Mothers in Sri Lanka are increasingly seeking overseas employment, resulting in disruption of the childcare environment. The present study was designed to evaluate the effects of maternal migration on executive function (EF) and behavior, thereby also contributing to the scientific understanding of environmental effects--or more specifically family effects--on children's neurocognitive functioning. A sample of 60 healthy 11-year-old children whose mothers had been working overseas for more than 1 year formed the study group, and a comparison group was recruited from the same schools. Evaluations were made twice over a 1-year interval with regard to the EF components inhibition and working memory as well as teacher ratings of internalizing and externalizing behavior. The children in the study group were found to have poorer EF and higher levels of externalizing behaviors. A composite score of inhibition partially mediated the group effect on externalizing behavior. Current home environment was assessed using the HOME scale, was poorer for the study group and was related to EF, but not to behavior problems. Keeping in mind the correlational nature of the present data, our results were discussed in relation to studies showing cognitive effects of stress.

BackgroundAs the elderly population and prevalence of dementia is increasing, it is necessary to have a better comprehension of the influence of specific factors on cognitive function. Dementia is not an inevitable consequence of ageing. Lifestyle factors might either increase or decrease the risk. Even though different studies have focused on individual factors, only a few studies are available which assess all these factors as a whole. Available evidence on these factors is mainly from high income countries and much less evidence is available from low and middle income countries. As cognition is critical for elderly people to engage in a physically independent life, we aimed to identify the associated factors of cognition.MethodsThis was a descriptive cross sectional study performed with 421 elderly people dwelling in residential care facilities for the aged in two selected districts in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. Cognition was assessed using the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Independent sample t test, ANOVA and regression analyses were used to explore associated factors for cognition. The statistical significance was kept at bonferroni adjusted p < 0.004.ResultsThe study included elderly people with a mean age of 71.9 ± 6.7 years and of them 65.8% were females. Factors affecting higher level of cognition were, having upper secondary, advanced and higher education; being married; arriving at the facility on one’s own accord; being visited by family members; higher physical activity levels and engaging in social and leisure activities (p < 0.004). The factors, namely physical activity level, educational status, visits by family members and engaging in leisure activities were the predictors of cognition in the regression model.ConclusionThough there were several factors that associated with the level of cognition such as educational status, marital status, reason for attending the facility, visits by family members, physical activity levels and participation in social and leisure activities, only the factors, such as physical activity levels, visits by family members, educational status and engaging in leisure activities were the predictors of cognition.

BackgroundAlthough cognitive functions affect the health related quality of life (QoL), the relationship between perceived QoL and cognition including executive functions has not been studied adequately. Available studies show moderate to weak correlations. We evaluated the association of cognition and executive functions, namely working memory (WM) and inhibitory control (IC) with the perceived QoL of a sample of elderly people dwelling in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) in Southern Province of Sri Lanka.MethodsCognition was assessed using Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), while verbal WM (VWM), visuo-spatial WM (VSWM) and IC (interference control, inhibition of pre potent and ongoing responses) were assessed using VWM, VSWM tasks, colour word Stroop (CWS), go/no-go (GNG) and stop signal (SS) tasks respectively. WHOQoL-Bref (Total score and domain scores) were used to assess QoL. The relationship was analysed using Pearson correlation and hierarchical multiple regression analysis.ResultsStudy included 237 elderly people with a mean age of 71.11 ± 6.44 years. Participants scored the highest in the domain of environment (63.48 ± 10.63) and lowest in the domain of social relationships (55.43 ± 21.84) of QoL. Psychological health domain positively correlated with MMSE, VSWM and VWM scores and negatively correlated with CWS, SS and GNG task errors. Both physical health domain and total QoL demonstrated positive correlations with MMSE, VSWM and VWM scores, while negative correlations were observed with CWS task errors. Social relationships domain demonstrated a significant positive correlation with VSWM score. Environment domain positively correlated with MMSE, VSWM and VWM scores and negatively correlated with CWS and SS task errors. All were significant but weak correlations. When controlled for covariates, such as educational status, physical activity and marital status, cognition was a predictor of the domain of environment of QoL, while executive functions were not predictors of total QoL and domains of QoL.ConclusionCognition and executive functions weakly but significantly correlated with different domains of QoL. Only the level of cognition measured by MMSE was a predictor of the domain of environment of QoL and executive functions were not predictors of total QoL and domains of QoL in elderly people with normal cognitive functions dwelling in RACFs.

Background Stroke is a major global health concern which affects the health related quality of life (HRQOL). As the prevalence of stroke is increasing especially in lower-middle income countries, it is vital to identify the factors associated with the HRQOL of affected individuals. Available literature for post stroke HRQOL and the associated factors are mainly from high income countries. Therefore, we conducted this study to identify the factors associated with HRQOL of stroke survivors using a stroke specific measure. Methods A longitudinal study was conducted with the participation of 257 stroke survivors. Participants were followed up after 3 months at the neurology and medical clinics in the Teaching Hospital, Karapitiya, Sri Lanka. Health related quality of life was assessed using the validated version of Stroke Aphasia Quality of Life (SAQOL)-39 generic scale. Pearson correlation, independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA and regression analysis were used to identify the factors associated with quality of life. Results Mean age of the participants with stroke was 66.1 (SD 11.7) years. The mean overall HRQOL was 3.15 (SD 0.96) as measured by the SAQOL-39 g. The socio-demographic factors which had significant associations with HRQOL were; gender, level of education, marital status, occupation and monthly income (p < 0.05). The clinical factors which had significant associations with HRQOL were; level of dependence and disability, type of stroke, side of the lesion, type of aphasia, level of language impairment, receiving physiotherapy and speech therapy and follow up care (p < 0.05). The results of regression indicated six independent predictors [F (6,234) = 42.6, p < 0.05], with an R2 of 0.52. The HRQOL was significantly predicted by the level of dependence (β = .43, p < .01), level of language impairment (β = .20, p < .01), age (β = −.23, p < .01), type of stroke (β = −.19, p < .01), side of the lesion (β = .17, p < .01) and the level of education (β = .12, p < .05). Conclusion Severe degree of dependence, severe level of language impairment, older age, hemorrhagic stroke, and lesions in the left side were associated with lower HRQOL. Higher education level was associated with higher HRQOL scores.

Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is the commonest cause of acute flaccid paralysis in Sri Lanka. Annual incidence of GBS in Sri Lanka is not known. The aim of this study was to find out the incidence of GBS in administrative district of Galle, Sri Lanka based on hospital records.

Background: Recent studies have suggested that poor inhibitory control can lead to poor emotional aspect of eating behaviour resulting in obesity. Considering this, a study was conducted to assess the association between obesity, inhibitory control and emotional aspect of eating behaviour among young adults in Colombo District, Sri Lanka. Methods: Young adults of age 21-25 years (n=231) were studied. Body Mass Index (BMI) and Waist to Hip Ratio (WHR) were calculated to assess the generalized and central obesity, while inhibitory control was assessed through number of incorrect responses in Stroop, Stop signal and Go/nogo tasks. The emotional aspect of eating behaviour was assessed via selfadministered Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (Revised-18), which consists of three subscales; cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating and emotional eating. Results: The mean age of the study sample was 23.4±1.4 years with males comprising 51.9%. There was a statistically significant group effect in mean incorrect responses of Stroop task and Stop signal task scores with normal, overweight and obese individuals (p<0.001). Further, obese individuals reported significantly higher scores in cognitive restraint and uncontrolled eating when compared to the normal counterparts in Three Factor Eating Questionnaire Revised-18 (p<0.05). Among high WHR categories for males and females, there was a significantly higher incorrect response scores in Stroop task when compared to the normal WHR subjects (p<0.001). Three Factor Eating Questionnaire Revised-18 scores revealed that both males and females of high WHR category had a higher but insignificant cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating and emotional eating when compared with normal WHR individuals (p>0.05). A positive significant correlation was observed in mean incorrect responses of Stroop task with cognitive restraint subscale (r=0.238, p<0.001). Conclusion: Poor inhibitory control with abnormal emotional aspect of eating despite cognitive restraint was seen in those with obesity. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of theCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original author and source are credited.