Medicine
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/12
This repository contains the published and unpublished research of the Faculty of Medicine by the staff members of the faculty
Browse
2 results
Search Results
Item Psychopathology among war-affected children and lessons from Sri Lanka on culturally relevant management(Science Forecast Publications LLC, 2018) Chandradasa, M.; Champika, L.Due to armed conflicts, family networks are disrupted with displacement, morbidity, death and ongoing threat to human lives. Children are directly and indirectly affected by conflict-related turmoil physically and mentally. Sri Lanka, an island nation in the Indian Ocean suffered an armed conflict lasting three decades causing more than 60,000 deaths. Elbert et al found that 92% of the minority Tamil children they surveyed in Northern Sri Lanka had experienced traumatizing events such as shelling and bombing and 25% met criteria for PTSD. Children in the South were also impacted by a continuous threat to their own and their parents’ lives due to frequent militant attacks, which included suicide bombers. Sri Lankan experience shows that culturally adapted psychotherapeutic interventions are effective for treating children with psychological trauma related to war and natural disasters. Child mental health professionals from other countries may find the Sri Lankan experience useful for planning their interventions.Item Delayed anxiety and depressive morbidity among dengue patients in a multi-ethnic urban setting: first report from Sri Lanka(BioMed Central, 2018) Gunathilaka, N.; Chandradasa, M.; Champika, L.; Siriwardana, S.; Wijesooriya, L.I.BACKGROUND: Although the physical consequences of dengue are well documented, delayed psychological co-morbidities are not well studied to date. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to determine the prevalence of depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms among past dengue patients. METHODS: A community-based, case-control study in a multi-ethnic urban setting was conducted in Sri Lanka involving adults who were diagnosed to have dengue fever by a positive dengue IgM antibody response between 6 and 24 months ago. Self-administered Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD-20) and a structured clinical interview by a psychiatrist were done in the patients and in an age and gender-matched control group. RESULTS: Fifty-three participants each in the patient (mean age 42.9 years, SD 15.5) and control (mean age 41.6 years, SD 15.3) groups were surveyed. The ages ranged from 18 to 70 years and 64.2% were females. The majority (90.6%; n = 48) of the individuals had been diagnosed with dengue fever followed by dengue haemorrhagic fever (9.4% n = 5). Denguepatients had higher DASS-21 mean depressive scores (means 11.7/9.4, SD 6.4/4.0, t = 2.2, p = .028), anxiety scores (means 10.7/7.2, SD 6.8/1.8, t = 3.6, p = .0005), stress scores (means 12.0/8.8, SD 5.3/3.5, t = 3.6, p = .0004) and CESD-20 scores (means 16.1/11.7, SD 9.4/7.3, t = 2.6, p = .008) than controls. The DSM-5 depressive disorder was clinically detected by the psychiatrist among 15.1 and 7.5% in patient and control groups (OR 2.1; CI .5-7.7; p = .22). Limitations: a limitation is the small sample size. CONCLUSION: Patients with past dengue had significantly higher depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms than the control group according to the DASS-21 and CESD-20 tools. To our knowledge, this is the first report on delayed psychological morbidity related to dengue. This may warrant healthcare professionals to incorporate mental counselling for dengue patients.