Diabetes is a chronic disorder that arises mainly due to unhealthy lifestyles in genetically susceptible individuals and has affected over 460 million people worldwide. Hence, alternative ways of identifying individuals at risk for developing diabetes are needed. Risk assessment tools can be useful for identifying and segmenting those at higher risk. The goal of this article is to assess various diabetes risk models that have been established in general populations to predict future diabetes, and to compare the technology behind their development and validation. PubMed, Google Scholar and Scopus were searched from inception to 10th November 2021. Studies that reported the use of risk assessment tools to identify individuals at risk of diabetes were included. Of the 9045 articles identified, 28 were included. This study includes six diabetes risk assessment tools, all of which were developed using logistic regression analysis. The most commonly included variables were age and a family history of diabetes. All six tools were subjected to external validation. The risk scores exhibited an overall strong predictive capacity for the population it was developed. However, the external populations had a lower discriminatory performance, implying that risk scores may need to be verified within the group in which they are meant to be utilised. Further, developing the risk tools using modifiable diabetes risk factors and biochemical tests can be more useful for predicting future diabetes.

Background: Diabetes is a chronic disease characterized by high blood glucose with a disruption of fat and protein metabolism. Severe restrictions in diet, daily medications and other complications of diabetes can adversely affect an individual’s health related quality of life. The present study was conducted to assess the effect of educational intervention on quality of life (QOL) among the type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients in Mysuru city.Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted from 1 November 2019 to 31 May 2020 among 138 diabetes patients at an urban health centre, Mysuru. Information regarding socio-demographic characteristics was collected using a pre-tested semi structured questionnaire. Assessment of QOL was done using the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Data was analysed using SPSS version 23 (licensed to JSS AHER).Results: The overall mean score of pre-test QOL of the study participants was 81.72±8.57 and post-test mean score was 86.43±6.322. It was observed that 68 (49.27%) participants had good total QOL score and 70 (50.72%) had poor total QOL score. Among all the 3 groups, group A showed improvement in QOL when compared to other 2 groups with 52.2% in post-test.Conclusions: Improved QOL was seen in educational intervention using smartphone app when compared to other two groups (handouts and control group). QOL is one of the important factors among T2DM patients and it is important to take effective measures to improve it along with focusing on behavioural changes and health education.

Introduction: In 2018, the Government of India launched the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), a part of the Ayushman Bharat scheme as a progressive step toward universal health coverage. The scheme was intended to provide health insurance for the socioeconomically deprived population. This study was undertaken to assess the coverage of the scheme and to assess the reduction in medical out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE). Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among the urban slum dwellers in Mysuru. A semi-structured questionnaire was used for the study. Oral consent was taken from the participants before administering the questionnaire. Data were collected by face-to-face interviews. Statistical tests such as percentages and mean were calculated using SPSS software (Version 26, Licensed by JSSAHER). Results: The study was conducted among 104 individuals, of which 73% were females. Only 38 (33%) of the participants had PM-JAY cards while 59 (56.73%) did not have any health insurance. Thirty percentage (78.95%) of the card holders had utilized the insurance in the past 1 year and incurred an OOPE of Rs. 25,873/-. For all the cardholders, this amount was spent from their savings. Conclusion: The coverage of the scheme and OOPE reduction toward health care is still lacking. Greater measures need to be taken by medical officers, medicosocial workers, and other field workers to identify eligible households and help them avail the benefits of this scheme.

Background: The World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 a pandemic that has become a significant public health burden across the world. In rural India, where 68 percent of the population resides, it will be crucial in containing the pandemic. Recognizing the importance of rural populations in COVID prevention, this study was carried out to assess the knowledge and behaviour of a selected rural population in response to COVID-19.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from January to April 2021 among patients attending the  Hadinaru primary health care centre. The sample size calculated was 415. Data were collected using a questionnaire administered face to face to each participant.Results: A total of 415 valid questionnaires were obtained. 86.99% of participants knew about at least one covid associated symptom and 96.87% knew about the mode of transmission. Around 84.82% of participants reported face masks as the best mode of prevention of COVID-19 while 88.43% of subjects were using them regularly. Hand sanitization was followed by 86.26% of subjects while only 20% followed social distancing. The education of participants was a key determinant for use of face masks, hand sanitizers and social distancing as preventive tools.Conclusions: In general, participants had good knowledge about the disease and a positive attitude towards protective measures. Although the government has made significant efforts to raise public awareness of the disease and stop its spread, more work needs to be done to support and educate the lower socioeconomic strata.

Background: Avian diseases should be known to people who raise birds as pets or for commercial purposes. Exposure to high levels of airborne dust and endotoxins is known to cause allergies. This study, therefore, intends to assess avian allergy and its associated factors among poultry workers and bird fanciers in urban Mysuru. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done over three months among 60 poultry workers and 60 bird fanciers in a selected rural population of the Mysuru district. The participants were selected by simple random sampling method and their data were obtained by interview method using a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. Chi-square test/Fisher’s exact test was used to check the associations between the demographic variables’ avian allergy. Results: The survey revealed that 31.67% of poultry workers and 53.33% of bird fanciers had symptoms. The majority of the study participants were illiterate and were not using personal protective equipment (PPE) regularly. The results showed a significant association between education ( P = 0.013) and the use of PPE ( P = 0.020) with avian allergy. Observing the health hazards, 42.10% had respiratory problems, 42.10% had skin problems, and 26.31% had eye problems. Further, a significant association was also found between education and knowledge about diseases ( P = 0.001). Conclusion: The avian allergy among the bird fanciers was higher when compared to poultry workers. It is necessary to organize routine counseling, awareness, and training programs about diseases and prevention strategies related to their work and living environments and keep them updated.