Dr. Prasanthi Sumudrika Ilankoon Mudiyanselage

Attitudes towards aging are multidimensional. It is often affected by the individual's social and cultural background. Valid and reliable tools across diverse cultures are important to assess the attitudes towards aging among older adults.
The Sinhala version of the Attitudes to Aging Questionnaire (AAQ) was cross-culturally validated following standard procedures. A validation study was conducted with a sample of 185 Sinhala-speaking older adults residing in residential care facility homes in the Colombo district. The Sinhala version of the AAQ was interviewer-administered along with the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire. Floor and ceiling effects were assessed for each AAQ subscale, considering effects present if ≥ 15% of participants achieved the lowest or highest possible score. Psychometric properties (Internal consistency reliability, convergent validity, known-group validity, and construct validity) were assessed by descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS version 26. Statistical significance was set as 0.05.
The mean age of the sample was 72.3 ± 6.1 years. The majority (56.8%) of the participants were females. No significant floor or ceiling effects were observed for any subscale of AAQ. Internal consistency reliability, measured by Cronbach's alpha for psychosocial loss, psychological growth, and physical change subscales was 0.81, 0.77, and 0.74, respectively. Significant correlations were shown in Pearson's correlation between all the AAQ subscales and WHOQOL-BREF domains, indicating the convergent validity. Known-group validity showed that married individuals and individuals diagnosed with chronic disease scored significantly higher mean on all three subscales of AAQ. The exploratory factor analysis extracted three factors with 57.77% cumulative variance with exceptions from the original version. Twenty-two items loaded to any of the factors except items 21and 23.
The Sinhala version of the AAQ has sound psychometric characteristics and it is a culturally appropriate and reliable measure to assess attitudes towards aging among Sinhala-speaking older adults.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a depressive disorder that occurs in specific times of through, typically seen in the fall and winter months, due to less daylight hours in the northern hemisphere.
This temporal pattern strongly suggests that environmental light exposure plays a key role in the pathophysiology of SAD, likely by disrupting circadian rhythms and reducing serotonin and melatonin regulation. SAD significantly impacts daily functioning, work productivity, and overall quality of life. Individuals with SAD frequently report increased sleep, weight gain, social withdrawal, and feelings of hopelessness. As such, effective treatment strategies are crucial to mitigate its psychosocial and occupational burden. This review of evidence aims to address this gap by evaluating the individual and combined impacts of vitamin D supplementation and light therapy on functional status and quality of life in individuals diagnosed with SAD.

Shift length is a pivotal factor influencing nurse performance, patient safety, and quality of care. Research has shown that longer shifts, particularly those exceeding 12 hours, are associated with increased fatigue, cognitive impairment, and higher rates of adverse events (Battle & Temblett, 2018; Hussien et al., 2025; Varghese et al., 2023). While 12-hour shifts are commonly implemented to improve staffing efficiency and continuity of care, studies suggest they may compromise both nurse well-being and patient outcomes due to reduced recovery time, increased burnout, and greater likelihood of medical errors. Conversely, 8-hour shifts may support better nurse recovery, sustained vigilance, and lower fatigue-related errors, though they may require more handovers, which can introduce communication risks and disrupt continuity (Webster et al., 2019). Understanding the comparative effects of 12-hour versus 8-hour shifts is essential to inform evidence-based staffing models that balance operational needs with the safety, satisfaction, and long-term health of both patients and nursing staff.

Burn wound care, especially dressing changes and therapy, is extremely painful and anxiety inducing, often delaying healing and rehabilitation while increasing distress. With over 450,000 burn injuries treated annually in the U.S., this remains a major clinical challenge. Opioids, though standard for pain control, have limited effectiveness and carry risks of sedation, respiratory depression, and dependency. Immersive virtual reality offers a promising non-drug alternative by engaging patients in interactive environments that redirect attention. Research shows VR can significantly reduce pain and distress, improve treatment tolerance, and lower opioid use enhancing comfort and recovery.

Active parental participation improves neonatal comfort but is often limited by institutional barriers (Feng et al., 2025). NICU infants experience 7–17 painful procedures daily, increasing stress and risk for altered neurodevelopment (Lopes et al., 2024). Non-pharmacologic methods such as skin-to-skin contact, oral sucrose, and breastfeeding effectively reduce pain and promote brain development (Lopes et al., 2024; Sánchez-Infante et al., 2024). Ongoing research highlights their safety and neuroprotective benefits (Chen et al., 2024).

Background
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted traditional learning, presenting unique challenges for nursing undergraduates due to the hands-on nature of their education. Assessing students’ readiness, usage of online platforms, and the barriers they face is crucial to evaluating the effectiveness and sustainability of online learning. This study aimed to investigate nursing undergraduates’ use of online learning facilities, readiness for online distance learning, and associated factors; to identify the barriers and challenges they faced; and to explore their perceived effectiveness with online distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods
This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 137 nursing undergraduates in Sri Lanka. Data were collected using a pretested, validated study instrument, including students’ Online Learning Readiness Score (OLRS) distributed through Google Forms. The data were then analysed using descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis of variance.
Results
The study had a 91.3% response rate (
n
 = 137), with a mean participant age of 24.18 (± 3.45) years. Nearly half (51.8%) accessed online classes via smartphones, and most (62.8%) used mobile data. Key challenges included mobility restrictions (85.4%), lack of face-to-face interaction (82.5%), heavy workloads (81%), household duties (79.6%), and poor internet connectivity (78.8%). The mean Online Learning Readiness Score (OLRS) was 13.95 (± 4.90), with higher scores in self-directed learning and motivation (3.44–3.63). MANOVA revealed a significant gender difference in OLRS (F = 3.932,
p
 < 0.04; Wilks’ Lambda = 0.955; η² = 0.028), and significant differences in computer internet self-efficacy across academic years (F = 6.015,
p
 < 0.001; Wilks’ Lambda = 0.808; η² = 0.119).
Conclusion
Nursing undergraduates faced several challenges to online learning during COVID-19, including mobility restrictions, low motivation, and poor connectivity. Despite moderate self-directed learning and motivation, overall readiness was low. Readiness varied by gender and academic year, indicating the need for targeted support to improve digital preparedness and engagement.
Clinical trial number
Not applicable.

Introduction: The World Health Organization confirmed the COVID-19 epidemic situation as a public health emergency and is an emerging public health problem that has threatened millions of lives worldwide. Since COVID-19 has significantly affected the healthcare system globally, it is essential to update healthcare workers especially frontline nurses on the best practices for the proper management of the disease. The study aimed to assess Knowledge, Perceptions, and Practices regarding COVID-19 among frontline nurses at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, National Hospital of Sri Lanka, and Base Hospital Mawanella in Sri Lanka. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 257 frontline nurses from main three hospitals in Sri Lanka from June 2020 to December 2021. A validated, pre-tested self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Kruskal Wallis test and Chi-square test were applied to find significant factors associated with good knowledge, using SPSS version 25. Results: The average age of the 257 participants was (31.8 ± 6.6) years and most (95%) of them were female. Of them, 79.4% had good knowledge, and the knowledge level of the nurses was significantly associated with their marital status (p=0.04) and their participation in the COVID-19 management workshop or lecture (p ≤0.001). There was a statistically significant median score difference between participants’ knowledge, and three hospitals (p<0.05). Conclusion: The findings demonstrated that the nurses had overall good knowledge, positive perception, and good practice on COVID-19. This study highlighted the factors influencing knowledge about COVID-19 that must be addressed in future education, awareness, and preparing the programs.

Nurse academics have faced many challenges in conducting face-to-face teaching and clinical training in the COVID-19 pandemic. Compared to the past, there was increased interest and usage in online education during the COVID-19 pandemic in nursing education. This short communication highlights the important aspects that nurse academics should consider while designing nursing curricula to face future pandemics based on the experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic. This short communication includes a critical analysis of experiences from previous pandemics and the lesson learned from the present pandemic of the use of blended learning approaches in nursing education. These would be effective in considering nursing curricula reforms. Four key themes related to blended learning were identified as blended learning, blended learning in nursing education, challenges related to blended learning and strengthening of the blended learning culture. In conclusion, the pandemic has taught nurse academics to navigate nursing curricula to suit current teaching and learning demands. Reforming curricula by incorporating blended learning would be timely.

Family Health Care Worker (FHCW) led educational interventions to have the potential to educate and promote community health. Improvement of women's knowledge of vulvovaginal discharge will promote health-seeking behaviours and prevent complications. This study was designed to evaluate the impact of an educational intervention (EI) on vulvovaginal discharge (VVD) for FHCWs in improving the knowledge and attitudes of females aged 18-49 years in selected communities in Sri Lanka. The EI was first implemented for the FHCWs. The effectiveness was assessed by a non-randomized controlled trial using an intervention group of n = 259 and a control group of n = 259 of females. Knowledge and attitudes on VVD were assessed using a pretested, validated interviewer-administered questionnaire at baseline and a posttest after six months of the intervention. The mean knowledge and attitude scores among the females in the intervention and control groups were similar at the baseline. At the post-test, the mean knowledge score among females in the intervention group was 44.96% (Standard Deviation (SD) ± 12.68) and the control group was 20.75% (SD ± 7.37) with a significant improvement (p < 0.001, Mean (M) = 23.68, 95.00% Confident Interval (CI) = 21.63 to 25.72) at the post-test. A significantly higher mean difference in attitudes scores (pre-test and post-test) was observed among the intervention group compared to the control group (p < 0.001, M = 2.90, 95.00% CI = 2.15 to 3.65). This highlights the importance of educational interventions to FHCW that in turn will enhance community health.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of pre‐diabetes and diabetes among overweight and obese children in urban schools and factors associated with them, in Batticaloa District, Sri Lanka.
Methods: A school based cross‐sectional descriptive study was conducted to collect data on socio-demographic information, eating habits and physical activities, using a validated, pre-tested questionnaire. In addition, anthropometric measurements and glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) test were performed. Multivariate logistic regression analyze was performed to identify the factors associated with glycemic status by using SPSS v23.
Results: Out of the 269 children recruited, 59% were obese. Prevalence of pre‐diabetes (HbA1c 5.7%–6.4%) and diabetes (HbA1c ≥ 6.5%) were 20.1% (95% CI 15.5%–25.4%) and 3.3% (95% CI 1.5%–6.3%) respectively. Multivariate regression shows that having a BMI of ≥ 27.5Kg/m2 (AOR=2.69), male gender (AOR=2.71) and ethnicity (AOR = 2.58) were found to be significant factors for higher HbA1c (≥5.7%).
Conclusions: Prevalence of prediabetes and diabetes among overweight and obese school children was high and mainly associated with body weight which is a modifiable risk factor. Lifestyle modifications focusing on weight reduction among overweight and obese school children especially boys, need to be carried out.