Introduction: The daily life problems of patients with schizophrenia as well as their symptoms are challenging sit- uations that may interfere with their psychological well-being. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the psychological well-being of patients with schizophrenia and factors affecting it. Methods: A cross sec- tional study was conducted to examine the socio-demographic factors, health level, social support and self-esteem of patients with schizophrenia. A total of 255 respondents consisting of patients on follow-up from specialist clinics at three Psychiatric Hospitals in this country were selected to answer the questionnaire. The questionnaires used were the Affect Balance Scale, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support Scale and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale for the measurement of the psychological well-being, social support and self-esteem respectively. The data was analysed using Chi-Square and Mann-Whitney U test. Results: A total of 62% of the respondents had positive psychological wellbeing. Socio demographic factors, namely occupation (p=0.007), overall social support (p=0.023), family support (p=0.040), significant others’ support (p=0.046), and self-esteem (p < 0.001), were associ- ated with positive psychological well-being. Conclusion: This study has proven that patients with schizophrenia who regularly received treatment can achieve positive psychological well-being when they have high self-esteem, strong support from their family members as well as people around them and are stable occupation.
Introduction: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the principal cause of admission and death in the Malaysian government hospitals. Method: The pattern of cardiac related mortality (CRM) cases in Hospital Serdang, Selangor was reviewed to determine the specific trends in ethnicity, age, gender and type of CRM. Data was drawn from the death registry records in Forensic Department of Hospital Serdang from January 2006 to December 2008. This preliminary project was carried out to assess the number of CRM cases and their characteristics to feed the decision to sensibly embark on another project related to atherosclerosis. Results: Out of 573 CRM cases, 84.5% were Malaysians out of which the majority were Malays (45.9%), fol- lowed by Chinese (30.2%), and Indians (22.1%). The majority were men (78.4%) with a mean age of death at 51.83 ± 14.10 (95% CI 50.52-53.14) years as compared to women (21.6%) with a mean age of death at 57.42 ± 16.92 (95% CI 54.41-60.43) years. Declining mortality trend was observed only in men. The 46-60 years old age group had the highest percentage of mortality and continually increase by year. Ischaemic heart disease (IHD) was the most common CRM type (69.1% in 2006, 66.2% in 2007, and 71.9% in 2008). Conclusion: We observed inconsistent trends of CRM in Hospital Serdang in terms of ethnicity, age, gender and type of CRM cases presented. Nevertheless, these findings do not necessarily represent the overall trends of CRM in Malaysia.
Introduction: Oxidative damage is an important factor contributing to ageing and many degenerative dis- eases. It can be detected by the DNA base damage, which is formation of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2’deoxygua- nosine (8-oxodG). The 8-oxodG is an important indicator of oxidative stress and has been competent- ly specified as a recognized initiator of the carcinogenic process and premutagenic injury in mammalian cells. Aims: In this preliminary study, we investigated the possible association of oxidative DNA damage in hepa- tocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients in comparison with Malaysian healthy controls taking into account the dif- ferent races and genders in both groups. Method: DNA of peripheral white blood cells was isolated from 91 HCC patients and 304 controls. The level of oxidative DNA damage was determined by ELISA procedure. Results: Quantitative measurement of 8-oxodG was higher in HCC patients at mean value of 3.30 ± 2.32 ng/ml. In controls, the average value is 1.57 ± 1.92 ng/ml. Comparison between gender showed that there was a significant difference observed in the level of 8-oxodG between male and female in controls, where p = 0.003. The level of 8-oxodG was higher in male than in female controls. There was a significant difference in the average value of 8-ox- odG level between the controls and HCC patients where p
Introduction: Plate wastage in hospital contributes to malnutrition-related complications including longer hospital- ization among cancer patients. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between patients’ ex- periences of access to food hospital and plate wastage among hospitalized cancer patients. Methods: Two hundred and thirty-one cancer patients in the National Cancer Institute, Malaysia were recruited for this study. All eligible patients were undergoing cancer treatments and provided with informed consent. Data obtained included socio-de- mographic characteristics and patients’ experiences of access to food hospital which will contribute to plate wastage. Plate wastage was determined by weighing the unwanted food left on the plate. Results: Prevalence of plate wastage among cancer patients was high at approximately 54%. The appearance of food served was associated with higher plate wastage (p
We report a case of sciatic nerve entrapment resulting in a patient experiencing pain over the posterior aspect of the knee, simulating a Baker's cyst. Surgical exploration revealed a tight fibrous arch compressing the distal portion of the sciatic nerve, proximal to its bifurcation. Decompression of this entrapment led to complete relief of symptoms. This form of presentation is rare and should be considered as a differential diagnosis when a patient presents with complaints of pain in the back of the knee. Keywords: Sciatic nerve compression, pain in the back of the knee
Introduction: Obesity is a major public health concern worldwide. The increasing prevalence of obesity in all ages can cause chronic illnesses, such as Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Cardiovascular Diseases. The Body Mass Index (BMI) is generally used to classify an adult population as underweight (BMI =25.0 kgm-2) or obese (BMI >=30.0 kgm-2). The normal BMI range lies between 18.5 and 24.99 kgm-2. Physical activity is an important component of lifestyle interventions for weight loss and the prevention of weight regain. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of physical activity in reducing the obesity among the selected participants in Taman Impian Ehsan, Hulu Langat. Methods: This study was a one-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design. The physical activity program took place three times a week for six months started from June to December 2018 which is a part of KOSPEN activity. Results: Thirty participants were recruited in the program. For pre- intervention study, 4 participants have normal body weight (BMI 18.5-24.99), 12 participants were overweight (BMI 26.0 to 30.0kgm-2) and 14 participants were obese (BMI > =30.0 kgm-2). Twenty six of participants were retained in the program while the rest quitted. Post-intervention study shows that seven participants have normal BMI, 10 partici-pants were still overweight and nine participants still categorized as obese. Post-intervention study showed that 17 participants managed to lose weight with minimum of 1.2 kg and maximum of 22.6 kg. The average reduction of the body weight was 5%. Conclusion: Physical activity is one of most feasible approach that can assist communities in developing healthy behaviours that promote weight loss and maintain ideal body weight.
Heat stress is a serious problem among agricultural workers. Workers who are exposed to the extreme heat or work in hot environments may be at risk of heat stress. The physiological changes and heat related symptoms could occur due to heat stress. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine the impact of heat on the health and productivity of cassava farm workers in Kratie province of Cambodia. The sampling method was a convenient sampling with some inclu- sive criteria. A total of 125 cassava farm workers were selected to participate in this study. The information was collected through a face to face interview using a questionnaire form. Questions were asked on heat exposure during work and heat related symptoms. The environmental heat was measured using heat stress monitor WBGT and data logger for 2 hours for each day. Automatic blood pressure monitor was used to measure blood pressure and heart rate, while ear thermometer measured the body temperature. All measurements of physiological changes were conducted during the rest and work time of the workers. Observations were conducted to determine the production hourly output of workers by using productivity forms. The productivity was determined by calculating the total of cassava roots harvested per hour, which started from
9.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. The results indicated that the highest average of heat stress index were 32.11°C and 32.36°C re- spectively whereby the daily exposure to heat during work, exceeded the threshold limit value (TLV) of 27.5°C for heavy metabolic workload level with 75% work, 25% rest regimen. Meanwhile, the highest prevalence of heat related symptoms reported among workers were tiredness/weakness (84.4%), followed by heavy sweating (82.4%) and headache (61.6%). The blood pressure, heart rate and core body temperature were below the standard, indicated that the workers were fully acclimatized. There was no significant difference in the physiological changes between male and female during the resting and working period. Heavy sweating, heat, BMI and working time were the factors that were significantly related with productivity. In conclusion, the cassava farm workers in Kratie, Cambodia were exposed to high level of heat stress, which reduced their work productivity.
Mental health outcome among teachers has become an escalating problems in many countries. Mental health now- adays has becoming a public health issue. Teachers were not an exclusion from this issue. Several studies did point out teachers with poor mental health status has become an increasing problems in many countries. A total of 272 teachers from the urban, rural and industrial areas participated in this cross sectional study in the Klang Valley. The objective was to determine the risk factors associated with mental health among primary school teachers. The teachers’ mental and physical health status were measured using questionnaires. Respondents were given a set of questionnaire which consisted 5 parts, namely socio-demographic and background status, occupational information and medical history obtained from the first part of questionnaire. The other part consisted of the General Health Questionnaire, Teachers’ Stress Inventory, Modified Nordic Questionnaire and American Thoracic Society for Adult. There was no difference in the background of the groups of teachers except for the educational level (p
Introduction: A study on biological monitoring of lead on children was conducted when unleaded gasoline was widely used in 1998. The objectives were to monitor lead exposure using blood lead, urine d-aminolevulinic acid (d-ALA) and urine lead concentrations as biological indicators and to determine the relationship between these variables.
Methodology: Two hundred and sixty-nine school children, 169 from an urban school of Kuala Lumpur and 100 from an industrial school in southern Malaysia were selected for the study. These were Malay children in the age range of 61/2 to 81/2 years old. Blood and urine lead concentrations were analyzed using the Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Urine d-ALA was measured with Spectrophotometer UV/VIS.
Results: The mean blood lead concentrations of the urban children (3.56 mg/dl) and the industrial children (3.75 mg/dl) were not significantly different (p=0.451). The urine d-ALA (urban=9.606; industrial=6.965 mg/g creatinine) and urine lead (urban=2.625; industrial=4.548 mg/g creatinine) of the urban children were significantly higher than the industrial children (p=0.014: p 10 mg/dl. About 78% of the urban children and 76% of the industrial children have urine d-ALA in a normal range (<0.6 mg/100ml) while 22% of the urban children and 24% of the industrial children were in the acceptable range (0.6 - 2.0 mg/100ml). All the children had normal urine lead concentrations (<8 mg/100ml).
Conclusion: These children were not highly exposed to lead as indicated by their blood lead, urine d-ALA and urine lead concentrations which were below the allowable standard in both study areas . This may be due to the total ban on leaded gasoline in the country since 1998 and as a result, the environmental lead exposure in these areas was quite low.
Keywords: Children's lead exposure, blood lead, urine lead, urine d-ALA
Introduction: The cyberspace creates an infrastructure to build relationships, so the counseling practitioners has taken the initiative to maximize their services. An alternative service helps through this virtual interaction is created and practised. This virtual counselling service is known as cyber-counselling. So, there is a need to see the effective- ness of this cybertherapy service based on personality traits. The objectives of this study are to see the relationships or differences between personality trait in cyber-counselling approach. Methods: This quasi-experimental research applied the Non-Equivalent Pre & Post Test design. 60 research subjects are identifed and divided into the two groups the Face-to-Face approach and Cyber-counselling approach. Junior Eyneseck Personality Inventory was used to determined their personality traits and Client Satisfaction Inventory to determine the effectiveness of the therapy. Results: Pearson Chi-Square test shows that client satisfaction has no relationship on personality traits towards cy- bertherapy approach. Conclusion: Since the findings of this study are not in line with past literatures, some assump- tions can be made regarding the findings of this study. Firstly, the distribution of the subjects based on personality traits can not be done in view of the ‘walk-in’ elements practiced in this study. Secondly, since the subjects are within the age of 13 to 17 years, the likelihood of the formation and development of their personality traits has yet to mature or steady, while the previous studies conducted on the study of adults.
The role of diet in the aetiology of dental caries occurrence has been questioned recently. Aim: This cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the relationship between dietary habits and dental caries among 105 children aged 2 to 5 years old in Kuala Lumpur. Methodology: Subjects were selected using convenient sampling method. Their body weight and height were measured and their dental check-up was performed by qualified dental nurses. A Structured questionnaire and 3-day food diaries were distributed to their parents/caretakers to obtain socio-demographic data, oral health practice and dietary habits of the subjects. The dft (decayed, filled teeth) score was used to describe dental caries incidence. Results: Caries was found in 36.6% subjects with mean dft score of 1.95±3.59 (range: 0-16). Energy (r=-0.334, p=0.008), carbohydrate (r=-0.353, p=0.005), fat (r=-0.325, p=0.01), protein (r=-0.264, p=0.038), and calcium (r=-0.470, p
Introduction: Overweight and obesity among adults, especially young adults have been increasing for the past 20 years and is an emerging public health concern all over the world, including Malaysia. This study aims to explore the determinants of overweight and obesity among undergraduate students residing in Universiti Putra Malaysia. Methods: A cross-sectional study using random sampling was conducted in three residential colleges. Independent variables include socio-demographic factors, knowledge on physical activity and dietary intake, lifestyle (physical activity, dietary intake, sleep duration and quality and smoking status) and stress. Data was collected using a vali-dated and reliable self-administered questionnaire and anthropometric measurement (weight and height were mea-sured to determine body mass index). IBM Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 23 was used for data analysis. Multiple logistic regression was employed to find the determinants of overweight and obesity among the respondents. Significant level was set at less than 0.05. Results: A total of 494 respondents participated with 98.8% response rate. Overweight and obesity prevalence among the respondents was 38.1% with 22.9% and 15.9% of the respondents were overweight and obese respectively. The significant associated factors were age group of 24 years and above (AOR=2.671, p=0.04), male (AOR=1.818, p=0.04), Malay ethnicity (AOR=5.34, p=0.008) and Indian ethnicity (AOR=7.155, p = 0.018). Conclusion: Overweight and obesity prevalence among undergraduate students were more than one third. Programmes and policies should be directed to these high-risk groups as identified in this study.
Introduction: According to PDRM statistic, in average, 100 babies are dumped every year, in Malaysia. The stig-ma of having babies out of wedlock, feeling of desperation and lack of support are some reasons why babies were dumped at the unimaginable places. Even if they were found and saved, these babies will be placed and raised at institutions. This will lead to the negative effects of institutionalisation as they do not receive appropriate adult care and attention which is crucial in developing their potential. OrphanCare Foundation advocates and provides services that ensure babies and children who are in institutions and those whose lives are at risk grow up in the care of a loving family. Methods: OrpahnCare Foundation provides a safe haven for babies that are being abandoned through baby hatch centres, finding a family for these babies through a legal adoption programme, and deinstitutionalisation (DI) i.e. removing all children currently in institutions, to family based care. Results: Since 2010, OrphanCare Foun-dation has saved a total of 369 babies and successfully arranged for the adoption of 221 babies. Forty even children were taken out from institutions and brought home to their families. Conclusion: The best place for a child to grow up is in the love and care of a family. They will receive personalised guidance, support and love that they need to develop to their full potential.
Introduction: Ruthenium polypyridyl complex (RPC), [Ru(dppz)2PiP]2+ or RuPiP, where dppz = dipyridophenazine, and PiP = 2-phenylimidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenantroline has been shown to exhibit anticancer activities by stalling the replication fork progression in human cancer cell line, causing DNA double-strand break (DSB) leading to the initiation of DNA damage response (DDR). Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) enzymes are activated in response to DNA damage thus, RuPiP may be advantageously combined with the inhibitors of PARP to improve its efficacy in cancer cell killing. This study was conducted to investigate the cytotoxic effects of RuPiP and selected PARP inhibitor, NU1025, alone or in combination in vitro and the possible combinations in order to achieve synergism against three different cancer cell lines. Methods: Cell viability was determined by MTT assay based on established method and the combination index (CI) values were calculated using Chou and Talalay method. Results: Here, we reported that the treatment with RuPiP alone led to dose-dependent decreases in the cell viability meanwhile NU1025 exhibited no toxicity as a single agent. The CI values (
Sucrose, a simple sugar contributing to quick increase of blood sugar, is not favoured by diabetic patients. Stevia, a sugar substitute, can be used to produce products with lower sugar and it may reduce the amount of available car- bohydrate for digestion. ‘Serikaya’, a popular sweet and delicious spread from coconut, traditionally contains high sugar. This study aimed to develop ‘serikaya’ with lower sugar through substitution of sucrose with stevia as a natural non-caloric sweetener. Five combinations of sugar and stevia were studied and analysed for physical characteristics, sensory acceptability and calculated for nutrient composition.
Introduction: Literatures suggest that insufficient physical activity as one of the contributors to non-communicable chronic diseases; nevertheless, data on the physical activity level is sparsely reported among individuals practising a vegetarian diet in Malaysia. The current study aims to determine the prevalence of insufficient physical activity and its association with socio-demographic factors, lifestyle factors and body weight status among 273 individuals prac- tising a vegetarian diet in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Methods: A set of self-administered questionnaire was distributed to all vegetarians and their data on physical activity was determined using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). Results: The average years of practising vegetarianism was 14.2±9.6 years, and most of the vegetarians were practised ovo-vegetarian diet (44.0%). A majority of them were Chinese (54.9%) and female (64.8%), with an aver- age age of 47.5 ± 13.1 years. The prevalence of overweight and obesity were 27.5% and 8.1%, respectively. Accord- ing to GPAQ, about two in five vegetarians (46.2%) were having insufficient physical activity. Being females, older age, Chinese, married individuals, and those with high total household income level were found to be significantly associated with low physical activity level among Malaysian vegetarians (p
Introduction: This study examined how waist circumference (WC) varied across sociodemographic characteristics of Malaysian adults using a nationally representative data. Methods: Data from the Malaysian Adult Nutrition Survey 2014 (n = 2696) was used. In the sample, 46.55% were males and 53.45% were females. The outcome variable was WC. Waist circumference was categorised into four ordinal outcomes: very low, low, high and very high. The ex- planatory variables were age, monthly individual income, education, gender, marital status, ethnicity, employment status and household location. Ordered probit models were utilised. Results: The majority of males had a low WC (54.66%), and only a small proportion had a very high WC (0.96%). Similarly, a high proportion of females had a low WC (55.59%), and only 1.94% had a very high WC. Younger males were more likely to have a high WC than their older counterparts. Males who had monthly income of RM2000-2999 or RM3000-3999 were more likely to have a high WC compared with those who had monthly income of RM999. Chinese and Indian males were more likely to have a high WC than Bumiputera males. For females, those who were married, widowed/divorced and Bu- miputera were likely to have a high WC. Conclusion: WC was associated with various sociodemographic profiles of males and females. In particular, there were positive associations between the likelihoods of having a high WC and younger age group, higher income, Chinese, Indian, and being married. Our findings provided policy makers with better information on formulating intervention measures.
Treatment effectiveness depends on the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of osteoarthritis (OA) patients to- wards their assigned treatment. This study aimed to explore the KAP towards non-surgical intervention among OA patients. A methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) was implemented. An electronic database search of English-language academic articles was conducted using PubMed and ScienceDirect databases encompassing 1998 to 2018 period of time, resulting in a total of 26 studies. OA patients were knowledgeable about the disease and exercise management. However, they were lack of knowledge on drug therapy and complementary strategies. The attitude towards non-surgical interventions was ambivalence. Lastly, the practice section mainly fo- cused on patients’ compliance and behaviour towards different conservative managements, namely physiotherapy, medications, and complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) which influenced by both knowledge level and attitudes. In conclusion, a higher knowledge level and positive attitude will result in good practice.
Proton therapy is an advanced type of radiotherapy and the use of charged particle proton instead of high energy X-rays to treat cancer has been increasing in recent years, as it offers superior dose distribution and more effectively spares healthy tissues compared to conventional radiotherapy. Proton therapy has potential clinical advantages for some types of tumours that are difficult to treat by conventional radiotherapy, it also has the added benefits of no exit dose beyond tumour. Many countries that established cancer treatment facilities in the last decade chose proton therapy because of its lower capital cost and higher cost-effectiveness compared to carbon ions therapy. This review first describes the physical characteristics of proton beam for radiotherapy, followed by potential clinical benefits of proton beam therapy in Malaysia. The paper also discusses the challenges of implementing the first proton centre in Malaysia.
Introduction: Globally, the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is high in Punjabi population. This could due to the increased cardiometabolic risks associated with diets high in dietary fats and refined grains. However, studies on the relationship between dietary pattern and cardiometabolic risks involving Malaysian Punjabis popu- lation are scarce. Hence, this study aims to determine the associations between dietary patterns and cardiometa- bolic risks in Malaysian Punjabi adults. Methods: Socio-demographic, lifestyle and dietary intake information was collected using self-administered questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements: weight and height for body mass index (BMI) calculation, waist circumference (WC); systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP); and biomark- ers: blood glucose, glycated haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), triglycerides, total cholesterol (TC), low-density-lipopro- tein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), apolipoprotein A1 and B100 were obtained. Major dietary patterns were derived using principal component analysis. Association between dietary patterns and cardiometabolic risk factors were performed using ANCOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results: A total of 164 (35.4% males and 64.6% females) Punjabis were included in this study. Four dietary patterns were extracted, namely ‘fruits and vegetables diet’ (FVD), ‘whole grains, condiments and beverages diet’ (WCBD), ‘protein diet’ (PD) and ‘rice, noodles, cereals and meat diet’ (RNCMD). Significant associations were obtained for FVD with BMI (p=0.012), WC (p=0.011), SBP (p=0.020) and DBP (p=0.009); WCBD with TC (p=0.010), LDL-C (p=0.015) and apolipoprotein B100 (p=0.038). Conclusion: Dietary pattern comprised of fruits, vegetables and beverages containing antioxidant-rich spices, ginger, and black tea may lower cardiometabolic risks in Malaysian Punjabis, particularly in obesity, high blood pressure and hyperlipidaemia.