Trend of intestinal infectious diseases recorded at a tertiary care hospital in India: an ICD-10 analysis

The World Health Organization identifies the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries as infectious and communicable diseases. Health records coded uniformly using ICD-10 can form an accurate database and conclusions drawn from this are extremely important for understanding the public health situation.The aim of this study is to analyse the trend of intestinal infectious diseases recorded at a tertiary care hospital in India.A retrospective disease index study was conducted on data comprising 5317 cases from 2012 to 2016 for intestinal infectious diseases, analysed with ICD-10.Of these, 5.5% were from the age group 0-5 years; 57.66% were male; and 85% deaths in this cohort (62/73) were due to diarrhoea and gastroenteritis of presumed infectious origin.The findings of this study highlight an urgent need for health education among the population regarding infectious intestinal diseases and to redesign health promotion and preventive strategies for addressing these problems.

The awareness and attitudes of students of one indian dental school toward information technology and its use to improve patient care

BACKGROUND

Many obstacles need to be overcome if digital and electronic technologies are to be fully integrated in the operation of dental clinics in some countries. These obstacles may be physical, technical, or psychosocial barriers in the form of perceptions and attitudes related to software incompatibilities, patient privacy, and interference with the patient-practitioner relationship. The objectives of the study are to assess the perceptions of Indian dental students of one school toward the usefulness of digital technologies in improving dental practice; their willingness to use digital and electronic technologies; the perceived obstacles to the use of digital and electronic technologies in dental care setups; and their attitudes toward Internet privacy issues.

METHODS

The study population consisted of 186 final year undergraduate dental students from the A. B. Shetty Memorial institute of Dental Sciences, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Mangalore, India. Survey data were analyzed descriptively .

RESULTS

Most students indicated that information technology enhances patient satisfaction, the quality of dental record, diagnosis, treatment planning, and doctor-doctor communication. Cost of equipment and need for technical training were regarded as major obstacles by substantial proportions of respondents.

DISCUSSION

Most dental students at our school feel that the information technology will support their decision making in diagnoses and devising effective treatment plans, which in turn increase patient satisfaction and quality of care. Students also perceived that lack of technical knowledge and the high cost of implementation are major barriers to developing information technology in India.