Undernutrition among children is a major public health concern worldwide, more prevalent in Asia and Africa. It manifests itself in various forms such as wasting or stunting or underweight and retards physical and mental development, increases susceptibility to infection, and reduces educational attainment and productivity. The present study was undertaken to assess the level of wasting, stunting, and underweight and determine its associates among slum children of 3–9 years of age, residing in Bhubaneswar city, India. After obtaining informed consent, a total of 249 children from 249 households were studied and their parents/guardians were interviewed to collect all relevant information. 23.3%, 57.4%, and 45.4% of children were found to have wasting, stunting, and underweight, respectively. Variables like birth order of child, period of initiation of breastfeeding and mother’s education were found to be strong predictors of wasting, whereas toilet facility in household and practice of drinking water storage were significantly associated with stunting among slum children as revealed in multiple regression analysis. Thus, a multipronged approach is needed such as giving priority to improve education for slum community especially for women, creating awareness regarding benefits of early initiation of breastfeeding, small family size, and proper storage of drinking water, and providing toilet facility in slum households which could improve the nutritional status of slum children.

Mental health is a major public health concern worldwide. This study aimed to assess the mental health status and its correlates among married working women residing in Bhubaneswar city of Odisha, India. A cross-sectional study was undertaken in 240 households involving 240 married working women following a multistage cluster random sampling design. Using the predesigned, pretested interview schedule and self-reporting questionnaire, all relevant information was collected. Our study revealed that 32.9% of study respondents had poor mental health and only about 10% of these women had sought any kind of mental health services. Logistic regression analysis showed that 3 predictors such as favourable attitude of colleagues, sharing their own problems with husband, and spending time for yoga/meditation/exercise had significant positive impact on the mental health status of married working women. A preventive program regarding various aspects of mental health for married working women at workplace as well as community level could be a useful strategy in reducing this public health problem.

The present study aimed to assess the morbidity after cardiac surgery and identify the preoperative and intraoperative factors associated with postoperative morbidity. A retrospective observational study was conducted including 362 adult patients aged 18-75 years who underwent open-heart surgery under cardiopulmonary bypass at Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, Bengaluru, India, during the period from June 2016 to May 2017. Using a structured schedule, preoperative and intraoperative data were collected from the hospital's cardiac surgery database, whereas the postoperative data were collected from the intensive care unit (ICU) database and the hospital's clinical information system database. Of 362 patients, 254 (70.2%) had at least one major complication, and the most frequently occurring complication was low cardiac output state (29.8%). The ICU length of stay (LOS) was for > 2 days in 23.2% of patients, and the hospital LOS was for > 7 days in almost 60% of the patients. Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that gender, type of surgery, body weight, blood lactate level at ICU admission, and 12-h blood lactate level were significant predictors of complications; gender and 24-h blood lactate level were significantly associated with the prolonged ICU LOS, whereas type of surgery and 24-h blood lactate level were significantly associated with prolonged hospital LOS. The appropriate patient management strategy can be tailored based on the personal attributes, surgery type, and blood lactate level for individual patients undergoing cardiac surgery to reduce the likelihood of postoperative complications, ICU LOS, and hospital LOS.

Resistance pattern, and associated factors of UTI among adults with diabetes. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted during the year 2018–2019 among 504 adult diabetic patients attending a tertiary care hospital of Bhubaneswar, Eastern India. Using recommended culture methods, clean-catch midstream urine samples were examined for the presence of pathogenic bacteria and their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern. Results: The prevalence of UTI was 75.4% and the predominant isolates were Escherichia coli (25.6%), Enterococcus spp. (18.7%), and Klebsiella spp. (8.1%). Most of the bacteria isolates were sensitive to nitrofurantoin (80.8%), gentamicin (76.8%), and amikacin (72.1%) whereas resistant to cefpodoxime (77.6%), cefixime (70.8%), and cefadroxil (65.0%). The overall multidrug resistance (MDR) to two or more antimicrobial agents was observed in 87.4% bacterial isolates. The odds of developing UTIs were significantly higher in females with diabetes (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 2.04; 95% confidence interval CI: 1.33–3.13), those with Stage I/II hypertension (AOR: 1.77; 95% CI: 1.04–3.008), and those having glycated hemoglobin level >9% (75 mmol) (AOR: 2.15; 95% CI: 1.13–4.10) compared with their counterparts. Conclusion: The prevalence of UTI and MDR to commonly used antibiotics among diabetic patients is alarming, and thus, isolation of uropathogenic bacteria and antimicrobial susceptibility testing is crucial for the treatment of UTI in persons with diabetes....