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Fulltext Adverse health effects and unhealthy behaviors among medical students using Facebook

Al-Dubai SA, Ganasegeran K, Al-Shagga MA, Yadav H, Arokiasamy JT

ScientificWorldJournal, 2013;2013:465161.
PMID: 24453859 DOI: 10.1155/2013/465161

Little is known about the relationships between adverse health effects and unhealthy behaviors among medical students using Facebook. The aim of this study was to determine the associations between adverse health effects and unhealthy behaviors with Facebook use. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a private university in Malaysia among 316 medical students. A self-administered questionnaire was used. It included questions on sociodemographics, pattern of Facebook use, social relationship, unhealthy behaviors, and health effects. Mean age was 20.5 (±2.7) years. All students had a Facebook account. The average daily Facebook surfing hours were 2.5 (±1.7). Significant associations were found between average hours of Facebook surfing and the following factors: isolation from family members and community, refusing to answer calls, musculoskeletal pain, headache, and eye irritation (P < 0.005). The average hours spent on Facebook were significantly associated with holding urination and defecation while online, surfing Facebook until midnight, and postponing, forgetting, or skipping meals (P < 0.005). The average hours spent on Facebook were associated with adverse health effects and unhealthy behaviors among medical students, as well as social isolation from the family and community.

Matched MeSH terms: Students, Medical/psychology*
Fulltext A longitudinal study of relationships between previous academic achievement, emotional intelligence and personality traits with psychological health of medical students during stressful periods

Yusoff MS, Esa AR, Mat Pa MN, Mey SC, Aziz RA, Abdul Rahim AF

Educ Health (Abingdon), 2013 Jan-Apr;26(1):39-47.
PMID: 23823672 DOI: 10.4103/1357-6283.112800

CONTEXT: There is considerable evidence that emotional intelligence, previous academic achievement (i.e. cumulative grade point average (GPA)) and personality are associated with success in various occupational settings. This study evaluated the relationships of these variables with psychological health of first year medical students during stressful periods.
METHODS: A 1-year prospective study was done with students accepted into the School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Information on emotional intelligence, GPA and personality traits were obtained prior to admission. The validated Universiti Sains Malaysia Emotional Quotient Inventory and Universiti Sains Malaysia Personality Inventory were used to measure emotional intelligence and personality traits, respectively. Stress, anxiety and depression were measured by the 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scale during the end-of-course (time 1) and final (time 2) examinations.
RESULTS: At the less stressful period (time 1), stress level was associated with agreeableness and the final GPA, anxiety level was associated with emotional control and emotional conscientiousness and depression level was associated with the final GPA and extraversion. At the more stressful period (time 2), neuroticism associated with stress level, anxiety level was associated with neuroticism and emotional expression, and depression level was associated with neuroticism.
CONCLUSIONS: This study found that neuroticism was the strongest associated factor of psychological health of medical students during their most stressful testing period. Various personality traits, emotional intelligence and previous academic performance were associated factors of psychological health during a less stressful period. These data suggest that early identification of medical students who are vulnerable to the stressful environment of medical schools might help them maintain psychological well-being during medical training.

Matched MeSH terms: Students, Medical/psychology*
Fulltext Emotional intelligence and academic performance in first and final year medical students: a cross-sectional study

Chew BH, Zain AM, Hassan F

BMC Med Educ, 2013;13:44.
PMID: 23537129 DOI: 10.1186/1472-6920-13-44

BACKGROUND: Research on emotional intelligence (EI) suggests that it is associated with more pro-social behavior, better academic performance and improved empathy towards patients. In medical education and clinical practice, EI has been related to higher academic achievement and improved doctor-patient relationships. This study examined the effect of EI on academic performance in first- and final-year medical students in Malaysia.
METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study using an objectively-scored measure of EI, the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). Academic performance of medical school students was measured using continuous assessment (CA) and final examination (FE) results. The first- and final-year students were invited to participate during their second semester. Students answered a paper-based demographic questionnaire and completed the online MSCEIT on their own. Relationships between the total MSCEIT score to academic performance were examined using multivariate analyses.
RESULTS: A total of 163 (84 year one and 79 year five) medical students participated (response rate of 66.0%). The gender and ethnic distribution were representative of the student population. The total EI score was a predictor of good overall CA (OR 1.01), a negative predictor of poor result in overall CA (OR 0.97), a predictor of the good overall FE result (OR 1.07) and was significantly related to the final-year FE marks (adjusted R(2) = 0.43).
CONCLUSIONS: Medical students who were more emotionally intelligent performed better in both the continuous assessments and the final professional examination. Therefore, it is possible that emotional skill development may enhance medical students' academic performance.

Matched MeSH terms: Students, Medical/psychology*
The impact of medical education on psychological health of students: a cohort study

Yusoff MS, Abdul Rahim AF, Baba AA, Ismail SB, Mat Pa MN, Esa AR

Psychol Health Med, 2013;18(4):420-30.
PMID: 23140393 DOI: 10.1080/13548506.2012.740162

Many studies have shown that the prevalence of psychological distress among medical students during medical training is higher than that in general population. A few studies have shown that the prevalence of psychological distress among medical students before the onset of medical training was similar to general population. This study aimed to investigate psychological health of medical students before and during medical training. A one-year prospective study was done on successful applicants who undergo the first year of medical training for 2010/2011 academic session. The stress, anxiety and depression were measured by the DASS-21 at five intervals; during interview (Time 0), two months (Time 1), four months (Time 2), six months (Time 3) and final examination (Time 4) of the first year medical training. The prevalence of unfavourable stress, anxiety and depression before the onset of medical training was 4.1%, 55.6% and 1.8%, respectively. The prevalence of unfavourable stress during medical training ranged between 11.8% and 19.9%. The prevalence of anxiety during medical training ranged between 41.1% and 56.7%. The prevalence of depression during medical training ranged between 12% and 30%. Mean scores of stress and depression before (Time 0) and during medical training (Time 1-4) were significantly different (p

Matched MeSH terms: Students, Medical/psychology*
Fulltext Beliefs and attitudes of medical students from public and private universities in Malaysia towards individuals with HIV/AIDS

Koh KC, Teh JR, Khan SA

ScientificWorldJournal, 2013;2013:462826.
PMID: 24285935 DOI: 10.1155/2013/462826

We describe the findings from a survey assessing the beliefs regarding testing, confidentiality, disclosure, and environment of care and attitudes towards care of people with HIV/AIDS (PLHWA), in 1020, 4th and 5th year medical students, from public and private medical universities in Malaysia. A self-administered validated questionnaire based on the UNAIDS Model Questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale (5, strongly disagree; 4, disagree; 3, neutral; 2, agree; 1, strongly agree) was used as a survey tool. The survey included demographic data and data on undergraduate training received on HIV/AIDS. Statistical significance in the demographic data and training received by respondents was evaluated using the chi-square test while the independent Student's t-test was used for comparison of means between public and private universities. A P value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant with 95% confidence interval. Our study revealed less than 20% of medical students received adequate training to care for PLHWA. They had prevalent negative beliefs regarding testing, confidentiality, disclosure and environment of care towards PLHWA although in giving care to PLHWA, their attitudes were largely positive and nondiscriminatory.
Study site: 7 public and private universities in Malaysia

Matched MeSH terms: Students, Medical/psychology*
Fulltext Gender differences in responses towards anti-smoking messages and policy implementation among future doctors in Malaysia

Yasin SM, Ismail N, Noor NM, Mohd Azman MS, Taib H, Jusop JM, et al.

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2013;14(1):303-8.
PMID: 23534742

BACKGROUND: Medical students' views may provide some direction for future policy considerations.

AIM: The aim of this study was to assess gender differences in future doctors' receptiveness to currently implemented anti-smoking messages and the effectiveness of those messages.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We administered a questionnaire to all students at a medical university in Malaysia, asking how frequently they noted anti- smoking policies, anti-smoking campaigns, and anti-smoking messages in schools. In addition, the questionnaire investigated most effective methods to convey these messages.

RESULTS: A total of 522 (59.7%) students responded. Students were least likely to approve of total bans on cigarettes and increasing the price of cigarettes, and most likely to approve of bans on use of cigarettes in public places and sales to individuals less than 16 years old. Approval of total bans on cigarettes was more common in female students than in males OR=0.39 (95%CI: 0.18- 0.86). Furthermore, compared to the female students, the male students thought that printed media; OR=2.32 (95%CI: 1.31-4.10), radio; OR=1.93 (95%CI: 1.15-3.22) and the internet; OR=1.96 (95%CI: 1.15-3.33) were very effective at delivering anti-smoking messages.

CONCLUSIONS: Gender differences existed in the future doctors' perception of the effectiveness of anti-smoking initiatives. Taking this gender difference into account may increase the receipt of anti-smoking messages in adolescents.

Matched MeSH terms: Students, Medical/psychology*
Fulltext Attitudes towards smoking and tobacco control among pre-clinical medical students in Malaysia

Tee GH, Hairi NN, Hairi F

Int J Tuberc Lung Dis, 2012 Aug;16(8):1126-8.
PMID: 22668450 DOI: 10.5588/ijtld.11.0254

Physicians should play a leading role in combatting smoking; information on attitudes of future physicians towards tobacco control measures in a middle-income developing country is limited. Of 310 future physicians surveyed in a medical school in Malaysia, 50% disagreed that it was a doctor's duty to advise smokers to stop smoking; 76.8% agreed that physicians should not smoke before advising others not to smoke; and 75% agreed to the ideas of restricting the sale of cigarettes to minors, making all public places smoke-free and banning advertising of tobacco-related merchandise. Future physicians had positive attitudes towards tobacco regulations but had not grasped their responsibilities in tobacco control measures.

Matched MeSH terms: Students, Medical/psychology*
Malaysian undergraduates' knowledge and opinions on Early Childhood oral health

Mani SA, Burhanudin NA, John J

Eur J Paediatr Dent, 2012 Mar;13(1):64-8.
PMID: 22455531

AIM: In Malaysia, Early Childhood Caries (ECC) was found to affect 76.2% of 5-year-olds (2005). General practitioners are more likely to encounter preschool children and are in a better position to educate parents and caretakers about ECC and make appropriate referrals. This study assessed the knowledge and opinions on early childhood oral health among medical and dental undergraduates.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross sectional study involved 245 students enrolled in the first year medical (M1) and dental (D1) course and fourth year medical (M4) and dental (D4) course. The students completed a self-administered questionnaire which included knowledge and opinions on early childhood oral health. Comparisons between the groups were done using chi-square test.
RESULTS: Dental students showed significantly better knowledge than medical students. D1 students showed significantly better knowledge of age of first tooth eruption over M1. Knowledge of recommended age for bottle weaning was higher among D4 students but not significantly more than M4 students.
CONCLUSION: The majority of medical students showed inadequate knowledge indicating that medical curriculum should emphasise on oral health topics of public health relevance like ECC and its prevention. Dental students had better knowledge regarding early childhood oral health, but lacked knowledge on its preventive aspects.

Matched MeSH terms: Students, Medical/psychology*
Twelve tips for effective lecturing in a PBL curriculum

Malik AS, Malik RH

Med Teach, 2012;34(3):198-204.
PMID: 22364451 DOI: 10.3109/0142159X.2011.588741

Retaining lectures in problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum places new demands on lecturers. In addition to subject knowledge, the lecturers must know the overall aims of the lectures, their context in the course, their relation to the subsequent examinations and the underlying educational philosophy.

Matched MeSH terms: Students, Medical/psychology*
Psychometric properties of DREEM in a sample of Malaysian medical students

Yusoff MS

Med Teach, 2012;34(7):595-6.
PMID: 22489970 DOI: 10.3109/0142159X.2012.675104
Matched MeSH terms: Students, Medical/psychology
Fulltext Medical students' attitudes toward abortion education: Malaysian perspective

Tey NP, Yew SY, Low WY, Su'ut L, Renjhen P, Huang MS, et al.

PLoS One, 2012;7(12):e52116.
PMID: 23300600 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0052116

Abortion is a serious public health issue, and it poses high risks to the health and life of women. Yet safe abortion services are not readily available because few doctors are trained to provide such services. Many doctors are unaware of laws pertaining to abortion. This article reports survey findings on Malaysian medical students' attitudes toward abortion education and presents a case for including abortion education in medical schools.

Matched MeSH terms: Students, Medical/psychology*
Fulltext Shisha smoking and associated factors among medical students in Malaysia

Al-Naggar RA, Bobryshev YV

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2012;13(11):5627-32.
PMID: 23317228

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of shisha smoking and associated factors among medical students in Malaysia.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Management and Science University from December 2011 until March 2012. The questionnaire consisted of five sections including socio-demographic, social environment, knowledge about shisha, psychosocial factors, and personal shisha smoking behavior. Obtained data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 13). T-test was used to determine the relationships between shisha smoking and socio-demographic characteristic.

RESULTS: A total number of 300 medical students participated in this study. Mean age was 22.5±2.5 years. The majority were female, Malay, single, from urban areas (67%, 54%, 97%, 73%; respectively). The prevalence of shisha smoking among medical students was found to be 20%. The study revealed that many students believed that shisha does not contains nicotine, carbon monoxide, does not lead to lung cancer, dental problems and does not lead to cardiovascular diseases (25%, 20.7%, 22.3%, 29%, 26.7%; respectively). Age and sex were found to be significantly associated with smoking shisha status among medical students (p=0.029, p<0.001; respectively). Furthermore, having parents, siblings and friends smokers of shisha were found to be significantly associated with shisha smoking status (p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.001; respectively). Furthermore, family problems, problems with friends, financial problems and university life were found to significantly associated with shisha smoking status among medical students (p<0.001, p=0.002, p<0.001, p=0.002; respectively).

CONCLUSIONS: There is a high prevalence of shisha smoking and a poor knowledge about its impact on health among medical students. More attention is needed to focus on medical education in this regard. The policies that are currently employed in order to reduce the cigarettes smoking should be applied to shisha smoking and shisha products.

Matched MeSH terms: Students, Medical/psychology*
Training students to learn in a problem-based learning programme

Azer SA

Med Educ, 2011 May;45(5):510.
PMID: 21486331 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2923.2011.03952.x
Matched MeSH terms: Students, Medical/psychology*
Fulltext Self-perceived competence correlates poorly with objectively measured competence in evidence based medicine among medical students

Lai NM, Teng CL

BMC Med Educ, 2011;11:25.
PMID: 21619672 DOI: 10.1186/1472-6920-11-25

BACKGROUND: Previous studies report various degrees of agreement between self-perceived competence and objectively measured competence in medical students. There is still a paucity of evidence on how the two correlate in the field of Evidence Based Medicine (EBM). We undertook a cross-sectional study to evaluate the self-perceived competence in EBM of senior medical students in Malaysia, and assessed its correlation to their objectively measured competence in EBM.
METHODS: We recruited a group of medical students in their final six months of training between March and August 2006. The students were receiving a clinically-integrated EBM training program within their curriculum. We evaluated the students' self-perceived competence in two EBM domains ("searching for evidence" and "appraising the evidence") by piloting a questionnaire containing 16 relevant items, and objectively assessed their competence in EBM using an adapted version of the Fresno test, a validated tool. We correlated the matching components between our questionnaire and the Fresno test using Pearson's product-moment correlation.
RESULTS: Forty-five out of 72 students in the cohort (62.5%) participated by completing the questionnaire and the adapted Fresno test concurrently. In general, our students perceived themselves as moderately competent in most items of the questionnaire. They rated themselves on average 6.34 out of 10 (63.4%) in "searching" and 44.41 out of 57 (77.9%) in "appraising". They scored on average 26.15 out of 60 (43.6%) in the "searching" domain and 57.02 out of 116 (49.2%) in the "appraising" domain in the Fresno test. The correlations between the students' self-rating and their performance in the Fresno test were poor in both the "searching" domain (r = 0.13, p = 0.4) and the "appraising" domain (r = 0.24, p = 0.1).
CONCLUSIONS: This study provides supporting evidence that at the undergraduate level, self-perceived competence in EBM, as measured using our questionnaire, does not correlate well with objectively assessed EBM competence measured using the adapted Fresno test.
STUDY REGISTRATION: International Medical University, Malaysia, research ID: IMU 110/06.

Matched MeSH terms: Students, Medical/psychology*
Learning professionalism by role-modelling

Loh KY, Nalliah S

Med Educ, 2010 Nov;44(11):1123.
PMID: 20963918
Matched MeSH terms: Students, Medical/psychology*
Fulltext Student perceptions regarding the usefulness of explicit discussion of "Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome" taxonomy

Prakash ES, Narayan KA, Sethuraman KR

Adv Physiol Educ, 2010 Sep;34(3):145-9.
PMID: 20826769 DOI: 10.1152/advan.00026.2010

One method of grading responses of the descriptive type is by using Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy. The basis of this study was the expectation that if students were oriented to SOLO taxonomy, it would provide them an opportunity to understand some of the factors that teachers consider while grading descriptive responses and possibly develop strategies to improve scores. We first sampled the perceptions of 68 second-year undergraduate medical students doing the Respiratory System course regarding the usefulness of explicit discussion of SOLO taxonomy. Subsequently, in a distinct cohort of 20 second-year medical students doing the Central Nervous System course, we sought to determine whether explicit illustration of SOLO taxonomy combined with some advice on better answering descriptive test questions (to an experimental group) resulted in better student scores in a continuous assessment test compared with providing advice for better answering test questions but without any reference to SOLO taxonomy (the control group). Student ratings of the clarity of the presentation on SOLO taxonomy appeared satisfactory to the authors, as was student understanding of our presentation. The majority of participants indicated that knowledge of SOLO taxonomy would help them study and prepare better answers for questions of the descriptive type. Although scores in the experimental and control group were comparable, this experience nonetheless provided us with the motivation to orient students to SOLO taxonomy early on in the medical program and further research factors that affect students' development of strategies based on knowledge of SOLO taxonomy.

Matched MeSH terms: Students, Medical/psychology*
Fulltext Assessing the perceptions of a biostatistics and epidemiology module: views of Year 2 medical students from a Malaysian university. A cross-sectional survey

Daher AM, Amin F

BMC Med Educ, 2010 May 13;10:34.
PMID: 20462464 DOI: 10.1186/1472-6920-10-34

BACKGROUND: In the era of evidence based medicine, biostatistics and epidemiology are considered as the main elements aiding the health professional to design a research study, understand the literature, and make decisions about patient care. The aim of the study is to explore students' perception about this subject because it plays an important role in determining educational outcome.
METHODS: Data were collected from a self-administered questionnaire distributed among 164 Year 2 medical students. The 5-point Likert scale anchored by Strongly disagree = 1 and Strongly agree = 5 included 36 questions in four domains designed to assess the perception of a biostatistics and epidemiology module amongst students.
RESULTS: 138 students with ages ranging from 20 to 24 years (Mean = 20.7; SD = 0.62) returned their responses to the questionnaire. This was a response rate of 84.14%. Of the 138 students, 80.7% realized the relevance of the subject to real health issues at the end of the module, while 89.8% believed the module focused on interpretation more than calculation.More than three quarters (78.1%) agreed that lack of practicing exercises was the cause for declining interest in the subject, while only 26.1% believed that lectures were not interesting. Another three quarters (75.4%) believed that there were too many lectures for one day of teaching activities, while 84.6% recommended practical sessions for designing research and data collection.
CONCLUSIONS: This study found that students perceived the relevance of biostatistics and epidemiology to real health issues. The major cause of poor interest in the subject was attributed to the short duration of the course, lack of practicing exercises, and the need for practical data collection sessions. Emphasis should be given to early introduction of projects for data collection and analysis.

Matched MeSH terms: Students, Medical/psychology*
Discovering potential, transforming life

Van Rostenberghe H, Yusoff MS, Jie TY, Shamsuddin S, Ibrahim WP

Med Educ, 2010 May;44(5):504-5.
PMID: 20518994 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2923.2010.03647.x
Matched MeSH terms: Students, Medical/psychology
Fulltext Stimulating student interest in physiology: the intermedical school physiology quiz

Cheng HM

Adv Physiol Educ, 2010 Mar;34(1):20-1.
PMID: 20237230 DOI: 10.1152/advan.00096.2009
Matched MeSH terms: Students, Medical/psychology*
Fulltext Self-reported tobacco smoking practices among medical students and their perceptions towards training about tobacco smoking in medical curricula: A cross-sectional, questionnaire survey in Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh

Sreeramareddy CT, Suri S, Menezes RG, Kumar HN, Rahman M, Islam MR, et al.

Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy, 2010;5:29.
PMID: 21080923 DOI: 10.1186/1747-597X-5-29

BACKGROUND: Tobacco smoking issues in developing countries are usually taught non-systematically as and when the topic arose. The World Health Organisation and Global Health Professional Student Survey (GHPSS) have suggested introducing a separate integrated tobacco module into medical school curricula. Our aim was to assess medical students' tobacco smoking habits, their practices towards patients' smoking habits and attitude towards teaching about smoking in medical schools.
METHODS: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was carried out among final year undergraduate medical students in Malaysia, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. An anonymous, self-administered questionnaire included items on demographic information, students' current practices about patients' tobacco smoking habits, their perception towards tobacco education in medical schools on a five point Likert scale. Questions about tobacco smoking habits were adapted from GHPSS questionnaire. An 'ever smoker' was defined as one who had smoked during lifetime, even if had tried a few puffs once or twice. 'Current smoker' was defined as those who had smoked tobacco product on one or more days in the preceding month of the survey. Descriptive statistics were calculated.
RESULTS: Overall response rate was 81.6% (922/1130). Median age was 22 years while 50.7% were males and 48.2% were females. The overall prevalence of 'ever smokers' and 'current smokers' was 31.7% and 13.1% respectively. A majority (> 80%) of students asked the patients about their smoking habits during clinical postings/clerkships. Only a third of them did counselling, and assessed the patients' willingness to quit. Majority of the students agreed about doctors' role in tobacco control as being role models, competence in smoking cessation methods, counseling, and the need for training about tobacco cessation in medical schools. About 50% agreed that current curriculum teaches about tobacco smoking but not systematically and should be included as a separate module. Majority of the students indicated that topics about health effects, nicotine addiction and its treatment, counselling, prevention of relapse were important or very important in training about tobacco smoking.
CONCLUSION: Medical educators should consider revising medical curricula to improve training about tobacco smoking cessation in medical schools. Our results should be supported by surveys from other medical schools in developing countries of Asia.

Matched MeSH terms: Students, Medical/psychology*

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