Natl Med J India
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Globally, more than 350 million people of all ages suffer from depression. Elderly persons are more vulnerable to depression. We conducted this study to estimate the prevalence of depression, and to study the association of depression with sociodemographic and clinical variables among elderly persons in a rural community. ⋯ Depression is common among elderly persons in rural areas. Individuals providing healthcare to elderly persons need to be trained to identify depression and take appropriate action; elderly persons with chronic diseases and hearing impairment deserve special attention.
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There is little information regarding costs of managing type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) from low- and middle-income countries. We estimated direct costs of T1DM in patients attending a referral diabetes clinic in a governmentfunded hospital in northern India. ⋯ Direct costs of T1DM were high; in proportion to their income the costs were greater in the lower SES. The largest expenditure was on home blood glucose monitoring and insulin. Support for insulin and glucose testing strips for T1DM care is urgently required.
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There is a dearth of studies on the clinical profile and therapeutic aspects of critically ill obstetric patients from rural areas, especially those requiring tertiary care support and ventilator therapy. ⋯ Inadequate antenatal care, delayed referral practices, pregnancy-induced hypertension, obstetric haemorrhage and sepsis remain the major causes of complications in obstetric patients from rural areas. The common indications for mechanical ventilation were pulmonary oedema, ARDS and acute lung injury. Early initiation of mechanical ventilation upon detection of imminent.
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Traditional lecture-based teaching of anatomy tends to focus on the discipline per se rather than relating it to clinical conditions. As a result, students often lose interest in the basic sciences. We hypothesized that a lecture format that encourages students to relate anatomy to case presentations might help them in appreciating clinical relevance. We therefore proposed to develop, implement and evaluate innovative interactive clinical anatomy lectures (ICALs) for first year medical students of our institution as a method to implement the 'early clinical exposure' teaching strategy being promoted by the Medical Council of India. ⋯ It is feasible to introduce early clinical exposure within lectures even with 150 students. There was a statistically significant (p<0.001) difference in the mean post-test scores of the two groups, which shows that ICALs are effective in correlating anatomical and clinical information to students. The nominal group technique responses of the study group showed that they appreciated it as a better method of teaching and learning.