Background & Objective: Non-communicable diseases, particularly diabetes, hypertension and ischemic heart diseases have created an epidemic situation worldwide. Bangladesh is also in the grip of the menace. The only way to get rid of the menace is prevention of these diseases which demands awareness against the diseases. This study was undertaken to assess the level of knowledge of adult people of Puthia Upazila regarding prevention of the seclected non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Methods: The study was carried out in the Department of Community Medicine Rajshahi Medical College, Rajshahi over a period of 2 months from April 2018 to May 2018. All adult people (18 years onwards) residing in the rural area of Puthia Upazila were the respondents (study population) in this study. The survey invited the adult individuals to participate in the study. A total of 1001 individuals voluntarily responded to participate in the study. Of them 648(64.7%) were free from the NCDs and were interviewed to assess their level of knowledge on prevention of selected NCDs. A self-administered questionnaire containing the variables of interest for evaluating knowledge was used. Result: Two-thirds (68.2%) of the respondents were 30–50 years old with mean age of the respondents being 44.3(range: 25-90) years. Males outnumbered females by 11:9. Over half (54%) informed that they had little knowledge and 10.7% were familiar with the NCDs. Around half held the view that diabetes, hypertension, ischemic heart diseases and stroke were NCDs/chronic diseases. Approximately 70% told that the NCDs were on a rising trend. Regarding causes of chronic diseases, the respondents told excess intake of fat and sedentary life-style (67.9%), intake of excess CHO (54.2%), indulgence in smoking (68.2%), less intake of vegetables and fruits (57.4%), excess or additional salt intake (50.5%) and family history of NCD (44.1%). Regarding prevention of NCDs, around 70% were in favor of adopting healthy dietary behaviour and avoiding too much fatty food, followed by regular exercise (71.2%), avoiding or giving up smoking (70.8%) and avoiding or giving up taking extra salt (57.9%). Conclusion: The study concluded that the people of Puthia Upazilla are aware more or less about the selected NCDs (diabetes, hypertension, ischemic heart diseases and stroke). They are also aware that these diseases are increasing. Around two-thirds of the people are aware about the risk factors of these non-communicable diseases and the ways to prevent them. Ibrahim Card Med J 2020; 10 (1&2): 27-32

Introduction: Menstruation-related poor knowledge and understanding among adolescent girls may lead to unsafe personal health care practice that ultimately increases the risk of genito-urinary tract infections, drop-out from school, poor academic performance, and overall poor quality of life. Being a developing country, it is an unrecognized problematic area in Bangladesh. Therefore, it is crucial to assess knowledge and practice on menstrual hygiene among urban adolescent girls in Bangladesh. Methods: This was a community-based cross-sectional study conducted in the Department of Community Medicine of Rajshahi Medical College among 495 purposively selected urban adolescent girls. Data were collected using a semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. Results: The majority (57.2%) of the respondents in the study were more than 15 years old, and most (93.3%) were Muslim. Most of the girls (82.5%) have experienced menarche within the age range of 12-15 years, and the majority of respondents, 259 (52.32%), were informed about menstruation before menarche. Their source of information about menarche was mothers in most cases. Out of 495 adolescent girls who participated in this study, 70.9% had good knowledge of menstruation. About 82% of girls used commercially made sanitary pads, and 35.2% changed pads or clothes more than three times a day during menstruation. Conclusion: The majority (70.9%) of adolescent girls had good knowledge of menstruation, and 73.3% had a good practice on menstrual hygiene. Therefore, there is a need to design and implement universal awareness creation and advocacy programs to improve their knowledge of safe and healthy menstruation management and promote good hygienic practices by creating an appropriate supportive home and social environment for all the adolescent girls. TAJ 2022; 35: No-2: 01-11

Background & objective: With rapid improvement of socioeconomic condition of developing countries in the last two decades, a rapid change in the nutritional behaviour and activity of adolescents is evident leading to increased prevalence of overweight and obesity among them. The present cross-sectional survey was undertaken to evaluate the dietary and exercise behavior of the adolescents studying in rural secondary schools. Methods: This study was conducted in the Department of Community Medicine, Rajshahi Medical College, Rajshahi from April-May 2019. Data were collected from secondary schools of Puthia. A total of 535 students from two secondary schools participated in the study. In order to ensure an equal representation from both sexes we chose one boys‟ and one girls‟ schools. Every alternate students of those schools from class VI-X were then included in study as respondents. Weight and height of the selected students were first taken followed by interview. Result: In the present study 15% of the secondary school children were found underweight and 18% were overweight or obese. About 65% of the of the respondents‟ family were more or less financially solvent. Fifty percent of the adolescents reported that they were accustomed to a healthy balanced diet with 45% reportedly taking fruits and 60% taking plenty of vegetables every day. But only 17.3% took 3 or more servings of fruits a day (the minimum recommended fruit intake). Thirty percent of the adolescents were used to having high carbohydrate and fat. In terms of exercise practice, two-thirds (67.3%) of the students had healthy practice. The predominantly practiced exercise was running (65%) followed by cycling (64.4%), playing cricket (63.6%), football (57.2%) and fast walking (52.2%). However, with respect to number of days of exercise in a week and duration of exercise each day a sizable portion of the students‟ practice was not considered an ideal one. The respondents who did not practice any kinds of exercise or sports activities, most frequently mentioned their „preoccupation with coaching or private tutors‟ (79.4%) as reasons of inactivity, followed by non-encouragement about playing by their parents (71.4%) and teachers (65.5%). Nearly 60% were interested to play but they did not have any playing field nearby home. Nearly one-third of the students pass  > 1 hour of their leisure time by watching TV or sitting at computer or playing games or other activities on mobile. Opinion-seeking questionnaire revealed that 20-50% of the respondents had misconception on healthy diet, food, energy-rich food, balanced diet and their ability to make a healthy choice for food in any one of these food & diet-related issues. Boys are more likely to be obese and underweight than the girls. Conclusion: Unhealthy dietary behavior is widespread among secondary school adolescents in rural area. About one-third of the rural secondary school children are physically inactive and predominant reasons of their inactivity are preoccupation with coaching center or private tutors or no incentive for playing from the parents or teachers. The knowledge level of the students on healthy diet and food is not up to the desired level to make healthy choices for food themselves. Both unhealthy dietary behavior & inactivity might have contributed to inappreciably adverse nutritional status of the secondary level school children. Ibrahim Card Med J 2018; 8 (1&2): 39-47

Background & objective: Diabetes is major global epidemic with an ever-increasing trend. For diabetic patients hypoglycemia is a fact of life. The gravity of the problem demands that the diabetics must be aware about the symptoms of hypoglycemia as well as its immediate corrective measures to overcome the crisis. But, a substantial proportion of diabetic patients is unaware of all the symptoms of hypoglycemia leading to delayed management. This study was intended to assess the diabetic patients‟ perception about hypoglycemia. Methods: The study was carried out in the Department of Community Medicine, Rajshahi Medical College, Rajshahi over a period of 2 months from April 2018 to May 2018. The diabetic patients in the rural area of Puthia Upazila were the respondents (study population). A total of 107 diabetic patients were consecutively included in the study. A self-administered questionnaire containing the variables of interest for evaluating perception of the respondents about diabetic hypoglycemia was used. Respondents‟ level of knowledge about hypoglycemia was measured using Likert Scale Score. Score „1‟ was assigned for each correct answer and score  „0‟ for each wrong answer. As there were more than one question in assessing respondents‟ level of knowledge, combined scores were used to measure respondents‟ perception about hypoglycemia. Result: Over one-third (36.4%) of the respondents was middle aged (40 – 50 years old) and 29% were upper middle aged (50 – 60 years old) with mean age of the respondents being 51.3 years (range: 30-93 years). Approximately 55% were male with male to female ratio being roughly 11:9 More than two-thirds of the respondents took measures to control diabetes and their compliance to treatment was also commendably high (83%). The proportion of controlled diabetics was no less (57%). But their knowledge about common symptoms and causes of hypoglycemia was poor (no more than 25% on an average). The knowledge about measures to be taken to correct hypoglycemia was even poor (no more than 20% on an average). The perception of the significance of symptoms of hypoglycemia and the importance of their correction were disappointingly low (< 10%). Overall half (49.5%) of the respondents had very poor level of knowledge, over one-third (34.6%) had poor knowledge, 13.1% had average knowledge and only 2.8% had good knowledge about symptoms of hypoglycaemia. Conclusion: The study concluded that over two-thirds of the diabetic patients of Puthia Upazilla adopt measures to control diabetes and their compliance to treatment is appreciably high. The proportion of controlled diabetes is also appreciable. But their knowledge about symptoms, causes of hypoglycemia, measures to be taken to correct hypoglycemia and the importance of taking immediate measure to correct hypoglycemia are all inappreciably low. Ibrahim Card Med J 2018; 8 (1&2): 31-38

Background: Research is the integral part of post-graduation course curriculum. If steps are not taken at an early stage by medical postgraduates who will walk in the path of research in future, the quality of research and its application may be compromised. Students had variable perceptions towards research. The findings of this study could provide insights to improve research training. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess knowledge and to find out attitude to biomedical research of the post-graduate medical students in Bangladesh.  Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional type of descriptive study was carried out in the community Medicine Department of Rajshahi Medical College over a period of 12 months from January to December 2020 among the post-graduate students of different medical colleges. Approval from the Ethical Review Committee (ERC) was obtained prior to the commencement of the study. Purposive sampling technique was used. Pre-designed, validated, structured questionnaire was used to gather information from 325 participants on knowledge and 5-point Likert scale was used for assessment of attitude. Results: In this study excellent knowledge was considered in ≥ 80% correct answers and positive attitude was considered in ≥ 60 score. Out of the 325 study respondents, majority (53.5%) of them were male and pursuing post-graduation in different subjects. Among the respondents, 145 (44.6%) of students had good knowledge, 119 (36.60%) of students had excellent knowledge and 190 (58.5%) had positive attitude toward medical research. Relationship of level of knowledge on biomedical research was not statistically significant for age, sex, religion, marital status, parental and spouse educational status (P>0.05). But association of knowledge was statistically significant for running post-graduation course, type of research involvement and type of medical college of MBBS passing (P < 0.05). Relationship of attitude to biomedical research of the respondents was not statistically significant for age, religion, type of research involvement, type of medical college of MBBS passing, running post-graduation course, marital status, parental and spouse educational status (P>0.05). But male had more positive attitude to biomedical research than female (P<0.05). Conclusion: The study revealed that the respondents had a good knowledge and positive attitude toward biomedical research but they were not able to transform their knowledge and attitude into actual practices. TAJ 2022; 35: No-1: 51-61