Browsing by Author "Kalupahana, N."

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High prevalence of overweight/obesity in urban Sri Lanka: findings from the Colombo urban study.
(Hindawi Limited, 2019) Somasundaram, N.; Ranathunga, I.; Gunawardana, K.; Ahamed, M.; Ediriweera, D.; Antonypillai, C.N.; Kalupahana, N.
BACKGROUND:South Asian countries face a double burden of malnutrition characterized by high prevalence of underweight, overweight, and obesity. Understanding the distribution of this public health problem is important to tailor targeted interventions for communities. The objective of the current study was to find out the prevalence of obesity in urban Sri Lanka and to identify sociodemographic factors associated with it. METHODS:Adult males and females residing in an urban government division of the Colombo District in Sri Lanka were included in this study (Colombo Urban Study). Stratified simple random sampling was used to select a sample of 463 from the total population. Sociodemographic data using an interviewer-administered questionnaire, anthropometric measurements, and serum samples were obtained for investigations. RESULTS: When the global BMI cutoffs were applied, the community prevalences of underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obesity were 7.7%, 39.6%, 37.0%, and 15.8%, respectively. When the Asian BMI cutoffs were applied, the respective prevalences were 7.7%, 26.8%, 34.3%, and 31.2%. The community prevalence for abdominal obesity was 58.1% when using Asian cutoffs. Females had a higher prevalence of both obesity and abdominal obesity. There was an ethnic difference in obesity rates with Moors having the highest rates (65.5%) followed by Sinhalese (52.3%) and Tamils (40.2%). The highest obesity prevalence was observed in the most educated group. Multiple regression analysis showed that high BMI was associated with female gender and family history of hypertension. Serum LDL negatively associated with BMI while the strength of this relationship was impacted by serum HBA1c levels. Finally, serum triglyceride level showed positive association with BMI, and the effect was more marked in Moors compared to Sinhalese. CONCLUSION:Two-thirds of adults in the studied urban population were overweight or obese. This highlights the urgent need for interventions to curb this epidemic. The gender, ethnic differences in obesity, its associations with educational status, and the interactions with metabolic comorbidities indicate that these interventions may need to be targeted towards different groups in the population.
Opportunities for pharmacists to optimise quality use of medicines in a Sri Lankan hospital: An observational, prospective, cohort study
(Wiley-Blackwell, 2017) Perera, D.M.P.; Coombes, J.A.; Shanika, L.G.T.; Dawson, A.; Lynch, C.; Mohamed, F.; Kalupahana, N.; de Silva, H.A.; Jayamanne, S.F.; Peters, N.B.; Myers, B.; Coombes, I.D.
BACKGROUND: Quality use of medicines (QUM) has been identified as a priority in Sri Lanka. Aim: To identify opportunities to optimise QUM, and evaluate medication appropriateness and medication information exchanged with patients and carers on discharge in a Sri Lankan tertiary care hospital. METHODS: An observational, prospective, cohort study of patients systematically sampled from two medical wards. A research pharmacist determined their pre-admission medication regimen via interview at time of discharge. Issues of poor adherence and discrepancies between the pre- and post-admission medication regimens were recorded. Drug-related problems were categorised into opportunities to optimise drug therapy. The appropriateness of discharge medications was evaluated using a validated tool. The patient or carer was interviewed after discharge regarding the quality of medicine information exchanged in hospital. RESULTS: The 578 recruited patients were taking 1756 medications prior to admission, and 657 (37.4%) of these medications were not continued during admission. Opportunities to optimise drug therapy were identified on 1496 occasions during admission (median, 2.0 opportunities/patient), 215 opportunities, (14.4%) were resolved spontaneously by the medical team prior to discharge. The median score for appropriateness of medications on discharge was 1.5 per patient (interquartile range, 0.0–3.5). Of 427 patients surveyed after discharge, 52% recalled being asked about their medications on admission to hospital, 75% about previous adverse medication reactions and 39% recalled being informed about changes to their medications on discharge. CONCLUSION: Significant opportunities exist for pharmacists to enhance quality use of medicines for patients in the current hospitalbased healthcare system in Sri Lanka. © 2017 The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia.