Day 2 :
Keynote Forum
David Wroth
Underwriters Laboratories, USA
Keynote: Correlation of socio-economic factors with unintentional injury
Biography:
David Wroth is a Director of Strategy and Operations for Underwriters Laboratories Inc., a 120-year-old safety science company, to identify opportunities to address safety issues across the globe. In this capacity, he analyzes data from disparate sources and provides a cohesive framework for research, development and deployment of solutions to safety issues in order to improve safe living and working environments for people. David received a Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering from Purdue University and a Masters of Business Administration from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.
Abstract:
To prioritize investments in unintentional injury prevention programs, Underwriters Laboratories developed The UL Safety IndexTM. The Index is the quantification of the relative state of safety in 187 countries around the world. Based on societal drivers and outcomes related to unintentional injury, the Index measures the contributions of national resources and institutions, safety systems and frameworks and safety outcomes. Each of the potential Indicators and Drivers were analyzed for correlation with safety outcomes. Safety outcomes were computed using WHO DALY data, normalized by population. The analysis shows that all indicators exhibited a negative correlation with safety outcomes at a statistically significant level. The UL Safety Index offers insights into how safety works as a system, with diverse influences such as education and technology coupled with specific approaches such as codes, standards and enforcement of laws and regulations. This model and the research behind it supports the theory that, to improve safety, we must develop, implement and sustain a multi-layered, systems based approach. As such, the UL Safety Index can be used to support efforts by governments, safety professionals, policy makers, the private sector and non-governmental organizations to understand and prioritize actions to improve safety around the world. Investments in good government, education and economic development all correlate with fewer deaths and injuries from unintentional sources. Indeed, this strategy helps to create a mutually beneficial scenario, in which multiple positive outcomes result from investments in key development areas.
Keynote Forum
Madhusudan B Jani
Adani Institute of Medical Sciences, India
Keynote: Exercise training in COPD
Biography:
M B Jani , got the M Sc (Medical) & Ph. D degrees . in Physiology from Medical College, Baroda affiliated to Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. He was head, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, M S University of Baroda. He has UG & PG teaching experience of 34 years. His fields of research work are, exercise physiology, obesity, hypertension, and COPD. At present Dr M B Jani is working as Professor, Department of Physiology, Gujarat Adani Institute of Medical Sciences , Bhuj, Gujarat, India
Abstract:
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is associated with exercise & activity limitation, may result from, ventilator limitation, cardiovascular impairment-and/or skeletal muscle dysfunction. Persons with COPD and other chronic lung disease often experience barriers to normal functioning. Physical barriers include increased airway resistance, abnormal breathing mechanics - inadequate gas exchange, weakness of respiratory & skeletal muscles, diaphragmatic flattening, poor endurance & dyspnea. Emotional barriers include anxiety, depression & fear of dyspnea.
COPD is a difficult challenge. But -diagnostic methods, treatments and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) techniques such as “Exercise Therapy” have advanced to the point that people are living productive life while managing their condition. Four major components of PR education, psychosocial / behavioral intervention outcome assessment & exercise training the “Core Component” of PR. Outcomes of ET/PR include improved respiratory system control, improved muscle function, exercise tolerance, quality of life, reduced respiratory hospitalizations .& emergency room visits. ET it does improve, physical conditioning & improved , pacing results, increased walking distance with less , dyspnea emotional benefits e.g. less fear of dyspnea, & desensitization to breathlessness leading to improved quality of life.ET reduces the number of hospitalizations and number of hospital days for patients with COPD.
Exercise has emerged as a “primary modality for the reversal of deconditioning & for improving quality of life for health as well as COPD”. Importantly, in contrast to “irreversible abnormalities of lung architecture and airflow obstruction, the structural, metabolic, & physiologic skeletal muscle abnormalities of COPD can be improved by ET. ET can restore the patient to the highest level of functional capacity for any degree of ventilatory impairment. Exercise cannot reverse the physiological and structural deficits of COPD, but it can reduce disability by improving endurance, breathing efficiency, and dyspnea tolerance, especially in severely impaired patients .Patients need encouragement, may also need supplemental oxygen & treatment with bronchodilators, mucolytics, and/or corticosteroids. Patients who undergo for exercise training in COPD can often increase their work capacity 70% to 80% within 6 to 12 weeks.
Keynote Forum
Longjian Liu
Healthy Environments & Consumer Safety Branch, Canada
Keynote: Exposure to air pollutant emissions from industrial facilities and the associated risks of respiratory hospital admissions of young children in two Canadian provinces
Time : 10:10-10:45
Biography:
Ling Liu, MD, PhD, MSc, FAHA, is a tenured associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health, and associate professor of medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA U.S.A. He serves as an academic advisor and chair for MPH and PhD students. Dr. Liu’s research expertise is in cardiovascular disease and diabetes epidemiology with focusing on disease etiological study, the complex of multiple comorbidity, drug-diet interaction and pharmaco-epidemiology in aging, and global health. He serves as the Principal Investigator for the Study of Climate Change, Air Quality and Public Health, and the Study of Glucose-Lowering Therapy and CVD Risk Reduction in Patients with Diabetes.
Abstract:
Healthy Environments & Consumer Safety Branch, Canada
Background: Industrial plants are important emitters of air pollutants such as fine particles (PM2.5), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). But adverse health effects of industrial air pollution on children living nearby are not as well studied as those of urban air pollution resulting mostly from automotive transport.
Objective: We studied the associations between exposure to air pollutants emitted from oil refineries, metal smelters and pulp mills and hospital admissions for asthma and bronchiolitis in young children in Quebec (QC) and British Columbia (BC), Canada.
Methods: We defined industrial facilities emitting ≥ 50 tons per year as a major industrial plant. We used two types of estimates for children’s exposure to industrial emissions: (1) Daily downwind exposure to emissions of PM2.5, SO2, or NO2 from major pulp mills, oil refineries, and metal smelters. We calculated emission exposures at children’s home, postal codes by multiplying estimated daily emissions from all nearby major industrial facilities (<7.5 km) with the percent of the day when each postal code was downwind. (2) Daily levels of these pollutants at centralized air pollutant monitoring stations. We collected 2002-2010 data of hospital admissions for asthma and bronchiolitis for children (aged 2-4 years) living within 7.5 km from a major industrial plant. We used a time-stratified case-crossover design and conditional regression models to analyze associations between children’s exposure estimates and hospitalizations. We used meta-analysis to pool results from both provinces.
Results: Seventy-one major industries were selected for QC and BC. A total of 2868 cases of hospital admissions for asthma and bronchiolitis were included in our analyses. Although air pollutant levels were similar in two provinces, there were more cases living near a major industrial facility in QC than in BC (e.g. 2505 hospitalizations of children living near SO2 industrial emitters in QC vs. 334 hospitalizations in BC). Mean downwind exposures across two provinces for PM2.5, SO2 and NO2 for all major industries combined were 0.17, 1.35, and 0.37 tons/day on case days. The risk estimates for exposure to refinery and smelter emissions were positive in QC but more variable in BC. For example, for an increase of 0.15 tons/day of PM2.5 emissions in QC, the risk estimate was 13% (95% confidence interval: 0, 27%) for refinery, and 3% (95% confidence interval: -1%, 7%) for the smelter. Pooled results from both provinces show that for a 1.5 tons/day increase in exposure to SO2 emissions from all sources, there was a 1% increase (95% confidence interval 0, 3%) in the risk of hospital admissions. Associations with measured pollutant levels were only seen in BC: Daily maximum SO2 (interquartile range 6 ppb) near oil refineries was associated with 9% increase in the risk of hospitalizations (95% confidence interval 0, 19%); maximum NO2 (interquartile range 9 ppb) from any industry was associated with 40% increase in the risk (95% confidence interval 10%, 78%).
Conclusion: Exposure to emissions of air pollutants emitted from petroleum refineries and metal smelters is associated with increased hospital admissions for wheezing diseases in young children.
- Epidemiology and Cancers
Healthcare
Sociology
Tropical Diseases
Chronic diseases
Location: Concorde Suite 2
Chair
David Wroth
Underwriters Laboratories|USA
Co-Chair
Madhusudan B Jani
Adani Institute of Medical Sciences, India
Session Introduction
Maki Umeda
St. Luke’s International University, Japan
Title: Does an advantageous occupational position make women happier in contemporary Japan?
Biography:
Maki Umeda has completed her PhD in 2013 at the University of Tokyo, and was a UCL Balzan Fellow from July 2014 to March 2015. She is an associate professor at St. Luke’s International University School of Nursing, and has been publishing papers on social determinants of mental health. The study presented at this conference was conducted in collaboration between the University of Tokyo and University College London, contributed by Dr. Anne McMunn, Dr. Noriko Cable, and Prof. Michael Sir Marmot at University College London, and Prof. Hideki Hashimoto and Prof. Norito Kawakami at the University of Tokyo
Abstract:
In contemporary Japanese society, occupational gender segregation persists despite increased numbers of women participating in the labour market. The gender inequality in the labour market may yield different patterns of occupational gradient in psychological health between men and women. We examined gender specific associations between occupational position and psychological health in Japan and the potential mediating effect of job-control and effort-reward imbalance in these associations. The data used for this inquiry was obtained from 7,123 men and 2,222 women, who participated in an occupational cohort study, the Japanese Study of Health, Occupation, and Psychosocial Factors Related Equity (J-HOPE), between 2011 and 2012. The prevalence of poor psychological health increased from manual/service occupations (23%) to professionals/managers (38%) among women, while it did not vary by occupational position among men. In women, the significant association between occupational position and psychological health was attenuated by effort–reward imbalance. On the other hand, in both genders, the relatively high levels of job-control in professional/managerial groups were protective against potentially higher levels of poor psychological health in these groups. Our findings suggest that Japanese women in more advantaged occupational positions are likely to be at a greater risk for poor psychological health due to higher levels of effort–reward imbalance at work. Ensuring gender equality in accessing rewards may be a critical component for promoting psychological health of women in professional and managerial positions in Japan.
Valeria Belleudi
Lazio Regional Health Service, Italy
Title: One-year survival after Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI): The effect of care-pathway in Italy
Biography:
Valeria Belleudi studied applied mathematics at the University “La Sapienza” of Rome and at University “La Bicocca” of Milan (BSc in 2002, MSc in 2003) and obtained a Master’s degree in Epidemiology in 2005 from University “La Cattolica” of Rome. In 2003 she started working at the Department of Epidemiology, Lazio Regional Health Service. She is expert of management and analysis of data from large healthcare databases, she has a strong experience in conducting studies on chronic diseases, outcomes of care, social inequalities, pharmacoepidemiology and evaluation of care-pathway for acute diseases.
Abstract:
The relationship between guide-lines adherence and outcomes in patients with AMI has been widely investigated considering the phases (emergency, acute, post-acute) of the Care-Pathway (CP) separately. This research aims to evaluate the effect of the whole AMI-CP on 1-year survival.
We conducted a cohort study, selecting AMI patients from health information systems during 2011-13. Patients’ clinical history was defined by retrieving previous hospitalizations and drugs prescriptions. For each subject the probability to arrive in hospital and conditional probabilities to survive to acute and post-acute phases were estimated through multivariate models. One-year survival probability was calculated as the product of the three probabilities.
Different scenarios of CP quality were defined in terms of emergency-timeliness, hospital performance in treatment of acute phase and drug therapy in post-acute phase. One-year survival Probability Ratio (PR) and its Bootstrap Confidence Intervals (BCI) between who effected the best CP and who effected the worst were calculated for a mean-severity patient and varying sex and age.
We identified 29392 AMI. Out-of-hospital mortality was 27.9%. Among people arrived in hospital, 41.4% had a hospitalization for STEMI with 11.3% of mortality in acute-phase and 5.6% in post-acute phase. For a patient of mean-severity the PR was 1.39 (BCI 1.26-1.60). The ratio didn’t change by sex, while it moved from 1.13 (BCI 1.09-1.20) for age85.
One-year survival probability post AMI depends strongly on CP. Improving performance in the different phases, taking into account the relationship among these, can lead to considerable savings of lives.
Debbie Habedi
University of South Africa, South Africa
Title: Health literacy among school youth cricket players in Gauteng province of South Africa
Biography:
Debbie Habedi is a lecturer in Public Health Discipline in the Department of Health Studies, College of Human Sciences at the University of South Africa.
Abstract:
Health literacy is recognized by the Global Institute of Medicine as a critical and essential component of high-quality health care. Notably, in health-care related policy and research, the term “health literacy” is often applied to a set of skills that are required to function well in the health care or public health setting. The role of literacy in health care has been less extensively studied for child health compared with adult health (De Walt 2009, 266). Therefore, it is important to involve youth cricket players in health literacy knowledge sharing so that they can live a positive healthy lifestyle. Nowadays, youth are victims of different health risk and destructive behaviors such crime, drug and substance abuse especially in Black townships. The study employed a qualitative research approach to explore the views and roles of youth cricket players with regard to health literacy by means of three focus group discussions. A non-probability technique was used to purposively select the participants. Thematic content analysis approach for data analysis was used. Awareness of basic health information emerged as a theme. Findings provide an insight of the youth with regards to basic health information needs. Lifelong learning of youth about health literacy is needed.
Gloria Thupayagale-Tshweneagae
University of South Africa, South Africa
Title: Am I supporting his addiction: The dilemma of having an adolescent son on drugs
Biography:
Gloria Thupayagale-Tshweneagae has been Graduated from Case Wstern Reserve University as Psychiatric mental health Nurse practitioner. She further obtained her doctoral degree from Tshwane University of Technology with the specialties in HIV and AIDS and adolescent mental health. She hs published widely in botrh international and local journals on adolescent mental health and HIV and AIDS focusing on orphaned adolescent. She is currently a professor at the University of South Africa where she coordinates the Department of health Studies graduate program.
Abstract:
Substance uses in urban and peri-urban areas are serious problems among adolescents with negative individual and social consequences. Plenty of information exists in literature on factors leading to drug abuse and consequences of drug abuse for adolescents; very few studies have been done that focus on family support for adolescents after rehabilitation. The purpose of this study was to explore how parents and guardians of adolescent sons support their sons one year after rehabilitation. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 10 families who had sons with drug use problems and have been admitted at the rehabilitation centre. Participants were selected by purposive sampling. Thematic analysis based on Burnard (1991; 2004)‘s framework of data analysis was used to identify the themes. Two major themes emerged as associative stigma and approach-avoidance conflict. The study concluded that parents are faced with ambivalent feelings in relation to offering support to their sons. Culturally congruent measures are needed to address drug use and misuse among adolescents. Further studies are needed to explore the use of drugs among adolescents, especially in Africa, where there is a paucity of information
Oyefabi Adegboyega
Kaduna State University, Nigeria
Title: Tuberculosis infection and treatment outcome in Zaria, north western Nigeria- a nine year (2007-2015) epidemiological review
Biography:
Oyefabi Adegboyega Omoniyi (MBBS, MPH, FWACP) is a Lecturer/ Public Health Physician with the Kaduna State University. He graduated from the Ahmadu Bello University in 2003. He had his residency training in Community health certified by the West African College of Physician in 2013. He worked as a Medical officer and Consultant Physician in State and Federal institutions in Nigeria. He was the coordinator of the HIV, TB and immunization services for the Federal Medical Centre, Birnin Kebbi, Nigeria, before joining the Kaduna state University in 2014.His research interest focus on the development of Public health system in Nigeria.
Abstract:
Tuberculosis (TB) kills nearly 3 million persons per year worldwide. Most cases occur in middle and low income countries. In Sub Sahara Africa, Nigeria accounts for the highest absolute number of TB morbidity being the 4th among 22 most TB infected countries globally.
This study is a retrospective, descriptive cross-sectional review of the TB registers of 4054 clients who accessed TB health care services at 25 Primary Health Care facilities in Zaria, North western Nigeria between the years 2007-2015. Adult Males (64.2%), age group 25-34 were most affected. They presented mainly with pulmonary TB (88.5%). Only half of the clients (50.3%) had the smear positive results before commencement of the directly observed Short course therapy (DOTs) with either 2RHZE/6EH or 2SRHZE/IRHZE/5RHE depending on clients’ category. Human immune deficiency virus (HIV) co-infection was 19.1%. Post DOTs, 27.8% were confirmed bacteriologically cured, 52.4% completed treatment but no document to confirm cured, 6.9% defaulted, and 4.3% were transferred out, while 5.8% TB mortality occurred. The determinants of the outcome of treatment were HIV status, degree of smear positivity before treatment, clients’ residential address, DOTs Centre, clients’ age and sex. (p<0.05). The cure rate was below the recommended 80% by the World Health organization. There is a need for the Nigeria government in collaboration with international agencies to intensify effort at TB surveillance, monitoring and control activities in Nigeria.
Enem Simon Ikechukwu
Kaduna State University, Nigeria
Title: Isolation of verocytotoxigenic escherichia (vtec) o157and non o157 vtec serotypes in diarrhoeic and apparently healthy humans in Abuja, Nigeria
Biography:
Enem Simon Ikechukwu is a Ph.D holder and a senior Lecturer at the Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Abuja, Nigeria where he served as the immediate past Head of Department. He has over 20 journal publications to his credit and has attended many conferences both locally and internationally. He has served as a reviewer to some journals. He has passion for research.
Abstract:
Globally, Verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC) have been known as an important foodborne pathogen causing the substantial proportion of human illness. An analysis of human faecal samples from both diarrhea and apparently healthy patients from hospitals in Abuja, Nigeria were carried out using standard microbiological methods to isolate various stereotypes of VTEC. Confirmed E. coli isolates were sub-cultured into cefixime-tellurite sorbitol McConkey (CT-SMAC) agar and further characterized using commercially procured latex agglutination test kits. Out of the 372 samples collected, 193 were from diarrhea patients and 3 samples tested positive for VTEC O157 while 2 were positive for non O157 VTEC. The remaining 179 samples were from apparently healthy patients and one tested positive for VTEC O157 while 2 were for non O157 VTEC. Two hundred and twenty well structured closed ended questionnaires, pre-tested for validity were distributed to respondents to ascertain their association with food and food products of animal origin (cattle in particular). Of the 112 valid and returned questionnaires, 35 agreed strongly, 15 agreed, 20 were undecided, 12 disagreed and 30 strongly disagreed to have associated with food of animal origin. The isolation of various VTEC serotypes illustrates the significance of studying the broader group of VTEC organisms from a public health perspective. There is a strong indication that humans get infected by consuming contaminated beef and beef products. Proper personal and environmental hygiene should be observed in order to curb and control the prevalence of VTEC
Biography:
Anietie E. Moses is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, College of Health Sciences, University of Uyo, Nigeria. He holds a PhD degree in Microbiology, and research area is microbial immunology and infectious diseases epidemiology. He teaches Medical Microbiology and supervised many undergraduate and postgraduate students in some Nigeria universities. He coordinates postgraduate programs in his department and has published more than 40 original articles in local and international journals and also presented papers in many conferences within and outside Nigeria. He is the Deputy Editor-In-Chief of ‘World Journal of Biomedical Research’ published by his Faculty.
Abstract:
The challenge of tuberculosis diagnosis in TB/HIV co-infected persons are worrisome especially in resource poor countries. Assessment of some biomarkers’ levels in active tuberculosis could serve as a veritable tool in diagnosing TB in some settings. This study investigates the relationship between C-reactive protein (CRP), Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), absolute CD4+ cell counts and TB/HIV co-infection in sputum-producing patients in Uyo, Nigeria. TB was diagnosed using Ziehl-Neelsen staining and Immunofluorescence techniques. HIV was diagnosed serologically. Total serum CRP levels and CD4+ count were estimated using sandwich-ELISA and Flow cytometry, respectively. Differences in mean serum CRP of TB patients with and without HIV were significant (PHIV-positives alone(20.45±28.5mg/l), >TB-neg/HIV-negatives(12.34±20.9mg/dl), >apparently healthy subjects (0.44±0.64mg/l), as against TB-positives alone(29.83±30.8 mg/l). Mean serum CRP levels in TB-positives alone was significant >the control group(PTB-neg/ HIV-negative group (P<0.05). The pairwise analysis of mean absolute CD4+ counts show that TB/HIV-coinfection (175.12±85.79cells/µl) had a significantly lower count than HIV-positives only (358.93±240.1cells/µl), TB-positives only (576.31±326.3cells/µl) and HIV-neg/TB-negative groups (1089.8±331.3cells/µl). There was no significant difference between the mean CD4+ count among TB-positives and HIV-positives alone. Both groups had significantly lower counts than HIV-neg/TB-negatives. These findings revealed that the use of serum CRP levels alone or in combination with ESR and CD4+ count is a promising predictor of TB disease progression, especially in TB/HIV coinfected persons in high disease burden areas.
Thomas M Becker
Oregon Health & Science University, USA
Title: Hearing-related health among adult American Indians from one northwest tribe: A risk factor survey
Biography:
Becker has spent his entire career as an epidemiologist focused on Indian health issues. He is trained in internal medicine, epidemiology, and anthropology and currently serves as the Interim Associate Dean for Research at Oregon Health & Science University. He works at the Indian Health Board as a Medical Epidemiologist on diverse grants. Although he has a variety of research interests, the common theme in his grant and publication history centers on minority health disparities. As principal investigator on the CDC PRC grant, he has been involved in ocular epidemiologic studies and prevention of hearing loss in tribal communities.
Abstract:
Introduction: Hearing loss and tinnitus appear common in most populations, although few data have addressed hearing loss and tinnitus among tribal people. Information on hearing loss and tinnitus among tribal members may assist in developing public health interventions.
Methods: This cross-sectional study addressed hearing loss and tinnitus among 217 adults in a Pacific Northwest tribe. We conducted logistic regression analyses to assess the relationship among various risk factors with two outcome variables--hearing loss and tinnitus. Frequency measures were conducted for difficulty hearing certain sounds and hearing aid use.
Results: Among all participants, 18% reported hearing loss (males: 24% vs. females: 13%). After age adjustment, significant noise exposure was a risk factor for hearing loss (Odds Ratio (OR): 8.30, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.84, 37.52). The overall prevalence of tinnitus was 33% (comparable between males and females). The strongest risk factors for tinnitus after adjusting for age were significant noise exposure (OR: 2.24, 95% CI: 1.28, 6.73) and otitis media (OR: 2.82, CI: 1.26, 6.30). A larger percentage of women compared to men reported difficulty hearing certain sounds. Only 8% of study participants reported hearing aid use.
Conclusions: Increasing age and significant noise exposure were strongly associated with hearing loss in this tribe. For tinnitus, our data indicated that significant noise exposure and a history of otitis media were the strongest risk factors for this condition, even after age adjustment. We recommend that tribal members limit noise exposures and wear hearing protection in risky environments.
R.M. Mutambayi
University of Fort Hare,South Africa
Title: Statistical Determination and Assessment Of Malaria Risk Factors Using Cox Hazard Approach
Biography:
Ruffin Mpiana Mutambayi, graduated for BSc and BSc Honors (Mathematics and Statistics Applied to Management) and at the College of Statistics in Lubumbashi (DR Congo). In 2011 Mr Mutambayi obtained his MSc in Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of Fort Hare in South Africa. He then started working as a full-time Lecturer in the Statistics Department at the same institution after being a part-time lecturer from 2008 to 2010. Presently he is studying toward his PhD in Biostatistics with a major focus on malaria prevention. As a junior researcher, Ruffin Mpiana is focusing in ‘teaching statistics’, Applied statistics, Modelling, application of statistics to public health
Abstract:
The use of computer has increased among engineering and medical professionals, with the resultant ill health of various kinds, one of which is Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS). This is a condition in which a person experiences one or more eye and musculoskeletal symptoms, due to prolonged working on the computer.
A cross-sectional online survey was undertaken to assess the prevalence of CVS symptoms and their association with practices regarding computer use, among the young adult population aged 23-30 years, who were engineers and medical professionals using computers for at least 5 years, during their education and/or employment. Considering the prevalence of CVS to be 80% in this group, sample size was calculated as 100 at 95% confidence level with 10% relative error. The subjects were included in the study by the snowball sampling technique. A pre-tested semi-structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data, which included socio-demographic information, pattern of computer use and symptoms of Computer Vision Syndrome.
A total of 100 engineering and 108 medical professionals, living in various parts of the country, returned the completely filled up performer and hence were included in the study. The prevalence of symptoms of CVS (one or more) was found to be 82.69%. The prevalence was 92% among the engineering group and 74.1% among the medical group, the difference being statistically significant (p≤0.001). The commonest symptom was neck/shoulder pain (50.00%) followed by sore/tired eyes (44.23%). Subjects who used computers for more than 4 hours per day had significantly more symptoms of CVS (p≤0.001).