Knowledge

ABSTRACTIndia has taken stringent preventive measures against COVID-19 to control its spread, safeguard citizens and ensure well-being. Public adherence to preventive measures is influenced by their knowledge and attitude toward COVID-19. This study aims to access the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the public towards COVID-19. A cross-sectional study was contacted in 50 participants using an online self-reported questionnaire. The demographics, knowledge, attitude, and practice of the participants were investigated, and the scores were calculated. The majority of the study participants were knowledgeable about COVID-19, 100% were aware of the clinical symptoms, and 94% knew that there is no clinically approved treatment. It was also evident 40% had low knowledge about wearing masks to prevent infection. Concerning attitudes, participants showed a positive and optimistic attitude toward COVID-19. 40% concur that the virus can be successfully controlled. But 34% are not convinced that the government will control this pandemic. Good knowledge of COVID-19 translates into good and safe practices, which suggests that the practices of residents are very cautious. Almost 88% of respondents refrained from attending social events, 82% avoided crowded places, and 94% avoided shaking hands. We also found that young adults are likely to have better knowledge and practices, than older adult people. The majority of the participants had good knowledge, positive attitude, and sufficient practice. Our finding suggests that targeted health interventions should be directed to this particular vulnerable population, who may be at increased risk of contracting COVID-19.Keywords: Knowledge; Awareness; Practice; Novel coronavirus; COVID 19

ABSTRACTTo investigate the knowledge of breast cancer among medical, paramedical and general population of women participants. A prospective observational questionnaire survey was carried out in a tertiary care teaching hospital in northern Karnataka for a period of six months with220 participants. Interviewer administered questionnaire was used. Data obtained was analysed using descriptive statistics. Out of 220 women, 31.36% were medical, 20.92% paramedical and 47.72% general. Almost, 94.20% of medical participants believed breast cancer as inherited. Notably, general group considered trauma(74.28%) and diet (73.33%) as major risk factors. Majority of medical and paramedical women thought lump in the breast as the initial sign of Breast Cancer. Awareness regarding mammography and biopsy in general population was 64.76% and 52.38% respectively. Moreover, 95.5% of medical women and all of the paramedical women thought that chemical / radiotherapy was the best treatment. Breast cancer knowledge and awareness was less among the general women. There is a need of developing effective interventional programs to educate women about breast cancer.Keywords: Awareness, Breast Cancer, Knowledge, Risk factors.

ABSTRACTDrug waste management has become a serious subject. Excessive use and irrational sale of medicines have led to unlimited contributions of pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare providers to the ground of waste production. The community pharmacies return the unused and expired drugs to the distributors who sent back these to the manufacturers. This study was initiated with an aim of identifying knowledge and behaviour of the distributers in the area of proper drug waste management. A questionnaire survey and key informant interview were used for the study. The study comprised of drug distributors from various areas of Ernakulum district. The survey conducted through face-to-face interviews using pre-validated structured questionnaire. The participants were asked about their practice, knowledge and difficulties facing on area of safe waste drug disposal. The filled questionnaire forms collected were sorted and examined for accuracy. 30 drug distributors were participated in the study and were asked to answer the questionnaire based on the drug waste management practices in their firm. Majority of them were not aware about the drug waste management and don’t know any guidelines for the same. Drug waste return to them was mainly expired dosage form from retail pharmacies and also from hospital pharmacies. Most of distributors had return of drug waste in the range of 10-50 kilograms per month. The key to solve the issue of pharmaceutical waste disposal can be done in collaborative effort and co-operation between government and all the parties those who are dealing with medicines including public. Established and applied laws, along with community awareness will surely make our goal simply workable. Keywords: Drug Waste, Distributors, Knowledge, Disposal Methods

A descriptive cross sectional survey was done in tertiary care hospital of Islamabad. The objective of the survey was to assess patients’ knowledge regarding diabetes mellitus (DM), its risk factors, complications, and of management among age range of 18 to 40 years. Our Research was done on relatively younger patients of diabetes. This study was completed on 145 patients (83 males and 63 females), by employing convenience sampling in the outpatient department of Pakistan institute of medical science hospital (PIMS). The structured questionnaire was used to complete the data collection process. Out of 145 participants, (57.2%) were males and (42.8%) were females. Average age of the participants was (34.65) with SD +4.971. Most of the patients were having income less than 10000 PKR (40.6%) per month. The majority of the participants (69%) were not aware about the type of diabetes they have. More than half of the patients identified lifestyle & diet modifications (64.8%) along with glucose level control (65.5%) as most important risk factors for developing complications. The knowledge of diabetes was significantly associated with the educational level and parental history of DM with p-value (0.002) and (0.017) respectively. The other factors gender, age, and income were not statistically associated with knowledge regarding management of diabetes. The patients in Pakistan having diabetes mellitus (DM) had satisfactory level of knowledge in some aspects of the disease. But, overall knowledge related to all aspects of diabetes mellitus (DM) was not up to the mark. The patients need education related to their disease and management.

Knowledge of Diabetes is an integral component for attaining optimal disease control, and reduce mortality. Patient counseling by Pharmacist would motivate the patients to attain better understanding of their Disease, its treatment and helps them to adopt healthy life style to avoid future complications. Assessment of Diabetes Knowledge in Diabetic Patients and Patient Counseling. A Cross sectional survey study was carried out over 6 months with 305 Diabetic patients in General Medicine department of Owaisi Hospital and Research centre, Hyderabad, India. A questionnaire consisting Demographic details and 21 questions relating to the patients’ knowledge of Diabetes was provided to the participants. The patients were later counseled by using Patient Information Leaflet. The results were expressed as Mean, Standard deviation and in number (%). MS Excel spread sheet have been used to generate graphs, Tables etc. Of the 305 patients 45% were male and 55% were female with a mean age of 55.52±6.9 years (range 20 to 80). About 59.3% of patients had positive family history, 65.9% of participants did not know what diabetes was. 63.5% of people thought mental stress to be the only cause for diabetes and 81.3% of subjects never received patient counseling. Study subjects showed knowledge deficits pertaining to causes, prevention and Medications used in Diabetes and very less number of patients received Counseling. These results highlight the need for educational programmes aimed at improving the knowledge of DM patients.