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Displaying publications 41 - 49 of 49 in total

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The effect of mandatory generic substitution on the safety of alendronate and patients' adherence

Lai PS, Chua SS, Chong YH, Chan SP

Curr Med Res Opin, 2012 Aug;28(8):1347-55.
PMID: 22746354 DOI: 10.1185/03007995.2012.708326

Generic medicines are often used in public hospitals. However, data on the quality of generic alendronate, its efficacy, side-effects and medication adherence in clinical practice is scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the side-effects and medication adherence of generic (apo-alendronate*) and proprietary alendronate (Fosamax†).
Long-term nasogastric tube feeding in elderly stroke patients--an assessment of nutritional adequacy and attitudes to gastrostomy feeding in Asians

Zaherah Mohamed Shah F, Suraiya HS, Poi PJ, Tan KS, Lai PS, Ramakrishnan K, et al.

J Nutr Health Aging, 2012 Aug;16(8):701-6.
PMID: 23076512 DOI: 10.1007/s12603-012-0027-y

BACKGROUND: Gastrostomy feeding is superior to long-term nasogastric (NG) feeding in patients with dysphagic stroke, but this practice remains uncommon in Asia. We sought to examine the nutritional adequacy of patients on long term NG feeding and identify barriers to gastrostomy feeding in these patients.
METHODOLOGY: A prospective comparison of subjective global assessment (SGA), and anthropometry (mid-arm muscle circumference, MAMC; triceps skinfold thickness, TST) between elderly stroke patients on long-term NG feeding and matched controls was performed. Selected clinicians and carers of patients were interviewed to assess their knowledge and attitudes to gastrostomy feeding.
RESULTS: 140 patients (70 NG, 70 oral) were recruited between September 2010 and February 2011. Nutritional status was poorer in the NG compared to the oral group (SGA grade C 38.6% NG vs 0% oral, p<0.001; TST males 10.7 + 3.7 mm NG vs 15.4 + 4.6 mm oral, p<0.001; MAMCmales 187.9 + 40.4 mm NG vs 228.7 + 31.8 mm oral, p<0.001). 45 (64.3%) patients on long-term NG feeding reported complications, mainly consisting of dislodgement (50.5%), aspiration of feed content (8.6%) and trauma from insertion (4.3%). Among 20 clinicians from relevant speciliaties who were interviewed, only 11 (55%) clinicians would routinely recommend a PEG. All neurologists (100%) would recommend a PEG, whilst the response was mixed among non-neurologists. Among carers, lack of information (47.1%) was the commonest reason stated for not choosing a PEG.
CONCLUSION: Elderly patients with stroke on long term NG feeding have a poor nutritional status. Lack of recommendation by clinicians appears to be a major barrier to PEG feeding in these patients.
Fulltext Validation of the diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia (DHL) knowledge instrument in Malaysia

Lai PS, Chua SS, Tan CH, Chan SP

BMC Med Res Methodol, 2012 Feb 24;12:18.
PMID: 22361093 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2288-12-18

BACKGROUND: Patient's knowledge on diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia and its medications can be used as one of the outcome measures to assess the effectiveness of educational intervention. To date, no such instrument has been validated in Malaysia. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Diabetes, Hypertension and Hyperlipidemia (DHL) knowledge instrument for assessing the knowledge of patients with type 2 diabetes in Malaysia.
METHODS: A 28-item instrument which comprised of 5 domains: diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, medications and general issues was designed and tested. One point was given for every correct answer, whilst zero was given for incorrect answers. Scores ranged from 0 to 28, which were then converted into percentage. This was administered to 77 patients with type 2 diabetes in a tertiary hospital, who were on medication(s) for diabetes and who could understand English (patient group), and to 40 pharmacists (professional group). The DHL knowledge instrument was administered again to the patient group after one month. Excluded were patients less than 18 years old.
RESULTS: Flesch reading ease was 60, which is satisfactory, while the mean difficulty factor(SD) was 0.74(0.21), indicating that DHL knowledge instrument was moderately easy. Internal consistency of the instrument was good, with Cronbach's α = 0.791. The test-retest scores showed no significant difference for 26 out of the 28 items, indicating that the questionnaire has achieved stable reliability. The overall mean(SD) knowledge scores was significantly different between the patient and professional groups [74.35(14.88) versus 93.84(6.47), p < 0.001]. This means that the DHL knowledge instrument could differentiate the knowledge levels of participants. The DHL knowledge instrument shows similar psychometric properties as other validated questionnaires.
CONCLUSIONS: The DHL knowledge instrument shows good promise to be adopted as an instrument for assessing diabetic patients' knowledge concerning their disease conditions and medications in Malaysia.
Effects of pharmaceutical care on adherence and persistence to bisphosphonates in postmenopausal osteoporotic women

Lai PS, Chua SS, Chew YY, Chan SP

J Clin Pharm Ther, 2011 Oct;36(5):557-67.
PMID: 21916908 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2710.2010.01210.x

Studies have shown that comprehensive interventions by pharmacists can improve adherence and persistence to osteoporosis therapy, but the association between adherence and bone turnover markers (BTMs) has never been studied. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of pharmaceutical care on medication adherence (and its effects on BTMs), as well as persistence of postmenopausal osteoporotic women to prescribed bisphosphonates.
Development and validation of the osteoporosis patient satisfaction questionnaire (OPSQ)

Lai PS, Chua SS, Chan SP, Low WY, Wong IC

Maturitas, 2010 Jan;65(1):55-63.
PMID: 19962839 DOI: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2009.10.006

OBJECTIVES: To develop and validate the Osteoporosis Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (OPSQ) and to assess the opinion of postmenopausal osteoporotic women towards pharmaceutical care.
METHODS: A 16-item instrument was designed. Each response consists of a five-point Likert-like scale with higher scores indicating greater satisfaction. The face and content validity was established via consultation with an endocrinologist and three pharmacists as well as feedback from participants in a preliminary study. Postmenopausal osteoporotic women taking bisphosphonates were recruited and randomly allocated to the intervention (n=90) and control groups (n=90). Pharmaceutical care was provided at month 2 to the intervention group while the control group received standard pharmacy services. The OPSQ was administered at month 6 (end of the intervention period), to assess patients' satisfaction. Factor analysis was performed using varimax rotation. Internal reliability was established using Cronbach's alpha. Construct validity was performed by using the Mann-Whitney U test.
RESULTS: The internal reliability of the OPSQ produced a Cronbach's alpha of 0.86. Factor analysis identified one component in the OPSQ, which measured patient satisfaction. The intervention group showed significantly better overall OPSQ score than the control group (91.89+/-7.22% versus 84.32+/-7.48%, p<0.001). This indicates that the OPSQ was able to differentiate between participants who received pharmaceutical care from those who did not.
CONCLUSIONS: The 16-item OPSQ developed in this study has high internal reliability and is a valid instrument for assessing osteoporotic women's satisfaction with pharmaceutical care service in Malaysia.
The impact of pharmacist intervention on the use of activated vitamin D in a tertiary referral hospital in Malaysia

Siow JY, Lai PS, Chua SS, Chan SP

Int J Pharm Pract, 2009 Oct;17(5):305-11.
PMID: 20214273

In recent years, the usage of activated vitamin D (alpha-calcidol and calcitriol) in the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) has escalated and this has put unnecessary burden on the hospital's limited health care budget. The main aim of this study was to determine the effects of a clinical pharmacist's intervention in reducing the inappropriate use of activated vitamin D.
The validity and reliability of the Malaysian Osteoporosis Knowledge Tool in postmenopausal women

Lai PS, Chua SS, Chan SP, Low WY

Maturitas, 2008 Jun 20;60(2):122-30.
PMID: 18508210 DOI: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2008.04.006

OBJECTIVES: To design a valid and reliable questionnaire, the Malaysian Osteoporosis Knowledge Tool (MOKT), to assess the knowledge of postmenopausal osteoporotic women in Malaysia, on osteoporosis and its treatment.
METHODS: A 40-item instrument was designed and tested in this study. The scores ranged from 1 to 40, which were then converted into percentage. This was administered to 88 postmenopausal osteoporotic women who were taking alendronate (patient group) and 43 pharmacists (professional group). The MOKT was administered again to the patient group after 1 month.
RESULTS: Flesch reading ease was 57, which is satisfactory, while the mean difficulty factor+/-S.D. was 0.73+/-0.25, indicating that the MOKT is moderately easy. Internal consistency of the instrument was good with Cronbach's alpha=0.82. The test and retest scores showed no significant difference for 38 out of the 40 items, indicating that the questionnaire has achieved a stable reliability. Level of knowledge on osteoporosis and its treatment was good with a mean score+/-S.D. of 69.0+/-13.9 and 81.6+/-9.5 in the patient and professional group, respectively. The difference in knowledge scores between the two groups was statistically significant (p<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the 40-item questionnaire (MOKT) is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring knowledge on osteoporosis in the Malaysian setting. Therefore, it can be used to identify individuals in need of educational interventions and to assess the effectiveness of education efforts as part of osteoporosis management.
Fulltext Screening of dystrophin gene deletions in Malaysian patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Marini M, Salmi AA, Watihayati MS, SMardziah MD, Zahri MK, Hoh BP, et al.

Med J Malaysia, 2008 Mar;63(1):31-4.
PMID: 18935728 MyJurnal

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked recessive genetic disorder characterized by rapidly progressive muscle weakness. The disease is caused by deletion, duplication or point mutation of the dystrophin gene, located on the X chromosome (Xp21). Deletion accounts for 60% of the mutations within the 79 exons of the dystrophin gene. Seven exons (43, 44, 45, 46, 49, 50, and 51) were found to be most commonly deleted among the Asian patients. To detect the frequency of deletion of these 7 exons in Malaysian DMD patients, we carried out a molecular genetic analysis in 20 Malaysian DMD patients. The mean age of initial presentation was 60 months (SD 32 months, range 5-120 months). Fourteen patients were found to have deletion of at least one of the seven exons. The remaining six patients did not show any deletion on the tested exons. Deletions of exons 49, 50 and 51 were the most frequent (71.43%) and appear to be the hot spots in our cohort of patients.
Fulltext In vitro activity of aminoglycosides, ureidopenicillins and cephalosporins against P. aeruginosa isolated in Kuala Lumpur

Ngeow YS, Puthucheary SD, Lai PS

Med J Malaysia, 1985 Sep;40(3):196-201.
PMID: 3939567

170 clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were tested for in vitro susceptibility to gentamicin, amikacin, tobramycin, netilmicin, kanamycin, streptomycin, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, cefoperazone, ceftazidime, moxalactam, azlocillin, piperacillin and ticarcillin. Against 93 gentamicin-sensitive strains, the most active antibiotics were in descending order, ceftazidime, tobramycin, gentamicin, amikacin, and the ureidopenicillins. Against 77 gentamicin-resistant strains, only ceftazidime, amikacin and moxalactam had mode minimum inhibitory concentrations within achievable peak serum levels after standard therapeutic dosage. There was no correlation between cephalosporin resistance and aminoglycoside resistance except for cefoperazone, which, together with the ureidopenicillins and ticarcillin, showed marked decrease in activity against gentamicin-resistant strains.