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Fulltext Gaussian smoothing and modified histogram normalization methods to improve neural-biomarker interpretations for dyslexia classification mechanism

Usman OL, Muniyandi RC, Omar K, Mohamad M

PLoS One, 2021;16(2):e0245579.
PMID: 33630876 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0245579

Achieving biologically interpretable neural-biomarkers and features from neuroimaging datasets is a challenging task in an MRI-based dyslexia study. This challenge becomes more pronounced when the needed MRI datasets are collected from multiple heterogeneous sources with inconsistent scanner settings. This study presents a method of improving the biological interpretation of dyslexia's neural-biomarkers from MRI datasets sourced from publicly available open databases. The proposed system utilized a modified histogram normalization (MHN) method to improve dyslexia neural-biomarker interpretations by mapping the pixels' intensities of low-quality input neuroimages to range between the low-intensity region of interest (ROIlow) and high-intensity region of interest (ROIhigh) of the high-quality image. This was achieved after initial image smoothing using the Gaussian filter method with an isotropic kernel of size 4mm. The performance of the proposed smoothing and normalization methods was evaluated based on three image post-processing experiments: ROI segmentation, gray matter (GM) tissues volume estimations, and deep learning (DL) classifications using Computational Anatomy Toolbox (CAT12) and pre-trained models in a MATLAB working environment. The three experiments were preceded by some pre-processing tasks such as image resizing, labelling, patching, and non-rigid registration. Our results showed that the best smoothing was achieved at a scale value, σ = 1.25 with a 0.9% increment in the peak-signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR). Results from the three image post-processing experiments confirmed the efficacy of the proposed methods. Evidence emanating from our analysis showed that using the proposed MHN and Gaussian smoothing methods can improve comparability of image features and neural-biomarkers of dyslexia with a statistically significantly high disc similarity coefficient (DSC) index, low mean square error (MSE), and improved tissue volume estimations. After 10 repeated 10-fold cross-validation, the highest accuracy achieved by DL models is 94.7% at a 95% confidence interval (CI) level. Finally, our finding confirmed that the proposed MHN method significantly outperformed the normalization method of the state-of-the-art histogram matching.
Fulltext Clinical and Sociodemographic Predictors of the Quality of Life among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia

Jusoh Z, Tohid H, Omar K, Muhammad NA, Ahmad S

Malays J Med Sci, 2018 Feb;25(1):84-95.
PMID: 29599638 MyJurnal DOI: 10.21315/mjms2018.25.1.10

Background: The quality of life (QoL) describes the multidimensional self-perceived well-being of a person, which is an important diabetes outcome. This study aimed to measure the QoL scores among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), as well as their clinical and sociodemographic predictors.

Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 180 randomly sampled patients at a primary care clinic on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. A self-administered questionnaire containing the Audit of Diabetes Dependent Quality of Life-18 (ADDQoL-18) was used.

Results: Most of the respondents (96.7%) were Malay, with a median (interquartile range, IQR) age of 54.0 (14.0) years old. The majority of them were females (60.0%), married (81.1%) and from low-income families (63.3%), who attained a secondary education or lower (75.6%). Only 49.4% of them were employed. The mean (standard deviation, SD) ADDQoL-18 average weighted impact score was -4.58 (2.21) and all 18 domains were negatively affected, particularly the living condition, family life and working life. The multiple linear regression analysis showed that the age (adjusted B = 0.05,P= 0.004) and insulin use (adjusted B = -0.84,P= 0.011) were QoL predictors.

Conclusion: T2DM negatively impacts the patient's QoL in all aspects of their life. The QoL improvement with age suggests that the older patients had accepted and adapted to their illness. The need to improve the QoL among insulin users was also highlighted.
Study site: Klinik Kesihatan, Malaysia
Fulltext Factors influencing insulin acceptance among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients in a primary care clinic: a qualitative exploration

Abu Hassan H, Tohid H, Mohd Amin R, Long Bidin MB, Muthupalaniappen L, Omar K

BMC Fam Pract, 2013;14:164.
PMID: 24164794 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2296-14-164

BACKGROUND: Many Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) patients refuse insulin therapy even when they require this modality of treatment. However, some eventually accept insulin. This study aimed to explore the T2DM patients' reasons for accepting insulin therapy and their initial barriers to use insulin.
METHODS: This qualitative study interviewed twenty-one T2DM patients at a primary care clinic who had been on insulin for more than a year through three in-depth interviews and three focus group discussions. A semi structured interview protocol was used and the sessions were audio-recorded. Subsequently, thematic analysis was conducted to identify major themes.
RESULTS: The participants' acceptance of insulin was influenced by their concerns and beliefs about diabetes and insulin. Concerns about complications of poorly controlled diabetes and side effects of other treatment regime had resulted in insulin acceptance among the participants. They also had a strong belief in insulin benefits and effectiveness. These concerns and beliefs were the results of having good knowledge about the diabetes and insulin, experiential learning, as well as doctors' practical and emotional support that helped them to accept insulin therapy and become efficient in self-care management. These factors also allayed their negative concerns and beliefs towards diabetes and insulin, which were their barriers for insulin acceptance as it caused fear to use insulin. These negative concerns were related to injection (self-injection, needle phobia, injection pain), and insulin use (inconvenience, embarrassment, lifestyle restriction, negative social stigma, and poor self-efficacy), whereas the negative beliefs were 'insulin could cause organ damage', 'their diabetes was not serious enough', 'insulin is for life-long', and 'insulin is for more severe disease only'.
CONCLUSIONS: Exploring patients' concerns and beliefs about diabetes and insulin is crucial to assist physicians in delivering patient-centered care. By understanding this, physicians could address their concerns with aim to modify their patients' misconceptions towards insulin therapy. In addition, continuous educations as well as practical and emotional support from others were found to be valuable for insulin acceptance.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia FF-214-2009.
Study site: Primary Care clinic, Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Fulltext Knowledge of colorectal cancer among patients presenting with rectal bleeding and its association with delay in seeking medical advice

Mohd Hashim S, Tong SF, Omar K, Abdul Rashid MR, Shah SA, Sagap I

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2011;12(8):2007-11.
PMID: 22292642

BACKGROUND: Knowledge is believed to be a driving factor for patients' early presentation for healthcare. This study was conducted to assess knowledge of colorectal cancer among subjects presenting with rectal bleeding and to determine its association with late presentation.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 80 patients with rectal bleeding, aged 40 and above, was conducted between December 2008 and June 2009 in the endoscopy unit, University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre. The research instruments used in this study was a self-administered questionnaire including data on duration of rectal bleeding, first medical consultation and knowledge of colorectal cancer.

RESULTS: Sixty percent of subjects with rectal bleeding delayed seeking medical advice. Subjects were more aware of symptoms of non-colorectal cancers compared to symptoms of colorectal cancer. The majority of subjects (63.8%) correctly identified rectal bleeding as a symptom but were not aware of the best screening method to detect colorectal cancer. Half of the subjects knew increasing age and genetic background to be risk factors for colorectal carcinoma. However, knowledge of colorectal cancer was not found to be significantly associated with delay in seeking help.

CONCLUSION: Findings indicate poor awareness of colorectal cancer among the subjects. Although public education of colorectal cancer is important for early presentation on rectal bleeding, further studies are advocated to evaluate other factors influencing patients' help seeking behavior other than knowledge.
Adolescent pregnancy outcomes and risk factors in Malaysia

Omar K, Hasim S, Muhammad NA, Jaffar A, Hashim SM, Siraj HH

Int J Gynaecol Obstet, 2010 Dec;111(3):220-3.
PMID: 20800837 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijgo.2010.06.023

OBJECTIVE: To assess the outcomes and risk factors of adolescent pregnancies in 2 major hospitals in Malaysia.
METHODS: We conducted a case-control study of pregnant girls aged 10 through 19 years. The controls were women aged 20 through 35 years who did not become pregnant in their adolescence. Cases and controls were matched for parity and place of delivery. Data were collected from questionnaires and the hospitals' medical records.
RESULTS: The study included 102 cases and 102 controls. There were significant associations between adolescent pregnancy and low education level, low socioeconomic status, being raised by a single parent, not engaging in extracurricular school activities, engaging in unsupervised activities with peers after school, and substance abuse (P<0.05 for all); being anemic, being unsure of the expected delivery date, and having few antenatal visits and a late delivery booking; and low Apgar scores and perinatal complications.
CONCLUSION: Adolescent pregnancies are high-risk pregnancies. Better sexual health strategies are required to address the associated complications.
Fulltext Factors influencing late consultation among patients with rectal bleeding in University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre

Hashim SM, Omar K, Fah TS, Rashid RA, Daud TI, Shah SA, et al.

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2010;11(5):1335-9.
PMID: 21198288

BACKGROUND: Patients' delay in the presentation with rectal bleeding had been identified as a factor for late diagnosis of colorectal cancer. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of delay in consulting a medical practitioner and identifying associated factors.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 80 patients with rectal bleeding, aged 40 and above, was conducted between December 2008 and June 2009 in the endoscopy unit, University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre. The self-administered questionnaire included data on sociodemographic, concern of rectal bleeding, whether patients sought initial advice, any self treatment prior to medical consultation and patients' opinion on causes of their own rectal bleeding.

RESULTS: The prevalence of delay in the presentation of rectal bleeding was 60%. Patients who were less worried (OR 9.6; 95% CI 3.3-27.5), who did not seek anyoneandapos;s advice (OR 11.8; 95% CI 3.8-36.8) and took some treatment before seeking medical consultation (OR 5.0; 95% CI 1.0-24.1) were significantly more likely to delay. Multiple logistic regression revealed that less worry of rectal bleeding and not seeking anyoneandapos;s advice were important predictors (p<0.05). The majority of patients attributed their bleeding to benign causes.

CONCLUSION: A high proportion of patients with rectal bleeding in the high risk group delayed in seeking medical advice. Public education needs to focus on interventions to reduce the delay in presenting and diagnosis of colorectal carcinoma.
Fulltext Medicines information provided by pharmaceutical representatives: a comparative study in Australia and Malaysia

Othman N, Vitry AI, Roughead EE, Ismail SB, Omar K

BMC Public Health, 2010;10:743.
PMID: 21118551 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-10-743

BACKGROUND: Pharmaceutical representatives provide medicines information on their promoted products to doctors. However, studies have shown that the quality of this information is often low. No study has assessed the medicines information provided by pharmaceutical representatives to doctors in Malaysia and no recent evidence in Australia is present. We aimed to compare the provision of medicines information by pharmaceutical representatives to doctors in Australia and Malaysia.
METHODS: Following a pharmaceutical representative's visit, general practitioners in Australia and Malaysia who had agreed to participate, were asked to fill out a questionnaire on the main product and claims discussed during the encounter. The questionnaire focused on provision of product information including indications, adverse effects, precautions, contraindications and the provision of information on the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS) listings and restrictions (in Australia only). Descriptive statistics were produced. Chi-square analysis and clustered linear regression were used to assess differences in Australia and Malaysia.
RESULTS: Significantly more approved product information sheets were provided in Malaysia (78%) than in Australia (53%) (P < 0.001). In both countries, general practitioners reported that indications (Australia, 90%, Malaysia, 93%) and dosages (Australia, 76%, Malaysia, 82%) were frequently provided by pharmaceutical representatives. Contraindications, precautions, drug interactions and adverse effects were often omitted in the presentations (range 25% - 41%). General practitioners in Australia and Malaysia indicated that in more than 90% of presentations, pharmaceutical representatives partly or fully answered their questions on contraindications, precautions, drug interactions and adverse effects. More general practitioners in Malaysia (85%) than in Australia (60%) reported that pharmaceutical representatives should have mentioned contraindications, precautions for use, drug interaction or adverse effects spontaneously (P < 0.001). In 48% of the Australian presentations, general practitioners reported the pharmaceutical representatives failed to mention information on PBS listings to general practitioners.
CONCLUSIONS: Information on indications and dosages were usually provided by pharmaceutical representatives in Australia and Malaysia. However, risk and harmful effects of medicines were often missing in their presentations. Effective control of medicines information provided by pharmaceutical representatives is needed.
Fulltext Physical and psychosocial impacts of pregnancy on adolescents and their coping strategies: a descriptive study in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Su XV, Muhammad NA, Tan PS, Tan KTM, Tohid H, Omar K

Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine, 2014;14(3):0-0.
MyJurnal

Teenage pregnancy carries serious impacts on adolescent health. This study aimed to examine the effects of pregnancy on adolescents and to explore how they cope with the problems they faced during the pregnancy. It involved 26 adolescents residing in a government shelter home in Kuala Lumpur. A self-administered questionnaire containing a mixture of open- and closed-ended questions was used. Among physical (sleeping problem and self-care problem), psychological (emotional difficulties and low self-efficacy) and social (stigma and discrimination, financial difficulty, friendship problem and school dropout) problems, emotional difficulties were the most common problems, whereas stigma and discrimination was the least common. Young adolescents aged less than 16 years old were significantly associated with poor self-care (p=0.01). To cope with their problems, the adolescents generally used avoidance, withdrawal, and social support, particularly from parents and peers. Doctors were the least popular among all. In conclusion, holistic and individualised care is needed. Strategies to reduce emotional problem experienced by pregnant adolescents should be implemented. The available healthcare services for teenage pregnancy should also be promoted.
Fulltext Assessing wellbeing: Profiling and socioeconomic status of Kenyir Lake side community, Malaysia

Ab Manaf N, Sa'at NH, A Rahim NAA, Kamaruddin SNAA, Abdullah SS, Omar K

Heliyon, 2023 Jun;9(6):e16399.
PMID: 37303545 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16399

The Kenyir Lake side community offers numerous advantages to the local community. However, the problems of backwardness and poverty have been identified as the government's main challenges in its efforts to develop the community and maximise the advantages. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify the Kenyir Lake community's profile and assess its well-being. The study was conducted in three sub-districts near Tasik Kenyir, namely Kuala Berang, Hulu Telemong, and Jenagor, with a total of 510 respondents, who are heads of households (HOH). This study was carried out using a quantitative approach using questionnaire with a simple random sampling method. The findings of this study offered demographic profiling and discovered nine indicators of well-being, namely 1) Life Achievement, 2) Health Level, 3) Family Relationship, 4) Community Relationship, 5) Spiritual Level, 6) Safety Level and Social Problems, 7) Income or Finance, 8) Basic Facilities, and 9) Communication Technology. The study found that most respondents are satisfied with their lives now compared to 10 years ago. This study will help many parties to develop the Kenyir Lake Side Community, starting from the local authorities to the highest administration in the country.
Fulltext Optimised genetic algorithm-extreme learning machine approach for automatic COVID-19 detection

Albadr MAA, Tiun S, Ayob M, Al-Dhief FT, Omar K, Hamzah FA

PLoS One, 2020;15(12):e0242899.
PMID: 33320858 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242899

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is an ongoing global pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome. Chest Computed Tomography (CT) is an effective method for detecting lung illnesses, including COVID-19. However, the CT scan is expensive and time-consuming. Therefore, this work focus on detecting COVID-19 using chest X-ray images because it is widely available, faster, and cheaper than CT scan. Many machine learning approaches such as Deep Learning, Neural Network, and Support Vector Machine; have used X-ray for detecting the COVID-19. Although the performance of those approaches is acceptable in terms of accuracy, however, they require high computational time and more memory space. Therefore, this work employs an Optimised Genetic Algorithm-Extreme Learning Machine (OGA-ELM) with three selection criteria (i.e., random, K-tournament, and roulette wheel) to detect COVID-19 using X-ray images. The most crucial strength factors of the Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) are: (i) high capability of the ELM in avoiding overfitting; (ii) its usability on binary and multi-type classifiers; and (iii) ELM could work as a kernel-based support vector machine with a structure of a neural network. These advantages make the ELM efficient in achieving an excellent learning performance. ELMs have successfully been applied in many domains, including medical domains such as breast cancer detection, pathological brain detection, and ductal carcinoma in situ detection, but not yet tested on detecting COVID-19. Hence, this work aims to identify the effectiveness of employing OGA-ELM in detecting COVID-19 using chest X-ray images. In order to reduce the dimensionality of a histogram oriented gradient features, we use principal component analysis. The performance of OGA-ELM is evaluated on a benchmark dataset containing 188 chest X-ray images with two classes: a healthy and a COVID-19 infected. The experimental result shows that the OGA-ELM achieves 100.00% accuracy with fast computation time. This demonstrates that OGA-ELM is an efficient method for COVID-19 detecting using chest X-ray images.
Fulltext Validation of the Malay version of the Parental Bonding Instrument among Malaysian youths using exploratory factor analysis

Muhammad NA, Shamsuddin K, Omar K, Shah SA, Mohd Amin R

Malays J Med Sci, 2014 Sep-Oct;21(5):51-9.
PMID: 25977634 MyJurnal

Parenting behaviour is culturally sensitive. The aims of this study were (1) to translate the Parental Bonding Instrument into Malay (PBI-M) and (2) to determine its factorial structure and validity among the Malaysian population.
Fulltext Perceived effects of the Malaysian National Tobacco Control Programme on adolescent smoking cessation: a qualitative study

Tohid H, Ishak N, Muhammad NA, Ahmad FN, Aziz AA, Omar K

Malays J Med Sci, 2012 Apr;19(2):35-47.
PMID: 22973136 MyJurnal

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of teenage smoking has decreased over the past decade following the implementation of the national tobacco control programme. However, the effect of the programme on smoking cessation in teenagers has not been determined.
METHODS: Twenty-eight participants (12 teenagers, 8 teachers, and 8 doctors) were interviewed using 5 in-depth interviews and 3 group discussions. Social cognitive theory (SCT) was applied as the theoretical framework. Semi-structured interview protocols were used, and thematic analysis and analytic generalisation utilising SCT were performed.
RESULTS: The current national tobacco control programme was found to be ineffective in promoting smoking cessation among teenagers. The participants attributed the ineffective campaign to the followings: inadequacy of message content, lack of exposure to the programme, and poor presentation and execution. In addition, the participants perceived the developed tobacco control policies to be a failure based on poor law enforcement, failure of retailers to comply with the law, social availability of cigarettes to teenagers, and easy availability of cheap, smuggled cigarettes. This study highlighted that the programme-related problems (environmental factors) were not the only factors contributing to its perceived ineffectiveness. The cunning behaviour of the teenagers (personal factor) and poor self-efficacy to overcome nicotine addiction (behavioural factor) were also found to hinder cessation.
CONCLUSION: Tobacco control programmes should include strategies beyond educating teenagers about smoking and restricting their access to cigarettes. Strategies to manage the cunning behaviour of teenagers and strategies to improve their self-efficacy should also be implemented. These comprehensive programmes should have a foundation in SCT, as this theory demonstrates the complex interactions among the environmental, personal, and behavioural factors that influence teenage smoking.
KEYWORDS: adolescent; health campaigns; qualitative research; tobacco cessation; tobacco smoking
Correlates of depression, anxiety and stress among Malaysian university students

Shamsuddin K, Fadzil F, Ismail WS, Shah SA, Omar K, Muhammad NA, et al.

Asian J Psychiatr, 2013 Aug;6(4):318-23.
PMID: 23810140 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajp.2013.01.014

University students face not only challenges related with independent living, but also academic challenges. This predisposes them to depression, anxiety and stress, which are fairly common.
Fulltext The impact of a disease management program (COACH) on the attainment of better cardiovascular risk control in dyslipidaemic patients at primary care centres (The DISSEMINATE Study): a randomised controlled trial

Selvaraj FJ, Mohamed M, Omar K, Nanthan S, Kusiar Z, Subramaniam SY, et al.

BMC Fam Pract, 2012;13:97.
PMID: 23046818 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2296-13-97

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the efficacy of Counselling and Advisory Care for Health (COACH) programme in managing dyslipidaemia among primary care practices in Malaysia. This open-label, parallel, randomised controlled trial compared the COACH programme delivered by primary care physicians alone (PCP arm) and primary care physicians assisted by nurse educators (PCP-NE arm).
METHODS: This was a multi-centre, open label, randomised trial of a disease management programme (COACH) among dyslipidaemic patients in 21 Malaysia primary care practices. The participating centres enrolled 297 treatment naïve subjects who had the primary diagnosis of dyslipidaemia; 149 were randomised to the COACH programme delivered by primary care physicians assisted by nurse educators (PCP-NE) and 148 to care provided by primary care physicians (PCP) alone. The primary efficacy endpoint was the mean percentage change from baseline LDL-C at week 24 between the 2 study arms. Secondary endpoints included mean percentage change from baseline of lipid profile (TC, LDL-C, HDL-C, TG, TC: HDL ratio), Framingham Cardiovascular Health Risk Score and absolute risk change from baseline in blood pressure parameters at week 24. The study also assessed the sustainability of programme efficacy at week 36.
RESULTS: Both study arms demonstrated improvement in LDL-C from baseline. The least squares (LS) mean change from baseline LDL-C were -30.09% and -27.54% for PCP-NE and PCP respectively. The difference in mean change between groups was 2.55% (p=0.288), with a greater change seen in the PCP-NE arm. Similar observations were made between the study groups in relation to total cholesterol change at week 24. Significant difference in percentage change from baseline of HDL-C were observed between the PCP-NE and PCP groups, 3.01%, 95% CI 0.12-5.90, p=0.041, at week 24. There was no significant difference in lipid outcomes between 2 study groups at week 36 (12 weeks after the programme had ended).
CONCLUSION: Patients who received coaching and advice from primary care physicians (with or without the assistance by nurse educators) showed improvement in LDL-cholesterol. Disease management services delivered by PCP-NE demonstrated a trend towards add-on improvements in cholesterol control compared to care delivered by physicians alone; however, the improvements were not maintained when the services were withdrawn.
TRIAL REGISTRATION:
National Medical Research Registration (NMRR) Number: NMRR-08-287-1442Trial Registration Number (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier): NCT00708370.
Fulltext The effect of kelulut honey on fasting blood glucose and metabolic parameters in patients with impaired fasting glucose

Rashid MR, Nor Aripin KN, Syed Mohideen FB, Baharom N, Omar K, Md Taujuddin NMS, et al.

J Nutr Metab, 2019;2019:3176018.
PMID: 30863635 DOI: 10.1155/2019/3176018

Background: Impaired fasting glucose (IFG) poses a higher risk of diabetes. Honey has been reported to improve metabolic abnormalities including lowering hyperglycemia. This study is sought at determining the effect of Malaysian Kelulut honey (KH) on fasting glucose levels and metabolic parameters in IFG patients.
Methods: This quasi-experimental intervention study of 30-day duration was conducted among 60 adult patients with IFG. They were allocated into taking 30 g/day KH group (experimental group, n=30) and not taking KH group (control group, n=30). Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, blood pressure (BP), fasting glucose, and lipid profile levels (total cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein, and low-density lipoprotein) were measured before and after treatment.
Results: There was no significant difference in all measured variables at day 30 compared to day 1 within both groups. Similarly, all measured variables neither at day 1 nor at day 30 had shown a statistically significant difference between the groups.
Conclusions: Daily intake of 30 g KH for 30 days resulted in insignificant effect on fasting glucose, fasting lipid profiles, and other metabolic parameters in patients with IFG. Further studies that employ longer study duration are needed to ascertain the finding.
Study site: Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) Specialist Centre, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, and Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
Fulltext Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Oral Hygiene Among Students of a Private University

Iqbal MZ, Rathi R, Prajapati SK, Omar K, Bahari MB, Rajan S, et al.

J Pharm Bioallied Sci, 2021;13(1):123-128.
PMID: 34084058 DOI: 10.4103/jpbs.JPBS_298_20

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice among pre-final and final year students of pharmacy, medicine, biotechnology, and business faculties about oral hygiene.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of students towards oral hygiene at a private university in Malaysia. Validated questionnaires were distributed to a convenient stratified sample of 324 students studying in the different selected faculties, namely pharmacy, medicine, biotechnology, and business, respectively. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 24.0 was used to analyze the data.
RESULTS: With regard to knowledge, upon evaluation, it was seen that the students of the Faculty of Pharmacy had the highest percentage of adequate knowledge, which was statistically significant with a P-value of 0.001 and the effect size of 0.246. On the evaluation of attitudes, it was seen that the Faculty of Biotechnology had the highest positive attitudes. According to race, Malay students had the highest positive attitude among all the races that participated in the study, which showed a P-value of 0.037 with the effect size of 0.034. Regarding practice, the Faculty of Pharmacy had the lowest practice compared with the other faculties. This variable had a P-value of 0.001 and showed to have significance against the practice with an effect size of 0.193.
CONCLUSION: Overall, a good attitude was seen amongst the students on their oral hygiene. It was also observed that the attitude, knowledge, and practice of the students in a private university increased with an increasing level of education.
Fulltext Risk stratification and assessment framework for international travel and border measures amidst the COVID-19 pandemic - A Malaysian perspective

Omar K, Baha Raja D, Abdul Taib NA, Rajaram N, Ahmed J, Arvinder-Singh HS, et al.

Travel Med Infect Dis, 2022;47:102318.
PMID: 35342008 DOI: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2022.102318

BACKGROUND: Guided by the best practices adapted from national and international bodies including the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the UK Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC), this paper aims to develop and provide an empirical risk stratification and assessment framework for advancing the safe resumption of global travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.
METHOD: Variables included in our model are categorized into four pillars: (i) incidence of cases, (ii) reliability of case data, (iii) vaccination, and (iv) variant surveillance. These measures are combined based on weights that reflect their corresponding importance in risk assessment within the context of the pandemic to calculate the risk score for each country. As a validation step, the outcome of the risk stratification from our model is compared against four countries.
RESULTS: Our model is found to have good agreement with these benchmarked risk designations for 27 out of the top 30 countries with the strongest travel ties to Malaysia (90%). Each factor within this model signifies its importance and can be adapted by governing bodies to address the changing needs of border control policies for the recommencement of international travel.
CONCLUSION: In practice, the proposed model provides a turnkey solution for nations to manage transmission risk by enabling stakeholders to make informed, evidence-based decisions to minimize fluctuations of imported cases and serves as a structure to support the improvement, planning, and activation of public health control measures.

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