EPIDEMIOLOGY OF RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS IN ASSOCIATION WITH VARIOUS RISK FACTORS: A CLINICAL STUDY AT ST. JOSEPH’S GENERAL HOSPITAL

The aim of the study was to identify the epidemiology of respiratory problems and to assess their association with various risk factors in patients of St. Joseph’s general hospital, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. The study was conducted over a period of 8 months (July-2019 to February-2020) in 71 patients (both males and females) and the data was analyzed using EXCEL 2007 and SPSS version 6.0. The study was conducted throughout 3 seasons (Monsoon, autumn, winter) during which people are more prone to respiratory problems. Demographic information like the name, age, gender, address, and previous medical history was included. The risk factors like time of admission (month), location, age, gender, past medical history & other co-morbidities and social history were considered. The diagnosed pulmonary problems include Asthma, Bronchitis (acute, chronic & viral), COPD, Interstitial Lung Disease, LRTI, Lung Cancer, Pneumonia, Respiratory Failure, Tuberculosis, Tonsillitis and Shortness of Breath due to either Plural Effusion or Pulmonary Oedema. This study depicts the epidemiology of respiratory problems as Non-Guntur district (14.084%), Guntur urban (59.154%), Guntur rural (26.760%). This study shows the results as; patient with social history of tobacco and/or alcohol (10%), patients without any social history (90%), without any past medical history or other co-morbidities (51%), with some past medical history (49%), males (54.93%), females (45.07), July to October (50.7%), November to February (49.3%). And 61-to-70-year patients are at the top (23.94%) and 11 to 20 year patients are at the bottom (1.40%) of the distribution.