METHODS: REDISCOVER, a prospective study, enrolled 11,288 adults where sociodemographic data, anthropometric and blood pressure measurements, fasting lipid profile and glucose, and history of diabetes, hypertension, and smoking were obtained. The cross-sectional analytic sample presented in this article comprised 10,482 participants from baseline recruitment. The data was analysed by descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression.
RESULTS: The overall prevalence of elevated TC, elevated LDL-c, elevated TG, low HDL-c, and elevated non-HDL-c were 64.0% (95% CI 63.0-65.0), 56.7% (CI 55.7-57.7), 37.4% (CI 36.5-38.4), 36.2% (CI 35.2-37.1), and 56.2% (CI 55.3-57.2), respectively. Overweight, obesity, and central obesity were highly prevalent and significantly associated with elevated TC and all dyslipidaemia subtypes. Older age was associated with elevated TC, elevated LDL-c and elevated non-HDL-c. Hypertension was associated with elevated TC, elevated TG, and elevated non-HDL-c, while diabetes was associated with elevated TG and low HDL-c.
CONCLUSIONS: Elevated TC and all dyslipidaemia subtypes are highly prevalent in Malaysia where increased body mass seems the main driver. Differences in the prevalence and associated personal and clinical attributes may facilitate specific preventive and management strategies.
EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: This study was based on PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyzes) statement guidelines for a systematic review of the academic databases Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, EBSCOhost (SportDiscus), and Google Scholar. The PEDro scale was used to assess the methodological quality of the included publications, which ranged from moderate to high quality. The systematic review protocol was registered on inplasy.com (INPLASY202380049).
EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Out of 249 studies identified, 93 articles were evaluated as eligible, and after the screening, 18 studies were finally included in this systematic review. Meta-analysis results showed a significant enhancement on vertical jump height in the BFRT group compared to the control group (SMD=1.39, 95% CI=0.30-2.49, P=0.01). BFRT was able to significantly increase maximal oxygen uptake (SMD=1.65, 95% CI=0.56-2.74, P<0.01). While no significant improvement in sprint time was observed (SMD= -0.18, 95% CI=-1.18-0.82, P=0.115).
CONCLUSIONS: The finding suggests that BFRT is beneficial to athletes as this training method can be effective in enhancing physical and technical performance in athletes. Nevertheless, further analysis needs to be conducted to fully determine the effectiveness of the moderators of the intervention on sports performance.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study adapted and translated the Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (VHS) developed by the WHO SAGE Working Group. The scale underwent a sequential validation process, including back-back translation, content, face, and construct validity for Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The reliability was tested using internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha composite reliability (CR) and average variance extracted (AVE)).
RESULTS: The data for EFA and CFA were completed by a separate sample of 125 and 300 HCWs, respectively. The EFA analysis of the C19-VHS-M scale was unidimensional with 10 items. A further CFA analysis revealed a uniform set of nine items with acceptable goodness fit indices (comparative fit index = 0.997, Tucker-Lewis index = 0.995, incremental fit index = 0.997, chi-squared/degree of freedom = 1.352, and root mean square error of approximation = 0.034). The Cronbach's alpha, CR and AVE results were 0.953, 0.95 and 0.70, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: The questionnaire was valid and reliable for use in the Malay language.
METHODS: This was a cross-sectional validation study among 159 T2DM patients attending a public primary care clinic in Selangor. The DMOQ English version underwent adaptation, translation, face validation and field testing to produce the Malay version. Psychometric analysis was performed using Exploratory Factor Analysis, internal consistency and testretest reliability.
RESULTS: The DMOQ domains were conceptually equivalent between English and Malay language. A total of 13 items and two domains were removed during the validation process (three items during the content validation, three items due to poor factor loadings, five items as they loaded onto two domains which were not interpretable, one item as it did not fit conceptually into the factor it loaded onto and one openended question as it did not fit into the retained domains). Therefore, the final DMOQ Malay version consisted of 21- items within five domains. The Cronbach alpha was 0.714 and the intraclass-correlation coefficient was 0.868.
CONCLUSION: The DMOQ Malay version is a valid and reliable tool which is consistent over time. It can be used to examine the perception of T2DM patients towards the risk of their offspring developing diabetes and possibility of intervention in Malay-speaking patients.
SETTING: A formal questionnaire was anonymously completed by physicians from different countries/regions in the Asia-Pacific. The survey sought responses relating to general familiarity, awareness of management guidelines, identification (clinical characteristics and lipid profile), prevalence and inheritance, extent of elevation in risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and practice on screening and treatment.
PARTICIPANTS: Practising community physicians from Australia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Philippines, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam and Taiwan were recruited to complete the questionnaire, with the UK as the international benchmark.
PRIMARY OUTCOME: An assessment and comparison of the knowledge, awareness and preferences of FH among physicians in 10 different countries/regions.
RESULTS: 1078 physicians completed the questionnaire from the Asia-Pacific region; only 34% considered themselves to be familiar with FH. 72% correctly described FH and 65% identified the typical lipid profile, with a higher proportion of physicians from Japan and China selecting the correct FH definition and lipid profile compared with those from Vietnam and Philippines. However, less than half of the physician were aware of national or international management guidelines; this was significantly worse than physicians from the UK (35% vs 61%, p<0.001). Knowledge of prevalence (24%), inheritability (41%) and CVD risk (9%) of FH were also suboptimal. The majority of the physicians considered laboratory interpretative commenting as being useful (81%) and statin therapy as an appropriate cholesterol-lowering therapy (89%) for FH management.
CONCLUSIONS: The study identified important gaps, which are readily addressable, in the awareness and knowledge of FH among physicians in the region. Implementation of country-specific guidelines and extensive work in FH education and awareness programmes are imperative to improve the care of FH in the region.
METHODOLOGY: A cross sectional study was conducted in two clinics at a university primary care centre. Patients aged ≥18 years with ≥1 risk factor for NAFLD or CVD were recruited. Participants with history of established liver disease or chronic alcohol use were excluded. Socio-demographics, clinical related data, anthropometric measurements and blood investigation results were recorded in a proforma. Diagnosis of NAFLD was made using abdominal ultrasound. The 10-year CVD risk was calculated using the general Framingham Risk Score (FRS). Multiple logistic regression (MLogR) was performed to identify independent factors associated with NAFLD.
RESULTS: A total of 263 participants were recruited. The mean age was 52.3 ± 14.7 years old. Male and female were equally distributed. Majority of the participants were Malays (79.8%). The overall prevalence of NAFLD was 54.4% (95%CI 48,60%). Participants in the high FRS category have higher prevalence of NAFLD (65.5%), followed by those in the moderate category (55.4%) and the low category (46.3%), p = 0.025. From MLogR, independent factors associated with NAFLD were being employed (OR = 2.44, 95%CI 1.26,4.70, p = 0.008), obesity with BMI ≥27.5 (OR = 2.89, 95%CI 1.21,6.91, p = 0.017), elevated fasting glucose ≥5.6 mmol/L (OR = 2.79, 95%CI 1.44,5.43, p = 0.002), ALT ≥34 U/L (OR = 3.70, 95%CI 1.85,7.44, p
METHODS: Secondary analysis of data extracted from the British Household Panel Survey, a national longitudinal survey (n=5547). Analysis to ascertain whether patterns of attendance for dental check-ups for a period of 10 years (1991-2001) were associated with risk factors for oral cancer such as age, sex, education, social class, smoking status and smoking intensity.
RESULTS: Males, aged over 40 years, less educated manual workers and smokers were significantly less likely to attend for dental check-ups compared with females and younger, higher educated, higher socio-economic class non-smokers (p < 0.05). Throughout the 10-year period, young people, more than older people, had progressively lower odds ratios of attending. Those with more education used dental services more. Heavy smokers were infrequent attendees.
CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that opportunistic oral cancer screening by dentists is not feasible to include high-risk groups as they are not regular attendees over 10 years. Those who would be screened would be the low-risk groups. However, dentists should continue screening all patients as oral precancers are also found in regular attendees. More should be done to encourage the high-risk groups to visit their dentists.
Methods: A retrospective review of electronic medical records was conducted to assess the prescription of SPMs among patients with coronary artery disease who attended the clinic between 1st January 2018 and 31st December 2018. Prescriptions of SPMs were documented in numbers and percentages. Multiple logistic regressions were used to analyse factors associated with the prescription of SPMs.
Results: Of the 662 patients included in the study, 99.1% were prescribed statins, 97% antiplatelets, 81.7% angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), and 78.7% beta-blockers. Male patients were more likely to be prescribed statins (OR = 8.584, 95% CI: 1.431 - 51.510) and antiplatelets (OR = 6.818, 95% CI: 2.294 - 20.257). Another significant factor for antiplatelets prescription was having diabetes (OR = 3.318, 95% CI: 1.148 - 9.590). Having hypertension was associated with ACE-inhibitors or ARBs prescription (OR = 4.008, 95% CI: 2.522 - 6.370).
Conclusion: Although the majority of patients received SPMs, there were significant disparities for some SPMs prescriptions among female patients. As these medications are widely available in the Malaysian primary care setting, steps should be taken to ensure that these medications are prescribed equally for all eligible patients.