OBJECTIVE: We estimated the long-term maintenance costs of CI including repair of speech processors, replacement of damaged parts, and battery requirements.
RESULTS: Forty-one parents of children who received CIs in Malaysian government hospitals were enrolled. The first 2 years of CI usage were covered by warranty. The cost increased three-fold from by 4 years of CI usage and then doubled by 8 years of usage. About 75% of parents commented that the costs were burdensome.
CONCLUSION: Our findings will be useful for parents whose children receive CI and will allow medical personnel to counsel the parents about the costs.
METHOD: This study recruited Sundanese from Tasikmalaya and Minahasan from Manado using the Indonesian Public Attitudes Toward Epilepsy (PATE) scale. The results were compared to the Javanese and Malaysian data in previous studies.
RESULT: A total of 200 respondents, 100 from each ethnic group were recruited, with a mean age of 38.51 years. They were predominantly females (54%) and had secondary education level or lower (56.67%). The Javanese had a higher total mean score, indicating poorer attitudes toward epilepsy, as compared to the Minahasan and Sundanese groups. These differences were noted in the personal domain, but not the general domain. There were no significant differences in the mean scores in both personal and general domains between the Minahasan, Sundanese, and Malaysian populations. Subanalysis on the aspects of life showed that the Javanese had a significantly higher score in the aspects of education, marital relationship, and employment.
CONCLUSION: The attitudes toward epilepsy were similar between the Indonesian (Sundanese and the Minahasan) and Malaysian, except the Javanese with poorer attitude. These differences could be socioeconomically or culturally related.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional survey. A convenient sample of 310 preclinical students of a public medical school in Malaysia were invited to participate. Validation data were collected using a revised 40-item, 5-point Likert scale learning space questionnaire. The questionnaires were administered online via a student e-learning platform. Data analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS version 24. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to examine the factor structure of the revised questionnaire to provide evidence for construct validity. To assess the internal consistency of the revised questionnaire, Cronbach's alpha coefficients (α) were computed across all the items as well as for items within each of the factor.
Results: A total of 223 (71.94%) preclinical students completed and returned the questionnaire. In the final analysis, exploratory factor analysis with principal axis factoring and an oblimin rotation identified a six-factor, 20-item factor solution. Reliability analysis reported good internal consistency for the revised questionnaire, with an overall Cronbach's alpha of 0.845, and Cronbach's alpha ranging from 0.800 to 0.925 for the six factors.
Conclusions: This study established evidence for the construct validity and internal consistency of the revised questionnaire. The revised questionnaire appears to have utility as an instrument to investigate learning space preferences in Malaysian medical schools.
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate knowledge about the disease and assess ways of precautions to be taken during the pandemic.
METHODS: A questionnaire was developed and registered at Google Forms. The study population included dental practitioners, working in hospitals and clinics. A total of 495 dental practitioners from 14 different countries across the world responded. Most dentists were aware of the required modifications in the management of patients. The points allotted for each correct/best answer by participants for a group of questions regarding each component (Knowledge, Perceptions, and Practices) were added/summed to generate an overall score for each of the three components.
RESULTS: Both univariate and multivariate analysis employed for the evaluation of results. Moreover, the total practice score was significantly associated with gender and sector of practice. Multivariable analysis model using multiple linear regressions was formulated by including those variables which were significant at the univariate stage. Hence, the practice sector was the only variable found to be significantly associated with the total knowledge score (p-value
METHODS: A cross-sectional study involving 290 medical undergraduates was conducted in a Malaysian university. The questionnaires on the attitude towards suicide and general help-seeking behavior were used as research instruments.
RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 22.4 years. Participants who did psychiatry posting indicated a greater tendency to agree on suicide as a way of communication (p = 0.008) than those who did not. Participants previously diagnosed with a psychiatric illness indicated a greater ability to understand and accept suicide (p < 0.001) as well as a greater tendency to agree on the normality of suicide (p = 0.019) than those without a previous diagnosis. Those who attended a suicide prevention program also indicated a greater tendency to agree that loneliness and avoidance could be triggers to suicide (p = 0.037) than those who did not. No correlation was found between the "attitude towards suicide" and "general help-seeking behavior" variable.
CONCLUSION: Education programs in suicide prevention and management need to be incorporated early into the undergraduate medical curriculum to cultivate a more positive attitude towards suicide and help-seeking behavior.