METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 14 cases of children who were admitted to the Pediatric Neurosurgical Unit of Hospital Kuala Lumpur after sustaining head injuries caused by fan blades between January 2000 and December 2002 was performed.
RESULTS: The causes of fan-blade head injury included jumping on the upper bunk of a bunk-bed, climbing on a ladder, climbing up onto a table, and being lifted by an adult. Thirteen patients were injured by ceiling fans and one by falling onto an uncovered table fan. School-aged boys were the predominant victims. Mean patient age was 7.9 years (range, 1.0-12.2 years). There was a twin peak incidence of when the accidents occurred: just before lunch in the afternoon and bedtime at night. The types of injury were scalp lacerations, compound depressed fractures and multiple intracranial haemorrhages. Two patients had the complication of wound infection, and one of these patients developed cerebral spinal fluid leak. One patient died from severe head injuries.
CONCLUSION: Safety awareness among parents and caretakers are important as fan-blade head injury among children is preventable.
METHODS: A retrospective analysis of dengue patients admitted to a tertiary care teaching hospital during the period of six years (2008 - 2013) was performed. Patient's demographics, clinical and laboratory findings were recorded via structured data collection form. Patients were categorized into dengue fever (DF) and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF). Appropriate statistical methods were used to compare these two groups in order to determine difference in clinico-laboratory characteristics and to identify independent risk factors of DHF.
RESULTS: A total 667 dengue patients (30.69 ± 16.13 years; Male: 56.7 %) were reviewed. Typical manifestations of dengue like fever, myalgia, arthralgia, headache, vomiting, abdominal pain and skin rash were observed in more than 40 % patients. DHF was observed in 79 (11.8 %) cases. Skin rash, dehydration, shortness of breath, pleural effusion and thick gall bladder were more significantly (P 40 years (OR: 4.1, P
METHODS: A cohort of 611 male Malaysian Army recruits were recruited and followed up at 3 and 6 months. Pain catastrophising, MSD, sociodemographic and work factors were measured using a self-administered questionnaire, and MSI incidence was retrieved from the medical records. Multivariable fixed effects regression was used to model the cumulative incidence of MSD and MSI.
RESULTS: Approximately 12% of the recruits were diagnosed with incident MSI and 80% reported incident MSD. Higher pain catastrophising at baseline was associated with higher 6 month MSD risk (adjusted OR (aOR) 1.6 per 1 SD increase of Pain Catastrophising Scale (PCS) scores; 95% CI 1.2 to 2.0), and longitudinally associated with MSD incidence (aOR 1.2, 95% CI 1.1 to 1.4). Pain catastrophising was not associated with MSI incidence (aOR 1.0, 95% CI 0.8 to 1.3). The association between pain catastrophising and self-reported MSD was stronger among recruits with self-reported past injury (p for interaction <0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: Pain catastrophising was able to predict symptomatic MSD, and not physician-diagnosed MSI, and these findings are directly related to individual health beliefs. Pain catastrophising has a greater influence on how military recruits perceived their musculoskeletal conditions during training, and efforts to reduce pain catastrophising may be beneficial.
METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is a community-based prospective cohort study using randomly selected households from the national census. A multistage sampling method was employed to obtain a total of 2496 older adults living in the rural Kuala Pilah district. The study is divided into two phases: cross-sectional study (baseline), and a longitudinal follow-up study at the third and fifth years. Elder mistreatment was measured using instrument derived from the previous literature and modified Conflict Tactic Scales. Outcomes of elder mistreatment include mortality, physical function, mental health, quality of life and health utilisation. Logistic regression models are used to examine the relationship between risk factors and abuse estimates. Cox proportional hazard regression will be used to estimate risk of mortality associated with abuse. Associated annual rate of hospitalisation and health visit frequency, and reporting of abuse, will be estimated using Poisson regression.
ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study has been approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the University of Malaya Medical Center (MEC Ref 902.2) and the Malaysian National Medical Research Register (NMRR-12-1444-11726). Written consent was obtained from all respondents prior to baseline assessment and subsequent follow-up. Findings will be disseminated to local stakeholders via forums with community leaders, and health and social welfare departments, and published in appropriate scientific journals and presented at conferences.