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This repository contains the published and unpublished research of the Faculty of Medicine by the staff members of the faculty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 Prevalence of asthma and atopy among primary school children(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2001) Karunasekera, K.A.W.; Perera, K.P.J.INTRODUCTION : Prevalence of asthma and atopy among school children in Sri Lanka is not known. Objectives : To estimate prevalence of asthma and atopy in children between 5-11 years and to determine the influence of sex and age on the prevalence of asthma. METHODS: A total of 2043 children between 5-11 years of 3 mixed schools in Gampaha district were screened for symptoms of asthma and atopy using a questionnaire in August 1998. Diagnosis of asthma was based on the presence of 3 symptoms of the following 5 in the preceding 12 months; cough at night, breathlessness, wheezing, persistent cough more than a week after common cold and cough and/or chest tightness during or after playing. Chi squared test and Chi squared test for trend were used for analysis. RESULTS: Prevalence of asthma symptoms were cough at night 22.1%, breathiessness 17.2%, wheezing 22.6%, persistent cough after common cold 29.9% and cough or chest tightness with playing 11%. Prevalence of asthma based on questionnaire was 17.1 %, allergic rhinitis 10% and eczema 2.5%. The prevalence of asthma in males was not significantly different from that of females (p=0.4). There was a decreasing trend of the prevalence of asthma with increasing age. This trend was significant in girls (p= 0.01) but not in boys. CONCLUSIONS: Nearly one fifth of primary school children suffer from asthma and 10% have allergic rhinitis. There was no significant gender difference in Jhe prevalence of asthma in primary school children. There was a decreasing trend of the prevalence of asthma with increasing age in girls but not in boys.Item Prevalence of asthma and atopic symptoms in children aged 5-11 years(Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians, 2003) Karunasekera, K.A.W.; Perera, K.P.J.; Perera, M.T.P.R.; Abeynarayana, J.OBJECTIVE: To assess prevalence of asthma and atopic symptoms in a group of school children aged 5-11years and to look at prevalence of usage of asthma medications. SETTING: Three schools in Gampaha District in August 1998. METHOD: A questionnaire translated into Sinhala was distributed to parents/guardians of 2195 children aged 5-11 years in Grades 1-5 of the schools and the filled questionnaires were collected through class teachers. Asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema were defined using the clinical criteria of the International Study of Asthma and Allergic Conditions (ISAAC). Data was analysed using Epi Info version 6. Chi squared test and Chi squared test for trend were used for significance testing. RESULTS: Return rate of questionnaire was 93%. Sixty six percent were completed by mother, 30% by father and rest by guardian. Prevalence of asthma was 23% and of exercise induced asthma 11%. Prevalence rate of allergic rhinitis was 10% and eczema 3%. Within the specific group of asthma, in response to leading question "Has your child had asthma" only 19% of parents gave a positive answer. Prevalence of asthma in males did not significantly differ from that in females (p=0.5). A decreasing trend of asthma was observed with increasing age in girls (p less than 0.05). Eighty four percent of asthmatic children were using salbutamol orally and 9% without asthma in study population were also using salbutamol. CONCLUSIONS: One in 5 children aged 5-11 years in study population had asthma but parental perception about asthma was poor. More than 80% of asthmatics had some medications for the disease.