BACKGROUND: Student absenteeism is a major concern for undergraduate medical education training in India. Regular class attendance helps students have a proper understanding of the topic of discussion. This study explores the pattern of absenteeism among medical students and whether absenteeism is associated with their academic performances. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A record-based, cross-sectional study was done by reviewing departmental attendance registers, item cards and marks obtained in exam by 190 students in the community medicine department who had passed their 3 rd professional part 1 examination in 2018. The data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 16. A descriptive analysis summarizes the pattern of absenteeism and their marks obtained in the semester and professional exam of community medicine. The primary outcome indicator was the 3 rd professional exam marks. The correlation between class absenteeism and other predictors and exam result was analyzed. Regression analysis was done to predict dependence of outcome variable on class attendance and formative examination marks. RESULTS: Overall, female students had better class attendance than male students. There was a positive correlation of lecture class attendance ( r = 0.369) and marks obtained in the 6 th semester exam ( r = 0.717) with the final exam result. Further regression analysis showed final marks had a higher dependence on the 6 th semester examination score (B = 0.669) when compared to lecture class attendance (B = 0.051). CONCLUSION: Although lecture class attendance is an important predictor of final result, this study showed that the 6 th semester marks were a better predictor. This may be due to multiple factors (alternate source of learning, student's motivation, etc.) which require further exploration.

Context: Cancer is a serious global public health problem. Public awareness plays a big role in the prevention of cancer. Aims: This study aims to evaluate influence of sociodemographic characteristics and related factors on knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) regarding the prevention of common cancers. Settings and Design: This community-based observational, cross-sectional study was conducted in the slum area of urban field practice area of a tertiary care hospital, Kolkata. Materials and Methods: The survey was conducted with a sample of 415 using a semistructured questionnaire related to KAP regarding the prevention of cancers. Mann–Whitney U-test and Kruskal–Wallis test were conducted to determine group differences for sociodemographic variables. Linear correlational analysis was performed to identify associated factors and measure the strength and direction of relationships Results: Median scores for knowledge, attitude, and practice differed by sociodemographic characteristics. Positive correlations were observed between knowledge–attitude (r = 0.395, P < 0.01), attitude–practice (r = 0.391, P < 0.01), and knowledge–practice (r = 0.460, P < 0.01). Age, gender, educational status, and socioeconomic class were significantly associated with KAP score of participants. Conclusions: Knowledge about primary preventive measure was found to be less. The study found varying degrees of positive correlation between KAP. Knowledge and level of education had positive associations with attitude and adherence to preventive measures. The findings suggest a need for targeted community awareness interventions for the elderly populations, among men and those with no school education. The positive linear correlations reaffirm that better knowledge can lead to positive attitude and subsequently in good practices. Extensive health educational campaigns should be provided to the general population.