c l i n i c a l e p i d e m i o l o g y a n d g l o b a l h e a l t h 4

c l i n i c a l e p i d e m i o l o g y a n d g l o b a l h e a l t h 4 (

Background: Ear disease in children is a major public health problem in developing countries. There has been scarcity of evidence of any gender differentials if exist with ear care in the Indian context. Objective: To study the gender perspectives in ear care with regard to attitude and care seeking behaviour of care givers of children 1-10 years of age in Delhi. Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in an urban health centre situated in north east district of Delhi from January to March 2015. 160 caregivers of ill children aged 1-10 years who came to seek medical care in out-patient department (OPD) constituted the study population. Chi square test or Fisher’s Exact test (wherever required) was used to observe the differences between qualitative variables.Results:The study was conducted among 160 caregivers of 87 (54.4%) male children and 73 (45.6%) female children. Mean (+SD) monthly family income was INR 7637.5 + 1155.30. When inquired about the attitude of caregivers about playing of their child with another child who is suffering from hearing loss, 18 (20.7%) caregivers of male children perceived that their child will also suffer from hearing loss while 30 (41.1%) caregivers of female children, agreed for the same (χ2 = 7.87, df = 1, p value = 0.01). Conclusion: The present study showed gender differences in some aspects of ear care which points towards stigma and discrimination. There were important implications of differences in health seeking with gender.

Background: Ear disease in children is a major public health problem in developing countries. There has been scarcity of evidence of any gender differentials, if any exists, with ear care in the Indian context.Objective: To study the gender perspectives in ear care with regard to attitude and health-seeking behavior of caregivers of children 1-10 years of age in Delhi. Materials and Methods:This was a cross-sectional study conducted in an urban health center situated in the north-east district of Delhi from January to March 2015. 160 caregivers of ill children aged 1-10 years who came to seek medical care in out-patient department (OPD) constituted the study population. Chi square test or Fisher's Exact test (wherever required) was used to observe the differences between qualitative variables. Results:The study was conducted among 160 caregivers of 87 (54.4%) male children and 73 (45.6%) female children. Mean (±SD) monthly family income was INR 7637.5±1155.30. When inquired about the attitude of caregivers about playing of their child with another child who is suffering from hearing loss, 18 (20.7%) caregivers of male children perceived that their child will also suffer from hearing loss while 30 (41.1%) caregivers of female children, agreed for the same (χ 2 =7.87, df=1, p value=0.01). Conclusion:The present study showed gender differences in some aspects of ear care, which points towards stigma and discrimination. There were important implications of differences in health seeking with gender.

Background: Diabetes is an alarming health problem affecting more than half a billion people globally. Diabetes is one of the most psychologically demanding illnesses and is frequently associated with anxiety and depression. The present study aimed to estimate the prevalence of depression and anxiety among diabetic patients and comparison of mental health assessment tools among diabetic and nondiabetic participants. Methodology: A comparative study of 80 diabetic patients attending the diabetology outpatient department and 80 age-matched nondiabetic attendees/relatives of patients attending the medicine outpatient department were randomly selected after fulfilling inclusion and exclusion criteria. After confirming their disease status, informed consent was obtained. Data were collected using a pretested questionnaire, mini international neuropsychiatric interview scale, beck depression inventory (BDI) for depression, and Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety scale (HAM-A) for anxiety. Results: Majority of the study participants in both groups (n = 35, 43.8%) were of 46–50 years old. About 52.5% of diabetic and 17.5% of nondiabetic participants were having depression and 51.3% of diabetic and 18.3% of nondiabetics were having anxiety as per BDI and HAM-A scores, respectively. Although major differences in sociodemographic variables such as socioeconomic class, gender, and place of residence, etc., between the two groups, it was not statistically significant. Conclusion: The present study shows depression and anxiety were more common among diabetic patients than nondiabetic participants. The risk for depression and anxiety is more among male patients, urban population, and those in low-socioeconomic status.