MATERIALS AND METHODS: We developed a web-interface, hosted on a web server to collect oral lesions images from international partners. Further, we developed a customised annotation tool, also a web-interface for systematic annotation of images to build a rich clinically labelled dataset. We evaluated the sensitivities comparing referral decisions through the annotation process with the clinical diagnosis of the lesions.
RESULTS: The image repository hosts 2474 images of oral lesions consisting of oral cancer, oral potentially malignant disorders and other oral lesions that were collected through MeMoSA® UPLOAD. Eight-hundred images were annotated by seven oral medicine specialists on MeMoSA® ANNOTATE, to mark the lesion and to collect clinical labels. The sensitivity in referral decision for all lesions that required a referral for cancer management/surveillance was moderate to high depending on the type of lesion (64.3%-100%).
CONCLUSION: This is the first description of a database with clinically labelled oral lesions. This database could accelerate the improvement of AI algorithms that can promote the early detection of high-risk oral lesions.
DESIGN AND METHODS: This was a 12-week, multicenter, prospective observational study. The study setting included three HD centers. Adult Muslim patients, who were undergoing HD session thrice weekly and planned to fast during Ramadan, were screened for eligibility and recruited. Nutritional and functional status assessments were carried out 2 weeks before (V0), at the fourth week of Ramadan (V1), and 4 weeks after Ramadan (V2). Nutritional status parameters included anthropometry (body mass index, interdialytic weight gain, waist circumference), body composition (mid-arm circumference, triceps skinfold, body fat percentage), blood biochemistry (albumin, renal profile, lipid profile, and inflammatory markers), blood pressure, dietary intake, and handgrip strength. Changes in nutritional and functional status parameters across study timepoints were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance.
RESULTS: A total of 87 patients completed the study, with 68 patients (78.2%) reporting fasting ≥20 days. Ramadan fasting led to significant reductions (all P .05). Significant improvement was observed in serum phosphate levels, but serum albumin, urea, and creatinine were also reduced significantly during Ramadan (P
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the content, features, and quality of commercial dialysis diet apps for adult dialysis patients.
METHODS: This study consisted of a quantitative content analysis of commercial dialysis diet apps downloaded from Google Play and the Apple App Store available in the Asian marketplace, searched for using the following keywords in English: dialysis diet and diet for kidney disease. Free and paid apps available in English that provide nutrition information for adult dialysis patients were included. Apps that were not relevant to the dialysis diet, not meant for patient self-management, or redundant were excluded. Apps were evaluated for language medium (subscore=1), credibility (subscore=1), food database (subscore=1), valuable features (subscore=12), health-behavior theory constructs (subscore=60), and technical quality (subscore=25). The relationships among the variables of interest were determined by Pearson correlation. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was performed to identify the features that contribute to greater technical quality of dialysis diet apps. Statistical significance was defined as P
METHODS: We collected data from participants of a public smoking cessation clinic in Selangor. A trained pharmacist conducted face-to-face interviews with 152 daily smokers using a structured validated questionnaire. Respondents were classified as having high nicotine dependence using both the HSI (score ≥4) and the FTND (score ≥6), and concordance between the two measures, kappa statistics and sensitivity, specificity of the HSI were then determined with the FTND classification as the reference standard.
RESULTS: The HSI had a substantial agreement with the FTND (Cohen's kappa=0.72) in measuring high levels of nicotine addiction, with good sensitivity (83.3%) and specificity (89.4%).
CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the HSI can be used instead of the FTND in clinical-based investigations to screen for high nicotine dependence among daily smokers in the clinical setting.
METHODS: Using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), four measurement models with the best relative fit were compared, one uni-dimensional model, and three different two-domain (morning and daytime smoking) models.
RESULTS: The findings indicate that the best model of the FTND-M was a two-domain model, wherein domain one represented morning smoking (time to first cigarette of the day, smoking more in the morning, and which cigarette would you hate to give up) and domain two represented daytime smoking (cigarettes per day, difficulty refraining from smoking, and smoking when ill) which showed good model fit [χ2/df=1.932, goodness of fit (GFI) of 0.967, comparative fix index (CFI) of 0.945, incremental fit index (IFI) of 0.98, Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) of 0.95 and a real mean square end of approximation (RMSEA) of 0.079, and substantial reliability >0.70].
CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that the FTND-M can be used to assess these two dimensions of nicotine addiction among daily smokers in a clinical setting.
METHODS: We analyzed data from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) 2003, GYTS 2009, and the Tobacco and Electronic Cigarette Survey among Malaysia Adolescents (TECMA) 2016. The surveys employed multistage sampling to select representative samples of adolescents attending secondary school in Malaysia. Data were collected using a pre-validated self-administered anonymous questionnaire adopted from the GYTS.
RESULTS: Between 2003 and 2016, major changes occurred in which there were reductions in the prevalence of ever smoking, current smoking, and susceptibility to smoking. Reductions were also observed in exposure to SHS in public places and in the home. The proportion of school-going adolescents who support a ban on smoking in public places increased between 2013 to 2016, and there was a significant reduction in the proportion of respondents that were offered 'free' cigarettes by tobacco company representatives. However, there was no difference in the proportion of adolescents who initiated smoking before the age of 10 years and current smokers seeking advice to quit smoking across the time period.
CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that the smoking policies and measures have been effective in reducing smoking prevalence, secondhand smoke exposure, and access to cigarettes, among school-going adolescents in Malaysia. However, measures to reduce smoking initiation and increase smoking cessation need to be strengthened to reduce the burden of smoking-related diseases in Malaysia in the long-term.
DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.
SETTING: Primary and secondary schools in Malaysia.
PARTICIPANTS: 11 246 non-smoking school-going adolescents.
OUTCOME MEASURES: The prevalence and factors associated with smoking susceptibility among non-smoking school-going adolescents in Malaysia.
RESULTS: Approximately 14% of non-smokers were susceptible to smoking, and the prevalence of susceptibility was significantly higher among males, ever-smokers and e-cigarette users. The odds of susceptibility to smoking were higher among males, e-cigarette users, those aged 12 years and under and those who had ever smoked or tried cigarettes. Students from schools with educational programmes on the health effects of second-hand smoke (SHS) and who perceived smoking to be harmful were less likely to be susceptible to smoking.
CONCLUSION: Smoking susceptibility is prevalent among school-going adolescents. A comprehensive approach that enhances or reinforces health education programmes on the adverse health effects of smoking and SHS among school children, that considers multiple factors and that involves all stakeholders is urgently needed to reduce the prevalence of smoking susceptibility among vulnerable subgroups, as identified from the present findings.
METHODS: The data were derived from the Malaysian Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS-M), collected in 2011-2012, involving 4250 respondents. Data analyses involved 1343 respondents reported to be in the working population.
RESULTS: More than half of the respondents (58.5%) were reportedly working in smoke-free workplaces. Almost a quarter (24.8%) of those who worked in smoke-free workplaces stayed in smoke-free homes, which was more than two times higher than their counterparts who worked at non-smoke-free workplaces (24.8% vs 12.0%, p<0.001). Multivariable analyses further substantiated this finding (AOR=2.01, 95% CI: 1.11-3.61, reference group = worked at non-smoke-free workplaces).
CONCLUSIONS: This study found an association between living in smoke-free homes and working at smoke-free workplaces, which could suggest a positive impact of implementing smoke-free workplaces.