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This repository contains the published and unpublished research of the Faculty of Medicine by the staff members of the faculty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 Student usage of open educational resources and social media at a Sri Lanka Medical School(BioMed Central, London, 2022) Hettige, S.; Dasanayaka, E.; Ediriweera, D.S.Background: The use of Open Educational Resources (OER) and Social Media (SM) for academic information seeking is common among undergraduates nowadays. There is limited data on OER and SM use for education in Sri Lanka. This study was aimed at evaluating the OER and SM use for education among the medical students at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya. Stratified random sampling was used to select students from the first year to the final year. A self-administrated questionnaire was used to collect data. Results: The study included 257 responses (response rate: 89.5%), of which 185 (72.0%) were females. The OER and SM use for educational purposes at least once a month among students was 96.1% (95%CI: 93.7-98.5%) and 88.3% (95%CI: 84.4-92.3%) respectively. There was no gender difference in OER and SM use. The main reasons for accessing OER were the availability of information at any time (36.1%) and ease of information access (31.5%). Wiki sites (84.4%) and Facebook (79.8%) were the highest accessed OER and SM platforms. The majority of students were in view that the information on wiki sites (51.4%) and results of general non-specific web searches (56.0%) were reliable. Only 33.9% of students searched information from educational and government-related sources and 18.7% had accessed e-journals. Through SM, 79.0% joined educational groups and 77.0% followed the medical-related sites, pages and people. More than one-third of students (35.8%) could not find academic information from SM due to the information overload and 31.1% mentioned that SM distracted their education. Conclusion: The majority of the students used OER and SM for education; however, only a minority accessed reliable information. Students accepted information available in wiki sites and general non-specific web searchers without considering the credibility of sources. The majority of the students did not refer to e-journals. Distractions to academic work and the difficulty to access accurate information were major concerns of using SM. This study highlights the importance of improving information literacy among medical students.Item Usage of social media as an education resource among medical students at Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2019) Dasanayaka, I.P.E.U.; Wickramaarachchi, G.K.; Hettiarachchi, W.G.; Hettige, S.; Ediriweera, E.P.D.S.INTRODUCTION & OBJECTIVES: Social media (SM) networks has become a popular educational tool at present. There is limited data in Sri Lanka on SM usage as an educational tool. The aim of this study is to evaluate the usage of SM for academic purposes among medical students of faculty of Medicine University of Kelaniya. METHODS: Stratified sampling with proportional allocation was used to select students from each batch and 287 students were recruited from 1st to 5th year. Informed written consent was obtained and a self-administered questionnaire was given. 255 completed questionnaires were returned. RESULTS: Of 255, 86.95% students used SM for educational purposes with no male and female difference (P=0.06). 90.6%, 61.6% and 56.1% accessed Facebook, Google + and YouTube respectively. Of them, 67.1%, 44.7% and 33.9% respectively accessed them daily for academic purposes respectively. 84.2% students followed medical related web sites through SM. 84.5% had joined educational groups in SM and 44.9% had joined academic discussions or information sharing groups in other local and foreign universities. 43.3% could not find information that they want due to information overload and 38.1% mentioned that SM disturbed their academic work. CONCLUSION: Majority had used SM for educational purposes without gender preference. Facebook, Google+ and YouTube are the commonest SM educational tools and majority had joined educational groups. SM had disturbed academic work of students and difficulty to find correct information was major concern among students.Item Usage of cloud storage facilities by medical students in a low-middle income country, Sri Lanka: A cross sectional study(BioMed Central, 2020) Hettige, S.; Dasanayaka, E.; Ediriweera, D.S.BACKGROUND: Cloud storage facilities (CSF) has become popular among the internet users. There is limited data on CSF usage among university students in low middle-income countries including Sri Lanka. In this study we present the CSF usage among medical students at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya. METHODS: We undertook a cross sectional study at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. Stratified random sampling was used to recruit students representing all the batches. A self-administrated questionnaire was given. RESULTS: Of 261 (90.9%) respondents, 181 (69.3%) were females. CSF awareness was 56.5% (95%CI: 50.3-62.6%) and CSF usage was 50.8% (95%CI: 44.4-57.2%). Awareness was higher in males (P = 0.003) and was low in senior students. Of CSF aware students, 85% knew about Google Drive and 70.6% used it. 73.6 and 42.1% knew about Dropbox and OneDrive. 50.0 and 22.0% used them respectively. There was no association between CSF awareness and pre-university entrance or undergraduate examination performance. Inadequate knowledge, time, accessibility, security and privacy concerns limited CSF usage. 69.8% indicated that they would like to undergo training on CSF as an effective tool for education. CONCLUSIONS: CSF awareness and usage among the students were 56.5 and 50.8%. Google drive is the most popular CSF. Lack of knowledge, accessibility, concerns on security and privacy limited CSF usage among students. Majority were interested to undergo training on CSF and undergraduate Information Communication Technology (ICT) curricula should introduce CSF as effective educational tools. KEYWORDS: Cloud storage; Dropbox; Google drive; Medical students; Undergraduates.Item Health care needs and services available for elders in the Batticaloa district.(College of general practitioners of Sri Lanka, 2018) Arulanandem, K.; Jayawickramaraja, P.T.; Hettige, S.; Ramanayake, R.P.J.C.; Kisokanth, G.The global and national ageing population led to much health, social and economic concerns. Thus, present study aimed at addressing the health care needs of Elders and assessing the availability of health, social services in Batticaloa district. This community based cross sectional descriptive study was conducted in Batticaloa district with 845 elders who were selected by proportionate random sampling and .interviewer admini~trated questionnaire was used as a major, component.Most of the elders (78%) were in the young old category and majority of them (56.6%) were females and most of elders (77%) were in poor socio economic status. The identified long standing medical problems amongst elders were hypertension (39%), muscular skeletal problems (32%) and bronchialasthma (18%) were also identified. Most of the elders (88%) sought medical treatment in outpatient department as first contact at government hospitals while around half of them had followed clinics for chronic conditions. This study also showed that the health system in Batticaloa district lacked geriatric services and elders were not treated as a special group. In the context of social services, most of the elders were unaware and thus were not benefited by the currently existing social security. Health seeking behavior and accessibility of health and social services were not adequately met for elders. Thus, there is a need to improve their well• being by strengthening primary care in national health system.Item E-readiness among first year medical students at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2017) Maduwanthi, A.A.H.; Hettige, S.; Ediriweera, D.S.INTRODUCTION & OBJECTIVES: E-readiness refers to the measurement of the degree of preparedness and willingness of a country to participate in the electronic world. In Sri Lanka there is a lack of research to measure the e-readiness among higher educational students. This study is done to assess the level of e-readiness among first year medical students at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was given to all first year students at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya in 2017. RESULTS: Among 155 students, 42.6% were males. All have used computers previously and 72% owned a personal laptop. 68% have been using computers more than once a week and another 21% at least once a month. Students’ perceptions on their ability to use computers were as follows: 21% as good, 68% as average and 10% as poor. 68% had formal computer training and 54% had at least some paper qualifications related to the training which they had undergone, where 41% had learnt Information Technology (IT) as a subject during O/Ls, 22% had followed a certificate level course and 5% had diplomas. All could search the web and had e-mail accounts. 96.8% had used the office package. 38.7% and 20.6% could edit videos and images respectively. CONCLUSION: All had used computers and e-mail accounts. Majority had a formal training and were capable of handling the office package.Item Assessment of the capacity to work with data: a cross-sectional study done in first year medical students at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2017) Hettiarachchi, W.G.; Hettige, S.; Ediriweera, D.S.INTRODUCTION & OBJECTIVES: Spreadsheets and programming languages (PL) facilitate data storage, organization, retrieval and analysis. Experience in the above builds critical thinking capabilities that are supportive to discerning in students. METHODS: A Moodle based self-administered questionnaire was given to collect data from new entrants in 2017. RESULTS: Among 155 students, 57% were females. 85% of students [54 (82%) in males vs 77 (87 %) in females, p=0.57] had prior experience in Excel. 20% of students [11 (18%) in males vs 18 (23 %) in females, p=0.27] indicated that they were good in using Excel. 27% students [16 (24%) in males vs 26 (29%) in females, p=0.61] had prior experience in PL. 6% of students [2 (5%) in males vs 4 (8%) females, p=0.61] indicated that they were good in using PL. There were no significant associations between the grade five scholarship results and Z score with Excel use (p=0.98 and p=0.16 respectively) as well as with PL use (p=0.19 and p=0.45 respectively). Spreadsheet usage in students from the Western province was not differerent from the rest of the provinces (83% vs 89% respectively, p=0.46), or PL usage in students from the Western province from the rest (32% vs 22%, p=0.25). CONCLUSION: Majority of students have used spreadsheets but were not competent. One fourth have used PL and only 6% were competent. There were no gender differences in the usage of spreadsheets and PL.Item Experience and confidence with commonly used computer related tasks: survey results of new medical entrants to the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2017) Solangaarachchi, D.I.K.; Gunathilaka, H.K.T.S.; Hettige, S.; Ediriweera, D.S.INTRODUCTION & OBJECTIVES: In today’s world, skills related to usage of computers play an important role in the academic life of students. A survey was conducted with the objective of comparing the level of experience and confidence on a selected set of commonly used computer related tasks between male and female new entrant medical students to the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya. METHODS: Data was collected from 155 first year students in 2017 using a Moodle based selfadministered questionnaire. Chi square test was used in calculating statistical significance. RESULTS: Male students represented 43% of those surveyed. Previous experience with performing tasks related to day-to-day computer usage were all reported at a statistically significant (p<0.01) higher rate among males compared to females: installing software (91% vs 48%), installing a printer (54.5% vs 26%), taking printouts (71% vs 55%), scanning documents (30% vs 13.5%), scanning a pen drive (94% vs 73%) and writing a CD/DVD (73% vs 47%). With regard to those with reported high level of confidence in performing these tasks, males were again ahead of females: installing software (50% vs 12%), installing a printer (27% vs 2%), taking printouts (35% vs 21%), scanning documents (15% vs 3%), scanning a pen drive (51.5% vs 22.5%) and writing a CD/DVD (44% vs 12%). Except for taking printouts and scanning documents, all other tasks showed a statiscally significant difference between the sexes. CONCLUSION: Past experience and level of confidence in frequently required computer based tasks are significantly lower among female new entrant medical students compared to their male colleagues.Item ICT literacy among new medical entrants(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2016) Dassanayaka, I.P.E.U.; Bandara, M.R.P.M.; Hettige, S.; Ediriweera, E.P.D.S.INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: The ICT literacy has become a fundamental cornerstone of modern education, learning and health care delivery. This study aimed to evaluate the prior exposure on Internet, Email, Microsoft Office package, Social Networking (SN), Internet telephony (IT) and Cloud Storage Services (CSS) among new entrants to Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya. METHOD: Moodle based self-administered questionnaire was given to new entrants during the orientation program. RESULTS: The results are described according to the 2015 (n=159) and 2016 (n=147) batches respectively. 99% had accessed Internet previously (n=157 and n=146, P=0.6). Those who surfed Internet daily were 42% (n=53, n=74, P<0.01)95% had email accounts (n=146, and n=144, P=0.02). 13% accessed emails daily (n=21 and n=19, P=0.94). 57% used CSS (n=82, n=92, P=0.05) and 94% had been SN (n=149, n=135, P= 0.53) and 62% used IT (n=99 n=99, P= 0.35). 98% had used MS WORD (n=156, n=143, P=0.63), 82% had used MS EXCEL (n=130,n=132,P=0.05) and 96% had used PPT (n=153,n=137,P=0.23) before entering to the University. There was no significant difference between usage of WORD and PPT (P=0.06) but significantly lower usage of EXCEL compared to WORD (P<0.01) and PPT (P=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Majority of students had used internet and internet based services including email, CSS, SN, IT. Their exposure to MS office package was satisfactory. Daily Internet browsing and utilizing email were significantly (p<0.01 for each batch) lower in comparison to the number utilizing the services.CSS and IT we e not popular when compared to other services.Item Aerophagia in adolescents is associated with exposure to adverse life events and psychological maladjustment(Wiley Blackwell Scientific Publications, 2018) Rajindrajith, S.; Hettige, S.; Gulegoda, I.; Jayawickrama, N.; de Silva, S.C.; Samarakoon, H.K.; de Silva, R.L.; Abeyagunawardena, S.; Devanarayana, N.M.BACKGROUND: Aerophagia is a common childhood functional gastrointestinal disorder. We studied the association between adverse life events (ALEs), psychological maladjustment, somatization, and aerophagia (AP) in adolescents. We also assessed the impact of AP on their health-related quality of life (HRQoL). METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 2500 subjects of 13-18 years in 8 randomly selected schools in Sri Lanka. Translated, validated, and self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data. Aerophagia was diagnosed using Rome III criteria. KEY RESULTS: A total of 2453 questionnaires were analyzed (males 1200 [48.9%], mean age 14.8 years, SD 1.6 years). Of them, 371 adolescents had AP (15.1%). Aerophagia was associated with exposure to physical abuse (20.4% vs. 12.7% in controls, P < .0001), emotional abuse (20.3% vs. 8.2% in controls, P < .0001), and other ALEs (22% vs. 10.2% in controls, P < .001). One hundred and ninety (51.2%) adolescents with AP and 775 (37.2%) controls had a personality score above the international cutoff value of 105, indicating psychological maladjustment (odds ratio 1.77, 95% confidence interval 1.42-2.21, P < .0001). Those with AP had higher somatization (16.4 vs. 8.9) and lower overall HRQoL scores (77.0 vs. 85.1, P < .0001). HRQoL scores of adolescents with AP were lower in all domains, namely, physical (80.6 vs. 86.9), emotional (69.1 vs. 80.3), social (83.8 vs. 90.5), and school (72.6 vs. 82.5) functioning (P < .0001).CONCLUSIONS AND INFERENCES: Aerophagia was associated with exposure to ALEs and psychological maladjustment. Affected teenagers suffer from more somatic symptoms and has a poor HRQoLItem Social networking is popular among new medical entrants of Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya(Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Dasanayaka, I.P.E.U.; Hettige, S.; Bandara, M.R.P.M.; Ediriweera, E.P.D.S.BACKGROUND: The rapid growth and adoption of social networking and internet telephony had affected many fields including education. OBJECTIVES: To assess the usage of social networking services (SNS) and Internet telephony (IT) and confidence in using SNS among new entrants to the Faculty of Medicine. METHODS: Moodle based self-administered questionnaire was given to new entrants in the 2015 and 2016 batches. Results: The results are described according to the 2015 (n=159) and 2016 (n=147) batches respectively. 93% (149(94%) in 2015 and 135(92%) in 2016, P= 0.53) had been SN and 52% (70(44%) in 2015 and 88(60%) in 2016, P<0.01) stated that they were confident in SN, among them 60% (21(49%) in 2015 and 36 (70%) in 2016, P<0.01) were males and 48% (49(42%) in 2015 and 52(55%) in 2016, P= 0.07) were females, where males were more confident in SN than females (P= 0.05). 65% (99(62%) in 2015 and 99(67%) in 2016, P= 0.35) had used IT and 23% (26(16%) in 2015 and 45(31%) in 2016, P<0.01 ) were confident, among them 29% (9(21%) in 2015 and 19(37%) in 2016, P= 0.09) males and 20% (17(15%) in 2015 and 26 (27%) in 2016, P= 0.02) were females, where the level of confidence was not different between males and females (P= 0.18). SN was high compared to IT usage (P< 0.01) and 2016 entrants showed high level of confidence in SN (P= 0.01) and IT (P= 0.01) compared to 2015. CONCLUSIONS: Even though the SN and IT are popular among students, confident level is low compared to the usage.