Journal/Magazine Articles
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This collection contains original research articles, review articles and case reports published in local and international peer reviewed journals by the staff members of the Faculty of Medicine
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Item Awareness of clinical trial registration among healthcare professionals: An observational study.(Wiley-Blackwell, 2018) Ranawaka, U.K.; de Abrew, A.; Wimalachandra, M.; Wanigatunge, C.A.; Rajapakse, L.C.; Goonaratna, C.AIM: Prospective registration in a freely accessible public platform is a key step in the ethical conduct of clinical trials. Little is known of the awareness of clinical trial registration among the scientific community. This study aimed to assess awareness of clinical trial registration among participants attending a medical congress in Sri Lanka. METHODS: Knowledge of trial registration was assessed using a self-administered questionnaire, which spanned domains such as involvement in research, and knowledge and perceptions regarding trial registration. A knowledge score was calculated and correlated with demographic variables. RESULTS: Of 251 survey respondents, 53.4% were male, 74.9% were below the age of 40 years, and 56.6% were currently engaged in research. Registration was considered necessary for trial publication by 73.3%, and 70.5% agreed that trials should be registered prospectively. Most achieved a knowledge score of 'Acceptable' (41%) or 'Good' (19.9%). Mid- or advanced career stages, postgraduate training, current involvement in research, and recent research publications/presentations were correlated with higher knowledge scores (P < 0.05). Beneficial effects considered to be associated with trial registration were access to findings of all trials (61.4%), access to negative results (47.8%), preventing trial duplication (69.3%), and preventing multiple publications (70.1%). Increasing research workload (49.8%), additional restrictions on research conduct (52.2%), and the possibility of 'intellectual theft' (56.2%) were seen as potential negative effects. CONCLUSIONS: Most participants were aware of the need for prospective registration as a requirement for publication of clinical trials. Concerns were expressed regarding several perceived negative effects of trial registration.Item Ten years of clinical trial registration in a resource-limited setting: Experience of the Sri Lanka clinical trials registry(Wiley-Blackwell, 2018) Ranawaka, U.K.; de Abrew, A.; Wimalachandra, M.; Samaranayake, N.; Goonaratna, C.AIM: We describe our experience of the first 10 years at the Sri Lanka Clinical Trials Registry (SLCTR). METHODS: We analyzed all trial records of the SLCTR over the study period. We collected information regarding trial characteristics and completeness of data entry in the SLCTR data set. RESULTS: During the study period, 210 trials (63% of all applications) were registered with the SLCTR. The number of registered trials showed an increasing trend over the years. All trial registrations had complete entries for all the data fields studied. Only 17.6% of the trials were registered retrospectively. All the registered trials were interventional studies, and the majority (87.6%) were randomized controlled trials. A significant proportion of trials (28.6%) were on noncommunicable diseases, and 12.4% were on pregnancy and its outcomes. Several trials (9.5%) were international collaborative studies. A majority of the Principal Investigators (70.9%) were affiliated to a university. Most of the studies (41.9%) were self-funded by the investigators. Details of ethics review committee approval were available for 96.7% of registered trials. Over a third of the registered trials (37.1%) had completed recruitment at the time of analysis. A majority of the trials (72.8%) had updated trial data since registration. CONCLUSIONS: There is a steady increase in the number of trials registered at the SLCTR. Complete entries for all the data fields were seen in all trial registrations. The SLCTR has made a positive contribution to the emergence of a healthy clinical research environment in Sri Lanka.Item The Sri Lanka Clinical Trials Registry - five years young, and growing.(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2012) Ranawaka, U.K.; Wanigatunga, C.; de Abrew, A.; Wimalachandra, M.; Goonaratna, C.No Abstract AvailableItem The Sri Lanka clinical trials registry-Moving forward(Wiley-Blackwell, 2011) Ranawaka, U.K.; Goonaratna, C.The Sri Lanka Clinical Trials Registry (SLCTR) is a Primary Registry in the Registry Network of the World Health Organization's International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (WHO-ICTRP), and regularly feeds data to its Clinical Trials Search Portal. Over the last few years, the SLCTR has been able to achieve its original objective of providing a national trial register for Sri Lankan researchers, but it has always been more than that of a mere storehouse of trial data. The research landscape is rapidly changing in Sri Lanka, and the SLCTR has been a key stimulus to a resurgent interest in clinical research among the Sri Lankan research community. The SLCTR is working together with its partner stakeholders to facilitate research in the country, and to ensure that clinical trials conducted in Sri Lanka meet the highest ethical and scientific standards.Item Establishing the sri lanka clinical trials registry(Wiley-Blackwell, 2009) Ranawaka, U.K.; Goonaratna, C.Recognizing the need for a national body for trial registration, the Sri Lanka Medical Association took up the challenge of setting up the Sri Lanka Clinical Trials Registry. The registry was established in November 2006, the first functioning trial registry in South Asia. The Sri Lanka Clinical Trials Registry is now a primary registry affiliated to the Registry Network of the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform of the World Health Organization. The Sri Lanka Clinical Trials Registry has not been a mere repository for trial data but has also had a positive influence on the research community in Sri LankaItem Sri Lanka clinical trials registry(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2007) Ranawaka, U.K.; Goonaratna, C.No Abstract AvailableItem Iron absorption from a traditio nal Sri Lankan weaning food and the enhancing effect of ascorbic acid in adult male volunteers(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 1996) Liyanage, C.; Goonaratna, C.; Thabrew, I.OBJECTIVE:To study absorption of iron from Centella gruel and the enhancing effect of ascorbic acid in young adult males.DESIGN: An in vivo absorption study. SETTING: Faculty of Medicine, Galle. METHODS: The percentage of iron absorbed from the Centella gruel was measured using a double isotope technique with 55Fe and 59Fe on 10 healthy male volunteers. OUTCOME MEASURE: Percentage of iron absorption from the gruel with and without ascorbic acid. RESULTS: The mean iron absorption from each meal of Centella gruel was 2.2% (SEM 0.8). This increased to 5% (SEM 1.6) by addition of 50 mg ascorbic acid. When ingested with ascorbic acid, the bioavailable nutrient density (BND) of the weaning food was increased from 0.23 to 0.53 mg iron/1,000 kcal. To satisfy the daily physiological requirements of iron in infants and toddlers, it was calculated that apart from ascorbic acid supplementation, the total iron content also needs to be increased from 2.05 mg to 4.0 mg/meal. CONCLUSION: Centella gruel cannot provide the amount of iron to meet the BND for iron required by infants and toddlers, unless supplemented with an enhancer of iron absorption such as ascorbic acid and its total iron content is increased.Item Iron deficiency anaemia in children aged 9-24 months a rural area in South of Sri Lanka(1995) Liyanage, C.E.; Thabrew, M.I.; Goonaratna, C.The prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia was examined in a group of 200 rural children, aged 9 to 24 months in the Galle district. Anaemia, defined as a haemoglobin concentration (Ob) less than 110 g/L, was present in 55 percent. Majority of the subjects (70 percent) had serum ferritin (SF) below normal. There was a correlation between the severity of anaemia and a stepwise decrease in serum iron, transferrin saturation and SF. The total iron intake of subjects was marginal; however, this did not show any association with the iron status in them. It is therefore, concluded that iron deficiency anaemia is a potentially serious consequence in children of weaning age and quality of weaning foods that are in practice have to be improved to maintain the iron balance.Item Neonatal and post-neonatal mortality in the Galle district(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 1994) Fonseka, P.; Wijewardene, K.; de Silva, D.G.H.; Goonaratna, C.; Wijeyasiri, W.A.DESIGN: Descriptive study. SETTING: Galle district in Sri Lanka. SUBJECTS: 350 infant deaths of singleton births. MEASUREMENTS: Association between variables. RESULTS: Neonatal: post-neonatal death ratio was 3.2:1, and 62.3% (218) were early neonatal deaths. First day deaths comprised 28.6% (100); 67.8% (237) died at the Teaching Hospital. A high incidence (65.7%) of low birthweight (LBW) was noted. Mean birthweights of neonates and post-neonates were 1925 +/- 729 and 2520 +/- 620 gram respectively, and the difference between means was statistically significant (p < 0.001). LBW and related disorders were the major cause of death in 44% (154) of the total sample, and in 55.8% (149) of neonates. Infections were the commonest cause (55.8%) of death in post-neonates. Pediatric clinical assessment to differentiate small-for-dates (SFD) was not recorded in 90.3%. Statistically significant associations were found between the period of death (neonatal and post-neonatal) and the following variables: period of gestation (p < 0.001); birthweight (p < 0.001) and cause of death (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: There was a high incidence of neonatal deaths and a high proportion of early neonatal deaths. About one-third of deaths occurred on the first day of life. Incidence of LBW was high. The major cause of death was LBW and related disorders in the total sample and in neonates. Assessment of SFD was not carried out in the vast majority of infants.Item Does Aerua lanata have diuretic properties?(Dept. of Physiology, All-India Institute Of Medical Sciences, 1993) Goonaratna, C.; Thabrew, I.; Wijewardene, K.We have compared the diuretic activity of 200 ml of sucrose flavoured aqueous extract of the herb Aerua lanata with that of 200 ml sucrose flavoured weak infusion of tea leaves, and 200 ml of water, in 14 healthy volunteers under standardized conditions. Each volunteer acted as his or her own control in the three protocols, and chemical, physical and statistical analyses were performed "blind" by coding all urine and blood samples collected. A. lanata extract did not significantly increase urine flow, sodium excretion, potassium excretion, or urine and plasma osmolality as compared to an infusion of tea or plain water.