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Background: In coronavirus pandemic, misconception, distrust, uncertainty, and fear have emerged within the general public. Amidst this environment, health professionals were the primary bearers of accurate information regarding the causes of death, the severity of infections, and the intensity of disease transmission. Objective: To assess the attitude and responses of health professionals working in tertiary care hospitals of city Peshawar during pandemic regarding corona infection and related deaths. Study type, settings & duration: This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted at tertiary care hospitals of Peshawar, from March to May 2020. Methodology: The sample size of 126 health professionals were taken at the peak of pandemic in Pakistan. A predesigned online questionnaire was shared with individual health professional after taking telephonic consent. Each health professional filled the online questionnaire and resubmitted. The data was collected, analyzed using SPSS version 21. Results: A total 126 health professionals participated in the study, 61 (48.4%) were doctors, 58 (46%) nurses and 7 (5.6%) were allied health professionals. Total 46 (54.1%) health professionals agreed, that old age with comorbidities, stigma and late approach to health facilities, comorbidities and spread asymptomatic cases were associated with increased mortality of COVID patients in city Peshawar. About 54 (42.9%) health professionals agreed with the existence of false perception of public that corona do not exist, and 13 (10.3%) disclosed about lack of proper facilities and ignorance in provision of care in Hospitals. Conclusion: Health professionals were in agreement that comorbidities, older age, late approaching to Hospital, stigma, false perception and lack of health facilities were the factors behind the increased corona infected deaths in Peshawar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cross infections occur frequently in dental health care personnel therefore, to protect themselves and their patients; they have to strictly follow infection control practices. Aims: To assess the impact of educational interventions on knowledge and practices of private dental practitioners. Study type, settings and duration: Interventional study, done from March 2012 to June 2013 in private practitioners of Peshawar using convenient sampling technique. Subjects and Methods: After acquiring base line data on the practices, pertaining to prevention of cross infection in dental practitioners, educational knowledge intervention was applied to them on same day and repeated after two months. Post intervention data was collected using same questionnaire. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0. Results: A total of 90 dental practitioners were included, of whom 49 (54.4%) were qualified and 41 (45.6%) unqualified. Their overall mean age was 33.77 ± 8.97 years. The mean age of qualified practitioners was 36.24 ± 10.40 years. Their pre and post intervention practices showed significant improvement in various practices like; screening of patients prior to procedure (p < 0.043), hepatitis B vaccination (p < 0.000), type of gloves used (p < 0.031), hand washing (p < 0.004), separate instrument processing area (p < 0.004), floor cleansing with disinfectant (p < 0.000) and proper ventilation (p < 0.021). The mean age of unqualified practitioners was 30.80 ± 5.73 years. Their pre and post intervention change in knowledge and practices showed poor compliance to most interventions. Conclusion: Qualified dental practitioners had a positive attitude towards educational interventions to prevent cross infection as compared to unqualified practitioners. Policy message: Yearly health education certification should be implemented for all health care professional (qualified and unqualified) to keep them abreast with the infection control practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Pakistan, approximately 8 million people have diabetes mellitus, making it the fourth leading country in the list of world diabetic patients. Objectives: To measure the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and its associated risk factors in a rural community of Peshawar. Study type, settings: A cross-sectional study conducted in PMRC model research community village of Budhni. Subjects and Methods: All adults over the age of 40 years residing in the specific village were selected for the study. During door to door visit, consent was taken from all the subjects and they were informed that a fasting blood sugar level would be checked a day or two later. All those who consented were interviewed according to pre-designed proforma and their height, weight and blood pressure were recorded using standard methods. Fasting blood samples were drawn the next day and sent to PMRC research laboratory where they were checked using Microlab 200 Merck. Data was analyzed using Epi Info version 6.0. According to American Diabetic Association criteria, fasting blood sugar level of >126 mg/dl was diagnosed. Results: Estimated population of adults > 40 years in the village is 1249 individuals. Nine hundred nine (72.7%) consented to participate in the study. A total of 345 subjects were screened for diabetes using fasting blood sugar as the proxy indicator. Eighty one (23.4%) had blood sugar over 126 mg/dl and were therefore, diagnosed to be diabetic. Of these 81 cases 46(56.8%) were known diabetics while, 35(43.2%) were newly diagnosed. Majority (39) were between 51-60 years, followed by 29 between 40-50 years and remaining 13 subjects were above 60 years of age. Among the 46 known diabetics, 42(91.3%) were non insulin dependent and only 4(8.7%) were insulin dependent. The duration of diabetes was between 1-5 years in 26(57%) cases who were known diabetic's. Those individuals who were not sure about their exact duration of diabetes were 9(19%). Cases with a family history of diabetes, were at twice more risk to develop diabetes as compared to those who had no family history (OR=1.86 (1.05