Background and aim Ectopic pregnancy remains a significant cause of maternal morbidity and mortality, particularly in low-resource settings where delayed diagnosis and limited healthcare access exacerbate adverse outcomes. The burden is even more pronounced among tribal populations due to systemic healthcare barriers. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical profile, risk factors, treatment modalities, and maternal outcomes of ectopic pregnancies managed at a tertiary care hospital catering to a predominantly tribal population in central India. Methods A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Birsa Munda Government Medical College (BMGMC), Shahdol, a tertiary healthcare facility in Madhya Pradesh, India, from February 2024 to January 2025. Pregnant women diagnosed with ectopic pregnancy based on clinical symptoms, transvaginal ultrasonography (TVS), and serum beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) assays were included. Comprehensive data on demographics, obstetric history, clinical presentation, laboratory findings, treatment modalities, and surgical outcomes were collected. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 20.0 (Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.), with a p<0.05 considered statistically significant. Results A total of 92 ectopic pregnancy cases were analyzed. Abdominal pain (97.8%) and amenorrhea (95.7%) were the most common symptoms, with 66.4% presenting after 24 hours. The vast majority of cases were tubal (97.8%), with the ampullary segment being the most commonly affected site (71.7%). Ruptured ectopic pregnancy occurred in 84.8% of cases. Delayed presentation (OR: 9.82, 95% CI: 2.32-41.54; p=0.002), hemoglobin <10 g/dL (OR: 10.54, 95% CI: 2.94-37.82; p<0.001), and β-hCG >5000 mIU/mL (OR: 10.01, 95% CI: 2.06-48.69; p=0.004) were significantly associated with rupture. All cases required surgical intervention, with unilateral salpingectomy being the most common procedure (43.5%). The mean hospital stay was 4.8±2.1 days, and 28.3% required ICU care. No maternal mortality was reported. Conclusion This study underscores the high burden of ruptured ectopic pregnancies in tribal regions, driven by delays in presentation and limited healthcare access. Early diagnosis, improved primary care referral systems, and targeted community awareness programs are urgently needed to reduce preventable maternal morbidity in underserved populations.

Background:Despite efforts to improve healthcare infrastructure and service delivery, significant disparities in healthcare utilization persist, leading to suboptimal health outcomes and hindering progress toward achieving universal health coverage. This research article aims to conduct a qualitative exploration of the under-foot fall in utilization of health services, shedding light on the barriers and challenges faced by individuals in accessing and utilizing health care to inform targeted interventions and improve health service utilization. Methods:This qualitative study employed free listing, pile sorting, and focus group discussions (FGDs) as data collection methods. Representatives from various stakeholders involved in the primary healthcare delivery system were selected based on their vocalness, knowledge, willingness to participate, and heterogeneity of responses. Subsequently, FGDs and key informant interviews (KIIs) were conducted to further explore the identified barriers. The collected transcripts underwent manual thematic analysis using coding rules and theme generation procedures. Results:A total of 30 participants, including healthcare providers, community leaders, and individuals from the local community, took part in the qualitative exploration. The themes encompassed limited awareness and knowledge, geographical and infrastructural barriers, socioeconomic constraints, trust and perceptions of the healthcare system, and cultural and social factors. These findings provide valuable insights into the multifaceted barriers hindering healthcare utilization and can guide the development of targeted interventions and policies to improve healthcare access and delivery in the study area. Conclusion:The identified barriers, including limited awareness and knowledge, geographical and infrastructural challenges, socioeconomic constraints, trust and perceptions of the healthcare system, cultural and social factors, and gender disparities, are consistent with the existing literature.

Background: Even prior to the pandemic, India’s nursing workforce faced a severe shortage, exacerbating the challenges they now face during the global health crisis. When compared to the WHO norm of 1:300, the lack of trained nurses is much worse, with a nurse-to-population ratio of 1:670. The level of job fulfilment experienced by healthcare workers on the frontlines is closely linked to how well strategies for preventing and managing significant emergencies are put into action and their overall impact. Aims: However, the job satisfaction status of Indian frontline healthcare staff during the fight against COVID-19 remains unexplored, so the present study was conducted to assess the job satisfaction during the pandemic of COVID-19 among the nurses. Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional, quantitative study was conducted for a duration of 1 month among 139 nursing staff currently working at hospital. A survey questionnaire was designed according to relevant guides, which gathered demographic details and job satisfaction using Job Satisfaction Scale (JSS) developed by Spector et al. The nurses were approached individually by investigator and were requested to complete the questionnaire on the same day. The MS Excel spreadsheet was used to enter the collected data. The Chi-square test was performed to find the association between poor JSS score and independent variables. An association was considered significant if the P < 0.05 for all tests (two-tailed) at a 5% level of significance. Results: The mean age for the 139 nursing staff was 27.37 ± 4.193 years. The overall mean score for JSS was 150.75 ± 31.591 and based on median (156 or less) as cut off for the poor JSS, nearly 47.5% of nurses were having poor JSS score. The Chi-square test analysis showed that the nurses of younger age (<25 years), staying at rented house, residing alone, working for more hours daily (6 or more) and having lesser night duties/month (<10 days) were significantly (P < 0.05) associated with the poor overall JSS. Conclusion: The findings of the study might be of great reference value for improving the job satisfaction level of nursing staff during public health emergencies, developing nursing staff security policies, and promoting the establishment of emergency response teams.

Background Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, predominantly affecting the lungs (pulmonary TB) and is a significant public health challenge in India. The study aims to analyze demographic, radiological, and clinical subgroups of pulmonary TB cases, examine the relationship between smear acid-fast bacillus (AFB examination) and cartridge-based nucleic acid amplification test (CBNAAT), evaluate CBNAAT sensitivity for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) in new and previously treated patients, and determine the proportion of rifampicin resistance. Methods This hospital-based prospective study was conducted among patients diagnosed with pulmonary TB at the Respiratory Medicine Department of a Government Hospital over 16 months (August 2019 to December 2020). The study included 150 diagnosed TB cases (new and previously treated). Data collection encompassed demographic details, clinical symptoms, comorbidities, radiological findings (chest X-ray), and microbiological results (smear AFB examination, CBNAAT). Sputum samples were subjected to Ziehl-Neelsen staining and CBNAAT for MTB detection and rifampicin resistance testing. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 21.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Results Of the 150 patients, 69.3% were male, and 48% were aged 21-40 years. The majority had a BMI of 18.5-24.9 kg/m² (50%) and resided in urban areas (63.3%). Common symptoms included cough (95.3%), fever (80%), and weight loss (74%). Cavitary lesions on chest X-ray were observed in 84% of patients. Smear microscopy detected MTB in 72.7% of cases, while CBNAAT detected MTB in 94% of cases. CBNAAT sensitivity for smear-positive and smear-negative samples was 93.97% and 94.12%, respectively. Rifampicin resistance was found in 3% of new cases and 6% of previously treated cases. The sensitivity of smear microscopy was 77.33%, and the sensitivity of CBNAAT was 94%. Conclusion The study underscores the high burden of pulmonary TB and the utility of CBNAAT in detecting MTB and rifampicin resistance, particularly in smear-negative samples. The findings highlight the necessity of universal drug susceptibility testing (DST) for effective TB management and the importance of addressing drug resistance to improve treatment outcomes.

Background Tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant public health challenge, particularly in developing countries, where delayed diagnosis contributes to ongoing transmission. Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) smear microscopy, commonly used for TB diagnosis, has limitations in sensitivity, especially in cases of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (ETB). The GeneXpert Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB)/rifampicin (RIF) assay, a molecular diagnostic tool, offers rapid and accurate detection of MTB and RIF resistance. This study aimed to compare the diagnostic efficacy of GeneXpert MTB/RIF with ZN staining in detecting pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and ETB. Methods A prospective study was conducted over two years (April 2022 to April 2024) at a tertiary care teaching hospital in India. A total of 319 clinical samples from patients with suspected PTB and ETB were analyzed. Samples underwent ZN staining and GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were calculated using mycobacterial culture as the gold standard. The chi-square test was employed to compare diagnostic accuracy, with a p-value of <0.05 considered statistically significant. Results Of the 319 samples, ZN staining was positive in 18.2% of cases, while GeneXpert was positive in 21.6%. GeneXpert demonstrated a perfect sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 98.81%, compared to ZN staining's sensitivity of 84.85% and specificity of 99.21%. GeneXpert showed superior performance in detecting TB in both pulmonary and extrapulmonary samples, with a statistically significant difference (p<0.001). Additionally, GeneXpert identified six cases of RIF resistance. Conclusion The GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay outperforms ZN staining in diagnosing TB, offering higher sensitivity and comparable specificity. Its ability to detect RIF resistance adds significant clinical value. Despite its cost, the integration of GeneXpert into routine diagnostic workflows, particularly in high TB prevalence areas, is recommended to enhance early detection and treatment, thereby reducing TB transmission.

Background: Malaria poses a great socioeconomic burden on humanity as it affects majority of countries in the tropical and subtropical regions. In 2016, approximately 445,000 deaths occurred due to malaria, which is comparable to the numbers (446,000) from the previous year. We conducted this study with an aim to assess the community-level preparedness for protection against malaria in population of rural Nuh, Haryana. Materials and Methods: Our study was community-based and cross-sectional in design conducted for a duration of 4 months in the six villages under the subcentre Sangail, with household as a sampling unit, and study subjects were selected by randomised multistage sampling technique. A pre-tested, pre-designed, standardised questionnaire (close-ended response) was developed for data collection. The association between variables was considered significant if the P < 0.05. Results: In our study, the nets were hanged for the use amongst more than half of insecticidal-treated nets (ITNs) user households (56.7%). Further detailed observation of ITNs reflected that the majority of subjects have obtained the ITNs either from mass campaign or health centres, and nearly one-third of household nets (37.2%) had holes them. In particular, head of households with the age group of 18–29 years, joint type of family and households with lower socioeconomic status were less likely to be using ITNs in the present study. Conclusion: To provide all age ranges with an equal level of protection against malaria in populations who reside in malaria-endemic areas, the current study has underlined the need for constant monitoring of ITN use, provision of ITNs and ongoing awareness regarding the use of ITNs.

BACKGROUND: Medical education is now largely learner centered with self-directed learning. The best method for teaching physical examination skills is difficult to determine. The process by which students examine each other as part of their learning process in anatomy and clinical skills is known as peer physical examination (PPE). The aim of this study was to demonstrate the perceptions of students toward PPE in ear, nose, throat, head, and neck. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2018 among 100 medical students after obtaining ethical approval. In the PPE programme, students participated in a small group of 2–3 students. A self-administered questionnaire was also filled out by students before and after the program, which gathered demographic details and responses to the modified Peer Physical Examination Questionnaire (PPEQ). Significant associations (P < 0.05) were examined using ANOVA analysis. RESULTS: In the present study, 81.5% of students have previously conducted examinations on fellow students. Prior to the program, the willingness to be examined (for throat) by a peer was 71.7%, which rose to 95.7% after the program. Most students replied that “I am concerned about being a possible object of sexual interest during PPE.” A univariate analysis showed that age, gender, and residence of students were significantly associated with PPEQ scores (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In the present study, it was observed that there was a change in the willingness for PPE before and after the programme and also that there was a change in the perception towards PPE following the program.

Background: Pneumothorax (PT) is defined as the presence of air in the pleural cavity. Primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) arises in an otherwise healthy person without any underlying lung disease. PSP occurs in people aged 20 to 30 years, with a peak incidence in the early twenties. The recurrence rate in spontaneous PT patients is approximately 10%–20%. In the present study, 50 cases of spontaneous PT were undertaken with an aim to analyse aetiology, clinical profile and management outcome of PT patients. Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted for a period of 12 months, among 50 patients presenting with unilateral PT. The therapeutic interventions were indicated when there was a loss of volume of lungs of 32% or more, and this loss of volume was calculated using Collins method. The association between the side of PT, smoking status and size of PT were found using the Chi-square test, and the association between variables were considered significant if the P value was <0.05. Results: In the present study, the male patients were 92.0% and only 8.0% of patients were females. The further history-taking of patients had shown that the mode of onset of PT was sudden in 72.0% of patients. Although the success rate of Intracth procedure was lower in comparison with the intercoastal drainage (ICD) procedure, the complication rate of Intracath was lower when compared with extensive subcutaneous. Conclusion: PSP is less common than secondary spontaneous PT. Smoking is an independent risk factor for PT, and it delays its resorbtion.

INTRODUCTION: Malaria poses a great socioeconomic burden on humanity as it affects the majority of countries in the tropical and subtropical regions. The estimated number of malaria deaths stood at 445,000 in 2016, a similar to the previous year (446,000). This study was conducted with the aim to assess community knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAPs) for protection against the malaria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was community-based with a cross-sectional study conducted for 4 months in the 6 villages under the subcenter Sangail, with household as a sampling unit, and study participants were selected by randomized multistage sampling technique. A pretested, predesigned, standardized questionnaire with close-ended responses was developed for data collection. All tests were performed at a 5% level of significance. RESULTS: In the present study, more than one-fifth of participants believed that malaria is due to the wrath of almighty (22.3%) or bad air (30.2%), the restrain was observed in about half of households (54.5%) for indoor indoor residual spray, half of the participants strongly believed that malaria is not a public health issue (45.3%) and more than three-fourth of households (34.8%) were still preferring to sleep outside of their homes. CONCLUSION: KAP of malaria and its control was observed to be low among the study population. Misconceptions about malaria transmission still exist. The result of this study will bring forward the health-care workers with the desired need for health education and promotion on malaria at the first contact either in the health facilities or in the patient’s family house on home visit.

BACKGROUND: Health-care professionals (HCPs) are at much greater risk of infection due to the exposure to the highly infectious bodily fluids and droplet nuclei and needed use of personal protective equipment (PPE) to reduce the transmission risk. The present study was conducted with an aim of estimating the prevalence of various types of skin injuries among HCPs due to PPE usage. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted after obtaining the institutional ethical approval in a dedicated COVID-19 hospital for a period of 4 months among 276 HCPs wearing grade 2 and 3 PPE kit. The survey questionnaire (Google Forms) was focused on collecting the subject's baseline data (age and gender), duty hours, and type of skin injury experienced due to PPE usage. Chi-square analysis was used to find the association of between dependent and independent variables, and an association was significant for P < 0.05. RESULTS: 51.5% of subjects wore the PPE kit for 5 or more days/week during duty hours and 64.5% of subjects daily wore the PPE kit for 2 or more hours. 81.7% of subjects have suffered from skin injury after PPE usage. The most common symptom/sign for the skin injury that occurred was indentation and pain on the back of the ears (61.5%). CONCLUSION: The frequent skin injuries due to PPE among the HCPs might make them anxious and reduce their morale at work place, so an effective preventive measure should be adopted.

Background Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is defined as clinical or biochemical hyperandrogenism, oligo/amenorrhea, and polycystic ovaries with or without increased ovarian volume. The goal of this study was to assess the effect of a 20-week home-based aerobic exercise programme on body composition, insulin resistance, and hs-CRP levels in women with PCOS. Methods This 12-month prospective study included 60 female patients diagnosed with PCOS, aged 20 to 40 years. The participants were divided into 2 groups, one for the experiment and the other for the control. For each participant, the 12-hour fasting blood samples were taken on two occasions i.e., 24 hours before the first session and 48 hours after the last session to measure the fasting glucose, fasting insulin, and hs-CRP. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to conduct the analysis, and an association was considered significant when the p-value was less than 0.05. Results In the present study, there was a dropout rate of 16.7% (5/30) in the study group and 23.3% (7/30) in the control group. The baseline characteristics were comparable (p>0.05) between the study group and the control group during the enrolment. The BMI (kg/m2) among the study group before the exercise programme was 22.8±1.8 and it was significantly reduced to 21.1±1.9 after the exercise programme (p<0.05). The HOMA-IR and hs-CRP (mg/L) levels among the study group before the exercise programme were 3.2±1.5 and 6.7±2.7 respectively, and these were significantly reduced to 1.9±1.6 and 4.2±1.3 respectively after the exercise programme (p<0.05). In contrast, paired T-test analysis showed no such significant difference (p<0.05) for all variables (Weight, BMI, Waist, Hip, fasting glucose, Fasting insulin, and hs-CRP) among the control group during the study period. Conclusion In a group of female PCOS patients, a 20-week home-based aerobic exercise programme reduced weight, BMI, HOMA-IR, and hs-CRP. Although more research on the effects of aerobic exercises in PCOS is needed, these findings support aerobic exercise's effectiveness in reducing inflammation and enhancing insulin sensitivity in these patients.

Introduction: Recently, the Zika virus (ZIKV) has become a major concern across the world. ZIKV can primarily spread through the bite of infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Till now, ZIKV is considered an incurable infectious disease. As Zika is an emerging disease of an international concern with the ongoing speculation about a potential outbreak in India in the future, the present study was conducted with an aim to assess knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding ZIKV among nursing students. Materials and Methods: This hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 240 nursing students during 2019, and data were collected using a pretested, predesigned, standardized, and self-administered questionnaire. The ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Ethical committee before the conduct of the study. All tests were performed at 5% level of significance. Results: The present study has included 240 nursing students (228 female students and 12 male students). The most common source of information related to ZIKV was social media among 75.6% of the students and 46.7% of the participants has low knowledge regarding ZIKV. Surprisingly, about one-tenth of the participants (14.2%) made an attempt to gain more knowledge about ZIKV, and nearly one-fifth of the participants were not using any method at all (17.1%) to prevent mosquito bites. Conclusion: This study showed inadequate knowledge among nursing students which will be future health care providers about ZIKV infection. The awareness about ZIKV infection should be ensured and maintained among health care providers to face any possible emergence in the region. The following core competencies are addressed in this article: Medical knowledge, Patient care, Practice-based learning, and Systems-based practice.

BACKGROUND: Nursing staff are at much greater risk of infection due to the exposure to the highly infectious bodily fluids and droplet nuclei and needed the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) to reduce the transmission risk.AIM: The present study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of skin injury and its type due to PPE usage nursing staff.MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted after obtaining the institutional ethical approval in dedicated COVID-19 hospital for a period of 4 months among 144 nursing staff wearing Grade 2 and 3 PPE kit. Study subjects were approached through social networking websites and survey questionnaire (Google Forms) according to relevant guides; research literature was used for collecting the details regarding baseline, duty, and skin injury characterization. Chi-square analysis was used to find the association between dependent and independent variables and an association was significant for P < 0.05.RESULTS: It was observed that 54.7% of nursing staff were working for 6 or more hours and 16.5% of subjects were wearing the PPE kit for 5 or more hours per day. 86.3% of subjects have suffered from skin injury after PPE usage. The most common symptoms/signs for the skin injury occurred were indentation and pain on back of ears (61.9%).CONCLUSION: The skin injuries of PPE among the nursing staff may result in reduced morale for overloaded work and made them anxious, so an effective preventive measure should be adopted.

Background: Reports describing demographics, clinical characteristics, hospital course, morbidity, and mortality in patients in the Indian setting have been published, but they are based on limited numbers of cases. The present study among the patients with known outcomes enabled us to better understand the disease process and progression of COVID-19 cases and to correlate the factors affecting the outcome. Methods: This was a record-based, retrospective observational study of patients admitted to COVID-19 Hospital. We have retrieved medical records for all the hospitalized patients with a laboratory confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis with a known outcome (discharged or died) between April 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021. The extracted data included basic demographics, signs and symptoms, duration of hospitalization, and laboratory parameters. Categorical variables were analysed using either the chisquare test or Fisher's exact test. The level of significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: The mean age of severe and moderate patients was 38.71 years, compared to 34.95 years for mild patients. No gender difference was observed for the severe/moderate, and mild cases. The mortality rate among severe/moderate cases was 11.6%, whereas it was 3.9% in mild patients. Laboratory parameters which were significantly (p < 0.05) raised among the dead compared to discharged patients included CT score, D-dimer, CRP, ALT, AST, and alkaline phosphatase. Conclusion: Clinical and laboratory characteristics reflect the pathophysiology of disease and thus help clinicians recognise the severity of medical illness. They also facilitate the creation of management protocols for clinical care that results in improvement in patient related outcomes.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has caused a pandemic during 2019–2020 that has resulted in illnesses ranging from the usual flu to serious respiratory problems, even leading to mortality. Recent literature has suggested that the health (psychological) impact of quarantine is wide-ranging, substantial, and can be long-lasting. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to assess the mental health status (psychological distress) of those who experienced quarantine and their compliance with quarantine during the outbreak of COVID-19 among health care professionals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 217 health care staff (doctors and nurses) working in COVID-19 outpatient and wards, sent on quarantine at home or state-run facilities. The psychological impact was assessed using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10). Categorical data were presented as percentages (%), and the Chi-square test was used to determine the association, with a P < 0.05 considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Out of 217 participants, only 206 gave their consent to be part of the study, and only 10.2% (21/206) of quarantined subjects were compliant with all protective measures. It has a significant association with the participant's understanding of all the rationale for quarantine and with the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (P < 0.05). The mean score obtained on Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) subjects was 18.91 ± 5.16, whereas 63 subjects out of 206 (30.6%) had a score of 20 or more. CONCLUSION: Given the developing situation with the coronavirus, policymakers urgently need evidence synthesis to produce guidance for the public. Thus, the outcomes of this study will definitely help authorities, administrators, and policymakers to put quarantine measures in a better way.

Health technology assessment is widely used methodology internationally for optimization of healthcare resource allocation. It is a multidisciplinary process that gathers policy relevant evidence about the clinical effectiveness, cost effectiveness, ethical and social issues related to the use of a health intervention in a systematic, comprehensive, transparent and robust manner to help policy makers in decision making while formulating policies for incorporating or excluding health interventions from the health system. In order to achieve the ultimate goal of universal health coverage, Government of India has set up health technology assessment in India under the department of health research, ministry of health and family welfare. The health technology assessment framework in India must utilize its entire capacity to guide government and policy makers in explicit priority setting that ensures that available health budgets are spent after weighing all options, and coming to a fair and just conclusion.

Background: Nursing staff are at much greater risk of infection (Ebola virus diseases and severe acute respiratory syndrome) due to their exposure to highly infectious bodily fluids and droplet nuclei and the need for personal protective equipment (PPE) to reduce the transmission risk. Aim: The present study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of skin injuries and their types due to PPE usage among nursing staff in tribal India. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the dedicated coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) hospital for a period of 4 months among 144 nursing staff wearing Grade 2 and 3 PPE kits. Study subjects were approached through social networking websites and survey questionnaires (Google forms) according to relevant guides, and research literature was used to collect the details regarding baseline, duty, and skin injury characterization. Chi-square test was used to find the association between skin injury and baseline or duty characteristics, and the association was significant at a P < 0.05. Results: It was observed that 54.7% of nursing staff were working for 6 or more hours and 16.5% of subjects were wearing the PPE kit for 5 or more hours per day. Skin injury was reported by 86.3% of the subjects after using PPE. Skin injuries among nurses were statistically significant with their current place of stay and daily duty hours (P < 0.05). Conclusion: In this study, it was found that 86.3% of subjects had suffered from skin injuries by using PPE while caring for COVID-19 patients during duty hours, so an effective preventive measure should be adopted.

Background: In India, the population of above 60 years was approximately 8.2% in 2011, which is expected to rise to 11.6% by 2026. Due to epidemiological transition of diseases, morbidity of chronic nature will increase with increase of elderly population and it will affect the elderly quality of life (QOL). Aim: This study made an attempt to capture health-related quality of life HRQOL and its correlates among elderly subjects in most backward district of India. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Nagina for a duration of 4 months and included 430 elderly (60 years or above) dwelling in the same place for more than 1 year as participants. The information on sociodemographic details, WHOQOL-BREF scale details and history of chronic diseases or disorders was collected by multipurpose health workers female using a pretested, predesigned, standardized questionnaire. An association between variables and poor quality of life was significant if the P value was less than 0.05. Results: Nearly half of study participants were living in joint families (45.3%) and 67.7% of elderly gave history of chronic morbidity. There were nearly half of participants (48.8%) with poor QoL in physical health domain. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that older age, male, no schooling, without spouse, lower economic status and chronic disorder were independently associated with low QOL score. Conclusion: The study reported that nearly half of the elderly (46.7%) had poor health QoL. The family physicians shall provide preventive and promotive measures to reduce the chronic morbidity among elderly to improve QOL.

Introduction:Doing quality medical research that improves patient care, improves medical education, reduces expenditures, and benefits society at large is an important responsibility, though often underrated. Appropriate measures are required to be taken when a medical college is new. Hence, this provided an opportunity to conduct a study at a current medical institution with the aim of identifying the barriers faced by research in various domains. Methods:This cross-sectional study included currently working faculties, including senior residents and demonstrators, as subjects. A structured questionnaire with close-ended responses was used, which covered the baseline characteristics of subjects and perceived research barriers among researchers. After obtaining institutional ethical approval, the study was initiated. During the analysis of the data, an association between variables was significant for P value < 0.05. Results:In the present study, out of 105 eligible subjects, only 98 of them participated. The mean age of the subjects was 36.06 ± 6.48 years. The most frequent barriers expressed were a lack of research training facilities to solve individual research problems (45.9%) and a lack of a sufficient financial budget for research activities (57.1%). The organizational-managerial level domain was significantly associated with the subject's age, designation, and gender (P < 0.05). Conclusions:The present study identified the barriers faced by the researcher at various levels. Despite the presence of a young workforce, it was surprising to notice that more than half of the faculty members had poor research barrier scores in each of six domains, probably due to a lack of mentorship and acknowledgement, and a lack of skill in using computer-based hardware and software.