Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Study on breastfeeding practices among rural women in the field practice areas of a tertiary care teaching hospital

Background: Breastfeeding is one of the most important determinants of child survival, birth spacing, and prevention of childhood infections. The beneficial effects of breastfeeding depend on breastfeeding initiation, its duration, and the age at which the breast-fed child is weaned. Data from NFHS-4 suggest that in India, in Gujarat where only 56% of infants are exclusively breastfed and 50% of infants are initiated with breastfeeding within one hour of birth. This study was planned to identify the gaps in breastfeeding practices so that necessary interventions can be designed and thereby implemented. The objective is to study the breastfeeding practices of mothers having children below 2 years of age in the field practice areas of the medical college and to associate the findings of these practices with the socio-demographic characteristics of the population.Methods: The study conducted was a community based cross-sectional one in the six villages of RHTC of PIMSR. The study was conducted by surveying a total of 204 mothers to study their breastfeeding practices which were categorized into ‘good’ and “not so good’ practices. From this the total score was calculated and associated with socio-demographic variables.Results: Majority of the mothers were in the age group 18-22 and educated up to ‘primary’ and most of them were from social class IV and V. Only 23% of the mothers had adequate knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding. About 70% practiced both early initiation of breastfeeding and feeding colostrum whereas nearly 80% practiced exclusive breastfeeding.Conclusions: It is concluded from the study that even though the practice of breastfeeding was found quite good, the gaps in the knowledge and practice must be addressed through health education and support through peer and health groups. Documenting the success stories will go a long way for community education and behavioral change in communication at the community level for adequate breastfeeding practices.
A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of gradual versus abrupt smoking cessation

INTRODUCTION The aim of this review is to test whether a gradual reduction in smoking results in a superior quit rate compared to abrupt cessation. METHODS This review was based on Cochrane methodology for conducting meta-analysis. Only randomized controlled trials were eligible for this review. The participants were adult smokers who were addicted to tobacco, defined as those who smoked at least 15 cigarettes or 12.5 grams of loose-leaf tobacco daily or who had an end-expiratory carbon monoxide concentration of at least 15 ppm. Both groups used an equal amount of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) before and after quitting smoking. The Review Manager Database (RevMan version 5.3) was used to analyze selected studies. RESULTS Three randomized controlled trials involving 1607 patients were included. The prolonged abstinence rate of the gradual cessation group was significantly lower than that of the abrupt group (relative risk, RR=0.77). The result of 7-day smoking cessation rate was also lower in the gradual group (RR=0.76). CONCLUSIONS Comparing the combination of NRT and abrupt cessation, the smoking cessation rate of the combination of NRT and gradual cessation is significantly lower. No significant adverse events were found in either group.