Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 141 in total

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  1. Chong ZX, Ho WY, Yan P, Alshagga MA
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2020 Apr 01;21(4):881-895.
    PMID: 32334447 DOI: 10.31557/APJCP.2020.21.4.881
    BACKGROUND: Conducting systematic review to evaluate plant use as a risk factor to cancer could be challenging. A systematic and well-balanced method should be applied to accommodate in vivo and in vitro studies to make a final decision. In this article, khat, a recreational plant used in some Arabic and African regions, was employed as an example to systematically determine its relationships to the premalignant and cancerous conditions.

    METHODS: Systematic database search was performed to recruit original human, animal or in vitro studies on khat and cancer. Sixteen studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and subjected to assessment using Risk of Bias (RoB). Office of Health and Translation (OHAT) approach was used to rate the confidence level in the body of evidence. The evidence was integrated to establish the relationships between khat, premalignant conditions and cancer.

    RESULTS: Seven out of eight studies showed that khat causes premalignant oral lesions with moderate evidence level. Four studies showed that khat causes cancer with low evidence level and another three studies showed that khat has anti-cancer effect with moderate to high evidence level. Only one study suggested that khat is unrelated to cancer.

    CONCLUSION: RoB and OHAT approach are reliable systematic tools to evaluate plant risk to cancer and provide objective and uniform summary regardless of the study type. In conclusion, our pooled analysis did not find a direct relationship between khat and cancer but anti-cancer effect would require to be proofed on human studies.

    Matched MeSH terms: Evaluation Studies as Topic
  2. Teo CH, Ng CJ, Lo SK, Lim CD, White A
    JMIR Mhealth Uhealth, 2019 04 15;7(4):e10216.
    PMID: 30985280 DOI: 10.2196/10216
    BACKGROUND: Globally, the uptake of health screening is suboptimal, especially in men and those of younger age. In view of the increasing internet access and mobile phone ownership, ScreenMen, a mobile Web app, was developed to improve health screening uptake in men.

    OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the utility and usability of ScreenMen.

    METHODS: This study used both qualitative and quantitative methods. Healthy men working in a banking institution were recruited to participate in this study. They were purposively sampled according to job position, age, education level, and screening status. Men were asked to use ScreenMen independently while the screen activities were being recorded. Once completed, retrospective think aloud with playback was conducted with men to obtain their feedback. They were asked to answer the System Usability Scale (SUS). Intention to undergo screening pre- and postintervention was also measured. Qualitative data were analyzed using a framework approach followed by thematic analysis. For quantitative data, the mean SUS score was calculated and change in intention to screening was analyzed using McNemar test.

    RESULTS: In total, 24 men participated in this study. On the basis of the qualitative data, men found ScreenMen useful as they could learn more about their health risks and screening. They found ScreenMen convenient to use, which might trigger men to undergo screening. In terms of usability, men thought that ScreenMen was user-friendly and easy to understand. The key revision done on utility was the addition of a reminder function, whereas for usability, the revisions done were in terms of attracting and gaining users' trust, improving learnability, and making ScreenMen usable to all types of users. To attract men to use it, ScreenMen was introduced to users in terms of improving health instead of going for screening. Another important revision made was emphasizing the screening tests the users do not need, instead of just informing them about the screening tests they need. A Quick Assessment Mode was also added for users with limited attention span. The quantitative data showed that 8 out of 23 men (35%) planned to attend screening earlier than intended after using the ScreenMen. Furthermore, 4 out of 12 (33%) men who were in the precontemplation stage changed to either contemplation or preparation stage after using ScreenMen with P=.13. In terms of usability, the mean SUS score of 76.4 (SD 7.72) indicated that ScreenMen had good usability.

    CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that ScreenMen was acceptable to men in terms of its utility and usability. The preliminary data suggested that ScreenMen might increase men's intention to undergo screening. This paper also presented key lessons learned from the beta testing, which is useful for public health experts and researchers when developing a user-centered mobile Web app.

    Matched MeSH terms: Evaluation Studies as Topic
  3. Rashid A, Iguchi Y
    BMJ Open, 2019 04 01;9(4):e025078.
    PMID: 30940756 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025078
    OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to understand the reasons for the practice by the Muslim community, traditional practitioners and the views of religious scholars as well as the medicalisation trend of the practice of female genital cutting (FGC).

    DESIGN: This is a mixed-method (qualitative and quantitative) study. A questionnaire was created and used by three trained research assistants for the quantitative component of the study. The qualitative component of the study included in-depth interviews and focus group interviews.

    SETTING: This study was conducted in rural areas of two states in the Northern Peninsular Malaysia.

    PARTICIPANTS: Due to the sensitive nature of the study, the study sample was chosen using a snowball sampling method. Two of the three Northern states Mufti's approached consented to participate in the study.

    RESULTS: Quantitative: There were 605 participants, most had undergone FGC (99.3%), were in the opinion FGC is compulsory in Islam (87.6%) and wanted FGC to continue (99.3%). Older respondents had FGC conducted by traditional midwives (X2=59.13, p<0.001) and younger age groups preferred medical doctors (X2=32.96, p<0.001) and would permit doctors (X2=29.17, p<0.001) to conduct FGC on their children. These findings suggest a medicalisation trend. Regression analysis showed the odds of FGC conducted by traditional midwives and nurses and trained midwives compared with medical doctors was 1.07 (1.05; 1.09) and 1.04 (1.01; 1.06), respectively. For every 1-year decrease in age, the odds of participants deciding medical doctors should perform FGC as compared with traditional midwives increase by 1.61.Qualitative: Focus group discussions showed most believed that FGC is compulsory in Islam but most traditional practitioners and the Mufti's stated that FGC is not compulsory in Islam.

    CONCLUSION: Almost everyone in the community believed FGC is compulsory in Islam and wanted the practice to continue, whereas the traditional practitioners and more importantly the Mufti's, who are responsible in issuing religious edicts, say it is not a religious requirement.

    Matched MeSH terms: Evaluation Studies as Topic
  4. Jayaraman J, Nagendrababu V, Pulikkotil SJ, Innes NP
    Int J Paediatr Dent, 2018 Nov;28(6):548-560.
    PMID: 30070003 DOI: 10.1111/ipd.12414
    OBJECTIVE: To systematically assess the methodological quality of Systematic Reviews (SRs) and Meta-Analyses (MA) published in Paediatric Dentistry journals and to analyse the relationship between the authors, journals, country, review topic, and the year of publication to the methodological quality of SRs and MA.

    DESIGN: Paediatric Dentistry journals ranked in the top five of the h5 index of Google Scholar Metrics were selected. SRs with MA were searched independently by two reviewers using PubMed and Scopus databases until December 2017. Methodological quality was assessed using A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) tool. Statistical significance was set at P 

    Matched MeSH terms: Evaluation Studies as Topic
  5. Zakaria N, Mat Akhir NS
    J Relig Health, 2017 Apr;56(2):507-520.
    PMID: 27145944 DOI: 10.1007/s10943-016-0246-3
    Some Malaysian scholars believe that the theoretical basis and models of intervention in Islamic counseling practices in Malaysia are deficient and not eminently identified. This study investigated and describes the nature of current Islamic counseling practices including the theories and modules of Islamic counseling that are been practiced in Malaysia. This qualitative research has employed data that mainly consist of texts gathered from literatures and semi-structured interviews of 18 informants. It employed grounded theory analysis, and the result shows that most of the practitioners had applied integrated conventional counseling theories with Islamic rituals, references, interventions and ethics. Some had also applied Islamic theories and modules formulated in Malaysia such as iCBT, al-Ghazali counseling theories, Cognitive ad-Deen, KBJ, Prophetic Counseling and Asma Allah al-Husna Counseling Therapy.
    Matched MeSH terms: Evaluation Studies as Topic
  6. Elkalmi RM, Alkoudmani RM, Elsayed TM, Ahmad A, Khan MU
    J Relig Health, 2016 Dec;55(6):1869-75.
    PMID: 26429730 DOI: 10.1007/s10943-015-0136-0
    The Malaysian official Islamic authorities have issued a "fatwa" (Islamic ruling) regarding smoking practice which prohibits Muslims from smoking because of its potential harm to health. Since the prevalence of smoking among Malaysian students is high, this study was designed to explore the perceptions and opinions of Malaysian Muslim students towards smoking in International Islamic University of Malaysia. A prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted among School of Science students in International Islamic University Malaysia. Convenience sampling approach was used to recruit 323 students based on sample size calculation. A content- and face-validated questionnaire was used to collect the data from the participants. Non-smokers highly supported the fatwa on smoking forbiddance than smokers (94 vs 64.3 %, p = 0.001). A significant proportion of non-smokers believed that Islam prohibits smoking because of its potential harm (94.9 vs 71.4 %, p = 0.001). Majority of smokers agreed that addiction is the main barrier towards smoking cessation (78.6 vs 61.5 %, p = 0.019). The results showed positive influences of Islamic beliefs on the non-smokers. Further studies are required to validate these findings by surveying other universities of Malaysia.
    Matched MeSH terms: Evaluation Studies as Topic
  7. Abdul-Manan AF, Baharuddin A, Chang LW
    Eval Program Plann, 2015 Oct;52:39-49.
    PMID: 25898073 DOI: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2015.03.007
    Theory-based evaluation (TBE) is an effectiveness assessment technique that critically analyses the theory underlying an intervention. Whilst its use has been widely reported in the area of social programmes, it is less applied in the field of energy and climate change policy evaluations. This paper reports a recent study that has evaluated the effectiveness of the national biofuel policy (NBP) for the transport sector in Malaysia by adapting a TBE approach. Three evaluation criteria were derived from the official goals of the NBP, those are (i) improve sustainability and environmental friendliness, (ii) reduce fossil fuel dependency, and (iii) enhance stakeholders' welfare. The policy theory underlying the NBP has been reconstructed through critical examination of the policy and regulatory documents followed by a rigorous appraisal of the causal link within the policy theory through the application of scientific knowledge. This study has identified several weaknesses in the policy framework that may engender the policy to be ineffective. Experiences with the use of a TBE approach for policy evaluations are also shared in this report.
    Matched MeSH terms: Evaluation Studies as Topic
  8. Nasaruddin RR, Alam MZ, Jami MS
    Bioresour Technol, 2014 Feb;154:155-61.
    PMID: 24384322 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2013.11.095
    A green technology of biodiesel production focuses on the use of enzymes as the catalyst. In enzymatic biodiesel synthesis, suitable solvent system is very essential to reduce the inhibition effects of the solvent to the enzymes. This study produced ethanol-based biodiesel from a low-cost sludge palm oil (SPO) using locally-produced Candida cylindracea lipase from fermentation of palm oil mill effluent (POME) based medium. The optimum levels of ethanol-to-SPO molar ratio and enzyme loading were found to be 4:1 and 10 U/25 g of SPO respectively with 54.4% w/w SPO yield of biodiesel and 21.7% conversion of free fatty acid (FFA) into biodiesel. Addition of tert-butanol at 2:1 tert-butanol-to-SPO molar ratio into the ethanol-solvent system increased the yield of biodiesel to 71.6% w/w SPO and conversion of FFA into biodiesel to 28.8%. The SPO and ethanol have promising potential for the production of renewable biodiesel using enzymatic-catalyzed esterification and transesterification.
    Matched MeSH terms: Evaluation Studies as Topic
  9. Faisal I, Matinnia N, Hejar AR, Khodakarami Z
    Midwifery, 2014 Feb;30(2):227-33.
    PMID: 24055288 DOI: 10.1016/j.midw.2013.08.011
    to gain a deeper understanding of why Iranian primigravidae request caesarean section without any medical indication.
    Matched MeSH terms: Evaluation Studies as Topic
  10. Lim KK
    Hum Resour Health, 2014;12:70.
    PMID: 25495151 DOI: 10.1186/1478-4491-12-70
    Hospital mergers began in the UK in the late 1990s to deal with underperformance. Despite their prevalence, there is a lack of research on how such organizational changes affect the staff morale. This study aims to assess the impact of NHS hospital mergers between financial years 2009/10 and 2011/12 on staff job satisfaction and to identify factors contributing to satisfaction.
    Matched MeSH terms: Evaluation Studies as Topic
  11. El-Sayed AM, Hamzaid NA, Abu Osman NA
    ScientificWorldJournal, 2014;2014:297431.
    PMID: 25110727 DOI: 10.1155/2014/297431
    Several studies have presented technological ensembles of active knee systems for transfemoral prosthesis. Other studies have examined the amputees' gait performance while wearing a specific active prosthesis. This paper combined both insights, that is, a technical examination of the components used, with an evaluation of how these improved the gait of respective users. This study aims to offer a quantitative understanding of the potential enhancement derived from strategic integration of core elements in developing an effective device. The study systematically discussed the current technology in active transfemoral prosthesis with respect to its functional walking performance amongst above-knee amputee users, to evaluate the system's efficacy in producing close-to-normal user performance. The performances of its actuator, sensory system, and control technique that are incorporated in each reported system were evaluated separately and numerical comparisons were conducted based on the percentage of amputees' gait deviation from normal gait profile points. The results identified particular components that contributed closest to normal gait parameters. However, the conclusion is limitedly extendable due to the small number of studies. Thus, more clinical validation of the active prosthetic knee technology is needed to better understand the extent of contribution of each component to the most functional development.
    Matched MeSH terms: Evaluation Studies as Topic
  12. Mohammed SA, Yusof MM
    J Eval Clin Pract, 2013 Apr;19(2):379-87.
    PMID: 22502634 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2753.2012.01839.x
    Poor information quality (IQ) must be understood as a business problem rather than systems problem. In health care organization, what is required is an effective quality management that continuously manages and reviews the factors influencing IQ in health information systems (HIS) so as to achieve the desired outcomes. Hence, in order to understand the issues of information quality management (IQM) practices in health care organizations, a more holistic evaluation study should be undertaken to investigate the IQM practices in health care organizations. It is the aim of this paper to identify the significant evaluation criteria that influence the production of good IQ in HIS.
    Matched MeSH terms: Evaluation Studies as Topic*
  13. Nature, 2011 Feb 10;470(7333):139.
    PMID: 21307891 DOI: 10.1038/470139a
    Matched MeSH terms: Evaluation Studies as Topic*
  14. Samy GN, Ahmad R, Ismail Z
    Health Informatics J, 2010 Sep;16(3):201-9.
    PMID: 20889850 DOI: 10.1177/1460458210377468
    This article attempts to investigate the various types of threats that exist in healthcare information systems (HIS). A study has been carried out in one of the government-supported hospitals in Malaysia.The hospital has been equipped with a Total Hospital Information System (THIS). The data collected were from three different departments, namely the Information Technology Department (ITD), the Medical Record Department (MRD), and the X-Ray Department, using in-depth structured interviews. The study identified 22 types of threats according to major threat categories based on ISO/IEC 27002 (ISO 27799:2008). The results show that the most critical threat for the THIS is power failure followed by acts of human error or failure and other technological factors. This research holds significant value in terms of providing a complete taxonomy of threat categories in HIS and also an important component in the risk analysis stage.
    Matched MeSH terms: Evaluation Studies as Topic
  15. Nalliah S, Chan SL, Ong CL, Suthan TH, Tan KC, She VN, et al.
    Singapore Med J, 2010 Apr;51(4):332-8.
    PMID: 20505913
    Internet search has been the main source for information and data mining in medical research. Its use by medical students has immensely contributed to learning activities. The main aim of the study was to determine the effectiveness of internet use by medical students during their initial years of clinical instruction in order to establish a diagnosis after being provided with the history and physical findings of a clinical problem.
    Matched MeSH terms: Evaluation Studies as Topic
  16. Cyranoski D
    Nature, 2008 May 22;453(7194):435.
    PMID: 18497781 DOI: 10.1038/453435a
    Matched MeSH terms: Evaluation Studies as Topic
  17. Kumarasamy V, Wahab AH, Chua SK, Hassan Z, Chem YK, Mohamad M, et al.
    J Virol Methods, 2007 Mar;140(1-2):75-9.
    PMID: 17140671
    A commercial dengue NS1 antigen-capture ELISA was evaluated to demonstrate its potential application for early laboratory diagnosis of acute dengue virus infection. Dengue virus NS1 antigen was detected in 199 of 213 acute serum samples from patients with laboratory confirmation of acute dengue virus infection but none of the 354 healthy blood donors' serum specimens. The dengue NS1 antigen-capture ELISA gave an overall sensitivity of 93.4% (199/213) and a specificity of 100% (354/354). The sensitivity was significantly higher in acute primary dengue (97.3%) than in acute secondary dengue (70.0%). The positive predictive value of the dengue NS1 antigen-capture ELISA was 100% and negative predictive value was 97.3%. Comparatively, virus isolation gave an overall positive isolation rate of 68.1% with a positive isolation rate of 73.9 and 31.0% for acute primary dengue and acute secondary dengue, respectively. Molecular detection of dengue RNA by RT-PCR gave an overall positive detection rate of 66.7% with a detection rate of 65.2 and 75.9% for acute primary dengue and acute secondary dengue, respectively. The results indicate that the commercial dengue NS1 antigen-capture ELISA may be superior to virus isolation and RT-PCR for the laboratory diagnosis of acute dengue infection based on a single serum sample.
    Matched MeSH terms: Evaluation Studies as Topic
  18. Othman R, Wahab HA, Yusof R, Rahman NA
    In Silico Biol. (Gedrukt), 2007;7(2):215-24.
    PMID: 17688447
    Multiple sequence alignment was performed against eight proteases from the Flaviviridae family using ClustalW to illustrate conserved domains. Two sets of prediction approaches were applied and the results compared. Firstly, secondary structure prediction was performed using available structure prediction servers. The second approach made use of the information on the secondary structures extracted from structure prediction servers, threading techniques and DSSP database of some of the templates used in the threading techniques. Consensus on the one-dimensional secondary structure of Den2 protease was obtained from each approach and evaluated against data from the recently crystallised Den2 NS2B/NS3 obtained from the Protein Data Bank (PDB). Results indicated the second approach to show higher accuracy compared to the use of prediction servers only. Thus, it is plausible that this approach is applicable to the initial stage of structural studies of proteins with low amino acid sequence homology against other available proteins in the PDB.
    Matched MeSH terms: Evaluation Studies as Topic
  19. Yee HY, Radhakrishnan A, Ponnudurai G
    Med Teach, 2006 Sep;28(6):558-60.
    PMID: 17074705
    Students' perception of the role and characteristics of a good problem-based learning (PBL) facilitator were assessed in the same study in which students were exposed to the 'Flying a Kite Approach' to PBL. A pre-tested anonymous questionnaire addressed the good qualities of a facilitator as well as the negative aspects. Although faculty and students' perceptions of 'good 'and 'bad' attributes generally agreed, it is clear that students still prefer facilitators who talk more, i.e. explain unclear facts or correct them when their facts are wrong. Content experts are also preferred over non-content experts.
    Matched MeSH terms: Evaluation Studies as Topic*
  20. Mohd Nasir MD, Parasakthi N
    Malays J Pathol, 2004 Jun;26(1):29-33.
    PMID: 16190104
    The increasing prevalence of penicillin-resistant Streptococuus pneumoniae urges for fast and accurate susceptibility testing methods. This study evaluated the comparability of three commonly used techniques; disk diffusion, E-test and agar dilution, to detect penicillin susceptibility in clinical isolates of S. pneumoniae. Fifty pneumococcal isolates, obtained from patients at the University of Malaya Medical Centre, were selected to include both penicillin-susceptible strains and those that had decreased susceptibility (resistant and intermediate) to penicillin. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of penicillin to serve as the reference was determined by the agar dilution method in which, based on the MIC breakpoints recommended by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS), 27 strains had decreased susceptibility to penicillin with 17 strains resistant and 10 intermediate. Comparing to the agar dilution method, oxacillin disk diffusion test detected all strains with decreased penicillin susceptibility as such while E-test showed a close agreement of susceptibility (92%) of the isolates to penicillin. This confirmed that oxacillin is a good screening test for S. pneumoniae isolates with decreased susceptibility to penicillin while E-test is very reliable for rapid and accurate detection of penicillin susceptibility.
    Matched MeSH terms: Evaluation Studies as Topic
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