Materials and Methods: Data collection was performed retrospectively on a total of 293 cases from Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah, Kedah, Malaysia. The data consisted of personal information, treatment history, and investigation findings, including blood results, USG abdomen results, and CT scan results. The site of culture and sensitivity were also obtained. The total direct medical cost was based on the antibiotics/treatments received by the patients, diagnostic test and investigations performed. The trend analysis used to see the pattern of costs from 2014 to 2017. All the costs were compared based on patients' status and duration of stay at the hospital using the independent t-test.
Results: The overall mean of direct medical cost for melioidosis amounted to US $233.61 (RM931.33). Overall, the finding confirms a huge reduction (44.7%) of direct medical cost from 2014 to 2017 (P = 0.001). From 2015 to 2016, there was a 19.1% reduction of direct medical cost (P>0.95), followed by a 38.8% reduction in costs from 2016 to 2017 (P = 0.019). In the case of the duration of stay, the mean of total direct medical cost among patients with ≥14 duration of stay was higher compared to those with <14 duration of stay (p < 0.001). There was no significant mean difference of direct medical cost between patients who were cured and died.
Conclusion: Despite the higher mortality of melioidosis cases compared to other infectious diseases, there is a limitation in the amount of published data on the management cost of melioidosis. The importance of cost in managing this disease should be underlined to perform a fully prepared management toward the disease.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out at a Malaysian hospital between April 2016 and December 2016 using convenience sampling. Patients aged ≥18 years with intracranial tumour or other brain disorders were invited to participate. Quality of life was assessed using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life questionnaire version 3.0; diagnosis of MDD was made using Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview.
RESULTS: Of 122 patients approached, 100 (66 women and 34 men) were included (response rate, 93.5%), with a mean age of 45.3 years. The prevalence of MDD in patients with neurological disorder was 30%. Compared with non-depressed patients, patients with MDD had poorer global health status / quality of life (p = 0.003), and reduced physical (p = 0.003), role (p = 0.021), emotional (p < 0.001), cognitive (p = 0.004), and social (p = 0.007) functioning, as well as more symptoms of fatigue (p = 0.004), pain (p < 0.001), dyspnoea (p = 0.033), insomnia (p < 0.001), appetite loss (p = 0.002), constipation (p = 0.034), diarrhoea (p = 0.021), and financial difficulties (p = 0.039).
CONCLUSION: Patients with MDD had reduced quality of life. Fatigue, pain, dyspnoea, insomnia, appetite loss, constipation, diarrhoea, and financial difficulties were prevalent among patients with MDD.
Methods and results: A retrospective record review was conducted among 432 first-ever stroke patients admitted to the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia. Data from between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2011, were extracted from the medical records. The Kaplan-Meier product limit estimator was applied to determine the 28-day, 1-year, and 5-year survival probabilities. Log-rank test was used to test the equality of survival time between different groups. A total of 101 patients died during the study period. The 28-day, 1-year, and 5-year survival probabilities were 78.0% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 73.5-81.9), 74.2% (95% CI: 69.4-78.4), and 70.9% (95% CI: 65.1-75.9), respectively. There were significant differences in the survival time based on the types of stroke, Glasgow Coma Scale, hyperlipidaemia, atrial fibrillation, fasting blood glucose, and diastolic blood pressure.
Conclusion: This study, though retrospective, highlights several clinical parameters that influenced the survival probabilities among first-ever stroke patients managed in a suburban setting in Malaysia, and compared them to those reported in more urban regions. Our data emphasise the need for wider establishment of specialized stroke units and teams, as well as for prospective multi-centre studies on first-ever stroke patients to better inform the development of stroke care provision in Malaysia.
METHODS: A multistage cluster sampling method was conducted on Malaysian Umrah pilgrims during the weekly Umrah orientation course. A total of 200 Umrah pilgrims participated in the study. The knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) questionnaire was distributed to pilgrims at the beginning of the orientation and retrieved immediately at the end of the orientation. Data analysis was done using R version 3.5.0 after data entry into SPSS 24. The robust maximum likelihood was used for the estimation due to the multivariate normality assumption violation. A two-factor model was tested for measurement model validity and construct validity for each of the attitude and practice domains.
RESULTS: CFA of a 25-item in total, the two-factor model yielded adequate goodness-of-fit values. The measurement model also showed good convergent and discriminant validity after model re-specification. A two-factor model was tested for measurement model validity and construct validity for each of the attitude and practice domains. The result also showed a statistically significant value (p
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted retrospectively by reviewing records of pancreatic cancer patients hospitalized between January 2011 and December 2018 across multiple health centres in Malaysia. Using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis, several prognostic factors were identified.
RESULTS: The study revealed that being Chinese, having a family history of pancreatic cancer, having hepatitis C, presenting with jaundice, experiencing pale stools, having a palpable mass in the abdomen, the presence of ascites, receiving palliative care and end-of-life care were associated with higher mortality risk. Conversely, being female, having hypertension, and higher haemoglobin levels were linked to decreased mortality risk.
CONCLUSIONS: These study findings offer valuable insights into prognostic factors for predicting patient outcomes and optimizing individual prognosis in pancreatic cancer cases within Malaysia context. Future research should build on these findings, exploring how these factors can be integrated into comprehensive care plans that address the specific needs of diverse patient populations.
METHODS: This study was conducted among Malaysian Umrah pilgrims in Malaysia from Kuala Lumpur and Kelantan. The questionnaire then underwent a series of validation process that included content, face validity and exploratory part. Item response theory (IRT) analysis was utilized for the validation of the knowledge domain. The attitude and practice were validated using the exploratory factor analysis (EFA).
RESULTS: The validation process resulted in a questionnaire that comprised of four main sections: demography, knowledge, attitude, and practice. Following IRT analysis of the knowledge domain, all items analyzed were within the acceptable range of difficulty and discrimination. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy (KMO) was 0.72 and 0.84 for attitude and practice domain respectively and Bartlett's test of Sphericity for both domains were highly significant (P 0.3). The Cronbach's alpha for reliability of the knowledge, attitude and practice domains all showed acceptable values of > 0.6 (0.92, 0.77 and 0.85).
CONCLUSION: The findings of this validation and reliability study showed that the developed questionnaire had a satisfactory psychometric property for measuring KAP of Malaysian Hajj pilgrims.