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Authors are the souls of any journal, and deserve much respect. To publish a journal manuscripts are needed from authors. Authors have a great responsibility for producing facts of their work in terms of number and results truthfully and an individual honesty is expected from authors in this regards. Both ways its true "No authors-No manuscripts-No journals" and "No journals–No manuscripts–No authors". Reviewing a manuscript is also a very responsible and important task of any peer-reviewed journal and to be taken seriously. It needs knowledge on the subject, sincerity, honesty and determination. Although the process of reviewing a manuscript is a time consuming task butit is expected to give one's best remarks within the time frame of the journal.
Salient features of the JCDR: It is a biomedical, multidisciplinary (including all medical and dental specialities), e-journal, with wide scope and extensive author support. At the same time, a free text of manuscript is available in HTML and PDF format. There is fast growing authorship and readership with JCDR as this can be judged by the number of articles published in it i e; in Feb 2007 of its first issue, it contained 5 articles only, and now in its recent volume published in April 2011, it contained 67 manuscripts. This e-journal is fulfilling the commitments and objectives sincerely, (as stated by Editor-in-chief in his preface to first edition) i e; to encourage physicians through the internet, especially from the developing countries who witness a spectrum of disease and acquire a wealth of knowledge to publish their experiences to benefit the medical community in patients care. I also feel that many of us have work of substance, newer ideas, adequate clinical materials but poor in medical writing and hesitation to submit the work and need help. JCDR provides authors help in this regards.
Timely publication of journal: Publication of manuscripts and bringing out the issue in time is one of the positive aspects of JCDR and is possible with strong support team in terms of peer reviewers, proof reading, language check, computer operators, etc. This is one of the great reasons for authors to submit their work with JCDR. Another best part of JCDR is "Online first Publications" facilities available for the authors. This facility not only provides the prompt publications of the manuscripts but at the same time also early availability of the manuscripts for the readers.
Indexation and online availability: Indexation transforms the journal in some sense from its local ownership to the worldwide professional community and to the public.JCDR is indexed with Embase & EMbiology, Google Scholar, Index Copernicus, Chemical Abstracts Service, Journal seek Database, Indian Science Abstracts, to name few of them. Manuscriptspublished in JCDR are available on major search engines ie; google, yahoo, msn.
In the era of fast growing newer technologies, and in computer and internet friendly environment the manuscripts preparation, submission, review, revision, etc and all can be done and checked with a click from all corer of the world, at any time. Of course there is always a scope for improvement in every field and none is perfect. To progress, one needs to identify the areas of one's weakness and to strengthen them.
It is well said that "happy beginning is half done" and it fits perfectly with JCDR. It has grown considerably and I feel it has already grown up from its infancy to adolescence, achieving the status of standard online e-journal form Indian continent since its inception in Feb 2007. This had been made possible due to the efforts and the hard work put in it. The way the JCDR is improving with every new volume, with good quality original manuscripts, makes it a quality journal for readers. I must thank and congratulate Dr Hemant Jain, Editor-in-Chief JCDR and his team for their sincere efforts, dedication, and determination for making JCDR a fast growing journal.
Every one of us: authors, reviewers, editors, and publisher are responsible for enhancing the stature of the journal. I wish for a great success for JCDR."
Thanking you
With sincere regards
Dr. Rajendra Kumar Ghritlaharey, M.S., M. Ch., FAIS
Associate Professor,
Department of Paediatric Surgery, Gandhi Medical College & Associated
Kamla Nehru & Hamidia Hospitals Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 462 001 (India)
E-mail: drrajendrak1@rediffmail.com
On May 11,2011
Dr. Shankar P.R.
"On looking back through my Gmail archives after being requested by the journal to write a short editorial about my experiences of publishing with the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research (JCDR), I came across an e-mail from Dr. Hemant Jain, Editor, in March 2007, which introduced the new electronic journal. The main features of the journal which were outlined in the e-mail were extensive author support, cash rewards, the peer review process, and other salient features of the journal.
Over a span of over four years, we (I and my colleagues) have published around 25 articles in the journal. In this editorial, I plan to briefly discuss my experiences of publishing with JCDR and the strengths of the journal and to finally address the areas for improvement.
My experiences of publishing with JCDR: Overall, my experiences of publishing withJCDR have been positive. The best point about the journal is that it responds to queries from the author. This may seem to be simple and not too much to ask for, but unfortunately, many journals in the subcontinent and from many developing countries do not respond or they respond with a long delay to the queries from the authors 1. The reasons could be many, including lack of optimal secretarial and other support. Another problem with many journals is the slowness of the review process. Editorial processing and peer review can take anywhere between a year to two years with some journals. Also, some journals do not keep the contributors informed about the progress of the review process. Due to the long review process, the articles can lose their relevance and topicality. A major benefit with JCDR is the timeliness and promptness of its response. In Dr Jain's e-mail which was sent to me in 2007, before the introduction of the Pre-publishing system, he had stated that he had received my submission and that he would get back to me within seven days and he did!
Most of the manuscripts are published within 3 to 4 months of their submission if they are found to be suitable after the review process. JCDR is published bimonthly and the accepted articles were usually published in the next issue. Recently, due to the increased volume of the submissions, the review process has become slower and it ?? Section can take from 4 to 6 months for the articles to be reviewed. The journal has an extensive author support system and it has recently introduced a paid expedited review process. The journal also mentions the average time for processing the manuscript under different submission systems - regular submission and expedited review.
Strengths of the journal: The journal has an online first facility in which the accepted manuscripts may be published on the website before being included in a regular issue of the journal. This cuts down the time between their acceptance and the publication. The journal is indexed in many databases, though not in PubMed. The editorial board should now take steps to index the journal in PubMed. The journal has a system of notifying readers through e-mail when a new issue is released. Also, the articles are available in both the HTML and the PDF formats. I especially like the new and colorful page format of the journal. Also, the access statistics of the articles are available. The prepublication and the manuscript tracking system are also helpful for the authors.
Areas for improvement: In certain cases, I felt that the peer review process of the manuscripts was not up to international standards and that it should be strengthened. Also, the number of manuscripts in an issue is high and it may be difficult for readers to go through all of them. The journal can consider tightening of the peer review process and increasing the quality standards for the acceptance of the manuscripts. I faced occasional problems with the online manuscript submission (Pre-publishing) system, which have to be addressed.
Overall, the publishing process with JCDR has been smooth, quick and relatively hassle free and I can recommend other authors to consider the journal as an outlet for their work."
Dr. P. Ravi Shankar
KIST Medical College, P.O. Box 14142, Kathmandu, Nepal.
E-mail: ravi.dr.shankar@gmail.com
On April 2011 Anuradha
Dear team JCDR, I would like to thank you for the very professional and polite service provided by everyone at JCDR. While i have been in the field of writing and editing for sometime, this has been my first attempt in publishing a scientific paper.Thank you for hand-holding me through the process.
Dr. Anuradha
E-mail: anuradha2nittur@gmail.com
On Jan 2020
Original article / research
Full Version
Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Diabetes among School Teachers in Upper Siang District of Arunachal Pradesh: A Cross-sectional Study
Correspondence Address :
Dr. Obang Perme,
J Kena Apartment, E sector, Naharlagun-791100, Arunachal Pradesh, India.
E-mail: oobang2003@gmail.com
Introduction: Diabetes is a global problem and expected to affect around 300 million adults all over the world and around 57 million in India by year 2025. Studies indicate that the awareness of diabetes among general population in Arunachal Pradesh is low. School teachers form the backbone of a society and are entrusted with the work of spreading knowledge and awareness among children and youths on many topics including health. School teachers also act as community leaders and shape the public perception.
Aim: To assess the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) of diabetes among school teachers in Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, India.
Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional study was carried out in all the five high and higher secondary schools in headquarter region of Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Data was collected from February to May 2018. In each school, 22 randomly selected teachers from staff register were interviewed regarding KAP of diabetes using predesigned questionnaire. Data was descriptively analysed in form of frequencies and percentages and presented in form of tables.
Results: A total of 110 school teachers were interviewed. Majority 108 (98.18%) had knowledge about condition called diabetes. About 96 (87.27%) thought more and more people are getting affected from diabetes. However, only 4 (3.63%) of the respondents had knowledge that diabetes can impact younger people also. According to the responses, renal 63 (57.27%) and ocular 46 (41.82%) involvement were the two most common organs involved in diabetes. Almost half of the respondents felt that family history of diabetes, 54 (49.09%) was the most important risk factor for development of diabetes. Almost onethird, 34 (30.91%) of the respondents did not feel eating healthy and regular blood sugar 103 (93.64%) checking is important in diabetes. About 44 (40%) responding negative to the practice of morning walk for diabetes control.
Conclusion: Among school teachers in Arunachal Pradesh majority had a knowledge about diabetes as an entity but there was a significant lacuna in attitude and practices towards diabetes which needs to be inculcated as a means for better education for the teachers and transition of knowledge to students.
Diabetes mellitus, Health, High school
Diabetes is a global problem and is expected to affect around 300 million adults all over the world and around 57 million in India by year 2025 (1),(2). India with 65.1 million people with diabetes in 2013 was the second highest burden country after China which had 98.4 million people with diabetes (3). Increase in incidence and prevalence of diabetes has been attributed to the changes in lifestyle from more physically active to sedentary lifestyle pattern with improvement of socio-economic condition, which can be prevented by adopting healthy lifestyle [2,4]. A study done in West Bengal, reported low awareness of diabetes in both rural and urban communities (5). Overall, in India, 43.2% of the adult population had heard about a condition called diabetes (6). Knowledge on diabetes was reported to be low in rural areas of India (7). Another study from Tripura, a North Eastern state reported low knowledge and awareness about diabetes among adult population (8).
The literature review for studies about the KAP on diabetes from Arunachal Pradesh revealed only a single study. In the study done in Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh among adults aged 25 years and above, only 21% had showed awareness of diabetes (9). Schools have been widely recognised as an important platform for delivering health promotion interventions particularly in context of non communicable diseases (10),(11). School teachers form the backbone of a society and are entrusted with the work of spreading knowledge and awareness among children and youths on many topics including health. School teachers also act as community leaders and can shape public perception. They can play a major role in improving knowledge and awareness about diabetes among the communities they serve.
There have been no studies on KAP of diabetes among school teachers of the North Eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. So, the aim of this study was to assess the KAP of diabetes among school teachers in Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, India.
The present cross-sectional study was carried out among teachers of schools in Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Study was approved by Institutional Ethical Committee (IEC) of TRIHMS Naharlagun, Arunachal Pradesh, India (No.TRIHMS/ ETHICS/01/2019-20/39). All interviews were conducted after taking informed written consent. Privacy and confidentiality was maintained during the interviews. This study included teachers of high school and higher secondary schools headquarter region of the district and data was collected between February to May 2018.
Inclusion criteria: All school teachers aged above 18 years of age were included in the study.
Exclusion criteria: Those not willing or refusal for participating in the study were excluded from the study.
Sample size calculation: No previous studies on KAP of diabetes among school teachers in Arunachal Pradesh were available, so considering 50% prevalence to get maximum sample size and taking 10% error and 95% confidence interval, sample size was calculated as 96. Taking a non response rate of 5%, sample size was calculated as 101 and this was rounded off to 110 (12).
Study Procedure
There are five high school and higher secondary schools in the district headquarter region of Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, India. All five schools were included in the study. In each school 22 teachers were interviewed. The interviewers first approached the principal of the school for permission to conduct the study and explained the purpose of the study. After obtaining permission, the 22 teachers were chosen randomly from the staff register and approached at a convenient time during the day. If a chosen teacher was absent on the day of visit, another visit was made after consultation with the teacher. The data was collected by interview method using a predesigned and pretested questionnaire encompassing KAP related to diabetes. The questionnaire was prepared based on previous published studies (13),(14). The study questionnaire was prepared in english. Pilot testing of the questionnaire was done among a few teachers in the district. These interviews were not kept for analysis [Annexure].
Statistical Analysis
Descriptive data was expressed as numbers and percentages. All calculations were done using Microsoft excel and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18.0.
The baseline characteristics of the study population is shown in (Table/Fig 1). A 60 (54.55%) of the population were male and a majority 57 (51.82%) had an educational qualification of Bachelor of Arts (B.A). The knowledge domain of the respondents is shown in (Table/Fig 2). Majority had a knowledge about diabetes as an entity and the rising incidence of the disease. However, only 4 (3.63%) of the respondents had knowledge that diabetes can impact younger people also. According to the responses renal 63 (57.2%) and ocular 46 (41.8%) involvement were the two most common organs involved in diabetes. Almost half the respondents felt that family history of diabetes 54 (49.09%) was the most important risk factor for development of diabetes. The (Table/Fig 3) shows the attitude domain results. Importantly almost one-third 34 (30.91%) of the respondents did not feel eating healthy and regular blood sugar checking is important in diabetes. The practice responses are shown in (Table/Fig 4) with more than one-third 41 (37.27%) reporting it is not important to regularly check blood sugar and 44 (40%) responding negative to the practice of morning walk for diabetes control. About 69 (62.73%) subjects responded that they would visit a doctor, if they ever had diabetes.
The KAP about diabetes among the population is important for prevention as well as proper treatment and control of diabetes. The current study was done to assess KAP about diabetes of school teachers of Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Teachers in a community are among the educated persons and are an influential role models for students and a source of knowledge on many topics including health related issues like diabetes. Schools have been widely recognised as an important platform for delivering health promotion interventions particularly in context of non communicable diseases (10),(11). Understanding the gap in KAP of diabetes among school teachers would help in health education activities focusing on the identified gap areas.
In this study, 108 (98.18%) of respondents had heard about condition called diabetes which was higher than earlier studies reported from other parts of India, albeit from diverse population (7),(9),(15). Overall level of knowledge of diabetes was high which was expected given the background educational qualifications of the population.
Most of the respondents 103 (93.64%) agreed that getting blood sugar checked regularly was important. However, a substantial part of the respondents did not agree that healthy eating as a preventive measure of diabetes which has also been observed in previous studies (7),(9),(15). These can have important implications for future programmes aimed at raising awareness about the link between diet, healthy lifestyle and diabetes prevention among teachers of this region.
Among the study participants practice of taking low calorie diets was observed in only 58 (52.73%). Such a practice again hints at the overall lack of information diet and diabetes interactions among respondents from this region. Another important aspect was that around half of the respondents were not agreeing on the importance of practice of morning walk for diabetes prevention. World Health Organisation (WHO) has revised its recommendations on physical activity in 2020 and stated that adults should undertake 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity, or 75-150 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity, or some equivalent combination of moderate-intensity and vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, per week (16). While multiple reasons like inherently active nature of the local community without a diurnal preference of activity may influence this practice, there needs to be further impetus on the encouragement towards an increased physical activity among teachers with the ultimate goal of percolating the knowledge to students.
This study forms the first study from Arunachal Pradesh as well as from the region focussed on school teachers and highlights further need of spreading education about diabetes among school teachers.
Limitation(s)
The study findings are based on the memory of the respondent and are subjected to recall bias. Practices of the respondent were not observed.
Among school teachers in Arunachal Pradesh majority had knowledge about diabetes as an entity but there was significant lacuna in attitude and practices towards diabetes which emphasises the need for increasing diabetes awareness activities among school teachers which will in turn increase diabetes knowledge among students.
DOI: 10.7860/JCDR/2022/58293.16958
Date of Submission: Jun 14, 2022
Date of Peer Review: Jul 13, 2022
Date of Acceptance: Sep 14, 2022
Date of Publishing: Oct 01, 2022
AUTHOR DECLARATION:
• Financial or Other Competing Interests: None
• Was Ethics Committee Approval obtained for this study? Yes
• Was informed consent obtained from the subjects involved in the study? Yes
• For any images presented appropriate consent has been obtained from the subjects. NA
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