International Journal of Medical Sciences and Academic Research

Health Hazards and Their Association with Quality of Life Among Sanitation Workers of a Government Tertiary Care Centre in Jhansi District

Pradeep Kumar, Vimal Arya , Mehar Bano, Sheo Kumar — Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Background: Sanitation workers are indispensable to hospital hygiene yet are routinely exposed to biological, chemical, physical, ergonomic and psychosocial hazards. Evidence on this workforce in government tertiary settings is scarce.

Aims/Objectives: To assess occupational health hazards and quality of life, and to identify its predictors, among sanitation workers in a government tertiary care teaching hospital.

Methodology: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 600 sanitation workers over one year using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Quality of life was measured with the WHOQOL-BREF, and the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) among workers with chronic skin disease. Data were analysed using chi-square test, t-test and multiple linear regression (p less than 0.05 significant).

Results: Most workers were female (57.0%) and contractual (92.0%). Consistent personal protective equipment use was reported by only 52.8%; hepatitis-B and tetanus coverage were 59.2% and 55.8%. Chronic occupational hazards were present in 27.8%, predominantly musculoskeletal, respiratory, dermatological and psychological. Workers with chronic hazards had significantly lower physical (p=0.019) and environmental (p=0.003) domain scores. Type of working place, chronic hazards and age predicted overall quality of life.

Conclusions: About one in four sanitation workers carried chronic occupational morbidity, which was associated with lower quality of life, indicating a need to strengthen protective equipment supply, vaccination, health screening and social protection.

Diagnostic Significance of Serum CTRP9 Levels in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Case-Control Study

Sara Abbas Masood — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Background: C1q/tumor necrosis factor-related protein 9 (CTRP9) is an adiponectin paralog that modulates glucose and lipid metabolism through AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling. Its diagnostic relevance in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) remains incompletely defined and is reported inconsistently across studies.

Objectives: To evaluate serum CTRP9 concentrations in women with GDM compared with normoglycemic pregnant controls, and to determine its diagnostic performance, independent predictive value, and relationship with maternal and neonatal outcomes.

Materials and Methods: A prospective case-control study was conducted on 120 pregnant women (60 with GDM diagnosed by IADPSG criteria; 60 normoglycemic controls) recruited from Al-Imamien Al-Kadhemein Medical City, Baghdad, Iraq, between 5 March and 5 May 2026. Controls were frequency-matched to cases by maternal age, gestational age, and body mass index (BMI). Serum CTRP9 was measured by a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Group comparisons used the independent-samples t-test; discriminatory performance was assessed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis; independent predictive value was assessed by binary logistic regression; and associations were assessed by Spearman correlation and Mann-Whitney U tests. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: Serum CTRP9 was significantly higher in the GDM group than in controls (7.692 ± 2.122 vs 6.500 ± 1.998 ng/mL; p = 0.0019). CTRP9 showed modest discriminatory ability for GDM (AUC = 0.677; 95% CI: 0.586–0.760; p = 0.0004), with an optimal cut-off of >7.5 ng/mL (sensitivity 66.67%, specificity 78.33%). In multivariable logistic regression, CTRP9 was not an independent predictor of GDM status (OR = 2.33; 95% CI: 0.82–6.63; p = 0.1127). CTRP9 correlated weakly but significantly with BMI, HbA1c, blood glucose, and birth weight in the total cohort (ρ = 0.18–0.21; p < 0.05), but showed no significant association with gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, preterm delivery, premature rupture of membranes, postpartum hemorrhage, mode of delivery, or NICU admission.

Conclusions: Serum CTRP9 is significantly elevated in GDM and reflects the underlying metabolic burden, but it demonstrates only modest, non-independent diagnostic performance and no association with adverse maternal or neonatal outcomes in this cohort. CTRP9 may therefore represent a disease-associated metabolic marker rather than a predictive or prognostic biomarker of GDM-related complications.

Hypertension Improvement Following total Abdominal Hysterectomy in Women with Adenomyosis: A Prospective Cohort Study

Azal Sadiq Dawood — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Background: Adenomyosis is gynecological uterine disease that is increasingly common among women of reproductive age and characterized by its association with an increased potential of high blood pressure. This study was prepared to evaluate the improvement of hypertension in women with adenomyosis following abdominal total hysterectomy.

Methods: The prospective cohort study involved (110) patients with adenomyosis underwent total abdominal hysterectomy, (76) of whom had a history of hypertension, in private hospitals in Diyala Governorate, Iraq, between February and October 2025. Then, after six months of post-operative follow-up, changes in blood pressure readings and medication dosages were assessed.

Results: It was observed that 54 women (71.1%) experienced remarkable improvement in their blood pressure levels, with 35 (64.8%) showing clinical improvement and 19 (35.2%) achieving complete or normal blood pressures, associated with younger age, had hypertension for less than two years, not obese, and without family history of hypertension . In contrast, 22 women (28.9%) did not experience any marked improvement in hypertension associated with older women, obese, a family history of hypertension, and had hypertension for long periods exceeding 6 years.

Conclusion: A total hysterectomy may be considered an option for improving or normalizing the high blood pressure in women with adenomyosis, especially in the absence of other precipitating risk factors.