Background: India is the second most populous country of the world. A large portion of the population of this country is below 20 years of age but still there is a paucity of information about the prevalence and incidence of many developmental disorders. This study was planned to estimate the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in the selected areas (tribal, rural, and urban) of a northern state of India, Himachal Pradesh. Methods: A cross-sectional two-phase study was conducted covering all the children in the range of 1-10 years of age. Phase one included screening of all the children in the age group of 1-10 years, with the help of an indigenous assessment tool for autism. The sociodemographic profile of the participants was also recorded during phase one. Phase two involved the clinical evaluation of individuals who were suspected of autism on screening. Results: The results show a prevalence rate of 0.9/1000. The highest prevalence rate was observed in the rural area. Conclusions: Socioeconomic status (SES) may be one of the fundamental indicators for ASDs in India.

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Background: In spite of the progress made in the treatment of psychiatric disorders during the last few decades, nonadherence continues to be a frequent phenomenon, often associated with potentially severe clinical consequences and increased health-care costs. There are numerous factors associated with medication nonadherence in patients with mental illness. The aim of the study was to determine the incidence and factors associated with medication nonadherence among psychiatric outpatients. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in the outpatient psychiatric department of an Indian tertiary care private hospital over a period of 1 year. Patients aged 18 years and above who presented with mental illness as diagnosed by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 and who were receiving at least one psychotropic medication for at least 1 month were included in the study. Medication adherence was assessed using the Medication Adherence Rating Scale (MARS). Results: Of the 400 patients, 172 (43%) were nonadherent to their prescribed medications. There is a statistically significant association between the education (P = 0.001), number of drugs (P = 0.002), family income (P = 0.013), and nonadherence. Among the 172 patients, 33.5 % were nonadherent to their therapy due to patient-related factors followed by drug-related factors (32%) and disease-related factors (31%). Conclusion: The overall incidence of medication nonadherence in patients with mental illness was 43%. Numerous factors contributed to medication nonadherence. Strategies need to be developed and implemented to enhance medication adherence, and thereby achieve a better therapeutic outcome in patients with mental illness.

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Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common but underdiagnosed sleep disorder, which is associated with systemic consequences such as hypertension, stroke, metabolic syndrome, and ischemic heart disease. Nocturnal laboratory-based polysomnography (PSG) is the gold standard test for diagnosis of OSA. PSG consists of a simultaneous recording of multiple physiologic parameters related to sleep and wakefulness including electroencephalography (EEG), electrooculography (EOG), surface electromyography (EMG), airflow measurement using thermistor and nasal pressure transducer, pulse oximetry and respiratory effort (thoracic and abdominal). Multiple alternative and simpler methods that record respiratory parameters alone for diagnosing OSA have been developed in the past two decades. These devices are called portable monitors (PMs) and enable performing sleep studies at a lower cost with shorter waiting times. It has been observed and reported that comprehensive sleep evaluation coupled with the use of PMs can fulfill the unmet need for diagnostic testing in various out-of-hospital settings in patients with suspected OSA. This article reviews the available medical literature on PMs in order to justify the utility of PMs in the diagnosis of OSA, especially in resource-poor, high-disease burden settings. The published practice parameters for the use of these devices have also been reviewed with respect to their relevance in the Indian setting.

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Introduction: Sepsis is common presenting illness to the emergency services and one of the leading causes of hospital mortality. Researchers and clinicians have realized that the systemic inflammatory response syndrome concept for defining sepsis is less useful and lacks specificity. The predisposition, infection (or insult), response and organ dysfunction (PIRO) staging of sepsis similar to malignant diseases (TNM staging) might give better information. Materials and Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted in emergency medical services attached to medicine department of a tertiary care hospital in Northern India. Patients with age 18 years or more with proven sepsis were included in the first 24 hours of the diagnosis. Two hundred patients were recruited. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was done to assess the factors that predicted in-hospital mortality. Results: Two hundred patients with proven sepsis, admitted to the emergency medical services were analysed. Male preponderance was noted (M: F ratio = 1.6:1). Mean age of study cohort was 50.50 ± 16.30 years. Out of 200 patients, 116 (58%) had in-hospital mortality. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, the factors independently associated with in-hospital mortality for predisposition component of PIRO staging were age >70 years, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic liver disease, cancer and presence of foley's catheter; for infection/ insult were pneumonia, urinary tract infection and meningitis/encephalitis; for response variable were tachypnea (respiratory rate >20/minute) and bandemia (band >5%). Organ dysfunction variables associated with hospital mortality were systolic blood pressure <90mm Hg, prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time, raised serum creatinine, partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood/ fraction of inspired oxygen (PaO ₂ /FiO ₂ ) ratio <300, decreased urine output in first two hours of emergency presentation and Glasgow coma scale ≤9. Each of the components of PIRO had good predictive capability for in-hospital mortality but the total score was more accurate than the individual score and increasing PIRO score was associated with higher in-hospital mortality. The area under receiver operating characteristic curve for cumulative PIRO staging system as a predictor of in-hospital mortality was 0.94. Conclusion: This study finds PIRO staging as an important tool to stratify and prognosticate hospitalised patients with sepsis at a tertiary care center. The simplicity of score makes it more practical to be used in busy emergencies as it is based on four easily assessable components.

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Context: Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is associated with a high risk of developing further severe complications such as, cardiovascular disease and eventually End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) leading to death. Hypertension plays a key role in the progression of renal failure and is also a chief risk factor for the occurrence of End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). Aim: This study investigates the possible association of insertion (I) and deletion (D) polymorphism of ACE gene in patients of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) with and without hypertension (HT). Settings and Design: Total 120 participants with 30 members in each group (Control, HT, CKD and CKD-HT) were chosen followed by informed consent. Materials and Methods: Blood samples were collected and subjected to biochemical analyses and nested PCR amplification was performed to genotype the DNA, for ACE I/D using specific primers. Statistical Analysis: Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 13. Allele and genotypic frequency was calculated by direct gene counting method. Comparison of the different genotypes was done by using Chi square test. Odd's ratios were calculated with a 95% confidence interval limit. Results: The ACE genotype were distributed as II, 27 (90%); DD, 2 (6.67%) and ID, 1 (3.33%) in control, II, 1 (3.33%); DD, 5 (16.67%) and ID, 24 (80%) in HT, II, 4 (13.33%); DD, 24 (80%) and ID, 2 (6.67%) in CKD and II, 0 (0%); DD, 2 (6.67%) and ID, 28 (93.33%) in CKD-HT group. Conclusions: D allele of ACE gene confers a greater role in genetic variations underlying CKD and hypertension. This result suggest that CKD patients should be offered analysis for defects in ACE I/D polymorphisms, especially if they are hypertensive.

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A forty two year old male was admitted with history of anuria and breathlessness following consumption of raw rohu fish gall bladder. He had azotemia and required hemodialysis. His renal failure improved over a period of about four weeks. Incidences have been reported from South East Asian countries associating consumption of raw rohu fish gall bladder with acute renal failure.

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Background and Rationale: Ensuring research participants' autonomy is one of the core ethical obligations of researchers. This fundamental principle confers on every participant the right to refuse to take part in clinical research, and the measure of the number of consent refusals could be an important metric to evaluate the quality of the informed consent process. This audit examined consent refusals among Indian participants in clinical studies done at our center. Materials and Methods: The number of consent refusals and their reasons in 10 studies done at our center over a 5-year period were assessed. The studies were classified by the authors according to the type of participant (healthy vs patients), type of sponsor (investigator-initiated vs pharmaceutical industry), type of study (observational vs interventional), level of risk [based on the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) "Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research on Human Participants"], available knowledge of the intervention being studied, and each patient's disease condition. Results: The overall consent refusal rate was 21%. This rate was higher among patient participants [23.8% vs. healthy people (14.9%); P = 0.002], in interventional studies [33.6% vs observational studies (7.5%); P < 0.0001], in pharmaceutical industry-sponsored studies [34.7% vs investigator-initiated studies (7.2%); P < 0.0001], and in studies with greater risk (P < 0.0001). The most common reasons for consent refusals were multiple blood collections (28%), inability to comply with the study protocol (20%), and the risks involved (20%). Conclusion: Our audit suggests the adequacy and reasonable quality of the informed consent process using consent refusals as a metric.

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Background and Rationale: The mini-mental state evaluation (MMSE) is often used to identify patients with dementia. One component of the MMSE is the intersecting pentagon copying (IPC) test, which may be difficult to be used in an illiterate population. Materials and Methods: A post hoc analysis on an elderly population (60 years and above) from Himachal Pradesh was carried out. The data of only 1,513 elderly individuals out of a total of 2,000 participants with a score of more than 26 (nondemented) out of a possible score of 30 on cognitive battery available were used. The scores on the IPC were evaluated and their association with some demographic variables was also assessed. Results: Illiterate participants, female participants, those with greater age, and the rural/tribal population groups faced the most difficulty in drawing the intersecting pentagons and even greater difficulty in drawing them correctly. Discussion: The IPC presents challenges for people who are illiterate and the scoring method needs to be addressed and changed particularly when the test is used in largely illiterate populations.

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