OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to develop and implement a sexting intervention module guided by the prototype willingness model (PWM), delivered using web-based animated video, and evaluate its effectiveness among diploma students from a public higher educational institution. The primary outcomes were intention and willingness to sext, while the secondary outcomes were knowledge, attitude, perceived norms, and prototype perceptions of sexting.
METHODS: This 2-armed, parallel, single-blinded cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted in a public higher educational institution in the state of Melaka, Malaysia. Diploma students from 12 programs were randomly allocated into intervention and control groups. Both groups answered a self-administered web-based questionnaire assessing the outcomes at the baseline. The intervention group received a newly developed intervention module based on the PWM in the form of 5 animated videos posted on a private YouTube platform, while the control group was put on the waitlist. The intervention group was encouraged to discuss any issues raised with the researchers via WhatsApp private chat after viewing the videos. All participants were observed immediately and 3 months postintervention. Data analysis was performed with SPSS (version 26; IBM Corp). A generalized linear mixed model was used to determine the effectiveness of the intervention.
RESULTS: There were a total of 300 participants with an attrition rate of 8.3% (n=25). After adjusting for age, sex, relationship status, and the amount of time spent on the web, there were significant differences in the intention to sext (β=-.12; P=.002; Cohen d=0.23), willingness to sext (β=-.16; P
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A randomised controlled trial (RCT) study involving 111 undergraduate medical students was conducted where the competency of skills was assessed by objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) in the first, fourth and seventh/eighth weeks. A cohort of 12-14 students was enrolled for each session. The randomisation of the participants into control (VAL-based teaching) and intervention (HFS-based teaching) groups was achieved by implementing the computer-based random sequence generation method. VAL-based teaching module was a fully interactive face-to-face teaching session where a prerecorded video clip was used. The video clip detailed the diagnosis of tension pneumothorax in an acute medical emergency and its management by performing needle decompression on a high-fidelity patient simulator (METIman). HFS-based teaching module was delivered as a fully interactive hands-on training session conducted on the same METIman to demonstrate the diagnosis of tension pneumothorax in an acute medical emergency and its management by performing needle decompression. OSCE scores were compared as the denominator of learning (enhancement and retention of skills) between two groups who underwent training with either VAL-based or HFS-based teachings. The OSCE assessments were used to evaluate the participants' performance as a group. These scores were used to compare the enhancement and medium-term retention of skills between the groups. The outcome was measured with the mean and standard deviation (SD) for the total OSCE scores for skills assessments. We used General Linear Model two-way mixed ANOVA to ascertain the difference of OSCE marks over assessment time points between the control and the intervention groups. ANCOVA and two-way mixed ANOVA were used to calculate the effect size and the partial Eta squared. p value less than 0.05 was taken to be statistically significant.
RESULTS: The two-way mixed ANOVA showed no statistically significant difference in mean OSCE scores between intervention and control groups (p=0.890), although the mean score of the intervention group was better than the control group.
CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated that HFS was not significantly effective over VAL-based education in enhancing skills and consolidating retention among undergraduate medical students. Further research is needed to determine its suitability for inclusion in the course curriculum considering the cost-effectiveness of implementing HFS that may supplement traditional teaching methods.
Methodology: We used a retrospective, matched before and after study design to prevent biased levels of effort by students conducting the home visits over two years. Information was obtained through reports written by IMU students. Convenient sampling was used to select outpatients undergoing treatment 'as usual' from a health clinic and were subsequently matched as controls.
Results: There was a significant decrease in the mean HbA1c among 57 patients with diabetes who were CFCS subjects [from 8.4% (68 mmol/mol) to 7.3% (57 mmol/mol) p<0.001], while the mean HbA1c levels among 107 matched control subjects rose significantly from 7.9% (63 mmol/mol) to 8.3% (67 mmol/mol) (p=0.019) over a similar period. The two groups were controlled for most biological and socioeconomic variables except for comorbidities, diabetic complications and medication dose changes between groups.
Conclusion: Behavioural intervention in the form of home visits conducted by medical students is an effective tool with a dual purpose, first as a student educational initiative, and second as a strategy to improve outcomes for patients with diabetes.
Methods: The participants were 381 Malay students (188 male; 193 female), aged 10-12 years old, with a mean age of 10.94 (SD = 0.81). The original version of the TTM was translated into the Malay language using forward and backward translation. Certain phrases were adapted based on the local culture and vocabulary suitable for primary school students.
Results: The final measurement models and their fit indices were: processes of change (CFI = 0.939, TLI = 0.925, SRMR = 0.040, RMSEA = 0.030); decisional balance (CFI = 0.897, TLI = 0.864, SRMR = 0.045, RMSEA = 0.038); and self-efficacy (CFI = 0.934, TLI = 0.915, SRMR = 0.042, RMSEA = 0.032).
Conclusion: Care must be taken when using the TTM with children, as it has been prevalently validated with adults. The final version of the TTM questionnaire for Malay primary school children had 24 items for process of changes, 13 items for self-efficacy and 10 items for decisional balance.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the undergraduate students using a self-administered questionnaire. After using a purposive sampling method, 562 students completed the questionnaire. Mplus 8 was employed to conduct the confirmatory factor analysis on the psychometric properties of Bandura's 18-item SE scale with three factors (internal feeling, competing demands and situational). Then, the composite reliability was calculated for each factor.
Results: Most of the students were Malay (73.3%) females (79.0%) who exercised 2.62 times a week for an average of 43.37 min per session. The final measurement model was obtained after removing six problematic items, and the model was deemed fit based on several indices [Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = 0.067, Standardised Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) = 0.004, Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = 0.924]. The composite reliability values of the three factors were acceptable (0.65 to 0.84).
Conclusion: The simplified 12-item SE scale with three factors displayed good fit indices with regard to the data, and they were considered to be acceptable for the current sample.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with school-going children from 16 selected schools of a tribal district in Jharkhand using multistage cluster random sampling. In each selected school, 60 students, 30 boys and 30 girls, were chosen randomly, totaling 960 children (full data was for 935 children only). Growth charts were created using Lambda-Mu-Sigma (LMS) chart maker version 2.5 for height, weight and body mass index (BMI). In the charts, the LMS values with Z scores for each age and respective height and weight for boys and girls were recorded.
Results: The 468 boys and 467 girls were in the range of 6-14 years of age. Percentile values obtained for the measured heights in centimetres were evaluated and compared with Indian Academy of Pediatrics reference charts for boys and girls for the same age group, and our values were found to be on the lower side. We were able to plot a growth chart of the data set; as the tribal children's ethnicity is different, this growth chart might be used to assess nutritional status.
Conclusion: We concluded that growth curves for height, weight, and BMI may be used for evaluating children of age 6-14 years in the tribal population. The measures can be a good indicator of their nourishment status and overall growth patterns, which might be indigenous to their ethnicity. A larger sample size of similar tribal populations may give a clearer picture.
Methods: The original English version of the ICAST-CH was first translated into the Malay language. Its content and face validity were tested among five independent individuals. A cross-sectional study using the Malay version (ICAST-CH-M) was then conducted with 255 students in a secondary school in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia. The data collected was used to examine the instrument's internal consistency and construct validity. The best ICAST-CH-M model was achieved after varimax rotation application.
Results: The analysis showed that the Malay version of the ICAST-CH had satisfactory internal consistency, with Cronbach's alpha ranging from 0.59-0.77. The exploratory factor analysis confirmed the validity of the underlying constructs into five domains in the Malay version, but they had to be re-classified as 'physical and psychological abuse', 'neglect', 'sexual abuse', 'exposure to domestic violence' and 'exposure to community violence'.
Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the ICAST-CH-M is satisfactorily reliable and valid for measuring child maltreatment in Malaysia.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out from May 2017 to October 2017 among parents of fourth form students in three schools in Besut, Terengganu, Malaysia. Parents who are able to read and understand Malay and consented to the study were required to answer a validated questionnaire on their knowledge regarding thalassemia. They were also asked the reason for their acceptance or refusal of the thalassemia screening of their children.
Results: In total, 273 participants took part in the study. The mean thalassemia knowledge score was 11.8 out of a maximum score of 21. Low knowledge scores (adjusted odds ratio [adj OR] 0.87; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.79, 0.95; P = 0.002) and female sex (adj OR 2.60; 95% CI: 1.04, 6.53; P = 0.040) had significant associations with parental thalassemia screening refusal. The main reason for screening refusal was that parents perceived that their children were not at risk for the disease since they did not have a family member with thalassemia.
Conclusion: The mean thalassemia knowledge score among parents remains unsatisfactory. A high knowledge score is important since it is associated with parental acceptance of thalassemia screening for their children.
Method: A cross-sectional study design with a convenience sampling method using a self-administered questionnaire was carried out. University undergraduate students were approached to fill in the questionnaire, which consisted of demographic information and a POC scale. The POC scale consisted of 30 items and two main factors (i.e., cognitive and behavioural). The POC scale was translated into the Malay language using a standard procedure of forward and backward translation. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed, and composite reliability was computed using Mplus version 8.
Results: A total of 620 respondents with a mean age of 20 years (standard deviation = 1.15) completed the questionnaire. Most of the participants were female (74.7%) and Malay (78.2%). The initial CFA model of the POC scale did not exhibit fit based on several fit indices (comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.880, Tucker Lewis index (TLI) = 0.867, standardised root mean square residual (SRMR) = 0.075 and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.058). Several re-specifications of the model were conducted and the modification included adding correlation between the items' residuals. The final model for the Malay version of the POC scale showed acceptable values of model fit indices (CFI = 0.922, TLI = 0.911, SRMR = 0.064 and RMSEA = 0.048). The composite reliability of both the cognitive and behavioural processes was acceptable at 0.856 and 0.752, respectively.
Conclusion: The final model presented acceptable values of the goodness of fit indices, indicating that the scale is fit and acceptable to be adopted for future study.