Background: Menstruation is a normal physiological process and irregular menstrual pattern is a problem affecting the quality of life among women in the reproductive age group. Although many factors contribute to the irregularity in menstrual cycles this study was conducted to find out the relationship between the body mass index (BMI) and irregular menstrual pattern.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the rural health and training centre of SRM hospital between August and October 2018 by using a convenience sampling method and data was collected from 163 women in the reproductive age group and analysed to find out the relationship between the BMI and menstrual irregularity.Results: The mean age of the study participants was 31.29 (±8.32) years and their mean age at menarche was 12.59 (±1.86) years. Majority of the study participants belongs to lower middle class (25%), Hindus (85%) by religion, married (82%), homemakers (53%) belongs to nuclear family (45%) having education up to high school level (61%). Only 44% of the participants have their BMI within normal range and 8% are obese. Irregular menstrual pattern was present in 13% of the study participants. The association between the BMI and the irregular menstrual pattern was found to be significant with a p<0.05.Conclusions: A significant association between the BMI and the irregular menstrual pattern highlights the importance of adapting simple and effective lifestyle and behavioural modifications in the reduction of excess weight thereby leading to healthy reproductive life among women.

Background: The abundance of Aedes mosquitoes which transmits dengue fever fluctuates with unusual rainfall pattern and water storage practices, as it breeds well in artificial collections of water in and around the houses so vector control is the only way to break the chain of disease transmission. This study aims to find out the association between water storage practices and mosquito larval indices.Methods: This was a longitudinal study conducted among 121 households in the rural field practice area of SRM Medical College and Research Centre using a pretested, semi-structured questionnaire along with visual inspection of households for water collection and larval breeding.Results: Total study population in the 121 households was 484 which includes 247 (51%) males and 237 (49%) females. Majority of the study population were illiterates 23.7% or have education upto high school 20.8%, doing semi-skilled/unskilled work 32% belonging to a nuclear family 69.4%. More than half of the households were living in pucca house 50.4% and belongs to class-II socio-economic status 46.3%. Water scarcity and water storage were reported mostly in months between March to June which was significantly associated with presence of larva in the corresponding months (p<0.001).Conclusions: Water storage practices due to water scarcity has a significant association with the larval indices which shows that improper water storage practices can be a breeding place for mosquitoes and aid in transmission of vector borne diseases.

Background: Mobile health (mHealth) is a term used for the practice of medicine and public health supported by mobile devices. The mHealth field has emerged as a sub-segment of the eHealth which is the use of information and communication technology for health services. Majority of students own mobile phones and spend several hours per day on mobile phones plus there was an increasing consumer demand for mHealth in India. This ubiquitous presence of mobile phones makes it easier to use them as a health promotion tool.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted between November 2013 and August 2014 among 274 male college students of Delhi University who were the participants in a randomized intervention trial evaluating the use of mobile text messaging in reducing the lifestyle risk factors and asked about their opinion regarding the mobile health approach.Results: Most of the respondents were aged 17 to 22 years (72%), pursuing science stream of education (68%), with fewer hostellers (36%) than day scholars (64%). Majority of the study participants (>90%) were satisfied with the mobile health messaging approach and most of the students (96%) felt mHealth technology could be a useful health promotion tool in India.Conclusions: The current study shows that majority of the study participants were satisfied in receiving health promotional text messages as a part of mobile health approach and felt that this mHealth technology could be a useful health promotion tool in India. This study shows cost-effective, client-driven and universally available mobile technology can be used as a tool for health promotion.

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