METHODS: A website called D-PATH was developed, consisting of 6 learning units for managing hypertension. A 4-week program was implemented, and a pre- and post-intervention assessment was conducted to measure acceptability and changes in knowledge, attitude and practice, dietary intake, physical activity, and anthropometric status.
RESULTS: The D-PATH website was acceptable in terms of understandability, actionability and cognitive load. Knowledge, attitude and practice, and physical activity levels were improved, but no changes were noted for dietary intake and blood pressure level.
CONCLUSION: The D-PATH website was accepted and feasible for the intervention study. This study has shed light on using the website to promote behavioral change in patients with cardiometabolic risks.
METHODS: This is a follow-up study among 84 obese housewives without co-morbidities aged 18 to 59 years old who previously participated as a control group (delayed intervention, G1) in the My Body is Fit and Fabulous at Home (MyBFF@home) Phase II. Baseline data were obtained from 12 month data collection for this group. A new group of 42 obese housewives with co-morbidities (G2) were also recruited. Both groups received a 6 month intervention (July-December 2015) consisting of dietary counselling, physical activity (PA) and self-monitoring tools (PA diary, food diary and pedometer). Study parameters included weight, height, waist circumference, blood pressure and body compositions. Body compositions were measured using a bioelectrical impedance analysis device, Inbody 720. Descriptive and repeated measures ANOVA analyses were performed using SPSS 21.
RESULTS: There were reductions in mean body fat, fat mass and visceral fat area, particularly among obese women without co-morbidities. There were also decreases fat and skeletal muscle from baseline to month six with mean difference - 0.12 (95% CI: -0.38, 0.14) and visceral fat area from month three to month six with mean difference - 9.22 (- 17.87, - 0.56) for G1. G2 showed a decreasing pattern of skeletal muscle from baseline to month six with mean difference - 0.01(95% CI: -0.38, 0.37). There was a significant difference for group effect of visceral fat area (p
OBJECTIVE: The systematic review and meta-analysis in this study aimed to explore the effect of exercise intervention on health-related quality of life of colorectal cancer survivors.
METHODS: The current study followed guidelines outlined in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 2020 (PRISMA 2020) to identify relevant literature. Comprehensive searches were conducted using EBSCOhost, Web of Science (WOS), Scopus, Science Direct, and PubMed. The inclusion criteria included are randomised control trials studies written in English, with no restrictions for the time of publication that reported the effects of exercise intervention on health-related quality of live among colorectal cancer survivors. Meta-analysis was conducted by pooling the mean and standard deviation of post-intervention scores across randomised control trial studies using a random effects model.
RESULT: A total of 467 articles were identified but only seven articles were randomised control trials (RCT) (n = 7) with PEDro scores ranging from 6 to 9 showing good internal validity were included in the review. The results of the meta-analysis of pooled data from six RCTs studies on HRQoL showed no significant effect of exercise intervention on HRQoL in the intervention group compared to control group [SMD = 0.25; 95% CI; -0.0, 0.51; Z = 1.88; p = 0.06; I2 = 30.8%].
CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis provides key insights into the effect of exercise on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors. Therefore, more experimental studies should be carried out with rigorous methodology to evaluate the effectiveness of exercise interventions before it is recommended as a routine activity in post-treatment management for CRC survivors.
DESIGN AND METHODS: This was a qualitative study and data was collected through semi-structured in-depth recorded phone interviews with eight Malay male participants. They were screened using a questionnaire and participants that met the inclusion criteria were interviewed, and were admitted to National Heart Centre, Malaysia between January to June 2019 diagnosed with MI. The data collected were analysed using NVivo 12 software and thematic analysis was applied.
RESULTS: Four preliminary themes emerged from the study: 1) beliefs in physical activity; 2) healthy lifestyle: new normal or same old habit; 3) factors determining participation in pa; and 4) physical activity adherence strategies.
CONCLUSIONS: The results of the studies showed that participants understand the need to maintain physical activity, which helps to maintain a healthy life after MI and prevent recurrent infarction. Strategies for developing self-efficacy for physical activity were also discussed. The need to understand that maintaining physical activity as well as adopting a new normal of healthy habit after MI is crucial in order to maintain the health and prevent recurrence of MI.
METHODS: In the Malaysian Health and Adolescents Longitudinal Research Team (MyHEART) study, 1071 healthy secondary school students, aged 13 years old, participated in the step test. Parameters for body composition measures were body mass index z-score, body fat percentage, waist circumference, and waist height ratio. The step test was conducted by using a modified Harvard step test. Heart rate recovery of 1 minute (HRR1min) and heart rate recovery of 2 minutes (HRR2min) were calculated by the difference between the peak pulse rate during exercise and the resting pulse rate at 1 and 2 minutes, respectively. Analysis was done separately based on gender. Pearson correlation analysis was used to determine the association between the HRR parameters with body composition measures, while multiple regression analysis was used to determine which body composition measures was the strongest predictor for HRR.
RESULTS: For both gender groups, all body composition measures were inversely correlated with HRR1min. In girls, all body composition measures were inversely correlated with HRR2min, while in boys all body composition measures, except BMI z-score, were associated with HRR2min. In multiple regression, only waist circumference was inversely associated with HRR2min (p=0.024) in boys, while in girls it was body fat percentage for HRR2min (p=0.008).
CONCLUSION: There was an inverse association between body composition measurements and HRR among apparently healthy adolescents. Therefore, it is important to identify cardio-metabolic risk factors in adolescent as an early prevention of consequent adulthood morbidity. This reiterates the importance of healthy living which should start from young.
OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to examine differences in psychological factors, disability and subjective fatigue between subgroups of LBP based on their chronification grade.
METHODS: Twenty-one healthy controls (HC) and 54 LBP patients (categorized based on the grades of chronicity into recurrent LBP (RLBP), non-continuous chronic LBP (CLBP), or continuous (CLBP)) filled out a set of self-reporting questionnaires.
RESULTS: The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPI) scores indicated that anxiety, pain severity, pain interference and affective distress were lower in HC and RLBP compared to non-continuous CLBP. Anxiety scores were higher in non-continuous CLBP compared to RLBP, continuous CLBP and HC. The Pain Catastrophizing Scale for Helplessness (PSCH) was higher in non-continuous CLBP compared to HC. The Survey of Pain Attitudes (SOPA) showed no differences in adaptive and maladaptive behaviors across the groups. The Pain Disability Index (PDI) measured a higher disability in both CLBP groups compared to HC. Moreover, the Rolland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) showed higher levels of disability in continuous CLBP compared to non-continuous CLBP, RLBP and HC. The Checklist Individual Strength (CIS) revealed that patients with non-continuous CLBP were affected to a higher extent by severe fatigue compared to continuous CLBP, RLBP and HC (subjective fatigue, concentration and physical activity). For all tests, a significance level of 0.05 was used.
CONCLUSIONS: RLBP patients are more disabled than HC, but have a tendency towards a general positive psychological state of mind. Non-continuous CLBP patients would most likely present a negative psychological mindset, become more disabled and have prolonged fatigue complaints. Finally, the continuous CLBP patients are characterized by more negative attitudes and believes on pain, enhanced disability and interference of pain in their daily lives.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study involved 1,404 school adolescents aged 12 years (46% boys and 54% girls). Socio-demographic, dietary and physical activity data were collected using questionnaires whilst body weight and height were measured and body mass index was classified based on WHO BMI-for-age Z-scores cut-off.
RESULTS: A multivariable linear regression model showed that BMI z-score was positively associated with parents' BMI (P<0.001), birth weight (P=0.003), and serving size of milk and dairy products (P=0.036) whilst inversely associated with household size (P=0.022). Overall, 13.1% of the variances in BMI Z-scores were explained by parents' BMI, birth weight, servings of milk and dairy products and household size.
CONCLUSION: This study found important determinants of body weight status among adolescents mainly associated with family and home environmental factor. This evidence could help to form the effective and tailored strategies at the earliest stage to prevent obesity in this population.