METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study involving a convenient sampling of 258 undergraduate students. Self-administered structured questionnaires adapted from the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) and the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), were used to assess the severity of psychological symptoms (depression, anxiety and stress) and fear. The perception towards ODL is also designed to assess the students' perception related to ODL implementation. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Structural Equation Modelling-Partial Least Square (SEM-PLS).
RESULTS: Overall, 84.2%, 95.0% and 67.4% of the participants experienced moderate to very severe level of depression, anxiety and stress, respectively. In addition, 82.6% of them suffering with moderate to extreme level of fear, of which 81.8% of participants had a negative view on ODL. The results of SEM-PLS revealed that there are complementary partial mediation effects of fear on the relationship between depression and students' perception during ODL (β = 0.502, t-value = 0.828, P-value = 0.017). The anxiety (β = 0.353, t-value = 5.401, P-value = 0.000) and stress (β = 0.542, t-value = 8.433, P-value = 0.000) have directly influenced on fear.
CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that university students had the prevalence of psychological symptoms and fear during ODL. In line with this, fear contributes significantly to the mental health status of university students and has negatively impacted the students' perception during ODL implementation.
METHODS: A total of 47 CRC cases previously diagnosed by histopathological examination were reviewed for the presence of PDCs and graded accordingly. The association between PDC grades with clinicopathological and demographic characteristics was statistically analysed.
RESULTS: Out of the 47 cases with PDCs, most of them were of grade 3 (G3) (n = 27, 57.4%), followed by grade 2 (G2) (n = 13, 27.7%) and grade 1 (G1) (n = 7, 14.9%). Higher PDC grades (G2 and G3) were mainly observed in higher tumour stage (T); T3 (n = 26, 83.9%), T4 (n = 12, 92.3%), N1 (n = 20, 86.9%), N2 (n = 15, 100%). In addition, there was a significant association between PDC grades with the nodal stage (N) (P = 0.013) and the tumour, node and metastasis (TNM) stages (P = 0.012).
CONCLUSION: The PDC grades are useful for assessing the disease prognosis in CRC. A statistically significant association between PDC grades with N and TNM stages suggested that PDC grades are potential predictive parameters for invasive and metastatic risks in CRC.
METHODS: This was a randomised control trial. Fifty-nine preschool teachers previously enrolled in a Knowledge Transfer Programme were divided into a Study Group (n = 31) to receive recertification training and a Control Group (n = 28) to attend briefing sessions. Subjects was then asked to perform vision screening on 15 preschool children aged 4 years old-6 years old at their respective premises, then verified by optometrists after 2 weeks from the initial screening on the same children.
RESULTS: A total of 894 children were screened, with the Study Group and Control Group screened 49.7% and 50.3%, respectively. There was higher validity in vision screening findings from the Study Group (sensitivity = 66.7%, positive predictive value (PPV) = 61.5%) compared to the Control Group (sensitivity = 36.0 %, PPV = 40.9%).
CONCLUSION: Teachers who received recertification training were more competent in detecting children's vision impairment using KieVision™ Preschool Vision Screening Kit. Thus, timely recertification training should be emphasised to ensure sustainable consistency and reliability of vision screening programmes conducted by lay vision screeners.
METHODS: This prospective study involved paediatric patients admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of the largest central children's hospital in the Mekong Delta region, Vietnam, from 2019 to 2021. The discriminative ability and calibration of both individual and combined tests were assessed using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test.
RESULTS: Among the patients studied, 63.1% did not survive. Lactate and D-dimer concentrations were significantly higher in the non-survivor group (P < 0.001). The area under the curve (AUC) values for lactate, D-dimer and the combined lactate-D-dimer test were 0.742, 0.775 and 0.804, respectively, with the combination showing the highest AUC value, though without statistical significance. Specific thresholds for lactate, D-dimer and the combination yielded sensitivities of 75.5%, 71.7%, and 66.0%, respectively. All three tests showed no statistically significant differences between observed and predicted mortality in the Hosmer-Lemeshow test (all P-values > 0.05).
CONCLUSION: Lactate and D-dimer levels showed a significant association with mortality, along with good discrimination and calibration abilities. These results highlight the utility of lactate and D-dimer as effective predictors in paediatric MODS, particularly in resource-limited settings, and their role in improving patient outcomes.
METHODS: A total of 30 male adolescents living in the Kelantan state in Malaysia who were between 14 years old and 20 years old were enrolled and divided into three groups: i) sedentary (control), ii) taekwondo and iii) wushu. Each participant underwent a lung function test, 20 m shuttle run, Wingate anaerobic test and a Sit and Reach test, as well as tests of standing long jump power, handgrip, back and leg strength.
RESULTS: Relative to the sedentary control group, the wushu group had significantly higher values than the sedentary control group for fat free mass (P = 0.047), explosive leg power (P < 0.001), aerobic capacity (P < 0.001), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) (P = 0.021) and Wingate anaerobic capacity (P < 0.05). The taekwondo group also showed significantly greater values than the sedentary control group for explosive leg power (P = 0.018), forced vital capacity (FVC) (P = 0.014) and FEV1 (P < 0.001). The wushu group exhibited significantly higher explosive leg power (P = 0.010) and Wingate anaerobic capacity parameters including mean power (P = 0.001), anaerobic capacity (P < 0.001) and anaerobic power (P = 0.002) than the taekwondo group.
CONCLUSION: Engagement of male adolescents in wushu and taekwondo was associated with improved physiological profiles compared to those who were in the sedentary control group. Practice of wushu could result in greater explosive leg power and anaerobic capacities than taekwondo.
Methods: This study was conducted cross-sectional on 174 respondents, who were selected by using a simple random sampling method. Socio-demographic data and the use of the internet and media for health-related information were obtained via questionnaires.
Results: The most preferred social media used for searching and sharing health-related information was WhatsApp (73.6%), followed by Facebook (67.8%), Instagram (18.4%) and Twitter (17.2%). The social media preference related to socio-demographic data of age was statistically significant (P < 0.002), which had a medium effect. Furthermore, the media preference was not significantly related to health-related information searched or shared on social media and the frequency of usage.
Conclusion: Indeed, the social media have been an essential media platform to enhance public awareness concerning public health. This calls for evolution to further enhance the use of social media amongst healthcare practitioners to emphasise health promotion and empower the patients to play an active role in their healthcare. This study provides a guideline for the medical researchers, practitioners or healthcare providers in choosing WhatsApp as an online medium to communicate with diabetic patients in the future, specifically in Malaysia.
Methods: A cross-sectional validation study involving 219 elderlies with cognitive impairment was conducted using universal sampling method. Participants aged 60 years old and above, scored less than 11 for the short mini mental state examination (SMMSE), have sufficient command of the Malay or English language, residing in the government nursing homes and attending memory clinics in government hospitals in Klang Valley were sampled. The GDS-15 English version underwent adaptation, translation, face validation and field testing to produce the Malay version. Psychometric analysis was performed using the exploratory factor analysis and its internal consistency was examined.
Results: Mean age of participants were 72.61 ± 7.79. Majority were male (50.7%), Malay (50.2%), studied at least until primary school (71.7%) and stayed at nursing homes (50.2%). Construct validity showed significant Bartlett's test of sphericity (Chi-square = 1,340.058, P < 0.001) and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) test of 0.90. Factor loadings for each item in the depression domain were satisfactory ranging from 0.42 to 0.83. Factor loadings for each item in the psychosocial activities' domain were satisfactory ranging from 0.53 to 0.76. For the questionnaire reliability analysis, the total Cronbach's alpha for the final model was satisfactory, with and overall Cronbach's alpha of 0.89. Cronbach's alpha value for the depression and psychosocial activities domain was 0.861 and 0.80, respectively.
Conclusion: The GDS (Malay version) is a valid and reliable tool to screen for depression in elderly with cognitive impairment.
Methods: This experimental study involved 61 Fourth Grade students from Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia. The participants were divided into two groups: the angklung intervention group and silence intervention group. The two interventions were performed for 15 min before the morning classes for 2 months. The control group attended their classes as usual. Clinical parameters, namely, emotion and cognition, as well as the saliva oxytocin levels were measured.
Results: No significant differences were observed among the three groups in terms of concentration and cognitive flexibility. However, changes in oxytocin levels significantly differed among the three groups (P < 0.001) and the oxytocin levels were highest in the silence intervention group.
Conclusion: Practicing silence significantly increased the oxytocin levels, but it did not elicit changes in cognitive function and emotion of the students.