No abstract

Background. Issues of menstrual morbidities, menstrual hygiene, and cultural practices are rarely discussed by adolescents. The burden of menstruation and cultural practices which the adolescent girls have to face has been less quantified. This study aims to assess the issues related to menstruation in school girls. Method. A cross-sectional prospective study was conducted on 1016 school-going adolescent girls in January 2020. A questionnaire in English and in Kannada was distributed to girls of class 8–12 of ages between 10 and 19 years. Results. 70.5% of the girls attained menarche by 12 to 14.9 years, 37.2% of the girls had their periods every 28–34 days, and 12.2% of the girls said they have heavy periods. 61.95% of the girls had dysmenorrheal, and 9.7% of the girls said that they required medications for the pain. 70.7% of the girls were using commercial sanitary napkins, 12.7% were using cloth, and 15.3% were using both. 55.5% of the girls who were using cloth as an absorbent were not drying the cloth in sunlight. 57.1% of the girls were washing their genitals more than 2 times a day. 93.8% were having bath during menses and 87.2% were using soap along with water. 37.7% of the girls disposed their pads by burning them, 50.8% of then disposed them in the dust bin, and 4.9% of them buried them. 8.6% of the girls said that they remained completely absent from school during periods. 17.85% said that they remained absent for a day. 53.4% of the respondents said that they have difficulty in concentrating at school. 76.1% said that they had adequate water and sanitation facilities at school. 22.3% said that there was adequate facility to change their pads at school. 73.2% said that they could get a spare pad at school. 43.3% of the girls said they avoided cultural functions during their periods, and 38.5% said that they avoided religious ceremonies and practices during their periods. 8.7% of the girls were made to sit outside the house during their periods. The girls from rural areas had poorer hygienic habits, in comparison to the urban girls. Cultural restrictions such as sitting outside the house during menstruation and restricting play were more in the rural girls than the urban girls. Conclusion. Menstrual morbidities, menstrual hygiene management, and cultural beliefs all play a role in school absenteeism in adolescent girls. Improvement of facilities at school and conducting awareness programs can help adolescent girls to attend schools.

Background: Pancytopenia is the reduction in all three major cellular elements of blood; hence it is the simultaneous presence of anaemia, leukopenia and thrombocytopenia. Pancytopenia is associated with many maternal and foetal complications during pregnancy like maternal sepsis, postpartum haemorrhage, pre-eclampsia and preterm labour, IUGR and intrauterine foetal demise.Methods: The study was conducted at BLDE (Deemed to be) University, Shri B. M. Patil Medical College Hospital and Research Centre. It’s an observational study done from November 2019-April 2020. The participants enrolled in the study were subjected for further clinical and laboratory evaluation and followed for feto-maternal outcome.Results: The incidence of pancytopenia with pregnancy in this study was 3% and all the patients were vegetarian by diet along with vitamin B12 and folic acid deficiency. They were associated with different maternal and foetal complications.Conclusions: Proper dietary counselling and well-balanced dietary plans even with plant originate food can prevent the micronutrients deficiency and avoid the deleterious consequences like pancytopenia.

Background: The aim of this study is to know the association between the meconium stained amniotic fluid and its association with the perinatal outcome.Methods: All the patients coming to present hospital for delivery with meconium stained liquor during the study period were included in the study.Results: 163 cases with meconium stained liquor (MSAF) were included in the study, 124(76.1%) and 39(23.9%) had thin and thick MSAF respectively. Among these cases, thick MSAF was more associated with high fetal heart rate (FHR) variability (p value- 0.030), associated with increased rate of operative interference (64.1%; p value- 0.001), abnormal Apgar score (p value-0.003 at 1min and 0.001 at 5min) and increased neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission (33.3%; p value - <0.001).Conclusions: Present study showed that thick meconium is associated with more complications like increased operative interference, birth asphyxia, meconium aspiration syndrome, low Apgar score, prolonged NICU stay and overall increased perinatal mortality compared to thin meconium stained liquor. As the gestational age increased the incidence of meconium increased and a greater number of thick meconium had abnormal CTG.

Background Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the world, affecting mainly women residing in low- and middle-income countries. Progression from a pre-invasive phase to that of an invasive phase generally takes years and provides a window of opportunity to screen for and treat precancerous lesions. Methods This study is being conducted at four sites in north Karnataka, India. Community sensitization activities have been organized in the study areas to create awareness among stakeholders, including elected representatives, physicians, health care workers, and potential participants. Organized community based as well as hospital-based screening is being conducted using visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA). Screen positive women are referred to respective study hospitals for colposcopy and directed biopsy. Participants with confirmed high-grade cervical dysplasia (high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions or HSIL) who fit all other eligibility criteria will be recruited to the study and will receive cryotherapy using CryoPop®, an innovative new cryotherapy device. Discussion There is a need to develop an inexpensive, simple, and effective cryotherapy device for use by frontline health care providers at locations where screening and timely treatment can be given, accelerating access to cervical cancer prevention services and minimizing loss to follow-up of women with precancerous lesions who need treatment. Trial registration Clinical Trial Registry - India CTRI/2019/01/017289 ClinicalTrials.Gov number NCT04154644. Registered on November 6, 2019.