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Background and Objective: Globally iodine deficiency disorder (IDD) is a major preventable cause of cognitive impairment in new born. In developing countries, every year 38 million newborn develop cognitive impairment as a result of iodine deficiency. Iodine consumption by pregnant women is affected by many factors. Hence, we conducted this study to identify factors associated with IDD. To know the effects of different factors on use of iodized salt by pregnant women visiting antenatal outpatient department (OPD) at a public sector tertiary care hospital of Karachi., Methods: Pregnant women (n=360) visiting antenatal OPD at public sector tertiary care hospital of Karachi were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Systematic random sampling method was employed. Data was collected from March 2017 to January 2018. Chi-square test was applied to identify factors associated with IDD., Results: Thirty one (31% ) of pregnant women were consuming iodized salt in their homes. The percentage of participants who heard about iodized salt for the first time was 24%. Twelve percent (12%) reported that price of iodized salt is more than that of normal salt. Ninety eight (98%) of pregnant women replied that they were not informed about the importance of iodine or iodine requirement during pregnancy by their doctor or health care provider. A statistically significant association was observed between educational status (p=0.001) and household income (p<0.001) with the use of iodized salt., Conclusion: Low education, low income of study participants are identified as factors related to limited consumption and incorrect practices related to the use of iodized salt. In order to address iodine deficiency, there is a need to not only sensitize the expectant mothers about the adverse outcome of maternal iodine deficiency for their unborn child but also to introduce an awareness program at the antenatal clinics by the Health Professional for the antenatal care seeking women. There is also an immense need of support from Government side as well to make strategies and policy changes at the national level to ensure the availability, accessibility and affordability of iodized salt., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest: None., (Copyright: © Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences.)

Objectives: To assess learning styles and the association of various teaching methodologies of medical students., Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out amongst 523 medical students of Baqai Medical College, Baqai Medical University, Karachi, from July 2019 to October 2019. All students from first to final year, who attended the undergraduate MBBS program were included. The study instrument was a questionnaire containing students' demographic details, David Kolb's Learning Style Inventory 4.0 and traditional and PBL teaching methodologies were asked. The association of various learning styles and preferred teaching methodologies with year of study was also assessed by using Pearson's chi-square test., Results: Out of 523 students, 518 returned the completed questionnaire. A majority of the students had either imagining or experiencing learning style. No change in learning style was observed between years of study. A significant association between the teaching methodologies and year of study was found in the imagining (p=0.033) and experiencing (p=0.044) learning style groups., Conclusion: Students from different years of study at medical school did not have significantly different learning styles though the student's preferences to teaching methodologies seem to change over time in the respective learning style groups. Longitudinal studies are necessary to identify the factors influencing such change and explore the association between learning styles over time on teaching methodologies in medical education., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: None., (Copyright: © Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences.)