Indian Journal of Forensic and Community Medicine

210-214

Authors: Ramesh D. Pawar*,Kalpana M. Kale,Nandkeshav R Aswar,Shital Solanke

Introduction: India is presently undergoing demographic transition leading significant increase in elderly population. The advent of better health services and preventive care has raised life expectancy. Presently the population of elderly in India is 9.4% in 2017 which will rise to 19.1% in 2050. Elderly form a vulnerable group as they suffer from physical, psychological, economic, social and nutritional problems. These problems there by con-tribute to various disabilities. Prevalence of depression among elderly ranges from as low as 12.7% to as high as 60.0% from literature. The depression among the elderly often goes undetected and thus untreated which results in loneliness, social isolation, cognitive impairment, and decline in their ability to carry out the functional activities and thus compromises their quality of life. Determining the burden of depression among the elderly and to study various socio-demographic factors will facilitate formulating policies to plan better health care delivery services for them. Hence present study was planned with the objective to study the magnitude of depression and its socio demographic correlates among the elderly. Material and Methods: Present study was a cross sectional study conducted in elderly (?60 Years) residing in the field practice area of Rural Health Training Centre of one of the Government Medical College. Sample size calculated for the study was 290 and simple random sampling method was used for the data collection. Measurement was done using WHO Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) long form of 30 questions. Ethical approval was obtained from institutional ethical committee and consent was taken from participants. Data entry and analysis was done by using software Epi Info version 7.2. Results: The Magnitude of Depression among elderly was found to be 57.66% (Mild Depression 23.91%, Moderate Depression 19.06% and Severe Depression 14.69%). The various factors associated with depression were, female sex, low Socio-economic status, and single/widowed/divorced, less physical activity, inadequate sleep and living alone. Conclusions: The high prevalence of depression observed among the elderly population suggests there is need for improvement in policies and guidelines for early screening, treatment and counselling of elderly for timely detection and treatment of depression at community level. Formation of social groups at community level and more emphasis on improvement of quality of life of the elderly.

218-222

Authors: Tanu Midha*,Seema Nigam,D S Martolia,Samarjeet Kaur

Introduction: Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM) in children is a leading public health problem in developing countries like India and is a direct or indirect cause of most of infant and child morbidity and mortality. Objective: To study the prevalence and determinants of protein energy malnutrition among under five children of Kannauj district. Materials and Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional study conducted among children in the age group 0-60 months in the slums of Kannauj district. The statistical tools used for analysis were percentages, Pearson's Chi-square test and multiple logistic regression. Results: The prevalence of PEM in the study population was found to be 59.1%. The study revealed a significant association of age (OR=0.438), timing initiation of breast feeding (OR=0.682), colostrum feeding (OR=0.364), practice of breast feeding (OR=3.611) and initiation of complementary feeding at 6 months (OR=2.651) were significantly associated with PEM. Conclusion: The present study emphasizes the need to correct behavioural factors like breast feeding practices among Indian mothers to bring down the problem of PEM in under five children.

227-230

Authors: Vijaykumar Mane*,M V. Sagar,Revathy R

Introduction: Anthropometry is an accepted and most widely used method for assessing the nutritional status of children. Mid Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) has been recommended to be used as a proxy indicator to screen for acute undernutrition in place of Weight for Height index as it requires no scales, measuring devices or graph plotting. Objective: To study the validity of mid upper arm circumference in detection of acute undernutrition (wasting) among preschool children in the study setting. |Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in the field practice area of PHC Aaynoor, Shimoga District, Karnataka state for a duration of 1 year from January 2013 to December 2013. Cluster sampling technique was used for sample selection and 400 preschool children of either sex in the age group of 1-5 years (12- 59 months) were included in the study. Anthropometric measurements were recorded using standard techniques. Results: The prevalence of both moderate and severe wasting as detected by MUAC was 27 (6.75%) and 3 (0.75%), which is less than half of that detected by WHZ. MUAC had a sensitivity of 23.2% and 14.3% respectively in detection of moderate and severe wasting. It could identify higher number of wasted children among males and among children aged 12 – 23 months. Conclusion: Current MUAC cut offs are inappropriate for detection of wasting among preschool children

236-239

Authors: Devesh Pateria,P S. Thakur,Rahul Agrawal*,B K Singh,Jitendra Tomar

Fire, since ancient times have kept amusing mankind in various ways. Perhaps it is one of the greatest inventions in the history of all times. It has helped humans to evolve but if mishandled can lead to serious consequences. It is commonly encountered as medical emergencies in any hospital in India. It has continuously effected population resulting in form of prolonged morbidity, disability and even as death of the individual ultimately leading to loss to individual’s family, society and to the state. The present prospective study was carried out in the Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, M.G.M. Medical College & M.Y. Hospital, Indore during the period from 1st August 2017 to 31st July 2018 which includes a total of 277 cases of death due to burn injuries, brought to the mortuary of the hospital for medico-legal postmortem examination. During the study period burn in female victims was more evident with accounting 178 (64.3%) cases as compared to males 99 (35.7%). 31-40 years age group in males i.e. 24 (8.6%) was most effected and minimum in the age group of 0-10 years i.e. 5 (1.8%) whereas in females maximum incidence was noted in the age group of 21-30 years i.e. 80 (28.8%) and minimum 5 cases were reported in age group of above 61 years. The minimum age to suffer burns was 1 year which was a male child and maximum age was 80 years which was a male patient. Various other demographic aspects of deaths due to burns were included as objective in the study and ultimately provided some remedial measures in order to cope up with current scenario.

245-249

Authors: Rahul Agrawal,P S. Thakur,Mohit Shrivastava*,B K. Singh,T S. Pendro

The term ‘Autopsy’ originates from ancient ‘Autopsia’ which is derived from ‘Autos’ i.e. ‘Oneself’ and ‘Opsis’ i.e. ‘to see for oneself’. Medico-legal postmortem examinations are performed as mandatory legal procedures for establishing the cause of death for people dying in circumstances where multiple causes of death could be ascribed. The present prospective study was carried out in the Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, M.G.M. Medical College & M.Y. Hospital, Indore during the period from 1st August 2017 to 31st July 2018 which includes a total 2197 cases of death, brought to the mortuary of the hospital for medico-legal postmortem examination. The main objectives of the study were: to ascertain the various aspects of unnatural deaths, to analyze the probable reasons for the same & to find remedial measures to bring down the incidence. During the study period 2197 cases were analyzed in which 609 (27.8%) were females and 1588 (72.2%) were males. Major causes of death comprises trauma 818 (37.2%) burn 277 (12.6%) poisoning 238 (10.8%) asphyxia 237 (10.7%) and multiple pathology 146 (6.6%). Opinion about the cause of death was reserved in 310 (14.1%). This study was conducted to determine and evaluate the socio-demographic profile of different types of cases and to assess the nature and cause of their death.