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Fulltext Thermally Treated Berberine-Loaded SA/PVA/PEO Electrospun Microfiber Membranes for Antibacterial Wound Dressings

Zhang J, Li Y, Wu H, Wang C, Salleh KM, Li H, et al.

Polymers (Basel), 2022 Oct 22;14(21).
PMID: 36365467 DOI: 10.3390/polym14214473

This study aimed to develop a safe and advanced antibacterial material of electrospun microfiber membranes (MFMs) for wound dressings. Combinations of several materials were investigated; thermal treatment and electrospinning techniques were used to form the best quality of MFMs to suit its end applications. By comparing the fiber morphology, diameter changes, and fracture strength, the suitable ratio of raw materials and thermal treatment were obtained before and after adding Trition X-100 as a surfactant for MFMs of sodium alginate/polyvinyl alcohol/polyethylene oxide (SA/PVA/PEO). The electrospinning solution was mixed with berberine as an antibacterial substance; meanwhile, calcium chloride (CaCl2) was used as the crosslinking agent. The antibacterial properties, water dissolution resistance, water content, and fracture strength were thoroughly investigated. The results showed that the antibacterial rates of MFMs with different mass fractions of berberine (0, 3, and 5 wt.%) to Escherichia coli (E. coli) were 14.7, 92.9, and 97.2%, respectively. The moisture content and fracture strength of MFMs containing 5 wt.% berberine were 72.0% and 7.8 MPa, respectively. In addition, the produced MFMs embodied great water dissolution resistance. Berberine-loaded SA/PVA/PEO MFMs could potentially serve as an antibacterial wound dressing substrate with low cost and small side effects.
Fulltext Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) monitoring in academic management centre

Zakaria, S., Leman, A.M., Feriyanto, D., Hariri, A., Nazri, A.A.

Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, 2016;13(1):33-40.
MyJurnal

Concerns toward Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in office building tend to risen since most people spend their working hours
indoors compare to outdoors. Exposure to indoor pollutants is a considerable problem. Therefore, there is a need to monitor IAQ in
order to deter further air quality deterioration in the workplace. The objective of this study is to determine the level of IAQ parameter
in selected academic office. The important IAQ parameters considered in this study were the air temperature, air velocity, relative
humidity, CO2, CO, TVOC, formaldehyde and respirable particulate matter. Measurements were conducted using commercial IAQ
instruments. From the study it was found that the levels of TVOC and respirable particulate matter were higher than the recommended
limit during photocopying activities. The formaldehyde, CO2 and CO level were observed to be acceptable for an office based on
Industry code of practice on indoor air quality (ICOP-IAQ 2010). Results shows that the temperature and air velocity are located at
acceptable value of 22-25 ºC and 0.1-0.1 m/s. Findings also show high relative humidity that exceeded the requirement level of 40%-
70%. Detail investigations are needed in order to provide certain guidance in improvement of IAQ conditions in office environment.
Fulltext Exploring the impact of a transdiagnostic cognitive behavioural therapy-based intervention on a group of Malaysian adolescents with problematic drug use and emotional problems

Zakaria S, Sasagawa S, Essau CA

Addict Behav Rep, 2021 Dec;14:100381.
PMID: 34938839 DOI: 10.1016/j.abrep.2021.100381

Introduction: Adolescents with problematic substance use frequently have anxiety and depression and tend to have "unhealthy" lifestyle such as having poor dietary patterns and physical inactivity. The overall aim of the present study was to explore the impact of a Transdiagnostic Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-based Intervention ("Super Skills for Life" - adolescent version; SSL-A) on emotional problems among adolescents with problematic substance use and to identify demographic factors which influence the intervention outcomes.
Method: A total of 108 adolescents (M = 16.30 years, SD = 1.6) with problematic substance use who showed high levels of anxiety and depression participated in this study. They completed a set of questionnaires to measure substance use, mental health problems, cognitive emotion regulation strategies, loneliness, and lifestyle and habits at pre- and post-intervention.
Results: The adolescents reported less emotional symptoms and more prosocial behavior after the intervention. These adolescents were also consumed less substance and used less maladaptive emotion regulation strategies after participating in SSL-A. Females compared to males showed more treatment gains (i.e., reduction in loneliness and improvement in psychological health and self-esteem) after the intervention.
Conclusion: This study provides empirical evidence for the utility of the SSL-A in reducing emotional problems and substance use among adolescents with problematic substance use.
Fulltext Vitamin E improved bone strength and bone minerals in male rats given alcohol

Zakaria S, Mat-Husain SZ, Ying-Hwey K, Xin-Kai K, Mohd-Badawi A, Abd-Ghani NA, et al.

Iran J Basic Med Sci, 2017 Dec;20(12):1360-1367.
PMID: 29238472 DOI: 10.22038/IJBMS.2017.9610

Objectives: Alcohol consumption induces oxidative stress on bone, which in turn increases the risk of osteoporosis. This study determined the effects of vitamin E on bone strength and bone mineral content in alcohol-induced osteoporotic rats.
Materials and Methods: Three months old Sprague Dawley male rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: (I) control group; (II) alcohol (3g/kg) + normal saline; (III) alcohol (3g/kg) + olive oil; (IV) alcohol (3g/kg) + alpha-tocopherol (60mg/kg) and (V) alcohol (3g/kg) + palm vitamin E (60mg/kg). The treatment lasted for three months. Following sacrifice, the right tibia was subjected to bone biomechanical test while the lumbar (fourth and fifth lumbar) and left tibia bones were harvested for bone mineral measurement.
Results: Alcohol caused reduction in bone biomechanical parameters (maximum force, ultimate stress, yield stress and Young's modulus) and bone minerals (bone calcium and magnesium) compared to control group (P<0.05). Palm vitamin E was able to improve bone biomechanical parameters by increasing the maximum force, ultimate stress and Young's modulus (P<0.05) while alpha-tocopherol was not able to. Both alpha-tocopherol and palm vitamin E were able to significantly increase tibia calcium and magnesium content while only alpha-tocopherol caused significant increase in lumbar calcium content (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Both palm vitamin E and alpha-tocopherol improved bone mineral content which was reduced by alcohol. However, only palm vitamin E was able to improve bone strength in alcohol treated rats.
Fulltext Regenerated Cellulose Products for Agricultural and Their Potential: A Review

Zainul Armir NA, Zulkifli A, Gunaseelan S, Palanivelu SD, Salleh KM, Che Othman MH, et al.

Polymers (Basel), 2021 Oct 18;13(20).
PMID: 34685346 DOI: 10.3390/polym13203586

Cellulose is one of the most abundant natural polymers with excellent biocompatibility, non-toxicity, flexibility, and renewable source. Regenerated cellulose (RC) products result from the dissolution-regeneration process risen from solvent and anti-solvent reagents, respectively. The regeneration process changes the cellulose chain conformation from cellulose I to cellulose II, leads the structure to have more amorphous regions with improved crystallinity, and inclines towards extensive modification on the RC products such as hydrogel, aerogel, cryogel, xerogel, fibers, membrane, and thin film. Recently, RC products are accentuated to be used in the agriculture field to develop future sustainable agriculture as alternatives to conventional agriculture systems. However, different solvent types and production techniques have great influences on the end properties of RC products. Besides, the fabrication of RC products from solely RC lacks excellent mechanical characteristics. Thus, the flexibility of RC has allowed it to be homogenously blended with other materials to enhance the final products' properties. This review will summarize the properties and preparation of potential RC-based products that reflect its application to replace soil the plantation medium, govern the release of the fertilizer, provide protection on crops and act as biosensors.
Fulltext Developing forecasting model for future pandemic applications based on COVID-19 data 2020-2022

Wan Mohamad Nawi WIA, K Abdul Hamid AA, Lola MS, Zakaria S, Aruchunan E, Gobithaasan RU, et al.

PLoS One, 2023;18(5):e0285407.
PMID: 37172040 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285407

Improving forecasting particularly time series forecasting accuracy, efficiency and precisely become crucial for the authorities to forecast, monitor, and prevent the COVID-19 cases so that its spread can be controlled more effectively. However, the results obtained from prediction models are inaccurate, imprecise as well as inefficient due to linear and non-linear patterns exist in the data set, respectively. Therefore, to produce more accurate and efficient COVID-19 prediction value that is closer to the true COVID-19 value, a hybrid approach has been implemented. Thus, aims of this study is (1) to propose a hybrid ARIMA-SVM model to produce better forecasting results. (2) to investigate in terms of the performance of the proposed models and percentage improvement against ARIMA and SVM models. statistical measurements such as MSE, RMSE, MAE, and MAPE then conducted to verify that the proposed models are better than ARIMA and SVM models. Empirical results with three real datasets of well-known cases of COVID-19 in Malaysia show that, compared to the ARIMA and SVM models, the proposed model generates the smallest MSE, RMSE, MAE and MAPE values for the training and testing datasets, means that the predicted value from the proposed model is closer to the actual value. These results prove that the proposed model can generate estimated values more accurately and efficiently. As compared to ARIMA and SVM, our proposed models perform much better in terms of error reduction percentages for all datasets. This is demonstrated by the maximum scores of 73.12%, 74.6%, 90.38%, and 68.99% in the MAE, MAPE, MSE, and RMSE, respectively. Therefore, the proposed model can be the best and effective way to improve prediction performance with a higher level of accuracy and efficiency in predicting cases of COVID-19.
Fulltext A survey on burnout and depression risk among anaesthetists during COVID-19: the tip of an iceberg?

Tsan SEH, Kamalanathan A, Lee CK, Zakaria SA, Wang CY

Anaesthesia, 2021 03;76 Suppl 3:8-10.
PMID: 32776524 DOI: 10.1111/anae.15231
Molecular study and genotype/phenotype correlation of β Thalassemia in Malaysia

Sivalingam M, Looi ML, Zakaria SZ, Hamidah NH, Alias H, Latiff ZA, et al.

Int J Lab Hematol, 2012 Aug;34(4):377-82.
PMID: 22335963 DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-553X.2012.01405.x

INTRODUCTION: To study the ß-gene mutations spectrum, the genotype/phenotype correlation, the modulatory effect of co-inherited factors such as α-gene mutations and of Xmn1 polymorphism in a large cohort of Malaysian patients.
METHODS: A total of 264 cases clinically diagnosed as Thalassemia major (TM) (111), Thalassemia intermedia (21), HbE-β Thalassemia (131), and 1 HbE homozygous were studied. The detection of α and ß gene mutations and characterization of Xmn1 polymorphism were performed by multiplex PCR, amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS), DNA sequencing, and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP)-PCR.
RESULTS: A total of 19 ß Thalassemia mutations were characterized. CD26 and CD41/42 were the most common found in the Malay and Chinese population, respectively. The sensitivity of the clinical diagnosis for β TM, thalassemia intermedia, and HbE/β thalassemia was 94.0%, 15.2%, and 89.2%, respectively. Patients with Xmn1 heterozygosity [+/-] required less frequent transfusion compared with those without the polymorphism. Co-inheritance of α-thalassemia alleviates the severity of HbE-β thalassemia in our cohort.
CONCLUSION: Molecular analysis should be used for a better diagnosis and management of β thalassemia.
Chemically crosslinked hydrogel and its driving force towards superabsorbent behaviour

Salleh KM, Zakaria S, Sajab MS, Gan S, Chia CH, Jaafar SNS, et al.

Int J Biol Macromol, 2018 Oct 15;118(Pt B):1422-1430.
PMID: 29964115 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2018.06.159

Dissolved oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) cellulose in NaOH/urea solvent was mixed with sodium carboxymethylcellulose (NaCMC) to form a green regenerated superabsorbent hydrogel. The effect of concentration of epichlorohydrin (ECH) as the crosslinker on the formation, physical, and chemical properties of hydrogel was studied. Rapid formation and higher gel content of hydrogel were observed at 10% concentration of ECH. The superabsorbent hydrogel was successfully fabricated in this study with the swelling ability >100,000%. Hydrogel with higher concentration of ECH showed opposite trend by having higher superabsorbent property than that of lower concentration. The covalent bond of COC was observed with Attenuated total reflectance fourier transform infrared (ATR-FT-IR) spectroscopy to confirm the occurrence of crosslinking. The physical and chemical properties of hydrogel were affected by swelling phenomenon. Hydrogel with higher degree of swelling exhibited lower moisture retention and higher transparency. Moreover, the weight of the superabsorbent hydrogel increased with the decrement of pH value of external media (distilled water). This study provided substantial information on the effect of different percentage of ECH as crosslinker on hydrogel basic properties. Furthermore, this study affords correlation of many essential driving forces that affected hydrogel superabsorbent property.
Superabsorbent hydrogel from oil palm empty fruit bunch cellulose and sodium carboxymethylcellulose

Salleh KM, Zakaria S, Sajab MS, Gan S, Kaco H

Int J Biol Macromol, 2019 Jun 15;131:50-59.
PMID: 30844455 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.03.028

A green regenerated superabsorbent hydrogel was fabricated with mixtures of dissolved oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) cellulose and sodium carboxymethylcellulose (NaCMC) in NaOH/urea system. The formation of hydrogel was aided with epichlorohydrin (ECH) as a crosslinker. The resultant regenerated hydrogel was able to swell >80,000% depending on the NaCMC concentrations. The hydrogel absorbed water rapidly upon exposure to water up to 48 h and gradually declined after 72 h. The crosslinked of covalent bond of COC between dissolved EFB cellulose (EFBC) with NaCMC was confirmed with Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FT-IR) spectroscopy. Crystallinity and thermal stability of the hydrogel samples were depended on the concentrations of NaCMC, crosslinking, and swelling process. The strength and stability of crosslinked network was studied by examining the gel fraction of hydrogel. This study explored the swelling ability and probable influenced factors towards physical and chemical properties of hydrogel.
Interconnected macropores cryogel with nano-thin crosslinked network regenerated cellulose

Salleh KM, Zakaria S, Gan S, Baharin KW, Ibrahim NA, Zamzamin R

Int J Biol Macromol, 2020 Apr 01;148:11-19.
PMID: 31893531 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.12.240

Dissolved oil palm empty fruit bunch cellulose (EFBC) and sodium carboxymethylcellulose (NaCMC) were chemically crosslinked with epichlorohydrin (ECH) to generate designated hydrogel. After swelling process in distilled water, the swollen hydrogel was frozen and freeze-dried to form cryogel. The swelling phenomenon of hydrogel during the absorption process gave substantial effects on thinning of crosslinked network wall, pore size and volume, steadiness of cryogel skeletal structure, and re-swelling of cryogel. The swelling effects on hydrogel were confirmed via microscopic study using variable pressure scanning electron microscope (VPSEM). From the retrieved VPSEM images, nano-thin crosslinked network wall of 24.31 ± 1.97 nm and interconnected pores were observed. As a result, the amount of water, the swelling degree, and the freeze-drying process indirectly affected the VPSEM images that indicated pore size and volume, formation of interconnected pores, and re-swelling of cryogel. This study determined the intertwined factors that affected both hydrogel and cryogel properties by investigating the swelling phenomenon and its ensuing effects.
Citric acid modified kenaf core fibres for removal of methylene blue from aqueous solution

Sajab MS, Chia CH, Zakaria S, Jani SM, Ayob MK, Chee KL, et al.

Bioresour Technol, 2011 Aug;102(15):7237-43.
PMID: 21620692 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2011.05.011

Chemically modified kenaf core fibres were prepared via esterification in the presence of citric acid (CA). The adsorption kinetics and isotherm studies were carried out under different conditions to examine the adsorption efficiency of CA-treated kenaf core fibres towards methylene blue (MB). The adsorption capacity of the kenaf core fibres increased significantly after the citric acid treatment. The values of the correlation coefficients indicated that the Langmuir isotherm fitted the experimental data better than the Freundlich isotherm. The maximum adsorption capacity of the CA-treated kenaf core fibres was found to be 131.6mg/g at 60°C. Kinetic models, pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order and intraparticle diffusion, were employed to describe the adsorption mechanism. The kinetic data were found to fit pseudo-second-order model equation as compared to pseudo-first-order model. The adsorption of MB onto the CA-treated kenaf core fibres was spontaneous and endothermic.
Cationic and anionic modifications of oil palm empty fruit bunch fibers for the removal of dyes from aqueous solutions

Sajab MS, Chia CH, Zakaria S, Khiew PS

Bioresour Technol, 2013 Jan;128:571-7.
PMID: 23211482 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2012.11.010

Oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) fibers were employed to remove dyes from aqueous solutions via adsorption approaches. The EFB fibers were modified using citric acid (CA) and polyethylenimine (PEI) to produce anionic and cationic adsorbents, respectively. The CA modified EFB fibers (CA-EFB) and PEI-modified EFB fibers (PEI-EFB) were used to study the efficiency in removing cationic methylene blue (MB) and anionic phenol red (PR) from aqueous solutions, respectively, at different pHs, temperatures and initial dye concentrations. The adsorption data for MB on the CA-EFB fitted the Langmuir isotherm, while the adsorption of PR on the PEI-EFB fitted the Freundlich isotherm, suggesting a monolayer and heterogeneous adsorption behavior of the adsorption processes, respectively. Both modified fibers can be regenerated up to seven adsorption/desorption cycles while still providing as least 70% of the initial adsorption capacity.
Fulltext Phylogenetic relationships of Malayan gaur with other species of the genus Bos based on cytochrome b gene DNA sequences

Rosli MK, Zakaria SS, Syed-Shabthar SM, Zainal ZZ, Shukor MN, Mahani MC, et al.

Genet. Mol. Res., 2011;10(1):482-93.
PMID: 21476194 DOI: 10.4238/vol10-1gmr1002

The Malayan gaur (Bos gaurus hubbacki) is one of the three subspecies of gaurs that can be found in Malaysia. We examined the phylogenetic relationships of this subspecies with other species of the genus Bos (B. javanicus, B. indicus, B. taurus, and B. grunniens). The sequence of a key gene, cytochrome b, was compared among 20 Bos species and the bongo antelope, used as an outgroup. Phylogenetic reconstruction was employed using neighbor joining and maximum parsimony in PAUP and Bayesian inference in MrBayes 3.1. All tree topologies indicated that the Malayan gaur is in its own monophyletic clade, distinct from other species of the genus Bos. We also found significant branching differences in the tree topologies between wild and domestic cattle.
Fulltext Direct production of biodiesel from high-acid value Jatropha oil with solid acid catalyst derived from lignin

Pua FL, Fang Z, Zakaria S, Guo F, Chia CH

Biotechnol Biofuels, 2011;4:56.
PMID: 22145867 DOI: 10.1186/1754-6834-4-56

Solid acid catalyst was prepared from Kraft lignin by chemical activation with phosphoric acid, pyrolysis and sulfuric acid. This catalyst had high acid density as characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometry (EDX) and Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET) method analyses. It was further used to catalyze the esterification of oleic acid and one-step conversion of non-pretreated Jatropha oil to biodiesel. The effects of catalyst loading, reaction temperature and oil-to-methanol molar ratio, on the catalytic activity of the esterification were investigated.
Enhancing mitogenomic phylogeny and resolving the relationships of extinct megafaunal placental mammals

Phillips MJ, Shazwani Zakaria S

Mol Phylogenet Evol, 2021 05;158:107082.
PMID: 33482383 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107082

Mitochondrial genomes provided the first widely used sequences that were sufficiently informative to resolve relationships among animals across a wide taxonomic domain, from within species to between phyla. However, mitogenome studies supported several anomalous relationships and fell partly out of favour as sequencing multiple, independent nuclear loci proved to be highly effective. A tendency to blame mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has overshadowed efforts to understand and ameliorate underlying model misspecification. Here we find that influential assessments of the infidelity of mitogenome phylogenies have often been overstated, but nevertheless, substitution saturation and compositional non-stationarity substantially mislead reconstruction. We show that RY coding the mtDNA, excluding protein-coding 3rd codon sites, partitioning models based on amino acid hydrophobicity and enhanced taxon sampling improve the accuracy of mitogenomic phylogeny reconstruction for placental mammals, almost to the level of multi-gene nuclear datasets. Indeed, combined analysis of mtDNA with 3-fold longer nuclear sequence data either maintained or improved upon the nuclear support for all generally accepted clades, even those that mtDNA alone did not favour, thus indicating "hidden support". Confident mtDNA phylogeny reconstruction is especially important for understanding the evolutionary dynamics of mitochondria themselves, and for merging extinct taxa into the tree of life, with ancient DNA often only accessible as mtDNA. Our ancient mtDNA analyses lend confidence to the relationships of three extinct megafaunal taxa: glyptodonts are nested within armadillos, the South American ungulate, Macrauchenia is sister to horses and rhinoceroses, and sabre-toothed and scimitar cats are the monophyletic sister-group of modern cats.
Effect of acid hydrolysis on regenerated kenaf core membrane produced using aqueous alkaline-urea systems

Padzil FN, Zakaria S, Chia CH, Jaafar SN, Kaco H, Gan S, et al.

Carbohydr Polym, 2015 Jun 25;124:164-71.
PMID: 25839807 DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2015.02.013

Bleached kenaf core pulps (BKC) were hydrolyzed in H2SO4 (0.5M) at different time (0min to 90min) at room temperature. After the hydrolysis process, the viscosity average molecular weight (Mŋ) for BKC sample has reduced from 14.5×10(4) to 2.55×10(4). The hydrolyzed BKC was then dissolved in NaOH:urea:water and in LiOH:urea:water mixed solvent at the ratio of 7:12:81 and 4.6:15:80.4, respectively. The increased in hydrolysis time has decreased Mŋ of cellulose leading to easy dissolution process. Higher porosity and transparency with lower crystallinity index (CrI) of regenerated membrane produced can be achieved as the Mŋ reduced. The properties of membrane were observed through FESEM, UV-vis spectrophotometer and XRD. This study has proven that acid hydrolysis has reduced the Mŋ of cellulose, thus, enhanced the properties of regenerated membrane produced with assisted by alkaline/urea system.
Diagnostic performance of prostate health index (PHI) in predicting prostate cancer on prostate biopsy

Othman H, Abu Yamin AH, Md Isa N, Bahadzor B, Syed Zakaria SZ

Malays J Pathol, 2020 Aug;42(2):209-214.
PMID: 32860373

INTRODUCTION: Prostate health index (PHI) has been shown to have better diagnostic accuracy in predicting prostate cancer (PCa) in men with total prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels between 4-10ng/ml. However, little is known of its value in men with elevated PSA beyond this range. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of PHI in Malaysian men with elevated PSA values ≤ 20ng/ml.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: From March 2015 to August 2016, all men consecutively undergoing transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided prostate biopsy with total PSA values ≤ 20ng/ ml were recruited. Blood samples were taken immediately before undergoing prostate biopsy. The performance of total PSA, %fPSA, %p2PSA and PHI in determining the presence of PCa on prostate biopsy were compared.
RESULTS: PCa was diagnosed in 25 of 84 patients (29.7%). %p2PSA and PHI values were significantly higher (p<0.05) in patients with PCa than those without PCa. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves for total PSA, %fPSA, %p2PSA and PHI were 0.558, 0.560, 0.734 and 0.746, respectively. At 90% sensitivity, the specificity of PHI (42.4%) was five times better than total PSA (8.5%) and two times better than %fPSA (20.3%). By utilising PHI cut-off >22.52, 27 of 84 (32.1%) patients could have avoided undergoing biopsy.
CONCLUSION: Findings of our study support the potential clinical effectiveness of PHI in predicting PCa in a wider concentration range of total PSA up to 20ng/ml.
Fulltext The effect of oral health education seminar on the oral health knowledge, practice and perception of role of the preschool teachers

Mohd Nor, N.A., Zakaria, S., Amminudin, N.H., Malik, N.A., Mohd Khairi, A.M.

Ann Dent, 2013;20(2):4-8.
MyJurnal

Background: In Malaysia, preschool teachers have long been utilised as oral health educators. However their level of oral health knowledge and effectiveness of the training they received are seldom investigated. This study aims to evaluate the of oral health education seminar (OHE) held for public preschool teachers (KEMAS) in terms of the improvement of their knowledge, practices and attitudes.
Methods: This was a one arm interventional study (before and after survey following OHE seminar intervention). All KEMAS preschool teachers (n=107) in Hulu Terengganu were invited to attend OHE seminar which consisted of 1 hour lecture and 40 minutes OHE demonstration. Pretest questionnaire was collected before the seminar started and post-test questionnaire was collected two weeks later. A self-administered questionnaire used in this study was adapted from “preschool teachers’ knowledge, practices and attitudes towards oral health”, National Oral Health Survey of Preschool Children, 2005. Data were analysed using descriptive and McNemar test, SPSS version 15.0.
Results: Of 107 subjects, only 61 teachers responded yielding to 57% response rate. All subjects were female with mean age of 46 years (SD: 6.03). Overall, there was an improvement of teachers’ oral health knowledge, practices and attitudes after the seminar. Several items seem to have be improved significantly after the seminar, for example knowledge item on factors causing periodontal disease (p=0.03). In terms of practice, all teachers reported they brushed teeth at least twice daily using fluoridated toothpaste and use of dental floss was increased significantly after the seminar (p<0.001). Majority of teachers have positive perceptions on their roles in oral health education.
Conclusion: Oral health education seminar appeared to be effective at influencing certain aspects of teachers’ oral health knowledge, practices and attitudes.
Keywords: attitudes, knowledge, oral health promotion, practice, preschool teachers
Fulltext Transition care readiness among patients in a tertiary paediatric department

Lau SC, Azim E, Abdul Latiff Z, Syed Zakaria SZ, Wong SW, Wu LL, et al.

Med J Malaysia, 2018 12;73(6):382-387.
PMID: 30647208

INTRODUCTION: A smooth transition of healthcare for young people with chronic illnesses from paediatric to adult healthcare services is important to ensure optimal outcome. At the moment, there are no standard guidelines to assess a patient's readiness to transfer care.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire, adapted from UNC (University of North Carolina) TRxANSITION self-assessment tool was conducted to evaluate patients' transition care readiness in paediatric haematology and paediatric diabetes clinic.

RESULTS: A total of 80 patients (37 thalassaemia and 43 diabetes) with the mean age of 21.2 (SD±4.3) years, were recruited during the 3-month study period. Majority of the patients have basic knowledge regarding their medications, and were able to comply with their follow-up. The mean total score obtained by the respondents on this questionnaire was 15.3 (SD±3.59). Self-management skills and knowledge on disease were the two poorly scored section; with mean score of 3.78 (SD±1.38) and 4.28 (SD±1.20) respectively. Overall, only 21 (26.2%) respondents obtained high score (score above 75th percentile). Seventy-five percent of the respondents admitted that they were not ready for transfer to an adult healthcare service yet at the time of the study.

CONCLUSION: We suggest that patients with high score should be prepared for transition to adult facility whereas those with a low score need to be identified to ensure provision of continuous education.

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