MyMedR

Displaying publications 81 - 100 of 164 in total

Abstract:

Sort:

Fulltext Preliminary study of PAX9 single nucleotide polymorphism (rs8004560) in patients with Class II skeletal base malocclusion contributed by mandibular retrognatism

Muhammadazril Mohd Saad, Nur Amin Abd Rahman, Khairani Idah Mokhtar, Noraini Abu Bakar, Azrul Fazwan Kharuddin, Wan Rohani Wan Taib

Archives of Orofacial Sciences, 2018;13(2):1-7.
MyJurnal

Polymorphism in PAX9 (rs8004560), a gene responsible for craniofacial and tooth development, is often associated with Class II/Div2 malocclusion. This study aimed to detect the presence of PAX9 SNP (rs8004560) and to determine its genotype and allele distribution in Class II skeletal base malocclusion, contributed by retrognathic mandible, in the local Malaysian population. The association of PAX9 SNP (rs8004560) with Class II skeletal base malocclusion was also determined. A case control study was performed on 30 samples; 15 from Class II skeletal base malocclusion, and 15 from Class I skeletal base subject as control. Cephalometric measurements were performed prior to saliva samples collection. Genomic DNA was extracted from unstimulated saliva of all subjects, and the DNA was amplified using specific primers for marker rs8004560, followed by genotyping by sequencing. SHEsis online software was used to analyse Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) for cases and controls. Allelic and genotypic frequencies were compared between cases and controls. Significant difference in allele frequency was observed within the group whereby G allele was over-represented in the analysed population (p0.05). Although no genetic association between PAX9 SNP (rs8004560) with Class II skeletal base malocclusion was observed, significant difference in allele frequency observed might provide some indication in the involvement of PAX9 polymorphism in Class II skeletal base malocclusion contributed by retrognathic mandible. Further research utilising larger sample size will be required in order to determine the role of PAX9 gene in the aetiology of Class II skeletal base malocclusion observed in the local Malaysian population.

Matched MeSH terms: Sample Size
Breakfast consumption and mental health: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

Zahedi H, Djalalinia S, Sadeghi O, Zare Garizi F, Asayesh H, Payab M, et al.

Nutr Neurosci, 2020 Dec 14.
PMID: 33314992 DOI: 10.1080/1028415X.2020.1853411

OBJECTIVE: Several studies have been conducted on the relationship between breakfast consumption and mental health with conflicting results. Therefore, the present systematic review and meta-analysis was undertaken to summarize evidences on the association between skipping breakfast and mental health.
METHODS: We searched online databases for all related papers through the comprehensive international data bases of Institute of PubMed/ MEDLINE, ISI/WOS and Scopus up to December 2019, using relevant keywords. Overall, 14 studies were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis.
RESULTS: The total sample size of all selected studies was 399,550 individuals with age range of 6 to ≥65 years old. We found a significant positive association between skipping breakfast and Odds Ratio (OR) of depression (pooled OR: 1.39; 95% CI: 1.34-1.44), stress (pooled OR: 1.23; 95% CI: 1.04-1.43) and psychological distress (pooled OR: 1.55; 95% CI: 1.47-1.62). In contrast, there was no significant association between skipping breakfast and anxiety in all age cohort (pooled OR: 1.31; 95% CI: 0.97-1.65). However, subgroup analysis based on age stratification showed that there was a significant positive association between skipping breakfast and anxiety in adolescences (pooled OR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.25-1.77).
CONCLUSION: In conclusion, skipping breakfast was positively associated with odds of depression, stress and psychological distress in all age groups and anxiety in adolescence, underlining impact of breakfast on mental health.

Matched MeSH terms: Sample Size
Fulltext The journey and glitches: a study on burnout and turnover syndrome among the nursing students in one of the nursing institutions of higher learning in Malaysia

Hamidah H, Azila T, Kelvin J M, NurulIzzatie M, Khadijah N Roslih

Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2020;16(105):11-0.
MyJurnal

Introduction: Burnout is a psychological syndrome experienced by an individual who is exposed to chronic stress. It is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It is often associ- ated with feelings of hopelessness and difficulties in dealing with work efficiency. As for students, going-through the process of learning is a complex stressful phenomenon causing of poor academic performance. The aim of the study was to explore causes of student nurses’ burnout followed by the intention to leave the program. Methods: This is a cross sectional study with total of 127 respondents selected based on Krejci Morgan (1970) sample size calculation from year 1 till year 3 nursing students. Maslach Burnout Inventory (2016) was used to measure the burnout-self test comprised of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal achievement. Twenty-two (22 items) with 7- points scale measuring responses of “Never (0)” to “Every day (7).” For Part B, three open ended questions applied to the intention of leaving the program. Results: A total of 35% of students had the intention of leaving the nursing program and 54% occurred during the first and second year of the study. Stress and financial struggles triggered the intention of quitting the program and 68% felt the study was breaking them down. Conclusion: Pursuing the program despite of the glitches worth the fights, 99 % of respondents acknowledged that this program is worth their future profession. Through this program they learnt to handle their emotional problem calmly and look after patients and colleague’s problem effectively. Nursing is a field of knowledge of humanities, exclusively in the care of patients and Nursing has been able to educate and transform the society who were insufficient in lives into useful human beings.

Matched MeSH terms: Sample Size
Fulltext The journey and glitches:a study on burnout and turnover syndrome among the nursing students in one of the nursing institutions of higher learning in Malaysia

Hamidah H, Azila T, Kelvin J M, NurulIzzatie M, Khadijah N Roslih

Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2020;16(105):55-0.
MyJurnal

Introduction: Burnout is a psychological syndrome experienced by an individual who is exposed to chronic stress. It is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It is often associ- ated with feelings of hopelessness and difficulties in dealing with work efficiency. As for students, going-through the process of learning is a complex stressful phenomenon causing of poor academic performance. The aim of the study was to explore causes of student nurses’ burnout followed by the intention to leave the program. Methods: This is a cross sectional study with total of 127 respondents selected based on Krejci Morgan (1970) sample size calculation from year 1 till year 3 nursing students. Maslach Burnout Inventory (2016) was used to measure the burnout-self test comprised of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal achievement. Twenty-two (22 items) with 7- points scale measuring responses of “Never (0)” to “Every day (7).” For Part B, three open ended questions applied to the intention of leaving the program. Results: A total of 35% of students had the intention of leaving the nursing program and 54% occurred during the first and second year of the study. Stress and financial struggles triggered the intention of quitting the program and 68% felt the study was breaking them down. Conclusion: Pursuing the program despite of the glitches worth the fights, 99 % of respondents acknowledged that this program is worth their future profession. Through this program they learnt to handle their emotional problem calmly and look after patients and colleague’s problem effectively.Nursing is a field of knowledge of humanities, exclusively in the care of patients and Nursing has been able to educate and transform the society who were insufficient in lives into useful human beings.

Matched MeSH terms: Sample Size
Fulltext Factors affecting dining satisfaction and acceptability of food item among athletes during a sporting event

Mohalijah, M.A., Boo, H.C., Muhammad Shahrim, A.K., Ainul Zakiah, A.B.

International Food Research Journal, 2014;21(5):1719-1724.
MyJurnal

Athletes are a special group of consumers whose specific diet requirement is important during training and competition to ensure their success. As commercial foodservice establishments are increasing involved in providing foods to this group of consumers on one hand and the lack of research investigating the athletes’ dining satisfaction, especially meeting their diet requirement on the other hand, this study was conducted to investigate the influence of nutritional factors in athletes’ dining satisfaction and the acceptance of various foods provided in an international sporting event. Following a stratified random sampling, 700 athletes were selected from the entire population of 1330 participants. The final usable sample size was 450 (64.3% response rate). Regression analysis revealed that overall service, overall food quality, grooming of server, and nutritional information tag significantly influence the overall dining satisfaction among athletes. In addition, nutritional value, menu variety, fat content, freshness, and taste were found as the most important determinant in almost all food categories. It is intriguing that meeting diet requirement is not a significant factor but nutritional information tag is. Important implications were discussed. Nutrition education is recommended for foodservice operators especially when they are involved in providing food for sporting events. It is advisable that an appointed specialized sport dietitian or nutritionist to a sporting event works together with the foodservice operators to ensure that the menu meets the nutritional requirement of athletes.

Matched MeSH terms: Sample Size
Fulltext Stress and Its association with the academic performance of undergraduate fourth year medical students at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Harlina H Siraj, Salam A, Roslan R, Hasan NA, Jin TH, Othman MN

International Medical Journal Malaysia, 2014;13(1):19-24.
MyJurnal

Introduction: Student can be stressed due to different stressors such as academic, financial, health related or loss of close family member or friend, etc. Stress is the bodies’ reaction both neurologically and physiologically to adapt to the new condition. Stress has a negative effect on the academic performance of the students. This study was aimed to explore the stress and stressors and also to determine the association between stress levels and the academic performances in terms of cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of undergraduate medical students. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study conducted among all 234 year-4 medical students of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), session 2011-2012. Sample size comprised of 179 students after fulfilling all inclusion and exclusion criteria. A validated Medical Students’ Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ) was used to collect the data. Stress level and its association with CGPA of semester-1 examination were analysed. Results: Response rate was 76.49%, where 72% were female and 69% resided in the hostel. Academic Related and Social-related Stressors caused for severe and high stress in 84% and 49% respondents respectively, with insignificant differences between gender and residency. Respondents with a high and severe stress level were observed to have higher CGPA. Conclusion: UKM medical students are highly resourceful to manage their stress well and thus denying the negative effect of stress towards their academic performance. Medical schools should train students exposing various personal and professional developmental activities that able to face the everyday challenges and manage stress well and thereby achieve better academic performance.

Matched MeSH terms: Sample Size
Fulltext Optimization and validation of a method for extraction and quantification of ochratoxin A in black pepper

Jalili, Maryam, Jinap, S.

International Food Research Journal, 2015;22(2):502-509.
MyJurnal

The extraction method for the determination of ochratoxin A (OTA) in black pepper was optimized. The influence of three variables, i.e., type of solvent, solvent-volume-to-sample- size ratio (v/w) and amount of sodium chloride (NaCl) (g), on OTA recovery was evaluated. Analysis of variance was used to compare recovery values obtained from different solvents, and response surface methodology (RSM) was used to determine the optimum amount of NaCl and the solvent-volume-to-sample-size ratio. The concentration of OTA was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. The highest recovery (95.2 %) was obtained when methanol/water (80:20, v/v) was used as the solvent. The RSM results showed that the experimental data could be adequately fitted to a second-order polynomial model with multiple regression coefficients (R2) of 0.962. The optimum amount of NaCl was determined to be 3 g, whereas the optimum solvent-volume-to-sample-size ratio (v/w) was found to be 4. The proposed method was applied to 20 samples, and the presence of OTA was found in 8 (40%) samples ranging from 0.11 to 3.16 ng g-1.

Matched MeSH terms: Sample Size
Fulltext Cytoprotective effects of honey in combination with aqueous and ethanol extracts from chromolaena odorata L.(Eupatorium Odoratum L.) in rats

Nur Jannah, M.H., Mahmood, A.A., Sidik, K., Salmah, I.

JUMMEC, 2006;9(1):7-13.
MyJurnal

Six groups of adult Sprague-Dawley rats were orally administered with a variety of treatments to elucidate their cytoprotective effects. Absolute ethanol combined with HCl was used to induce gastric lesions in rats. Aqueous and ethanol extracts of Chromolaena odorata, a famous folk herb for treating skin wounds were evaluated to determine their protective effect on gastric mucosa. In this study, aqueous extract and ethanol extract of C. odorata were combined with honey. In addition, honey alone and honey combined with cimetidine were also evaluated. Rat stomachs were examined grossly and histologically. Results were expressed as inhibition percentage. The honey and aqueous extract combination showed the highest inhibition percentage (72.67%) followed by honey and ethanol extract (58.92%), honey and cimetidine (56.55%) and the lowest was honey alone (46.74%). However, there were no significant differences between the effects of aqueous and ethanol extracts of C. odorata and honey in promoting cytoprotective effects and this may be due to the small sample size. Nevertheless, these results suggest that C. odorata and honey may be beneficial in treating induced gastric mucosal injury.

Matched MeSH terms: Sample Size
Fulltext A preliminary study of malay and chinese bite mark in UKM using dental wax

Wong, Lai Hong, Balkis Bashuri, Atiah Ayunni Abdul Ghani, Khairul Osman, Nor Atika Md Ashar

Jurnal Sains Kesihatan Malaysia, 2015;13(1):1-5.
MyJurnal

Identifi cation of unknown suspect through bite marks has always been challenging. Narrowing list of suspects through sex and race markers is always recommend but rarely utilized due to limited publication in this area. Thus, this preliminary research was aimed to study the difference of bite mark made on dental wax between sex and race. A sample size of 40 UKM undergraduates comprising of Malay (male = 10, female = 10) and Chinese (male = 10, female = 10) were used in this study. Bite mark of subject was obtained through dental wax, digitally scanned and analyzed using Image-J software. Parameters measured were anterior teeth size, intercanine width and anterior teeth relative rotation. Result indicated that mandible left canine tooth size had signifi cant sexual dimorphism (p < 0.05) in differentiating sex. The means for male and female measured were 4.63 ± 1.05 mm and 5.35 ± 0.87 mm respectively. In addition to the result, tooth size of maxillary left canine and mandible left lateral incisor were signifi cantly different (p < 0.05) between races. Means for mandible left canine Malay and Chinese were 5.27 ± 1.01 mm and 4.50 ± 1.22 mm respectively. Furthermore, left lateral incisor mandible had means of 5.15 ± 0.87 mm and 4.60 ± 0.74 mm for Malay and Chinese respectively. Unfortunately, there were no signifi cant differences for intercanine width and anterior teeth relative rotation between the two major races in Malaysia. In conclusion, this research has demonstrated the possibility of using tooth size of mandible left canine, maxillary left canine and mandible left lateral discriminate sex and race.

Matched MeSH terms: Sample Size
Fulltext Effects of lower third molar removal on attachment level and alveolar bone height of the adjacent second molar

Wong, Soo Yee, Roselinda Ab. Rahman, Haslina Taib

Archives of Orofacial Sciences, 2009;4(2):36-40.
MyJurnal

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the periodontal status distal to the adjacent second molar following the extraction of a partially or fully impacted mandibular third molar at Klinik Pergigian Pakar Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (KPPHUSM) from April of 2008 until June of 2008.This was a prospective study which involved the clinical and radiological study of patients. In this study, convenience sampling method had been used. The sample size was 22 patients aged 18-32 years old with inclusion criteria. The outcomes measured in this study were periodontal pocket depth (PPD), clinical attachment level (CAL) and alveolar bone height (ABH). Subjects were examined at distal surface (disto-buccal, mid-distal and disto-lingual) of second molar for PPD and CAL before and 3 months after the impacted adjacent lower third molar extraction. OPG was taken each before and after the third molar removal. These data were analyzed using SPSS version 16 and Wilcoxon-signed-ranks test was used to compare the PPD, CAL and ABH pre and post operatively. All the results were not significant with p >0.05. For PPD, median = 3mm pre and post extraction. CAL median= 2mm pre and post operatively and ABH median of 3.10mm (before) and 2.8mm (after) the third molar removal. From our study, we concluded that there were no significant changes of PPD, CAL and ABH at distal side of second molar after 3 months of the adjacent impacted lower third molar removal.
Study site: Dental clinics, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM), Kelantan, Malaysia

Matched MeSH terms: Sample Size
Fulltext Stature approximation of Malays, Chinese and Indian in Malaysia using radiographs of femur, tibia and fibula

Amal Hayati Zainal Abidin, Khairul Osman, Sri Pawita Albakri Amir Hamzah, Noor Hazfalinda Hamzah, Ab Halim Mansar, Normaizatul Afizah Ismail

Jurnal Sains Kesihatan Malaysia, 2011;9(1):45-50.
MyJurnal

The study was conducted to create specific formulae for stature estimation of adult male population in Malaysia based on measurements of femur, tibia and fibula lengths using radiographic method. A number of thirty two Malaysians from hospitals involved as subjects in this study. The subjects were Malays (14), Chinese (8) and Indians (10) from 25-45 years old. The standing height of the subject was recorded before femur, tibia and fibula were scanned with an x-ray
machine. The bones length was measured on the x-ray film in centimetres (cm) and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 19.0 for Windows. The results showed a significant relationship (p < 0.05) between stature and measurements of length of femur, tibia and fibula. Stature of Malays and Indians were significant (p < 0.05) with measurements of length of femur, tibia and fibula but insignificant in Chinese. Simple Linear Regression Analysis was used to derive regression equation for single bone and Multiple Linear Regression Analysis was used to derive regression equation for combination of femur, tibia and fibula. Six formulae for stature estimation of adult male population in Malaysia were derived. The formulae consist of three formulae for single bone, a formulae for combination bones with unknown race, a formulae for combination bones of Malays population and a formulae for combination bones of Indians population. Formulae for combination bones had the highest correlation coefficient compared to the formula using a single bone. Standard error was found to be high in all the formulae due to small sample size. Extension for this study is essential to provide Malaysia with accurate formulae.

Matched MeSH terms: Sample Size
Fulltext Gamma-tocotrienol Alters Protein Expression of HepG2 Cell Line

Farahani, A.S.R., Zakiah, J., Abdul Rahman, M., Karsani, S.A., Wan, Ngah Wz

Medicine & Health, 2008;3(2):256-262.
MyJurnal

Gamma-tocotrienol (GTT) has been shown to exhibit significant antitumor activity in a variety of tumor cells. Previous findings have demonstrated that GTT had antiprolifera-tive effects on a liver cancer cell line (HepG2) with an IC50 value of 170μM. In this study, two dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) was used to determine changes in protein expression in HepG2 cell line following treatment with GTT. The ultimate aim is to identify the possible molecular mechanisms involved in GTT antitumor activity. This study is focused on obtaining a 2DE protein profile for HepG2 cell line with and without
GTT treatment. In the preliminary analysis of the resulting 2DE profiles, 18 protein spots were found to be differentially expressed in cells treated with GTT. This observa-tion is confirmed by extending the analysis to a larger sample size. By studying the effects of GTT treatment on differential protein expression in HepG2 cells the underly-ing mechanisms involved in the antitumor activity of GTT may be elucidated.

Matched MeSH terms: Sample Size
Fulltext Pyrosequencing-based quantitative evaluation of P16 methylation in diffuse large b-cell lymphoma

Mohd. Ridah L.J., Ismail A., A. Talib N., Muhammad N., Hussain F.A., Zainuddin N.

Journal of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, 2016;1(1):12-17.
MyJurnal

Introduction: Methylation of promoter region of p16 leading to gene silencing has been implicated ina wide range of malignancies including lymphomas. In diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) particularly, a varying percentage of epigenetic inactivation of p16 promoter region was observed ranging from 16 -54%. However, quantitative analysis of p16 promoter methylation in DLBCL has not been extensively studied in Malaysia. Objective: This study aims to quantitatively analyse p16 methylation in DLBCL samples using pyrosequencing technique. Methods: Genomic DNA was extracted from 16 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded lymphoma tissue blocks from patients diagnosed with DLBCL. Samples were retrieved from Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Pahang and Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan. Primers were designed to amplify bisulfite-treated DNA targeting p16 promoter region. Methylation status of 7 CpG sites was determined by pyrosequencing. Results: All the 16 samples studied showed promoter methylation of p16. The range of mean methylation percentage was between 18 to 81%. Conclusion: The present study has successfully measured the level of methylation of p16 in all 7 CpG sites despite the limitation in sample size. Since p16 methylation is a common event in our series of DLBCL cases, it is worth including a larger sample size in future studies to increase the chance of finding a significant correlation with clinical parameters.

Matched MeSH terms: Sample Size
Fulltext Interleukin 1β (+3954; -511) Genotype Polymorphism and its Association with Severe Chronic Generalized Periodontitis in the Malaysian Population

Arora S, Ramachandra SS, Abdullah F, Gundavarapu KC

Contemp Clin Dent, 2017 Jan-Mar;8(1):102-105.
PMID: 28566859 DOI: 10.4103/ccd.ccd_1177_16

INTRODUCTION: Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in interleukin 1β (IL-1β) gene have been known to be associated with increased susceptibility to chronic periodontitis among various ethnic populations. SNPs are more commonly observed at loci + 3954 and - 511. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of IL-1β gene polymorphism at loci +3954 and - 511, and its association with severe chronic generalized periodontitis among the ethnic Malay, Chinese, and Indians within the Malaysian population.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Saliva samples from 120 subjects (60 cases and 60 controls) in the age group of 25-50 years were collected for isolation of genetic material using Norgen technique. Clinical attachment loss of ≥5 mm was considered as severe chronic generalized periodontitis. SNP's at loci +3954 and - 511 were identified and analyzed using Kompetitive Allele Specific Polymerase Chain Reaction Genotyping System (KASP™). Differences in the allele/genotype frequencies were assessed by Chi-square test (P < 0.05).

RESULTS: On the comparison between cases and controls of IL-1β genotype polymorphism (+3954 and - 511), the difference in the genotype frequencies was statistically insignificant in all the three ethnicities. The genotype frequency in both groups in all three ethnicities of the Malaysian population was similar.

CONCLUSION: IL-1β genotype polymorphism at +3954 and - 511 was found to be not associated with severe chronic generalized periodontitis among the three ethnicities in Malaysia. Studies with larger sample size should be done to confirm the findings of this study.

Matched MeSH terms: Sample Size
Fulltext Prevalence of aggressive periodontitis in newly referred patients in a periodontal specialist government clinic

Lim, Fei Yee, Uma Subramaniam, Renukanth Raman, Chua Sim Loo

Malaysian Dental Journal, 2016;39(1):9-25.
MyJurnal

Aim: To assess the prevalence and clinical features of aggressive periodontitis in newly referred patients to the Periodontal Clinic in Seremban.

Methodology: Sample size calculation was done using Epi Info software with minimum sample estimated at 279. 583 new patients who were referred to this clinic from year 2013 to July 2015 were examined clinically and radiographically. Patients were diagnosed using American Academy of Periodontology workshop 1999 definition.

Results: Thirty-one (5.3%) patients were identified as having aggressive periodontitis with 28 (90%) of these patients exhibiting generalized form of aggressive periodontitis. Mean age of these patients was 34.9 years. In terms of gender and ethnicity, 21 females and 18 Malays were diagnosed with Aggressive periodontitis. First molars had the highest amount of clinical attachment loss (CAL=5.4mm). The number of missing teeth at the first visit was at median 2 (Interquartile range=4). The number of prognostically hopeless teeth at first visit was at median 1 (Interquartile range=2). Canines were preserved in most of the patients.

Conclusion: Aggressive periodontitis was found in 5.3% of our samples. It was diagnosed at mean age of 34.9 years old.

Matched MeSH terms: Sample Size
Fulltext Feature selection methods: case of filter and wrapper approaches for maximising classification accuracy

Wah, Yap Bee, Nurain Ibrahim, Hamzah Abdul Hamid, Shuzlina Abdul-Rahman, Fong, Simon

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2018;26(1):329-340.
MyJurnal

Feature selection has been widely applied in many areas such as classification of spam emails, cancer cells, fraudulent claims, credit risk, text categorisation and DNA microarray analysis. Classification involves building predictive models to predict the target variable based on several input variables (features). This study compares filter and wrapper feature selection methods to maximise the classifier accuracy. The logistic regression was used as a classifier while the performance of the feature selection methods was based on the classification accuracy, Akaike information criteria (AIC), Bayesian information criteria (BIC), Area Under Receiver operator curve (AUC), as well as sensitivity and specificity of the classifier. The simulation study involves generating data for continuous features and one binary dependent variable for different sample sizes. The filter methods used are correlation based feature selection and information gain, while the wrapper methods are sequential forward and sequential backward elimination. The simulation was carried out using R, an open-source programming language. Simulation results showed that the wrapper method (sequential forward selection and sequential backward elimination) methods were better than the filter method in selecting the correct features.

Matched MeSH terms: Sample Size
Fulltext Approaches of learning among medical undergraduates of faculty of medicine and health sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia in 2016

Nurul Mursyidah Zakaria, Nur Asyiqin Jasman Farok, Siti Khadijah Adam, Syafinaz Amin Nordin

Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2018;14(1):1-6.
MyJurnal

Introduction: Challenge arises for medical undergraduates as the subject of medicine is intricate and extensive. Although students come from the same pool of excellent academic background, the medical undergraduates are still prone to failure in exams, resulting in them repeating the year of study or even having the thought of changing to other courses. In order to cope with the programme, students may adopt learning approaches that would help them to go through the programme. Therefore, it would be interesting to explore the learning approaches of medical students in Universiti Putra Malaysia. Methods: The purposes of this study were to determine the learning approach of medical undergraduates of Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia (FMHS, UPM) together with its associated factors, which were socio-demographic characteristics and learning environment. This research was a cross-sectional study where the sample size calculated was 554. Self-administered questionnaires were given to the respondents chosen by simple random sampling. The socio-demographic characteristics were analysed using descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentage. Chi-square test was used to analyse the association between the variables. Results: The response rate was 83% (460 respondents agreed to participate). The majority of the respondents were females (73.7%), Malay (67%), and in their clinical years of study (58.7%). Overall, most students preferred deep approach (DA) of learning (49.6%), followed by strategic approach (29.1%) and surface apathetic approach (21.3%) of learning. There were statistically significant associations between learning approach and gender (p=0.005), as well as between learning approach and year of study (p=0.037). Conclusion: Our study showed an association between learning approaches and year of study and gender. DA of learning was the preferred learning approach in medical students at FMHS, UPM. This approach of learning, where students learn to understand the subject matter, may result in students become effective learners. Their understanding about the subject matter will be applicable to their clinical practice in the future.

Matched MeSH terms: Sample Size
Fulltext Knowledge, attitude and practice on leptospirosis among undergraduate students in University Putra Malaysia

Siti Maryam Abu Bakar, Haliza Abdul Rahman

Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2018;14(102):0-0.
MyJurnal

Leptospirosis is an infectious and zoonotic disease caused by pathogenic bacteria called leptospires which can be transmitted through the exposure to the urine or excretion of infected animals, and also water or soil that being contaminated with secretion of the infected animals. Leptospirosis remains a concern in Malaysia, as the number of cases had steadily increased. This study aims to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) among final year students of selected programmes in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among students of Environmental and Occupational Health (ENVOCH) (57 students), Nursing (22 students) and Veterinary Medicine (97 students). Thus, the total sample sizes were 170, however the response rate were 81.76%. Questionnaire was used as the study instrumentation. Results: There was a significant association between race and knowledge, also gender and attitude with p

Matched MeSH terms: Sample Size
Fulltext Impact of a training program on disaster preparedness among paramedic students of a tertiary care hospital of North India: A single-group, before-after intervention study

Bhattacharya S, Singh A, Semwal J, Marzo RR, Sharma N, Goyal M, et al.

J Educ Health Promot, 2020;9:5.
PMID: 32154300 DOI: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_423_19

INTRODUCTION: Disaster can occur at any time any place. Disaster preparedness plays an important role to reduce the loss of a community/country. The aim of this interventional study was to ascertain the impact of a video-based educational intervention program on improvement in knowledge and attitude of paramedical students in a hospital.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A pre-post study (interventional study design) was conducted on paramedic students. Our study period was 6 months which was divided into Phases I, II, and III. For administrative purpose, we included all paramedical students, and our sample size was 119. The baseline assessment of knowledge and attitude of paramedic students was done by a pretested questionnaire (Observation 1) with having a baseline scoring. After that, intervention Phase 1 was implemented, and later, end line observation (Observation 2) was made. Changes in knowledge and attitude were observed by the score difference (Observation 2-Observation 1). Descriptive statistics were calculated, and the mean of cumulative score was compared using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. We applied Mann-Whitney U-test for finding associations between dependent variables with an independent variable using SPSS version 22 (IBM, Chicago, USA) software.
RESULTS: Our baseline results showed that most of our participants had average knowledge (54.6%), followed by poor knowledge (24.4%). Approximately one-fifth (21.0%) of the participants had good knowledge regarding disaster preparedness. A significant improvement was observed in cumulative score (P < 0.005). A significant difference was observed in knowledge and attitude with respect to age and courses (P < 0.05). Forty percent of the students responded that they would like to get trained by that mock drill, and 26.1% were interested in disaster preparedness workshops in the future.
CONCLUSION: Our present study results indicate that the overall knowledge and attitude level of the students was average and required improvement. A similar result was reported in some studies conducted globally for the same purpose. All of our students perceived that training for disaster preparedness is necessary for all health facilities, and it is important to have an emergency plan and disaster management committee. Regarding training methods, most of our students liked our interactive audiovisual method. However, their preferred methods were mock drill and workshops. It can be arranged in the future for them.

Matched MeSH terms: Sample Size
Fulltext Readiness of school teachers to accept notifications about causes and preventive measures on food poisoning

Marzo RR, Bhattacharya S, Niranjan V, Shagaran K, Mohd Idris MAB, Clement BJ, et al.

J Educ Health Promot, 2020;9:43.
PMID: 32318611 DOI: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_505_19

INTRODUCTION: In this era of globalization, urbanization, and rapidly expanding unhygienic food corners across the globe, the incidence of food poisoning is very common nowadays.
AIM: The aim of our study was to investigate the perceptions and readiness of schoolteachers to accept notifications on food poisoning as a part of education to the students.
METHODOLOGY: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out with the help of a validated questionnaire for data collection. Our research involved schoolteachers from both primary and secondary schools in Muar. The questionnaire was pretested among the eligible trainee teachers and yielded an internal consistency reliability coefficient (c = Cronbach's alpha) of 0.082. This study was conducted from October 29, 2017, to December 14, 2018, in Muar. Our sample size was 259. Ethical consent was obtained from the Institution Ethical Committee.
RESULTS: A total of 259 schoolteachers from both primary and secondary schools in Muar were included in this study. In our study, 81.1% of the teachers responded that they can easily educate their students about food poisoning. Most of them (93.1%) were ready to receive notifications on food poisoning in any mode, and about 72% of the teachers preferred WhatsApp as their mode of receiving notification. The least (1.2%) preferred mode of notification was LINE (a social app). Teachers' willingness to disseminate the information regarding food poisoning was also higher (98.5%).
CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that majority of the schoolteachers had a good perception and were ready to receive the notifications on food poisoning through WhatsApp as a part of education to the students.

Matched MeSH terms: Sample Size

Filters

Please provide feedback to Administrator (afdal@afpm.org.my)

External Links