Online Journal of Health and Allied Sciences最新文献

{"title":"Prevalence and Contributing Factors of Smoking among Undergraduates in Pokhara Metropolitan City, Nepal","authors":"P. Khadka, Pooja Bhandari","doi":"10.37107/jhas.310","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37107/jhas.310","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction: Smoking is one of the most common preventable causes of death globally, contributing significantly to the global burden of diseases, especially chronic non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, cancers, and stroke. It is a known fact that cigarette smoking is harmful and addictive, but very few pay attention to its deadly results.The study was conducted to assess the prevalence and contributing factors for smoking among undergraduates. \u0000Methods: The purposive sampling technique was used to select the subjects. Total 220 undergraduates were choosen and a self–administered questionnaire was used to collect data. \u0000Results: The respondents at around 70.0% were of age less than 21 whereas 30.0 % were of age more than 21. The mean age was 21.01±1years. More than half (54.08%) of the respondents were female, while 45.09% were male. The majority (92.72%) of the respondents belonged to the Hindu religion. Regarding ethnicity, 70.93% of the respondents were from the upper caste, while less than 1.36% belonged to religious minorities.The prevalence of smoking was found to be 15.0%. \u0000Among 67.16% of the respondents initiated smoking at the age of 15-20 years. Maximum 56.71% bought smoking agents from their own pocket money. The major influencing factors for smoking were experimentation i.e. 46.26%, followed by peer pressure, 25.37%. The variables such as sex, age, religion, and educational status of a mother were found to be associated with smoking. \u0000Conclusion: The prevalence of smoking among college students is low. Among them who smoke, majority of the students started smoking as experimentation and peer pressure.Strict laws against smoking should be formulated and implemented effectively. Awareness programs should be carried out focusing on harmful effects of smoking.","PeriodicalId":39573,"journal":{"name":"Online Journal of Health and Allied Sciences","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86620740","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":"Prevalence and Factors Associated with Mental Health Outcomes among Healthcare Workers Exposed to COVID-19 Pandemic in Nepal","authors":"P. Ghimire, Brihaspati Sigdel, P. Dhakal, Shradda Kumari Sharma Baidhya, K. Pandey, S. P. Wasti","doi":"10.37107/jhas.269","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37107/jhas.269","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction: Corona virus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered corona virus. Healthcare workers are at risk of developing psychological distress and other mental health related symptoms. This study was intended to evaluate the prevalence and predictors of depression, anxiety, stress, and fear during COVID-19 pandemic among healthcare workers of Nepal. \u0000Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between June and July 2020 with 167 healthcare workers. Mental health outcome, specially, fear was estimated using fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19S) whereas depression, anxiety and stress were assessed using DASS-21 survey questionnaire. Statistical analysis used: Chi-square test was performed to observe the association between mental health outcomes variables among health workers and the significance level was considered to be a p-value less than 0.05. \u0000Results: There were 15.0%, 24.0%, and 5.4% of the respondents who had severe and extremely severe level of depression, anxiety, and stress respectively and 44.3% of the respondents had fear during COVID-19 pandemic. The gender and job position were statistically significant with depression. The gender, job position, and respondents who had any health problems were statistically significant with anxiety. The respondents who had any health problems were statistically significant with stress. The gender, education, and job position were statistically significant with fear. \u0000Conclusion: During the COVID-19 outbreak, the frontline healthcare workers have experienced a varying level of depression, anxiety, stress, and fear. Specific counseling, support system, training on handling COVID-19 patient, and assigning normal working hour as government protocol to all healthcare workers are needed to enhance their psychological wellbeing and strengthen the healthcare systems capacity during pandemic.","PeriodicalId":39573,"journal":{"name":"Online Journal of Health and Allied Sciences","volume":"387 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77438244","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":"Awareness and Practices on Occupational Safety among Building Construction Workers in Pokhara Metropolitan","authors":"Sujata Adhikari, S. Wagle","doi":"10.37107/jhas.224","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37107/jhas.224","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction: The risk of occupational injury and accident is more prominent in the construction industry than in other sectors. These accidents and injuries are the results of a low level of awareness and limited practice of safety measures. So, the main aim of this study was to assess the awareness and practices on occupational safety among the building construction workers. \u0000Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 384 building construction workers of Pokhara Metropolitan. Multi-stage sampling technique was used. Face-to-face interview and interview schedule was the data collection technique and tool. The questionnaire was pre-tested among (10%) of the total sample. Ethical approval was taken from the Institutional Review Committee of Pokhara University. \u0000Results: This study showed that most of the workers (94.8%) were aware of the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The majority of the workers (63.8%) had poor levels of practice of PPE. The practice of PPE was significantly associated with the marital status, work experience, work hours, First aid kit facilities, Insurance services, awareness of the use of PPE, PPE availability, awareness about the occupational health problems, and workplace safety training. \u0000Conclusion: Most of the workers were aware of the use of safety measures but the practice of safety measures was poor. Marital status, awareness of safety measures, and so on were found to be significantly associated with the practice of PPE. Construction companies should implement the compulsory use of PPE to prevent accidents and injuries at construction sites.","PeriodicalId":39573,"journal":{"name":"Online Journal of Health and Allied Sciences","volume":"59 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80522123","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":"Breast Cancer Screening Behavior and its Contributing Factors among Women of Pokhara Nepal","authors":"Sushma Poudel, Rojana Dhakal","doi":"10.37107/jhas.254","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37107/jhas.254","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction: Breast carcinoma is the most prevalent cancer in both industrialized and developing nations among women. Early screening play a vital role in cancer identification and prevention, potentially decreasing mortality due to breast cancer. The study’s primary goal was to find out breast cancer screening behavior and factors related to it among women of Pokhara. \u0000Methods: A survey was carried out among the 269 women residing in ward number 33, Pokhara using systematic sampling. Pokhara University Institutional Review Committee provided approval for the the study. Data were gathered through the use of validated questionnaire. Chi-square test has been applied to analyze the relationship between variables. \u0000Results: Out of 269 women, only 15.6% ever heard of breast cancer screening measures. Among those who are informed about breast cancer screening only 12.3% of women screened at least once in their life for carcinoma of breast. Breast self-examination, clinical breast exam, mammography, and breast ultrasound were practiced once in a life by 1.9%, 6.8%, 3.3% and 0.3% of women, respectively. Women educational level, ever heard of breast cancer screening programs, institutional factors, pain, concern of cost, availability of female doctor were associated with breast cancer screening. \u0000Conclusion: Overall, cancer screening behavior was poor in women of this location. Educational level, breast cancer screening information and health professional recommendation were identified as important factors for breast carcinoma screening behavior.","PeriodicalId":39573,"journal":{"name":"Online Journal of Health and Allied Sciences","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80351538","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":"Pediatric vaccinations: Nepal's life-saving weapon","authors":"Bimala Bhatta","doi":"10.37107/jhas.369","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37107/jhas.369","url":null,"abstract":"One of the most successful and economical public health interventions ever developed, vaccinations have significant positive effects on social, economic, and health ‎1 ‎2. Pediatric immunization helps shield kids and adults from serious, curable, and occasionally fatal diseases. One of the key initiatives for Sustainable Development Goal 3 is ensuring universal access to vaccinations (SDG 3). But over 20 million kids under the age of five still lack all necessary immunizations. This is a particular issue in developing countries like Nepal‎3. Complete immunization of young children is a crucial component of a kid's health and wellbeing since it lowers newborn and child mortality rates and reduces the transmission of infectious diseases.","PeriodicalId":39573,"journal":{"name":"Online Journal of Health and Allied Sciences","volume":"60 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75080923","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":"Experience of Mothers towards Hospitalization of Preterm Infants in Neonatal Intensive Care Units","authors":"T. Shrestha, Archana Pandey Bista","doi":"10.37107/jhas.273","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37107/jhas.273","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction: Hospitalization of the preterm infant (PTI) in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a stressful situation for mothers requiring nurses’ care and support for adjustment and coping. Understanding mothers’ experience is valuable for enhancing care and support for them. Therefore, this study was conducted to explore mothers’ experience regarding hospitalization of PTIs in NICUs. \u0000Methods: The qualitative pilot study was conducted among purposively selected 5 mothers of NICU admitted PTIs in a public academic hospital of Bagmati province from May to July 2019. After obtaining ethical approval, in-depth interviews were conducted using interview guideline. The data were analyzed using the content analysis method. \u0000Results: Exploration of mothers’ experience has identified 4 themes: worry and uncertainty regarding the condition and outcome of the PTIs; altered attachment and maternal roles; attachment, and care enabling with care involvement; mixed experience of care, and support. \u0000Conclusion: Hospitalization of PTIs in NICUs was distressing to mothers related to inadequate and altered attachment, and maternal roles. They experienced mother-infant attachment, contentment, and care enabling with involvement in PTI care. They valued nurses’ PTI care and care guidance and expected more guidance, communication, and emotional support. Considering study findings might be worthwhile for enhancing care status in NICUs.","PeriodicalId":39573,"journal":{"name":"Online Journal of Health and Allied Sciences","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91188474","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":"Fear of COVID-19 among Health Workers during the Early Stage of Pandemic in Nepal","authors":"S. Banstola, N. Shrestha, N. Gurung, B. Sharma","doi":"10.37107/JHAS.274","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37107/JHAS.274","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction: Fear is an emotion that has effects on behavior of people and fear of COVID-19 has significantly impacted the psychological and mental well-being of health workers. The study aimed to assess the fear of COVID-19 among health workers of different cadre during COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal. \u0000Methods: This was cross-sectional online survey involving 427 health workers currently working in Nepal from April 25 to June 10, 2020. COVID-19 fear was measured using a standard scale of seven items. Questionnaire was prepared in Google form and was sent to study population through social medias and emails. Descriptive and inferential statistics were computed at 5% level of significance. Ethical approval was taken from Nepal Health Research Council, Kathmandu. \u0000Results: Of the total, 49.6% respondents were male and 50.4% were female. Among total, 58.8 % respondents were in the age group of 19 to 29 years, and 38.4% respondents were from government organizations. Nearly half of the respondents were doctors. Out of maximum 35 COVID-19 fear score, mean COVID-19 fear was16.38 among males and 19.00 among females, 19.48 among nursing professional and 16.80 among doctors. Mean COVID-19 fear was significantly different across sex and type of health workers. Type of the organization did not have any significant relation with mean fear of COVID-19. Most of the items of COVID-19 fear were significantly associated with sex and type of health workers. \u0000Conclusion: A high level of COVID-19 fear among health workers was found in Nepal during the early stage of COVID-19 pandemic. Mean COVID-19 fear was significantly different across sex and type of health workers. Sex of the health workers and type of profession should be considered while planning psychological intervention among health workers to address the impact of COVID-19 fear.","PeriodicalId":39573,"journal":{"name":"Online Journal of Health and Allied Sciences","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90233300","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":"Awareness and Willingness on Organ Donation among Undergraduate Students of Pokhara University","authors":"K. Banstola, Sunita Sharma","doi":"10.37107/JHAS.244","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37107/JHAS.244","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction: Organ donation is possible only when a person allows his/her own organ to be removed and transplanted to another person legally with a consent. People’s attitude toward organ donation can be influenced by various factors such as awareness related to organ donation, level of education, and religion. This study aims to assess the awareness and willingness on organ donation and identify the correlation between awareness and willingness on organ donation. \u0000Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive research design was used for the study. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used among 342 respondents. Structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Pearson correlation coefficient (r) was used to find out the relation between the variables i.e. awareness and willingness. \u0000Results: In this study, 57.1% of the respondents had poor level of awareness whereas 32.7% respondents had satisfactory awareness and 10.2% had good level of awareness on organ donation. Regarding willingness on organ donation, 45.0% respondents showed willingness on organ donation and 55.0% showed no willingness on organ donation. There was low degree positive correlation (r=0.127) between awareness and willingness of the respondents on organ donation. \u0000Conclusion: The findings of the current research study concluded that more than half of the respondents had poor level of awareness and majority of respondents showed no willingness on organ donation. There is low degree of correlation between awareness and willingness of the respondents.","PeriodicalId":39573,"journal":{"name":"Online Journal of Health and Allied Sciences","volume":"100 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80816431","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":"Japanese Encephalitis Mass Vaccination Coverage Survey in Five Districts of Nepal","authors":"Bijay Khatri, Sulav Deo, Lakshmi Narayan Deo","doi":"10.37107/JHAS.219","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37107/JHAS.219","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction: The World Health Organization recommends mass vaccination campaigns in children under 15 years before introducing the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccine into the routine immunization program as the most effective immunization strategy in JE disease-endemic countries. The study was conducted to assess the JE vaccine coverage during the recent mass vaccination campaign in five districts of Nepal in 2016. \u0000Methods: A stratified three-stage cluster design was used for this cross-sectional sample survey. The JE mass vaccination campaign of 2016 targeted children aged between 1-14 years, and the interview was conducted among systematically sampled households’ mothers and guardians of children aged between 2-15 years in 2017. \u0000Results: The coverage of the JE mass vaccination campaign in the year 2016 was 96.9%; the males had slightly higher coverage (97.4%) than females (96.6%). The vaccine utilization increased with an increase in age, 94.0%, 98.1%, and 99.1% coverage among children aged 2-5 years, 6-10 years, and 10-15 years, respectively. The school enrolled children were four-times (OR: 4.016, CI: 2.595–6.216) likely to be vaccinated than out-of-school children and association was statistically significant. Among 86 children who were not vaccinated, 45.3% were ill during the campaign. Besides, 6.6% of out of school children also didn’t get the vaccination. Only three in ten (30.4%) respondents knew that the JE vaccine was given to protect against JE disease or brain fever. More than one-third (36.3%) of respondents reported that the recommendation from the health workers was  main reason for vaccinating their children. Only 1.1% of vaccinated children had minor issues following vaccination. \u0000Conclusion: Despite low awareness about the specific protection of the JE vaccine, the vaccination coverage was high during the JE mass vaccination campaign. Increasing awareness about the particular vaccine and including activities to vaccinate out-of-school children could help achieve universal coverage in future mass vaccination campaigns","PeriodicalId":39573,"journal":{"name":"Online Journal of Health and Allied Sciences","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81860947","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":"Satisfaction on Intranatal Services among Mothers in Pokhara, Nepal","authors":"Rekha Thapaliya, K. Paudel, S. Shrestha","doi":"10.37107/JHAS.203","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37107/JHAS.203","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction: Understanding maternal perception of care and satisfaction with services is a key determinant of service utilization. This study aimed to assess the level of satisfaction with intranatal services among mothers in Pokhara. \u0000Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used among 165 mothers having under one child attending 33 Maternal and Child Health Clinic of Pokhara Metropolitan City. Systematic random sampling was adopted. Face-to-face interview technique with a structured interview schedule was used. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. \u0000Results: The mean age was 25.64±4.547 years, 60% were multi-parous, and 41.8% had spontaneous vaginal delivery with episiotomy. The satisfaction of the mothers was 81.2%. Most of the mothers (90.3%) were satisfied with pain management and technical aspects of care. There was a significant association between age of mothers and parity with satisfaction with intranatal services. A majority of mothers (83.6%) had the willingness to receive service next time and 84.2% recommend services to their families and friends. \u0000Conclusion: It is concluded that most of the mothers were satisfied with the intranatal services. The level of satisfaction was lowest in physical facilities and provision of respect and privacy. Hence, improvement in the physical environment of the health facilities and provision of respect and privacy of the mothers help to increase satisfaction in all the aspects of care.","PeriodicalId":39573,"journal":{"name":"Online Journal of Health and Allied Sciences","volume":"29 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78639725","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}