METHODS: Out of 105 patients with IHD, 76 completed self-administration of HeartQoL at the clinic followed by at home within a 2-week interval. In retest, patients responded using non-interview methods (phone messaging, email, fax, and post). Phone interviewing was reserved for non-respondents to reminder.
RESULTS: Reliability of HeartQoL was good (intraclass correlation coefficients = 0.78-0.82), was supported in the Bland-Altman plot, and was comparable to five studies on MacNew of similar retest interval (MacNew-English = 0.70-0.75; translated MacNew = 0.72-0.91). Applicability of its standard error of measurement (0.20-0.25) and smallest detectable change (0.55-0.70) will depend on availability of normative data in future.
CONCLUSION: The reliability of HeartQoL is comparable to its parent instrument, the MacNew. The HeartQoL is a potentially reliable core IHD-specific HRQoL instrument in measuring group change.
METHODS: This was a cross-sectional survey using mall intercept interviews. Malaysians aged ≥30 years without known CVD were recruited. They were asked for their intention to undergo CVD health checks and associated factors. The factors included seven internal factors that were related to individuals' attitude, perception and preparedness for CVD health checks and two external factors that were related to external resources. Hierarchical ordinal regression analysis was used to evaluate the importance of the factors on intention to undergo CVD health checks, for men and women separately.
RESULTS: 397 participants were recruited, 60% were women. For men, internal factors explained 31.6% of the variances in likeliness and 9.6% of the timeline to undergo CVD health checks, with 1.2% and 1.8% added respectively when external factors were sequentially included. For women, internal factors explained 18.9% and 22.1% of the variances, with 3.1% and 4.2% added with inclusion of the external factors. In men, perceived drawbacks of health checks was a significant negative factor associated with likeliness to undergo CVD health checks (coefficient = -1.093; 95%CI:-1.592 to -0.594), and timeline for checks (coefficient = -0.533; 95%CI:-0.975 to -0.091). In women, readiness to handle outcomes following health checks was significantly associated with likeliness to undergo the checks (coefficient = 0.575; 95%CI: 0.063 to 1.087), and timeline for checks (coefficient = 0.645; 95%CI: 0.162 to 1.128). Both external factors 1) influence by significant others (coefficient = 0.406; 95%CI: 0.013 to 0.800) and 2) external barriers (coefficient = -0.440; 95%CI:-0.869 to -0.011) were also significantly associated with likeliness to undergo CVD health checks in women.
CONCLUSIONS: Both men and women were influenced by internal factors in their intention to undergo CVD health checks, and women were also influenced by external factors. Interventions to encourage CVD health checks need to focus on internal factors and be gender sensitive.
METHOD: This cross-sectional study included 549 nurses recruited via multistage cluster sampling. Nurses completed the demographic questionnaire and Health Sciences Reasoning Test (HSRT).
RESULTS: The majority of respondents failed to demonstrate critical thinking skills with a mean overall HSRT score of 13.8 (SD = 3.4). Educational qualifications (p = .003) and clinical specialties (p = .022) were significantly related to nurses' critical thinking skills. Years of clinical experience, age, and job ranking were not significant CONCLUSION: The findings indicate a need to address the present curriculum in nursing education and to reinforce critical thinking skills in the nursing workforce. Future research on how nurses in Malaysia acquire critical thinking skills is needed. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2020;51(3):109-117.].
METHODS: Subjects underwent a randomized double-blind crossover trial, consuming diets supplemented with 20 g/day of either soybean oil-based mayonnaise (SB-mayo) or palm olein-based mayonnaise (PO-mayo) for 4 weeks each with a 2-week wash-out period. The magnitude of changes for metabolic outcomes between dietary treatments was compared with PO-mayo serving as the control. The data was analyzed by ANCOVA using the GLM model. Analysis was adjusted for weight changes.
RESULTS: Treatments resulted in significant reductions in TC (diff = -0.25 mmol/L; P = 0.001), LDL-C (diff = -0.17 mmol/L; P = 0.016) and HDL-C (diff = -0.12 mmol/L; P 0.05). Lipoprotein particle change was significant with large LDL particles increasing after PO-mayo (diff = +63.2 nmol/L; P = 0.007) compared to SB-mayo but small LDL particles remained unaffected. Plasma glucose, apolipoproteins and oxidative stress markers remained unchanged.
CONCLUSIONS: Daily use with 20 g of linoleic acid-rich SB-mayo elicited reductions in TC and LDL-C concentrations without significantly changing LDL-C:HDL-C ratio or small LDL particle distributions compared to the PO-mayo diet.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: This clinical trial was retrospectively registered with the National Medical Research Register, National Institute of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, (NMRR-15-40-24035; registered on 29/01/2015; https://www.nmrr.gov.my/fwbPage.jsp?fwbPageId=ResearchISRForm&fwbAction=Update&fwbStep=10&pk.researchID=24035&fwbVMenu=3&fwbResearchAction=Update ). Ethical approval was obtained from the National University of Malaysia's Medical Ethics Committee (UKM 1.5.3.5/244/SPP/NN-054-2011, approved on 25/05/2011).
METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on all children aged 2-16 years who were admitted to the University Malaya Medical Centre with community-acquired pneumonia between 2012 and 2014.
RESULTS: In this study, of the 343 children, 58 (17%) developed CAPc. Chinese ethnicity (P < 0.001), reduced breastfeeding duration (P = 0.003), not receiving outpatient antibiotic (P < 0.001) and exposure to parental smoking (P < 0.001) were identified as risk factors for CAPc. Markedly increased respiratory rate (P = 0.021) and thrombocytosis (P < 0.001) were noted as the clinical parameters for CAPc.
CONCLUSION: This study identifies some modifiable risk to reduce the burden of pneumonia complications.
METHODS: A prospective randomized study was conducted in a single-center adult intensive care unit. In total, 100 patients were randomized into two groups. These patients underwent internal jugular vein central venous catheter cannulation with ultrasound guidance (short-axis scan, out-of-plane needling approach) in which one group adopted conventional method, while the other group was aided with the guided positioning system. Outcomes were measured by procedural efficacy (success rate, number of attempts, time to successful cannulation), complications, level of operators' experience, and their satisfaction.
RESULTS: All patients had successful cannulation on the first attempt except for one case in the conventional group. The median performance time for the guided positioning system method was longer (25.5 vs 15.5 s; p = 0.01). And 86% of the operators had more than 3-year experience in anesthesia. One post-insertion hematoma occurred in the conventional group. Only 88% of the operators using the guided positioning system method were satisfied compared to 100% in the conventional group.
CONCLUSION: Ultrasound-guided central venous catheter insertion via internal jugular vein was a safe procedure in both conventional and guided positioning system methods. The guided positioning system did not confer additional benefit but was associated with slower performance time and lower satisfaction level among the experienced operators.