Objectives: This study investigated the relationship between coping skills and
psychosocial adjustments among parents of children with LD.
Method: A
cross-sectional study with a convenience sampling method was applied to a total
of 87 parents of children with LD from four non-government community
rehabilitation centers. They were measured using a validated Malay version of
the Family Crisis Oriented Personal Evaluation Scale (F-COPES) for coping
skills. The Modified Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale-Self-Report
(PAIS-SR) was used to measure parents’ psychosocial adjustments.
Results: A
Spearman’s rho showed a correlation between total coping skills and
psychosocial adjustments scores among parents (rs= -0.43, p
Introduction: Dyslexia, which is a learning disability that affects many aspects of children’s development, has a prevalence of 5 – 17%, worldwide. There are many negative perceptions towards children with dyslexia, and one of it is when there is lack of teachers’ knowledge about this problem. Aim: The objective of this study is to develop and discuss on a newly developed module on dyslexia, i.e. Dyslexia Health Education Module (DHEM) for preschool teachers, Method: This module is developed using the ADDIE model (A-Analysis, D-De- sign, D-Develop, I- Implement, E-Evaluate). The content of DHEM consists of general information for pre-school teachers about dyslexia, identification and intervention for dyslexia among children as well as its mental health implications. Results: The newly developed module was found to have a good content validity with a score of 0.7 when evaluated by eight expert panels from respective fields. The Cronbach alpha’s value for reliability test was 0.90. These findings suggest that this module is good, reliable and applicable. Discussion: It is hoped that with the development of DHEM, this would increase teachers’ knowledge on dyslexia among children in Malaysia, especially in recognizing at-risk children and consequently may lead to early intervention in managing the problem. This study also suggests that future longitudinal studies should be carried out using this module to ensure its effectiveness in the long run.
Children with dyslexia are commonly associated with gross motor difficulties. However, this non-literacy symptom is often overlooked as an important feature of dyslexia. Therefore, the aims of this study were to determine gross motor skills status among children with dyslexia and to compare the gross motor skills between younger and older children. A cross-sectional study was conducted on children with dyslexia from government schools and Dyslexia Association Malaysia. The participants were divided into two groups, namely younger (4 to 10 years) and older children (11 to 17 years old), and were recruited randomly. The gross motor skills were measured using the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, Second Edition (BOT-2) (subtests: Body Coordination, and, Strength and Agility) and the Movement Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (MABC-2) (subtest: Aiming and Catching). Standard scores and percentile rankings were used for statistical analysis. A total of 82 children with dyslexia were recruited for this study, consisted of younger (n = 57) and older groups of children (n = 25). The younger children were found to have a significantly lower performance in gross motor skills in Body Coordination (Mdn = 48, IQR = 26-63), compared to the older children, (Mdn = 54, IQR = 30-77), with a small effect size (r = -.25). There were no significant different for other findings. The older children were found to demonstrate the highest level of gross motor skills. This study may suggest the need for an early intervention program for young age children with dyslexia. Future studies that assess gross motor skills using longitudinal design are recommended to investigate the changes in gross motor performance over time.
Diabetes is often associated with dysfunction in activities of daily living (ADL), especially among older adults. Hospitalisation of older adults is often followed by decline in functional status affecting their quality of life and well-being after discharge. The objective of this study was to determine the functional independence in carrying out basic activities of daily living, its relationship with quality of life, and the factors influencing the quality of life in hospitalised older adults with diabetes. This cross sectional study was carried out on 104 diabetic patients (mean age: 67.5 ± 9.2 years) who were receiving in-patient treatment. Face-to-face interviews were carried out to determine functional independence using Modified Barthel Index (MBI) as well as quality of life using the World Health Organization’s Quality of Life instrument (WHOQOL-BREF). Results showed that only 37.5% (n = 39) respondents were catergorised as being fully-independent. Among the domains in MBI, using the stairs recorded the lowest score followed by mobility. The physical domain in quality of life also recorded the lowest score compared to other domains of quality of life. There were significant (p < 0.05), positive correlations between the overall MBI scores and all domains of quality of life; physical (rs = 0.70), psychology (rs = 0.50), social (rs = 0.33) and environmental (rs = 0.25). Hierachical multiple regression analysis showed MBI scores had significant influence on all domains of quality of life, with the largest influence on the physical domain i.e. 36% [F(1, 92) = 82.14, p < 0.01, R2 = .36]. As a conclusion, hospitalisation reduces the functional independence in carrying out basic activities of daily living as well as the physical aspect of quality life in older adults with diabetes. Therefore, it is important to provide rehabilitation in activities of daily living while the elderly diabetics while undergoing in-patient treatment in order to maintain quality of life after discharge.
Introduction: Teachers play a vital role in identifying students with dyslexia. The acquisition of this knowledge will help teachers to classify students who are at risk of dyslexia. The objective of this study is to identify the level of teachers’ knowledge about dyslexia that comprises of its general knowledge, diagnosis, symptoms and treatments. A cross sectional study was done upon 138 preschool teachers. This research was conducted by using ‘Knowledge and Beliefs about Developmental Dyslexia’ questionnaire, which consists of 36 items with 3 Likert scale questions. Findings revealed that the level of general knowledge possessed by the pre-school teachers was relatively different based on the construct even though they have respectively received the Diploma in Early Childhood Education. On the same hand, most of the respondents were found to be having higher understanding on the general knowledge about dyslexia compared to their understanding on the symptoms, diagnosis and the treatments.
Inappropriate responses towards sensory input received from the environment, also known as sensory processing difficulties (SPD) may affect daily living activities of the children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Sensory Processing Measure Home Form (SPM Home Form) as a parent report measure for SPD is available in English and other foreign languages. To enhance the applicability and meaningfulness of SPM Home Form for the Malay speaking population, a study that focuses on translating, adapting, and validating the SPM Home Form into the Malay language was conducted. The development of the Malay version of the SPM Home Form (SPM-MV Home Form) involved three steps: 1) Item evaluation, 2) Forward and backward translation, and 3) Expert review and content validity. The process of translation and adaptation of the form was performed according to standard guidelines. No item was excluded from the original SPM Home Form as all the items were considered by the expert panel as appropriate and relevance to evaluate the activity and social participation among children in Malaysia. Content validity as measured by 10 experts in occupational therapy is high. The mean of sub-scales I-CVI is between 0.96 and 1.00. The total S-CVI of the form is 0.95 with sub-scales S-CVI range between 0.82 and 1.00. Cronbach’s alpha for internal consistency was reported at 0.80 and ICC for test-retest reliability ranged from 0.80 to 0.97. The SPM-MV Home Form has high potential to be used for assessing SPD among children ages 5-12 years in Malaysia.
Tahfiz education has been well accepted by Muslims in Malaysia. Memorizing the Quran through rote learning can assist in improving the brain ability to process, store information and build memory. In addition, dietary intakes were reported to contribute in the process of memorizing the Quran and to increase the levels of intelligence (IQ) among huffaz students. This cross-sectional study was conducted to measure and to determine the correlation between IQ and dietary intake as well as between IQ and the level of trace elements among students in selected tahfiz schools and non-tahfiz school in Selangor. Questionnaires were used to obtain demographic data. Dietary intake was assessed via 3 days dietary record. Levels of trace elements in the nail samples were analyzed by using ICP-MS. Test for intelligence using WASI-II was conducted to measure the students’ IQ. The results showed that there was a moderate positive correlation between IQ and carbohydrate (r = 0.425, p < 0.001, a weak positive correlation between IQ and energy (r = 0.260, p < 0.05), vitamin B6 (r = 0.189, p < 0.05), vitamin B12 (r = 0.207, p < 0.05) and vitamin C (r = 0.211, p < 0.05). The levels of trace elements in nail samples showed no correlation with IQ, whereas there were moderate positive correlations between IQ and dietary zinc (r = 0.375, p < 0.001) as well as between IQ and dietary iron (r = 0.303, p < 0.001). There was also a moderate positive correlation between IQ and the level of memorization (r = 0.375, p < 0.001). The results of stepwise multiple linear regression showed that al-Quran memorization influence the level of IQ by 20 %. As a conclusion, dietary intake of certain nutrients including energy, vitamins and selected trace elements can potentially improve memorization activities and also IQ.
Involvement of informal carer in post-stroke care is important to prevent development of secondary complications particularly among stroke survivors with severe disability. However, to date, evidence on the benefit of stroke care training and involving carer to assist in the care for this group of stroke survivors is still limited. In this study, we evaluated the outcome of a carer-assisted care program for stroke survivors with severe disability who live at home. Sixteen stroke survivors with severe disability and 16 primary carers participated in this pre-test post-test intervention study. Carers were trained using a stroke care module which was developed by a group of multidisciplinary researchers from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, prior to implementing the daily care for 8 weeks. Outcome of care on stroke survivors was assessed in term of change in disability level and quality of life using Modified Barthel Index (MBI) and EuroQol health-state measure (EQ-5D and EQ-VAS), respectively. While outcome of stroke care training on carer was determined using Modified
Caregiver Strain Index (MCSI). Significant improvement is shown in the stroke survivors’ EQ-VAS component of EuroQol health state measure (average increase by 12%, t = 2.86, p = 0.01) following the care. Although not statistically significant (t = 0.97; p = 0.35), the mean score of MCSI reduced by 14%. No significant change was found in the MBI of the stroke survivors at completion of the program. Carer-assisted care is useful in improving quality of life of stroke survivors and can potentially reduce stress level among carers. Larger study may assist in establishing these preliminary findings.
Sekolah tahfiz merupakan institusi yang mengkhususkan pendidikan kepada pelajar yang boleh menghafaz serta mengingati keseluruhan al-Quran. Aktiviti menghafaz al-Quran dengan teknik pengucapan berulang kali akan membantu meningkatkan keupayaan otak untuk memproses, mengingati maklumat dan membina memori. Kehadiran logam berat akan memberi kesan kepada sistem saraf serta mengganggu fungsi sistem saraf pusat dan periferi di mana akan seterusnya menyebabkan berlakunya kecelaan fungsi mental dan kognitif. Keupayaan untuk belajar, mengingati atau menghafaz, penggunaan bahasa dan untuk memahami sesuatu akan terganggu serta mengurangkan IQ dan perhatian. Kajian keratan rentas telah dilakukan bagi mengukur dan mengenal pasti hubungan di antara tahap logam berat, hafazan al-Quran dan tahap kecerdasan (IQ) dalam kalangan pelajar di sekolah tahfiz berbanding sekolah bukan tahfiz terpilih di Selangor. Kepekatan logam berat ditentukan melalui analisa sampel kuku dan rambut pelajar dengan menggunakan Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Ujian kecerdasan Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Edisi Kedua (WASI-II) digunakan untuk mengukur IQ pelajar. Borang soal selidik yang digunakan untuk mengumpulkan data demografik dianalisa menggunakan SPSS versi 23.0. Berdasarkan ujian korelasi Pearson yang dilakukan, terdapat korelasi negatif yang sangat lemah tetapi signifikan antara logam mangan dalam sampel rambut dengan tahap hafazan al-Quran (r = -0.178, p = 0.017). Selain itu, terdapat korelasi positif yang lemah tetapi signifikan antara IQ dengan tahap hafazan al-Quran (r = 0.375, p = < 0.001). Kesimpulannya, semakin tinggi kepekatan logam mangan akan menyebabkan penurunan tahap hafazan al-Quran serta apabila semakin tinggi tahap hafazan al-Quran akan menyebabkan tahap kecerdasan (IQ) juga semakin meningkat.