Medicine
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This repository contains the published and unpublished research of the Faculty of Medicine by the staff members of the faculty
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Item Prevalence of asthma and its symptoms in Sri Lankan adults.(BioMed Central, London, 2022) Gunasekera, K.D.; Amarasiri, W.A.D.L.; Undugodage, U.C.M.; Silva, H.K.M.S.; Sadikeen, A.; Gunasinghe, W.; Fernando, A.; Perera, B.P.R.; Wickremasinghe, A.R.BACKGROUND: Data on adult asthma is scarce in Sri Lanka. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of asthma and its symptoms in adult Sri Lankans. METHODS: A cross-sectional study using a translated version of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey screening questionnaire on subjects ≥ 18 years from 7 provinces in Sri Lanka was conducted. The asthma was defined as "wheezing in the past 12 months (current wheeze)", self-reported asthma attack in the past 12 months or on current asthma medication use. RESULTS: Among 1872 subjects (45.1% males, 48.8% between 18-44 years of age), the prevalence of current wheeze was 23.9% (95%CI: 22.0%-25.9%), self-reported asthma was 11.8% (95%CI: 10.3%-13.2%) and current asthma medication use was 11.1% (95% CI: 9.6%-12.5%). The prevalences were higher in adults > 44 years, 31.4% positively responded to any of the above questions (95%CI: 29.3%-33.4%) and 60.9% of current wheezers did not report having asthma whilst 38.2% used asthma medication. Among current wheezers, 80.1% had at least one other symptom, cough being the commonest. Those with no current wheeze, self-reported asthma and on current asthma medication use, 30%, 35.9% and 36.6%, respectively, reported at least one other symptom. Smokers comprises 22% current wheezers, 20.6% of self-reported asthmatics and 18.7% of current asthma medication users. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of asthma in Sri Lankan adults is higher than the other South Asian countries and higher in the older age group. A significant percentage of symptomatic individuals did not report having asthma or being on medication.Item Screening for risk of obstructive sleep apnoea - results of an island wide survey in Sri Lanka(Journal of the Ceylon College of Physicians, 2019) Undugodage, C.; Amarasiri, L.; Kamalanathan, M.; Gunasinghe, W.; Sadikeen, A.; Fernando, A.; Wickremasinghe, R.; Gunasekera, K.INTRODUCTION: Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is the commonest sleep related breathing disorder worldwide, but there is only limited community level data on the risk of OSA from South Asian countries. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the community prevalence of persons at high-risk for OSA among Sri Lankan adults. METHODS: A randomly selected sample of adults from 7 (out of 9) provinces of Sri Lanka was screened using the Berlin Questionnaire (BQ). BQ has 3 categories related to snoring severity (category 1), excessive day time somnolence (category 2) and history of hypertension or obesity (category 3). Individuals were classified as high or low risk according to the category score. RESULTS: One thousand six hundred and eight adults (46.2% male) were screened, and 270 were classified as high risk for OSA {16.8%; 95% Cl 14.9 %-18.6% (15.1% in males; 18.3% in females, p >0.05)}. Of the high-risk individuals, 239 (88.5%) were category 1 positive, 142 (52.6%) category 2 positive and 202 (74.8%) category 3 positive. 49/577 (8.5%) among persons = or <40 years and 221/ 1031 (21.4%) among those >40 years were at high risk. 10.3% of the adults had a BMI ≥30 (5.7% of males, 14% of females p<0.001). Snoring was reported by 573 (35.6%) individuals; 120 of them (20.9%) had apneas during sleep. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of high risk for OSA in this Sri Lankan community survey is lower than that reported from Western countries and did not show a gender-related difference.Item The Prevalence of asthma in Sri Lankan adults((Wiley Blackwell Scientific Publications, 2016) Amarasiri, D.L.; Undugodage, U.C.M.; Silva, H.K.M.S.; Sadikeen, A.; Gunasinghe, W.; Fernando, A.; Wickremasinghe, A.R.; Gunasekera, K.D.BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Data on adult asthma is scarce in Sri Lanka. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of asthma and related symptoms amongst adults in the general population. METHODS: A multi-centered, cross-sectional study was conducted using an interviewer-administered translated version of the screening questionnaire of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey from June to December 2013 in 7 provinces of Sri Lanka. Subjects were selected randomly from different regions by stratified sampling. The prevalence of asthma was defined as "wheezing in the past 12 months (current wheeze)", 'self-reported attack of asthma in the past 12 months' or 'current asthma medication use'. RESULTS: The study comprised 1872 subjects (45.1% males, 48.8% aged18-45 years) of which 12.2% were current smokers. In the total population, the prevalence of current wheeze was 23.9% (95% CI: 22.0%-25.9%), of self-reported asthma was 11.8% (95% CI: 10.3%- 13.2%) and of current asthma medication use was 11.1% (95% CI: 9.6%- 12.5%). The prevalence of asthma according to a positive response to either of the above questions was 31.4% (95% CI: 29.3%-33.4%) The prevalence of symptoms was higher in adults aged >45 years. Of those with current wheeze, 60.9% denied a diagnosis of asthma and only 38.2% admitted to use of asthma medication. In those with current wheeze, wheezing was the only symptom in 19.9% whereas 80.1% had at least one other respiratory symptom (tightness of chest, cough or shortness of breath) of which cough was the most common symptom. In those without current wheeze, self-reported asthma and current asthma medication use, 30%, 35.9% and 36.6% respectively had at least one other respiratory symptom. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of asthma in Sri Lankan adults is high in comparison with global data. A significant percentage of symptomatic individuals deny having asthma and are not on medication.