METHODS: We obtained 80 CRC histopathological specimens sent to the Pathology Laboratory of Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia from 2015 to 2019. Data on demographic factors, body mass index (BMI), and clinicopathological characteristics were also collected. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues were stained by using an optimized immunohistochemical protocol.
RESULTS: Patients were mostly older than 50 years, male, Malay, and overweight or obese. A high apoB expression was observed in 87.5% CRC samples (70/80), while a high 4HNE expression was observed in only 17.5% (14/80) of CRCs. The expression of apoB was significantly associated with the sigmoid and rectosigmoid tumor sites (p =0.001) and tumor size 3-5 cm (p =0.005). 4HNE expression was significantly associated with tumor size 3-5 cm (p =0.045). Other variables were not significantly associated with the expression of either marker.
CONCLUSION: ApoB and 4HNE proteins may play a role in promoting CRC carcinogenesis.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 323 medical students in Universiti Sains Malaysia. The students were given questionnaire forms consisting of socio-demographic information, the SAS-M and the Malay version of the Internet Addiction Test (MVIAT). The CFA was conducted using robust maximum likelihood estimator. The internal consistency reliability was determined by Raykov's rho coefficient. The concurrent validity was assessed by the Pearson's correlations between the factor scores of the SAS-M and the MVIAT.
RESULTS: The analysis showed the five-factor model of the SAS-M has an acceptable model fit after the inclusion of 12 correlated errors (SRMR = 0.067, RMSEA 0.059 (90% CI: 0.054, 0.065), CFI = 0.895, TLI = 0.882). The factor loadings ranged from 0.320 to 0.875. The internal consistency reliability was good (Raykov's rho = 0.713 to 0.858) and it showed good concurrent validity with the MVIAT.
CONCLUSIONS: The CFA showed that the SAS-M is a valid and reliable self-administered questionnaire to measure the level of smartphone addiction among medical students.
METHODS: Participants were 997 university undergraduate students, with a mean age of 21 years (SD = 1.58). The majority of the participants (80.4%) were female. Health-promoting behaviour was assessed using the 52-item HPLP-II, which measures six components of health-promoting behaviour outcomes. HPLP-II was translated into the Malay language using standard forward and backward translation procedures. Participants then completed the HPLP-II Malay version (HPLP-II-M). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted using Mplus 8.0 software on the six domains of HPLP-II-M model.
RESULTS: The CFA result based on the hypothesised measurement model of six factors was aligned with the original HPLP-II, except for two low loading items which were subsequently removed from the CFA analysis. The final CFA measurement model with 50 items resulted in a good fit to the data based on RMSEA and SRMR fit indices (RMSEA = 0.046, 90%CI = 0.045, 0.048, SRMR = 0.062). The construct reliabilities for the HPLP-II-M subscales were acceptable, ranging from 0.737 to 0.878.
CONCLUSION: The HPLP-II-M with six components of health-promoting behaviour outcomes and 50 items was considered valid and reliable for the present Malaysian sample.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review of patients who underwent horizontal strabismus surgery between 2013 and 2017 in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia was conducted. Surgery was considered successful if the post-operative deviation was within 10 prism diopters at 6 months' postoperative period. Factors influencing the outcome of surgery at 6 months were identified. Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used in data analysis.
RESULTS: Ninety-eight patients were included. Both genders were equally affected. Exotropia (58.2%) was the most common type. About 65.3% of patients had alternating strabismus, while 51% had an angle of deviation of more than 45 prism diopters. Amblyopia was documented in 14.3% of patients. Those operated on below 10 years of age comprised 64.3%. Ninety-four patients completed follow-ups at 6 months after the surgery. The success rate was 81.6%. Approximately 92% of the patients had best-corrected visual acuities of 6/12 and better at 6 months' postoperative period. There was no significant association between age of onset, gender, presence of amblyopia, type of deviation, amount of deviation, and postoperative best-corrected visual acuity with surgical outcome at 6 months' postoperative period (P > 0.05).
CONCLUSION: The success rate was good. Postoperative best-corrected visual acuity was promising. Age of onset, gender, presence of amblyopia, type of deviation, amount of deviation, and postoperative best-corrected visual acuity did not influence the outcome of horizontal strabismus surgery in our review.
METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study involving 166 children aged 6 to 12 years old in Malaysia. Ocular examination, biometry, retinal photography, blood pressure and body mass index measurement were performed. Participants were divided into two groups; obese and non-obese. Retinal vascular parameters were measured using validated software.
RESULTS: Mean age was 9.58 years. Approximately 51.2% were obese. Obese children had significantly narrower retinal arteriolar caliber (F(1,159) = 6.862, p = 0.010), lower arteriovenous ratio (F(1,159) = 17.412, p < 0.001), higher venular fractal dimension (F(1,159) = 4.313, p = 0.039) and higher venular curvature tortuosity (F(1,158) = 5.166, p = 0.024) than non-obese children, after adjustment for age, gender, blood pressure and axial length.
CONCLUSIONS: Obese children have abnormal retinal vascular geometry. These findings suggest that childhood obesity is characterized by early microvascular abnormalities that precede development of overt disease. Further research is warranted to determine if these parameters represent viable biomarkers for risk stratification in obesity.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional validation study. The original English version of the IDAF-4C+ was translated into Malay, back-translated, and then sent for content validation via an expert validation and face validation by the target student population. Three hundred and seventy questionnaires were then distributed among 16-year-old school children. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted for the IDAF-4C module using a bootstrapped maximum likelihood estimator. Spearman's rank correlation was used to assess the relationship between the IDAF-S and IDAF-4C modules. Intraclass correlation (ICC) was used to determine the stability of the IDAF-S and IDAF-4C modules, while kappa values were used for the IDAF-P module.
Results: The response rate was 86.5% for CFA and 76.9% for stability. CFA showed the existence of only one factor with a reliability estimate of 0.921, obtained via Raykov's procedure. All items in the IDAF-S module were significantly correlated with the IDAF-4C module (P < 0.001). The IDAF-S and IDAF-4C modules were stable, as determined via a two-way mixed model with absolute agreement, a single measure and a Case 3 ICC (A, 1). The IDAF-P module showed satisfactory stability, as assessed via kappa values.
Conclusion: The Malay version of the IDAF-4C+ is valid and reliable in measuring dental anxiety and fear among Malaysian secondary school children.
Methods: Thirty-five nurses from various specialities were recruited from Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM). The intervention comprised a 1-day brief mindfulness-based intervention workshop and 1 h group practice session each month for 3 months together with daily follow-up via WhatsApp group. All the participants completed a self-administered sociodemographic questionnaire validated for use in a Malay population. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale 21 (DASS 21) and Perceived Stress Scale 10 (PSS 10) were used to measure perceived stress, anxiety and depression before the intervention, and 3 months later upon completion of the intervention.
Results: There was a statistically significant reduction in the scores for stress perception (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.06, 2.92; P = 0.04) and anxiety (95% CI: 0.06, 2.34; P = 0.04) post-intervention.
Conclusion: A brief mindfulness-based intervention was effective in reducing perceived stress and anxiety among nurses.
METHODS: In a cross-sectional survey, the undergraduate students in Universiti Sains Malaysia were invited to complete the self-administered questionnaires. Participants were selected using a purposive sampling method. The proposed hypothesised model was analysed using a structural equation modelling with Mplus 7.3 program. A total of 788 (70.7% female) undergraduate students with a mean age of 20.2 (SD = 1.02) participated in the study. The primary outcome of knowledge, health beliefs, and health-promoting behaviours related to CVD were measured by questionnaires namely: Knowledge of Heart Disease, Health Beliefs Related to CVD, and Health Promoting Lifestyle Profiles-II.
RESULTS: The final hypothetical structural model showed a good fit to the data based on several fit indices: with comparative fit index (CFI) at .921, standardised root mean square residual (SRMR) at .037, and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) at .044 (90% CI: .032, .054). The final structural model supported 13 significant path estimates. These variables explained 12% of the total variance in health-promoting behaviours. Through perceived benefits, total knowledge had an indirect effect on health-promoting behaviours.
CONCLUSION: The results suggest that perceived barriers, perceived benefits, family history of CVD, and screening intention enable young adults to engage in health-promoting behaviours.
Methods: The participants were university students at USM's Health Campus, who were invited to volunteer and complete two measures: a demographic form, including the types of co-curricular activities in which the students chose to enrol (sports, uniform and art), and the Physical Activity and Leisure Motivation Scale (PALMS).
Results: A total of 588 university students (female = 79.1%, male = 20.9%) with a mean age of 19.77 (SD = 1.39) participated in the study. The results showed significant differences in the motives of affiliation (P < 0.001), appearance (P = 0.008) and physical condition (P = 0.010) across the types of co-curricular activities in which the students participated. The students who enrolled in sports generally showed higher motives of affiliation, appearance and physical condition for participating in PA than other types of co-curricular activities.
Conclusion: The study findings can provide further insights into the motives for participating in PA among health sciences students and encouragement for students to integrate PA into their daily routines.
Materials and Methods: The questionnaire was first translated into the Malay language (RDAS-M). In this cross-sectional study, healthy married Malay women in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, were recruited from January to April 2018. Participants were asked to complete the RDAS-M that consists of three domains, that is, dyadic consensus, dyadic satisfaction, and dyadic cohesion with a total of 14 items. The concept, content, and construct validity using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and reliability of the RDAS-M were assessed.
Results: Of the 164 recruited participants, 150 consented to participate. The mean age of the participants was 34.1 years (standard deviation [SD], 9.5 years), ranging from 20 to 57 years. All 14 items were considered comprehensible by more than 95% of the subjects. Based on EFA, total variance extracted was 69.08%, and the original three factors were retained. The Malay version of the RDAS was valid based on factor loadings for dyadic consensus, dyadic satisfaction, and dyadic cohesion, which ranged from 0.64 to 0.80, 0.79 to 0.98, and 0.37 to 0.78, respectively. The internal consistency was good with coefficient α of 0.87 for dyadic consensus, 0.93 for dyadic satisfaction, and 0.78 for dyadic cohesion.
Conclusions: The Malay version of the RDAS is easy to understand, and is a reliable and valid instrument for married women. It is also comparable with the original version of the RDAS in terms of structure and psychometric properties.
AIM: We aimed to test validity and reliability of Malay language translations of GERDQ and QOLRAD in a primary care setting.
METHODS: The questionnaires were first translated into the Malay language (GERDQ-M and QOLRAD-M). Patients from primary care clinics with suspected GERD were recruited to complete GERDQ-M, QOLRAD-M, and Malay-translated 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36 or SF-36-M), and underwent endoscopy and 24-h pH-impedance test.
RESULTS: A total of 104 (mean age 47.1 years, women 51.9%) participants were enrolled. The sensitivity and specificity for GERDQ-M cut-off score ≥8 were 90.2 and 77.4%, respectively. Based on this cut-off score, 54.7% had a high probability of GERD diagnosis. GERD-M score ≥8 vs. < 8 was associated with erosive esophagitis (p < 0.001), hiatus hernia (p = 0.03), greater DeMeester score (p = 0.001), and Zerbib scores for acid refluxes (p < 0.001) but not non-acid refluxes (p = 0.1). Mean total scores of QOLRAD-M and SF-36-M were correlated (r = 0.74, p < 0.001). GERDQ-M ≥8, erosive esophagitis, and DeMeester ≥14.72 were associated with impaired QOLRAD-M in all domains (all p < 0.02) but this was not seen with SF-36.
CONCLUSIONS: GERDQ-M and QOLRAD-M are valid and reliable tools applicable in a primary care setting.