MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional observational study conducted in SGH during the pandemic with an online self-administered questionnaire composed of two parts, the socio-demographic characteristics, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS).
RESULTS: A total of 105 healthcare workers responded to this study. A questionnaire in both Bahasa Melayu and English was used. The findings showed that all healthcare workers had mild anxiety, with the majority experiencing mild stress (57.1%), and almost half of the respondents experiencing mild depression (41%). Female subjects had a significant higher mean score in anxiety level and stress level compared to male subjects (10.0±3.20 vs. 8.6±2.93, p<0.05; 14.1±4.76 vs. 10.7±3.70, p<0.05, respectively). Staff who were transferred from other units to handle COVID-19 cases experienced more psychological symptoms. There were significant correlations between the depression, anxiety and stress levels among the healthcare workers and the number of children they had (r=0.739, p=0.001; r=0.642, p=0.001; r=1, p =0.001 respectively). However, the stress level among the healthcare workers was reversely correlated with their years of working experience (r=-0.199, p=0.042).
CONCLUSION: This study identified some socio-demographic factors associated with increased levels of stress, anxiety and depression among the healthcare workers during pandemic, which may lay ground for future interventions.
OBJECTIVE: This study developed, implemented and evaluated the outcome of a chemotherapy counseling module among oncology patients by pharmacists based on their psychological effects (depression, anxiety) and selfesteem.
METHODS: A randomized, single blind, placebo controlled study was conducted among 162 patients undergoing chemotherapy in a government hospital in Malaysia.
INTERVENTION: Counseling sessions were conducted using the 'Managing Patients on Chemotherapy' module for oncology patients undergoing chemotherapy at each treatment cycle.
OUTCOME: The outcome of repetitive chemotherapy counseling using the module was determined at baseline, first follow-up, second follow-up and third follow-up.
RESULTS: The findings revealed that there was significant improvement in the intervention group as compared to the control group with large effect size on depression (p = 0.001, partial η(2) = 0.394), anxiety (p = 0.001, partial η(2) = 0.232) and self-esteem (p = 0.001, partial η(2) = 0.541).
CONCLUSION: Repetitive counseling using the 'Managing Patients on Chemotherapy' module was found to be effective in improving psychological effects and self-esteem among patients undergoing chemotherapy.
OBJECTIVE: To validate the Malay version of the DASS-21 (Malay-DASS-21) among male outpatient clinic attendees in Johor.
METHODS: A validation study with a random sample of 402 male respondents attending the outpatient clinic of a major public outpatient clinic in Johor Bahru and Segamat was carried out from January to March 2016. Construct validity of the Malay-DASS-21 was examined using Exploratory Factor Analysis (KMO = 0.947; Bartlett's test of sphericity is significant, p<0.001) through Principal Component Analysis and orthogonal (varimax) rotation with Kaiser Normalization to confirm the psychometric properties of the Malay-DASS- 21 and the internal consistency reliability using Cronbach's alpha.
RESULTS: Construct validity of the Malay-DASS-21 based on eigenvalues and factor loadings to confirm the three factor structure (depression, anxiety, and stress) was acceptable. The internal consistency reliability of the factor construct was very impressive with Cronbach's alpha values in the range of 0.837 to 0.863.
CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that the Malay- DASS-21 has acceptable psychometric construct and high internal consistency reliability to measure self-perceived depression, anxiety and stress over the past week in male outpatient clinic attendees in Johor. Further studies are necessary to revalidate the Malay-DASS-21 across different populations and cultures, and using confirmatory factor analyses.
METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of the database of a multicentre study which recorded participants' basic demographical and clinical data in standardised format in 10 Asian countries and territories. The data were analysed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses.
RESULTS: A total of 955 older adult psychiatric in- and outpatients were included in this study. The proportion of concurrent AP and AD use was 32.0%, ranging from 23.3% in Korea to 44.0% in Taiwan. Multivariate logistic regression analysis found that younger age, inpatient status and diagnosis of schizophrenia, anxiety and other mental disorders were significantly related to a higher proportion of concurrent use of APs and ADs.
CONCLUSION: Around a third of older adult psychiatric patients had concurrent AP and AD use in the Asian countries/regions surveyed. Considering the uncertain effectiveness and questionable safety of the AP and AD combination in this patient population, such should be cautiously used.
METHODS: A total of 148 depressive patients receiving escitalopram 10-20 mg/day were genotyped for 5HTTLPR and rs25531 polymorphisms. Clinical assessment was done at baseline and after 4, 8, and 12 weeks using the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS-17), Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), and Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI). At the end of week 12, patients were defined as responders and non-responders based on HDRS17 and MADRS scores. Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were performed to investigate the genotypic influence on treatment response. Comparison of continuous variables among different groups was done using Student's t test or one-way ANOVA.
RESULTS: Out of 148 study subjects, 65 (43.9%) were responders and 83 (56.08%) were non-responders. We observed a significant (p value