Background: Medication adherence is a growing concern to healthcare systems as non-adherence to pharmacotherapy has been associated with adverse outcomes and higher costs of care. Objective: To assess the determinants of Patient’s adherence to Hypertensive medication and to evaluate the levels of adherence based on Health belief Model.Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted in the OPDs of Rural Health Centres of a tertiary care hospital  over a period of 4 months(April’16 –July’16) using a semi-structured and validated questionnaire which contain information on demographic characteristics, medication and health related facility and Health Belief Model. All hypertensives taking medication for more than 6 months were included in this study. Medication Adherence was assessed using the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-8(MMAS-8).Statistical Analysis: Data was analysed using SPSS and P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Out of 300 patients, 114 were males and 186 were females. The level of Adherence was 23% in our study subjects. Gender (0.05), Religion (0.02), Marital status (0.035), Socioeconomic status (p=0.000) and Frequency of medication (p=0.000) had association with adherence. Based on health belief model, perceived severity (p=0.000), perceived susceptibility (p=0.000), perceived benefit (p=0.000), perceived barrier (p=0.000), Cue to action (p=0.025) and self-efficacy (p=0.00) had association with adherence.Conclusions: Patients Knowledge, understanding and perception can improve the adherence to medication. The results of our study can be used for better treatment of Hypertension.

The authors reviewed six cases of multiple brain abscesses that were treated at King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH) over an eight year period. This represented 22% of the total brain abscesses treated during the same period. The series is unusual in that the infective pathogens were fungi (Fonsecaea pedrosoi) in two patients (33%) and an aerobic actinomycete (Nocardia asteroides) in one patient (16%). Two patients treated elsewhere with antibiotics empirically for one month died at three and 28 days following admission. The poor outcome was probably related to the delay in obtaining a microbiological diagnosis and commencing the appropriate antimicrobial therapy. The importance of early identification of the pathogen in patients with multiple brain abscesses is stressed.

Background: Indoor air pollution is typically underreported and less regulated than its counterpart. So this study was to assess the awareness and attitude of the study population towards ill effects of indoor smoke exposure among the study population and to assess the users' perception about other alternative fuels to be used to reduce the ill effects. Objectives of the study were to assess the awareness and attitude of the study population towards ill effects of indoor smoke exposure among the study population and to assess the users' perception about other alternative fuels to be used to reduce the ill effects.Methods: It was a cross- sectional study conducted in the rural field practice area of K.S Hegde Medical Academy among the household women who spend the majority time cooking in their house. The study included 400 household women. Data was collected using a pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire, and entered into MS Excel and analysed.Results: Most (80.8%) of them were aware that exposure to smoke affects the health of those exposed to it. Also, their perception regarding alternate fuels was good. In the study most of the study participants (92.1%) were willing to change over to a cleaner fuel.Conclusions: By raising their awareness towards the harmful effects of firewood smoke and providing awareness regarding government programmes for using cleaner fuels, the ill-effects on health of those involved in cooking can be reduced in future.

INTRODUCTIONSkin is the largest organ of our body which constitutes to about 16% of the body weight and covers the entire body, both exposed and unexposed areas, making it a frequent target for infections. Paediatric group is more at risk for these conditions due to their thin and delicate skin, greater absorption because of greater ratio of skin surface area to body volume and poor ability to regulate temperature. Many earlier studies have also attributed increased frequency among this age group to their personal habits, socioeconomic status and the geographical effect of their places. 1Educational institutions are the places where children come into contact with various external stimuli and become more prone to infections. Skin disorders are mostly seen among the school children with a prevalence ranging from 8.7% to 35% as evident from school based surveys conducted in India. School surveys acts as a major indicator of the health status of the community and it is also time saving. Common conditions refer to those which have a prevalence of more than 1% in the community or at a primary healthcare setting. Skin disorders or conditions focussed here are mainly the infections of the superficial ABSTRACT Background: Overcrowding, Poor personal hygiene and Lower economic status are proved to be major causes of common skin conditions. School children are more prone for these infections and majority of them are preventable. The objective of the study was to assess the pattern of common skin conditions among school children in Urban South India. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on 615 children from three primary schools coming under the community health centre, Mulky. Data was collected using a pretested semi structured questionnaire on sociodemographic characteristics and skin conditions were identified by examination. Results: Out of the 615 children, 389 (63%) had infective skin conditions. Most of them belonged to Hindu religion (57.4%) followed by Muslim (32.7%) and Christian (9.4%). Skin infections were equal among both sexes. Among the skin infections, nearly 26.1% had fungal infections, 18.7% had bacterial infections, 13.1% had parasitic infections and 5.4% had viral infections. Conclusions: Prevalence of skin infections is high in our study and there is a need to emphasize more on improving school health programmes and health education to teachers, parents and children.