METHODS: Twelve women participated in in-depth interviews. They were recruited using a snowballing approach. The interviews were supported by a topic guide which was developed based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour and previous literature. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis.
RESULTS: Women in this study described a range of birthing experiences and personal beliefs as to why they chose unassisted home birth. Four themes emerged from the interviews; i) preferred birthing experience, ii) birth is a natural process, iii) expressing autonomy and iv) faith. Such decision to birth at home unassisted was firm and steadfast despite the possible risks and complications that can occur. Giving birth is perceived to occur naturally regardless of assistance, and unassisted home birth provides the preferred environment which health facilities in Malaysia may lack. They believed that they were in control of the birth processes apart from fulfilling the spiritual beliefs.
CONCLUSIONS: Women may choose unassisted home birth to express their personal views and values, at the expense of the health risks. Apart from increasing mothers' awareness of the possible complications arising from unassisted home births, urgent efforts are needed to provide better birth experiences in healthcare facilities that resonate with the mothers' beliefs and values.
METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study with a universal sampling of children and adolescents with special needs aged 2-18 years old, diagnosed with cerebral palsy, down syndrome, autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder was conducted at Community-Based Rehabilitation in Central Zone Malaysia. Socio-demographic data were obtained from files, and medical reports and anthropometric measurements (body weight, height, humeral length, and mid-upper arm circumference) were collected using standard procedures. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS version 26. The accuracy of the formula was determined by intraclass correlation, prediction at 20% of actual body weight, residual error (RE) and root mean square error (RMSE).
RESULT: A total of 502 children with a median age of 7 (6) years were enrolled in this study. The results showed that the Mercy formula demonstrated a smaller degree of bias than the Cattermole formula (PE = 1.97 ± 15.99% and 21.13 ± 27.76%, respectively). The Mercy formula showed the highest intraclass correlation coefficient (0.936 vs. 0.858) and predicted weight within 20% of the actual value in the largest proportion of participants (84% vs. 48%). The Mercy formula also demonstrated lower RE (0.3 vs. 3.6) and RMSE (3.84 vs. 6.56) compared to the Cattermole formula. Mercy offered the best option for weight estimation in children with special needs in our study population.
METHODS: The ACPQ was translated according to international guidelines. This validation study was conducted from January to June 2018. Participants who were ≥ 21 years old, and able to understand Malay were recruited from an urban primary care clinic and a tertiary education institution in Malaysia. A researcher administered the ACPQ-M to participants via a face-to-face interview at baseline and 2 weeks later. Each interview took approximately 10-20 min.
RESULTS: A total of 222/232 participants agreed to participate (response rate = 96.0%). Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis found that the ACPQ-M was a 4-factor model. The Cronbach's α values for the four domains ranged from 0.674-0.947. Only 157/222 participants completed the test-retest (response rate = 71%). At test-retest, quadratic weighted kappa values for all domains ranged from 0.340-0.674, except for two domains which ranged from - 0.200-0.467.
CONCLUSIONS: The ACPQ-M was found to be a 4-factor model, and a valid and reliable instrument to assess the KAP regarding ACP. This instrument can contribute to profound understanding of the KAP of Malaysians regarding ACP, and assist policy makers in determining the readiness for legislation of ACP in Malaysia.
METHODS: This retrospective observational study, conducted in a government hospital on Penang island included 341 cancer patients with thrombocytopenia who were admitted in the period between 2003 to 2009. The main statistical tests used were Chi-square test and Logistic regression test. The level of significance was set at P < 0.05.
RESULTS: Of the total of 341, 21 (6.2%) showed thrombocytopenia before receiving chemotherapy and the remaining 320 (93.8%) after chemotherapy. The majority suffered from moderate thrombocytopenia (n=172; 53.8%), followed by mild a (n=97; 30.3%) and finally severe (n=51; 15.9%). For treatment, chemotherapy was delayed/ reduced (n=223; 65.4%) or platelets were transfused (n=51; 34.6%). However, thrombocytopenia problems were only temporarily solved.
CONCLUSION: Effectiveness of thrombocytopenia treatment guidelines was found to be insufficient. It is advisable that thrombopoietin be used as a cornerstone even for patients who suffer from moderate thrombocytopenia and platelets transfusion should be used just for emergency cases when thrombocytopenia leads to a critical situation.
OBJECTIVE: To overcome the drawback of cold storage requirement for LAMP reagents we modified the reagents by adding sucrose as stabilizer. We then sought to determine the stability at room temperature of the premixed LAMP reagents containing sucrose.
METHOD: Premixed LAMP reagents with sucrose and without sucrose were prepared. The prepared mixtures were stored at room temperature for up to 60 days, and were subjected to LAMP reactions at various intervals using rat kidney samples to detect leptospiral DNA.
RESULTS: The premixed LAMP reagents with sucrose remained stable for 45 days while sucrose-free premixed LAMP reagents showed no amplification from day 1 of storage at room temperature up to day 14.
CONCLUSION: The LAMP reagent system can be refined by using sucrose as stabilizer, thus allowing their storage at room temperature without the need for cold storage. The modified method enables greater feasibility of LAMP for field surveillance and epidemiology in resource-limited settings.