CONTEXT:Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is characterized by progressive destruction of renal mass with irreversible sclerosis and loss of nephrons over a period of months to years, depending on the underlying etiology.AIM:To describe demographic patterns and identify common causes of CKD in patients admitted to ward 41 and 48B, National Hospital of Sri Lanka.SETTINGS AND DESIGN:A hospital based descriptive 3-month study was conducted at ward 41 and 48B, National Hospital of Sri Lanka. A case record form was used to record sociodemographic variables, stage of renal disease, and etiology of patients in established chronic renal failure. Sources of data included patient interviews, diagnosis cards and case records, ultrasound scan reports, and biopsy findings.RESULTS:One hundred and twenty-one patients were recruited with male to female ratio being 2.5:1 (86:35). Mean age of the population was 47.8 years (SD ± 13.7). Common causes of CKD identified in these patients included diabetic nephropathy (37, 30.6%), hypertension (16, 13.2%), glomerulonephritis (12, 9.9%), and obstructive uropathy (10, 8.3%). The cause was unknown in 25.6% of patients with chronic renal disease. Fifty percent of patients were from the Western Province. The leading cause of CKD in patients from the Western Province was diabetic nephropathy (26, 37.7%). The etiology of CKD was unknown in majority of the patients (14, 27.4%) from other provinces. The difference in incidence of diabetic nephropathy in the Western Province as to other provinces was not statistically significant (P > 0.05).CONCLUSION:Diabetes is a major contributor to CKD reflecting changing disease epidemiology in Sri Lanka.

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Objective: This study assessed the information needs of breast cancer (BC) patients who presented themselves to the outpatient clinics or wards of the National Cancer Institute, Maharagama, Sri Lanka. Methods: Information needs were measured using the validated questionnaire in the vernacular (Sri Lankan Information Needs Assessment Questionnaire – BC). Results: All affected women indicated a strong need for information related to the disease, treatment, and psychosocial service while the need for information on procedures for diagnosis and physical care was not strong. Younger women (age ≤37) ( P < 0.0001) and women with higher education ( P < 0.0001) had significantly higher information needs. Conclusions: The results indicated that information needs to be addressed in educational packages require that younger women and those with higher education have specific needs.

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Background: Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in the world and the commonest in Sri Lanka. The provision of relevant and accurate information in a social-culturally appropriate manner will lead to proper understanding of the disease and treatment options. Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop and validate the Sri Lankans' Informational Needs Assessment Questionnaire of Breast Cancer (SINAQ-BC). Methods: Item generation was through review of literature and using qualitative research techniques among stakeholders. Thus developed and pretested 69 items SINAQ-BC was administered through interviews to 150 women at least 18 years of age who have been diagnosed as having breast cancer within the period of one year prior to the study and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was used for further item reduction. Internal consistency reliability and acceptability were also assessed. Results: Exploratory factor analysis determined that 58 items should be retained in the questionnaire and that they be best organized into five subscales labelled as disease, diagnosis, treatment, physical care and psychosocial care. SINAQ-BC showed good internal consistency reliabilities with Cronbach's alpha of 0.76 to 0.93.An average 30 minutes (+5 mins) was taken to complete the SINAQ-BC and it did not require any additional explanations demonstrating its acceptability. Conclusion:The SINAQ-BC demonstrated to be a valid and reliable tool to assess informational needs of breast cancer patients. It is recommended to be used to determine informational needs of women with breast cancer and as a tool to assess effectiveness of educational interventions.