MATERIALS AND METHODS: A quasi-experimental study was conducted at the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC) over six months. Prostate cancer patients from UMMC received the intervention and patients from UKMMC were taken as controls. The level of depression, anxiety and stress were measured using Depression, Anxiety Stress Scales - 21 (DASS-21).
RESULTS: A total of 77 patients from the UMMC and 78 patients from the UKMMC participated. At the end of the study, 90.9% and 87.2% of patients from the UMMC and UKMMC groups completed the study respectively. There were significant improvements in anxiety (p<0.001, partial ?2=0.198) and stress (p<0.001, partial ?2=0.103) at the end of the study in those receiving muscle training. However, there was no improvement in depression (p=0.956).
CONCLUSIONS: The improvement in anxiety and stress showed the potential of APMRT in the management of prostate cancer patients. Future studies should be carried out over a longer duration to provide stronger evidence for the introduction of relaxation therapy among prostate cancer patients as a coping strategy to improve their anxiety and stress.
METHODS: The Brunei Malay EQ-5D-5L was developed by culturally adapting two existing Malay versions. A total of 154 Bruneians with T2DM completed the questionnaire in two different points of time with one week apart. Known-groups validity of the utility-based EQ-5D-5L index and visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS) was evaluated by comparing subgroups of patients known to differ in health status. Test-retest reliability was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) or Cohen's kappa.
RESULTS: As hypothesized, patients known to have 'better' health had higher EQ-5D-5L index scores than those having 'worse' health in all 7 known-groups comparisons. The hypothesized difference in the EQ-VAS scores was observed in only 4 of the 7 known-groups comparisons. Kappa values ranged from 0.206 to 0.446 for the EQ-5D-5L items; the ICC value for the EQ-5D-5L index and EQ-VAS was 0.626 and 0.521, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: The utility-based EQ-5D-5L index appears to be valid and reliable for measuring the health of Brunei patients with T2DM. The validity of the EQ-VAS in Brunei requires further investigation.
METHODS: Unstructured observations and a focus-group discussion were carried out with 18 participants involved in a six-week SRT program in a residential care facility in Kuala Lumpur.
RESULTS: Analysis revealed four themes: (i) Enthusiastic participation; (ii) Connections across boundaries; (iii) Expressing and reflecting; and (iv) Successful use of triggers.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the process of reminiscence, on which the program was based, was enjoyable for the participants and created opportunities to form connections with other members of the group. The use of relevant triggers in the SRT program that related to Malaysian cultures, ethnicities and religions was helpful to engage the participants and was acceptable across the different religions and ethnicities.