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This repository contains the published and unpublished research of the Faculty of Medicine by the staff members of the faculty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 Designing a tool to monitor development of 2-5 year old children by preschool teachers in Sri Lanka: A preliminary report(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2018) Caldera, A.; Mendis, M.; Muttiah, N.; Wijesinghe, T.M.; Godamunne, P.K.S.; Chathurika, L.K.E.; Jayasena, B.N.; Wickremasinghe, A.R.; Perera, K.M.N.; Tilakarathne, N.; Peiris, M.K.R.R.; Sumanasena, S.P.INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Identifying neurodevelopmental impairments and providing early intervention positively impacts later academic and functional outcomes of children. Globally available child development screening tools are not readily accessible or validated for Sri Lanka. As a large proportion of Sri Lankan children aged 2-5 years attend preschools, teachers can complement developmental monitoring. The aim of this study was to design a tool to monitor the development of 2-5 year old children by preschool teachers. METHODS: Twelve local and global tools including the tool developed by Plan International and the Child Health Development Record (CHOR) were reviewed. All tools were mapped according to the domains and subdomains in the National Early Childhood Developmental Standards for Sri Lankan Children. A Delphi process was carried out by a panel of experts to include culture specific activities that assess all domains and subdomains across age groups. RESULTS: The existing tool developed by Plan International lacked indicators for health, daily living and social and emotional development. The CHOR was deficient in cognitive, receptive language, social and emotional indices. Several activities in some instruments were common to more than one age group. The domains incorporated into the proposed tool included motor, cognitive, language, social and emotional and self- help skills. Approximately 50 items per each age group were included in this tool CONCLUSION: A preliminary play-based tool for monitoring development of children 2-5 years of age across five main domains in natural settings for preschool children was developed. A pilot study is required to assess the validity of the tool.Item Developing a tool to screen for disability among pre-school children: preliminary results(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2014) Perera, K.M.N.; Wijerathne, L.; Jayasinghe, C.; Kasturiratne, A.; Hettiarachchi, S.; Fonseka, R.; Jayasena, B.N.; Siriwardhena, D.; Godamunne, P.; Dahanayake, W.; Pathmeswaran, A.; Wickremasinghe, A.R.INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: To develop and validate a tool that can be used by pre-school teachers to identify disabilities in the pre-school age group. METHODS: A multidisciplinary team was formed and the initial tool was developed^ Consensual validity was achieved by using nominal group technique and the tool was pre-tested in the Ragama MOH area. To assure criterion validity, the tool was used to screen all the children in the pre-school age group (2-5 years) in an MOH area randomly selected from the Anuradhapura District. The screened positives .were referred to an expert panel for confirmation of diagnosis and follow-up if required. RESULTS: Thousand nine hundred children were invited for screening and 1536 participated (478 2-3 years, 495 3-years, 560 > 4 years of age) and 267 (17.4%) were referred to the expert panel. Out of the referrals, majority (38.9%) had multiple disabilities. Hearing and speech difficulties were seen in (29.6%). Psycho social problems (11.6%), disabilities and other diseases (19.8%) accounted for the rest. The response rate for confirmation by experts was 64%. The predictive value of a positive test was 79.5%. The prevalence of disabilities among the screened pre-school age group was 88 per 1000 (95% Cl= 74 to 103). CONCLUSIONS: This tool can be used to screen children in the pre-school age for disabilities.