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V Patel

Publications and source records attributed to V Patel.

260 records · Page 15Linked to original sources
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Gender, sexual abuse and risk behaviours in adolescents: a cross-sectional survey in schools in Goa.

BACKGROUND: There is little information on the prevalence and correlates of sexual abuse in adolescents in India. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of all Class XI students in eight higher secondary schools in Goa (n = 811 ) was conducted in March 2000. A self-report questionnaire, developed and piloted in collaboration with the adolescents, elicited information on education, mental health, risk behaviours and the experience of violence and sexual abuse in the previous year. RESULTS: A third of adolescents had experienced some form of sexual abuse. Sexual abuse experiences were associated with the experience of other forms of physical and verbal violence. Coercive sex had been experienced by approximately 6% of adolescents. These adolescents had significantly poorer academic performance, poorer mental and physical health, greater substance abuse, poorer parental relationships and higher rates of consensual sexual behaviours. Gender differences in the types of abuse and the associations with abuse were found. However, there was no difference between boys and girls in the rates of experience of coercive sexual intercourse. Differences in risks were found for urban and rural school students; while rural boys were more likely to have experienced coercive sexual intercourse than urban boys (10.3% v. 2.5%), urban girls were more likely to have experienced any form of sexual abuse than rural girls (37.2% v. 25.4%). CONCLUSIONS: Abuse and violence in school-based adolescents is a common experience and is associated with poorer health and greater prevalence of risk behaviours. Interventions aimed at improving adolescent reproductive health must incorporate personal safety, prevention of abuse, communication skills and mental health issues.

Adolescent↗
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Irrational drug use in India: a prescription survey from Goa.

BACKGROUND: There is concern regarding the irrational production, prescription and use of drugs in India. This study aimed to describe the quality of prescriptions by medical practitioners, including both the layout of the prescription and the type and number of drugs prescribed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey of all prescriptions dispensed at a busy pharmacy in the state of Goa, India, was carried out over a consecutive seven-day period. Each prescription was rated on the basis of a priori and pilot-tested variable list. The prescriptions by private practitioners were compared with those from practitioners in the public healthcare system. RESULTS: Nine hundred and ninety prescriptions were collected. The majority (83.9%) were from private practitioners. The quality of the layout of the prescriptions was unsatisfactory: information to identify the practitioner was incomplete in more than a third of the prescriptions and information to identify the patient was incomplete in more than half. Clarity of written instructions on how to take the medicines was unsatisfactory in the majority of prescriptions. Polypharmacy was the norm, with more than half (52.7%) the prescriptions containing at least 3 medicines. Forty per cent of prescriptions included a vitamin or tonic preparation and a quarter of the prescriptions included an antibiotic and an analgesic. Over 90% of prescriptions contained only branded medicines. Private practitioners prescribed significantly greater number of medicines and were more likely to prescribe vitamins and antibiotics, and branded medicines. DISCUSSION: This study confirms that the quality of prescriptions, both in terms of layout and the content of the drugs prescribed, is inadequate. There is a need to standardize the format of prescriptions in India so that all essential information is included. There is a need to strengthen an independent mechanism for continuing professional development of practitioners to ensure that patients are always given evidence-based, cost-effective treatments.

Cross-Sectional Studies↗