DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional study among Form 1 (year 7) students from 15 schools selected using a stratified random sampling design. Information regarding sociodemographic characteristics, clinical data and environmental factors was collected and blood samples were taken for total vitamin D. Descriptive and multivariable logistic regression was performed on the data.
SETTING: National secondary schools in Peninsular Malaysia.
PARTICIPANTS: 1361 students (mean age 12.9±0.3 years) (61.4% girls) completed the consent forms and participated in this study. Students with a chronic health condition and/or who could not understand the questionnaires due to lack of literacy were excluded.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Vitamin D status was determined through measurement of sera 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D). Body mass index (BMI) was classified according to International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) criteria. Self-reported physical activity levels were assessed using the validated Malay version of the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C).
RESULTS: Deficiency in vitamin D was seen in 78.9% of the participants. The deficiency was significantly higher in girls (92.6%, p<0.001), Indian adolescents (88.6%, p<0.001) and urban-living adolescents (88.8%, p<0.001). Females (OR=8.98; 95% CI 6.48 to 12.45), adolescents with wider waist circumference (OR=2.64; 95% CI 1.65 to 4.25) and in urban areas had higher risks (OR=3.57; 95% CI 2.54 to 5.02) of being vitamin D deficient.
CONCLUSIONS: The study shows a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among young adolescents. Main risk factors are gender, ethnicity, place of residence and obesity.
METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 14 cases of children who were admitted to the Pediatric Neurosurgical Unit of Hospital Kuala Lumpur after sustaining head injuries caused by fan blades between January 2000 and December 2002 was performed.
RESULTS: The causes of fan-blade head injury included jumping on the upper bunk of a bunk-bed, climbing on a ladder, climbing up onto a table, and being lifted by an adult. Thirteen patients were injured by ceiling fans and one by falling onto an uncovered table fan. School-aged boys were the predominant victims. Mean patient age was 7.9 years (range, 1.0-12.2 years). There was a twin peak incidence of when the accidents occurred: just before lunch in the afternoon and bedtime at night. The types of injury were scalp lacerations, compound depressed fractures and multiple intracranial haemorrhages. Two patients had the complication of wound infection, and one of these patients developed cerebral spinal fluid leak. One patient died from severe head injuries.
CONCLUSION: Safety awareness among parents and caretakers are important as fan-blade head injury among children is preventable.
METHODS: This observational study was conducted at the Emergency Department of Sulaymaniyah General Teaching Hospital and Shar Hospital from September 1st, 2014 to August 31st, 2015. Fifty patients who developed acute spontaneous hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and 50 patients who developed acute non-traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) were included in the study. All patients underwent resting 12-lead ECG within half an hour of admission. The QTc interval was calculated and analyzed in those 100 patients.
RESULTS: Females (62%) outnumbered males (38%) with a female to male ratio of 1.6:1. Forty percent of the patients were between 60-69 years of age. Hypertension was seen in 82% of patients while left ventricular hypertrophy was documented in 40% of patients. The QTc was prolonged in 38 patients (17 patients in the ICH group and 21 patients in the SAH group). In both groups, males demonstrated QTc prolongation more than females. However, there were no statistically significant gender difference between both groups and within the same group. There was a statistically significant association between SAH and QTc prolongation (p-value<0.001); the ICH group did not demonstrate any significant relationship with QTc prolongation.
CONCLUSION: Prolongation in the QTc interval was "statistically" associated with acute SAH only. No gender difference was noted; whether this observation is clinically significant or not, it needs further analytic studies.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 81 cases of oral cancers were matched with 162 controls in this hospital-based study. Information on sociodemographic characteristics and details of risk habits (duration, frequency and type of tobacco consumption and betel quid chewing) were collected. Association between smoking and betel quid chewing with oral cancer were analysed using conditional logistic regression.
RESULTS: Slightly more than half of the cases (55.6%) were smokers where 88.9% of them smoked kretek. After adjusting for confounders, smokers have two fold increased risk, while the risk for kretek consumers and those smoking for more than 10 years was increased to almost three-fold. Prevalence of betel quid chewing among cases and controls was low (7.4% and 1.9% respectively). Chewing of at least one quid per day, and quid combination of betel leaf, areca nut, lime and tobacco conferred a 5-6 fold increased risk.
CONCLUSIONS: Smoking is positively associated with oral cancer risk. A similar direct association was also seen among betel quid chewers.
METHODS: The Birmingham Eye Trauma Terminology (BETT) system was used to classify injuries as globe ruptures, penetrating eye injuries (PEIs), intraocular foreign bodies (IOFBs) or perforating injuries. Demographic data, past ocular history, mechanism of trauma, ocular injuries, and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) before and after treatment were recorded.
RESULTS: The 205 OGIs included 80 globe ruptures, 71 PEIs, 48 IOFBs and six perforating injuries. Falls predominated in older age groups compared to the other mechanisms of injury (p<0.0001). A fall was responsible for 33 globe ruptures and 82% of these had a history of previous intraocular surgery. Globe rupture and perforating injuries had poorer visual outcomes (p<0.05), consistent with previous studies. Alcohol was implicated in 20 cases of OGI, with 11 of these due to assault. PEIs and IOFBs commonly occurred while working with metal. BCVA was significantly worse following removal of an intraocular foreign body. We found presenting BCVA to be a good predictor of BCVA at the time of discharge.
CONCLUSIONS: The causes of OGI varied in association with age, with older people mostly incurring their OGI through falls and younger adults through assault and working with metal. Globe ruptures occurring after a fall often had a history of intraocular surgery. The initial BCVA is useful for non-ophthalmologists who are unfamiliar with the ocular trauma score to help predict the BCVA following treatment.
METHODS: Serum samples from asymptomatic children tested for H. pylori seropositivity using an ELISA test.
RESULTS: Five hundred and fourteen healthy urban Malaysian children aged 0.5 to 17 (mean 5.9) years from three different racial groups had their blood tested for H. pylori antibodies. The overall prevalence was 10.3%. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of infection between boys and girls, but a significant rise was noted with increasing age (P = 0.009). Seropositivity was most common in the Indians and lowest in the Malays (P = 0.001). Father's level of education did not affect the child's rate of H. pylori seropositivity.
CONCLUSION: The prevalence of H. pylori seropositivity among asymptomatic urban Malaysian children is lowest in Malays. Intermediate in Chinese and highest in Indians. The racial differences found in children are consistent with those found in Malaysian adults.