MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey on dentists' knowledge and their practices in prevention and early detection of oral cancer was conducted using a 26-item self-administered questionnaire.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: A response rate of 41.7% was achieved. The level of knowledge on early signs and risk habits associated with oral cancer was high and the majority reported to have conducted opportunistic screening and advised patients on risk habit cessation. Factors that influenced the dentist in practising prevention and early detection of oral cancer were continuous education on oral cancer, age, nature of practice and recent graduation. Notably, dentists were receptive to further training in the area of oral cancer detection and cessation of risk habits. Taken together, the study demonstrated that the dental clinic is a good avenue to conduct programs on opportunistic screening, and continuous education in these areas is necessary to adequately equip dentists in running these programs. Further, this study also highlighted knowledge deficits and practice shortcomings which will help in planning and developing programs that further encourage better participation of dentists in prevention and early detection of oral cancer.
METHODS: We conducted a series medical examinations among the forestry, construction and automobile industry workers in Malaysia adopting the compulsory medical examination procedure used by Wakayama Medical University for Japanese vibratory tools workers. We matched the duration of vibration exposure and compared our results against the Japanese workers. We also compared the results of the Malaysian tree fellers against a group of symptomatic Japanese tree fellers diagnosed with HAVS.
RESULTS: Malaysian subjects reported a similar prevalence of finger tingling, numbness and dullness (Malaysian=25.0%, Japanese=21.5%, p=0.444) but had a lower finger skin temperature (FST) and higher vibrotactile perception threshold (VPT) values as compared with the Japanese workers. No white finger was reported in Malaysian subjects. The FST and VPT of the Malaysian tree fellers were at least as bad as the Japanese tree fellers despite a shorter duration (mean difference=20.12 years, 95%CI=14.50, 25.40) of vibration exposure.
CONCLUSIONS: Although the vascular disorder does not manifest clinically in the tropical environment, the severity of HAVS can be as bad as in the temperate environment with predominantly neurological disorder. Hence, it is essential to formulate national legislation for the control of the occupational vibration exposure.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study involved 202 Malaysian Road Police Traffic officers. Inclusion criteria were those officers who work wearing white uniform regulating traffic. The survey took place at the Police Traffic Station, Jln Tun H.S. Lee, Kuala Lumpur, the main Head Quarters of Malaysian's Traffic Department where almost 600 police traffic officers are employed. The police traffic officers are given the task to take care of the traffic from the main office of the police station, then, according to the task, the officers drive to their given location for their duty. Each task is approved by the Chief Traffic Inspector of Kuala Lumpur. Data collected in this study were analyzed using SPSS 13, with the T-test for univariate analysis and multiple linear regression for multivariate analysis.
RESULTS: A total of 202 road traffic police officers participated. The majority were older than 30 years of age, male, Malay, married, with secondary education, with monthly income more than 2000 Ringgit Malaysia (66.3%, 91.1%, 86.6%, 84.7%, 96%, 66.3%; respectively). Regarding the practice of skin cancer prevention, 84.6% of the study participants were found to wear hats, 68.9% sunglasses and 85.6% clothing that covering most of the body but only 16.9% used a sunscreen when they were outdoors. When analysis of the factors that influenced the practice of skin cancer prevention was performed, univariate analysis revealed that gender, age and monthly income significantly influenced the practice of skin cancer prevention. For multivariate analysis, gender, monthly income and race significantly influenced the practice of using sunscreen among road traffic police officers (p<0.001, p=0.019, p=0.027; respectively).
CONCLUSIONS: The practice of skin cancer prevention among the traffic police officers showed good practices in terms of wearinga hat, sun glasses and clothing that covers most of the body. However, the study revealed a poor practice of the use of sunscreen. The factors that influence the practice of sunscreen use were found to be gender, income, and race. The study suggests that more awareness campaign among traffic police officers is needed. Providing sunscreen for free for police traffic officers should be considered by the Police authorities.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thos longitudinal study started in February 2011 and the subjects were 2552 form one students aged between twelve to thirteen years of from 15 government secondary schools of Kinta, Perak. Data on demographic, parental, school and peer factors were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. We examined the effects of peer, school and parental factors on the five stages of smoking; never smokers, susceptible never smokers, experimenters, current smokers and ex-smokers, at baseline.
RESULTS: In the sample, 19.3% were susceptible never smokers, 5.5% were current smokers 6% were experimenters and 3.1% were ex-smokers. Gender, ethnicity, best friends' smoking status, high peer pressure, higher number of relatives who smoked and parental monitoring were found to be associated with smoking stages. Presence of parent-teen conflict was only associated with susceptible never smokers and experimenters whereas absence of home discussion on smoking hazards was associated with susceptible never smokers and current smokers.
CONCLUSIONS: We identified variations in the factors associated with the different stages of smoking. Our results highlight that anti-smoking strategies should be tailored according to the different smoking stages.