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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Subject: search.filters.subject.Cohort Studies

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    Glycaemic control and avenues for improvement among people with type 2 diabetes mellitus from rural Sri Lanka – a retrospective cohort study
    (Elsevier, 2023) Mettananda, C.; Chathuranga, U.; Rathnayake, T.; Luke, N.; Meegodavidanage, N.
    BACKGROUND The majority of Sri Lankans and South Asians are rural dwellers but follow-up data on glycaemic control and its associations in rural communities are sparse. We followed up a cohort of hospital-based rural Sri Lankans with diabetes from diagnosis up to 24-months. METHODS We conducted a retrospective cohort study of people with type-2 diabetes (T2DM) diagnosed 24 months before enrolment who were being followed up at Medical/Endocrine clinics of five hospitals selected by stratified random sampling in Anuradhapura, a rural district of Sri Lanka from June 2018 to May 2019 and retrospectively followed them up to the diagnosis of the disease. Prescription practices, cardiovascular risk factor control and their correlates were studied using self-administered and interviewer-administered questionnaires and perusing medical records. Data were analysed using SPSS version-22. FINDINGS A total of 421 participants [mean age 58.3 ± 10.4 years, female 340 (80.8%)] were included in the study. Most participants were started on anti-diabetic medications in addition to lifestyle measures. Of them, 270 (64.1%) admitted poor dietary-control, 254 (60.3%) inadequate medication-compliance and 227 (53.9%) physical inactivity. Glycaemic control was assessed mainly on fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) data were available in only 44 (10.4%). Target achievements in FPG, blood pressure, body mass index and non-smoking at 24-months following initiation of treatment were 231/421 (54.9%), 262/365 (71.7%), 74/421 (17.6%) and 396/421 (94.1%) respectively. INTERPRETATION In this cohort of rural Sri Lankans with type-2 diabetes mellitus, all were started on anti-diabetic medications at the diagnosis, but glycaemic target achievement was inadequate at 24 months. We identified the major patient-related reasons for poor blood glucose control were poor compliance with diet/lifestyle and/or medications and misconceptions about antidiabetic medications.
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    Whole-body hypothermia, cerebral magnetic resonance biomarkers, and outcomes in neonates with moderate or severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy born at tertiary care centers vs other facilities: A nested study within a randomized clinical trial
    (American Medical Association, 2023) Thayyil, S.; Montaldo, P.; Krishnan, V.; Ivain, P.; Pant, S.; Lally, P.J.; Bandiya, P.; Benkappa, N.; Kamalaratnam, C.N.; Chandramohan, R.; Manerkar, S.; Mondkar, J.; Jahan, I.; Moni, S.C.; Shahidullah, M.; Rodrigo, R.; Sumanasena, S.; Sujatha, R.; Burgod, C.; Garegrat, R.; Mazlan, M.; Chettri, I.; Babu, S.P.; Joshi, A.R.; Swamy, R.; Chong, K.; Pressler, R.R.; Bassett, P.; Shankaran, S.
    IMPORTANCE: The association between place of birth and hypothermic neuroprotection after hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To ascertain the association between place of birth and the efficacy of whole-body hypothermia for protection against brain injury measured by magnetic resonance (MR) biomarkers among neonates born at a tertiary care center (inborn) or other facilities (outborn). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This nested cohort study within a randomized clinical trial involved neonates at 7 tertiary neonatal intensive care units in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh between August 15, 2015, and February 15, 2019. A total of 408 neonates born at or after 36 weeks' gestation with moderate or severe HIE were randomized to receive whole-body hypothermia (reduction of rectal temperatures to between 33.0 °C and 34.0 °C; hypothermia group) for 72 hours or no whole-body hypothermia (rectal temperatures maintained between 36.0 °C and 37.0 °C; control group) within 6 hours of birth, with follow-up until September 27, 2020. EXPOSURE: 3T MR imaging, MR spectroscopy, and diffusion tensor imaging. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Thalamic N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) mmol/kg wet weight, thalamic lactate to NAA peak area ratios, brain injury scores, and white matter fractional anisotropy at 1 to 2 weeks and death or moderate or severe disability at 18 to 22 months. RESULTS: Among 408 neonates, the mean (SD) gestational age was 38.7 (1.3) weeks; 267 (65.4%) were male. A total of 123 neonates were inborn and 285 were outborn. Inborn neonates were smaller (mean [SD], 2.8 [0.5] kg vs 2.9 [0.4] kg; P = .02), more likely to have instrumental or cesarean deliveries (43.1% vs 24.7%; P = .01), and more likely to be intubated at birth (78.9% vs 29.1%; P = .001) than outborn neonates, although the rate of severe HIE was not different (23.6% vs 17.9%; P = .22). Magnetic resonance data from 267 neonates (80 inborn and 187 outborn) were analyzed. In the hypothermia vs control groups, the mean (SD) thalamic NAA levels were 8.04 (1.98) vs 8.31 (1.13) among inborn neonates (odds ratio [OR], -0.28; 95% CI, -1.62 to 1.07; P = .68) and 8.03 (1.89) vs 7.99 (1.72) among outborn neonates (OR, 0.05; 95% CI, -0.62 to 0.71; P = .89); the median (IQR) thalamic lactate to NAA peak area ratios were 0.13 (0.10-0.20) vs 0.12 (0.09-0.18) among inborn neonates (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.96-1.08; P = .59) and 0.14 (0.11-0.20) vs 0.14 (0.10-0.17) among outborn neonates (OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.98-1.09; P = .18). There was no difference in brain injury scores or white matter fractional anisotropy between the hypothermia and control groups among inborn or outborn neonates. Whole-body hypothermia was not associated with reductions in death or disability, either among 123 inborn neonates (hypothermia vs control group: 34 neonates [58.6%] vs 34 [56.7%]; risk ratio, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.76-1.41), or 285 outborn neonates (hypothermia vs control group: 64 neonates [46.7%] vs 60 [43.2%]; risk ratio, 1.08; 95% CI, 0.83-1.41). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this nested cohort study, whole-body hypothermia was not associated with reductions in brain injury after HIE among neonates in South Asia, irrespective of place of birth. These findings do not support the use of whole-body hypothermia for HIE among neonates in LMICs.
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    Validation of the World Health Organization/ International Society of Hypertension (WHO/ISH) cardiovascular risk predictions in Sri Lankans based on findings from a prospective cohort study
    (Public Library of Science, 2021) Thulani, U.B.; Mettananda, K.C.D.; Warnakulasuriya, D.T.D.; Peiris, T.S.G.; Kasturiratne, K.T.A.A.; Ranawaka, U.K.; Chakrewarthy, S.; Dassanayake, A.S.; Kurukulasooriya, S.A.F.; Niriella, M.A.; de Silva, S.T.; Pathmeswaran, A.; Kato, N.; de Silva, H.J.; Wickremasinghe, A.R.
    INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: There are no cardiovascular (CV) risk prediction models for Sri Lankans. Different risk prediction models not validated for Sri Lankans are being used to predict CV risk of Sri Lankans. We validated the WHO/ISH (SEAR-B) risk prediction charts prospectively in a population-based cohort of Sri Lankans. METHOD: We selected 40-64 year-old participants from the Ragama Medical Officer of Health (MOH) area in 2007 by stratified random sampling and followed them up for 10 years. Ten-year risk predictions of a fatal/non-fatal cardiovascular event (CVE) in 2007 were calculated using WHO/ISH (SEAR-B) charts with and without cholesterol. The CVEs that occurred from 2007-2017 were ascertained. Risk predictions in 2007 were validated against observed CVEs in 2017. RESULTS: Of 2517 participants, the mean age was 53.7 year (SD: 6.7) and 1132 (45%) were males. Using WHO/ISH chart with cholesterol, the percentages of subjects with a 10-year CV risk <10%, 10-19%, 20%-29%, 30-39%, ≥40% were 80.7%, 9.9%, 3.8%, 2.5% and 3.1%, respectively. 142 non-fatal and 73 fatal CVEs were observed during follow-up. Among the cohort, 9.4% were predicted of having a CV risk ≥20% and 8.6% CVEs were observed in the risk category. CVEs were within the predictions of WHO/ISH charts with and without cholesterol in both high (≥20%) and low(<20%) risk males, but only in low(<20%) risk females. The predictions of WHO/ISH charts, with-and without-cholesterol were in agreement in 81% of subjects (ĸ = 0.429; p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: WHO/ISH (SEAR B) risk prediction charts with-and without-cholesterol may be used in Sri Lanka. Risk charts are more predictive in males than in females and for lower-risk categories. The predictions when stratifying into 2 categories, low risk (<20%) and high risk (≥20%), are more appropriate in clinical practice.
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    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.
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    Is being barefoot, wearing shoes and physical activity associated with knee osteoarthritis pain flares? Data from a usually barefoot Sri Lankan cohort
    (Oxford, 2021) Atukorala, I.; Pathmeswaran, A.; Batuwita, N.; Rajapaksha, N.; Ratnasiri, V.; Wijayaratne, L.; de Silva, M.; Chang, T.; Zhang, Y.; Hunter, D.J.
    AIM: To identify the association between hours of being barefoot/wearing footwear, physical activity (PA) and knee osteoarthritis pain flares (KOAF). METHODS: Persons with a diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis, who reported previous KOAF, were followed up in a 3 months long telephone-based case-crossover study. Exposures to risk factors were assessed every 10 days and whenever the participants experienced a KOAF. Conditional logistic regression examined associations of KOAF with following: hours of being barefoot/using footwear and PA performed (P < .05). RESULTS: There were 260 persons recruited, of whom 183 continued longitudinal follow up. Of them, 120 persons had at least one valid KOAF and control period. Participants were female (90%) with mean (SD) age and body mass index of 59.9 (7.0) years, 28.0 (5.0) kg/m2 respectively. Participants were barefoot for a mean duration of 12.7 hours (SD 4.6) and used footwear for 5.1 (SD 4.7) hours daily; 99% wore heel heights <2.5 cm. Duration of being barefoot, 1 and 2 days before, demonstrated reduced multivariate odds of KOAF (odds ratio [OR] = 0.85; 95% CI 0.80-0.90). Moderate PA performed 1, 2 days prior was associated with a significantly increased risk of KOAF (multivariate OR 4.29; 2.52-7.30 and OR 3.36; 2.01-5.61). Similarly, hours of using footwear 1 and 2 days before flare demonstrated increased odds of KOAF (OR 1.15; 1.07-1.23 and 1.10; 1.03-1.18). CONCLUSIONS: Increased duration of being barefoot 1 to 2 days before is associated with reduced risk of KOAF. Performing moderate PA 1 to 2 days before was associated with an increased risk of KOAF. KEYWORDS: knee osteoarthritis pain.
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    The Impact of empirical hydrocortisone therapy on clinical outcomes in dengue fever: A retrospective chart review
    (Oxford University Press, 2020) de Mel, S.; Thilakawardana, B.U.; de Mel, P.; de Silva, A.P.; de Mel, C.; Chandrasena, L.; Seneviratne, S.L.; Abeysuriya, V.
    BACKGROUND: The role of steroids in dengue infection (DI) remains uncertain. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was conducted on patients ≥18 y of age diagnosed with DI based on positivity for dengue non-structural antigen 1 or immunoglobulin M between October 2017 and November 2018. RESULTS: Hydrocortisone was administered to 106 of 406 patients. DI with warning signs occurred in nine patients (9.5%) in the steroid cohort and eight patients (2.5%) in the non-steroid group. The incidence of severe DI, bleeding and admission duration were similar between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows no significant benefit of empirical steroids in DI. KEYWORDS: clinical outcomes; corticosteroids; dengue.
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    Ultrasound parameters of pelvic organs and their age-related changes in a cohort of asymptomatic postmenopausal women: A community-based study.
    (Sage Publishing, 2020) Dias, T.D.; Palihawadana, T.S.; Patabendige, M.; Motha, M.B.; de Silva, H.J.
    No abstract available.
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    Incidental thyroid carcinoma in benign thyroid disease: A Cohort study
    (World Journal of Endocrine Surgery., 2018) Pinto, D.; Munasinghe, N.; Chandrasinghe, P.C.; Fernando, R.
    ABSTRACT: AIM: An incidental thyroid carcinoma (ITC) is a thyroid malignancy that is not clinically or cytologically detected preoperatively. The incidence of ITC is between 10% to 20% in the literature. A study was undertaken to assess the incidence of ITC in patients undergoing total thyroidectomy for benign disease of the thyroid to University Surgical Unit, North Colombo Teaching Hospital (NCTH), Sri Lanka. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prospective cohort study was undertaken from November, 2002 to October, 2015. Patients with palpable thyroid nodules were assessed with fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and ultrasound scan (USS) to ascertain benign thyroid disease (BTD). Hormone assays were conducted to detect thyroid status. All patients with BTD who underwent total thyroidectomy were included in the study. Histopathological assessments were made by a panel of pathologists. Patients with autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) were excluded due to the known association with malignancy of the thyroid. Post-thyroidectomy histopathological diagnoses were collected prospectively and patients with ITC were identified. Statistical analysis was done using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) software, version 20. RESULTS: Hundred and sixty seven patients (n = 167) who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were analysed (Male–20, female–147, median age = 40.25 year, range 28 year–62 year). ITC was found in 19 patients with an incidence of 11.38%. No significant association was noted with morphology, biochemical status of the thyroid or gender. CONCLUSION: Incidence of ITC is 11.38% in this cohort. Incidence of ITC being approximately 1:10 emphasizes the need to consider total thyroidectomy in the management of BTD.
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    Effectiveness of providing health education to caregivers of hospitalized children with asthma for the prevention of recurrent attacks: a quasi-randomized trial
    (Informa Healthcare, 2020) Perera, N.; Abeysena, C.
    OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of health education intervention for caregivers of children with asthma, focused on preventing recurrent attacks and improving knowledge. METHODS: A quasi-randomized trial of 177 caregivers of asthmatic children was conducted in government hospitals in a district of Sri Lanka. At the time of discharge from the hospital, a health education booklet was prepared and given to the caregivers in the intervention group, along with individual explanation and discussion. The caregivers' knowledge of asthma and preventive practices was assessed. The primary outcome was the proportion of children with recurrent attacks of asthma who needed doctor visits during the three month post discharge period. The intention-to-treat principle was applied for data analysis.RESULTS: In comparison to the control group, the intervention group had a 76% significant reduction in visits to the doctor for recurrent attacks (95% CI:45%-90%) and a 75% significant reduction in hospital admissions required for asthmatic children (95% CI:16%-93%) at the end of three months of intervention. The mean score of knowledge of asthma in the intervention group was 1.73 units higher at three months (p < 0.01) and 1.47 units higher at six months (p < 0.01) than the control group. The mean score of preventive practices for asthma in the intervention group was 1.25 units higher at three months (p = 0.02) and 1.15 units higher at six months (p < 0.01) versus the control group.CONCLUSION: Health education intervention significantly decreased doctor and hospital visits at three months. In addition, caregiver knowledge of asthma and preventive practices also improved. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: SLCTR/2010/007.
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    Novel genetic associations for blood pressure identified via gene-alcohol interaction in up to 570K individuals across multiple ancestries
    (Public Library of Science, 2018) Feitosa, M.F.; Kraja, A.T.; Chasman, D.I.; Sung, Y.J.; Winkler, T.W.; Ntalla, I.; Guo, X.; Franceschini, N.; Cheng, C.Y.; Sim, X.; Vojinovic, D.; Marten, J.; Musani, S.K.; Li, C.; Bentley, A.R.; Brown, M.R.; Scwander, K.; Richard, M.A.; Noordam, R.; Aschard, H.; Bartz, T.M.; Bielak, L.F.; Dorajoo, R.; Fishaer, V.; Hartwig, F.P.; Horimoto, A.R.V.R.; Lohman, K.K.; Manning, A.K.; Rankinen, T.; Smith, A.V.; Tajiddin, S.M.; Wojczynski, M.K.; Alver, M.; Boissel, M.; Cai, Q.; Campbell, A.; Chai, J.F.; Chen, X.; Divers, J.; Gao, C.; Goel, A.; Hagemeijer, Y.; Harris, S.E.; He, M.; Hsu, F.C.; Jackson, A.U.; Kahonen, M.; Kasturiratne, A.; Komulainen, P.; Kuhnel, B.; Laguzzi, F.; Luan, J.; Matoba, N.; Nolte, I.M.; Padmanabhan, S.; Riaz, M.; Rueedi, R.; Robino, A.; Said, M.A.; Scott, R.A.; Soffer, T.; Stancakova, A.; Takeuchi, F.; Tayo, B.O.; van de Most, P.J.; Varga, T.V.; Vitart, V.; Wang, Y.; Ware, E.B.; Warren, H.R.; Weiss, S.; Wen, W.; Yanek, L.R.; Zhang, W.; Zhao, J.H.; Afaq, S.; Amin, N.; Amini, M.; Arking, D.E.; Aung, T.; Boerwinkle, E.; Borecki, I.; Broecki, I.; Broeckel, U.; Brown, M.; Brumat, M.; Burke, G.L.; Canouil, M.; Chakravarthi, A.; Charumathi, S.; Ida Chen, Y.D.; Connel, J.M.; Correa, A.; de Las Fuentes, L.; de Mutsert, R.; de Silva, H.J.; Deng, X.; Ding, J.; Duan, Q.; Eaton, C.B.; Ehret, G.; Eppinga, R.N.; Evangelou, E.; Faul, J.D.; Felix, S.B.; Forouhi, N.G.; Forrester, T.; Franco, O.H.; Friedlander, Y.; Gandin, I.; Gao, H.; Ghanbari, M.; Gigante, B.; Gu, C.C.; Gu, D.; Hagenaars, S.P.; Halmans, G.; Harris, T.B.; He, J.; Heikkinen, S.; Heng, C.K.; Hirata, M.; Howard, B.V.; Ikram, M.A.; InterAct Consortium; John, U.; Katsuya, T.; Lakka, T.A.; Langefeld, C.D.; Langenberg, C.; Launer, L.J.; Lehne, B.; Lewis, C.E.; Li, Y.; Lin, S.; Lin, U.; Liu, J.; Liu, J.; Loh, M.; Louie, T.; Magi, R.; McKenzie, C.A.; Meitinger, T.; Metspalu, A.; Milaneschi, Y.; Milani, L.; mohlke, K.L.; Momozawa, Y.; Nalls, M.A.; Nelson, C.P.; Sotoodehnia, N.; Norris, J.M.; O'Connel, J.R.; Palmer, N.D.; Perls, T.; Pedersen, N.L.; Peters, A.; Peyser, P.A.; Poulter, N.; Raffel, L.J.; Raitakari, O.T.; Roll, K.; Rose, L.M.; Rosendaal, F.R.; Rotter, J.I.; Schimidit, C.O.; Schreiner, P.J.; Schupf, N.; Scott, W.R.; Sever, P.S.; Shi, Y.; Sidney, S.; Sims, M.; Sitlani, C.M.; Smith, J.A.; Snieder, H.; Starr, J.M.; Strauch, K.; Stringham, H.M.; Tan, N.Y.Q.; Tang, H.; Taylor, K.D.; Teo, Y.Y.; Tham, Y.C.; Turner, S.C.; Uitterlinden, A.G.; Vollenweider, P.; Waldenberger, M.; Wang, L.; Wang, Y.X.; Wei, W.B.; Williams, C.; Yao, J.; Yuan, J.M.; Zhao, W.; Zonderman, A.B.; Becker, D.M.; Boehnke, M.; Bowden, D.W.; Chambers, J.C.; Deary, I.J.; Esco, T.; Farall, M.; Frankd, P.W.; Freedman, B.I.; Froguel, P.; Gasparini, P.; Gieger, C.; Jonas, J.B.; Kamatani, Y.; Kato, N.; Kooner, J.S.; Kutalik, Z.; Laakso, M.; Laurie, C.C.; Leander, K.; Lehtimaki, T.; Study, L.C.; Magnusson, P.K.E.; Olderhinkel, A.J.; Penninx, B.W.J.H.; Polasek, O.; Porteous, D.J.; Rauramaa, R.; Ssamani, N.J.; Scott, J.; Shu, X.O.; van der Harst, P.; Wagenknecht, L.E.; Wareham, N.J.; Watkins, H.; Weir, D.R.; Wickremasinghe, A.R.; Wu, T.; Zheng, W.; Bouchard, C.; Christensen, K.; Evans, M.K.; Gudnason, V.; Horta, B.L.; Kardia, S.L.R.; Liu, Y.; Pereira, A.C.; Psaty, B.M.; Ridker, P.M.; van Dam, R.M.; Gauderman, W.J.; Zhu, X.; Mook-Kanamori, D.O.; Fornage, M.; Rotimi, C.N.; Cupples, L.A.; Kelly, T.N.; Fox, E.R.; Hayward, C.; van Duijn, C.M.; Tai, E.S.; Wong, T.Y.; Kooperberg, C.; Palmas, W.; Rice, K.; Morrison, A.C.; Elliott, P.; Caulfield, M.J.; Munroe, P.B.; Rao, D.C.; Province, M.A.; Levy, D.
    Heavy alcohol consumption is an established risk factor for hypertension; the mechanism by which alcohol consumption impact blood pressure (BP) regulation remains unknown. We hypothesized that a genome-wide association study accounting for gene-alcohol consumption interaction for BP might identify additional BP loci and contribute to the understanding of alcohol-related BP regulation. We conducted a large two-stage investigation incorporating joint testing of main genetic effects and single nucleotide variant (SNV)-alcohol consumption interactions. In Stage 1, genome-wide discovery meta-analyses in ≈131K individuals across several ancestry groups yielded 3,514 SNVs (245 loci) with suggestive evidence of association (P < 1.0 x 10-5). In Stage 2, these SNVs were tested for independent external replication in ≈440K individuals across multiple ancestries. We identified and replicated (at Bonferroni correction threshold) five novel BP loci (380 SNVs in 21 genes) and 49 previously reported BP loci (2,159 SNVs in 109 genes) in European ancestry, and in multi-ancestry meta-analyses (P < 5.0 x 10-8). For African ancestry samples, we detected 18 potentially novel BP loci (P < 5.0 x 10-8) in Stage 1 that warrant further replication. Additionally, correlated meta-analysis identified eight novel BP loci (11 genes). Several genes in these loci (e.g., PINX1, GATA4, BLK, FTO and GABBR2) have been previously reported to be associated with alcohol consumption. These findings provide insights into the role of alcohol consumption in the genetic architecture of hypertension