Poor sleep quality is a common problem experienced by medical students worldwide. Therefore, this study aimed to measure the prevalence of poor sleep quality among medical students in International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) and its association with mental health and other factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study using convenience sampling was conducted among 500 medical students in IIUM Kuantan. A validated self-reported questionnaire including sociodemographic, socioeconomic, lifestyle, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Depression Anxiety Stress Score 21 was distributed from 15thJuly to 31stAugust 2019. Descriptive statistics were used to measure the prevalence of poor sleep quality. Chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test, independent sample T-test, and multiple logistic regression were used to measure the association between risk factors and sleep quality. RESULT: The response rate was 91.2%. The prevalence of poor sleep quality was 59.6%. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed level of study (clinical year (AOR=0.44, 95% CI: 0.29 -0.66) and depression (yes (AOR: 1.71, 95% CI 1.03-2.83) contributed independently on poor sleep quality among medical students. There was no significant relationship between tahajjud practice and poor sleep quality. CONCLUSION: More than half of IIUM medical students have poor sleep quality. Those students who were in the pre-clinical year and had depression were independently associated with the occurrence of poor sleep quality. Early intervention is compulsory to overcome this problem among medical students in IIUM.
To assess the utility of the current imaging modalities, a six-year retrospective study was conducted from May 1985 through April 1991 on 11 patients with histopathologically confirmed neuroblastoma. There were four males and seven females. Median age at presentation was six years. All patients underwent intravenous urography (IVU), abdominal ultrasonography (US), skeletal surveys and bone marrow aspiration. Computed tomographic (CT) scanning was performed in nine patients and trephine bone biopsy in five. Suprarenal gland was the primary site in six patients, including one bilateral neuroblastoma. Two presented with primary paraspinal mass, one with posterior mediastinal mass, one had a retroperitoneal tumour and one presented as primary cerebral neuroblastoma. IVU showed indirect evidence of suprarenal tumours in five patients. US demonstrated suprarenal mass in six and calcification within the mass in five patients. US also documented retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy in five patients. US-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy was performed in seven patients and it gave correct histological diagnosis in all. CT accurately depicted all the primary tumours and their involvement of the surrounding structures and metastases in the brain and orbits. US proved to be quite accurate in diagnosing primary abdominal tumours despite its limitations but in other sites, CT was of greater help. Solid appearance of a suprarenal mass on US made the diagnosis of neuroblastoma very likely and calcification within the mass further supported the diagnosis.
A cross-sectional study was carried out on 241 primary schoolchildren in Pahang, Malaysia to update their vitamin A status and to investigate the association of poor vitamin A status with their health and socioeconomic factors. All children were screened for intestinal parasitic infections. Blood samples were collected and vitamin A status was assessed. Socioeconomic data were collected by using pre-tested questionnaires. The results showed that 66 (27.4%) children had low serum retinol levels (< 0.70 micromol/L). Giardiasis and severe ascariasis were significantly associated with low serum retinol levels (P = 0.004 and P = 0.018, respectively). Logistic regression confirmed the significant association of giardiasis with low serum retinol (odds ratio = 2.7, 95% confidence interval = 1.3-5.5). In conclusion, vitamin A deficiency is still a public health problem in rural Malaysia. Vitamin A supplementation and treatment of intestinal parasitic infections should be distributed periodically to these children to improve their health and nutritional status.