Methods: We conducted a comparative cross-sectional study between tuberculosis cases and tuberculosis contacts among pediatric patients using the Tuberculosis Information System as a source population. All notified cases that fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in the study. Descriptive statistics, simple and multiple logistic regressions were used for data analysis.
Results: Of 5412 tuberculosis cases, 456 (8.4%) were pediatric patients with a mean age of 15.9 years. The majority had the pulmonary form of tuberculosis (78.1%) followed by the extrapulmonary (14.9%) and pulmonary form with concomitant extrapulmonary (7.0%) forms. Of all pulmonary tuberculosis cases, 64.9% were sputum smear-positive, and 35.1% were sputum smear-negative. Among 322 pediatric patients with tuberculosis, the majority were Malay (90.7%), 8.4% were illiterate, and 79.5% resided in non-urban areas. Of all cases, 2.8% were HIV-positive, and 14.6% were cigarette smokers. Older age, Malay ethnicity, female gender, non-urban residence, good education level, and cigarette smoking were the significant associated factors for tuberculosis disease among pediatric patients with an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 1.41 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.29-1.54; p < 0.001), 0.17 (95% CI: 0.07-0.44; p < 0.001), 1.88 (95% CI: 1.33-2.65; p < 0.001), 1.92 (95% CI: 1.33-2.79; p = 0.001), 0.20 (95% CI: 0.12-0.33; p < 0.001), and 3.35 (95% CI: 1.86-6.01; p < 0.001), respectively.
Conclusions: The study will assist practices of tuberculosis detection and control management in the local setting and may help other national tuberculosis programs to review their detection criteria with similar statistics.
Method: All serologically confirmed dengue patients in Kelantan, a northeastern state in Malaysia, registered in the eDengue system with an onset of disease from January 2016 to December 2018, were included in the study with the exclusion of duplicate entry. Using a generalized additive model, climate data collected from the Kota Bharu weather station (latitude 6°10'N, longitude 102°18'E) was analysed with dengue data.
Result: A cyclical pattern of dengue cases was observed with annual peaks coinciding with the intermonsoon period. Our analysis reveals that maximum temperature, mean temperature, rainfall, and wind speed have a significant nonlinear effect on dengue cases in Kelantan. Our model can explain approximately 8.2% of dengue incidence variabilities.
Conclusion: Weather variables affect nearly 10% of the dengue incidences in Northeast Malaysia, thereby making it a relevant variable to be included in a dengue early warning system. Interventions such as vector control activities targeting the intermonsoon period are recommended.
METHODS: This study incorporated data from the national dengue monitoring system (eDengue system). Confirmed dengue cases registered in Kelantan with disease onset between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2018 were included in the study. Yearly changes in dengue incidence were mapped by using ArcGIS. Hotspot analysis was performed using Getis-Ord Gi to track changes in the trends of dengue spatial clustering.
RESULTS: A total of 10 645 dengue cases were recorded in Kelantan between 2016 and 2018, with an average of 10 dengue cases reported daily (standard deviation, 11.02). Areas with persistently high dengue incidence were seen mainly in the coastal region for the 3-year period. However, the hotspots shifted over time with a gradual dispersion of hotspots to their adjacent districts.
CONCLUSIONS: A notable shift in the spatial patterns of dengue was observed. We were able to glimpse the shift of dengue from an urban to peri-urban disease with the possible effect of a state-wide population movement that affects dengue transmission.
OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence and severity of HAVS among tyre shop workers in Kelantan, Malaysia.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study involving 200 tyre shop workers from two districts in Kelantan was performed. Part one data were collected at the field using questionnaire, and hand-arm vibration was measured. Part two involved a set of hand clinical examinations. The workers were divided into high (≥5 m s-2 ) and low/moderate (<5 m s-2 ) exposure group according to their 8-hr time weighted average [A(8)] of vibration exposure. The differences between the two exposure group were then compared.
RESULTS: The prevalence of the vascular, neurological, and musculoskeletal symptoms was 12.5% (95% CI 10.16 to 14.84), 37.0% (95% CI 30.31 to 43.69), and 44.5% (95% CI 37.61 to 51.38) respectively. When divided according to their exposure statuses, there was a significant difference in the prevalence of HAVS for all three components of vascular, neurological, and musculoskeletal (22.68% vs 2.91%, 62.89% vs 12.62% and 50.52% and 38.83%) respectively. All the clinical examinations findings also significantly differed between the two groups with the high exposure group having a higher abnormal result.
CONCLUSION: Exposure to high A(8) of vibration exposure was associated with a higher prevalence of all three component of HAVS. There is a need for better control of vibration exposure in Malaysia.
METHODS: A case-control study was conducted involving smokers aged 18 years and older from health clinics in Bachok Kelantan, Malaysia. Data were collected via face-to-face interviews or telephone calls from 159 participants, randomly selected from outpatient TB records. Simple and multiple logistic regression, using R software, were used to identify the determinants of TB.
RESULTS: Most participants were male (59.1%) and had a secondary education (56.0%). Active smokers constituted 35.2% of the group, and the mean (SD) duration of exposure to smoking was 23.9 (16.47) and 18.4 (12.84) years for the case and control groups, respectively. Being an ex-smoker (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 6.17; 95% CI [1.55-28.32]; p = 0.013), weight loss (AOR 13.45; 95% CI [4.58-44.46]; p
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to develop and validate an observation checklist for assessing the hygiene and sanitation of food preparation areas in preschools.
METHODOLOGY: The study was conducted in Kota Bharu Kelantan from March 2021 to February 2022. The development of the observation checklist was conducted in four stages: (1) the construction of domains and items from the existing literature, (2) content validation by six experts (using the item-level content validity index (I-CVI) and the scale-level content validity index (S-CVI), (3) face validation by 10 experts (using the item-level face validity index (I-FVI) and the scale-level face validity index (S-FVI)), and (4) reliability analysis (using the intercorrelation coefficient (ICC)). Four assessors performed the reliability analysis at two preschools.
RESULTS: The initial draft of the checklist contained three domains and 57 items: building and facility (10 subdomains and 38 items), process control (four subdomains and 12 items), and food handlers (one subdomain and seven items). The I-CVI scores for building and facility, process control, and food handlers were 0.97, 1.00, and 1.00, respectively, indicating good relevancy of items. The S-CVI value was 1.0 for all domains, showing good relevance of the items. The I-FVI above 0.8 and S-FVI values above 0.9 for all domains imply that the participants easily understood the checklist. The ICC for each domain was 0.847 (95% CI 0.716-0.902) for the building facility and 1.0 for process control and food handler, and the ICC for the three domains combined was 0.848 (95% CI 0.772-0.904). The final validated checklist consists of three domains with 57 items.
CONCLUSION: The newly developed observation checklist is a valid and reliable tool for assessing the hygiene and sanitation of preschool food preparation areas.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study involving 200 tire shop workers from two districts in Kelantan was conducted. Data were collected at the field using Malay Translated HAVS questionnaire, and hand-arm vibration was measured. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to determine the associated factors.
RESULTS: The prevalence of vascular and neurological complications of HAVS among the tire shop workers was 12.5% (95% CI: 10.16, 14.84) and 37.0% (95% CI: 30.31, 43.69), respectively. From multiple logistic regression analysis, only A(8) of HAV exposure was significantly associated with the development of vascular complications and A(8) of HAV exposure, age. and body mass index were significantly associated with the development of neurological complications of HAVS.
CONCLUSION: This study has identified that HAVS is a significant problem among workers exposed to HAV in a warm environment. A(8) of HAV exposure is significantly associated with the development of both vascular and neurological complications. Therefore, there is a need for better control of vibration exposure in Malaysia.
Methods: This school-based, non-randomised controlled study was conducted among secondary school students with a total of 236 respondents. The KAPS score were assessed before and 1 month after using self-administered validated KAPS questionnaire on TB. Analysis was done using repeated measures ANOVA.
Results: The mean percentage score (SD) for baseline knowledge, attitude, practice and stigma score for the respondents were 54.0 (4.48), 65.6 (1.74), 70.0 (1.43) and 66.0 (6.88), respectively. There was a significant difference (P < 0.001) in the knowledge and stigma score for intervention group compared to control group, adjusted for gender, ethnicity and smoking status 4 weeks post-TB educational programme. However, with regards to attitude and practice score, there was no significant difference (P = 0.210 and P = 0.243, respectively).
Conclusion: TB education programme was effective in improving knowledge and stigma related to TB. This health education programme can be used as one of the strategies for the prevention and control of TB in schools.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2021 to November 2021 by recruiting 333 employers at healthcare facilities in Kelantan, Malaysia. The original draft of the Malay version of the questionnaire comprised 62 items constructed under two domains (perception and practice). A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to evaluate construct validity and internal consistency using R software.
RESULTS: The final model for the perception and practice domain of the questionnaire consisted of 13 factors and 56 items. The factor loadings for all items were above 0.6. The fit indices used for confirmatory factor analysis in the final model were as follows: χ2 = 2092.6 (P < 0.001), standardised root mean squared residual (SRMR) = 0.053, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.042, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.928 and Tucker Lewis index (TLI) = 0.920. The construct reliability for all factors was reliable, with Raykov's rho coefficients above 0.70.
CONCLUSION: The newly developed questionnaire demonstrated excellent psychometric properties and adequate validity and reliability, confirming that this instrument is reliable and valuable for evaluating employers' perceptions and practices towards workplace violence prevention at healthcare facilities.