The Doctoral Program in Epidemiology at the Faculty of Public Health (FPH) of the Universitas Indonesia (UI) held an open session for the Clinical Epidemiology Doctoral Promotion on Tuesday, December 17, 2024, in the Doctoral Promotion Room of Building G at FPH UI. In this open session, Sekplin A. S. Sekeon, as the promovendus, defended his dissertation titled “Diagnostic Test of the ‘SASMITA’ Scoring System for Post-Stroke Central Pain Based on Hospitals and Its Use in Hospitals and Community Health Centers.”
Sekplin A. S. Sekeon explained that stroke remains a major public health challenge in Indonesia. One of the chronic complications that frequently arises after a stroke is Post-Stroke Central Pain (PSCP), a condition that significantly disrupts the patients’ quality of life. Unfortunately, the diagnosis of PSCP is often overlooked in primary healthcare settings due to technological limitations. To address this issue, this research aimed to develop a simple, affordable, and effective diagnostic scoring system to diagnose PSCP, both in hospitals and community health centers.
This study involved 166 patients in hospitals and 303 patients in community health centers in the Manado area and its surroundings. Based on the analysis, the SASMITA scoring system developed by Sekplin showed diagnostic accuracy with a cutoff score of ≥2, indicating a sensitivity of 82.0% and specificity of 78.45% in hospitals. The probability of PSCP based on Bayes’ theorem was 62.12% for scores ≥2 and 8.98% for scores <2. At the community health center level, the system revealed a prevalence of PSCP of 40.9%. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were 71.61% and 76.35%, respectively, with a probability of PSCP of 67.69% for scores ≥2 and 20.42% for scores <2. Reliability testing between general practitioners showed a result of 0.576, indicating moderate reliability. The research also highlighted quality of life aspects, with patients with PSCP reporting a lower quality of life, especially in the energy domain.
In his dissertation defense, Sekplin A. S. Sekeon revealed that this research makes a significant contribution to the field of clinical epidemiology of post-stroke pain. The SASMITA scoring system holds great potential to be used in various primary healthcare facilities and serves as a valuable tool for early detection of PSCP. Further research is expected to expand the application of this score, both in diagnostic and clinical epidemiology contexts. The results of this research are expected to make a significant contribution to improving public health services, particularly for stroke patients in Indonesia.
Based on the results of his dissertation, Sekplin A. S. Sekeon was successfully declared graduated and earned a Doctoral degree in Epidemiology with an excellent evaluation. Sekplin is the 11th Ph.D. graduate in Epidemiology in 2024, the 115th Ph.D. graduate in Epidemiology, and the 435th Ph.D. graduate at FPH UI.
The session was chaired by the Head of the Session, Prof. drg. Nurhayati Adnan, M.Sc., Sc.D., with Promotor Prof. dr. Asri C. Adisasmita, M.P.H., M.Phil., Ph.D., and Co-promotor Prof. dr. Mondastri Korib Sudaryo, M.S., D.Sc., as well as Dr. dr. Aida T. Tantri, Sp.An-KAR. Meanwhile, the Head of the Examination Team was Dr. dr. Tiara Aninditha, Sp.S(K); with examiner members Prof. Dr. dr. Dessy R. Emril, Sp.S(K), CIPS.; dr. Syahrizal Syarif, M.P.H., Ph.D., and dr. Soewarta Kosen, M.P.H., Dr.PH. (Prom)