Objective: To determine the validity of C-reactive protein levels for diagnosis of neonatal sepsis.Methods: A cross sectional (Validation) study was conducted at Neonatology unit in KRL general hospital (emergency/OPD) of 7 months duration from February 2012 to August 2012. By using purposive sampling technique, 147, sample size was calculated by using WHO sample size calculator taking sensitivity 75%, specificity 95%, expected prevalence 50%, desired precision 10% and confidence level 95%.Results: Mean age of the neonates was 5.72 days + 3.86. Male patients were 81(55.1%) while 66(44.9%) were female. Neonatal sepsis was observed in 43(29.25%) and were confirmed through blood culture while 104(70.75%) were not confirmed on blood culture as neonatal sepsis. The sensitivity and specificity of CRP in diagnosis of acute neonatal sepsis was 76.92% and 53.49% respectively while it had a positive predictive value of 80% and negative predictive value of 48.94%. Over all the diagnostic accuracy of CRP in diagnosis of neonatal sepsis was 70.07%.Conclusion: CRP estimation does have a role in the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis but the test is not specific enough to be relied upon as the only indicator.doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.12669/pjms.313.6668How to cite this:Hisamuddin E, Hisam A, Wahid S, Raza G. Validity of C-reactive protein (CRP) for diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. Pak J Med Sci 2015;31(3):527-531.

Hospital readmissions pose a threat to the constrained health resources, especially in resource-poor low-and middle-income countries. In such scenarios, appropriate technologies to reduce avoidable readmissions in hospitals require innovative interventions. mHealth and teach-back communication are robust interventions, utilized for the reduction in preventable hospital readmissions. This review was conducted to highlight the effectiveness of mHealth and teach-back communication in hospital readmission reduction with a view to provide the best available evidence on such interventions. Two authors independently searched for appropriate MeSH terms in three databases (PubMed, Wiley, and Google Scholar). After screening the titles and abstracts, shortlisted manuscripts were subjected to quality assessment and analysis. Two authors checked the manuscripts for quality assessment and assigned scores utilizing the QualSyst tool. The average of the scores assigned by the reviewers was calculated to assign a summary quality score (SQS) to each study. Higher scores showed methodological vigor and robustness. Search strategies retrieved a total of 1932 articles after the removal of duplicates. After screening titles and abstracts, 54 articles were shortlisted. The complete reading resulted in the selection of 17 papers published between 2002 and 2019. Most of the studies were interventional and all the studies focused on hospital readmission reduction as the primary or secondary outcome. mHealth and teach-back communication were the two most common interventions that catered for the hospital readmissions. Among mHealth studies (11 out of 17), seven studies showed a significant reduction in hospital readmissions while four did not exhibit any significant reduction. Among the teach-back communication group (6 out of 17), the majority of the studies (5 out of 6) showed a significant reduction in hospital readmissions while one publication did not elicit a significant hospital readmission reduction. mHealth and teach-back communication methods showed positive effects on hospital readmission reduction. These interventions can be utilized in resource-constrained settings, especially low- and middle-income countries, to reduce preventable readmissions.

Objective: To find out the effect of playing video games on cognitive abilities among teenagers.Methods: A comparative cross sectional study was conducted at two schools in Rawalpindi from August 2014 till February 2015. A sample size of 171 was calculated by using WHO sample size calculator using non-probability convenient sampling technique. A mixed questionnaire was used as a data collection tool and two groups were defined as video gamers and non-video gamers. Video gamers were those students who

Objectives: To find the Knowledge Attitude and Practice regarding Folic Acid Deficiency among Women of Child Bearing Age (WPCBA). To find out the Association of Education Level with Practice of Folic Acid in WPCBA.Methods: A Descriptive cross sectional study (Knowledge Practice and Attitude) was conducted at Military Hospital and Combined Hospital Rawalpindi from September 2012 to February 2013. About 400 married females of age group 21-42 years were included by convenient sampling technique. After taking informed verbal consent, a closed ended interviewer administered questionnaire was filled. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20.Results: Mean age of the respondents was 30.31 + 5.280 years. Illiterate and literate were 165 (41.25%) and 235 (58.75%) respectively. The knowledge regarding folic acid need was 172 (43%). Only 161 (40.25%) thought that folic acid deficiency in pregnant women results in abnormality in newborn. In pregnancy, 205 (51.25%) had received folic acid supplementation. Association between education level and practice of folic acid was significant (p= 0.009) at 95% confidence level.Conclusion: Knowledge regarding folic acid deficiency among WOCBA was low along with the poor attitude. Practice was also not satisfactory. Education status plays important role in preventing micronutrient deficiency.doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.12669/pjms.303.4716How to cite this:Hisam A, Rahman M, Mashhadi SF. Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding folic acid deficiency; A hidden hunger. Pak J Med Sci 2014;30(3):583-588.

Objective: To estimate the frequency of usage and types of mobile medical applications amongst medical students of Pakistan and its association with their academic performance. Methods: The is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in five medical colleges. It was of 6 months duration from Sept, 2017 to Feb 2018. A sample size of 448 undergraduates was calculated by using WHO sample size calculator. Sampling technique was non-probability convenient sampling. Self-constructed questionnaire was used as data collection tool. Data were entered and analysed in SPSS version 22. Results: The study included 198 male (44.2%) and 250 female (55.8%) students (448 in total). The mean age was 21.08±1.542 years. About 323 (72%) students who were routinely using medical application scored 69+7% in their professional examination while 125 (28%) students, who were not using medical application scored 67±9%. The association between average usage of medical application and academic performance was statistically significant (p<0.01). Amongst the medical applications “Medical Wikipedia” had the most frequent usage i.e. 162 (36.2%) while the least frequently used app was Disease Dictionary i.e. 50 (11.2%). Conclusion: More than half of medical students who participated in the study were using medical applications on daily basis with “Medical Wikipedia” being the most commonly used application. Association between average usage of mobile medical applications and academic performance of the students was statistically significant. A large number of students agreed that medical applications were helpful in improving their medical as well as clinical knowledge. How to cite this:Hisam A, Shafique MU, Khurshid MN, Hamza A, Asad MB, Shakeel T. Usage and types of mobile medical applications amongst medical students of Pakistan and its association with their academic performance. Pak J Med Sci. 2019;35(2):432-436. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.2.672 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Objective: To find the perceived stress level and monetary burden in the thalassemia patients and their caregivers related to thalassemia treatment sessions.Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted at Rawalpindi Thalassemia Centre and Military Hospital Rawalpindi of six months