OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of the Borg CR-10 scale to monitor the perceived exertion of office exercise training.
METHODS: The study involved 105 staff members employed in a government office with an age range from 25 to 50 years. The Borg CR-10 scale was self-administered two times, with an interval of two weeks in order to evaluate the accuracy of the original findings with a retest. Face validity and content validity were also examined.
RESULTS: Reliability was found to be high for the Borg CR-10 scale (0.898). Additionally a high correlation between the Borg CR-10 scale and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was identified (rs = 0.754, P
OBJECTIVE: The broad objective of this study was to investigate the direct and indirect effects of behavioral factors on the psychological and physiological health of workers.
METHODS: The latest, second generation technique, which is structural equation modeling, is used to identify the relationships between behavioral antecedents and health outcomes. A total of 277 technical workers participated, aged between 20 and 49 and were healthy in all aspects.
RESULTS: The study results showed quantitative demands, emotional demands, work-family conflict, and job insecurity were significantly associated with both psychological (stress) and physiological (Body Mass Index) factors. The social support of colleagues produced mixed findings with direct and indirect paths. Stress also significantly mediates the psychosocial factors and burnout of the workers.
CONCLUSION: The study concluded that workers were physically available, but they experienced distractions as members of social systems, affecting their physiological and psychological health.
OBJECTIVE: The aim was to understand the local prevalence and factors associated with returning to work in Malaysia after a cardiac event.
METHODS: A cross sectional design was used. All patients attending the cardiac rehabilitation program after major cardiac event during an 11-months period (2011-2012) were included. Data relating to socio-demographic, work-related, risk factors and acute myocardial infarction were collected. The SF-36 questionnaire was used to assess quality of life. Regression analysis was used to determine the predicting factors to return to work.
RESULTS: A total of 398 files were screened, 112 respondents agreed to participate giving a response rate of 47.3%. The prevalence of returned to work (RTW) was 66.1% [95% CI: 57.2-75.0]. Factors associated with work resumption were age (Adj. OR: 0.92 (95% CI: 0.84-0.99), diabetes mellitus (Adj. OR: 3.70, 95% CI: 1.35-10.12), Mental Component Summary (MCS) score (Adj. OR: 1.05 (95% CI: 1.01-1.09) and baseline angiography findings. Patients with single vessel and two vessel disease were 8.9 times and 3.78 times more likely to return to work compared to those with 3 vessels (Adj. OR: 8.90 (95% CI: 2.29-34.64) and Adj. OR: 3.78, (95% CI: 1.12, 12.74).
CONCLUSIONS: We proposed a cardiac rehabilitation program to emphasize mental health as it may improve successful return to work after cardiac event.
OBJECTIVES: (1) To compare hand function characteristics and functional abilities of injured workers who have or have not returned to work. (2) To estimate hand function characteristics and functional abilities as predictors to return to work.
METHODS: One hundred and fifteen adult workers with hand injuries aged 18- 59 years old from five general hospitals in Malaysia participated in a cross-sectional study. Predictors were estimated using logistic regression.
RESULTS: There was a significant association between occupational sector (p = 0.012), injury duration (p = 0.024), occupational performance (p = 0.009) and satisfaction with performance (p
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of three-modal exercise on fatigue, sleep, QoL as well as to determine the relationship between age, disease severity, disease stage and working years with women diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD).
METHODS: In this randomized controlled trial, 44 female educators in stages I-II with PD who were between the ages of 40 and 60 volunteered. For a total of 36 sessions over the course of six weeks, Group A received a three-modal fitness program through online video sessions, whereas Group B received Nordic walking. The outcome measures included the Fatigue Severity Scale, Parkinson's Disease Sleep Scale, and Parkinson's Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire-39.
RESULTS: Age, Hoehn and Yahr scale, working years, and PD in years did not correlate with each other (p > 0.50). The three-modal exercise experimental Group A showed statistically significant improvement in QoL (p 0.001), sleep (p 0.001), and fatigue (p 0.001).
CONCLUSION: Women in the field of education who participated in a three-modal exercise programme for PD reported a significant improvement in their level of exhaustion, sleep patterns, and quality of life.
AIM: This study aimed to explore the views of Palestinian women and healthcare providers regarding factors contributing to the mistreatment of women during childbirth at childbirth facilities in the West Bank, Palestine.
METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted in the West Bank, Palestine, from February 2019 to April 2019. In-depth interviews were conducted with six Palestinian women and five healthcare providers. Consent was obtained individually from each participant, and the interviews ranged from 40 to 50min. Data collection was continued until thematic saturation was reached. Open-ended questions were asked during interviews. Thematic analysis was used to interpret the data collected from the interviews.
RESULTS: Four themes were identified with regards to the women and healthcare providers' views about factors contributing to the mistreatment of women during childbirth in the West Bank, Palestine: limitation in childbirth facilities, factors within the healthcare providers, the women themselves, and barriers within the community.
DISCUSSION: Mistreatment of women during childbirth may occur due to the limitations of resources and staff in childbirth facilities. Some women also justified the mistreatment, and certain characteristics of the women were believed to be the factors for mistreatment.
CONCLUSION: As the first known study of its kind in West Bank, the identified contributing factors especially the limitations of resources and staff are essential to provide good quality and respectful care at childbirth facilities.
OBJECTIVES: To estimate the perinatal mortality rate in Sana'a, Yemen and to identify risk factors for perinatal deaths.
METHODS: A community-based prospective cohort study was carried out between 2015 and 2016. Nine-hundred and eighty pregnant women were identified and followed up to 7 days following birth. A multi-stage cluster sampling was used to select participants from community households', residing in the five districts of the Sana'a City, Yemen.
RESULTS: Total of 952 pregnant women were tracked up to 7 days after giving birth. The perinatal mortality rate, the stillbirth rate and the early neonatal mortality rate, were 89.3 per 1000, 46.2 per 1000 and 45.2 per 1000, respectively. In multivariable analysis older age (35+ years) of mothers at birth (Relative Risk=2.83), teenage mothers' age at first pregnancy (<18 years) (Relative Risk=1.57), primipara mothers (Relative Risk=1.90), multi-nuclear family (Relative Risk=1.74), mud house (Relative Risk=2.02), mothers who underwent female genital mutilation (Relative Risk=2.92) and mothers who chewed khat (Relative Risk=1.60) were factors associated with increased risk of perinatal death, whereas a positive mother's tetanus vaccination status (Relative Risk=0.49) were significant protective factors against perinatal deaths.
CONCLUSION: Rates of perinatal mortality were higher in Sana'a City compared to perinatal mortality at the national level estimated by World Health Organization. It is imperative there be sustainable interventions in order to improve the country's maternal and newborn health.
Method: Field data collected during the COVID-19 outbreak in Selangor, Malaysia, up to 13 April 2020 were used, comprising socio-demographic characteristics, comorbidities and presenting symptoms of COVID-19 cases. ICU admission was determined from medical records. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with ICU admission requiring intubation/mechanical ventilation among COVID-19 cases.
Results: A total of 1287 COVID-19-positive cases were included for analysis. The most common comorbidities were hypertension (15.5%) and diabetes (11.0%). More than one third of cases presented with fever (43.8%) or cough (37.1%). Of the 25 cases that required intubation/mechanical ventilation, 68.0% had hypertension, 88.0% had fever, 40.0% had dyspnoea and 44.0% were lethargic. Multivariate regression showed that cases that required intubation/mechanical ventilation had significantly higher odds of being older (aged 360 years) [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 3.9] and having hypertension (aOR = 5.7), fever (aOR = 9.8), dyspnoea (aOR = 9.6) or lethargy (aOR = 7.9) than cases that did not require intubation/mechanical ventilation.
Conclusion: The COVID-19 cases in Selangor, Malaysia requiring intubation/mechanical ventilation were significantly older, with a higher proportion of hypertension and symptoms of fever, dyspnoea and lethargy. These risk factors have been reported previously for severe COVID-19 cases, and highlight the role that ageing and underlying comorbidities play in severe outcomes to respiratory disease.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study using an available secondary data source - the Malaysian national dengue passive surveillance system, e-Dengue registry. A total of 61 455 serologically confirmed dengue cases from the Klang Valley, registered in year 2014, were included. We retrospectively examined the relationship between demographic factors and the choice of health-care sector by logistic regression.
Results: The median age of the cohort was 26 (interquartile range: 17 to 37) years. More private facilities (54.4%) were used for inpatient care; more public facilities (68.2%) were used for outpatient care. The Chinese and urban populations showed significantly higher use of the private health-care sector with an adjusted odds ratio of 4.8 [95% confidence interval (CI): 4.6-5.1] and 2.3 (95% CI: 2.2-2.4), respectively.
Conclusion: Both public and private health facilities bear significant responsibilities in delivering health-care services to dengue patients. The workload of both sectors should be included in future health policy planning by public agencies.