https://ir.kdu.ac.lk/handle/345/3859 2026-03-06T17:33:11Z https://ir.kdu.ac.lk/handle/345/2793 Awareness 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. 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.kdu.ac.lk/handle/345/2792 Knowledge, 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. 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.kdu.ac.lk/handle/345/2791 Prevalence 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. 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.kdu.ac.lk/handle/345/2790 Knowledge, 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