METHODS: Data were obtained from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey Timor-Leste. Ordered logistic regressions were used to examine the associations between knowledge of smoking and sociodemographic, and lifestyle factors. Structural equation modelling was utilized to explore the mediating effects.
RESULTS: Adolescents were less likely to have high knowledge of smoking if they were lower-secondary students, were males, had unemployed parents and had no closest friends who smoked. The relationship between grade levels and smoking knowledge was partly mediated by awareness of anti-tobacco messages on mass media, school education about the dangers of smoking and family discussion about smoking.
CONCLUSIONS: Sociodemographic and lifestyle factors play an important role in determining knowledge of smoking among adolescents. To some extent, awareness-, education- and family-related variables explain how grade levels affect smoking knowledge.
OBJECTIVES: This study examined the relationship between suicide attempts and bullying among school adolescents in Malaysia.
METHODS: Data from the Malaysia NHMS 2017, a nationwide study that adopted a two-stage cluster sampling design, were analysed. The survey used a self-administered questionnaire in bilingual language adapted from GSHS developed by WHO. Participants were secondary school students aged 13 -17 in all states. Descriptive and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed using IBM SPSS version 28.
RESULTS: A total of 27,497 school adolescents participated in the study. Results showed that 6.9% of school adolescents had attempted suicide. There was 16.2% of adolescents being bullied. Multiple logistic regression revealed that students who were bullied were more likely to have suicide attempts (aOR 4.827, 95% CI: 4.143, 5.624) P
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 292 personnel working in Klang Valley preschools. The participants completed an online questionnaire asking about sociodemographic information and food allergy KAM. Mann-Whitney U and chi-squared tests were used to compare the KAM level between public and private preschool personnel and examine the association of KAM of food allergy with various sociodemographic factors, respectively.
RESULTS: Some 86.3% of the participants demonstrated a low level of food allergy knowledge, 64.7% showed a negative food allergy attitude and 57.9% indicated fair food allergy management. The total mean score for food allergy knowledge was higher (p
METHODS: This study aimed to evaluate the level of oral cancer awareness, knowledge, attitudes, and practices among dental undergraduates in Malaysia. A total of 595 students from years 3, 4, and 5 in both public and private universities participated.
RESULTS: The results showed that a higher percentage of dental undergraduates from private universities were aware of oral cancer and had satisfactory knowledge compared to those from public universities (p
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in the context of the urban area of Bangladesh. A multistage sampling technique was applied to select 324 children's mothers in Dhaka City. Data were collected from both city corporation settings in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Semi-structured questionnaires were used in this study. We estimated the depressive symptoms among mothers using the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale. We examined the association of mothers of school-going children's socio-demographic variables and eating behaviors of school-going children with their mother's depression by using chi-square and evaluating the impact of these variables on mothers' depression through univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression.
RESULTS: In our study, 57.7% of the mothers of school-going children had depressive symptoms, and 42.3% had no depressive symptoms. The study explored that consuming fewer vegetables (AOR = 0.237, 95% CI: 0.099-0.569), taking fewer fruits (AOR = 0.177, 95% CI: 0.093-0.337), and interestingly, taking fast food less than 4 days per week (AOR = 3.024, 95% CI: 1.517-6.031) were significantly associated with mothers' depressive symptoms.
CONCLUSION: Mothers with depressive symptoms of school-going children in Dhaka city are alarmingly high as a grave concern. The eating behaviors of children are associated with their mothers' depressive symptoms. With an aim to build rigorous awareness on depression and child's healthy eating behaviors, it is imperative to arrange health education and awareness related programs.
METHODS: We assessed five process indicators: recruitment, retention, dosage, fidelity, and satisfaction for the Toybox program. Data collection was conducted via teachers' monthly logbooks, post-intervention feedback through questionnaires, and focus group discussions (FGD) with teachers, parents, and children. Data were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative data analysis methods.
RESULTS: A total of 1072 children were invited. Out of the 1001 children whose parents consented to join, only 837 completed the program (Retention rate: 88.4%). As high as 91% of the 44 teachers and their assistants engaged positively in one or more of the process evaluation data collection methods. In terms of dosage and fidelity, 76% of parents had received newsletters, tip cards, and posters at the appropriate times. All teachers and their assistants felt satisfied with the intervention program. However, they also mentioned some barriers to its implementation, including the lack of suitable indoor environments to conduct activities and the need to make kangaroo stories more interesting to captivate the children's attention. As for parents, 88% of them were satisfied with the family-based activities and enjoyed them. They also felt that the materials provided were easy to understand and managed to improve their knowledge. Lastly, the children showed positive behaviors in consuming more water, fruits, and vegetables.
CONCLUSIONS: The Toybox program was deemed acceptable and feasible to implement by the parents and teachers. However, several factors need to be improved before it can be expanded and embedded as a routine practice across Malaysia.
METHODOLOGY: Several databases, including PubMed (Medline), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), BioMed Central, and Google Scholar, were used to review the literature. Information was retrieved using Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and documents were selected according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). To assess the quality of the selected articles, the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) technique was utilized.
RESULTS: A total of 29 papers were selected for final review based on PRISMA guidelines and the NOS quality assessment. Studies have shown that many forms of SimEx commonly used in disaster management including tabletop exercises, functional exercises, and full-scale exercises have their benefits and limitations. There is no doubt that SimEx is an excellent tool for improving disaster planning and response. It is still necessary to give SimEx programs a more rigorous evaluation and to standardize the processes more thoroughly.
CONCLUSIONS: Drills and training can be improved for disaster management, which will enable medical professionals to face the challenges of disaster management in the 21st century.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: An online search was conducted in Nov 2021 of all the dental schools in ten English-language speaking countries (U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia) to identify departments/divisions in the disciplines of periodontology, cariology, and conservative/restorative/operative dentistry. The results were then compared against the findings of a similar investigation that was conducted from July to October 2008.
RESULTS: Of the 126 dental schools identified in 2021, information was available for 93 dental schools. Of these 93 schools, only 10 listed departments/divisions/disciplines of cariology, whereas 83 and 86 schools had listed periodontology and conservative/restorative/operative dentistry, respectively. Despite a doubling of the number of dental schools with a department/division/discipline of cariology from 2008 to 2021, the absolute gap in the number of departments/divisions/disciplines in the other two disciplines compared to cariology had widened during the thirteen years. In 2008, there were 70 more departments/divisions/disciplines in periodontology compared to cariology departments/divisions/disciplines. In 2021, there were 73 more departments/divisions/disciplines in periodontology. Additional information on research output was available for 90 dental schools in 2021, where 30 schools self-identified as undertaking cariology research, whereas 68 and 47 schools undertook research in periodontology and conservative/restorative/operative dentistry, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: Dental education does not give equal emphasis to periodontology and cariology, and the discipline of cariology is grossly neglected.
METHODS: Latent class analysis (LCA) was employed to model the co-occurrence of PTEs in two school samples of adolescents from India (n = 411) and Malaysia (n = 469). Demographic correlates (i.e., sex, age, household composition, parent education) of the latent classes and the association between latent class membership and probable diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were examined.
RESULTS: The LCA identified three latent classes for the Indian sample: 'Low Risk - moderate sexual trauma', 'Moderate Risk', and 'High Risk'. Similarly, three classes were also identified for the Malaysian sample: 'Low Risk', 'Moderate Risk', and 'High Risk'. Membership of 'Moderate Risk' was associated with male sex in both samples, and with older age and lower levels of parental education attainment in the Malaysian sample. No correlates of 'High Risk' class were identified in either sample. Membership of the 'High Risk' class was significantly associated with probable PTSD diagnosis in both samples, while membership of the 'Moderate Risk' class was associated with probable PTSD diagnosis in the Malaysian sample.
CONCLUSION: Findings from this study correspond with Western studies indicating co-occurrence of PTEs to be common and to represent a salient risk factor for the development of PTSD.