Knowledge, perceptions, and consumption behaviour of cosmetics among undergraduates of Sri Lanka: a descriptive cross-sectional study

Background

Despite the increasing usage of personal care products among young adolescents in Sri Lanka, limited studies have been conducted to understand the behaviour of cosmetic users and associated health complications. Therefore, the current study was conducted to evaluate the cosmetic consumption related behaviour of the undergraduate community in Sri Lanka and to identify the driving factors behind the incidences of cosmetic related adverse health effects.

Method

An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted by recruiting 421 undergraduates from five state universities in Sri Lanka through stratified random sampling, as the study population. Information on socio-demographic factors and cosmetic consumption behaviour of the participants were acquired through a self-administrated structured questionnaire, along with Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) relevant for cosmetic usage. The Binary Logistic Regression model was used to determine the significant socio-demographic driving factors on cosmetic usage among the undergraduate community in Sri Lanka at a confidence level of 95%.

Results

Around 96.4% of the study population used one or more cosmetic products (77%) out of which, 75.3% experienced cosmetic related adverse health effects. Skin dryness (24%), acne (21%), allergies (20.5%) and rashes (19.8%), were identified as the most dominant adverse health effects, related to cosmetic usage. Perfumes (65.6%), face cream (63.2%) and body lotion/hand cream (60.6%), were the mostly used cosmetic products. Even though half of the study population exhibited higher levels of good practices during purchase (54.9%) and application (52%) of cosmetics, around 47.5% were characterized with a low level of knowledge on cosmetics. Gender, academic year, knowledge on cosmetics, monthly expenditure on cosmetics, source of recommendation for cosmetics, practices related to purchase and consumption of cosmetics and preference to receive medical care in case of cosmetic related emergency were recognized as significant risk factors (p < 0.05) associated with the incidence of cosmetic related adverse health effects among undergraduate students.

Conclusion

Given the high prevalence of cosmetic related adverse health effects, the health authorities of Sri Lanka should pay more attention towards the wellbeing and responsible cosmetic usage among undergraduates. Designing of effective tools and regulations to monitor the cosmetic market and improving the knowledge on cosmetics are recommended to ensure safe cosmetic usage within the country in general and of adolescent users in particular.

Undergraduate perceptions on transitioning into E-learning for continuation of higher education during the COVID pandemic in a developing country: a cross-sectional study from Sri Lanka

BACKGROUND

The higher education was significantly influenced by the COVID pandemic within many developing countries, including Sri Lanka, necessitating to adopt more E-Learning opportunities. Therefore, this study was conducted to characterize the perceptions of Sri Lankan undergraduates to accept E-Learning in higher education, during the COVID crisis.

METHOD

A total of 657 randomly selected undergraduates of three state universities in Sri Lanka, were recruited as the study population. Information on Socio-demographic factors, Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices on E-Learning methods were acquired using an interviewer administered questionnaire. A Probit regression model was fitted to identify the driving factors for the willingness of undergraduates to engage in E-Learning.

RESULTS

Around, 80.2% of the respondents were females. Majority were residing in semi-urban areas (44.7%), followed by rural areas (39.9%). More than two third of the respondents were familiar with E-Learning and different Learning Management Systems (LMS) that facilitate E-Learning (68.9%). Majority of the respondents (73.7%) were using different E-Learning platforms, mostly 2 to 3 days per week (25.7%). Only around one third (36.4%) had received any formal training in using LMS or other E-Learning platforms. Smart phones (77.8%) were found to be the most preferred device used for E-Learning activities, followed by computers and laptops (21.3%). Meanwhile, LMS/MOODLE (45.4%), WhatsApp/Viber (33.0%) and Zoom (32.7%), were the most commonly used E-Learning platforms. The average acceptance of E-Learning methods was found to be 70.7% among Sri Lankan undergraduates during the COVID epidemic. Based on the Probit regression, nature of the residing locality (P=0.009), family income (P=0.048), academic field (P<0.001) and year (P=0.028), knowledge on Information and Communications Technology [ICT] (P=0.012), and previous training experiences on E-Learning (P<0.001) were found as significant drivers that influence the acceptance of E-Learning practices of the Sri Lankan undergraduates.

CONCLUSION

Adopting E-learning into higher education sector could be recognized as a viable solution to facilitate the higher education during a crisis like COVID. However, relevant authorities in Sri Lanka should take immediate actions to empower the physical resources for E-Learning, improve the basic telecommunication infrastructure and conduct appropriate training programmes to promote E-Learning among Sri Lankan undergraduates.

Demographic, socio-economic and other associated risk factors for self-medication behaviour among university students of Sri Lanka: a cross sectional study

Background

Self-prescribing practices are considered as a significant issue in the health sector due to mal-practices. This has become a more worsen issue in developing countries with easy access to medication. Current study was undertaken to estimate the prevalence of self-medication and to evaluate the driving factors behind this behavior, among university students of Sri Lanka.

Method

A total of 700 randomly selected undergraduates of three state universities in Sri Lanka, were recruited as the study population for the cross-sectional study. Information on socio-demographic, Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices relevant to Self-Medication (SM) were gathered using an interviewer administered questionnaire. Binary logistic regression was used to calculate the Odds Ratios (OR) and the 95% confidence intervals of the OR for socio-demographic risk factors on SM.

Results

Around 78% of the studied population denoted a SM behaviour. Only, 37.7% of respondents were familiar with the classification of “Over the Counter” (OTC) drugs, while majority were well aware of the risks of SM (> 50%). Fever (61.3%) and cough (56.7%) were the major health issues for SM, while antipyretics and drugs for cough and runny nose (73.6%) were the mostly used medication. Previous experience (76%) and trivial nature of health issues (73%) were recognized as the major reasons for SM. Majority of respondents declared that community pharmacies (86.9%) and left over medication from previous prescriptions (51%) were the sources for SM. Based on the binary logistic regression, age, residence locality, field of study and academic year were recognized as significant risk factors (P < 0.05) for SM within the studied undergraduate population.

Conclusion

Based on the high prevalence rate of SM, the health authorities of Sri Lanka should pay more attention towards the wellbeing and responsible medication usage of undergraduates. Designing of effective tools and regulations to monitor the selling of medication and improving the health education are recommended to ensure responsible SM within the country.

Transplacental genotoxicity evaluation of cypermethrin using alkaline comet assay

Transplacental genotoxic effect of cypermethrin technical was investigated. Three doses (25, 50 and 75 mg/kg body weight) were administered to groups of pregnant Wistar rats during 6-15 days of gestation. Animals were killed on gestation day 20. Fetal blood and liver samples were evaluated for DNA damage using alkaline comet assay. A marginal increase in the mean percentage of DNA damage was recorded in both blood and liver samples of fetuses from cypermethrin-treated dams, but the values were not statistically significant. No skeletal or visceral fetal abnormalities were recorded in treated groups. Nevertheless, the results lead to an understanding that transplacental exposure to cypermethrin can induce low levels of DNA damage in fetuses. This observation could be an explanation for the teratogenic effect exhibited by this chemical in many other studies. The results indicate that cypermethrin may be transplacentally genotoxic. The authors propose more detailed investigations for validating the current findings.