Introduction: Cardiac rehabilitation is one of the secondary prevention programme to reduce morbidity and mortal- ity in cardiac patients. However, adherence towards this programme is still sub optimal. The objective of this study isto determine the perceived barriers on cardiac rehabilitation programme among cardiac patients and its association with the sociodemographiccharacteristics. Methods: A preliminary study using the Cardiac Rehabilitation Barrier Scale (CRBS) was conducted in a tertiary hospital among 40 patients. The CRBS tool was validated and tested for reliability.Convenience sampling method was used among those who have attended the cardiac rehabilitation pro- gramme. Ethical approval was obtained from the institution ethical committee. There were total of 22 items in the CRBS except for the last item (22nd) being an open-ended item to enable the patients to share their opinion on any other barriers towards attendance to cardiac rehabilitation programme. The 21 items assessed on patients’ opinion on the perceived barriers during their attendance to the cardiac rehabilitation programme in a form of Likert scale. Results: The overall mean (SD) score for the 21 items was 60.70 (8.77) showed that the patients were able to un- derstand gave their best options on the opinions towards CRBS. The highest mean on item 11 on ‘time constraints’ at 3.58 (0.75). Thus, the majority of the patients scored the item “time constraints’ as the highest perceived barrier during attendance in the cardiac rehabilitation programme. The association of the sociodemographic status had sig- nificance difference (p
Introduction: Illness perceptions involve personal beliefs that patients have about their illness and may influence health behaviour considerably. This preliminary study evaluates the understanding of illness perception among cardiac patients’ and correlations of each of the items. Methods: A preliminary study was conducted using the on Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ) in a tertiary hospital among 40 cardiac patients. Ethical approval was obtained from the institution ethical committee. There are 9 items in the BIPQ with 0-10 response scale measuring causal factors and an open-ended item. Items 1 to 5 assesses on the cognitive illness perception which comprises of consequences, timeline, personal control, treatment control and identity. Item 6 and 8 are on emotional response and item 7 is on coherence. Results: The overall mean score of the 8 items of BIPQ was 7.04 (1.07) with the highest mean for item 4 on treatment control and item 6 on personal control at 8.02 (0.92) and 7.03 (1.77) respectively while the lowest mean was item 7 on understanding at 6.63 (1.83). The causal factor for the open-ended question was mostly on consumption of fatty food intake, sedentary lifestyle and stress at work. Perceiving personal control was significantly being affected by perceiving treatment control for the cardiac disease (r=0.50) and being concerned about their cardiac symptoms was significantly related to perceiving consequences of the disease (r =0.54), perceiv- ing identity (r=0.75) and perceiving emotional control (r=0.67). Perceiving emotional control on their symptoms was significantly related to perceived consequences on cardiac disease (r=0.51), perceived identity (r=0.53) and perceived concern on cardiac disease (r=0.67). Conclusion: The results shown significant correlations with relevant outcomes measures. It is useful in clinical practice to assess and potentially modify patient’s perceptions on under- standing, emotional control, personal control, consequences and perceived concerned over their cardiac disease.
This study compares the distribution of dissolved nutrients (NO3 − and PO4 3−) between two seasons (pre-monsoon and post-monsoon) in Pulau Perhentian, Terengganu. The concentration of dissolved PO4 3− was found to be 16 to 83 times higher during the postmonsoon period (April 2015) compared to the pre-monsoon period (October 2014). On the other hand, the concentration of dissolved NO3 − was two (2) to three (3) times higher during the post-monsoon period (April 2015) compared to the pre-monsoon period (October 2014). These nutrients’ inputs were converted from P limitation condition during the premonsoon period to N limitation condition during the post-monsoon period at our study area. The results of this study suggest that the Northeast monsoon plays an important role in influencing the distribution of dissolved nutrients between seasons in Pulau Perhentian. It is thought that during the post-monsoon period, a considerable input of nutrients from bottom water is responsible for increasing dissolved nutrients in surface water, in particular PO4 3−.