Pakistan Journal of Public Health最新文献

{"title":"COVID 19: A Risk Factor for Stroke and New Neurological Symptoms in Elderly","authors":"Kiran Khushnood, N. Sultan, S. Qureshi","doi":"10.32413/pjph.v12i2.942","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.32413/pjph.v12i2.942","url":null,"abstract":"The pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus has given a major thrash back to all aspects of life including society, culture, lifestyle, finance, and health. Exposure of this lethal virus has affected nearly all systems of human body and has given rise to numerous complications afterwards. It has seriously targeted the pulmonary, cardiovascular, and nervous system. Its serious implications on nervous system have been explained in recent studies (1). Coronavirus associates with different complications including stroke. The hypercoagulability or sepsis induced coagulopathy related to coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) can predispose an individual to cerebrovascular accident. This virus binds to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) present on the smooth muscles and brain endothelium. Diminution of ACE2 may contribute to elevation of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE1) and angiotensin hormone which results in injury to tissues and stroke. The use of tissue plasminogen activator and heparinoids with low molecular weight can lower thrombosis and hence prevent mortality in COVID-19 affected patients (2). has been to have more neurological complications associated with COVID-19 as compared to non-elderly population. The neurological disorders COVID-19 are headache, agitation, consciousness, Barre and","PeriodicalId":256876,"journal":{"name":"Pakistan Journal of Public Health","volume":"32 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132202945","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Major Factors Causing Uncertainties in Career Selection Among Medical Students of Gujranwala Medical College","authors":"Kauser Aftab Khan, Syed Mohmmad talha abbas Syed, S. Anwar, Zeeshan Sakhwat, Iqra Chaudhry","doi":"10.32413/pjph.v12i2.945","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.32413/pjph.v12i2.945","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Diverse factors influence the career choice of medical students. This study was carried out to identify career preferences and factors influencing specialty selection among undergraduate medical students of Gujranwala Medical College which has students from multiple cities including Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Faisalabad to name a few. Hence this study will be valuable for the medical education sector because understanding career uncertainty at Gujranwala Medical College will also provide ways of developing better tools and counseling programs to help medical students throughout Pakistan prepare for their future.\u0000Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among students of Gujranwala medical college. As the sample size for this study was not too large and the targeted audience had close physical proximity, a structured paper questionnaire was used containing multiple-choice questions, dichotomous questions as well as scaling questions with content ranging from their career preferences after MBBS to assessing possible factors that may have influenced their choice of specialty. All information gathered was on a volunteer basis. Anonymity and confidentiality were maintained. The study was approved by the college ethical review committee. A pilot study was done on 20 participants and no discrepancies were found.\u0000 Results: Out of 218 students, 85 (36%) were male and 133 (61%) were female. Out of the 85 male students, 74 students were undecided about career preference. Out of the 133 female students, 94 students were undecided about career preference. Regarding factors influencing career choice, year/level of study was proven to have a significant association with career choice (p value-value: 0.001). 2nd Year students reported the highest uncertainty (89%), 4th Year students reported the second-highest uncertainty (85%), 5th Year students reported the lowest uncertainty (51%). Career uncertainty also had a significant association with how often students thought about changing their career (p-value: 0.002). The ones who often or always thought about changing careers reported the highest uncertainty (100%), while the ones who never thought about changing careers reported the lowest uncertainty (57%).\u0000Conclusion: Study The study has shown that a significant number of medical students are uncertain about their career intentions. Year of study, gender, and general satisfaction with the medical field was proven to be major factors in causing such uncertainty about career choice after MBBS. Final year students were most certain about career intentions along with those who never thought about changing careers. While results were consistent with several national and international studies, variability in said results across different studies was also noted.","PeriodicalId":256876,"journal":{"name":"Pakistan Journal of Public Health","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125335845","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pakistan Preparedness and Response in Alleviating Covid Catastrophe","authors":"Umair Maqbool, Farhana Tabassum, M. A. Habib","doi":"10.32413/pjph.v12i2.988","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.32413/pjph.v12i2.988","url":null,"abstract":"The global pandemic of COVID 19, is being recognized as the sixth public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization (WHO). The virus was initially identified by the China Health Authority in Wuhan City in Hubei Province in central China. The havoc wrecked by the lethality of this ever-mutating virus had brought one of the leading and mightiest economies on its knees in a sheerly astounding manner. It challenged the global health system, devastated human lives, and grappled the entire human race in agony and crises in a very short period. The experts have declared this virus deadliest than the 1918 flu pandemic. People from every walk of their lives be it individuals, daily wagers, students, or accomplished professionals were all severely affected by the wrath that was inflicted by the Covid 19. The United States of America, India, Italy, and the United Kingdom were the countries that severely faced the turmoil of this virus. Globally, more than half of million people had lost their lives and hundreds of thousands fell prey to the devastation of this pandemic. However, several analysis and reports reveal a few flabbergasting findings which suggest that the threatening consequences of the virus have not been as appalling as it has been to other parts of the world. In this context, the example of Pakistan is the case in point, which has fared well in the jeopardy during the times of Coronavirus. However, it remains to be seen that how the country despite having poor eco-nomic indicators, meager resources, and a crippling health system emerged resilient as compared to its other neighboring countries. The saga of Pakistan’s journey of flattening the curve is out -standing yet revealing. In this context, the sole ambition of writing down the following opinion is to highlight Pakistan's robust response and success factors in mitigating the pandemic predicament and averting its crises, having said that, Pakistan's age demographics, government's rigorous approach to preventing the plight of covid will also be discussed. Hence, all things considered, the success which is embedded in collective factors will also be talked through.","PeriodicalId":256876,"journal":{"name":"Pakistan Journal of Public Health","volume":"4 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115091886","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessment of Symptoms Succeeding COVID-19 Vaccination in Health Care Workers of Rawalpindi Medical University, Pakistan","authors":"U. Aftab, Sheeza Farooq, S. Bilal, M. Ishfaq, Shanza Nazish, Muhammad Irfan","doi":"10.32413/pjph.v12i2.1003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.32413/pjph.v12i2.1003","url":null,"abstract":"Background: We aimed to evaluate the duration and severity of symptoms experienced by Health care workers (HCWs) after receiving first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and to compare these symptoms with respect to age, gender, previous infection with COVID-19 and history of allergies.\u0000Methods: Data for this cross-sectional analytical study was collected using simple random sampling by filling a proforma after detailed in person interview of the selected HCWs of Rawalpindi Medical University between May 2021 to September 2021. However, those HCWs who had co-morbidities were excluded from the study.\u0000Results: A total of 350 participants were interviewed and data was analyzed by SPSS 25. Out of 350 participants 205 (58.6%) experienced symptom after receiving the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Most common symptom was local pain at injection site (58%). Other symptoms include fatigue(41.5%) ,myalgia(33.2%) ,low grade fever (28.8%), headache(26.8%) ,high grade fever(6.3%),joint pain(7.8%), Giddiness(5.4%), sore throat(5.9%),nausea (4.9%), diarrhea(2%) ,constipation(1.5%), insomnia(1%), allergic rash(1.5%).Women were likely to experience more symptoms as well as earlier onset of symptoms. Older age was related to late appearance and longer duration of symptoms. People who have earlier been infected with COVID-19 were likely to experience more severe symptoms. Those having previous history of any allergies were more likely to experience post-vaccination symptoms. All these results were statistically significant with p value less than 0.05.\u0000Conclusion: Two-thirds of healthcare professionals who completed the survey reported mild and short- lived symptoms. These symptoms are the local and systemic manifestations of immunogenicity and reactogenicity of vaccines. No serious adverse event was reported hence further supporting the evidence for safety of these vaccines.","PeriodicalId":256876,"journal":{"name":"Pakistan Journal of Public Health","volume":"51 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127525329","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Qualitative Inquiry on Smokers’ Perceptions of Smoking Cessation during Covid-19","authors":"S. Iqbal, R. Barolia, Kiran Zulfiqar, P. Petrucka, Jeniefer Anastasi, Faris Farooq Saeed Khan, Naheed Feroz Ali","doi":"10.32413/pjph.v12i2.1029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.32413/pjph.v12i2.1029","url":null,"abstract":"Background: This qualitative exploratory study explores smokers’ perspectives regarding smoking cessation processes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.\u0000Methods: Purposive sampling was employed to conduct semi-structured interviews with cigarette smokers visiting cardiac and pulmonary clinics at a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Thematic analysis was performed to identify themes from the participants’ responses.\u0000Results: Three themes emerged from the thematic analysis. These were smoking cessation facilitators, smoking cessation barriers, and COVID-19 impacts on smoking cessation. Awareness and education, threat of acquiring health problems, religious beliefs and family or support system behave as smoking cessation facilitators. While, role modeling, associating smoking to stress relief, and cigarette dependency were major barriers to smoking cessation or prevention. There were mixed perceptions regarding association of cigarette smoking and COVID-19. However, some of the participants shared feelings of fear for being vulnerable to COVID-19 and its complications.\u0000Conclusion: The findings of this study generated significant recommendations for providing effective and optimal smoking cessation interventions such as not missing the teachable moment for smoking cessation counselling, anti-smoking smoking efforts from religious perspectives, and strict implementation of anti-smoking regulations in the country.","PeriodicalId":256876,"journal":{"name":"Pakistan Journal of Public Health","volume":"17 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115043311","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evidence Linking Stunting to Economic Outcomes in the SAARC Region: A Systematic Review","authors":"Minnat Seema Nasser, A. Akhlaq, Hijaz Ali, Dawood Nasser","doi":"10.32413/pjph.v12i2.978","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.32413/pjph.v12i2.978","url":null,"abstract":"Background: At present, South Asian Association for Regional Coorporation (SAARC) countries have tremendous pressure on child stunting along with the impact it is making on economic growth. World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and The World Bank (WB) have emphasized for this region to reduce stunting by 40%. The objective of this paper is to analyze the impact of stunting on economic outcomes in SAARC countries so that to scale up policies and programs aiming to reduce child stunting.\u0000Methods: The systematic review has assessed five international databases; PubMed, JSTOR, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and CINAHL Plus for published, unpublished, and ongoing research till the year 2020. Grey literature is searched using Google Scholar and Google search engines. The systematic review registration number in PROSPERO is CRD42021230279.\u0000Results: Thirty-three (33) studies matched the criteria. Most quantitative studies link stunting with economic repercussions. Three investigations found no or a weak link between the two. Nutritional intervention synthesis predicts a 12 percent return, a 5:1-6:1 benefit-cost ratio, and a 14mm height gain. A 1 cm increase in height increases pays by 4% for men and 6% for women. Stunting caused a 5%-7% income penalty and lower lifetime pay. Studies show that a 10% increase in agricultural growth reduces stunting by 9.6%, while a 10% increase in non-agricultural growth reduces stunting by 8.4%. \u0000Conclusion: To reduce stunting prevalence, policies should be scaled up, as well as targeted and structural interventions are needed.","PeriodicalId":256876,"journal":{"name":"Pakistan Journal of Public Health","volume":"46 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132568950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Can Obesity be Considered as Risk Factor to Ovarian Cancer? A Review","authors":"Q. Alvi, G. M. Baloch, Faiza Khalil, K. Chinna","doi":"10.32413/pjph.v12i2.963","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.32413/pjph.v12i2.963","url":null,"abstract":"Ovarian cancer is the most fatal gynecologic cancers and is an important source of cancer-related mortality, particularly in developed countries. Epidemiological studies have shown that the risk of ovarian cancer associated with body mass index obesity and overweight differs across different geographical distributions. Obesity and the possibility of ovarian cancer have been widely studied, but findings have yielded inconsistent results. The aim of this review study is to investigate the association of obesity, overweight and body mass index with ovarian cancer. The relevant search of databases was conducted, including Medline, Springer, NCBI, PubMed, Cancer organizations, WHO reports and Cancer statistics. Due to broad scope of the research questions a narrative review approach was undertaken. All studies that assessed the relation between obesity leading to ovarian cancer and obesity as risk factor for ovarian cancer were selected for review. The prevalence of obesity and overweight was found to be increasing worldwide. Obesity and overweight are believed to be related with psychological, and social problems along with other health problems. These conditions are needed to be monitored and controlled more effectively both in developed and underdeveloped countries. There is a lack of data on the relationship between obesity and ovarian cancer from low-income countries due to scarcity of resources and low awareness levels. As a result, further research is required to better understand the biological pathways underlying the connection between obesity and ovarian cancer.","PeriodicalId":256876,"journal":{"name":"Pakistan Journal of Public Health","volume":"23 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130525407","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire Méditerranée (IHU): Another Variant of SARS-CoV-2","authors":"F. Chaudhary, M. Javaid, Mawra Hyder, Ayesha Fazal, Shahab Ud Din, Afsheen Mansoor","doi":"10.32413/pjph.v12i2.1071","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.32413/pjph.v12i2.1071","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":256876,"journal":{"name":"Pakistan Journal of Public Health","volume":"97 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115608380","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice about Dengue Transmission among Residents of Dengue Prevalent Zones of Rawalpindi","authors":"Kauser Aftab Khan, Z. Qureshi, S. Anwar, S. Ashraf, Sabahat Fatima, Fatima Fawad","doi":"10.32413/pjph.v12i2.1002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.32413/pjph.v12i2.1002","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Over the past decade the incidence of Dengue Fever (DF) has increased substantially, and it has emerged as a major public health threat. The objective of this KAP study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regrading dengue fever.\u0000Methods: This Cross-Sectional Study was carried out in Dengue epidemic zones of Rawalpindi. One individual from each household (n = 110) was interviewed. KAP valuation was done by recording scheme. Data were analyzed using MS Excel and SPSS version 21. Chi-square / Fischer exact test and correlation were performed to check the significance of the association.\u0000Results: The Participants were from the age bracket of 17 to 26 years; the mean age was 20.2 ± 1.9 years. 53.6% were male and 46.4% were female, and most of them 59.1% were illiterate. A major source of information about infection was reported as news/ radio (73.6%) each, followed by newspaper 68.2%. The mean score obtained by participants was as: knowledge 6.19 ± 1.267; attitude 4.67 ± 1.2 and practice score 3.6 ±1.03. The correlation of these scores revealed a significant positive correlation between knowledge and attitude, and knowledge and practice (p value<0.001). 40.9% of respondents had sufficient knowledge, 54.5% had a good attitude and 64.5% had good practices. Cross tabulation results showed a significant association between knowledge and practices at p-values of 0.02.\u0000Conclusion: Overall score for all three categories seems not satisfactory. There is a need to improve the knowledge of the studied area population by involving the residents and health care professionals.","PeriodicalId":256876,"journal":{"name":"Pakistan Journal of Public Health","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116942481","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Frequency of newly diagnosed diabetes in hemorrhagic stroke patients presenting to a tertiary care hospital in Peshawar.","authors":"Salim Badshah, Muhammad Bilal, A. Masood, Y. Khan","doi":"10.32413/pjph.v12i2.986","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.32413/pjph.v12i2.986","url":null,"abstract":"Objective: The present study aimed to determine the frequency of newly diagnosed diabetes in Hemorrhagic stroke patients presenting to a tertiary care hospital in Peshawar. \u0000Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Medicine, Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, for six months. A total of 210 hemorrhagic stroke patients were recruited. Patient history was obtained following detailed clinical examination and necessary tests such as computerized tomography (CT) brain, Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c). The data were recorded using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 22.0. \u0000Results: Out of the total, there were 66.70% males and 33.30% females, with a mean age of 55.90 ± 9.28 years. 53.3% were hypertensive, and only 27.60% had active smoking status. We found 63 (30.0%) new cases of diabetes mellitus. The most common risk factors among the enrolled newly diagnosed diabetic subjects were family history of diabetes, hypertension, and BMI (P<0.05). \u0000Conclusion: It is concluded that newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus is fairly common in hemorrhagic stroke patients. Therefore, it is recommended that early screening of diabetes mellitus will benefit the patients in terms of good prognosis, reduced morbidity, and mortality.","PeriodicalId":256876,"journal":{"name":"Pakistan Journal of Public Health","volume":"264 ","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134480610","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}