Browsing by Author "Goonewardena, S."

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Knowledge, attitudes, and consequences of corporal punishment among school children aged 15-19 years and its associated factors in selected schools in Colombo, Gampaha and Kegalle Districts
(Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2021) Dhammearatchi, K.; Fernando, D.; Devruwan, C.; Sandeepani, A.; Ramzani, A.; Goonewardena, S.; Ariyarathna, D.
Introduction: Corporal punishment is a common method to correct or control a child’s behaviour. Teachers use physical force, intending the student to respond to the pain caused by the punishments. Its physical and psycho-social outcomes can have long lasting impacts on growth towards adulthood. Objective: To describe the knowledge, attitudes and consequences of corporal punishment (CP) among school children aged 15-19 years and its associated factors in schools in Colombo, Kegalle and Gampaha districts. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was earned out among 245 school children aged 15-19 years. Data was collected using a self-administered online questionnaire and SPSS Statistics Version 26 was used for data analysis. P < 0.05 was taken as the level of significance. Results: Only 42.9% of the participants were aware that CP was illegal. At least one form of CP was experienced by the majority (86.4%). Kneeling, standing on chairs and ear twisting were commonly experienced (>80%). Majority had felt pain and physical discomfort. Most (60.4%) acknowledged that they understood their wrongdoings after being punished. Interestingly, 76.7% of the students do not believe that CP is an acceptable practice and only 29% considers it a positive influence. Majority (88.2%) would prefer positive methods of discipline as alternatives to corporal punishment. There was a statistically significant association between the mother’s employment status and knowledge regarding CP. Conclusions: Steps should be taken to improve awareness on methods of student discipline, emphasising the consequences of corporal punishment.
Level of knowledge, attitudes, practices of cancer palliative care and their associated factors among nursing officers in Apeksha Hospital, Maharagama
(Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2021) Madushan, T.; Gunasekera, N.; Munasinghe, R.; Uthpala, S.; Karunanayaka, N.; Goonewardena, S.; Meegoda, M.K.D.L.
Introduction: Nursing officer, being the first contact of cancer patients, plays a prominent role in providing palliative care. Therefore, having good knowledge, favourable attitudes and correct practices in cancer palliative care uplifts patient quality of life. Objectives: To describe the level of knowledge, attitudes, practices of cancer palliative care and associated factors among the nursing officers in Apeksha Hospital, Maharagama. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 252 participants with more than one year of work experience at Apeksha Hospital, Maharagama. Data were collected using a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire. Data was analysed using SPSS software version 26. P<0.05 was the significance level. Results: The mean age of the study participants was 32.9 (SD= 6.55) years. Majority (59.5%) had good knowledge, 53.2% favourable attitudes and 54% engaged in correct practices. Mean knowledge score was 26.4 (SD= 3.44). Nurses above 30 years of age, married and having more than 10 years’ experience had significant association with knowledge (p<0.05). Most of the participants who had good knowledge had correct practices (p<0.0001). Most of the participants who had favourable attitude had correct practices (p<0.0001). Association of level of knowledge and attitude was not found to be statistically significant (p> 0.05). Conclusions: Majority of the nurses had good knowledge, favourable attitudes and engaged in correct practices in palliative care. There is a significant association between the year of experience and the nurses’ knowledge on palliative care. Having a good knowledge and favourable attitude on palliative care were positive factors for correct practices.
Meta-analysis of global variations in grade of pT1 urothelial bladder cancer and supplementary evaluation of a Sri Lankan cohort
(The College of Surgeons of Sri Lanka, 2022) Malalasekera, A.P.; Ediriweera, D.; Goonewardena, S.; Perera, N.; Abeygunasekara, A.; Jayasekara, R.W.; Wettasinghe,T.K.; Dissanayake,V.H.W.D.; Lokuhetty, M.D.S.
Introduction Bladder cancer grading is fraught with ambiguity. We aimed to conduct a meta-analysis of grading of pT1 urothelial cancers and assess histopathology and outcomes in a Sri Lankan pT1 bladder cancer cohort. Patients and Method A meta-analysis of grading of pT1 urothelial cancers was conducted as per PRISMA guidelines. A second metaanalysis of the proportion of pTa/NMIBC at disease presentation was conducted to assess impact of delayed presentation on grading. Analysis was supplemented with data from a cohort of Sri Lankan patients. Results In the meta-analysis, the overall pooled pT1 HG prevalence was 75.3% [95% CI:68.3%-81.7%]. The pT1 HG prevalence was significantly higher (p=4.916878e-11) among the European, Japanese and Taiwanese studies at 90.1% [95% CI: 85.3%-94.0%] compared to the rest of the countries at 56.1% [95% CI:46.5%-65.4%]. The overall pooled pTa/NMIBC prevalence was 44.2% [95% CI:36.4%-52.1%]. The pTa/NMIBC percentage among Europe, China and Taiwan was 66.9%[95% CI:62.4%-71.2%] and it was 37.6% [95% CI:29.0%-46.6%] in Turkey and other Asian countries indicating a significant difference(P=1.08e-08). In the Sri Lankan cohort of 66 enrolled patients, 31(47%) had pT1, of which 61% were low-grade (LG). The 5-year progressionfree survival (PFS) of pT1 was 60.9%. In LG it was 85.7% and 22.2% in high-grade (HG) (P = 0.0006). Conclusion There is a global variation of percentages of pT1 LG versus HG disease in bladder cancer specimens at presentation which could be attributed to delay in treatment with stage migration, ethnic variations in tumour biology, and interobserver variability in assigning a grade of tumour, and needs further study.
Work-related health problems and their associated factors among teachers in schools of Western Province
(Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2021) Gurusinghe, A.; Perera, H.; Perera, S.; Samaraweera, R.; Subasinghe, S.; Amarasinghe, C.; Alagiyawanna, D.; Goonewardena, S.
Introduction: The teaching profession is characterized by high levels of stress and physical complaints. These occupation-related health problems affect the effectiveness of teachers influencing the quality of education. Objectives: To describe the proportion of work-related health problems among teachers and their associated factors in selected schools in Western province. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study involving teachers aged 20-60 years old, who have one-year work experience in Western province. Data was collected using a structured self-administered questionnaire via a google form. Data was analysed using SPSS software version 26.0. P value less than 0.05 was considered as significant. Results: A total of 239 participated and there was a significant female predominance (82.8%). Mean age was 38.17 years (SD= 9.014). The common ergonomic problems reported are leg pain (45.2%), vocal discomfort (42.3%) and back pain (33.5%). The majority of females experienced leg pain (49%). The common co-morbidity reported was respiratory diseases (20.5%). Wearing high heel shoes (p= 0.02) and walking long distances in a school day (p= 0.002) were statistically significant with leg pain. There was significant association between vocal discomfort and using blackboards (p<0.05). Older age, BMI above 23, teaching experience exceeding 10 years, increasing number of working periods and walking long distances in a school day were associated with high prevalence of back pain (p<0.05). Conclusions: Majority had ergonomic problems and most of them were females. Remedial measures should be given to teachers to counteract these ergonomic problems which hider their teaching and thereby the quality of life.