Introduction: Abdominal obesity and inflammation are two independent risk factors for cardiovascular disease. However, the inter-relationship between these two factors among Malay population is fragmented. The purpose of this study is to determine the association between waist circumference as a measure of abdominal obesity and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein as an indicator of inflammation status among Malay obese adults in Kuantan, Pahang. Materials and Methods: Ninety-three apparently healthy obese adults (BMI between 27.5 and 39.9 kg/m2 ) aged between 20 to 62 years old were recruited in this study (68% men and 32% women). Circumference tape was used to measure the waist circumference and fasting venous blood was obtained to determine the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level. Results: On average, the waist circumference of obese men and women was 103 cm (SD = 8.7) and 94 cm (SD = 7.0), respectively. The median (IQR) of the hs-CRP level of the study participant was 3.80 mg/L (1.5, 10.1). The Kendall’s Tau correlation reveals that there is a significant positive linear correlation between waist circumference and hs -CRP level in obese men (r (30) = 0.355, p = 0.006) and women (r (63) = 0.177, p = 0.043). Conclusion: There is a significant inter-relationship between waist circumference and hs-CRP level among apparently healthy obese adults in Kuantan, Pahang. This study suggests that assessment of hs-CRP level is beneficial to predict the risk for future cardiovascular disease event and facilitate the management of obesity in this population. A prospective clinical study is recommended to confirm the findings.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) causes 70% of all death globally. The prevalence of CKD has shown an increasing trend for the past 20 years in Malaysia. Thus, determining the knowledge and awareness of CKD among healthcare students in preparing them to be a good healthcare provider in the future is important. This study aimed to determine the association between knowledge and awareness about CKD among International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) undergraduate students. A crosssectional study was conducted among 108 students using simple random sampling method. The questionnaire was given to the class representative to be self-administered to interested students. It had close-ended questions consisting of Part A to Part D. The scoring given for correctly answered items was one and the total score for Part C was 7 marks. Most of the students were female (70.4%). The mean knowledge score of CKD was 3.65 (SD = 1.12) with nearly half of the students (43.5%) classified as having poor knowledge. Most respondents were aware about CKD (99.1%) and have heard about it from medical personnel (48.1%) and the Internet (25.9%). Further analysis showed that only courses taken by the respondents were significantly associated with knowledge on CKD (p = 0.039). The level of knowledge among undergraduate students is still poor, yet they are aware about the existence of CKD and its aetiology. Therefore, the health sciences curriculum should emphasise on CKD management from a multidisciplinary aspect of care. It is recommended to conduct similar research among different student populations to create awareness and obtain important baseline findings.