Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 205 in total

Abstract:
Sort:
  1. Mahamad Arif ANF, Syed Alwee Al'aidrus SS, Shafee MS, Mohd Nor F
    Malays J Pathol, 2021 Aug;43(2):303-310.
    PMID: 34448794
    Death-in-custody refers to the occurrence of death, while a person is under the custody of any enforcement agency. Their incidence often creates overwhelming public and media attention. Currently, there is no standardised definition of 'death-in-custody' in Malaysia and internationally. A crosssectional descriptive study was performed in the Department of Forensic Medicine Hospital Tuanku Ja'afar Seremban (HTJS) for a period of 24 months. Information on all custodial deaths registered at HTJS from January 2001 till December 2015 was selected from the in-house hospital death registration system. The definition of 'death-in-custody' used was guided by the recommendation by the 'Australian Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody' 1991 with few adjustments. Four custodial settings of interest (the police, prison, immigration depot for the illegal immigrant, and army custody) were studied. A total of 172 deaths-in-custody were collected, in which the majority of cases were natural deaths (84.88%), predominantly infective in nature (65.07%). Less than 1/6th of cases were unnatural deaths with more than 80% died from legal intervention. All custodial deaths were dominated by males (96.51%) with a mean and median age of 37 years. In terms of nationality, 52.91% of the deaths involved Malaysian citizens in which the 'Malay/Bumi' race outnumbered the other two main races. The most documented custodial deaths occurred in prison (44.19%) followed by immigration depots (38.37%) and police lock-ups (17.44%). This study provides a general overview of the pattern including the causes and the demographic profile involving death in custody in the Seremban district registered at HTJS.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cause of Death
  2. Boo NY, Nasri NM, Cheong SK, Sivamohan N
    Singapore Med J, 1991 Apr;32(2):142-7.
    PMID: 2042076
    A 2-year study was carried out in the Maternity Hospital, Kuala Lumpur to determine the neonatal mortality rates. This Hospital functions both as the local service centre as well as the national referral centre in Malaysia. Its neonatal services, however, were equipped and manned at those below Level III perinatal centre. During the study period 52, 877 livebirths took place in the Hospital. In 1987 and 1988 respectively, the low birthweight (less than 2500 gm) rates were: 112.8 and 101.9 per 1000 livebirths, very low birthweight (less than 1500 gm) rates: 11.1 and 8.8 per 1000 livebirths, neonatal mortality rates: 12.5 and 10.7 per 1000 livebirths and neonatal mortality risk ratio: 1.15 and 1.27. There was significant difference in mortality rates among the Malay, Chinese and Indian babies born in this hospital: the Indians had the highest and the Chinese the lowest rates. Babies delivered by breech or lower segment Caesarean section (LSCS) also had significantly higher mortality than those delivered by other modes of delivery. Low birthweight neonates constituted less than 45% of the total special care nursery admission but contributed to more than 70% of the total neonatal deaths. The common causes of neonatal deaths were problems of prematurity, infection, asphyxia and congenital malformations. Preterm and low birthweight neonates died primarily from problems of prematurity or infection. Term and larger neonates died mainly from asphyxia. More than 75% of the neonatal deaths occurred before 7 days of life. Improvement of antenatal care in the community and upgrading of perinatal services in this Hospital could help to lower the morbidity and mortality due to preventable causes.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cause of Death
  3. Mohamed M, Winn T, Rampal GL, Abdul Rashid A, Mustaffa B
    Malays J Med Sci, 2005 Jan;12(1):20-5.
    PMID: 22605943
    Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been the number one cause of death since the last three decades in Malaysia and diabetes mellitus and hypertension are considered as major risk factors. A study to reduce risk factors for cardiovascular diseases in the community (PIKOM) through education and lifestyle changes was undertaken. The study population was from four different areas in Peninsular Malaysia - Kota Bharu and Bachok in Kelantan ; Raub in Pahang; Gunung Besout in Perak and Felda Palong in Negri Sembilan. The subjects invited to participate in this study ware aged between 30 - 65 years, did not have any debilitating illnesses and no known history of diabetes mellitus, hypertension or cardiovascular disease. Subjects were asked to come to the local clinic in a fasting state and after physical examination, blood was taken for plasma glucose and lipids. Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was then performed. A total of 4,121 subjects participated in the study. The proportion of subjects with diabetes mellitus was highest in Felda Palong area (20.3%) and lowest in Raub area (7.1%). The proportion of subjects with hypertension was also highest in Felda Palong area (38.6%) and lowest in Raub area (29.1%). This could be attributable to the subjects in Felda Palong having the highest mean Body Mass Index (BMI) and Waist-to-Hip Ratio (WHR). There were significant associations between diabetes and hypertension with age and obesity. Subjects with diabetes mellitus and hypertension also had the highest mean age, BMI, WHR and plasma cholesterol.In conclusion, the proportion of patients with risk factors for CVD was high and intervention studies through education and lifestyle changes were being carried out to see their effectiveness.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cause of Death
  4. Wu M, Lu Y, Yang W, Wong SY
    Front Comput Neurosci, 2020;14:564015.
    PMID: 33469423 DOI: 10.3389/fncom.2020.564015
    Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death today. The current identification method of the diseases is analyzing the Electrocardiogram (ECG), which is a medical monitoring technology recording cardiac activity. Unfortunately, looking for experts to analyze a large amount of ECG data consumes too many medical resources. Therefore, the method of identifying ECG characteristics based on machine learning has gradually become prevalent. However, there are some drawbacks to these typical methods, requiring manual feature recognition, complex models, and long training time. This paper proposes a robust and efficient 12-layer deep one-dimensional convolutional neural network on classifying the five micro-classes of heartbeat types in the MIT- BIH Arrhythmia database. The five types of heartbeat features are classified, and wavelet self-adaptive threshold denoising method is used in the experiments. Compared with BP neural network, random forest, and other CNN networks, the results show that the model proposed in this paper has better performance in accuracy, sensitivity, robustness, and anti-noise capability. Its accurate classification effectively saves medical resources, which has a positive effect on clinical practice.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cause of Death
  5. Hooi LN, Goh KY
    Med J Malaysia, 1995 Dec;50(4):306-13.
    PMID: 8668048
    An audit was done on 54 tuberculosis patients presenting to Penang Hospital who died during 1993. Active tuberculosis was the cause of death in 29 (53.7%) and 48.3% were aged under 50 years. Tuberculosis was a contributory cause of death in 8 patients and in 17 patients tuberculosis was irrelevant to the cause of death. The diagnosis of tuberculosis was made after death in 17 patients (31.5%). Late diagnosis was the most important factor resulting in death. Only 41.4% of the deaths from active tuberculosis were correctly certified in government hospitals. Medically inspected and certified deaths from tuberculosis is an unreliable indicator of tuberculosis mortality because of inaccuracies in death certification, tuberculosis deaths occurring outside hospital and tuberculosis patients undiagnosed until after death.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cause of Death
  6. Fadzullah NA, Kasthuri S, Basiron N
    Med J Malaysia, 2019 Oct;74(5):452-453.
    PMID: 31649230
    According to the Malaysian Department of Statistics motor vehicle accidents are the third leading cause of death in Malaysia and accounts for 7.4% of premature deaths in 2016. With the invention of the airbag, the number of serious injuries and fatalities have been reduced significantly. However, there has also been a corresponding increase in the number of injuries attributable to these devices. The patient narrated in this case report sustained a mixed dermal thickness burn over the upper limb as a result of an airbag deployment. She recovered without other life threatening injuries.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cause of Death
  7. Khalin I, Jamari NL, Razak NB, Hasain ZB, Nor MA, Zainudin MH, et al.
    Neural Regen Res, 2016 Apr;11(4):630-5.
    PMID: 27212925 DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.180749
    Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability in individuals worldwide. Producing a clinically relevant TBI model in small-sized animals remains fairly challenging. For good screening of potential therapeutics, which are effective in the treatment of TBI, animal models of TBI should be established and standardized. In this study, we established mouse models of closed head injury using the Shohami weight-drop method with some modifications concerning cognitive deficiency assessment and provided a detailed description of the severe TBI animal model. We found that 250 g falling weight from 2 cm height produced severe closed head injury in C57BL/6 male mice. Cognitive disorders in mice with severe closed head injury could be detected using passive avoidance test on day 7 after injury. Findings from this study indicate that weight-drop injury animal models are suitable for further screening of brain neuroprotectants and potentially are similar to those seen in human TBI.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cause of Death
  8. J Paediatr Child Health, 1997 Feb;33(1):18-25.
    PMID: 9069039
    OBJECTIVE: To determine the risk factors associated with mortality in very low birthweight (VLBW) infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care units (NIUC) in Malaysia.

    METHOD: A prospective observational study of outcome of all VLBW infants born between 1 January 1993 and 30 June 1993 and admitted to the NICU.

    RESULTS: Data of 868 VLBW neonates from 18 centres in Malaysia were collected. Their mean birthweight was 1223 g (95% confidence intervals: 1208-1238 g). Thirty-seven point four per cent (325/868) of these infants died before discharge. After exclusion of all infants with congenital anomalies (n = 66, and nine of them also had incomplete records) and incomplete records (n = 82), stepwise logistic regression analysis of the remaining 720 infants showed that the risk factors that were significantly associated with increased mortality before discharge were: delivery in district hospitals, Chinese race, lower birthweight, lower gestation age, persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn, pulmonary airleak, necrotizing enterocolitis of stage 2 or 3, confirmed sepsis, hypotension, hypothermia, acute renal failure, intermittent positive pressure ventilation, and umbilical arterial catheterization. Factors that were significantly associated with lower risk of mortality were: use of antenatal steroid, oxygen therapy, surfactant therapy and blood transfusion.

    CONCLUSION: The mortality of VLBW infants admitted to the Malaysian NICU was high and was also associated with a number of preventable risk factors.

    Matched MeSH terms: Cause of Death
  9. Loh LC, Ong CK, Koo HJ, Lee SM, Lee JS, Oh YM, et al.
    PMID: 30174423 DOI: 10.2147/COPD.S165898
    Background: COPD-associated mortality was examined using a novel approach of phenotyping COPD based on computed tomography (CT)-emphysema index from quantitative CT (QCT) and post-bronchodilator (BD) forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) in a local Malaysian cohort.

    Patients and methods: Prospectively collected data of 112 eligible COPD subjects (mean age, 67 years; male, 93%; mean post-BD FEV1, 45.7%) was available for mortality analysis. Median follow-up time was 1,000 days (range, 60-1,400). QCT and clinicodemographic data were collected at study entry. Based on CT-emphysema index and post-BD FEV1% predicted, subjects were categorized into "emphysema-dominant," "airway-dominant," "mild mixed airway-emphysema," and "severe mixed airway-emphysema" diseases.

    Results: Sixteen patients (14.2%) died of COPD-associated causes. There were 29 (25.9%) "mild mixed," 23 (20.5%) "airway-dominant," 15 (13.4%) "emphysema-dominant," and 45 (40.2%) "severe mixed" cases. "Mild mixed" disease was proportionately more in Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) Group A, while "severe mixed" disease was proportionately more in GOLD Groups B and D. Kaplan-Meier survival estimates showed increased mortality risk with "severe mixed" disease (log rank test, p=0.03) but not with GOLD groups (p=0.08). Univariate Cox proportionate hazard analysis showed that age, body mass index, long-term oxygen therapy, FEV1, forced volume capacity, COPD Assessment Test score, modified Medical Research Council score, St Georges' Respiratory Questionnaire score, CT-emphysema index, and "severe mixed" disease (vs "mild mixed" disease) were associated with mortality. Multivariate Cox analysis showed that age, body mass index, and COPD Assessment Test score remain independently associated with mortality.

    Conclusion: "Severe mixed airway-emphysema" disease may predict COPD-associated mortality. Age, body mass index, and COPD Assessment Test score remain as key mortality risk factors in our cohort.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cause of Death
  10. Ong BB, Wong JJ, Hashim J
    Malays J Pathol, 2004 Jun;26(1):35-41.
    PMID: 16190105
    It is well known that diagnostic accuracy of the clinical cause of death has not improved despite advances in diagnostic techniques. We aimed to investigate the accuracy of the clinical cause of death compared with the autopsy cause of death and to see if the Coroner's autopsy can play a role in clinical audit. Our study population consisted of all autopsies where the deceased was hospitalised or resuscitated at the Accident and Emergency Unit of the University of Malaya Medical Centre before death, performed during the period July 1998 to June 2000. The cases were subdivided according to natural and unnatural causes of deaths. Natural deaths were further subdivided in relation to the main organ systems involved while unnatural deaths were subcategorised into trauma, poisoning and burns. The rate of agreement between clinical and autopsy cause of death was further compared with duration of survival in the hospital. Of 132 autopsies included in this study, 115 were Coroner's autopsies. 78% of cases showed agreement between clinical and autopsy cause of death. The agreement rate in Coroner's cases was 80.0%. For natural and unnatural causes, the agreement rate was 56.7% and 84.3% respectively. There were 6 cases (4.5%) where an initial accurate diagnosis might have altered the prognosis of the deceased. In general, the rate of agreement increased with duration of survival of patients. However, this was no longer observed after a survival of more than 28 days. Our findings agree with other similar studies. The diagnostic accuracy of cause of death has not improved despite the modernisation in medical technology. The autopsy still plays an important role in clinical audit and medical education.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cause of Death*
  11. Mohammed Shu'aibu Abubakar, Desa Ahmad, Akande, Bukola Fatai
    MyJurnal
    Tractor rollover occurs when a tractor tips sideways or backwards and overturns, potentially crushing the operator. Rollovers are typically considered to occur more frequently during a sharp turn at a high speed on sloping terrains, although data show that rollovers do occur on flat land after hitting obstacles or through inappropriate use and hitching of implements. It is important to highlight that tractor overturns are the major cause of death in farm operations. The overturns are as a result of interactions between the tractor operator, the tractor and the environment. A review of the relevant literature reveals that more than 800 people are killed each year in tractor accidents, and for every person killed, at least 40 others are injured. This paper focuses on tractor overturns because they account for more than half of all the tractor-related deaths. In addition, farm tractor operational safety principles are also highlighted.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cause of Death
  12. Suleiman AB, Mathews A, Jegasothy R, Ali R, Kandiah N
    Bull World Health Organ, 1999;77(2):190-3.
    PMID: 10083722
    A confidential system of enquiry into maternal mortality was introduced in Malaysia in 1991. The methods used and the findings obtained up to 1994 are reported below and an outline is given of the resulting recommendations and actions.
    PIP: This is a report on the methods, findings, resulting recommendations and actions of a study on maternal mortality in Malaysia during the period 1991-94. Maternal death was defined as the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days following termination of pregnancy from any cause related to the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental causes. Between 1991 and 1994 there were 1066 reported maternal deaths, and the maternal mortality ratios for the successive years were respectively 44, 48, 46 and 39 per 100,000 live births. The primary causes of maternal death were postpartum hemorrhage (24%), hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (16%), obstetric pulmonary embolism (13%), and associated medical conditions (7%). Analysis of the 375 deaths from 1992 - 1993 showed that the maternal mortality ratio was 53/100,000 live births for deliveries performed at home, 36/100,000 in government hospitals, and 21/100,000 in private institutions. Shortcomings among health personnel were detected in several cases; these involved failure to diagnose, failure to appreciate the severity of a patient's condition, inadequate therapy, and inappropriate, delayed or failed adherence to protocols. The high proportion of maternal mortality associated with substandard care demonstrates that it is important to make the standard of care more widely available. Reports have been circulated to institutions and organizations providing maternal care and to medical schools. Articles and case histories have been published, and many new protocols and procedures have been developed. Furthermore, seminars have been organized and training modules have been distributed to all involved in the provision of maternity care.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cause of Death
  13. Gnatiuc L, Tapia-Conyer R, Wade R, Ramirez-Reyes R, Aguilar-Ramirez D, Herrington W, et al.
    Eur J Prev Cardiol, 2021 Mar 09.
    PMID: 33693634 DOI: 10.1093/eurjpc/zwab038
    AIMS: Results of previous studies of abdominal adiposity and risk of vascular-metabolic mortality in Hispanic populations have been conflicting. We report results from a large prospective study of Mexican adults with high levels of abdominal adiposity.

    METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 159 755 adults aged ≥35 years from Mexico City were enrolled in a prospective study and followed for 16 years. Cox regression, adjusted for confounders, yielded mortality rate ratios (RRs) associated with three markers of abdominal adiposity (waist circumference, waist-hip ratio, and waist-height ratio) and one marker of gluteo-femoral adiposity (hip circumference) for cause-specific mortality before age 75 years. To reduce reverse causality, deaths in the first 5 years of follow-up and participants with diabetes or other prior chronic disease were excluded. Among 113 163 participants without prior disease and aged 35-74 years at recruitment, all adiposity markers were positively associated with vascular-metabolic mortality. Comparing the top versus bottom tenth of the sex-specific distributions, the vascular-metabolic mortality RRs at ages 40-74 years were 2.32 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.84-2.94] for waist circumference, 2.22 (1.71-2.88) for the waist-hip ratio, 2.63 (2.06-3.36) for the waist-height ratio, and 1.58 (1.29-1.93) for hip circumference. The RRs corresponding to each standard deviation (SD) higher usual levels of these adiposity markers were 1.34 (95% CI 1.27-1.41), 1.31 (1.23-1.39), 1.38 (1.31-1.45), and 1.18 (1.13-1.24), respectively. For the markers of abdominal adiposity, the RRs did not change much after further adjustment for other adiposity markers, but for hip circumference the association was reversed; given body mass index and waist circumference, the RR for vascular-metabolic mortality for each one SD higher usual hip circumference was 0.80 (0.75-0.86).

    CONCLUSIONS: In this study of Mexican adults, abdominal adiposity (and in particular the waist-height ratio) was strongly and positively associated with vascular-metabolic mortality. For a given amount of general and abdominal adiposity, however, higher hip circumference was associated with lower vascular-metabolic mortality.

    Matched MeSH terms: Cause of Death
  14. Ng BK, Yakob KA, Ng WYL, Lim PS, Abd Rahman R, Abdul Karim AK, et al.
    Case Rep Med, 2017;2017:9016782.
    PMID: 29259630 DOI: 10.1155/2017/9016782
    Tuberculosis (TB) remained as one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide despite an overall decline in its incidence rate globally. Extrapulmonary TB is uncommon and only accounts for 10-20% of overall TB disease burden. Abdominopelvic TB is the sixth most common location of extrapulmonary TB. The symptoms and signs are often insidious and nonspecific. Diagnosing abdominopelvic TB can be very challenging at times and poses great difficulties to the clinician. Infection with nontuberculous Mycobacterium (NTM) is even rarer especially in an immunocompetent patient. We report a case of NTM in abdominopelvic TB. A 37-year-old foreign worker, para 3, presented with a one-week history of suprapubic pain associated with fever. An assessment showed presence of a right adnexal mass. She was treated as tuboovarian abscess with intravenous antibiotics. Unfortunately, she did not respond. She underwent exploratory laparotomy. Intraoperatively, features of the mass were suggestive of a right mature cystic teratoma with presence of slough and cheesy materials all over the abdominal cavity as well as presence of ascites. Diagnosis of NTM was confirmed with PCR testing using the peritoneal fluid. This case was a diagnostic dilemma due to the nonspecific clinical presentation. Management of such rare infection was revisited.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cause of Death
  15. Loeliger KB, Altice FL, Ciarleglio MM, Rich KM, Chandra DK, Gallagher C, et al.
    Lancet HIV, 2018 11;5(11):e617-e628.
    PMID: 30197101 DOI: 10.1016/S2352-3018(18)30175-9
    BACKGROUND: People transitioning from prisons or jails have high mortality, but data are scarce for people with HIV and no studies have integrated data from both criminal justice and community settings. We aimed to assess all-cause mortality in people with HIV released from an integrated system of prisons and jails in Connecticut, USA.

    METHODS: We linked pharmacy, custodial, death, case management, and HIV surveillance data from Connecticut Departments of Correction and Public Health to create a retrospective cohort of all adults with HIV released from jails and prisons in Connecticut between 2007 and 2014. We compared the mortality rate of adults with HIV released from incarceration with the general US and Connecticut populations, and modelled time-to-death from any cause after prison release with Cox proportional hazard models.

    FINDINGS: We identified 1350 people with HIV who were released after 24 h or more of incarceration between 2007 and 2014, of whom 184 (14%) died after index release; median age was 45 years (IQR 39-50) and median follow-up was 5·2 years (IQR 3·0-6·7) after index release. The crude mortality rate for people with HIV released from incarceration was 2868 deaths per 100 000 person-years, and the standardised mortality ratio showed that mortality was higher for this cohort than the general US population (6·97, 95% CI 5·96-7·97) and population of Connecticut (8·47, 7·25-9·69). Primary cause of death was reported for 170 individuals; the most common causes were HIV/AIDS (78 [46%]), drug overdose (26 [15%]), liver disease (17 [10%]), cardiovascular disease (16 [9%]), and accidental injury or suicide (13 [8%]). Black race (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0·52, 95% CI 0·34-0·80), having health insurance (0·09, 0·05-0·17), being re-incarcerated at least once for 365 days or longer (0·41, 0·22-0·76), and having a high percentage of re-incarcerations in which antiretroviral therapy was prescribed (0·08, 0·03-0·21) were protective against mortality. Positive predictors of time-to-death were age (≥50 years; adjusted HR 3·65, 95% CI 1·21-11·08), lower CD4 count (200-499 cells per μL, 2·54, 1·50-4·31; <200 cells per μL, 3·44, 1·90-6·20), a high number of comorbidities (1·86, 95% CI 1·23-2·82), virological failure (2·76, 1·94-3·92), and unmonitored viral load (2·13, 1·09-4·18).

    INTERPRETATION: To reduce mortality after release from incarceration in people with HIV, resources are needed to identify and treat HIV, in addition to medical comorbidities, psychiatric disorders, and substance use disorders, during and following incarceration. Policies that reduce incarceration and support integrated systems of care between prisons and communities could have a substantial effect on the survival of people with HIV.

    FUNDING: US National Institutes of Health.

    Matched MeSH terms: Cause of Death
  16. Flaherty GT, Caumes E
    J Travel Med, 2018 01 01;25(1).
    PMID: 29635642 DOI: 10.1093/jtm/tay019
    Background: Traumatic deaths, and more particularly suicides, during international travel receive a disproportionately low level of attention in the travel medicine literature. We describe the demographic profile of international travellers whose death occurred at the Cliffs of Moher along the Atlantic seaboard in Ireland.

    Methods: Coroners' files for the 25 years between 1993 and 2017 were interrogated. All cases of death on or at the cliffs were examined, and demographic data were extracted, including date of death, gender, age, nationality, whether the victims were alone at the cliffs prior to their death, whether the fall was witnessed, prevailing weather conditions, post-mortem examinations, toxicology reports and inquest verdicts.

    Results: Overall, 66 deaths occurred on or at the base of the Cliffs of Moher during the period 1993 through August 2017. In total, 18 (27.3%) of the victims were international visitors to Ireland, including 11 males (61.1%). The mean age of travellers (n = 17) was 34.2 years. Victims were nationals of 12 different countries, with 13 being European nationals. Most deaths occurred in summer (n = 7) or spring (n = 6), with eight deaths (44%) reported at weekends. In total, 15 victims (83.3%) had walked along the cliff path alone. A jump or fall from the cliffs was witnessed in only two cases (11.1%). Post-mortem examinations revealed multiple traumatic injuries consistent with a fall from a height. Four cases had evidence of alcohol intoxication. Suicide or open verdicts were returned in 50% (n = 9) of the cases.

    Conclusions: Travelling alone to the site, purchasing one-way tickets, or depositing belongings on the clifftop support the possibility of suicidal intent, while being intoxicated could be a co-factor in suicidal jumps or support the possibility of an accidental fall. This knowledge could help to identify travellers at the greatest risk of death at cliffs.

    Matched MeSH terms: Cause of Death/trends*
  17. Pritchard C, Amanullah S
    Psychol Med, 2007 Mar;37(3):421-30.
    PMID: 17176500
    Suicide is expressly condemned in the Qu'ran, and traditionally few Islamic countries have reported suicide. Undetermined deaths are classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as Other Violent Deaths (OVD) in ICD-9, or Other External Causes (OEC) in ICD-10. It has been suggested that to avoid under-reporting of suicides, both formal suicide verdicts and OVD should be considered together because OVD may contain 'hidden' suicides.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cause of Death*
  18. Lye MS, Ghazali AA, Mohan J, Alwin N, Nair RC
    Am J Trop Med Hyg, 1995 Jul;53(1):68-72.
    PMID: 7625536
    In October 1988, 13 Chinese children died of acute hepatic encephalopathy in the northwestern state of Perak in peninsular Malaysia. The acuteness of the illness differed from previously reported outbreaks described in Kenya, India, and Thailand. Epidemiologic investigations determined that the children had eaten a Chinese noodle, loh see fun, hours before they died. The attack rates among those who had eaten the noodles were significantly higher than those who had not (P < 0.0001). The cases were geographically scattered in six towns in two districts along the route of distribution of the noodle supplied by one factory in Kampar town. Aflatoxins were confirmed in postmortem samples from patients. This outbreak has important public health implications for many developing countries.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cause of Death
  19. WHO Rapid Evidence Appraisal for COVID-19 Therapies (REACT) Working Group, Shankar-Hari M, Vale CL, Godolphin PJ, Fisher D, Higgins JPT, et al.
    JAMA, 2021 Aug 10;326(6):499-518.
    PMID: 34228774 DOI: 10.1001/jama.2021.11330
    IMPORTANCE: Clinical trials assessing the efficacy of IL-6 antagonists in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 have variously reported benefit, no effect, and harm.

    OBJECTIVE: To estimate the association between administration of IL-6 antagonists compared with usual care or placebo and 28-day all-cause mortality and other outcomes.

    DATA SOURCES: Trials were identified through systematic searches of electronic databases between October 2020 and January 2021. Searches were not restricted by trial status or language. Additional trials were identified through contact with experts.

    STUDY SELECTION: Eligible trials randomly assigned patients hospitalized for COVID-19 to a group in whom IL-6 antagonists were administered and to a group in whom neither IL-6 antagonists nor any other immunomodulators except corticosteroids were administered. Among 72 potentially eligible trials, 27 (37.5%) met study selection criteria.

    DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: In this prospective meta-analysis, risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment Tool. Inconsistency among trial results was assessed using the I2 statistic. The primary analysis was an inverse variance-weighted fixed-effects meta-analysis of odds ratios (ORs) for 28-day all-cause mortality.

    MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary outcome measure was all-cause mortality at 28 days after randomization. There were 9 secondary outcomes including progression to invasive mechanical ventilation or death and risk of secondary infection by 28 days.

    RESULTS: A total of 10 930 patients (median age, 61 years [range of medians, 52-68 years]; 3560 [33%] were women) participating in 27 trials were included. By 28 days, there were 1407 deaths among 6449 patients randomized to IL-6 antagonists and 1158 deaths among 4481 patients randomized to usual care or placebo (summary OR, 0.86 [95% CI, 0.79-0.95]; P = .003 based on a fixed-effects meta-analysis). This corresponds to an absolute mortality risk of 22% for IL-6 antagonists compared with an assumed mortality risk of 25% for usual care or placebo. The corresponding summary ORs were 0.83 (95% CI, 0.74-0.92; P death, compared with usual care or placebo, were 0.77 (95% CI, 0.70-0.85) for all IL-6 antagonists, 0.74 (95% CI, 0.66-0.82) for tocilizumab, and 1.00 (95% CI, 0.74-1.34) for sarilumab. Secondary infections by 28 days occurred in 21.9% of patients treated with IL-6 antagonists vs 17.6% of patients treated with usual care or placebo (OR accounting for trial sample sizes, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.85-1.16).

    CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this prospective meta-analysis of clinical trials of patients hospitalized for COVID-19, administration of IL-6 antagonists, compared with usual care or placebo, was associated with lower 28-day all-cause mortality.

    TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO Identifier: CRD42021230155.

    Matched MeSH terms: Cause of Death
  20. Smith TO, Sillito JA, Goh CH, Abdel-Fattah AR, Einarsson A, Soiza RL, et al.
    Age Ageing, 2020 02 27;49(2):184-192.
    PMID: 31985773 DOI: 10.1093/ageing/afz178
    BACKGROUND: Blood pressure variability (BPV) is a possible risk factor for adverse cardiovascular outcomes and mortality. There is uncertainty as to whether BPV is related to differences in populations studied, measurement methods or both. We systematically reviewed the evidence for different methods to assess blood pressure variability (BPV) and their association with future cardiovascular events, cardiovascular mortality and all-cause mortality.

    METHODS: Literature databases were searched to June 2019. Observational studies were eligible if they measured short-term BPV, defined as variability in blood pressure measurements acquired either over a 24-hour period or several days. Data were extracted on method of BPV and reported association (or not) on future cardiovascular events, cardiovascular mortality and all-cause mortality. Methodological quality was assessed using the CASP observational study tool and data narratively synthesised.

    RESULTS: Sixty-one studies including 3,333,801 individuals were eligible. BPV has been assessed by various methods including ambulatory and home-based BP monitors assessing 24-hour, "day-by-day" and "week-to-week" variability. There was moderate quality evidence of an association between BPV and cardiovascular events (43 studies analysed) or all-cause mortality (26 studies analysed) irrespective of the measurement method in the short- to longer-term. There was moderate quality evidence reporting inconsistent findings on the potential association between cardiovascular mortality, irrespective of methods of BPV assessment (17 studies analysed).

    CONCLUSION: An association between BPV, cardiovascular mortality and cardiovascular events and/or all-cause mortality were reported by the majority of studies irrespective of method of measurement. Direct comparisons between studies and reporting of pooled effect sizes were not possible.

    Matched MeSH terms: Cause of Death
Filters
Contact Us

Please provide feedback to Administrator (afdal@afpm.org.my)

External Links