Allied Health Scienceshttp://ir.kdu.ac.lk/handle/345/38592024-03-28T15:17:19Z2024-03-28T15:17:19ZAwareness and Practices Regarding Rabies and Animal Bite Management among Animal Bite VictimsAbeyrathna, KKTPJawad, JSubashini, HPNVithanarachchi, HJayamaha, ARhttp://ir.kdu.ac.lk/handle/345/27932023-04-26T11:08:20Z2018-01-01T00:00:00ZAwareness and Practices Regarding Rabies and Animal Bite Management among Animal Bite Victims
Abeyrathna, KKTP; Jawad, J; Subashini, HPN; Vithanarachchi, H; Jayamaha, AR
Animal bite is defined as injury caused by
animal mouth and teeth, resulting in direct
tissue damage, deep anatomical structure
disruption, introduction of infectious agents
and envenomation. Rabies is one of the most
dangerous viral diseases transmitted through
animal bites. In Sri Lanka, 26 cases were detected
in 2015, while 24 died out of them and dogs were
responsible for 75% of human rabies deaths.
Management of bite wounds is essential in the
management and prevention of complications of
animal bites. Lack of public awareness towards
animal bites is a major problem in prevention
and control of rabies. Objective of the study
was to assess awareness and practices regarding
rabies and animal bite management among
animal bite victims. Descriptive cross-sectional
study was conducted among randomly selected
187 victims of animal bites who attended the
OPD services of Awissawella Base Hospital. A
pre-tested interviewer-administered structured
questionnaire was used to collect data. Descriptive
statistics and chi square test were used for data
analysis and SPSS 23 was used as the statistical
analysis tool. Age of respondents ranged from
15-60 years. Among the participants, 59% were
males while 41% females. Among the victims
70.1% occurred due to dogs, 28.3% due to cats
and 1.6% due to rats. 95.7% of the victims have
washed the wound site with soap and water and
90.4% sought hospital treatment on the day of the
bite. Only 17 (9.1%) of study participants knew
microorganism as the cause of rabies. Knowledge
was unsatisfactory regarding other animals that
could transmit rabies and modes of transmission
other than bites (39.8%). Moreover, excessive
salivation was identified by majority (41.6%)
as a clinical manifestation of rabies in animals,
while knowledge of other signs such as altered
personality (24.0%), fear to drink water (19.5%),
fits (14.9%) were poor. Awareness and practices
regarding rabies and animal bite management
among the victims were not satisfactory. Public
awareness programs on animal reservoir of rabies,
modes of transmission and initial management of
the wound must be conducted in order to prevent
rabies and animal bites.
2018-01-01T00:00:00ZKnowledge, Attitudes and Practices Regarding Contraceptive Methods among Female Garment Factory Workers in Katunayake Free Trade ZonePerera, PDACPriyadarshani, AHISachinee, EGBNuwanthika, KWCNisanka, OGTCPriyadarshani, MNFernandopulle, BMRhttp://ir.kdu.ac.lk/handle/345/27922023-04-26T11:22:29Z2018-01-01T00:00:00ZKnowledge, Attitudes and Practices Regarding Contraceptive Methods among Female Garment Factory Workers in Katunayake Free Trade Zone
Perera, PDAC; Priyadarshani, AHI; Sachinee, EGB; Nuwanthika, KWC; Nisanka, OGTC; Priyadarshani, MN; Fernandopulle, BMR
Contraception is the prevention of pregnancy
by interfering with the process of conception.
Information on knowledge, attitude and practice
regarding contraceptive methods are scanty.
Therefore, it is vital to study this aspect among
female garment factory workers as an attempt
to reduce abortion-related maternal deaths and
unintended pregnancies of garment factory
workers. A descriptive cross-sectional study
was carried out in Free Trade Zone, Katunayake
in Gampaha district and included 426 female
garment factory workers aged between 15-45
years. Data was collected using a pre-tested selfadministered
questionnaire. The majority of the
study population was Sinhala (90.4%), Buddhist
(86.5%). More than half of the participants
(52.5%) were married. The overall knowledge
on contraceptive methods was poor (57.7%).
Participants had good knowledge on oral
contraceptive pills (OCP) and condoms relative to
other methods of contraception. The knowledge
on implants, LRT and vasectomy was very poor. It
was revealed that 53% of participants had neutral
attitudes on contraceptives while OCP was the
most common (37.6%) method and the next
preferred method was male condoms (26.2%).
There was a significant association between age
and marital status with knowledge and attitude
on contraceptive methods. Significant association
was not found between level of education,
religion and nationality with knowledge, attitude
and practice of contraceptive methods. It was
identified that the health care professionals were
the source of information for many participants of
the study (73%) followed by books, magazines and
leaflets (15%). Reproductive health educational
programs are highly recommended to address the
inadequate knowledge.
2018-01-01T00:00:00ZPrevalence of Menstrual Irregularities among Sri Lankan National Level Female Athletes and Factors Associated with Menstrual IrregularitiesWijithasena, KTTKJayakody, DAWeerasinghe, Shttp://ir.kdu.ac.lk/handle/345/27912023-04-26T11:20:55Z2018-01-01T00:00:00ZPrevalence of Menstrual Irregularities among Sri Lankan National Level Female Athletes and Factors Associated with Menstrual Irregularities
Wijithasena, KTTK; Jayakody, DA; Weerasinghe, S
Menstrual irregularities affect the health and
performance of female athletes. The purpose
of this study was to identify the prevalence
of menstrual irregularities and to identify the
factors affecting menstrual irregularities among
Sri Lankan national-level female athletes. The
objective of this research was to identify the
associations among menstrual irregularities and
several factors; body weight, body fat, diet, eating
disorders (ED), psychological stress and Resting
Metabolic Rate (RMR) of athletes. A sample of 205
national-level female athletes between 18-25 years
was selected from 20 competitive sports. “EAT-26”
and “Perceived Stress Scale” questionnaires were
used to identify ED and stress level of subjects,
respectively. A three-day dietary record was
used to determine nutrient intake. Body weight,
body fat and RMR of subjects were also recorded.
Spearman’s rho correlation and binary logistic
regression were conducted to analyse data. Body
weight, ED, stress level, RMR, energy intake and
sodium intake were associated with menstrual
irregularities (p<0.05). Additional analysis
indicated that body weight had relationships
(p<0.05) with body fat, RMR and diet (water,
sodium, vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin B6 and
folic acid). Further, significant relationships were
observed between body fat and RMR, body fat
and diet (water, sodium), ED and psychological
stress, psychological stress and diet (calcium,
vitamin B12, Iron, Zinc, fat and vitamin B6), and
RMR and diet (carbohydrate and iron). It can be
concluded that factors such as body weight, ED,
stress level, RMR, energy intake and sodium
intake are associated with menstrual irregularities
in Sri Lankan national-level female athletes and
the associated factors are related to each other.
2018-01-01T00:00:00ZKnowledge, Beliefs and Practices Regarding Pap Smear Screening Test among School Teachers in Sri Jayewardenepura Educational Zone in Western Province, Sri LankaNuwansala, HUCPriyanthi, WNKumarapperuma, KAGWKokila, WJTWeerakoon, KMPKJayarathne, HAADAhttp://ir.kdu.ac.lk/handle/345/27902023-04-26T11:03:14Z2018-01-01T00:00:00ZKnowledge, Beliefs and Practices Regarding Pap Smear Screening Test among School Teachers in Sri Jayewardenepura Educational Zone in Western Province, Sri Lanka
Nuwansala, HUC; Priyanthi, WN; Kumarapperuma, KAGW; Kokila, WJT; Weerakoon, KMPK; Jayarathne, HAADA
Cervical cancer is a female genital cancer, the
fourth most frequent one in women. Primary
cause of cervical cancers is recurrent infection
with one or more of the oncogenic types of
Human Papillomavirus (HPV). Cervical cancer
is easily preventable with regular screening tests
and follow-up. Even though Pap smear test is
freely available, attendance for screening is very
less. The objective of the study was to assess
knowledge, beliefs and practices regarding Pap
smear screening test among school teachers in Sri
Jayewardenepura Educational Zone in Western
Province, Sri Lanka. A descriptive cross- sectional
quantitative study was conducted among 300
teachers aged over 30 years from five selected
government schools. A validated self-administered
questionnaire was used for data collection. Data
analysis was done using SPSS Version 16.0. Total
sample comprised of 40% of participants between
age 30-39 years, 40% between age 40-49 years and
20% over 50 years of age. Out of 300 participants
96.6% had awareness about cervical cancer and
93.3% had awareness about Pap test. Majority
have known about free availability of the Pap
test. Findings reveal that participants possessed
good knowledge regarding Pap smear test.
Majority (60%) believed that Pap test is a good
investment for health. Results showed that 33.3%
of participants have undergone a Pap test at least
once and majority of 66.7% have never undergone
the test. From participants who have undergone
Pap test at least once, 90% believed that the
procedure is painful and 10% did not believe
so. Some participants (39.9%) identified shyness
as a reason for low participation of Pap test. The
study concluded that even though participants
possessed good knowledge regarding Pap smear
test, majority have never undergone one. Some
beliefs lead to low participation for Pap test such
as feelings of shyness and pain, false confidence
of never having cervical cancer, fear of tolerability
of the results and myth-related concepts of Pap
smear as a test for Sexually Transmitted Diseases.
2018-01-01T00:00:00Z