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Background and Purpose: Various studies reveal that in India more than 80 percent of health care financing is mainly in the form of out-of-pocket (OOP). As a felt need, this study was conducted with the objectives to assess the economic burden faced by rural households due to out-of-pocket payments. Material and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted for a period of 2 years among 550 households in the rural areas of Uttar Kannada and Udupi districts. Households were selected using the multistage sampling technique and interviewed using a pre-designed and pre-tested proforma. Descriptive statistics were applied, and the data were analyzed using proportions and percentages. A Chi-square test was used to find the association between different attributes. Statistical significance was set at a 0.05% level of significance (P < 0.05). Findings: It was observed that 5 (1.99%) households spent Rs 50000 to 1 lakh, and 26 (10.36%) spent more than 1 lakh among insured households compared to 30 (17.96%) and 14 (8.38%) households, respectively among non-insured households. This difference was found to be statistically significant with P value <0.0001. Avoidance of hospital admission and medications were found to be more among noninsured households compared to insured households, which was statistically significant with P value <0.001. Almost half of those who did not have health insurance borrowed money, took a loan on property and NGOs, and sold valuables compared to those who had health insurance, and this difference was statistically significant with P value <0.001. Conclusion: During the study, it was seen that households that did not have health insurance had higher expenditure on health services, avoided hospitalization and medication, and sold valuables as a source of out-of-pocket expenditure when compared to those who had health insurance, and the difference was found to be statistically significant.

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This study focuses on seasonal variations of heavy metals in the soil around a coal fired thermal power plant in Udupi district, which is a densely populated town in the tropical southwest coast of India. This study, pertaining to 48 soil samples, collected during the pre-monsoon, early-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon seasons for one year, reveals that the chemistry of collected soil samples is influenced by non-pedogenic (anthropogenic) sources such as fly-ash deposition from the thermal power plant and vehicular emissions. This was concluded based on grouping of similar behaved elements through correlation-regression analysis. The distance-wise distribution of heavy metals and backward wind-trajectory analysis suggests that pre-monsoon and post-monsoonal samples are more influenced by anthropogenic activities compared to rest of the seasons. This is supported by high concentration of Zn in pre-monsoon (25.21 mg/kg) and post-monsoon (21.32 mg/kg) seasons compared to early-monsoon (17.05 mg/kg) and monsoon (8.60 mg/kg) seasons.

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The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of foot complications among people with type 2 diabetes mellitus in the rural part of Udupi district, Karnataka, India. A cross-sectional observational study design was conducted in the rural area of Udupi district. In the study, accredited social health activists were trained to screen people with type 2 diabetes mellitus for diabetic foot complications at a community level. Adults over 35 years of age were screened for the presence of type 2 diabetes mellitus by accredited social health activists who reside in the rural part of Udupi district. Participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus were included in the study. Blood glucose level was measured using a glucometer. Foot examination was done by visual inspection, monofilament, tuning fork, and pedal pulse. In the present study, 2110 among the total participants were found to have type 2 diabetes mellitus. The prevalence of musculoskeletal foot complications was 1218 (58%), vascular problem 466 (22.2%), sensory neuropathy 634 (30.2%), autonomic neuropathy 1729 (81.9%), ulcer 134 (6.38%), and infection 561 (26.7%) among people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. In the current study, we found 84.7% of people residing in rural Udupi had type 2 diabetes mellitus. Hence, there is a strong need to create awareness about diabetic foot care in these people.

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BACKGROUND: Maternal morbidities are considered a leading contributor to the burden of disease among women. Especially, if postpartum morbidities are left untreated, this can cause a negative impact on the quality of life. The study was conducted to determine the proportion and types of postpartum morbidities among women visiting government health facilities in Udupi Taluk, Karnataka and to find out the association between the morbidities and various factors. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in various government hospitals in Udupi Taluk, consisted of 229 postpartum women. These subjects were selected from mothers who accompanied their children for immunization from February 2013 to July 2013 using purposive sampling technique. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to find out the association between the morbidities and various factors using SPSS version 15. RESULTS: Among 112 (48.9%) women who experienced postpartum morbidities, back pain (23.6%), and perineal pain (15.7%) were most commonly reported physical morbidities. Similarly, anxiety (10%) and irritability (7.9%) were the most common psychological problems. Demographic factors such as religion 2.4 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1, 5.4) and occupation 2.5 (95% CI 1.1, 5.9) were associated with the morbidities. Likewise, obstetric factors such as place of delivery 1.5 (95% CI 0.8, 2.9) and type of delivery 1.9 (95% CI 1.0, 3.6) were also associated with various morbidities. CONCLUSIONS: The findings showed a high proportion of postpartum morbidities being reported in our study settings. These observation priorities a need of health program for early recognition, treatment and improving awareness of postpartum morbidities among near mothers.