Background: Physical and mental comfort is known to have a crucial influence on health and performance amongst medical students. Very often, medical students suffer from poor quality of life (QOL) related to the work-life balance due to the lack of sleep, nutritional and dietary disorders and low physical activity, resulting in a negative impact on their academic performance. This study aims to determine the potential academic/non-academic factors and extra-curricular activities influencing the performance of medical students in Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA). Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted on medical students at the Faculty of Medicine, UniSZA, Terengganu, Malaysia. A sample size of 300 respondents were recruited from Year I to V medical students. The questionnaire was adopted, modified and validated from a similar study in Saudi Arabia. Results: Majority of the students enjoy medical education are self-motivated, have a good command of English, non-smokers and have a sufficient sleep. Conclusion: University medical students possess good QOL within the optimum educational environment.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]

Background: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) assesses perceived quality of sleep. Bengali is the 6^th language in the world according to the number of first language speakers. PSQI is presently not available in Bengali. Poor quality of sleep affects work efficiency and health of individual and it is increasing in urban as well as in rural population. Aim: The aim of the study was (1) to adapt PSQI in Bengali Language and (2) to find the prevalence rate of poor quality of sleep among urban and rural populations and to compare the rate. Materials and Methods: First, Bengali PSQI (BPSQI) was adapted by linguistic validation methods. Then, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among sample in a municipal ward and in a village by BPSQI. The prevalence of poor sleep quality among the sample was ascertained. Data were presented in percentage, mean and standard deviation. Chi-square test and unpaired t-test were used according to necessity with α = 0.05. Results: Adapted BPSQI instrument was found of acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.816). The prevalence rate of poor sleep quality in urban adult population was 42.58% and rural population was 35.89% (χ² = 4.004, P = 0.0454). Adult females in urban area showed more prevalence rate of poor sleep quality (58.74%) than those of adult females in rural area (45.96%). Conclusion: Adapted BPSQI can be used as a self-administered questionnaire among Bengali native speakers. A significant percentage of urban and rural adult population suffers from poor quality of sleep. Adult population in urban area, especially adult females, suffers more from poor quality of sleep than rural population.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]

Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess the antimicrobial efficacy of ozonated water (4 mg/l), 2% chlorhexidine solution, 5.25% sodium hypochlorite solution on five common endodontic microorganisms. Methods: The organisms chosen in the study were Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, Kocuria rhizophila. Agar well diffusion test direct contact test were used as methods to assess antimicrobial effectiveness. In agar well diffusion test, the maximum zone of inhibition formed around the well in an agar plate after incubation of test materials against each microorganism for 24 h and 48 h were measured. In direct contact test, the colonies of E. faecalis formed on agar plates with each test material were calculated. Results: The results showed that 2% chlorhexidine showed highest zone size and minimum colony forming units indicating its highest potency and ozonated water was showed the least efficacy with a significant difference between both groups. The colony forming units showed an increase in number when ozonated water was used against E. faecalis

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

Background: Nowadays, in most bakeries in order to accelerate bread production process and reduce work pressure on bakers, harmful chemicals like baking soda are in use. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of using baking soda in different types of most commonly consumed breads by Iranian people. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out on 234 bakeries in Qom, Iran, during 2017. The proportional stratified sampling method was used to select bakeries and bakers in different districts of Qom. Age, bakery experience, education of bakers and bread's pH were collected by a questionnaire and an electrical pH meter. Results: The results showed that seventy bakeries (29.9%) of Qom were using baking soda in bread. The highest frequent use of baking soda was observed in Taftoon (38.7%) and Lavash bread (31.5%). There was a significant difference between the use of baking soda and demographic variables such as age and literacy level. The attitude and knowledge of bakery employees about the complications of the baking soda were not appropriate. Conclusions: To reduce the use of baking soda and improve their knowledge and attitude, there is a need of strict supervision and monitoring by responsible organisations, especially the Ministry of Health.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]

Background: Teachers play key roles in the educational system, and if well trained and motivated on oral health, they may be able to impart this knowledge to their pupils. The aim of this study was to evaluate the oral health awareness of secondary school teachers. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted amongst 120 teachers in eight secondary schools in Lagos State using a self-administered questionnaire. Information obtained included sociodemographic data and oral health knowledge, attitude and practices of the respondents. Data entry and analysis were done using the SPSS version 20. Confidence interval for statistical tests was set at 95% at P < 0.05. Results: Response rate was 100%. The majority of the teachers in the eight schools obtained an oral health knowledge score of 58.33%, which was fair. Only 27.5% of teachers in the sampled schools had a positive attitude towards oral health while 72.5% had a negative attitude. The oral health practices of 26% of the teachers was poor, 63.5% had fair oral health practices while 26.0% of the teachers had good oral health practices. Conclusion: Overall, the oral health knowledge and practice was fair among the school teachers and majority had a negative attitude towards oral health. With further education, they should be able to serve as agents of oral health education in schools.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]

[FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

Background: The youth of this era are the sufferings of overweight and obesity because of sedentary lifestyle, eating habits, altered pattern of behaviour and mental stress. Abdominal obesity is a predominant risk factor of cardiovascular disease. With this background, this study was proposed to correlate abdominal obesity with blood pressure (BP) in young adults. Materials and Methods: A total of 205 young male adults of 20–25 years were selected from various local educational institutions. Estimation for waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC) and BP recording was done. Waist–hip ratio (WHR) was calculated from WC and HC. Recording of BP was performed between 8 and 9 am after 5–10 min rest. On the basis of WC, participants were classified into two groups, i.e., WC ≤90 cm and WC >90 cm. On the basis of WHR, participants were classified into two groups, i.e., WHR <0.90 and WHR ≥0.90. Results: In the present study, we found that the participants those WC and WHR above the cut-off value shown significantly more BP (both systolic and diastolic) than normal. Likely, the pulse pressure was higher in participants WC and WHR above cut-off value but not significant. We found a positive correlation between WC and WHR with BP. Conclusion: This study suggested that WC and WHR have a positive correlation with BP and hence concluded that adults with abdominal obesity are at higher risk to develop CVD in their future life.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]

[FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

Background: Various radiological criteria based on anthropometric parameters are used to understand injuries on paediatric elbow and for checking the degree of reduction after manipulation. The anthropometric parameters of Caucasians are different from European and mongoloids, their parameters cannot be applied across different population groups living in India. Hence, there is a need to characterise anthropometric parameters of elbow among children of different ethnicity living in Indian. Materials and Methods: The study population comprised of all cases of injury to the elbow joint between 3 and 13 years of age reporting to the Department of Orthopaedics during the study and belonging to Tibetan population seeking refuge in India. The X-rays films were preserved and the angles and lines (as anthropometric parameters) were drawn on the radiographs. Results: The mean value for Baumann angle in males was 72° with standard deviation (SD) of 2.75 and in girls was 73° with SD of 1.41. The mean lateral capitellohumeral angle in children from 3 to 13 years of age was 45.33° ± 3.97°. The anterior humeral line passed through middle one-third of capitellum in 86.6%. The radiocapitellar intersection occurred in 100% of the cases with radiocapitellar bisection reported on 86.6% of the X-rays films. Conclusion: As the values of two population; Indian and Tibetan differ, establishing comparisons can significantly affect the outcome while managing elbow injuries.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]