Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 1318 in total

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  1. Ng LW, Malhotra R, Lai D, Tai ES, Østbye T
    Asia Pac J Public Health, 2015 Mar;27(2):NP552-61.
    PMID: 23482708 DOI: 10.1177/1010539513479966
    To develop a better understanding of perceived barriers to and ideas for weight loss and maintenance among Malay homemakers in Singapore.
    Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
  2. López-Muñoz F, Povedano-Montero FJ, Chee KY, Shen WW, Fernández-Martín P, García-Pacios J, et al.
    Malays J Med Sci, 2018 May;25(3):40-55.
    PMID: 30899186 DOI: 10.21315/mjms2018.25.3.5
    Objective: We carried out a bibliometric study on the scientific papers related to second-generation antipsychotic drugs (SGAs) in Malaysia.

    Methods: With the SCOPUS database, we selected those documents made in Malaysia whose title included descriptors related to SGAs. We applied bibliometric indicators of production and dispersion, as Price's law and Bradford's law, respectively. We also calculated the participation index of the different countries. The bibliometric data were also been correlated with some social and health data from Malaysia (total per capita expenditure on health and gross domestic expenditure on R&D).

    Results: We found 105 original documents published between 2004 and 2016. Our results fulfilled Price's law, with scientific production on SGAs showing exponential growth (r = 0.401, vs. r = 0.260 after linear adjustment). The drugs most studied are olanzapine (9 documents), clozapine (7), and risperidone (7). Division into Bradford zones yields a nucleus occupied by the Medical Journal of Malaysia, Singapore Medical Journal, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, and Pharmacogenomics. Totally, 63 different journals were used, but only one in the top four journals had an impact factor being greater than 3.

    Conclusion: The publications on SGAs in Malaysia have undergone exponential growth, without evidence a saturation point.

    Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
  3. Lee LY, Muhardi L, Cheah FC, Supapannachart S, Teller IC, Bindels J, et al.
    J Paediatr Child Health, 2018 Apr;54(4):370-376.
    PMID: 29205630 DOI: 10.1111/jpc.13775
    AIM: To understand feeding practices, nutrition management and postnatal growth monitoring of term small-for-gestational age (tSGA) infants in Southeast Asia.

    METHODS: Anonymous questionnaires to assess practices on feeding, nutrition management and post-natal growth monitoring of tSGA infants were distributed among health-care professionals (HCPs) participating in regional/local perinatology symposia in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.

    RESULTS: Three hundred seventy-seven respondents from Malaysia (37%), Thailand (27%), Singapore (18%) and other Asian countries (19%) participated in the survey. Respondents were neonatologists (35%), paediatricians (25%) and other HCPs (40%) including nurses and midwives. Exclusive human milk feeding was reported the most preferred feeding option for tSGA infants, followed by fortified human milk feeding (60% and 20%, respectively). This was consistent among the different countries. The perceived nutrient requirements of tSGA infants varied between countries. Most respondents from Malaysia and Singapore reported requirements to be similar to preterm infants, while the majority from Thailand reported that it was less than those of preterm infants. The World Health Organization Growth Chart of 2006 and Fenton Growth Charts of 2013 were the most frequently used charts for growth monitoring in the hospital and after discharge.

    CONCLUSIONS: Nutrition management and perceived nutrient requirements for tSGA infants among practising HCPs in Southeast Asia showed considerable variation. The impetus to form standardised and evidence based feeding regimens is important as adequate nutritional management and growth monitoring particularly in this population of infants will have long term impact on population health.

    Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
  4. Chen LW, Low YL, Fok D, Han WM, Chong YS, Gluckman P, et al.
    Public Health Nutr, 2014 Sep;17(9):1930-8.
    PMID: 23806144 DOI: 10.1017/S1368980013001730
    OBJECTIVE: To examine changes in food consumption during pregnancy and the postpartum period in women of major Asian ethnic groups.

    DESIGN: Using interviewer-administered questionnaires, we assessed changes in food consumption during pregnancy (26-28 weeks' gestation) and the postpartum period (3 weeks after delivery) as compared with the usual pre-pregnancy diet.

    SETTING: Singapore.

    SUBJECTS: Pregnant women (n 1027) of Chinese, Malay and Indian ethnicity (mean age 30·4 (SD 5·2) years) who participated in the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) study.

    RESULTS: During pregnancy, participants tended to increase their consumption of milk, fruit and vegetables and decrease their consumption of tea, coffee, soft drinks and seafood (all P < 0·001). Most participants reported adherence to traditional restrictions ('confinement') during the early postpartum period (Chinese: 94·8 %, Malay: 91·6 %, Indian: 79·6 %). During the postpartum period, participants tended to increase their consumption of fish and milk-based drinks and decrease their consumption of noodles, seafood, and chocolates and sweets (all P < 0·001). Ethnic differences in food consumption were pronounced during the postpartum period. For example, most Chinese participants (87·2 %) increased their ginger consumption during the postpartum period as compared with smaller percentages of Malays (31·8 %) and Indians (40·8 %; P for ethnic difference <0·001). Similar ethnic differences were observed for cooking wine/alcohol, herbs and spices, and herbal tea consumption.

    CONCLUSIONS: Marked changes in food consumption that reflect both modern dietary recommendations and the persistence of traditional beliefs were observed in Singaporean women during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Traditional beliefs should be considered in interventions to improve dietary intakes during these periods.

    Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
  5. Gao H, Salim A, Lee J, Tai ES, van Dam RM
    Int J Obes (Lond), 2012 Aug;36(8):1086-93.
    PMID: 21946705 DOI: 10.1038/ijo.2011.185
    Diabetes in Asia constitutes approximately half of the global burden. Although insulin resistance and incidence of type 2 diabetes differ substantially between ethnic groups within Asia, the reasons for these differences are poorly understood. We evaluated to what extent body fatness, adiponectin levels and inflammation mediate the relationship between ethnicity and insulin resistance in an Asian setting.
    Matched MeSH terms: Singapore/epidemiology
  6. Reddy G, van Dam RM
    Appetite, 2020 06 01;149:104633.
    PMID: 32084519 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2020.104633
    The choice of food practices can be influenced by one's identity in many societies, but has mostly been evaluated in light of the maintenance of cultural identity in migrant populations. This study focused on understanding the influence of identity on food practices among individuals in multicultural societies. We conducted 18 focus group discussions (n = 130) among Indian, Chinese and Malay women in Singapore. Focus group transcripts were analysed using Thematic Analysis both inductively and deductively. Deductive analysis was framed within a Social Representations Approach, a social psychological theory that allows a deeper understanding of the contextual aspects of identity. Participants highlighted the central position of food in social events, cultural celebrations, and persistent traditional beliefs about health (such as 'hot-cold balance'). These beliefs extended to the perception of certain traditional foods possessing medicinal properties. Importantly, the consumption of these traditional foods was accepted as necessary for the maintenance of health by the women. We propose that while cultural food practices are integral to identity preservation and identity continuity for Singaporean women from all three racial groups, this is different to other multicultural societies such as Canada where communities preserve their cultural food practices, in part, due to fear of cultural identity loss. In addition, cross-cultural food practices are readily adopted in participants' daily lives for a number of reasons such as the promotion of health, convenience, and variety. At times, this adoption blurred boundaries between different cultural cuisines. Food practices in multicultural societies like Singapore are thus a reflection of everyday multiculturalism, multicultural social policies, and attitudes towards traditional healthful food practices, and these aspects need to be considered in the development of public health policies and interventions.
    Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
  7. Whitton C, Ho JCY, Tay Z, Rebello SA, Lu Y, Ong CN, et al.
    Nutrients, 2017 Sep 25;9(10).
    PMID: 28946670 DOI: 10.3390/nu9101059
    The assessment of diets in multi-ethnic cosmopolitan settings is challenging. A semi-quantitative 163-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was developed for the adult Singapore population, and this study aimed to assess its reproducibility and relative validity against 24-h dietary recalls (24 h DR) and biomarkers. The FFQ was administered twice within a six-month interval in 161 adults (59 Chinese, 46 Malay, and 56 Indian). Fasting plasma, overnight urine, and 24 h DR were collected after one month and five months. Intra-class correlation coefficients between the two FFQ were above 0.70 for most foods and nutrients. The median correlation coefficient between energy-adjusted deattenuated FFQ and 24 h DR nutrient intakes was 0.40 for FFQ1 and 0.39 for FFQ2, highest for calcium and iron, and lowest for energy and carbohydrates. Significant associations were observed between urinary isoflavones and soy protein intake (r = 0.46), serum carotenoids and fruit and vegetable intake (r = 0.34), plasma eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid (EPA + DHA) and fish/seafood intake (r = 0.36), and plasma odd chain saturated fatty acids (SFA) and dairy fat intake (r = 0.25). Associations between plasma EPA + DHA and fish/seafood intake were consistent across ethnic groups (r = 0.28-0.49), while differences were observed for other associations. FFQ assessment of dietary intakes in modern cosmopolitan populations remains feasible for the purpose of ranking individuals' dietary exposures in epidemiological studies.
    Matched MeSH terms: Singapore/epidemiology
  8. Vaingankar JA, Subramaniam M, Tan LWL, Abdin E, Lim WY, Wee HL, et al.
    BMC Med Res Methodol, 2018 03 15;18(1):29.
    PMID: 29544448 DOI: 10.1186/s12874-018-0487-9
    BACKGROUND: Measures of mental well-being and positive mental health (PMH) have been largely developed and used in Western populations, however, data on representative Asian communities are lacking. Using data from a population sample, this study sought to establish psychometric properties and norms of the PMH Instrument (PMH-I), a measure of positive mental health developed in Singapore.

    METHODS: We conducted a nationally representative survey among 1925 adults aged 18-79 years of Chinese, Malay, Indian or other ethnicity. Participants reported socio-demographic characteristics and completed the PMH-I along with measures of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and psychological distress. Construct validity of the PMH-I was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis and concurrent validity was tested through correlation with other psychological measures. Normative PMH values and differences in population subgroups were estimated.

    RESULTS: The six-factor-higher-order structure of the PMH-I comprising six subscales of general coping, emotional support, spirituality, interpersonal skills, personal growth and autonomy and global affect was confirmed. Concurrent validity was shown through significant positive correlation of the total PMH score and its subscales with HRQoL and an inverse correlation with psychological distress. Weighted age, gender and ethnicity-specific norms were derived for the Singapore population. Total PMH was significantly higher in participants aged over 40 years as compared with 18-29 year olds and in non-Chinese ethnic groups as compared with Chinese. These differences were observed for all PMH-I subscales, with the exception of emotional support and interpersonal skills score differences by age. In contrast, gender, marital status, and education level were significantly associated with some of the subscales, but not with total PMH.

    CONCLUSIONS: These results support the psychometric properties of the PMH-I in a multi-ethnic Asian population sample. The generalizable population-based norms support the application of the PMH-I for measuring mental health and assessing its determinants within the Singapore general population.

    Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
  9. Liu JJ, Sum CF, Tavintharan S, Yeoh LY, Ng XW, Moh AM, et al.
    Atherosclerosis, 2014 Oct;236(2):286-91.
    PMID: 25112799 DOI: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2014.07.017
    OBJECTIVE: Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) among the young population has become a serious concern globally, presumably due to the rising trend of obesity. Compared to other forms of diabetes, young-onset T2DM experiences more cardiovascular events and other vascular complications although the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. Increased arterial stiffness is a hallmark of vasculopathy. We aim to study the clinical and metabolic determinants of arterial stiffness in a cohort of multi-ethnic Asians with young-onset T2DM.
    METHODS: 179 subjects with T2DM onset age below 30 years old were selected in this cross sectional study. Arterial stiffness was assessed by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV).
    RESULTS: PWV was correlated with age, duration of diabetes, systolic blood pressure, alanine aminotransferase, urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) and eGFR in bivariate correlation analysis. However, PWV was only significantly correlated with body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, urinary ACR and eGFR after adjustment for age. Overweight individuals with young-onset T2DM had significantly higher PWV levels compared to their lean counterparts (7.3 ± 2.4 m/s vs 6.4 ± 2.3 m/s, p = 0.072 and p < 0.0001 without and with adjustment for age, respectively). Multivariable regression models revealed that age, BMI, eGFR and usage of insulin were independently associated with PWV. These 4 variables explained 35.5% variance in PWV levels.
    CONCLUSION: Age, BMI, renal function and insulin usage are the main determinants of PWV levels in Asians with young-onset T2DM. Notably, obesity is a modifiable determinant of arterial stiffness independent of high blood pressure, dyslipidemia and hyperglycemia in this population.
    Matched MeSH terms: Singapore/epidemiology
  10. Kulthanan K, Chusakul S, Recto MT, Gabriel MT, Aw DCW, Prepageran N, et al.
    Allergy Asthma Immunol Res, 2018 Jul;10(4):370-378.
    PMID: 29949833 DOI: 10.4168/aair.2018.10.4.370
    PURPOSE: Across Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, (referred to as Asia) approximately 30-53 million individuals of the 151 million employed suffer from allergic rhinitis (AR) and urticaria. It is estimated that approximately 90% of patients with these allergic conditions are insufficiently treated, impacting the socioeconomic burden in terms of absence from work and decreased productivity. This study aims to estimate the socioeconomic burden of allergies in Asia and the cost savings that their adequate management can provide. Due to the limited availability of regional data, this study focused AR and urticaria in selected countries.

    METHODS: Published literature, information from statistical bureaus, clinician surveys and extrapolation of selected data from the European Union were used to determine the socioeconomic costs of AR and urticaria.

    RESULTS: Many patients in Asia suffer from perennial allergies and experience symptoms of AR and urticaria for up to 298 days per year. An estimate of the indirect costs of patients insufficiently treated for AR and urticaria amounts to USD 105.4 billion a year, which equates to USD 1,137-2,195 per patient due to absenteeism and presenteeism. Adherence to guideline-approved treatment can lead to estimated savings of up to USD 104 billion.

    CONCLUSIONS: The current study suggests that within Asia, the socioeconomic impact of AR and urticaria is similar to that seen in the European Union in spite of the lower wages in Asia. This is due to the mainly perennial allergens prevailing in Asia, whereas the sensitization patterns observed in the European Union are dominated by seasonal exposure to pollen. These results underline the need for governmental initiatives to increase public awareness on the prevention and treatment of these and other allergic diseases as well as greater research funding and large-scale studies to reduce their growing socioeconomic burden in coming years.

    Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
  11. Zin CS
    J Pharm Bioallied Sci, 2020 Nov;12(Suppl 2):S846-S851.
    PMID: 33828388 DOI: 10.4103/jpbs.JPBS_252_19
    Background: It was reported that opioid consumption in developing countries was stagnated or decreased, but precise data on the consumption are unclear. This study examined the trends and patterns of opioid consumption in Malaysia and other four Southeast Asian countries.

    Materials and Methods: Data of five strong opioids consumption (morphine, oxycodone, fentanyl, pethidine, and methadone) between 2005 and 2014 from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam were extracted from the Pain and Policy Studies Group. Defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day (DDD/1000 inhabitants/day) was used for calculating the annual amount of opioid use.

    Results: The total consumption of five strong opioids was increased in all five Southeast Asian countries during a 10-year study period. Malaysia was recorded with the largest increase of the opioid consumption (993.18%), followed by Indonesia (530.34%), Vietnam (170.17%), Singapore (116.16%), and Thailand (104.66%). Malaysia also had the highest total strong opioid consumption (11.2 DDD/1000 inhabitants/day), primarily for methadone. Among the opioids used for pain management, fentanyl was primarily used in Malaysia and Singapore but the greatest increase in these two countries was for oxycodone. Fentanyl was also primarily used in Indonesia while morphine was predominantly used in Thailand and Vietnam.

    Conclusion: Growing trends of strong opioids consumption in all five Southeast Asian countries demonstrated in this study may indicate improved access to opioid analgesics in these countries. Given the increasing trends, it is important to ensure that the utilization of opioids is according to the guideline to prevent the negative consequences of opioids particularly when used in chronic non-cancer pain.

    Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
  12. Yahya P, Sulong S, Harun A, Wangkumhang P, Wilantho A, Ngamphiw C, et al.
    Int J Legal Med, 2020 Jan;134(1):123-134.
    PMID: 31760471 DOI: 10.1007/s00414-019-02184-0
    Ancestry-informative markers (AIMs) can be used to infer the ancestry of an individual to minimize the inaccuracy of self-reported ethnicity in biomedical research. In this study, we describe three methods for selecting AIM SNPs for the Malay population (Malay AIM panel) using different approaches based on pairwise FST, informativeness for assignment (In), and PCA-correlated SNPs (PCAIMs). These Malay AIM panels were extracted from genotype data stored in SNP arrays hosted by the Malaysian node of the Human Variome Project (MyHVP) and the Singapore Genome Variation Project (SGVP). In particular, genotype data from a total of 165 Malay individuals were analyzed, comprising data on 117 individual genotypes from the Affymetrix SNP-6 SNP array platform and data on 48 individual genotypes from the OMNI 2.5 Illumina SNP array platform. The HapMap phase 3 database (1397 individuals from 11 populations) was used as a reference for comparison with the Malay genotype data. The accuracy of each resulting Malay AIM panel was evaluated using a machine learning "ancestry-predictive model" constructed by using WEKA, a comprehensive machine learning platform written in Java. A total of 1250 SNPs were finally selected, which successfully identified Malay individuals from other world populations with an accuracy of 90%, but the accuracy decreased to 80% using 157 SNPs according to the pairwise FST method, while a panel of 200 SNPs selected using In and PCAIMs could be used to identify Malay individuals with an accuracy of approximately 80%.
    Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
  13. Cui L, Rao D, Zhang M
    Mitochondrial DNA B Resour, 2020 Nov 03;5(3):3670-3672.
    PMID: 33367054 DOI: 10.1080/23802359.2020.1832595
    The Asiatic softshell turtle, also known as the black-rayed softshell turtle (Amyda cartilaginea; Accession no: MT039230), is found in northeastern India (Mizoram), Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. This turtle is thought to have been introduced into the Sunda Islands, Sulawesi, and Yunnan, China, through the Malay Peninsula to Sumatra, Java, and Borneo. Herein, we determined the complete mitochondrial genome of A. cartilaginea for the first time using next-generation sequencing (NGS). The assembled mitogenome was 16,763 bp in length and encoded 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, two ribosomal RNA genes (12S rRNA and 16S rRNA), and one control region (CR). The PCGs based maximum-likelihood phylogeny discriminated A. cartilaginea from other Testudines and clusters within family Trionychidae with the sister taxa of Nilssonia nigricans.
    Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
  14. Cyranoski D, Law YH, Ong S, Phillips N, Zastrow M
    Nature, 2018 06;558(7711):502-510.
    PMID: 29950631 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-018-05506-1
    Matched MeSH terms: Singapore/epidemiology
  15. Rajadurai J, Lopez EA, Rahajoe AU, Goh PP, Uboldejpracharak Y, Zambahari R
    Nat Rev Cardiol, 2012 Aug;9(8):464-77.
    PMID: 22525668 DOI: 10.1038/nrcardio.2012.59
    Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is an under-recognized major health problem among women in South-East Asia. The prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, physical inactivity, and being overweight or obese has shown a significantly increasing trend among women in the region, with the exception of Singapore. The problem is compounded by low awareness that CVD is a health problem for women as well as for men, by misconceptions about the disease, and by the lack of suitable, locally available health literature. Efforts have been made by the national heart associations and other organizations to increase heart health awareness and promote healthy lifestyles. Singapore initiated these prevention programs in the early 1990s and has been successful in reducing the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors. The governments of the region, in accordance with the Noncommunicable Disease Alliance, have begun implementing appropriate preventive strategies and improving health-delivery systems. However, psychological, social, and cultural barriers to cardiovascular health awareness in women need to be addressed before these programs can be fully and successfully implemented.
    Matched MeSH terms: Singapore/epidemiology
  16. Chan SH, Dissanayake S, Mak JW, Ismail MM, Wee GB, Srinivasan N, et al.
    PMID: 6523169
    Similar HLA association was found in patients with elephantiasis in Sri Lankans and Southern Indians. HLA-B15 was observed in 13/44 (30%) Sri Lankan patients with elephantiasis compared to 1/27 (4%) Sri Lankan controls (p = .0058; RR = 10.9) and in 5/8 (28%) Southern Indian elephantiasis compared to 10/101 (10%) Southern Indian controls (p = 0.04; RR = 3.5). In combining the data, the significance of the difference of the frequency of B15 between patients with elephantiasis and controls was even more marked (p = 0.00045; corrected p = 0.012; RR = 4.4).
    Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
  17. Mohd Tahir Ismail, Zaidi Isa
    Sains Malaysiana, 2006;35:55-62.
    The behaviour of many financial time series cannot be modeled solely by linear time series model. Phenomena such as mean reversion, volatility of stock markets and structural breaks cannot be modelled implicitly using simple linear time series model. Thus, to overcome this problem, nonlinear time series models are typically designed to accommodate these nonlinear features in the data. In this paper, we use portmanteau test and structural change test to detect nonlinear feature in three ASEAN countries exchange rates (Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand). It is found that the null hypothesis of linearity is rejected and there is evidence of structural breaks in the exchange rates series. Therefore, the decision of using regime switching model in this study is justified. Using model selection criteria (AIC, SBC, HQC), we compare the in-sample fitting between two types of regime switching model. The two regime switching models we considered were the Self-Exciting Threshold Autoregressive (SETAR) model and the Markov switching Autoregressive (MS-AR) model where these models can explain the abrupt changes in a time series but differ as how they model the movement between regimes. From the AIC, SBC and HQC values, it is found that the MS -AR model is the best fitted model for all the return series. In addition, the regime switching model also found to perform better than simple autoregressive model in in-sample fitting. This result justified that nonlinear model give better in-sample fitting than linear model.
    Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
  18. Cicero A, Meyer D, Shearer MP, AbuBakar S, Bernard K, Carus WS, et al.
    Emerg Infect Dis, 2019 May;25(5).
    PMID: 31002062 DOI: 10.3201/eid2505.181659
    A strategic multilateral dialogue related to biosecurity risks in Southeast Asia, established in 2014, now includes participants from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, and the United States. This dialogue is conducted at the nonministerial level, enabling participants to engage without the constraints of operating in their official capacities. Participants reflect on mechanisms to detect, mitigate, and respond to biosecurity risks and highlight biosecurity issues for national leadership. Participants have also identified factors to improve regional and global biosecurity, including improved engagement and collaboration across relevant ministries and agencies, sustainable funding for biosecurity programs, enhanced information sharing for communicable diseases, and increased engagement in international biosecurity forums.
    Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
  19. Shahrizaila N, Kokubun N, Sawai S, Umapathi T, Chan YC, Kuwabara S, et al.
    Neurology, 2014 Jul 8;83(2):118-24.
    PMID: 24920848 DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000000577
    To comprehensively investigate the relationship between antibodies to single glycolipids and their complexes and Guillain-Barré syndrome subtypes and clinical features.
    Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
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