded rickshaw. 78% were injured by rear cogwheel-chain mechanism and 72% patients had only soft tissue injury. Bicycle and cycle rickshaw injuries have a unique pattern of injury particularly affecting individuals riding them in an unconventional way. Majority of them sustained extensive soft tissue injury to leg and ankle.