Background: Peer assessment has been shown to complement both formative and summative evaluations in education and used in some medical programmes. The study was aimed to find correlation between group work peer assessment score and final examination mark among four batches of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) first year MBBS students.
Method: A set of four questions was constructed and tested to assess students’ overall role in their group research project. The difference in distribution according to years was tested by using one-way ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis, depending on the data distribution. Pearson correlation coefficient test was done to test the linear association between peer score and final examination mark. Partial correlation test was used to adjust the correlation for four academic years.
Results: From the analysed data of 502 students, there was moderate, significant positive correlation (0.366) between peer assessment score and the final examination mark (P < 0.001). Adjustment to the academic years resulted in correlation coefficient of 0.371.
Conclusion: The results provide an important insight on the influence of peers’ perception in predicting the medical student academic performance.
Background: With increasing number of dengue cases in Malaysia, it’s of utmost importance that immediate
action be taken to limit the epidemic. Since dengue control is a behavioral problem, the knowledge,
attitude and practice in population needs to be studied in order to control the disease. Hence, the aim of
this study is to assess knowledge, attitude and practice regarding dengue and its associated factors among
adult residents of Felda Sungai Panching Timur (SPT), Kuantan, Pahang, 2014.
Method: A cross sectional
study was carried out involving 265 adult respondents. A face to face interview questionnaire which was
divided into 2 parts (Part A: Sociodemoghraphic; Part B: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice) was used. Data
was analyzed using descriptive statistics, simple and multiple logistic regression.
Results: 53.2% of the
respondents had good knowledge about dengue and it was found that the main source of information from
mass media (76.6%). However, only 43.4% were found to have good attitude towards dengue. Multiple
Logistic Regression analysis showed there was no association between sociodemographic characteristics with
the level of knowledge and attitude towards dengue. There was also no association found between
knowledge of dengue and the attitude of the respondents towards dengue. Descriptive analysis on the
practice of dengue showed majority of the respondents who had possible breeding site for Aedes mosquitos
(water container, drains/gutter roof/flower pots/tires) in their compound practiced good habit in
preventing the Aedes mosquitoes from breed.
Conclusion: Although knowledge and practice towards dengue
is good, their attitude require improvement.
Introduction: Melioidosis, an infection caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei is endemic in South East Asia and Northern Australia. It can affect many organs in the body such as lung, liver, spleen, bone, prostate, brain and soft tissues. Objective: This study aims to detect the presence of prostatic abscess in patients with a positive blood culture for Burkholderia pseudomallei with computed tomography (CT) of the abdomen and pelvis and to correlate it with the clinical presentation. Materials and Methods: This is a prospective observational study conducted in all melioidosis patients who had CT scan of the abdomen and pelvis. The location and size of any focal lesions seen on CT were recorded. Clinical data such as fever and urinary symptoms were also recorded. Results: 15 patients had CT scan of the abdomen and pelvis. Five patients were diagnosed to have prostatic abscess. Out of the five patients, only two had urinary symptoms. The other three had prolonged high grade fever without any urinary symptoms. Conclusions: Melioidosis prostatic abscess is not uncommon in patients with positive blood culture of Burkholderia Pseudomallei (33% in this series). Most patients do not present with any urinary symptoms.
Introduction: Hypertension is one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular disease in Malaysia. The prevalence of hypertension nearly doubled over a ten-year period (1986 – 1996). This has resulted in a significant rise in its attendant cost. We aim to review the institutional anti-hypertensive use, the cost incurred and the implications on management in our local setting. Materials and Methods: A retrospective review of the annual cost (2006) of anti-hypertensive medications was undertaken at the Department of Pharmacy, Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, a 600-bed major regional hospital on the east-coast of Malaysia. The total number of prescriptions given out and the total cost per drug is then factored to give the annual cost per drug per person in a percentage of the total annual expenditure.Results: The majority of patients were on either 2 (46.5%) or 3 (25.9%) anti-hypertensives. The most frequently prescribed medications were ACE Inhibitors (33.45%), Calcium channel blockers (29.63%), diuretics (16.67%) and β-blockers (13.64%). In terms of cost however, the Calcium channel blockers constituted the greatest percentage of the annual anti-hypertensive budget (63.67%) compared to ACE Inhibitors at just 20.04% of the annual expenditure. The least costly group of drugs is the diuretic making up 16.67% of the total annual prescriptions but only constituting 1.23% of the annual cost. Conclusion: The majority of patients were on ACE Inhibitors and/or Calcium channel blockers. This has huge monetary implications as they represent a large proportion of the annual antihypertensive allocation. There may be a need to reverse the trend in the developing world due to cost restrictions.
Hypertension is the most prevalent risk factor of cardiovascular diseases in Malaysia. 17.3% of hypertension cases in Malaysia is attributed to adults aged 18 to 39 years. Psychosocial distress is a possible risk factor for elevated blood pressure in young adults, and cortisol could be the mediating factor. The aim of this study is to evaluate the mediating role of cortisol in hypertension and psychosocial distress in young adults. Methods and materials:A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in 240 young adults aged 18 to 45 years. The body mass index, waist circumference and blood pressure parameters were recorded. Serum cortisol, creatinine, fasting blood glucose and lipid profile were measured following acute mental stress test. Psychosocial distress was assessed using the DASS-21 questionnaire. Results:Mean (standard deviation) values for SBP, DBP, MAP were 126.0(16.3), 84.1(12.2) and 98.1(13.1) mmHg respectively. Anxiety was significantly associated with systolic blood pressure (β=0.644), diastolic blood pressure (β=0.454) and mean arterial pressure (β=0.516) after adjusting for sex, age and cortisol. However, it was not mediated by cortisol. Depression and stress were not found to have any effect on blood pressure of the young adults studied. Conclusion:The data suggest that there is no elevated risk for psychosocial distress and hypertension that cortisol poses in young adults.