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Fulltext Risk stratification and assessment framework for international travel and border measures amidst the COVID-19 pandemic - A Malaysian perspective

Omar K, Baha Raja D, Abdul Taib NA, Rajaram N, Ahmed J, Arvinder-Singh HS, et al.

Travel Med Infect Dis, 2022;47:102318.
PMID: 35342008 DOI: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2022.102318

BACKGROUND: Guided by the best practices adapted from national and international bodies including the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the UK Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC), this paper aims to develop and provide an empirical risk stratification and assessment framework for advancing the safe resumption of global travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.
METHOD: Variables included in our model are categorized into four pillars: (i) incidence of cases, (ii) reliability of case data, (iii) vaccination, and (iv) variant surveillance. These measures are combined based on weights that reflect their corresponding importance in risk assessment within the context of the pandemic to calculate the risk score for each country. As a validation step, the outcome of the risk stratification from our model is compared against four countries.
RESULTS: Our model is found to have good agreement with these benchmarked risk designations for 27 out of the top 30 countries with the strongest travel ties to Malaysia (90%). Each factor within this model signifies its importance and can be adapted by governing bodies to address the changing needs of border control policies for the recommencement of international travel.
CONCLUSION: In practice, the proposed model provides a turnkey solution for nations to manage transmission risk by enabling stakeholders to make informed, evidence-based decisions to minimize fluctuations of imported cases and serves as a structure to support the improvement, planning, and activation of public health control measures.
Fulltext Questionnaire development and validity to measure sexual intention among youth in Malaysia

Muhammad NA, Shamsuddin K, Mohd Amin R, Omar K, Thurasamy R

BMC Public Health, 2017 02 02;17(1):157.
PMID: 28152993 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-016-3949-1

BACKGROUND: From the Theory of Planned Behaviour perspective, sexual intention is determined by a permissive attitude, perception of social norms and perceived self-efficacy in performing sexual activity. The aim of this study was to develop and validate the Youth Sexual Intention Questionnaire (YSI-Q), which was designed to measure sexual intention among youths in Malaysia.
METHODS: A total of 25 items were developed based on literature reviews encompassing four main constructs: sexual intention, attitude, social norms and self-efficacy. The YSI-Q then underwent a validation process that included content and face validity, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), reliability analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). This study was conducted on unmarried youths aged 18 to 22 years who were studying in colleges around Klang Valley, Malaysia.
RESULTS: EFA supported the four factor structure, but five items were removed due to incorrect placement or low factor loading (<0.60). Internal reliability using Cronbach's alpha ranged between 0.89 and 0.94. The CFA further confirmed the construct, convergent and discriminant validity of the YSI-Q with χ 2 = 392.43, df = 164, p
Adolescent pregnancy outcomes and risk factors in Malaysia

Omar K, Hasim S, Muhammad NA, Jaffar A, Hashim SM, Siraj HH

Int J Gynaecol Obstet, 2010 Dec;111(3):220-3.
PMID: 20800837 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijgo.2010.06.023

OBJECTIVE: To assess the outcomes and risk factors of adolescent pregnancies in 2 major hospitals in Malaysia.
METHODS: We conducted a case-control study of pregnant girls aged 10 through 19 years. The controls were women aged 20 through 35 years who did not become pregnant in their adolescence. Cases and controls were matched for parity and place of delivery. Data were collected from questionnaires and the hospitals' medical records.
RESULTS: The study included 102 cases and 102 controls. There were significant associations between adolescent pregnancy and low education level, low socioeconomic status, being raised by a single parent, not engaging in extracurricular school activities, engaging in unsupervised activities with peers after school, and substance abuse (P<0.05 for all); being anemic, being unsure of the expected delivery date, and having few antenatal visits and a late delivery booking; and low Apgar scores and perinatal complications.
CONCLUSION: Adolescent pregnancies are high-risk pregnancies. Better sexual health strategies are required to address the associated complications.
Fulltext Prevalence of acne and its impact on the quality of life in school-aged adolescents in Malaysia

Hanisah A, Omar K, Shah SA

J Prim Health Care, 2009 Mar;1(1):20-5.
PMID: 20690482

AIM: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of facial acne and its impact on the quality of life among adolescents attending secondary schools in Muar, Malaysia.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted where 409 samples were selected using stratified cluster random sampling from two secondary schools in Muar, involving Form 1 to Form 5 students. Students were diagnosed clinically and the severity of facial acne was assessed using Global Acne Grading System. A self-reported Cardiff Acne Disability Index was used to assess the quality of life among adolescents who had acne.
RESULTS: The prevalence of facial acne among the adolescents was 67.5% (n = 276). Facial acne increased with increasing age (p = 0.001). It was more common among males (71.1%) than females (64.6%), p = 0.165. The males also had a higher prevalence of severe acne (p = 0.001). The quality of life was affected by the severity of acne. Students with severe acne had higher levels of Cardiff Acne Disability Index (rho = 0.521).
CONCLUSION: Facial acne is a common disorder and appears to have a considerable impact on quality of life among adolescents. The above findings should alert health care professionals and the school authorities to actively identify, manage and educate adolescents with facial acne.
Fulltext Knowledge of colorectal cancer among patients presenting with rectal bleeding and its association with delay in seeking medical advice

Mohd Hashim S, Tong SF, Omar K, Abdul Rashid MR, Shah SA, Sagap I

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2011;12(8):2007-11.
PMID: 22292642

BACKGROUND: Knowledge is believed to be a driving factor for patients' early presentation for healthcare. This study was conducted to assess knowledge of colorectal cancer among subjects presenting with rectal bleeding and to determine its association with late presentation.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 80 patients with rectal bleeding, aged 40 and above, was conducted between December 2008 and June 2009 in the endoscopy unit, University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre. The research instruments used in this study was a self-administered questionnaire including data on duration of rectal bleeding, first medical consultation and knowledge of colorectal cancer.

RESULTS: Sixty percent of subjects with rectal bleeding delayed seeking medical advice. Subjects were more aware of symptoms of non-colorectal cancers compared to symptoms of colorectal cancer. The majority of subjects (63.8%) correctly identified rectal bleeding as a symptom but were not aware of the best screening method to detect colorectal cancer. Half of the subjects knew increasing age and genetic background to be risk factors for colorectal carcinoma. However, knowledge of colorectal cancer was not found to be significantly associated with delay in seeking help.

CONCLUSION: Findings indicate poor awareness of colorectal cancer among the subjects. Although public education of colorectal cancer is important for early presentation on rectal bleeding, further studies are advocated to evaluate other factors influencing patients' help seeking behavior other than knowledge.
Fulltext Factors influencing late consultation among patients with rectal bleeding in University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre

Hashim SM, Omar K, Fah TS, Rashid RA, Daud TI, Shah SA, et al.

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2010;11(5):1335-9.
PMID: 21198288

BACKGROUND: Patients' delay in the presentation with rectal bleeding had been identified as a factor for late diagnosis of colorectal cancer. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of delay in consulting a medical practitioner and identifying associated factors.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 80 patients with rectal bleeding, aged 40 and above, was conducted between December 2008 and June 2009 in the endoscopy unit, University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre. The self-administered questionnaire included data on sociodemographic, concern of rectal bleeding, whether patients sought initial advice, any self treatment prior to medical consultation and patients' opinion on causes of their own rectal bleeding.

RESULTS: The prevalence of delay in the presentation of rectal bleeding was 60%. Patients who were less worried (OR 9.6; 95% CI 3.3-27.5), who did not seek anyoneandapos;s advice (OR 11.8; 95% CI 3.8-36.8) and took some treatment before seeking medical consultation (OR 5.0; 95% CI 1.0-24.1) were significantly more likely to delay. Multiple logistic regression revealed that less worry of rectal bleeding and not seeking anyoneandapos;s advice were important predictors (p<0.05). The majority of patients attributed their bleeding to benign causes.

CONCLUSION: A high proportion of patients with rectal bleeding in the high risk group delayed in seeking medical advice. Public education needs to focus on interventions to reduce the delay in presenting and diagnosis of colorectal carcinoma.
Successful treatment of unresectable inflammatory pseudotumor of the lung with COX-2 inhibitor

Chan PW, Omar KZ, Ramanujam TM

Pediatr Pulmonol, 2003 Aug;36(2):167-9.
PMID: 12833497
Fulltext Norms for eating disorder examination questionnaire (EDE-Q) among secondary school students in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Musa, R., Haniff, J., Bujang, M.A., Mohamad, N.A., Omar, K., Radeef, A.S.

International Medical Journal Malaysia, 2016;15(2):57-61.
MyJurnal

Introduction: The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) has been widely used as a tool to
detect eating disorders. We aimed to identify the EDE-Q normative data among secondary school students in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study involving four secondary schools in an
urban area. The respondents of secondary school students were selected using stratified sampling. Results:
There were 298 teenagers 12 to 17 years of age who participated in the study. The EDE-Q mean scores ±
standard deviation was 1.27 ± 1.08 for the total score (Global Score), 0.78 ± 0.95 for Restraint Domain, 1.02
± 1.03 for Eating Concern, 1.76 ± 1.55 for Shape Concern and 1.54 ± 1.43 for Weight Concern. Conclusion:
Mean values obtained from this study were relatively lower when compared to western populations. Shape
Concern and Weight Concern had higher scores compared to the other domains. These values are useful for
EDE-Q interpretation in Malaysia.
Knowledge, attitude and practice in breast-feeding among working mothers in Temerloh, Pahang

Omar, K.

Malaysian Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 1998;10(2):40-45.
MyJurnal

A cross-sectional study using structured questionnaires was conducted to determine the level of knowledge, attitude and practice on breast-feeding among working mothers. A total of 200 working mothers who attended the Child Health Clinics in Temerloh, for their chil-dren's third DPT/Polio vaccination were interviewed. Eighty-nine percent of the mothers successfully initiat-ed breast-feeding. However, there was a rapid decline in breast-feeding each month especially during the period when the mothers returned to work. Only 33.5% of the mothers had at least one experience in expressing and feeding expressed breast milk to their babies and only 47% reported that they had been taught by health work-ers. The mothers scored highest on the 'benefits of breast-feeding' with a mean knowledge score of 77.9% and lowest on "storage of expressed breast milk" (35.4%). Overall the mothers showed a positive attitude towards breast-feeding. The two main reasons given for stopping breast-feeding were "work" (61.4%) and "insufficient milk" (57.9%). In conclusion, other areas of breast-feeding besides benefits such as "expressing and storing breast milk" and "how" to practise breast-feeding while working away from home are also impor-tant for working mothers.
Fulltext Is it safe to prescribe triple drugs therapy for lymphatic filariasis infection in Epidermolysis Bullosa patient? a case report

S. Izuddin, Nur Dalila Zakaria, Nur L. A., Omar K. K.

Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2019;15(106):85-85.
MyJurnal

Introduction:Filariasis is an endemic infection in tropical and subtropical countries. The disease is caused by para-sites from the group filarodidae. Epidermolysis Bullosa, on the other hand is a group of rare genetic skin diseases that characterize by skin blister and erode facilely. Due to rarity of Epidermolysis Bullosa and uncommon occurrence of Filariasis, there is extremely limited case or paper reporting on safety profile of medication that are used to treat Filariasis patient with underlying Epidermolysis Bullosa.Serious adverse event that is anticipated in this cohort of patient are Stevens-Johnson syndrome and Mazotti reaction. Case description: Surveillance activity is necessary in high endemic localities in Sabah in order to control the spread of this mosquitoes-borne disease. The available tool is Brugia RapidTM kit, a test kit that detects filarial antibodies.A 13 year-old boy with underlying Epidemolysis Bullosa Simplex was detected during surveillance activities. It was further confirmed with night blood on microscopic slide that depicted high density of parasite (microfilaria count: 31). The WHO specifically exempted the following groups from the treatment - children under 5 years of age; pregnant women; and seriously ill individuals i.e. those who are having acute or chronic illness that makes them too sick or weak to get out of bed; and those with an illness who are life-dependent on medical intervention. This is because ingestion of the medications can result in adverse events due to the destruction of killed parasites. No guideline is available for treatment of lymphatic filariasis in rare genetic disorders. Conclusion: The recommended dosage for IDA is Ivermectin 3mcg/kg, Diethylcarbamazine 6mg/kg and Albendazole 400mg for positive patient yearly. Patient was admitted in hospital for observation treatment with the suggested dose. From the case study it shows it is safe to treat this cohort patient. However, it is advisable to treat such rare cases by case basis and in comparison to others where treatment is given in the community this patients should be treat in more control environment such in the hospital.
Fulltext Automatic detection and quantification of WBCs and RBCs using iterative structured circle detection algorithm

Alomari YM, Sheikh Abdullah SN, Zaharatul Azma R, Omar K

Comput Math Methods Med, 2014;2014:979302.
PMID: 24803955 DOI: 10.1155/2014/979302

Segmentation and counting of blood cells are considered as an important step that helps to extract features to diagnose some specific diseases like malaria or leukemia. The manual counting of white blood cells (WBCs) and red blood cells (RBCs) in microscopic images is an extremely tedious, time consuming, and inaccurate process. Automatic analysis will allow hematologist experts to perform faster and more accurately. The proposed method uses an iterative structured circle detection algorithm for the segmentation and counting of WBCs and RBCs. The separation of WBCs from RBCs was achieved by thresholding, and specific preprocessing steps were developed for each cell type. Counting was performed for each image using the proposed method based on modified circle detection, which automatically counted the cells. Several modifications were made to the basic (RCD) algorithm to solve the initialization problem, detecting irregular circles (cells), selecting the optimal circle from the candidate circles, determining the number of iterations in a fully dynamic way to enhance algorithm detection, and running time. The validation method used to determine segmentation accuracy was a quantitative analysis that included Precision, Recall, and F-measurement tests. The average accuracy of the proposed method was 95.3% for RBCs and 98.4% for WBCs.
Fulltext Factors influencing insulin acceptance among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients in a primary care clinic: a qualitative exploration

Abu Hassan H, Tohid H, Mohd Amin R, Long Bidin MB, Muthupalaniappen L, Omar K

BMC Fam Pract, 2013;14:164.
PMID: 24164794 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2296-14-164

BACKGROUND: Many Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) patients refuse insulin therapy even when they require this modality of treatment. However, some eventually accept insulin. This study aimed to explore the T2DM patients' reasons for accepting insulin therapy and their initial barriers to use insulin.
METHODS: This qualitative study interviewed twenty-one T2DM patients at a primary care clinic who had been on insulin for more than a year through three in-depth interviews and three focus group discussions. A semi structured interview protocol was used and the sessions were audio-recorded. Subsequently, thematic analysis was conducted to identify major themes.
RESULTS: The participants' acceptance of insulin was influenced by their concerns and beliefs about diabetes and insulin. Concerns about complications of poorly controlled diabetes and side effects of other treatment regime had resulted in insulin acceptance among the participants. They also had a strong belief in insulin benefits and effectiveness. These concerns and beliefs were the results of having good knowledge about the diabetes and insulin, experiential learning, as well as doctors' practical and emotional support that helped them to accept insulin therapy and become efficient in self-care management. These factors also allayed their negative concerns and beliefs towards diabetes and insulin, which were their barriers for insulin acceptance as it caused fear to use insulin. These negative concerns were related to injection (self-injection, needle phobia, injection pain), and insulin use (inconvenience, embarrassment, lifestyle restriction, negative social stigma, and poor self-efficacy), whereas the negative beliefs were 'insulin could cause organ damage', 'their diabetes was not serious enough', 'insulin is for life-long', and 'insulin is for more severe disease only'.
CONCLUSIONS: Exploring patients' concerns and beliefs about diabetes and insulin is crucial to assist physicians in delivering patient-centered care. By understanding this, physicians could address their concerns with aim to modify their patients' misconceptions towards insulin therapy. In addition, continuous educations as well as practical and emotional support from others were found to be valuable for insulin acceptance.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia FF-214-2009.
Study site: Primary Care clinic, Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Preferences of Malaysian cancer patients in communication of bad news

Eng TC, Yaakup H, Shah SA, Jaffar A, Omar K

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2012;13(6):2749-52.
PMID: 22938453

BACKGROUND: Breaking bad news to cancer patients is a delicate and challenging task for most doctors. Better understanding of patients' preferences in breaking bad news can guide doctors in performing this task.
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to describe the preferences of Malaysian cancer patients regarding the communication of bad news.
METHODOLOGY: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the Oncology clinic of a tertiary teaching hospital. Two hundred adult cancer patients were recruited via purposive quota sampling. They were required to complete the Malay language version of the Measure of Patients' Preferences (MPP-BM) with minimal researcher assistance. Their responses were analysed using descriptive statistics. Association between demographic characteristics and domain scores were tested using non-parametric statistical tests.
RESULTS: Nine items were rated by the patients as essential: "Doctor is honest about the severity of my condition", "Doctor describing my treatment options in detail", "Doctor telling me best treatment options", Doctor letting me know all of the different treatment options", "Doctor being up to date on research on my type of cancer", "Doctor telling me news directly", "Being given detailed info about results of medical tests", "Being told in person", and "Having doctor offer hope about my condition". All these items had median scores of 5/5 (IQR:4-5). The median scores for the three domains were: "Content and Facilitation" 74/85, "Emotional Support" 23/30 and "Structural and Informational Support" 31/40. Ethnicity was found to be significantly associated with scores for "Content and Facilitation" and "Emotional Support". Educational status was significantly associated with scores for "Structural and Informational Support".
CONCLUSION: Malaysian cancer patients appreciate the ability of the doctor to provide adequate information using good communication skills during the process of breaking bad news. Provision of emotional support, structural support and informational support were also highly appreciated.
Fulltext Medicines information provided by pharmaceutical representatives: a comparative study in Australia and Malaysia

Othman N, Vitry AI, Roughead EE, Ismail SB, Omar K

BMC Public Health, 2010;10:743.
PMID: 21118551 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-10-743

BACKGROUND: Pharmaceutical representatives provide medicines information on their promoted products to doctors. However, studies have shown that the quality of this information is often low. No study has assessed the medicines information provided by pharmaceutical representatives to doctors in Malaysia and no recent evidence in Australia is present. We aimed to compare the provision of medicines information by pharmaceutical representatives to doctors in Australia and Malaysia.
METHODS: Following a pharmaceutical representative's visit, general practitioners in Australia and Malaysia who had agreed to participate, were asked to fill out a questionnaire on the main product and claims discussed during the encounter. The questionnaire focused on provision of product information including indications, adverse effects, precautions, contraindications and the provision of information on the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS) listings and restrictions (in Australia only). Descriptive statistics were produced. Chi-square analysis and clustered linear regression were used to assess differences in Australia and Malaysia.
RESULTS: Significantly more approved product information sheets were provided in Malaysia (78%) than in Australia (53%) (P < 0.001). In both countries, general practitioners reported that indications (Australia, 90%, Malaysia, 93%) and dosages (Australia, 76%, Malaysia, 82%) were frequently provided by pharmaceutical representatives. Contraindications, precautions, drug interactions and adverse effects were often omitted in the presentations (range 25% - 41%). General practitioners in Australia and Malaysia indicated that in more than 90% of presentations, pharmaceutical representatives partly or fully answered their questions on contraindications, precautions, drug interactions and adverse effects. More general practitioners in Malaysia (85%) than in Australia (60%) reported that pharmaceutical representatives should have mentioned contraindications, precautions for use, drug interaction or adverse effects spontaneously (P < 0.001). In 48% of the Australian presentations, general practitioners reported the pharmaceutical representatives failed to mention information on PBS listings to general practitioners.
CONCLUSIONS: Information on indications and dosages were usually provided by pharmaceutical representatives in Australia and Malaysia. However, risk and harmful effects of medicines were often missing in their presentations. Effective control of medicines information provided by pharmaceutical representatives is needed.
Role of Religion in Preventing Youth Sexual Activity in Malaysia: A Mixed Methods Study

Muhammad NA, Shamsuddin K, Sulaiman Z, Amin RM, Omar K

J Relig Health, 2017 Dec;56(6):1916-1929.
PMID: 26809242 DOI: 10.1007/s10943-016-0185-z

One of the popular approaches of preventing youth sexual activity in Malaysia is using religion to promote premarital sexual abstinence. Despite this intervention, youth continue to practise premarital sex. Thus, the purpose of this exploratory mixed methods study was to understand the role of religion on sexual activity among college students in Klang Valley, Malaysia. A self-administered questionnaire survey to determine the relationship between religiosity and youth sexual activity was carried out on 1026 students recruited from 12 randomly selected colleges. Concurrently, face-to-face interviews were conducted on 15 students to explore how religiosity had influenced their decision on sexual activity. The survey data were analysed using logistic regression, while the qualitative data from the interviews were examined using thematic analysis with separate analysis for each gender. Both quantitative and qualitative results were then compared and integrated. Religious activity significantly reduced the risk of continuing sexual activity among female students (AOR = 0.67, CI = 0.47, 0.95, p = 0.02) but not male students. There was no significant relationship of religious affiliation and intrinsic religiosity (inner faith) to sexual activity by gender. Having faith in religion and strong sexual desire were the main themes that explained participants' sexual behaviour. Engaging in religious activity might be effective at preventing female students from being sexually active. However, when sexual urges and desires are beyond control, religiosity might not be effective.
Fulltext Adaptive localization of focus point regions via random patch probabilistic density from whole-slide, Ki-67-stained brain tumor tissue

Alomari YM, Sheikh Abdullah SN, MdZin RR, Omar K

Comput Math Methods Med, 2015;2015:673658.
PMID: 25793010 DOI: 10.1155/2015/673658

Analysis of whole-slide tissue for digital pathology images has been clinically approved to provide a second opinion to pathologists. Localization of focus points from Ki-67-stained histopathology whole-slide tissue microscopic images is considered the first step in the process of proliferation rate estimation. Pathologists use eye pooling or eagle-view techniques to localize the highly stained cell-concentrated regions from the whole slide under microscope, which is called focus-point regions. This procedure leads to a high variety of interpersonal observations and time consuming, tedious work and causes inaccurate findings. The localization of focus-point regions can be addressed as a clustering problem. This paper aims to automate the localization of focus-point regions from whole-slide images using the random patch probabilistic density method. Unlike other clustering methods, random patch probabilistic density method can adaptively localize focus-point regions without predetermining the number of clusters. The proposed method was compared with the k-means and fuzzy c-means clustering methods. Our proposed method achieves a good performance, when the results were evaluated by three expert pathologists. The proposed method achieves an average false-positive rate of 0.84% for the focus-point region localization error. Moreover, regarding RPPD used to localize tissue from whole-slide images, 228 whole-slide images have been tested; 97.3% localization accuracy was achieved.
Fulltext Physical and psychosocial impacts of pregnancy on adolescents and their coping strategies: a descriptive study in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Su XV, Muhammad NA, Tan PS, Tan KTM, Tohid H, Omar K

Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine, 2014;14(3):0-0.
MyJurnal

Teenage pregnancy carries serious impacts on adolescent health. This study aimed to examine the effects of pregnancy on adolescents and to explore how they cope with the problems they faced during the pregnancy. It involved 26 adolescents residing in a government shelter home in Kuala Lumpur. A self-administered questionnaire containing a mixture of open- and closed-ended questions was used. Among physical (sleeping problem and self-care problem), psychological (emotional difficulties and low self-efficacy) and social (stigma and discrimination, financial difficulty, friendship problem and school dropout) problems, emotional difficulties were the most common problems, whereas stigma and discrimination was the least common. Young adolescents aged less than 16 years old were significantly associated with poor self-care (p=0.01). To cope with their problems, the adolescents generally used avoidance, withdrawal, and social support, particularly from parents and peers. Doctors were the least popular among all. In conclusion, holistic and individualised care is needed. Strategies to reduce emotional problem experienced by pregnant adolescents should be implemented. The available healthcare services for teenage pregnancy should also be promoted.
Fulltext Dysmenorrhoea and its effects on school activities among adolescent girls in a rural school in Selangor, Malaysia

Liliwati I, Lee VKM, Omar K

Medicine & Health, 2007;2(1):42-47.
MyJurnal

The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of dysmenorrhoea, its associated factors and its effects on school activities among adolescent girls in a secondary school in a rural district of Selangor, Malaysia. This is a cross-sectional study conducted in a public secondary school. A stratified random sampling of 300 female students (12 to 17 years old) from Form one to Form five classes were selected. A self-administered questionnaire consisting of 20-items was used to collect sociodemographic and menstrual data. Pain intensity for dysmenorrhoea was measured by numerical rating scale. The prevalence of dysmenorrhoea was 62.3%. It was significantly higher in the middle adolescence (15 to 17 years old) age group (p=0.003), girls with regular menstrual cycle (p=0.007) and a positive family history (p
Fulltext Assessing wellbeing: Profiling and socioeconomic status of Kenyir Lake side community, Malaysia

Ab Manaf N, Sa'at NH, A Rahim NAA, Kamaruddin SNAA, Abdullah SS, Omar K

Heliyon, 2023 Jun;9(6):e16399.
PMID: 37303545 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16399

The Kenyir Lake side community offers numerous advantages to the local community. However, the problems of backwardness and poverty have been identified as the government's main challenges in its efforts to develop the community and maximise the advantages. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify the Kenyir Lake community's profile and assess its well-being. The study was conducted in three sub-districts near Tasik Kenyir, namely Kuala Berang, Hulu Telemong, and Jenagor, with a total of 510 respondents, who are heads of households (HOH). This study was carried out using a quantitative approach using questionnaire with a simple random sampling method. The findings of this study offered demographic profiling and discovered nine indicators of well-being, namely 1) Life Achievement, 2) Health Level, 3) Family Relationship, 4) Community Relationship, 5) Spiritual Level, 6) Safety Level and Social Problems, 7) Income or Finance, 8) Basic Facilities, and 9) Communication Technology. The study found that most respondents are satisfied with their lives now compared to 10 years ago. This study will help many parties to develop the Kenyir Lake Side Community, starting from the local authorities to the highest administration in the country.
Fulltext Perceived effects of the Malaysian National Tobacco Control Programme on adolescent smoking cessation: a qualitative study

Tohid H, Ishak N, Muhammad NA, Ahmad FN, Aziz AA, Omar K

Malays J Med Sci, 2012 Apr;19(2):35-47.
PMID: 22973136 MyJurnal

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of teenage smoking has decreased over the past decade following the implementation of the national tobacco control programme. However, the effect of the programme on smoking cessation in teenagers has not been determined.
METHODS: Twenty-eight participants (12 teenagers, 8 teachers, and 8 doctors) were interviewed using 5 in-depth interviews and 3 group discussions. Social cognitive theory (SCT) was applied as the theoretical framework. Semi-structured interview protocols were used, and thematic analysis and analytic generalisation utilising SCT were performed.
RESULTS: The current national tobacco control programme was found to be ineffective in promoting smoking cessation among teenagers. The participants attributed the ineffective campaign to the followings: inadequacy of message content, lack of exposure to the programme, and poor presentation and execution. In addition, the participants perceived the developed tobacco control policies to be a failure based on poor law enforcement, failure of retailers to comply with the law, social availability of cigarettes to teenagers, and easy availability of cheap, smuggled cigarettes. This study highlighted that the programme-related problems (environmental factors) were not the only factors contributing to its perceived ineffectiveness. The cunning behaviour of the teenagers (personal factor) and poor self-efficacy to overcome nicotine addiction (behavioural factor) were also found to hinder cessation.
CONCLUSION: Tobacco control programmes should include strategies beyond educating teenagers about smoking and restricting their access to cigarettes. Strategies to manage the cunning behaviour of teenagers and strategies to improve their self-efficacy should also be implemented. These comprehensive programmes should have a foundation in SCT, as this theory demonstrates the complex interactions among the environmental, personal, and behavioural factors that influence teenage smoking.
KEYWORDS: adolescent; health campaigns; qualitative research; tobacco cessation; tobacco smoking

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