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This repository contains the published and unpublished research of the Faculty of Medicine by the staff members of the faculty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 Noise levels of vehicles in the city of Colombo(College of the Community Physicians of Sri Lanka, 2013) Nagodawithana, N.S.; Pathmeswaran, A.; Pannila, A.S.; Sathiakumar, N.; Wickremasinghe, A.R.INTRODUCTION: Though there is concern that vehicular traffic contributes to noise pollution in the city of Colombo there is no reliable data on the noise emitted by different categories of vehicles. OBJECTIVES: Objective of this study was to determine the noise emitted by different categories of vehicles within the city of Colombo. METHODS: Vehicles in the city of Colombo could be classified into sixteen categories based on the type (bus, motor-car, three-wheeler etc), technology (two-stroke, four-stroke, petrol, diesel) and size (light, heavy etc). Nine to 16 vehicles from each category were selected by quota sampling. Sound pressure level (SPL-the magnitude of sound) and maximum sound level (LAmax) of the engine and horn of the selected vehicles were measured according to ISO 5130:2007(E) standards. RESULTS: Measurements were made on 184 vehicles. Median SPL of vehicles ranged from 80dB in cars to 105dB in diesel three-wheelers. SPL of six categories of vehicles were more than 100dB. SPL of four and two stroke petrol three-wheelers and diesel three-wheelers were 97.2, 102.1 and 105.2dB respectively. SPL of large-buses with turbo and normal engines were 95.0dB and 103.6dB respectively. Rank order of the vehicles according to LAmax level and SPL of engines was the same. LAmax of horns ranged from 100.1dB to 113.3dB. There was no relationship between the category of vehicle and the LAmax of the horn. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Diesel three-wheelers, two stroke petrol three-wheelers and large buses with normal engines are the noisiest vehicles while cars, jeeps and pickups were the least noisy vehicles in the city of Colombo. Prohibition of importation of diesel three-wheelers and large busses with normal engines will help to make the county less noisy.Item Prevalence and correlates of noise induced hearing loss among traffic policemen in the City of Colombo(Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health, 2013) Nagodawithana, N.S.; Pathmeswaran, A.; Pannila, A.S.; Sathiakumar, N.; Wickremasinghe, A.R.BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a high frequency sensory-neural hearing loss in subjects who are exposed to environmental noise, but this diagnosis is made only after excluding other reasons for the hearing. Traffic policemen are exposed-to environmental noise due to the nature of their doty and are susceptible to develop NIHL The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and correlates of NIHL among traffic policemen in the city of Colombo. METHODS: A cross sectional study was carried out among traffic po icemen in the city of Colombo, 350 participants were selected by cluster sampling. Pure-tone ; udionietry test was performed to assess the level of NIHL. Hearing levels of participants were classified using a classification obtained by modifying the Clark's classification. Correlates of NIHL were assessed using an Interviewer Administered Questionnair (IAQ). RESULTS: High frequency hearing of, 169 (total 287} participants (5->.9%) was normal. Seventy nine participants (27.5%) had minor NIHL and 39 participants (13.6%) lad major NIHL. In bivariate analysis 23 variables showed statistically significant association with mild and major NIHL while multi-variate analysis showed only age had statistically significant association with major NIHL with odds-ratio(OR) of 1.088 and only 'duration of work as a policeman" had statistically significant association with any NIHL (major or minor) with OR of 1.007. Conclusions: Prevalence of NIHL among traffic policcrien working in the city of Colombo was 41.1 %(95% CI=35.5%-46.9%). A third of those having r IHL had major NIHL. Traffic policemen should undergo periodic hearing assessment. The police department should explore the feasibility of reducing the number of HOLTS per day spent on the road by traffic policemen. Traffic policemen with NIHL must be transfe'-red to a different division immediately.