Background:Neonatal mortality rate is regarded as an important and sensitive indicator of the health status of a community. Children face the highest risk of dying in their first month of life. The present study was aimed to 1) determine the prevalence of neonatal mortality rate 2) identify socio-biological factors in relation to neonatal mortality.3) determine the causes of neonatal mortality. Methods:A community based cross sectional study was conducted in the field practice areas of Department of Community Medicine, AMU, Aligarh. All the live births and all neonatal deaths were taken for one year from June 2016 to May 2017. A standard Verbal autopsy questionnaire (WHO 2012) was used as a study tool. Results:The prevalence of neonatal mortality rate was38.2/1000 live births. The early neonatal mortality rate was 28.3/1000 live births and late neonatal mortality rate was 9.9/1000 live births. The associated socio –biological factors were gender [OR-2.381, 95% CI-1.037-5.468], birth order [OR-4.090, 95% CI-1.119-14.946] and gestational age [OR-12.62, 95% CI-3.26-48.82]. The leading causes of deaths among newborns were preterm births (22.2%), birth asphyxia (22.2%), other causes (19%), ARI (14.3%), congenital anomalies (14.3%) and diarrhoeaandneonatal sepsis accounted for (4.8%) each. Conclusions: The neonatal mortality rate assessed by verbal autopsy is higher than nationally reported. Most of the deaths were in early neonatal period. There is a need for programs encouraging the use of antenatal care, encouraging institutional deliveries and care of LBW neonates; as well as implementation of community-based newborn survival strategies.

Background: The study was aimed to study the practices related to breastfeeding among newborns in Aligarh and to assess the determinants of breastfeeding practices.Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out in the field practice areas of Department of Community medicine, AMU, Aligarh. All the live births in one-year study duration were included in the study. Verbal consent was obtained prior to the interview. Data was collected by interview technique using semi structured questionnaire and analysed in SPSS 20.Results: A total of 705 newborns were enrolled in the study. 5.3% of the mothers in our study didn't breastfeed their newborns even after 24 hours after the delivery. 6% of the mothers discarded their colostrum and 36.9% of mothers gave prelacteals to their newborns. Almost half of the newborns were exclusively breastfed. There is a significant association between being primiparous and not practicing exclusive breastfeeding (p=0.003). However, no significant association was found between breastfeeding practices and gender, birth order of newborn, age and education of mother.Conclusions: Present study shows that 64.2% of newborns received the right breastfeeding practices which is quite good as per the national average. This study emphasizes the need to address the practices like discarding the colostrum and use of prelacteal feed which are still widely prevalent.

Introduction: Smartphones and computers provide access to the Internet, which makes us highly reliant on them and leads to phubbing. Phubbing is described as the behaviour of ignoring others by looking at your mobile phone during a conversation with another individual and escaping from interpersonal communication. Almost all medical students have smartphones, so it is imperative to study this behaviour among them. Aim: To assess phubbing and its determinants among medical students of the School of Medical Sciences and Research, Gautam Buddha Nagar. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out from July 2021 to September 2021 among medical students of the School of Medical Sciences and Research, Sharda University, Gautam Buddha Nagar, India. A total of 422 MBBS students, who were present during data collection were included. Data was collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire, consisting of the socio-demographic profile, phubber’s characteristics, phubbing scale, smartphone addiction scale, and self-control scale. The data were analysed using frequency, percentage, and unadjusted odds ratio. Results: A total of 422 MBBS students data was analysed. Mean age, 21.28±1.27 years. The prevalence of phubbing was 42.7 percent in present study. Among them, 151 (83.9%) were college phubbers. On the phubbing scale, the majority of the participants, 306 (72.5%) reported that their phone was always within their reach. There was a significant association found between smartphone addiction (OR:3.880; 95%CI:2.290-6.574) and lack of self-control (OR:1.992; 95%CI:1.250-3.172) with phubbing. Conclusion: This study found a high prevalence of phubbing behaviour. The results presented that phubbing is determined by a lack of self-control and smartphone addiction. Findings highlight the need to regulate smartphone and social media usage during college time and at home.