Methods: This was an observational, cross-sectional study involving a total of 447 pregnant women who attended the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic, Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL), Malaysia. A validated, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect participant data.
Results: Most of pregnant women had taken medication during pregnancy and more than half of them (52.8%) showed a poor level of knowledge about the medication use during pregnancy. Eighty-three percent had a poor level of awareness and 56.5% had negative beliefs. Age and education level were significantly associated with the level of knowledge regarding medication use during pregnancy. Multiparous pregnant women, and pregnant women from rural areas were observed to have a higher level of awareness compared with those who lived in urban areas. Use of medication during pregnancy was determined to be significantly associated with education level, and race.
Conclusion: Although there was prevalent use of medication among pregnant women, many had negative beliefs, and insufficient knowledge and awareness about the risks of taking medication during pregnancy. Several sociodemographic characteristics were significantly associated with the use (race and education level), level of knowledge (age and education level), awareness (parity and place of residence), and beliefs (race, education level, and occupation status) towards medication use during pregnancy.
BACKGROUND: A literature review showed a lack of studies focused on the intention of nurses regarding physical restraint throughout the world. Considering that very little research on physical restraint use has been carried out in Malaysia, assessment of nurses' knowledge, attitude, intention and practice is necessary before developing a minimising programme in hospitals.
DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was used.
METHODS: A questionnaire to assess the knowledge, attitude, intention and practice was completed by all nurses (n = 309) in twelve wards of a teaching hospital in Kuala Lumpur.
RESULTS: Moderate knowledge and attitude with strong intention to use physical restraint were found among the nurses. Less than half of nurses considered alternatives to physical restraint and most of them did not understand the reasons for the physical restraint. Nurses' academic qualification, read any information source during past year and nurses' work unit showed a significant association with nurses' knowledge. Multiple linear regression analysis found knowledge, attitude and intention were significantly associated with nurses' practice to use physical restraint.
CONCLUSION: This study showed some important misunderstandings of nurses about using physical restraint and strong intention regarding using physical restraint. Findings of this study serve as a supporting reason for importance of educating nurses about the use of physical restraint.
RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Exploring the knowledge, attitude, intention and current practice of nurses towards physical restraint is important so that an effective strategy can be formulated to minimise the use of physical restraints in hospitals.
METHODS: Fifty-eight diabetic patients with ulcers at Wagner Grade 2 and above involved in this study after presented at two study centres of tertiary teaching hospitals. The assigned patients received conventional wound care with additional HBOT given at 2.4 ATA for 90 minutes. Patients in the control group who received conventional wound care only were treated and observed for 30 days. The progress of wound healing was observed and measured at day 0, 10, 20 and 30 of study. The data collected were analysed using SPSS software (ver. 22) to study the association of HBOT towards healing of the diabetic foot ulcers.
RESULTS: Repeated Measures ANOVA analysis with Greenhouse-Geisser correction indicated that the means of wound size over time points (Day 0, 10, 20 and 30) among patients under HBOT group were statistically significantly different [F(1,61)=30.86, p<0.001)] compared to conventional therapy group. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that HBOT group has nearly 44 times higher odds to achieve at least 30% wound size reduction within the study period (95%CI: 7.18, 268.97, p<0.001).
CONCLUSION: The results obtained in this study indicated that as an adjunctive therapy to conventional wound care, HBOT affected the rate of healing in diabetic foot ulcers significantly in terms of wound size reduction when compared to administering the conventional wound care alone.
STUDY DESIGN: A sub-analysis of data from a prevalence study of medication-related visits among patients at the ED of Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia was conducted. The study took place over a period of six weeks from December 2014 to January 2015 involving 434 eligible patients. Data on demography, conventional medication, and TCM uses were collected from patient interview and the medical folders.
RESULTS: Among this cohort, 66 patients (15.2%, 95%CI 12.0, 19.0) reported concurrent TCM use. Sixteen (24.2%) of the TCM users were using more than one (1) type of TCM, and 17 (25.8%) came to the ED for medication-related reasons. Traditional Malay Medicine (TMM) was the most frequently used TCM by the patients. Five patients (7.6%) sought treatment at the ED for medical problems related to use of TCM.
CONCLUSION: Patients seeking medical care at the ED may be currently using TCM. ED-physicians should be aware of these therapies and should always ask patients about the TCM use.