Background The learning environment is a vital part of the undergraduate curriculum which enable to delivery of quality education in the stipulated time. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the learning environment among BSc. Nursing undergraduates in Sri Lankan state universities. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 161 final year BSc. Nursing undergraduates in six state universities. Socio-demographic characteristics were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire was used to evaluate the learning environment in Perception of learning (SPL), Perceptions of teaching (SPT), Academic self-perceptions (SASP), Perceptions of the atmosphere (SPA), and Social self-perceptions (SSP). Based on the SPL, SPT, SASP, SPA, and SSP domains, the overall score of learning environment was ranged from 0 to 200 and then the overall score was classified into four categories such as poor (0–50), many problems (51–100), more positive than negative (101–150) and excellent (151–200). One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and t-test were used to determine the difference in the subscales and the overall scale. Results The mean age of the students was 24.9 ± 0.9 years. The overall score of the learning environment was 127.1 ± 14.3. Student’s Perception of learning showed the highest mean score of 31.1 ± 3.9 while the social self-perception showed the lowest score (mean 16.4 ± 3.1). A significant group effect was observed in SPL and SPT subdomains among state universities while no significant group effect was observed in other subdomains. Furthermore, participating in extracurricular activities, travelling time to the faculty, and gender were observed as associated factors for the learning environment among BSc. Nursing undergraduates in state universities. Conclusions Although the overall learning environment of BSc. Nursing undergraduates in state universities in Sri Lanka was within more positive than negative category, none of the university reaches to the excellent category. Therefore, each university should have improved their subdomains of learning environment to reach excellent category through addressing the gaps of curricular and extracurricular activities in the future.
Stroke is defined as "rapidly developing clinical signs of focal (or global) disturbance of cerebral function, lasting more than 24 hr or leading to death, with no apparent cause other than that of vascular origin" (Sacco et al., 2013). The incidence of stroke is comparatively higher in most Asian countries (between 19% and 46%) in comparison to Western countries, and the majority of the incidents are ischaemic compared to haemorrhagic strokes (Wasay et al., 2014). Furthermore, in Sri Lanka, the age-adjusted prevalence of strokes has been remained constant; 10.6 and 10.4 per 1,000 population in 2009 and 2015 respectively (Gunaratne et al., 2009; Ranawaka & Venketasubramanian, 2021). Moreover, stroke is one of the leading causes of disability among adults in Sri Lanka, and it leads to poor quality of life (QoL) and inability to perform physical activities of daily living (PADL) (Mahesh et al., 2019; Wasay et al., 2014). Quality of life has been demarcated as an individual's perceptions of their position in life in the context of the culture and value system in which they live and their goals, expectations, standards and concerns (Post, 2014). PADL encompasses basic human actions for caring individuals, including personal care, mobility and eating (Mlinac & Feng, 2016). Furthermore, QoL encompasses individual
Objective Recent evidence demonstrates that obesity is associated with developing cognitive impairment. However, evidence related to the assessment of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in people with obesity is limited. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to examine evidence concerning the screening of MCI in people with obesity from the general population. Method We conducted a systematic search of CINHAL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and PubMed electronic databases for observational studies to assess MCI in people with obesity from the general population. PRISMA guideline was followed. The articles published from January 2011 to July 2021 were included. Results Database search found 3104 sources. After the screening process, two articles from China and Egypt were included. The main age groups assessed were middle-aged adulthood and older adulthood. There were no studies undertaken in young adults or across the life span. Obesity was assessed by body mass index. MCI was assessed by cognitive screening tools; Mini-mental State Examination and Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination. The prevalence of MCI in people with obesity was 18.5 % and 42.9 % in Chinese and Egyptian studies, respectively. Only one study supported a positive association between MCI and obesity. Conclusions Limited studies were found on screening MCI in people with obesity in the general population. The available evidence was not adequate to explain the overall prevalence, possible associations, and the best tool for assessing MCI in people with obesity. Expanding screening studies for MCI in people with obesity in the general population is essential.
Background: Leptospirosis [LP] is zoonotic diseases and one of the main communicable diseases in Sri Lanka [SL]. SL is a tropical country in the Indian Ocean with favorable environmental and geographical conditions for dispersion of the LP infection. The aim of the study was to determine the pattern of distribution with possible environmental conditions/factors contributing to the LP in SL.Methods: The study was carried out as retrospective study from 2009-14 throughout the all 25 administrative districts in SL.Results: The multiple regression was performed to investigate any associations between the prevalence of LP and independent variable parameters namely, annual rainfall, average humidity, area of paddy lands and annual flood data. The results revealed that factors affecting prevalence of the LP in Sri Lanka can’t be investigated in toto. Seasonal analysis is needed in the wet and dry zones corresponding to the main Yala and Maha agricultural seasons. Annual rainfall is mainly associated with the prevalence of LP in the wet zone while agricultural environment associated with the prevalence of LP in the dry zone (p<0.05). Furthermore, geographical distribution, high annual water discharge and low precipitation of the river water provides favorable environment for dispersion of LP in the wet zone whilst large reservoirs with highly functioning cascades correlated in the dry zone in SL.Conclusions: It is concluded that pattern of distribution with possible environmental conditions/factors contributing to the LP in SL is vary in the wet and dry zones.
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.
Background: The learning environment is a vital part of the undergraduate curriculum which enable to deliver quality education in the stipulated time. However, the level of the learning environment is highly context bounded. Therefore, the study aimed to evaluate the learning environment among BSc. Nursing undergraduates in Sri Lankan state universities.Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among 161 final year BSc. Nursing undergraduates in six state universities. Socio demographic characteristics were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire was used to evaluate the learning environment in Perception of learning (SPL), Perceptions of teaching (SPT), Academic self-perceptions (SASP), Perceptions of the atmosphere (SPA) and Social self-perceptions (SSP). One way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and t test were used to determine the difference in the subscales and the overall scale.Results: The mean age of the students was 24.9 ± 0.9 years. Student’s Perception of learning showed the highest mean score of 31.1 ± 3.9 while the social self-perception showed the lowest score (mean 16.4 ± 3.1). A significant group effect was observed in SPL and SPT subdomains among state universities while no significant group effect was observed in other subdomains. Furthermore, participating in extracurricular activities, travelling time to the faculty and gender were observed as associated factors for learning environment among BSc. Nursing undergraduates in state universities.Conclusions: Although the overall learning environment was within more positive, none of the university reaches to the excellent category. Therefore, remedial actions need to be taken to improve the learning environment in future.
Background: Cognition is the collection of an intellectual process, such as perception, thinking, and reasoning for goal-directed behaviours. The obesity-associated cognitive functions (CFs) was varied due to inconsistency of the findings and it is also context bounded. The objective was to assess the association between cognitive function and obesity among middle-aged adults in Sri Lanka.Methods: A descriptive study was conducted among middle-aged adults aged between 50-60 years in Colombo District, Sri Lanka. While Generalized obesity was estimated by the WHO cutoff of body mass index (BMI) while the central obesity was determined using and waist hip ratio (WHR). CFs was assessed using a validated Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) and the Mini-mental state examination (MMSE) tools.Results: The study sample consisted of 83 subjects of each obese and normal weight categories, while 50% were females. Middle-aged adults with obesity showed significantly lower CF scores in both MoCA and MMSE compared to the normal-weight adults (p<0.01). In addition, lower MMSE scores were significantly associated with high WHR values (p<0.05). The level of education of adults was a significant predictor of cognitive functions among middle-aged adults (p<0.05).Conclusions: Therefore, the results further confirmed that obesity-associated cognitive impairment among middle-aged adults and further research is warranted to clarify the cause and effect relationship between obesity and body composition.
Background Cognition is the collection of an intellectual process, such as perception, thinking, reasoning and remembering for goal-directed behaviors. Recent studies have shown that obesity associated with poor cognitive functions (CFs). However, this association is not known in the Sri Lankan context. The objective was to determine the association of cognitive function and obesity among middle-aged adults in Colombo district, Sri Lanka Methods A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted among 166 middle-aged adults aged 50-60 years in a selected MOH division in Colombo District, Sri Lanka. Generalized and central obesity were determined using the WHO cutoff of Body Mass Index (BMI) and Waist Hip Ratio (WHR) values. CFs were assessed using validated Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) tools. Results The study sample consisted 83 subjects of each obese and normal weight categories while 50% were females. Obese middle-aged adults showed significantly lower CF scores in both MoCA and MMSE compared to the normal-weight adults. In addition, lower MMSE scores were significantly associated with high WHR values. Education level of the obese people was a significant predictor of the cognitive functions. Conclusion Obese middle-aged adults had poor cognition compared with their normal-weight subjects.Therefore, remedial actions need to be taken to overcome adulthood obesity for better neuropsychological functions in the brain.
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