Displaying publications 21 - 40 of 766 in total

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  1. Phillips LH, Lawrie L, Schaefer A, Tan CY, Yong MH
    Front Psychol, 2021;12:631458.
    PMID: 33692728 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.631458
    Planning ability is important in everyday functioning, and a key measure to assess the preparation and execution of plans is the Tower of London (ToL) task. Previous studies indicate that older adults are often less accurate than the young on the ToL and that there may be cultural differences in performance on the task. However, potential interactions between age and culture have not previously been explored. In the current study we examined the effects of age on ToL performance in an Asian culture (Malaysia) and a Western culture (British) (n = 191). We also explored whether working memory, age, education, and socioeconomic status explained variance in ToL performance across these two cultures. Results indicated that age effects on ToL performance were greater in the Malaysian sample. Subsequent moderated mediation analysis revealed differences between the two cultures (British vs Malaysians), in that the age-related variance in ToL accuracy was accounted for by WM capacity at low and medium education levels only in the Malaysian sample. Demographic variables could not explain additional variance in ToL speed or accuracy. These results may reflect cultural differences in the familiarity and cognitive load of carrying out complex planning tasks.
    Matched MeSH terms: Demography
  2. Bhoo-Pathy N, Verkooijen HM, Tan EY, Miao H, Taib NA, Brand JS, et al.
    Sci Rep, 2015;5:16252.
    PMID: 26536962 DOI: 10.1038/srep16252
    Up to 25% of breast cancer patients in Asia present with de novo metastatic disease. We examined the survival trends of Asian patients with metastatic breast cancer over fifteen years. The impact of changes in patient's demography, tumor characteristics, tumor burden, and treatment on survival trend were examined. Patients with de novo metastatic breast cancer from three hospitals in Malaysia and Singapore (N = 856) were grouped by year of diagnosis: 1996-2000, 2001-2005 and 2006-2010. Step-wise multivariable Poisson regression was used to estimate the contribution of above-mentioned factors on the survival trend. Proportions of patients presenting with metastatic breast cancer were 10% in 1996-2000, 7% in 2001-2005, and 9% in 2006-2010. Patients in 2006-2010 were significantly older, appeared to have higher disease burden, and received more chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, and surgery of primary tumor. The three-year relative survival in the above periods were 20·6% (95% CI: 13·9%-28·2%), 28·8% (95% CI: 23·4%-34·2%), and 33·6% (95% CI: 28·8%-38·5%), respectively. Adjustment for treatment considerably attenuated the relative excess risk of mortality in recent years, compared to other factors. Substantial improvements in survival were observed in patients with de novo metastatic breast cancer in this study.
    Matched MeSH terms: Demography
  3. Kamal SM, Hassan CH, Alam GM, Ying Y
    J Biosoc Sci, 2015 Jan;47(1):120-39.
    PMID: 24480489 DOI: 10.1017/S0021932013000746
    This study examines the trends and determinants of child marriage among women aged 20-49 in Bangladesh. Data were extracted from the last six nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys conducted during 1993-2011. Simple cross-tabulation and multivariate binary logistic regression analyses were adopted. According to the survey conducted in 2011, more than 75% of marriages can be categorized as child marriages. This is a decline of 10 percentage points in the prevalence of child marriage compared with the survey conducted in 1993-1994. Despite some improvements in education and other socioeconomic indicators, Bangladeshi society still faces the relentless practice of early marriage. The mean age at first marriage has increased by only 1.4 years over the last one and half decades, from 14.3 years in 1993-1994 to 15.7 years in 2011. Although the situation on risk of child marriage has improved over time, the pace is sluggish. Both the year-of-birth and year-of-marriage cohorts of women suggest that the likelihood of marrying as a child has decreased significantly in recent years. The risk of child marriage was significantly higher when husbands had no formal education or little education, and when the wives were unemployed or unskilled workers. Muslim women living in rural areas have a greater risk of child marriage. Women's education level was the single most significant negative determinant of child marriage. Thus, the variables identified as important determinants of child marriage are: education of women and their husbands, and women's occupation, place of residence and religion. Programmes to help and motivate girls to stay in school will not only reduce early marriage but will also support overall societal development. The rigid enforcement of the legal minimum age at first marriage could be critical in decreasing child marriage.
    Matched MeSH terms: Demography/statistics & numerical data
  4. Ying SL
    J Southeast Asian Stud, 1992 Mar;23(1):112-32.
    PMID: 12286188
    Matched MeSH terms: Demography
  5. Ching, Melissa Lim Ven, Chin, Ling Hui, Yin, Ng Wai
    MyJurnal
    Comfort and acceptance by healthcare professionals are crucial for effective operation of clinical pharmacy services. To date, there is no published report on the perceptions towards clinical pharmacy services from Tawau, Sabah or anywhere else in Malaysia. The objective of this study is to evaluate the comfort, perceptions and expectations of healthcare professionals towards the clinical pharmacy services in Tawau Hospital. This crosssectional, questionnaire-based study was carried out in 10 wards of Tawau Hospital with clinical pharmacy services, from June to July 2014. Validated questionnaires with consent were anonymously distributed to doctors and nurses. The self-administered questionnaires consisted of four sections: demographic, comfort level, expectations, and experiences dealing with clinical pharmacists. A 4-point Likert scale, where 1 = strongly disagree, while 4 = strongly agree, was used to indicate the level of agreement. Of 292 questionnaires administered, 269 were completed, giving a response rate of 92.1%. Compared to nurses, higher percentage of doctors were less comfortable with clinical pharmacists providing drugrelated education, suggesting the use of drugs to prescribers, designing pharmacotherapy regimes, and monitoring safety and outcomes of the designed regimens. The participants have great expectations, perceptions and experiences with clinical pharmacists of Tawau Hospital. Majority of the healthcare professionals who have direct contact with clinical pharmacists in their work were generally receptive and have high expectations towards patient-oriented clinical pharmacy services.
    Matched MeSH terms: Demography
  6. Ting CY, Ho CC, Yee HJ
    Big Data, 2020 12;8(6):519-527.
    PMID: 33347366 DOI: 10.1089/big.2020.0028
    Recommending a retail business given a particular location of interest is nontrivial. Such a recommendation process requires careful study of demographics, trade area characteristics, sales performance, traffic, and environmental features. It is not only human effort taxing but often introduces inconsistency due to subjectivity in expert opinions. The process becomes more challenging when no sales data can be used to make a recommendation. As an attempt to overcome the challenges, this study used the machine learning approach that utilizes similarity measures to perform the recommendation. However, two challenges required careful attention when using the machine learning approach: (1) how to prepare a feature set that can commonly represent different types of retail business and (2) which similarity measure approach produces optimal recommendation accuracy? The data sets used in this study consist of points of interest, population, property, job type, and education level. Empirical studies were conducted to investigate (1) the overall accuracy of proposed similarity measure approaches to the retail business recommendation, and (2) whether the proposed approaches have a bias toward certain retail categories. In summary, the findings suggested that the proposed similarity-based techniques elicited an accuracy of above 70% and demonstrated higher accuracy when the recommendation was made within a set of similar retail businesses.
    Matched MeSH terms: Demography
  7. Ng BK, Lim PS, Shafiee MN, Ghani NA, Ismail NA, Omar MH, et al.
    Biomed Res Int, 2013;2013:587438.
    PMID: 24073412 DOI: 10.1155/2013/587438
    Objective. To determine the diagnostic accuracy of placental alpha microglobulin-1 assay and standard diagnostic methods for detecting rupture of membrane. Study Design. Prospective diagnostic study, between June 2011 to November 2011 at a tertiary centre. Initial evaluation included both the standard diagnostic methods for rupture of membranes and placental alpha microglobulin-1 immunoassay. The actual rupture of membranes was diagnosed on review of the medical records after delivery (absence of membrane or a positive pad chart). Main Outcome Measures. Placental alpha microglobulin-1 immunoassay and standard diagnostic methods for diagnosis of rupture of membrane. Results. A total of 211 patients were recruited. At initial presentation, 187 patients (88.6%) had ruptured membranes, while 24 patients (11.4%) had intact membranes. Placental alpha microglobulin-1 immunoassay confirmed rupture of membranes at initial presentation with a sensitivity of 95.7% (179 of 187), specificity of 100% (24 of 24), positive predictive value of 100% (179 of 179), and negative predictive value of 75.0% (24 of 32). By comparison, the conventional standard diagnostic methods had a sensitivity of 78.1% (146 of 187), specificity of 100% (24 of 24), positive predictive value of 100% (146 of 146), and negative predictive value of 36.9% (24 of 65) in diagnosing rupture of membrane. Conclusion. Placental alpha-microglobulin-1 immunoassay is a rapid and accurate method for confirming the diagnosis of rupture of membrane. It was superior to conventional standard diagnostic methods (pooling, nitrazine, and ferning), the nitrazine test alone or fern test alone.
    Matched MeSH terms: Demography
  8. L. Kelvin, Y.S., Othman, Z., Othman, A., Yasin, M.A.M.
    MyJurnal
    Objective: This study aims to evaluate the association of neurotic personality traits and coping styles with depression amongst first year medical and dental students. Methods: A total of 167 students consisting of 133 medical and 34 dental students in their first year were recruited. All the subjects were assessed using BDI, NEO PI-R (N) and Brief COPE for depression, neurotic personality traits and coping styles respectively. Result: First year dental students were 3 times more likely to have depression than first year medical students. Students who scored high and very high on the total Neuroticism factor and the Depression facet of NEO PI-R (N) were 3.6 times and 7 times more likely to have depression than students who scored very low, low or average for the above scales. All coping styles and other socio-demographic factors showed no association with depression. Conclusion: Neurotic personality traits are significantly associated with depression. NEO PI-R (N) proved to be a useful tool to evaluate the neurotic traits among medical and dental students allowing early interventional measures to those who need it.
    Matched MeSH terms: Demography
  9. Aina Mariana AM, Yap SH
    Med J Malaysia, 2014 Aug;69(4):178-83.
    PMID: 25500846 MyJurnal
    The aim of this study was to evaluate the management and clinical outcome of transfusion-dependent thalassaemia children receiving care in the Paediatric Ambulatory Care Centre, Hospital Tuanku Ja'afar Seremban in comparison to The Malaysian Clinical Practice Guidelines. The demography, management and clinical outcome of the patients were documented using a checklist. Information on compliance to chelation agents was obtained through interview. There were twenty-six patients recruited in this study out of thirty seven patients registered in the centre. This study showed that more effort and vigilance should be given to ensure that the management of these patients adheres to the guidelines and clinical outcome of these patients monitored closely.

    Study site: Paediatric Ambulatory Care Centre, Hospital Tunku Ja'afar, Seremban.
    Matched MeSH terms: Demography
  10. Yap MT
    Sojourn, 1999 Apr;14(1):198-211.
    PMID: 12295146
    Matched MeSH terms: Demography
  11. Saw SN, Biswas A, Mattar CNZ, Lee HK, Yap CH
    Prenat Diagn, 2021 Mar;41(4):505-516.
    PMID: 33462877 DOI: 10.1002/pd.5903
    OBJECTIVE: To investigate the performance of the machine learning (ML) model in predicting small-for-gestational-age (SGA) at birth, using second-trimester data.

    METHODS: Retrospective data of 347 patients, consisting of maternal demographics and ultrasound parameters collected between the 20th and 25th gestational weeks, were studied. ML models were applied to different combinations of the parameters to predict SGA and severe SGA at birth (defined as 10th and third centile birth weight).

    RESULTS: Using second-trimester measurements, ML models achieved an accuracy of 70% and 73% in predicting SGA and severe SGA whereas clinical guidelines had accuracies of 64% and 48%. Uterine PI (Ut PI) was found to be an important predictor, corroborating with existing literature, but surprisingly, so was nuchal fold thickness (NF). Logistic regression showed that Ut PI and NF were significant predictors and statistical comparisons showed that these parameters were significantly different in disease. Further, including NF was found to improve ML model performance, and vice versa.

    CONCLUSION: ML could potentially improve the prediction of SGA at birth from second-trimester measurements, and demonstrated reduced NF to be an important predictor. Early prediction of SGA allows closer clinical monitoring, which provides an opportunity to discover any underlying diseases associated with SGA.

    Matched MeSH terms: Demography
  12. Aishairma Aris, Ling Ming Jing, Aida Kalok, Yang Wai Wai
    MyJurnal
    Introduction: Severe labour pain and dissatisfaction towards supports received from midwives during labour are common experiencesamong parturient mothers. Thesenegative emotional experiences need to be given attention as they are associated with higher acute stress reactions and postpartum depressive symptoms. Therefore, this study examinedthe labour pain and satisfaction toward labour support and their influential factors. Methods: A total of 136 parturient mothersregistered for a labour in the UniversitiKebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre were included in this studyusing simple random sampling. The mothers had met the eligibility criteria; live and singleton pregnancy, able to communicate in English, Malay or Mandarin. Visual anologue scale and Bryanton Adaptation of the Nursing Support in Labor Questionnaire (BASILIQ) which contained both quantitative and qualitative questions were used to measure the pain and satisfaction level respectively. Descriptive statistics, Spearman correlation, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests and also content analysis wereutilised to analyse the data. Results: Labour pain was low (Mean=2.24, SD=2.20) and satisfaction toward the labour support was high (Mean=76.9, SD=8.75). Both the pain and satisfaction were not significantly related to each other and also to any of the mothers’ demographic (p > 0.05) and obstetrical data (p > 0.05). However, 32.9% (n=25) out of 76 subjectswho responded to the qualitative questions had highlighted the need of havingfriendly and helpful nurses during their labour.In addition, 56% (n=14) out of 25 subjects who provided additional comments had suggested to include theemotional support to reduce their labour pain, fear and anxiety. Conclusion: Friendly and helpful nurses are part of the emotional support for labour. There- fore, it is recommended that a structured emotional laboursupport should be made availableto parturient mothers. Further research examining the effectiveness of the emotional support on the pain and satisfaction, nevertheless, is warranted.
    Matched MeSH terms: Demography
  13. Zain RB, Ikeda N, Razak IA, Axéll T, Majid ZA, Gupta PC, et al.
    Community Dent Oral Epidemiol, 1997 Oct;25(5):377-83.
    PMID: 9355776
    The prevalence of oral mucosal lesions in Malaysia was determined by examining a representative sample of 11,707 subjects aged 25 years and above throughout the 14 states over a period of 5 months during 1993/1994. A two-stage stratified random sampling was undertaken. A predetermined number of enumeration blocks, the smallest population unit in the census publication, was selected from each state. With the selected enumeration block, a systematic sample of living quarters was chosen with a random start. The survey instrument included a questionnaire on sociodemographic characteristics and a clinical examination. The clinical examination was carried out by 16 specially trained dental public health officers and the diagnosis calibrated with a final concordance rate of 92%. The age in the sample ranged from 25 to 115 years with a mean of 44.5+/-14.0. The sample comprised 40.2% males and 59.8% females; 55.8% were Malays, 29.4% Chinese, 10.0% Indians and 1.2% other ethnic groups. Oral mucosal lesions were detected in 1131 (9.7%) subjects, 5 (0.04%) had oral cancer, 165 (1.4%) had lesions or conditions that may be precancerous (leukoplakia, erythroplakia, submucous fibrosis and lichen planus) and 187 (1.6%) had betel chewer's mucosa. The prevalence of oral precancer was highest amongst Indians (4.0%) and other Bumiputras (the indigenous people of Sabah and Sarawak) (2.5%) while the lowest prevalence was amongst the Chinese (0.5%).
    Matched MeSH terms: Demography
  14. Pavitra SP, Low VL, Tan TK, Lim YAL, Ya'cob Z
    Acta Trop, 2020 Feb;202:105275.
    PMID: 31747545 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2019.105275
    Blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae) are ecologically and medically important insects but they have been understudied in Malaysia. Accordingly, a study on the temporal variation in diversity and community structure of preimaginal blackflies was conducted for the first time in Malaysia. A total of 865 preimaginal blackflies were collected in 120 samplings from five streams across three monsoon seasons from February 2018 until January 2019. Ten species were recorded and most frequently collected species were Simulium cheongi, Simulium vanluni and Simulium jeffreyi. Relatively common species were Simulium roslihashimi, Simulium tani complex and Simulium trangense. No significant changes of rainfall was observed between three monsoon seasons as well as the seasons with species and physiochemical parameters except acidity (pH) (P 20%) indicated that S. vanluni and S. jeffreyi were commonly associated with wider, deeper and fast-flowing streams with low conductivity and larger streambed particle. In contrast, S. cheongi was associated with smaller, slower and small streambed particle. This first extensive bimonthly study has uncovered the species community structure as well as the changes of stream physicochemical parameters over time although they were not greatly and significantly influenced by the monsoon seasons. Species distribution, richness and abundance, however, were highly determined by the stream width, depth and velocity, therefore, were vital in shaping diversity and community structure of preimaginal blackflies.
    Matched MeSH terms: Demography
  15. Zhong XM, Wang F, Zhang Q, Ungvari GS, Ng CH, Chiu HFK, et al.
    Int Psychogeriatr, 2019 05;31(5):685-691.
    PMID: 29212560 DOI: 10.1017/S1041610217002563
    ABSTRACTBackground:Little is known about the combined use of benzodiazepines and antidepressants in older psychiatric patients. This study examined the prescription pattern of concurrent benzodiazepines in older adults treated with antidepressants in Asia, and explored its demographic and clinical correlates.

    METHODS: The data of 955 older adults with any type of psychiatric disorders were extracted from the database of the Research on Asian Psychotropic Prescription Patterns for Antidepressants (REAP-AD) project. Demographic and clinical characteristics were recorded using a standardized protocol and data collection procedure. Both univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed.

    RESULTS: The proportion of benzodiazepine and antidepressant combination in this cohort was 44.3%. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that higher doses of antidepressants, younger age (<65 years), inpatients, public hospital, major comorbid medical conditions, antidepressant types, and country/territory were significantly associated with more frequent co-prescription of benzodiazepines and antidepressants.

    CONCLUSIONS: Nearly, half of the older adults treated with antidepressants in Asia are prescribed concurrent benzodiazepines. Given the potentially adverse effects of benzodiazepines, the rationale of benzodiazepines and antidepressants co-prescription needs to be revisited.

    Matched MeSH terms: Demography
  16. Grismer LL, Belabut DM, Quah ES, Onn CK, Wood PL
    Zootaxa, 2014;3755:434-46.
    PMID: 24869831 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3755.5.3
    A new species of Bent-toed Gecko Cyrtodactylus guakanthanensis sp. nov. of the C. sworderi complex is described from a limestone forest in Perak, Peninsular Malaysia whose karst formations at the type locality are within an active quarry. Cyrtodactylus guakanthanensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from all other Sundaland species by having the following suite of character states: adult SVL 77.7-82.2 mm; moderately sized, conical, weakly keeled, body tubercles; tubercles present on occiput, nape, and limbs, and extend posteriorly beyond base of tail; 37-44 ventral scales; no transversely enlarged, median, subcaudal scales; proximal subdigital lamellae transversely expanded; 19-21 subdigital lamellae on fourth toe; abrupt transition between posterior and ventral femoral scales; enlarged femoral scales; no femoral or precloacal pores; precloacal groove absent; wide, dark postorbital stripes from each eye extending posteriorly to the anterior margin of the shoulder region thence forming a transverse band across the anterior margin of the shoulder region; and body bearing five (rarely four) wide, bold, dark bands. Destruction of the karst microhabitat and surrounding limestone forest will extirpate this new species from the type locality and perhaps drive it to complete extinction given that it appears to be restricted to the particular microhabitat structure of the type locality and is not widely distributed throughout the karst formations. As with plants and invertebrates, limestone forests are proving to be significant areas of high herpetological endemism and should be afforded special conservation status rather than turned into cement.
    Matched MeSH terms: Demography
  17. Lua, P.L., Wong, S.Y.
    MyJurnal
    Objective: This study intends to investigate the reliability, validity and patients’ perception towards the Malay Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS) and Malay McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire (MMQoL) in Terengganu cancer patients. Methods: It was conducted cross-sectionally in Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah (HSNZ), Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia
    recruiting 80 patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria. Socio-demographic data was analyzed descriptively and presented as frequencies. To examine patients’ perception towards the applicability and practicality, completion time, comprehension, comprehensiveness difficulty and instrusiveness of the instruments were inquired via a 5-item survey. For reliability purposes, the internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α) was calculated while
    Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (rs) was used to examine the strength of associations between and within instruments (convergent/divergent validity). Results: To the majority of patients, both HADS and MMQoL instruments were considered clear, comprehensive and not difficult to complete (completion time < 10 minutes). The internal consistency reliability
    for both HADS and MMQoL domains ranged from moderate to high. Within HADS itself, the individual items produced strong correlations with their own domains than with other domains (rs ≥ 4.0). Similarly, majority of individual items in MMQoL correlated stronger within their own domains compared to other domains (except Existential Well-Being and Support Issues) supporting validity. Conclusion: The overall findings suggested that both instruments have exhibited adequate evidence of reliability and validity plus being perceived as favourable for assessing health outcomes among cancer sufferers.
    Study site: Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah (HSNZ), Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia
    Device, Questionnaire & Scale: Malay Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS); Malay McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire
    Matched MeSH terms: Demography
  18. Cheah Whye Lian, Nan Ommar, Joanne Tan Sze Fern, Surizi Ismail, Tengku Sarah Tengku Mohd Sharifudin, Wong Syn Hwan
    MyJurnal
    Objective: To determine the perception of medical students towards mentor-mentee system in Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of UNIMAS. Method: It was a cross-sectional study involving all 104 second year and 80 fifth year medical students. A self-administered questionnaire consisting of socio-demographic details, general perceptions on mentor-mentee system, academic support, personal development, and emotional and psychological support was distributed. The data was analysed using the SPSS version 19. Result: Majority of the subjects had a positive outlook towards the mentor-mentee system with a range of 45.6% to 57%. Three of the top rated perceptions were ‘mentor analyses mentee’s examination results and provides constructive feedback’, ‘mentor advises how to improve academic performance’, and ‘mentor gives encouragement and support for the challenges faced’ (66.8%, 68.0% and 62.9% respectively). Pre-cinical medical students had significantly better perception on mentor-mentee system than clinical students (p≤0.002) while those with non-clinician mentors significantly had better perceptions than those with clinician mentors (p≤0.003) on the system. No significant difference was found between the perceptions of males and females for all components (p=0.234 to 0.722). Conclusion: The mentor-mentee system was found to be successful as more than half of the respondents had posititve perception on the system and its aspects. However, pre-clinical students benefited more compared to clinical students, which reflects the need to look at the support given to clinical students. It was recommended that future studies should incorporate the perceptions of mentors.
    Matched MeSH terms: Demography
  19. Wong LP
    BMC Public Health, 2011;11:446.
    PMID: 21649937 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-11-446
    This study sought to understand the factors associated with street racing among the illegal motorcycle racers in Malaysia or known as the "Mat Rempit".
    Matched MeSH terms: Demography*
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