METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 660 public hospital nurses. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on the occurrence of WRMSDs according to body regions, socio-demographic profiles, occupational information and psychosocial risk factors. 468 questionnaires were returned (response rate of 71%), and 376 questionnaires qualified for subsequent analysis. Univariate analyses were applied to test for mean and categorical differences across the WRMSDs; multiple logistic regression was applied to predict WRMSDs based on the Job Strain Model's psychosocial risk factors.
RESULTS: Over two thirds of the sample of nurses experienced discomfort or pain in at least one site of the musculoskeletal system within the last year. The neck was the most prevalent site (48.94%), followed by the feet (47.20%), the upper back (40.69%) and the lower back (35.28%). More than 50% of the nurses complained of having discomfort in region one (neck, shoulders and upperback) and region four (hips, knees, ankles, and feet). The results also revealed that psychological job demands, job strain and iso-strain ratio demonstrated statistically significant mean differences (p
Setting and Design: Retrospective observational cohort study in the State of Johor, Malaysia.
Subjects and Methods: All infants born between January 2006 and December 2015 with a diagnosis of CCHD, defined as infants with duct-dependent lesions or cyanotic heart disease who may die without early intervention. The late diagnosis was defined as a diagnosis of CCHD after 3 days of age.
Results: Congenital heart disease was diagnosed in 3557 of 531,904 live-born infants and were critical in 668 (18.7%). Of 668, 347 (52%) had duct-dependent pulmonary circulation. The birth prevalence of CCHD was 1.26 (95% confidence interval: 1.16-1.35) per 1000 live births, with no significant increase over time. The median age of diagnosis was 4 days (Q1 1, Q3 26), with 61 (9.1%) detected prenatally, and 342 (51.2%) detected late. The highest rate of late diagnosis was observed in coarctation of the aorta with a rate of 74%. Trend analysis shows a statistically significant reduction of late diagnosis and a significant increase in prenatal detection. However, Cox regression analysis shows the timing of diagnosis does not affect the outcome of CCHD.
Conclusions: Due to limited resources in the MIC, the late diagnosis of CCHD is high but does not affect the outcome. Nevertheless, the timing of diagnosis has improved over time.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective descriptive study. We identified 1041 patients (810 Chinese, 139 Malays, 92 Indians) without previous history of cardiovascular disease who underwent cardiac computed tomography for atypical chest pain evaluation. A cardiologist, who was blinded to the patients' clinical demographics, reviewed all scans. We retrospectively analysed all their case records.
RESULTS: Overall, Malays were most likely to be active smokers (P = 0.02), Indians had the highest prevalence of diabetes mellitus (P = 0.01) and Chinese had the highest mean age (P <0.0001). The overall prevalence of patients with non-calcified plaques as the only manifestation of sub-clinical coronary artery disease was 2.1%. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of CAC, mean CAC score or prevalence of non-calcified plaques among the 3 ethnic groups. Active smoking, age and hypertension were independent predictors of CAC. Non-calcified plaques were positively associated with male gender, age, dyslipidaemia and diabetes mellitus.
CONCLUSION: The higher MI rates in Malays and Indians in Singapore cannot be explained by any difference in CAC or non-calcified plaque. More research with prospective follow-up of larger patient populations is necessary to establish if ethnic-specific calibration of CAC measures is needed to adjust for differences among ethnic groups.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: The Singapore Mental Health Study (SMHS) is a cross-sectional epidemiological study that was conducted between December 2009 and December 2010. Information on smoking status was assessed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview version 3.0 (CIDI 3.0) and the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence measured nicotine dependence. Socio-demographic information was also collected.
RESULTS: In total, 6616 respondents participated in the SMHS giving a response rate of 75.9%. We found that 16% of the population were current smokers and 4.5% had nicotine dependence. Current smokers were more likely to be younger (18 to 34 years old), males, Malay and have lower education, whilst males had a 4.6 times higher risk of nicotine dependence to that of females. The prevalence of nicotine dependence was also higher in those with alcohol abuse and those experiencing chronic pain.
CONCLUSION: The results from this study highlight the important differences in the prevalence of smoking and nicotine dependence among different age groups, gender and ethnicity in Singapore and are important for developing future health policies and targeted preventive strategies.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 2008, 142 newly diagnosed patients with AR were seen and underwent skin prick testing with 90 patients completing the study.
RESULTS: Intermittent mild and moderate/severe AR were evident in 10% and 21.1% of the patients, while persistent mild and moderate/severe were seen in 20% and 48.9%, respectively. Rhinitis and asthma co-morbidity occurred in 28.8% with asthma incidence significantly higher in persistent AR (P = 0.002). There was no significant association between AR severity, city living and asthma co-morbidity. Nasal itchiness and sneezing were the main presenting complaints and were more common in intermittent AR (P <0.05). Sleep disturbance was associated with moderate-severe AR (P <0.05). Polypoidal mucosa was associated with asthma co-morbidity (P <0.05). Monosensitivity reaction occurred in 12.2% of patients and was associated with fungi sensitivity (P <0.05). Majority of patients were oligosensitive (52.8%) and polysensitive (34.4%) and were significantly associated with moderate-severe persistent AR (P <0.01). The highest positive skin prick reaction and the largest average wheal diameter were for the house dust mites and cat allergen (P <0.05).
CONCLUSION: Our results reflected the AR profiles in our country, which was comparable with typical profiles of the neighbouring country and other Mediterranean countries with a similar temperate climate.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A school-based cross-sectional study was performed from January to July 2006 by random selection on Standard 1 to Standard 6 students of 10 primary schools in the Kota Bharu district. Visual acuity assessment was measured using logMAR ETDRS chart. Positive predictive value of uncorrected visual acuity equal or worse than 20/40, was used as a cut-off point for further evaluation by automated refraction and retinoscopic refraction.
RESULTS: A total of 840 students were enumerated but only 705 were examined. The prevalence of uncorrected visual impairment was seen in 54 (7.7%) children. The main cause of the uncorrected visual impairment was refractive error which contributed to 90.7% of the total, and with 7.0% prevalence for the studied population. Myopia is the most common type of refractive error among children aged 6 to 12 years with prevalence of 5.4%, followed by hyperopia at 1.0% and astigmatism at 0.6%. A significant positive correlation was noted between myopia development with increasing age (P <0.005), more hours spent on reading books (P <0.005) and background history of siblings with glasses (P <0.005) and whose parents are of higher educational level (P <0.005). Malays in suburban Kelantan (5.4%) have the lowest prevalence of myopia compared with Malays in the metropolitan cities of Kuala Lumpur (9.2%) and Singapore (22.1%).
CONCLUSION: The ethnicity-specific prevalence rate of myopia was the lowest among Malays in Kota Bharu, followed by Kuala Lumpur, and is the highest among Singaporean Malays. Better socio-economic factors could have contributed to higher myopia rates in the cities, since the genetic background of these ethnic Malays are similar.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional school survey conducted on 4500 adolescent students, using a structured questionnaire. Data were collected using the supervised self-administered questionnaire [a modified version of the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance in the Malaysian National Language (Bahasa Malaysia)].
RESULTS: Our study showed that 27.9% of students had been involved in a physical fight, 6.6% had been injured in a fight, 5.9% had carried a weapon, 7.2% had felt unsafe, 18.5% had had their money stolen and 55.0% had had their property stolen. Adolescents who carried weapons to school, smoked, used drugs, felt sad or hopeless and played truant were more likely to be involved in physical fights after adjusting for age, sex, and ethnicity.
CONCLUSION: Violence-related behaviours among adolescents, especially involvement in physical fights, are common and are positively associated with certain factors such as smoking, taking drugs, playing truant, feeling sad or hopeless. Interventions designed at targeting adolescent violence should also address these factors and target the high-risk groups. There may be a need to identify and provide services for adolescents who exhibit these factors.
METHODS: Articles were found in the Medline database using the key words "paediatrics", "urine screening", "proteinuria", "haematuria" and "population". The Asian countries which had carried out population-based urinary screening of the paediatric population included Taiwan, Japan and Korea. One study was found on urinary screening in a select population in Malaysia. Preliminary results of the urinary screening of school children in Singapore are presented and compared with the results found in the above-mentioned countries.
RESULTS: Overall, the proportion of children found to have urinary abnormalities ranged from less than 0.1% of the population screened to almost 50% of a select cohort referred from the screening programmes for the evaluation of urinary abnormalities. In the pilot Singapore school screening programme, the prevalence of clinically significant proteinuria was 1.25 per 1000 children screened. Multivariate analysis showed that low body weight was associated with a 1.8-fold greater risk for proteinuria. The major cause of haematuria and proteinuria in those studies where renal biopsies were performed was glomerulonephritis. The Taiwanese experience also showed a reduction in the incidence of end-stage renal failure diagnosed in children after the onset of urine screening.
CONCLUSION: These studies showed that urinary screening programmes in school children allow the early detection of disease. The cost-benefit ratio for specific populations should be determined before the implementation of such programmes.
METHODS: Data were retrieved from relevant studies, reports and statistics concerning STI and HIV in Singapore.
RESULTS: For many reasons, adolescents are at a higher risk of acquiring STI and HIV infections. Adolescents in Singapore are still relatively conservative in their sexual attitudes and behaviour. Most of those who had sex never used condoms. Fortunately, the incidence of STI and HIV infections among adolescents is relatively low. However, this may be changing, and there is a proportion of individuals who exhibit higher risk behaviours.
CONCLUSIONS: In this age of rapidly changing morals and values, accurate information and skills need to be provided to young people to ensure that they are adequately prepared to protect themselves from acquiring STI/HIV infection.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional epidemiological survey was conducted to detect the true prevalence of active smoking pregnant patients and the accuracy of self-reporting, investigate the sociodemographic risk factors and test the knowledge of pregnant patients on adverse effects of smoking. This involved 972 antenatal patients of a maternity hospital where participants completed a sociodemographic data survey and answered a knowledge questionnaire. Urine cotinine testing was carried out after informed consent.
RESULTS: The prevalence of active smokers was 5.2% (n = 50) with 3% (n = 29) being light smokers and 2.2% (n = 21) being heavy smokers. This was significantly higher than self-reported active smoking status of 3.7% (n = 36; P = 0.02). The Malay race, being aged less than 20 years and not having tertiary level qualifications independently increased the likelihood of being an active smoker. Knowledge of the adverse effects of smoking was generally good with a mean total score of 8.18 out of 10 but there were differences amongst the non-smokers, passive smokers, light smokers and active smokers (P = 0.012).
CONCLUSION: While the prevalence of active smoking among pregnant women is low in Singapore compared to other countries, this study substantiated the unreliability of self-reporting of smoking status in the pregnant population which could complicate referral to smoking cessation programmes. The lower awareness of the harms of smoking during pregnancy among smokers highlights a potential area for improvement.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Well-being of the Singapore Elderly (WiSE) study was a comprehensive single phase, cross-sectional survey. Stage 1 Geriatric Mental State-Automated Geriatric Examination for Computer Assisted Taxonomy (GMS-AGECAT) depression syndrome was used for this analysis. Association of depression and subsyndromal depression with sociodemographic characteristics, social support as well as comorbidity with chronic physical illnesses and quality of life was assessed.
RESULTS: The prevalence of GMS-AGECAT depression and subsyndromal depression was 3.7% and 13.4%, respectively. The odds of depression were significantly higher among those aged 75 to 84 (2.1) as compared to those aged 60 to 74 years and in those who had a history of depression diagnosis by a doctor (4.1). The odds of depression were higher among those of Indian and Malay ethnicities (5.2 and 3.2 times, respectively) as compared to those of Chinese ethnicity. Those with depression and subsyndromal depression were associated with more disability, poorer life satisfaction, and medical comorbidities.
CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that the prevalence of depression seems to have decreased as compared to a decade ago wherein the prevalence of depression was estimated to be 5.5%. This positive trend can be ascribed to concerted efforts across various disciplines and sectors, which need to be continually strengthened, monitored and evaluated.