Materials and Methods: All groups of hFOB 1.19 cells were induced with 12.5 μg/ml of BPA except the control (Ctrl) group. Meanwhile, treated groups received phytoestrogens; Daidzein (Dz), Genistein (Gt), Equol (Eq) and 17β-oestradiol (Est) in different concentrations for 24 hr duration.
Results: We found that the protein expression of non-classical oestrogen-related receptor (ERRG) was highly expressed in BPA group, whereas classical oestrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and oestrogen receptor beta (ERβ) were relatively increased with phytoestrogens treatment under BPA exposure. The dense actin cytoskeletal filaments were also observed. qRT-PCR showed up-regulation of mitogen-activated protein kinase 3 (MAPK3) and G protein-coupled receptor 30 (GPR30) expressions; significant down-regulation of ERRG and up-regulation of ERα and ERβ were observed in phytoestrogens-treated cells, which was supported by the increased expressions of oestrogen receptor 1 (ESR1) and oestrogen receptor 2 (ESR2).
Conclusion: Phytoestrogens improved the deteriorative effect of BPA via down-regulation of ERRG in hFOB 1.19 cells. This study showed that the efficacy of consumption of phytoestrogens in rendering them as potential therapeutic strategy in combating the adverse bone effects of BPA.
Methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted among people with diabetes in Malaysia and Singapore. Participants attending the primary health clinic for the treatment of diabetes were approached to participate in this survey. Data on demographics, health status and beliefs to health were collected and compared.
Results: A total of 673 respondents were included in the study. Most of the respondents reported to have access to the Internet, with a high ownership of mobile phones (99.3%). However, only one in every three respondents sought information online. Younger individuals (≤50 years) and those with higher education more likely to seek information using mobile devices. Respondents in Singapore reported to be more likely to use mobile devices to monitor their health as compared to respondents in Malaysia. However, most respondents would seek health information from their healthcare professionals' especially physicians.
Conclusion: There was limited differences in the health-seeking behaviour among the respondents from both countries, suggesting for a need to identify for more effective means of distribution of health related information.
Objectives: We aimed to systematically produce empirical evidence on the WPV against health care workers in Africa through the review of relevant literature.
Method: We sourced for evidence through the following databases: PubMed, Science direct and Scopus from 30th November to 31st December 2019 as well as the reference list of the studies included. A total of 22 peer reviewed articles were included in the review (8065 respondents). Quality appraisal of the included studies was assessed using critical appraisal tools for cross-sectional studies.
Result: Across the studies, diverse but high prevalence of WPV ranging from 9% to 100% was reported with the highest in South Africa (54%-100%) and Egypt (59.7%-86.1%). The common types were verbal, physical, sexual harassment and psychological violence. The correlates of WPV reported were gender, age, shift duty, emergency unit, psychiatric unit, nursing, marital status and others. Various impacts were reported including psychological impacts and desire to quit nursing. Patients and their relatives, the coworkers and supervisors were the mostly reported perpetrators of violence. Doctors were mostly implicated in the sexual violence against nurses. Policy on violence and management strategies were non-existent across the studies.
Conclusion: High prevalence of WPV against healthcare workers exists in Africa but there is still paucity of research on the subject matter. However, urgent measures like policy formulation and others must be taken to address the WPV as to avert the impact on the healthcare system.
METHOD: A total of 431 medical interns at 26 Malaysian Ministry of Health hospitals participated in this cross-sectional study in 2017. Self-administered questionnaires consisting of sociodemographic characteristics, items from DASS and BRIEF COPE were used. Descriptive analysis was done followed by further analysis with chi-square and Spearman correlation tests.
RESULTS: The prevalence of stress, anxiety, and depression was 29.7%, 39.9%, and 26.2%, with a significantly higher prevalence among female and younger interns. Three-quarters of them (73.1%) applied problem-focused strategies as the main coping mechanism. Emotion-focused coping strategies showed a significant but weak correlation with anxiety and stress whereas avoidance-based coping strategies were significantly correlated with depression, anxiety, and stress.
DISCUSSION: Medical internship is a highly grueling period. Besides emphasizing clinical competency, internship training should also impart the practice of healthy coping mechanisms. The vulnerable groups of females and younger interns should be taught positive coping skills so that they are empowered to handle any stressors on their personal and professional lives. Optimum psychological wellbeing of the medical interns can improve the overall work performance and quality of care for patients.
OBJECTIVE: We studied the use of mobile phones and the factors related to the acceptability of text messages for parents for the prevention of child drowning in Bangladesh.
METHODS: From a randomized controlled trial involving 800 parents, 10% (80/800) were selected, and socioeconomic status, mobile phone use, and acceptability of SMS text messages for drowning prevention were measured. Participants with at least one child under 5 years of age were selected from rural areas in Rajshahi District in Bangladesh. Mobile phone-based SMS text messages were sent to the participants. Multivariate regression was used to determine the factors related to the acceptability of text messages for the prevention of child drowning in Bangladesh.
RESULTS: The acceptability of SMS text messages for the prevention of child drowning in Bangladesh was significantly lower among women (odds ratio [OR] 0.50, 95% CI 0.12-1.96, P=.02) than among men, lower for parents older than 30 years (OR 0.17, 95% CI 0.14-1.70, P=.01) compared to parents younger than 30 years, higher among parents who had an education (OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.11-5.80, P=.04) than among illiterate parents, and higher among parents with a monthly household income over 7000 Bangladeshi Taka (approximately US $82.54; OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.06-1.96, P=.05) than among parents whose monthly income was less than 7000 Bangladeshi Taka.
CONCLUSIONS: The high percentage of mobile phone use and the acceptability of SMS text messages for parents for the prevention of child drowning are encouraging, in terms of identifying the best strategy for using such technologies, and deserve further evaluation.
OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were: (1) to identify the trustworthiness indicators that are suitable for a breast self-examination system, (2) design and propose a breast self-examination system, and (3) evaluate the multifaceted trustworthiness interaction between patients and physicians.
METHODS: We used a qualitative study design based on open-ended interviews with 32 participants (16 outpatients and 16 physicians). The interview started with an introduction to the research objective and an explanation of the steps on how to use the proposed breast self-examination system. The breast self-examination system was then evaluated by asking the patient to rate their trustworthiness with the physician after the consultation. The evaluation was also based on monitoring the activity in the chat room (interactions between physicians and patients) during daily meetings, weekly meetings, and the articles posted by the physician in the forum.
RESULTS: Based on the interview sessions with 16 physicians and 16 patients on using the breast self-examination system, honesty had a strong positive correlation (r=0.91) with trustworthiness, followed by credibility (r=0.85), confidence (r=0.79), and faith (r=0.79). In addition, belief (r=0.75), competency (r=0.73), and reliability (r=0.73) were strongly correlated with trustworthiness, with the lowest correlation found for reputation (r=0.72). The correlation among trustworthiness indicators was significant (P