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  1. Fulltext Validity and reliability of the hausa version of multidimensional scale of perceived social support index
    Mohammad AH, Al Sadat N, Loh SY, Chinna K
    Iran Red Crescent Med J, 2015 Feb;17(2):e18776.
    PMID: 25838933 DOI: 10.5812/ircmj.18776
    BACKGROUND: Social support has been identified as one of the key factors for enhancing the quality of life after stroke. However, a scientific tool that is valid for evaluating social support among stroke survivors in Nigeria has not been developed so far.

    OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Hausa translated versions of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and to validate it for future use in clinical research in Nigeria.

    PATIENTS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 140 adult stroke survivors attending rehabilitation services at stroke referral centers in Kano, Nigeria. The psychometric analysis of the Hausa-MSPSS involved face, content, criterion and construct validity tests, as well as internal and test-retest reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to assess validity of the three-factor (Family, Friends and Significant others) model for the Hausa-MSPSS.

    RESULTS: Based on expert panel, clinicians' review and patients' feedback, the 12 item Hausa-MSPSS had sufficient face, content and criterion validity. In reliability analysis, the Cronbach's alpha was 0.781. In test-retest reliability analysis, the minimum kappa value was 0.673. In Confirmatory factor analysis, the three-factor model was not acceptable. An alternative two-factor model with Family and Friends, as the two domain was found to be acceptable (Chi-square/df < 3, TLI, CFI > 0.9, RMSEA < 0.08). The average variances extracted for the two constructs were 0.5 and 0.7, respectively. The R-squared value between the two constructs was 0.397. Cross validity tested using 1000 bootstrap resamples gave satisfactory results (P = 0.079).

    CONCLUSIONS: The 11 item Hausa-MSPSS index is valid for the assessment of perceived social support among stroke survivors in Nigeria.

  2. Prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity in Malaysia: a systematic review and meta-analysis
    Chua KY, Chua KY, Chinna K, Lim CL, Seneviwickrama M
    Clin Exp Pediatr, 2024 Nov 13.
    PMID: 39533723 DOI: 10.3345/cep.2024.00899
    The incidence of childhood obesity is increasing worldwide. National surveys in Malaysia have shown similar trends. This review aimed to increase our understanding of the prevalence and associated factors of childhood overweight, obesity, and excess weight in Malaysia. A systemat-ic review and meta-analysis were conducted of studies reporting the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Malaysian children aged < 18 years. Systematic searches were conducted in Oc-tober 2023 and repeated in March 2024 of the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. The grey literature was also included. Study selection, data extraction, and quality assessments were conducted by paired independent researchers. A meta-analysis of prevalence and 95% confidence interval (CI) using a random-effects model and heterogeneity (I2) was calculated. Publication bias was investigated using Egger's test. This review included 33 studies (N=273,710) conducted between 1996 and 2022. Overall, the childhood overweight, obesity and excess weight prevalence was 13.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 13.0-14.8%), 11.8% (95% CI, 10.9-12.8%), and 24.0% (95% CI, 22.3-25.7%), respectively. Boys had a significant-ly higher proportion of obesity (12.5% [95% CI, 11.1-14.1%] vs. 9.1% [95% CI, 8.1-10.1%]) and excess weight (25.7% [95% CI, 23.5-28.1%] vs. 20.7% [95% CI, 18.8-22.8%]) than girls. Sarawak natives had a higher prevalence of obesity (17.7% [95% CI, 16.0-19.5%]). Annually, the obesity prevalence increased by 0.3% (95% CI, 0.1-0.6%; p=0.006) and excess weight prevalence increased by 0.6% (95% CI, 0.3-1.0%; p=0.002). Heterogeneity was high (I2>90%), and publication bias was possible (p<0.001). Variability was not significantly affected by the critical appraisal score or sample size. In conclusion, the prevalence of childhood overweight, obesity, and excess weight in Malaysia doubled over 26 years. Future studies of the prevalence of childhood excess weight should follow a standardized reference for body mass index by age to ease interstudy comparisons.
  3. Fulltext Psychometric properties of the malay version of the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEBQ) in a sample of Malaysian adults attending a health care facility
    Subramaniam K, Low WY, Chinna K, Chin KF, Krishnaswamy S
    Malays J Med Sci, 2017 Aug;24(4):64-73.
    PMID: 28951691 MyJurnal DOI: 10.21315/mjms2017.24.4.8
    OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the psychometric properties of the Malay version of the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEBQ) among Malaysian adults.
    METHOD: The Malay version of the DEBQ instrument was administered to 398 outpatients (269 women and 129 men) at the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted to study the construct validity of the instrument. Composite reliability coefficient, Raykov's rho, was used to determine the internal consistency.
    RESULTS: The proposed three-factor structure for the DEBQ instrument was appropriate, although three items (Items 21, 14 and 27) showed problematic loadings with inappropriate model fit and were removed. The modified version had an appropriate model fit χ(2)/df = 2.129, TLI = 0.908, CFI = 0.918, RMSEA = 0.053 (90%CI = 0.048-0.058), close-fit P-value = 0.136 and satisfactory internal consistency of 0.914 for emotional eating scale, 0.819 for external eating scale and 0.856 for restrained eating scale.
    DISCUSSION: The Malay version of the DEBQ is a valid instrument to study eating behaviour traits among Malaysian adults. Further research is warranted to determine if Items 14 and 27 are appropriate for the Malaysian population.
    Study site: Pharmacy, University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  4. Fulltext Psychometric properties and validation of the Positive and Negative Suicide Ideation (PANSI) Inventory in an outpatient clinical population in Malaysia
    Sinniah A, Oei TP, Chinna K, Shah SA, Maniam T, Subramaniam P
    Front Psychol, 2015;6:1934.
    PMID: 26733920 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01934
    The PANSI is a measure designed to assess the risk and protective factors related to suicidal behaviors. The present study evaluated the psychometric properties and factor structure of the Positive and Negative Suicide Ideation (PANSI) Inventory in a sample of clinical outpatients at a major hospital in Malaysia. In this study, 283 psychiatric patients and 200 medical (non-psychiatric) patients participated. All the patients completed the PANSI and seven other self-report instruments. Confirmative factor analysis supported the 2-factor oblique model. The internal consistency of the two subscales of PANSI-Negative and the PANSI-Positive were 0.93 and 0.84, respectively. In testing construct validity, PANSI showed sizable correlation with the other seven scales. Criterion validity was supported by scores on PANSI which differentiated psychiatric patients from medical patients. Logistic regression analyses showed PANSI can be used to classify the patients into suicidal or non-suicidal. The PANSI is a reliable and valid instrument to measure the severity of suicidal ideation among clinical outpatients in Malaysia.
    Study site: Psychiatric clinic, Medical clinic, Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) clinic, Ophthalmology clinic and orthopedic clinic, Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
    Scale, Questionnaire and Device: Positive and Negative Suicide Ideation Inventory (PANSI), Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21), Reasons for Living Inventory (RFL), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), Provision of Social Relations (PSR), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (RSE), The Adult Trait Hope Scale (ATHS)
  5. Fulltext HIV/AIDS Related Stigma and Discrimination against PLWHA in Nigerian Population
    Dahlui M, Azahar N, Bulgiba A, Zaki R, Oche OM, Adekunjo FO, et al.
    PLoS One, 2015;10(12):e0143749.
    PMID: 26658767 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143749
    HIV/AIDS remain a major public health concern in Nigeria. People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) face not only personal medical problems but also social problems associated with the disease such as stigma and discriminatory attitudes. This study provides an insight into HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination against PLWHA in Nigeria.
  6. Validation of the Malay version of the Quality of Life Questionnaire of the European Foundation for Osteoporosis (QUALEFFO-41) in Malaysia
    Nagammai T, Mohazmi M, Liew SM, Chinna K, Lai PS
    Qual Life Res, 2015 Aug;24(8):2031-7.
    PMID: 25648757 DOI: 10.1007/s11136-015-0933-7
    PURPOSE: To assess the validity and reliability of the Malay version of the Quality of Life (QOL) Questionnaire of the European Foundation for Osteoporosis (QUALEFFO-41) in Malaysia.
    METHODS: The QUALEFFO-41 was translated from English to Malay and administered to 215 post-menopausal osteoporotic women ≥50 years who could understand Malay, at baseline and 4 weeks. The SF-36 was administered at baseline to assess convergent validity. To assess discriminative validity, patients with and without back pain were recruited.
    RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the QUALEFFO-41 had five domains. Good internal consistency was seen in all domains (0.752-0.925) except for the social activity domain (0.692). Test-retest reliability showed adequate correlation for all items (0.752-0.964, p < 0.001). Patients with back pain had significantly worse QOL compared with those without (back pain = 42.2 ± 10.9, no back pain = 33.3 ± 8.9; p < 0.001). The total QUALEFFO-41 score and the SF-36 physical and mental composite scores were significantly correlated (-0.636 and -0.529, p < 0.001, respectively).
    CONCLUSIONS: The Malay version of the QUALEFFO-41 was found to be a reliable and valid instrument to evaluate the QOL of osteoporotic patients in Malaysia. To enable the QUALEFFO-41 to be used in a multiracial population, further studies should look into validating other versions of the QUALEFFO-41 in Malaysia.
  7. Obesogenic television food advertising to children in Malaysia: sociocultural variations
    Ng SH, Kelly B, Se CH, Chinna K, Sameeha MJ, Krishnasamy S, et al.
    Glob Health Action, 2014 Dec;7(1):25169.
    PMID: 28672562 DOI: 10.3402/gha.v7.25169
    Background Food advertising on television (TV) is well known to influence children's purchasing requests and models negative food habits in Western countries. Advertising of unhealthy foods is a contributor to the obesogenic environment that is a key driver of rising rates of childhood obesity. Children in developing countries are more at risk of being targeted by such advertising, as there is a huge potential for market growth of unhealthy foods concomitant with poor regulatory infrastructure. Further, in developing countries with multi-ethnic societies, information is scarce on the nature of TV advertising targeting children. Objectives To measure exposure and power of TV food marketing to children on popular multi-ethnic TV stations in Malaysia. Design Ethnic-specific popular TV channels were identified using industry data. TV transmissions were recorded for each channel from November 2012 to August 2013 (16 hr/day) for randomly selected weekdays and weekend days during normal days and repeated during school holidays (n=88 days). Coded food/beverage advertisements were grouped into core (healthy), non-core (non-healthy), or miscellaneous (unclassified) food categories. Peak viewing time (PVT) and persuasive marketing techniques were identified. Results Non-core foods were predominant in TV food advertising, and rates were greater during school holidays compared to normal days (3.51 vs 1.93 food ads/hr/channel, p<0.001). During normal days' PVT, the ratio of non-core to core food advertising was higher (3.25 food ads/hr/channel), and this more than trebled during school holidays to 10.25 food ads/hr/channel. Popular channels for Indian children had the lowest rate of food advertising relative to other ethnic groups. However, sugary drinks remained a popular non-core product advertised across all broadcast periods and channels. Notably, promotional characters doubled for non-core foods during school holidays compared to normal days (1.91 vs 0.93 food ads/hr/channel, p<0.001). Conclusions This study highlights non-core food advertising, and predominantly sugary drinks are commonly screened on Malaysian TV channels. The majority of these sugary drinks were advertised by multinational companies, and this observation warrants regulatory attention.
  8. Fulltext Effect of nonsurgical periodontal therapy verses oral hygiene instructions on type 2 diabetes subjects with chronic periodontitis: a randomised clinical trial
    Raman RP, Taiyeb-Ali TB, Chan SP, Chinna K, Vaithilingam RD
    BMC Oral Health, 2014;14:79.
    PMID: 24965218 DOI: 10.1186/1472-6831-14-79
    40 subjects with type 2 diabetes and moderate to severe CP were randomly distributed to groups receiving either NSPT or OHI. Periodontal parameters, glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were evaluated at baseline, 2- and 3-months intervals.
  9. Fulltext An individually-tailored multifactorial intervention program for older fallers in a middle-income developing country: Malaysian Falls Assessment and Intervention Trial (MyFAIT)
    Tan PJ, Khoo EM, Chinna K, Hill KD, Poi PJ, Tan MP
    BMC Geriatr, 2014;14:78.
    PMID: 24951180 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2318-14-78
    Background: In line with a rapidly ageing global population, the rise in the frequency of falls will lead to increased healthcare and social care costs. This study will be one of the few randomized controlled trials evaluating a multifaceted falls intervention in a low-middle income, culturally-diverse older Asian community. The primary objective of our paper is to evaluate whether individually tailored multifactorial interventions will successfully reduce the number of falls among older adults.
    Methods: Three hundred community-dwelling older Malaysian adults with a history of (i) two or more falls, or (ii) one injurious fall in the past 12 months will be recruited. Baseline assessment will include cardiovascular, frailty, fracture risk, psychological factors, gait and balance, activities of daily living and visual assessments. Fallers will be randomized into 2 groups: to receive tailored multifactorial interventions (intervention group); or given lifestyle advice with continued conventional care (control group). Multifactorial interventions will target 6 specific risk factors. All participants will be re-assessed after 12 months. The primary outcome measure will be fall recurrence, measured with monthly falls diaries. Secondary outcomes include falls risk factors; and psychological measures including fear of falling, and quality of life.
    Discussion: Previous studies evaluating multifactorial interventions in falls have reported variable outcomes.
    Given likely cultural, personal, lifestyle and health service differences in Asian countries, it is vital that
    individually-tailored multifaceted interventions are evaluated in an Asian population to determine applicability of these interventions in our setting. If successful, these approaches have the potential for widespread application in geriatric healthcare services, will reduce the projected escalation of falls and fall-related injuries, and improve the quality of life of our older community.
    Trial registration: ISRCTN11674947
    Study: Malaysian Falls Assessment and Intervention Trial; MyFAIT
  10. The effect of facilitated tucking on procedural pain control among premature babies
    Lopez O, Subramanian P, Rahmat N, Theam LC, Chinna K, Rosli R
    J Clin Nurs, 2015 Jan;24(1-2):183-91.
    PMID: 25060423 DOI: 10.1111/jocn.12657
    To determine the effectiveness of facilitated tucking in reducing pain when venepuncture is being performed on preterm infants.
  11. Effect of a reminder system using an automated short message service on medication adherence following acute coronary syndrome
    Khonsari S, Subramanian P, Chinna K, Latif LA, Ling LW, Gholami O
    Eur J Cardiovasc Nurs, 2015 Apr;14(2):170-9.
    PMID: 24491349 DOI: 10.1177/1474515114521910
    Medication non-adherence leads to a vast range of negative outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease. An automated web-based system managing short message service (SMS) reminders is a telemedicine approach to optimise adherence among patients who frequently forget to take their medications or miss the timing.
  12. Psychometric properties of the self-report Malay version of the Pediatric Quality of Life (PedsQLTM) 4.0 Generic Core Scales among multiethnic Malaysian adolescents
    Ainuddin HA, Loh SY, Chinna K, Low WY, Roslani AC
    J Child Health Care, 2015 Jun;19(2):229-38.
    PMID: 24154841 DOI: 10.1177/1367493513504834
    Adolescence is the potential period for growth and optimal functioning, but developmental issues like time of transition from childhood to adulthood will create stress and affect the adolescent's quality of life (QOL). However, there is a lack of research tool for measuring adolescent's QOL in Malaysia. The aim of the study was to determine the validity and reliability of the self-report Malay version of the pediatric QOL (PedsQL™) 4.0 Generic Core Scales in assessing the QOL of Malaysian adolescents. A cross-sectional study design using the 23-item self-report Malay version of the PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales was administered on a convenient cluster sampling (n = 297 adolescent) from a secondary school. The internal consistency reliability had Cronbach's α values ranging from .70 to .89. Factor analysis reported a six-factor structure via principal axis factor analysis. In conclusion, the self-report Malay version of the pediatric QOL 4.0 Generic Core Scales is a reliable and valid tool to measure the QOL of multiethnic Malaysian adolescents.
  13. Fulltext Ethnic differences in the prognostic utility of rheumatoid factor isotypes and anticyclic citrullinated peptides in rheumatoid arthritis patients: a cross-sectional study
    Gomez EL, Gun SC, Somanath SD, Chinna K, Radhakrishnan AK
    Mod Rheumatol, 2013 Jul;23(4):716-21.
    PMID: 22854883 DOI: 10.1007/s10165-012-0718-6
    OBJECTIVES: The prognostic significance of rheumatoid factor (RF) and anticyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (anti-CCP) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains contentious due to the conflicting lines of evidence. This study aims to determine the association between RF isotypes and anti-CCP with disease severity in RA patients from three ethnic groups.
    METHODS: A total of 147 RA patients from three different ethnic groups (Malays, Chinese, and Indians) who fulfilled the 1987 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) revised criteria for RA were recruited into this study. The seroprevalence of RF isotypes immunoglobulin (Ig)A, IgG, and IgM, as well as anti-CCP was determined using commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. Multinomial regression analysis was performed to assess the independent effects of autoantibody status on the development of deforming and erosive RA and the presence of extra-articular manifestations (EAM).
    RESULTS: In Chinese patients, we found a significant association (p < 0.05) between IgG RF and anti-CCP and the presence of erosive disease, as well as IgM RF and IgG RF with the presence of joint deformities. In Indian patients, IgM RF was associated with deforming disease, whereas none of the antibodies were associated with disease severity in Malay patients. Multinomial regression analysis revealed that IgG RF was the most important predictor variable for erosive disease in Chinese patients, and IgM RF the only predictor variable associated with deforming disease in both Chinese and Indian RA patients.
    CONCLUSIONS: There is variability in the phenotypic association of RF isotypes and anti-CCP in relation to disease severity of RA in the three ethnic groups. RF, in particular, IgG and IgM, may be better prognosticators of severe disease in Chinese and Indian patients.
  14. Prevalence of obesity and factors associated with it in a worksite setting in Malaysia
    Cheong SM, Kandiah M, Chinna K, Chan YM, Saad HA
    J Community Health, 2010 Dec;35(6):698-705.
    PMID: 20458526 DOI: 10.1007/s10900-010-9274-1
    Socio-economic status, lifestyle behaviors, and psychosocial factors have been implicated in the development of overweight and obesity. This study aims to observe the prevalence of overweight and obesity in an academic worksite and to examine the possible association between variables such as socio-economic characteristics, work factors, psychosocial factors, and weight control behaviors and obesity. In this study, the target population were full-time academic and non-academic staff. Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) were computed to determine obesity. A pretested self-administered questionnaire was used to obtain information on socio-demographic factors, work related factors, psychosocial factors, and weight control behaviors. Data were obtained on 367 adults of whom 39.2% were males and 60.8% females. Overweight was seen in 31.9% of males and 26.5% of females while 16.1% of them were obese, irrespective of gender. Central obesity was noted in about 37% of males and 39% of females. The results showed that socio-demographic factors (age, gender, and education) and psychosocial factors (perceived health status, body weight perception, and weight-control goals) were significantly associated with BMI. Working hours were also significantly associated with BMI. However, weight control practices (diet-control practices and physical activity practices) were not significantly associated with BMI. In conclusion, this study found a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity among employees of a selected public university in comparison to the general population. Socio-demographic, psychosocial factors, and working hours were found to contribute to obesity in this sample of adults.
  15. Fulltext The prevalence of rheumatoid factor isotypes and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides in Malaysian rheumatoid arthritis patients
    Gomez EL, Gun SC, Somnath SD, D'Souza B, Lim AL, Chinna K, et al.
    Int J Rheum Dis, 2011 Feb;14(1):12-7.
    PMID: 21303477 DOI: 10.1111/j.1756-185X.2010.01573.x
    AIM: The purpose of this study is to compare the prevalence of rheumatoid factor (RF) isotypes and second generation anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides (anti-CCP) in Malaysian rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.
    METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 147 established RA patients from three ethnic groups were recruited from a major rheumatology clinic in Malaysia. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) for serum RF isotypes IgA, IgG and IgM as well as second-generation anti-CCP were performed and the prevalence of each auto-antibody was compared in the three ethnic groups.
    RESULTS: The anti-CCP was the most prevalent auto-antibody in each of the ethnic groups, followed closely by RF IgM and RF IgG. Rheumatoid factor IgA was the least prevalent across all three ethnic groups. The anti-CCP-RF IgM combination provided the best test sensitivity. Seroprevalence of anti-CCP was strongly associated with the presence of each of the RF isotypes. The seroprevalence of RF and anti-CCP did not increase or decrease with advancing age, age at onset and disease duration.
    CONCLUSION: When used alone, anti-CCP provides a diagnostic advantage over RF IgM on the basis of test sensitivity. Considering the high cost of the anti-CCP assay, step-wise serum testing with IgM RF followed by anti-CCP may provide a more economically sensible option to optimize test sensitivity for RA.
    Study site: Rheumatology clinic, Hospital Tuanku Jaafar, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
  16. Fulltext What's on Malaysian television? A survey on food advertising targeting children
    Karupaiah T, Chinna K, Mee LH, Mei LS, Noor MI
    Asia Pac J Clin Nutr, 2008;17(3):483-91.
    PMID: 18818170
    The Malaysian government recently introduced a ban on fast food advertisements targeting children on television. This study reports on data covering 6 months of television food advertising targeting children. Six out of seven of the Nation's commercial television networks participated (response rate = 85.7%). Based on reported timings of children's programmes, prime time significantly differed ( p <0.05) between weekdays (mean = 1.89 +/- 0.18 hr) and weekends (mean = 4.61 +/- 0.33 hr). The increased trend during weekends, school vacation and Ramadhan was evident. Over the six-month period, the mean number of food advertisements appearing per month varied greatly between television stations (C = 1104; D = 643; F = 407; B = 327; A = 59; E = 47). Food advertising also increased the most in September (n = 3158), followed by July (n = 2770), August (n = 2431), October (n = 2291), November (n = 2245) and June (n = 2211). Content analysis of advertisements indicated snacks were the highest (34.5%), followed by dairy products (20.3%), sugars and candies (13.4%), biscuits (11.2%), fast food (6.7%), breakfast cereal (6.4%), beverages (4.1%), supplements (0.9%), rice (0.6%), noodles (0.5%), bread (0.3%), miscellaneous and processed foods (0.2%). Paradoxically, we found that the frequency of snack food advertised during children's prime time was 5 times more than fast foods. The sodium content (mean = 620 mg per 100g) of these snack foods was found to be highest.
  17. Suicide prevention program for at-risk groups: pointers from an epidemiological study
    Maniam T, Chinna K, Lim CH, Kadir AB, Nurashikin I, Salina AA, et al.
    Prev Med, 2013;57 Suppl:S45-6.
    PMID: 23454536 DOI: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2013.02.022
    The aim of this paper is to identify at-risk groups for a focused suicide prevention program for Malaysia.
  18. Prevalence and associated factors of stress in the Malaysian Police Force
    Masilamani R, Bulgiba A, Chinna K, Darus A, Isahak M, Kandiben S, et al.
    Prev Med, 2013;57 Suppl:S57-9.
    PMID: 23352959 DOI: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2013.01.008
    This study aims to determine the prevalence of stress and the associated socio-demographic and work factors among police personnel in Metropolitan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  19. Correlates between risk perceptions of cervical cancer and screening practice
    Wong YL, Chinna K, Mariapun J, Wong LP, Khoo EM, Low WY, et al.
    Prev Med, 2013;57 Suppl:S24-6.
    PMID: 23318158 DOI: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2013.01.004
    OBJECTIVES: To identify the correlates between risk perceptions and cervical cancer screening among urban Malaysian women.
    METHOD: A cross-sectional household survey was conducted among 231 women in Petaling Jaya city in 2007. The association of risk perceptions of cervical cancer and screening practice was analyzed using Poisson regression.
    RESULTS: 56% of the respondents ever had a Pap smear test. Knowledge of signs and symptoms (aPR=1.11, 95% CI=1.03-1.19), age (aPR=1.02, 95% CI=1.01-1.03), number of pregnancies (aPR=1.06, 95% CI=1.01-1.11), marital status, education level and religion were found to be significant correlates of Pap smear screening. Respondents who were never married were less likely to have had a Pap smear. Those who had no education or primary education were less likely to have had a Pap smear compared to those with degree qualification. The prevalence of screening was significantly higher among Christians and others (aPR=1.35; 95% CI=1.01-1.81) and Buddhists (aPR=1.38; 95% CI=1.03-1.84), compared to Muslims.
    CONCLUSION: Eliminating anecdotal beliefs as risks via targeted knowledge on established risk factors and culturally sensitive screening processes are strategic for increasing and sustaining uptake of Pap smear screening versus current opportunistic screening practices.
    KEYWORDS: Cervical cancer; Malaysia; Pap smear; Risk perception; Screening; Targeted knowledge
  20. Fulltext Reading the mind of children in response to food advertising: a cross-sectional study of Malaysian schoolchildren's attitudes towards food and beverages advertising on television
    Ng SH, Kelly B, Se CH, Sahathevan S, Chinna K, Ismail MN, et al.
    BMC Public Health, 2015;15:1047.
    PMID: 26459341 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-015-2392-z
    Television food advertising (TVFA) is the most dominant medium in the obesogenic environment promoting unhealthy food choices in children.
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