MyMedR

Gender differences in depressive symptom profiles and patterns of psychotropic drug usage in Asian patients with depression: Findings from the Research on Asian Psychotropic Prescription Patterns for Antidepressants study

Park SC, Lee MS, Shinfuku N, Sartorius N, Park YC

Aust N Z J Psychiatry, 2015 Sep;49(9):833-41.

PMID: 25829482 DOI: 10.1177/0004867415579464

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there were gender-specific depressive symptom profiles or gender-specific patterns of psychotropic agent usage in Asian patients with depression.

Matched MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology

A seven year study of opiate dependence in Malaysia

Parameshvara Deva M

Med J Malaysia, 1978 Mar;32(3):249-54.

PMID: 683053

Matched MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology*

Impact of maternal marital status on birth outcomes among young Malaysian women: a prospective cohort study

Mohd Zain N, Low WY, Othman S

Asia Pac J Public Health, 2015 Apr;27(3):335-47.

PMID: 25005933 DOI: 10.1177/1010539514537678

This study evaluated the impact of maternal marital status on birth outcomes among young Malaysian women and investigated other risk factors influencing the birth outcomes. Pregnant women with and without marital ties at the point of pregnancy diagnosis were invited to participate in this study. Participants were interviewed using a structured questionnaire at pregnancy diagnosis and shortly after childbirth. From a total of 229 unmarried and 213 married women who participated, marital status was significantly associated with preterm birth (odds ratio [OR], 1.66; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05-2.61) and low birth weight (OR, 3.61; 95% CI, 1.98-6.57). Other factors significantly associated with birth outcomes was prenatal care (OR, 4.92; 95% CI, 1.43-16.95), "use of drugs" (OR, 10.39; 95% CI, 1.14-94.76), age (OR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.07-1.16), and number of prenatal visits (OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.00-1.07). Promoting access to prenatal care and social support programs for unmarried mothers may be important to reduce adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Matched MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology

An overview of inhalant abuse in selected countries of Asia and the Pacific Region

Kin F, Navaratnam V

NIDA Res. Monogr., 1995;148:29-49.

PMID: 8929883

Matched MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology*

Legal sanctions and information about drugs as influences upon the decision by adolescents whether to use illicit drugs

Spencer C, Navaratnam V

Drug Alcohol Depend, 1980 Nov;6(5):315-22.

PMID: 7460763

Although those Malaysian secondary schoolchildren who have never used drugs are consistent in their support for legal and social sanctions against drug use, it is argued that such sanctions are a relatively unimportant factor in the decision whether or not to use drugs. Non-drug users inhabit a social world separated from their drug-using contemporaries; they rely on information from public rather than direct social sources, and claim to have been little interested in information received. However, there is evidence that, for a minority of the drug-using sub-sample, public information campaigns have made them more rather than less interested in experimenting with drug substances.

Matched MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology*

Patterns of drug use amongst Malaysian secondary schoolchildren

Spencer C, Navaratnam V

Drug Alcohol Depend, 1980 May;5(5):379-91.

PMID: 7371500

A representative sampling of the secondary school population of two states of Malaysia (sample size 16166) indicated that 11% of students had had experience of drug use. Use of a single drug was the common pattern, with cannabis reported most often by older students, and sedatives most often by younger students. A quarter of those who had used drugs reported experience with four or more substances and were likely to have progressed rapidly to heroin. This progression may be facilitated by the ready availability of heroin and the local tradition of smoking or inhaling rather than injecting opiates. Descriptions of drug migration patterns based on Western samples are not fully appropriate worldwide, because the youthful abuser is much influenced both by local market forces and by cultural traditions, even though the epidemic of youthful drug abuse is itself worldwide.

Matched MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology*

Epidemiological survey of the use and abuse of agonist-antagonist analgesics in the Western Pacific region

Navaratnam V

Drug Alcohol Depend, 1987 Dec;20(4):367-73.

PMID: 2894290

Epidemiological studies are carried out by the National Drug Research Centre, Malaysia on various aspects of drug use and abuse. One of the groups of substances studied are the opioid agonist-antagonists. The study utilised information submitted to international agencies and obtained through a questionnaire survey. The results showed that out of 28 countries studied, 18 reported existence of illicit traffic in these substances and of this, 17 indicated seizures. A majority of countries were unable to give consumption data and the limited information available did not allow any significant conclusions. The study did not demonstrate a significant problem of abuse globally.

Matched MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology*

Erectile Dysfunction among People Who Use Ketamine and Poly-Drugs

Suppiah B, Vicknasingam B, Singh D, Narayanan S

J Psychoactive Drugs, 2016 Apr-Jun;48(2):86-92.

PMID: 27014841 DOI: 10.1080/02791072.2016.1156790

Despite the rise in recreational use of ketamine in Malaysia, there have been no studies of users or of the health-related consequences they face. This study was initiated to examine ketamine use and its health consequences. A structured questionnaire was used to elicit information. A final sample of 127 males was divided into persons who used only ketamine and those who were poly-drug users. Each group was further divided into long-period and short-period users. Urine toxicology screening for ketamine and other illicit drugs commonly used in Malaysia was also done. Our findings corroborate those of earlier studies that link ketamine use to urological problems such as frequent urination, dysuria, incontinence, painful bladder, nocturia, and urinary urgency. A new finding in this study is the significant association between ketamine use and erectile dysfunction, such that higher odds of reporting erectile dysfunction were linked to long-period users. Our findings strengthen the case for early intervention, as ketamine users are drawn from young and unmarried male participants. The association of ketamine use with erectile dysfunction, if substantiated, will help physicians in their diagnosis of erectile dysfunction, particularly among youths.

Matched MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology

Prevalence of psychiatric disorders among juvenile offenders in Malaysian prisons and association with socio-demographic and personal factors

Aida SA, Aili HH, Manveen KS, Salwina WI, Subash KP, Ng CG, et al.

Int J Prison Health, 2014;10(2):132-43.

PMID: 25764076 DOI: 10.1108/IJPH-06-2013-0029

The number of juvenile offenders admitted to Malaysian prisons is alarming. The purpose of this paper is to determine the presence of any psychiatric disorders and their association with personal characteristics of juvenile detainees in prisons across Peninsular Malaysia.

Matched MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology

Refining clinical phenotypes by contrasting ethnically different populations with schizophrenia from Australia, India and Sarawak

McLean D, John S, Barrett R, McGrath J, Loa P, Thara R, et al.

Psychiatry Res, 2012 Apr 30;196(2-3):194-200.

PMID: 22401968 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2011.12.027

We contrasted demographic and clinical characteristics in transethnic schizophrenia populations from Australia (n=821), India (n=520) and Sarawak, Malaysia (n=298) and proposed cultural explanations for identified site differences. From these we aimed to identify candidate variables free from significant cultural confounding that are hence suitable for inclusion in genetic analyses. We observed five phenomena: (1) more individuals were living alone in Australia than India or Sarawak; (2) drug use was lower in India than Australia or Sarawak; (3) duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) was longer in India than Australia or Sarawak; (4) the rate of schizoaffective disorder was lower in India than Australia or Sarawak; and (5) age at psychosis onset (AAO) was older in Sarawak than Australia or India. We suggest that site differences for living arrangements, drug use and DUP are culturally confounded. The schizoaffective site difference likely results from measurement bias. The AAO site difference, however, has no obvious cultural or measurement bias explanation. Therefore, this may be an ideal candidate for use in genetic studies, given that genetic variants affecting AAO have already been proposed.

Matched MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology

Fulltext Dispensation of antiretroviral therapy and methadone maintenance therapy at the same facility in a low-barrier setting linked to optimal adherence to HIV treatment

Mohd Salleh NA, Fairbairn N, Nolan S, Barrios R, Shoveller J, Richardson L, et al.

HIV Med, 2019 10;20(9):606-614.

PMID: 31359615 DOI: 10.1111/hiv.12777

OBJECTIVES: We sought to examine the association between dispensation of methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) and antiretroviral therapy (ART) at the same facility, across multiple low-barrier dispensing outlets, and achieving optimal adherence to ART among people who use illicit drugs (PWUD).

METHODS: We used data from the AIDS Care Cohort to Evaluate Exposure to Survival Services (ACCESS) study, a long-running study of a community-recruited cohort of HIV-positive PWUD, linked to comprehensive HIV clinical records in Vancouver, Canada, a setting of no-cost, universal access to HIV care. The longitudinal relationship between MMT-ART dispensation at the same facility and the odds of ≥ 95% ART adherence was analysed using multivariable generalized linear mixed-effects modelling. We conducted a further analysis using a marginal structural mode with inverse probability of treatment weights as a sensitivity analysis.

RESULTS: This study included data on 1690 interviews of 345 ART- and MMT-exposed participants carried out between June 2012 and December 2017. In the final multivariable model, MMT-ART dispensation, compared with nondispensation at the same facility, was associated with greater odds of achieving ≥ 95% adherence [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.56; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.26-1.96]. A marginal structural model estimated a 1.48 (95% CI 1.15-1.80) greater odds of ≥ 95% adherence among participants who reported MMT-ART dispensation at the same facility compared with those who did not.

CONCLUSIONS: The odds of achieving optimal adherence to ART were 56% higher during periods in which MMT and ART medications were dispensed at the same facility, in a low-barrier setting. Our findings highlight the need to consider a simpler integrated approach with medication dispensation at the same facility in low-threshold settings.

Matched MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology

Betel-quid dependence domains and syndrome associated with betel-quid ingredients among chewers: an Asian multi-country evidence

Lee CH, Chiang SL, Ko AM, Hua CH, Tsai MH, Warnakulasuriya S, et al.

Addiction, 2014 Jul;109(7):1194-204.

PMID: 24650227 DOI: 10.1111/add.12530

Betel-quid (BQ) contains biologically psychoactive ingredients; however, data are limited concerning the symptoms and syndrome of BQ dependence among chewers. The aims of this study were to evaluate the ingredients-associated BQ dependence syndrome and country-specific chewing features and behaviour for BQ dependence among chewers from six Asian communities.

Matched MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology*

Fulltext Betel-quid dependence and oral potentially malignant disorders in six Asian countries

Lee CH, Ko AM, Yen CF, Chu KS, Gao YJ, Warnakulasuriya S, et al.

Br J Psychiatry, 2012 Nov;201(5):383-91.

PMID: 22995631 DOI: 10.1192/bjp.bp.111.107961

Despite gradual understanding of the multidimensional health consequences of betel-quid chewing, information on the effects of dependent use is scant.

Matched MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology*

Fulltext Intercountry prevalences and practices of betel-quid use in south, southeast and eastern Asia regions and associated oral preneoplastic disorders: an international collaborative study by Asian betel-quid consortium of south and east Asia

Lee CH, Ko AM, Warnakulasuriya S, Yin BL, Sunarjo, Zain RB, et al.

Int J Cancer, 2011 Oct 1;129(7):1741-51.

PMID: 21128235 DOI: 10.1002/ijc.25809

Health risks stemming from betel-quid (BQ) chewing are frequently overlooked by people. Updated epidemiological data on the increased BQ use among Asian populations using comparable data collection methods have not been widely available. To investigate the prevalence, patterns of practice and associated types of oral preneoplastic disorders, an intercountry Asian Betel-quid Consortium study (the ABC study) was conducted for Taiwan, Mainland China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Nepal and Sri Lanka. A random sample of 8,922 subjects was recruited, and the data were analyzed using survey-data modules adjusted for the complex survey design. Chewing rates among men (10.7-43.6%) were significantly higher than women (1.8-34.9%) in Taiwan, Mainland China, Nepal and Sri Lanka, while women's rates (29.5-46.8%) were higher than that for men (9.8-12.0%) in Malaysia and Indonesia. An emerging, higher proportion of new-users were identified for Hunan in Mainland China (11.1-24.7%), where Hunan chewers have the unique practice of using the dried husk of areca fruit rather than the solid nut universally used by others. Men in the Eastern and South Asian study communities were deemed likely to combine chewing with smoking and drinking (5.6-13.6%). Indonesian women who chewed BQ exhibited the highest prevalence of oral lichen planus, oral submucous fibrosis and oral leukoplakia (9.1-17.3%). Lower schooling, alcohol drinking and tobacco smoking were identified as being associated with BQ chewing. In conclusion, the ABC study reveals the significant cultural and demographic differences contributing to practice patterns of BQ usage and the great health risks that such practices pose in the Asian region.

Matched MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology*

Fulltext Population burden of betel quid abuse and its relation to oral premalignant disorders in South, Southeast, and East Asia: an Asian Betel-quid Consortium Study

Lee CH, Ko AM, Warnakulasuriya S, Ling TY, Sunarjo, Rajapakse PS, et al.

Am J Public Health, 2012 Mar;102(3):e17-24.

PMID: 22390524 DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2011.300521

We investigated the population burden of betel quid abuse and its related impact on oral premalignant disorders (OPDs) in South, Southeast, and East Asia.

Matched MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology*

Risk and protective factors for recreational and hard drug use among Malaysian adolescents and young adults

Razali MM, Kliewer W

Addict Behav, 2015 Nov;50:149-56.

PMID: 26135336 DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2015.06.022

This study investigated risk and protective factors for recreational and hard drug use in Malaysian adolescents and young adults.

Matched MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology*

Fulltext Tobacco smoking and its association with illicit drug use among young men aged 15-24 years living in urban slums of Bangladesh

Kabir MA, Goh KL, Kamal SM, Khan MM

PLoS One, 2013;8(7):e68728.

PMID: 23935885 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0068728

Tobacco smoking (TS) and illicit drug use (IDU) are of public health concerns especially in developing countries, including Bangladesh. This paper aims to (i) identify the determinants of TS and IDU, and (ii) examine the association of TS with IDU among young slum dwellers in Bangladesh.

Matched MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology*

Tobacco consumption and illegal drug use among Bangladeshi males: association and determinants

Kabir MA, Goh KL, Khan MM

Am J Mens Health, 2013 Mar;7(2):128-37.

PMID: 23065136 DOI: 10.1177/1557988312462737

This article aimed to identify the determinants of tobacco consumption and illegal drug use (IDU) as well as to examine the association between these two variables using a representative sample of 3,771 Bangladeshi males aged 15 to 54 years. Data were collected through Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2007. To identify the determinants, the patterns of tobacco consumption and IDU were analyzed by age, education and occupation, residence, mass media, premarital sex, wealth, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Prevalence of smoking cigarette and bidi was roughly 60%. However, the prevalence of IDU was 3.4%, and this proportion is statistically significant (Z = 11.32, p = .000). After bivariate analysis, almost all variables except STIs were significantly associated with tobacco consumption. Similarly, all variables except residence and mass media were associated with IDU. Based on multivariable adjusted logistic regression analysis, the likelihood of using IDU was approximately twofold (odds ratio [OR] = 1.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.23-2.53) among bidi smokers and fourfold (OR = 3.8, 95% CI = 2.62-5.56) among cigarette smokers as compared with nonsmokers.

Matched MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology*

Correlates of current smoking among Malaysian secondary school children

Tee GH, Kaur G

Asia Pac J Public Health, 2014 Sep;26(5 Suppl):70S-80S.

PMID: 24965781 DOI: 10.1177/1010539514540468

Cigarette smoking in adolescent is a significant public health problem, leading to the risk of addiction, morbidity, and mortality in the long term. This study determined the prevalence and correlates of current smoking among adolescent school children. A nationwide school-based survey among 25 507 students between Forms 1 to 5 (aged 12-17) was conducted using a 2-stage cluster sampling design. The prevalence of current smoking was 11.5%. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that current smoking was significantly associated with males (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 3.25; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.87, 4.98), current drinking (aOR = 2.34; 95% CI = 1.46, 3.74), drug used (aOR = 2.97; 95% CI = 1.24, 7.11), and being bullied (aOR = 1.41; 95% CI = 1.00, 1.98) at least once in the past 12 months. Smoking is associated with several behaviors that pose risks to adolescents, such as social issues and smoking-related health problems. Thus, early and integrated prevention programs that address multiple risk behaviors simultaneously are required.

Matched MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology*

Fulltext Pilot study on depression among secondary school students in Selangor

Adlina S, Suthahar A, Ramli M, Edariah AB, Soe SA, Mohd Ariff F, et al.

Med J Malaysia, 2007 Aug;62(3):218-22.

PMID: 18246911 MyJurnal

A cross sectional descriptive study of 2048 subjects was conducted to determine the prevalence of depression and factors influencing depression among students in secondary school from urban and rural areas in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. The children's depression inventory (CDI) developed by Maria Kovacs was used in this study. Students who participated in this study come from two urban schools and three rural schools. It was found that in the yield for scores for five factors were 9.2% have negative mood, 5% have interpersonal problems, 8.3% have ineffectiveness, 9.8% have anhedonia and 10.6% have negative self esteem. Following the interpretive guidelines for the T-scores, it was found that 10.3% of the students were much above average in the depression scale. This study also found that: 1% of students were smoking, 1.6% of students were gum sniffling, 0.9% took drugs, 4.1% took alcohol and 9.9% took things from other people. Females were more depressed than males. The Chinese students were more depressed compared to Indian students. Students whose parents had no formal education or had only primary education were more depressed than students whose parents had secondary, college or university education. Depression increased with increasing number of siblings. Depression contributed to the habit of drug abuse, gum sniffing and stealing but not to smoking and alcohol abuse. Suicidal tendencies were more likely among the depressed students. It is imperative that not only caregivers but also teachers have to be equipped with the knowledge, attitude and skills to assist secondary school children cope with their emotions, handle conflicts and manage stress early so that a more productive society will develop in the future.

Matched MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology

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