Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37041045›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2023

Availability of rehabilitation services for communication disorders in Sri Lanka: a cross-sectional survey.

A V Caldera, Rajitha Wickremasinghe, T U Munasinghe, K M N Perera, Nimisha Muttiah, D Tilakarathne, M K R R Peiris, E Thamilchelvan, Chamilka Sooriyaarachchi, Mohamed Naseem Nasma and 3 more

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In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

A V CalderaPublic Health, University of Kelaniya Faculty of Medicine, Ragama, Western Province, Sri Lanka.
Rajitha WickremasinghePublic Health, University of Kelaniya Faculty of Medicine, Ragama, Western Province, Sri Lanka rajwicks@gmail.com.ORCID 0000-0002-6174-6784
T U MunasinghePublic Health, University of Kelaniya Faculty of Medicine, Ragama, Western Province, Sri Lanka.
K M N PereraPublic Health, University of Kelaniya Faculty of Medicine, Ragama, Western Province, Sri Lanka.
Nimisha MuttiahDepartment of Disability Studies, University of Kelaniya Faculty of Medicine, Ragama, Western Province, Sri Lanka.
D TilakarathneFormerly PLAN Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
M K R R PeirisFormerly PLAN Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
E ThamilchelvanPublic Health, University of Kelaniya Faculty of Medicine, Ragama, Western Province, Sri Lanka.
Chamilka SooriyaarachchiPublic Health, University of Kelaniya Faculty of Medicine, Ragama, Western Province, Sri Lanka.
Mohamed Naseem NasmaPublic Health, University of Kelaniya Faculty of Medicine, Ragama, Western Province, Sri Lanka.
R M ManamperigePublic Health, University of Kelaniya Faculty of Medicine, Ragama, Western Province, Sri Lanka.
A D K AriyasenaPublic Health, University of Kelaniya Faculty of Medicine, Ragama, Western Province, Sri Lanka.
Samanmali P SumanasenaDepartment of Disability Studies, University of Kelaniya Faculty of Medicine, Ragama, Western Province, Sri Lanka.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTo describe the rehabilitation services available for communication disorders in Sri Lanka and to estimate the adequacy of the services in provinces and districts of the country.

settingThe study considered government and private institutions, which provide rehabilitation services for communication disorders in Sri Lanka.

participantsInstitutions providing services of speech-language pathologists, audiologists and audiology technicians in Sri Lanka. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: We investigated the number of government hospitals and private institutions, which provide speech-language pathology and audiology services in Sri Lanka as the primary outcome measure. A number of speech-language pathologists, audiologists and audiology technicians working in the institutions were obtained from records and institution-based inquiries to identify the adequacy of the services in the country as the secondary outcome measure.

resultsOf the 647 government hospitals that provide free healthcare services in the country, 45 and 33 hospitals had speech and language therapy and audiology units, respectively. Government hospitals do not have audiologists but only have audiology technicians. The number of speech and language therapists and audiology technicians in the government sector per 100 000 population in the country was 0.44 and 0.18, respectively. There were wide variations in specialist to population ratio between districts. 77 private centres provide speech therapy services in 15 out of the 25 districts; 36 private centres provide audiological evaluations in 9 districts.

conclusionsThe number of specialist speech and language therapists and audiologists is not sufficient to provide adequate rehabilitation services for communications disorder for the Sri Lankan population. Not recruiting audiologists to the government sector affects the management of hearing impairment in the affected.

Indexed as

AudiologyCommunication DisordersHearing LossCross-Sectional StudiesHumansSri LankaAudiologyHuman resource managementOTOLARYNGOLOGYSpeech pathology

Identifiers

PMID37041045
PMCPMC10106016

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.