BACKGROUND: The back squat is an integral aspect of any resistance training program to improve athletic performance. It is also used for injury prevention of the lower limbs.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of back squat training at different intensities on strength and flexibility of the hamstring muscle group (HMG).
METHODS: Twenty-two male recreational bodybuilders with at least two years of experience in resistance training were recruited to participate in a nine-week training program. They were randomly assigned to a heavy back squat group (90-95% of one repetition maximum) or a moderate-intensity back squat group (60-65% of one repetition maximum).
RESULTS: The heavy back squat group resulted in a significantly (p < 0.001) increased in one repetition maximum strength but a significant (p < 0.001) reduction in HMG flexibility when compared to their counterparts. The results of the study indicate that while a heavy back squat training program is effective in improving strength, it has an adverse effect on the flexibility of the HMG.
CONCLUSION: The implication of this study is that there is a tradeoff between strength and flexibility and trainers should select the appropriate training protocols for their athletes to maximize athletic performance.
METHODS: This multi-country cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015 in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. A multi-stage cluster sampling was used to select undergraduate students from one or two universities in each country for self-administered questionnaire survey. Multivariate logistic regression analyses was performed to explore risk factors related to illicit drug use.
RESULTS: Participants included 7,923 students with a mean age of 20.6 years (SD = 2.8), ranging from 18-30 years. The overall prevalence of frequent (≥10 times), infrequent (1-9 times) and ever (at least once) illicit drug use in the past 12 months was 2.2, 14.7, and 16.9%, respectively. After adjustment, male students were significantly less likely to be infrequent (1-9 times vs. never), but significantly more likely to be ever users compared to females. Compared to those living with parents/guardians, students living away from parents/guardians were significantly less likely to be frequent (≥10 times vs. never) and infrequent users. Students from lower-middle-income countries were significantly more likely to be frequent and infrequent users, but significantly less likely to be ever users compared to those from upper-middle or high-income countries. Students with poor subjective health status were significantly more likely to be frequent users compared to those who reported good subjective health status. Students who reported binge drinking in the past month were significantly more likely to be infrequent users, but significantly less likely to be ever users.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that prevalence of illicit drug use among university students in the ASEAN region varied by country. Concerted social intervention programs should be designed to address related health and behavioral problems such as illicit drug use and alcohol drinking with particular emphasis on at-risk subgroups of this young population.
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: This is a five-year retrospective review on contact sensitisation in adults patch-tested with the European Standard and extended series between 2011 and 2015 in the Department of Dermatology, Hospital Kuala Lumpur.
RESULTS: There were 689 adults (M:F= 1:2.04; mean age 40.5 years) who were patch-tested. The majority (175, 25.4%) were white collar workers and 118 (17.1%) were healthcare workers. The provisional diagnoses of patients included contact dermatitis (80.8%); endogenous eczema (7.9%); hand eczema (3.2%); hand and foot eczema (3.5%); foot eczema (1.4%) and photodermatitis (1.2%). The allergens selected for testing were based on past and present history of exposure. Almost all (688, 99.8%) were patch-tested with the European standard allergens and 466 (67.6%) were tested with the extended series. About three quarter (528, 76.6%) developed at least one positive reaction. The top five most frequent reactions were to nickel sulphate (35.3%); potassium dichromate (16.5%); methylchloroisothiazolinone (12.9%), fragrance mix I (12.6%), and cobalt chloride (10.2%). The commonest sensitisations identified in the extended series were palladium chloride (23/105, 21.9%), stannous chloride (18/85, 21.2%), miconazole (7/44, 15.9%), gold(I)sodium thiosulfate (16/105, 15.2%) and thimerosal (29/202, 14.4%).
CONCLUSION: Contact sensitisation was detected in 76.6% of adults patch-tested. Nickel sulphate was found to be the most frequently sensitising allergen. The rising prevalence of methylchloroisothiazolinone/methylisothiazolinone sensitization poses significant concern.
METHODS: During the 6-year study period, using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Healthcare Safety Network (CDC-NHSN) definitions for device-associated health care-associated infection (DA-HAI), we collected prospective data from 861,284 patients hospitalized in INICC hospital ICUs for an aggregate of 3,506,562 days.
RESULTS: Although device use in INICC ICUs was similar to that reported from CDC-NHSN ICUs, DA-HAI rates were higher in the INICC ICUs: in the INICC medical-surgical ICUs, the pooled rate of central line-associated bloodstream infection, 4.1 per 1,000 central line-days, was nearly 5-fold higher than the 0.8 per 1,000 central line-days reported from comparable US ICUs, the overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was also higher, 13.1 versus 0.9 per 1,000 ventilator-days, as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection, 5.07 versus 1.7 per 1,000 catheter-days. From blood cultures samples, frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas isolates to amikacin (29.87% vs 10%) and to imipenem (44.3% vs 26.1%), and of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (73.2% vs 28.8%) and to imipenem (43.27% vs 12.8%) were also higher in the INICC ICUs compared with CDC-NHSN ICUs.
CONCLUSIONS: Although DA-HAIs in INICC ICU patients continue to be higher than the rates reported in CDC-NSHN ICUs representing the developed world, we have observed a significant trend toward the reduction of DA-HAI rates in INICC ICUs as shown in each international report. It is INICC's main goal to continue facilitating education, training, and basic and cost-effective tools and resources, such as standardized forms and an online platform, to tackle this problem effectively and systematically.
METHODS: A cross-sectional survey based on multistage random sampling in the target countries. A total of 10,024 participants aged ≥15 years were recruited during 2013-2014 in Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The questionnaire was translated into local languages to measure general health literacy and its three domains. To evaluate the validity of the tool in these countries, data were analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency analysis, and regression analysis.
RESULTS: The questionnaire was shown to have good construct validity, satisfactory goodness-of-fit of the data to the hypothetical model in three health literacy domains, high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha >0.90), satisfactory item-scale convergent validity (item-scale correlation ≥0.40), and no floor/ceiling effects in these countries. General health literacy index score was significantly associated with level of education (P from <0.001 to 0.011) and perceived social status (P from <0.001 to 0.016), with evidence of known-group validity.
CONCLUSIONS: The HLS-EU-Q47 was a satisfactory and comprehensive health literacy survey tool for use in Asia.
AIM OF THE STUDY: Since kratom is reported to deform sperm morphology and reduce sperm motility, we aimed to clinically investigate the testosterone levels following long-term kratom tea/juice use in regular kratom users.
METHODS: A total of 19 regular kratom users were recruited for this cross-sectional study. A full-blood test was conducted including determination of testosterone level, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) profile, as well as hematological and biochemical parameters of participants.
RESULTS: We found long-term kratom tea/juice consumption with a daily mitragynine dose of 76.23-94.15 mg did not impair testosterone levels, or gonadotrophins, hematological and biochemical parameters in regular kratom users.
CONCLUSION: Regular kratom tea/juice consumption over prolonged periods (>2 years) was not associated with testosterone impairing effects in humans.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the seroprevalence of leptospirosis among cattle farmers, prevalence of pathogenic Leptospira, and the workplace environmental risk factors for leptospirosis among cattle farmers in northeastern Malaysia.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study involving 120 cattle farmers was conducted. The participants answered an interviewer-guided questionnaire that consisted of sociodemographic and workplace environment characteristics questionnaire, before having their blood sample taken for microscopic agglutination test (MAT). Seropositivity was determined using a cut-off titer of ≥1:100. 248 environmental samples were also collected from the cattle farms for polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
RESULTS: The overall seroprevalence of leptospiral antibodies was 72.5% (95% CI 63.5% to 80.1%) and the prevalence of pathogenic Leptospira in the cattle farms environment was 12.1% (95% CI 8.4% to 17.0%). The independent factors associated with seropositivity of leptospirosis among cattle farmers were positive pathogenic Leptospira in the environment (Adj OR 5.90, 95% CI 1.34 to 26.01) and presence of garbage dumping in the farm (Adj OR 2.40, 95% CI 1.02 to 5.65).
CONCLUSION: Preventing leptospirosis incidence among cattle farmers necessitates changes in work environment. Identifying modifiable factors may also contribute to the reduction of infection.