METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in January 2019 among adolescents aged 10-19 years attending four designated health clinics in the northeastern state of Peninsular Malaysia. The test for Cronbach's α was performed to determine the internal consistency reliability.
RESULTS: There were a total of 85 adolescent clients involved in this study. The mean age of respondents was 15.6 years. The majority of respondents were female, Malay, students, and had attained a secondary level of education. The mean total satisfaction score was 78.35. The internal consistency reliability according to the Cronbach's α of the domain was 0.854, which is considered highly reliable. The corrected item-total correlation for the domain was acceptable as it was ≥0.4.
CONCLUSION: The Malay version of the Malaysian Ministry of Health's Adolescent Client Satisfaction Questionnaire has excellent internal consistency reliability. Therefore, it may be recommended as a tool to measure the satisfaction level among adolescents attending health clinics in Malaysia.
METHOD: A total of 95 men (47 men with intellectual disability; 48 men without intellectual disability), aged 20-39 years, participated in this study. Anthropometric profile, dietary intake, physical activity level and calcaneal speed of sound (SOS) were collected.
RESULTS: The men with intellectual disability had moderate diet quality whilst the men without intellectual disability had poor diet quality. More participants with intellectual disability (97.9%) were inactive compared with their counterparts (10.4%). The SOS value was similar between groups and was lower than the reference. Increasing age and low physical activity level were negative predictors for bone health status.
CONCLUSION: Both young men with and without intellectual disability have suboptimal nutritional and bone health status. Strategies to improve their nutritional and bone health status are warranted.
Case Report: Case Report 1: Mrs P, a 27-year-old right-hand dominant female, was involved in a motor vehicle accident (MVA) and sustained an isolated Regan-Morrey type III ulnar coronoid process fracture. In view of the large coronoid process fragment causing elbow joint instability, she underwent an open reduction and internal fixation when the elbow swelling had subsided. An anterior approach was used to identify the fracture fragment and it was fixed with two half-threaded cancellous lag screws with washers to achieve an anatomical reduction. Postoperatively, she recovered with excellent outcome based on the Mayo elbow performance score (MEPS).Case Report 2: Mr M, a 23-year-old right-hand dominant gentleman, was involved in a MVA and sustained an isolated Regan-Morrey type III ulnar coronoid process fracture. During examination under general anesthesia, passive range of the movement of his right elbow was noted to be <90°due to the impaction of the fracture fragment. An open reduction through an anterior approach was performed and Kirschner wires were inserted to fix the coronoid process fracture. Kirschner wires were opted for the ease of post-operative removal as the patient was not keen to have a retained implant after recovery. He recovered with good outcome based on the MEPS.
Conclusion: Isolated fracture of the ulnar coronoid process is rare. Open reduction and internal fixation is mandatory for patients with coronoid process fracture and unstable elbow joint to achieve good functional outcomes.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this clinical study was to formulate a custom-made, 2-color chewing gum for the mixing ability test and to develop an image-processing method for color mixing analysis.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: Specimens of red-green (RG) chewing gum were prepared as a test food. Twenty dentate participants (10 men, 10 women; mean age 21 years) took part in this study. Each participant masticated 1 piece of RG gum for 3, 6, 9, 15, and 25 cycles, and this task was repeated 3 times consecutively (total n=15 for each participant). The boluses were retrieved and flattened to 1-mm-thick wafers and scanned with a flatbed scanner. The digital images were analyzed using ImageJ software equipped with a custom-built plug-in to measure the geometric dispersion (GD) of baseline red segment. The predictive criterion validity of this method was determined by correlating GD to the number of mastication cycles. The hardness and mass of RG chewing gum were measured before and after mastication. Hardness loss (%) and mass loss (%) were then calculated and compared with those of a commercially available chewing gum.
RESULTS: The 2-way repeated-measures ANOVA with post hoc Bonferroni test showed that GD was able to discriminate among the groups of different numbers of mastication cycles (P
METHODS: The study sample consisted of 750 students (female: 51.7%, male: 48.3%), with a mean age of 20.2 years (SD = 1.2). Decision balance (DB) scale was assessed with the 10-item DB-M. Standard forward-backward translation was performed to translate the English version of the DB into Malay version (DB-M).
RESULTS: The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) results based on the hypothesised measurement model of two factors and ten items demonstrated adequate factor structure after the addition of some correlated item residuals (comparative fit index (CFI) = .979, Tucker and Lewis index (TLI) = .969, standardised root mean square residual (SRMR) = .037, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = .047). The construct reliability and average variance extracted values were .850 and .839, and .542 and .538, for perceived benefits and perceived barriers, respectively. Meanwhile, the Cronbach's alpha was .857 and .859, and the intraclass correlation coefficient for test-retest reliability was .979 and .960 for perceived benefits and perceived barriers respectively. The findings provided evidence for measurement invariance of DB-M for the male and female samples. The final CFA model fit the data well for both male sample (CFI = .975, TLI = .964, SRMR = .040, RMSEA = .052) and female sample (CFI = .965, TLI = .949, SRMR = .044, RMSEA = .058).
CONCLUSIONS: The translated version of the DB-M was valid and reliable for assessing the level of perceived benefits and perceived barriers in exercise among university students in Malaysia.
METHODOLOGY: A total of 59 benign and malignant spindle cell tumours (18 MPNST and 41 of its histologic mimickers which included 10 schwannoma, 13 neurofibroma, 4 synovial sarcoma, 3 fibrosarcoma, 2 gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST), 4 leiomyosarcoma, 1 spindle cell liposarcoma, 1 solitary fibrous tumour, 2 low grade fibromyxoid sarcoma and 1 unclassified spindle cell sarcoma), diagnosed from January 1998 to April 2018 in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) were tested for H3K27me3 by IHC. The MPNST histological grade was assessed based on the French Fe'de' ration Nationale des Centres de LutteContre le Cancer (FNCLCC) for 3 tiers system (low grade, intermediate grade and high grade). The clinicopathological data were retrieved from the patients' record.
RESULTS: A total of 61.1% (11/18 MPNST) showed loss of H3K27me3 expression which is statistically significant as compared to its histologic mimics (p<0.001). Similar findings (p=0.026) were also observed in high grade MPNST (81.8%), intermediate grade MPNST (100%) and 0% in low grade MPNST.
CONCLUSION: H3K27me3, combined with other panel of markers, is useful in MPNST diagnosis to differentiate it from the histological mimickers.
Materials and Methods: Thirteen consecutive patients who underwent pre-operative embolisation of a musculoskeletal tumour followed by surgical intervention at our institution from May 2012 to January 2016 were enrolled into the study. Patient demographics, tumour characteristics, embolisation techniques and type of surgery were recorded. Technical success of embolisation, amount of blood loss during surgery and transfusion requirements were estimated.
Results: There were five female and eight male patients who underwent pre-operative embolisation during the study period. The age ranged between 16 to 68 years, and the median age was 54. Technical success was achieved in all patients. Mean intra-operative blood loss was 1403ml, with a range of 150ml to 6900ml. Eight patients (62%) required intra-operative blood products of packed red blood cells and fresh frozen plasma. No major complications occurred during embolisation.
Conclusion: Pre-operative trans-arterial embolisation is feasible and safe for a variety of large and hypervascular musculoskeletal tumours. Our small series suggests that preoperative embolisation could contribute to the reduction of the intra-operative and post-operative blood product transfusion. It should be considered as a pre-operative adjunct for major tumour resections with a high risk of bleeding. The use of the haemoglobin gap complemented the assessment of perioperative blood loss.
METHODS: We designed an interactive web-based educational module in the Malay language wherein videos were combined with text and pictorial visual cues. Malaysians aged 18-40 years old who underwent the module had their knowledge and attitudes assessed at baseline, post-intervention and at 6-month follow-up using a selfadministered validated questionnaire.
RESULTS: Sixty-five participants: 47 Malays (72.3%), 15 Chinese (23.1%), three Indians (4.6%) underwent the module. Questionnaires were completed at baseline (n=65), postintervention (n=65) and at 6-month follow-up (n=60). Out of a total knowledge score of 21, significant changes were recorded across three time-points- median scores were 12 at pre-intervention, 19 at post-intervention and 16 at 6-month follow-up (p<0.001). Post-hoc testing comparing preintervention and 6-month follow-up scores showed significant retention of knowledge (p<0.001). Compared to baseline, attitudes at 6-month follow-up showed an increased acceptance for "marriage avoidance between carriers" (pre-intervention 20%, 6-month follow-up 48.3%, p<0.001) and "prenatal diagnosis" (pre-intervention 73.8%, 6-month follow-up 86.2%, p=0.008). Acceptance for selective termination however, remained low without significant change (pre-intervention 6.2%, 6-month follow-up 16.7%, p=0.109).
CONCLUSION: A web-based educational module appears effective in improving knowledge and attitudes towards thalassaemia prevention and its incorporation in thalassaemia prevention programs is potentially useful in Malaysia and countries with a high internet penetration rate.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A double-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) on systemically healthy smokers was conducted. A total of 78 smokers, aged 18 to 40 years, were enrolled as per exclusion/inclusion criteria. An alkaline mouthwash was provided to the intervention group and a placebo to control group. Salivary pH and inflammatory biomarker interleukin (IL)-1β levels were evaluated at baseline and at follow-up (14 ± 2 days).
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Chi-squared test, independaent t-test, and paired t-test were used to observe the changes in parameters among and between groups before and after intervention using SPSS v16 with a significance level of p≤0.050.
RESULTS: Sixty eight salivary samples were analyzed. All study parameters of the study sample were statistically insignificant between both intervention and control groups at baseline. pH level was 6.56 ± 0.53 at baseline and 6.62 ± 0.45 at follow-up in the intervention group; respective values for control group were 6.70 ± 0.36 and 6.83 ± 0.44 and the changes were not significant (p≥0.071). IL-1β level was 9.39 ± 10.23 pg/µL at baseline and 5.40 ± 6.62 pg/µL at a follow-up in the intervention group and the change was significant (p = 0.001); respective values for the control group were 10.63 ± 11.50, and 9.33 ± 11.73 and the difference was nonsignificant (p = 0.076).
CONCLUSION: This randomized trial indicated that sodium bicarbonate mouth rinse is effective in decreasing IL-1β levels and increasing salivary pH favorable for prevention of oral diseases.