All road users are at risk of being involved in motor vehicle crashes (MVCs). Approximately 52.2% of all fatalities and 70.9% of all casualties related to MVCs in Kelantan were motorcycle riders and pilliori riders. A number of risk factors have been established in the relationship between traffic accidents and road-user, the vehicle as well as road and traffic conditions. The study was a cross-sectional study to identify factors associated with the severity of injury sustained by motorcyclist accident patients admitted to the Emergency Department, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM), assessed through face to face interview based questionnaire and, at the same time the severity of injury was determined through Revised Trauma Score. Data analysis was done using simple and multiple logistic regressions. The study revealed that age more than 5O years, no motorcycle license, no stressful condition and crashes on two·way road showed higher risk of sustaining a more severe injury. However, sleep time of six to less than nine hours per day, crash on a straight roadway and wet road surface were associated with less severe injury. We recommend that public education, licensing and enforcement on accident prevention and safety riding should be given a priority.
Background: School children are at great risk of nutrition-related chronic diseases. Their eating pattern in
school is influenced by the availability of food served within the school environment. The purpose of this
paper was to determine the effectiveness of a canteen-based food nutrition intervention, designed according
to the theory of planned behaviour, on the knowledge, perception and choices of healthy food among primary
schoolchildren.
Methods: This was a prospective intervention study using a two-group design. Six school canteens from the
ninety-eight primary schools were randomly allocated to an intervention group or a control group. All the
food handlers in the intervention group were given a twelve-week training course in food nutrition. On the
completion of the course, 293 Standard Six students from these schools, were interviewed with a nutritional
questionnaire on food in their school canteens. The training programme for the intervention group and the
questionnaire for the students were developed and validated for the study, and a power calculation made for
the sample size of students.
Results: The students in both groups were homogeneous in gender and body mass. The mean body mass
index (BMI) was 19.26 (SD: 0.38) and 19.47 (SD: 0.39) for the intervention and the control group respectively.
There were more schoolchildren in the intervention group who purchased foods in school canteens (p 0.0036)
of milk and milk products (p 0.034), and white rice (p
Treating tuberculosis (TB) remains a public health challenge in many developing countries. Treatment success rate in Malaysia is on declining pattern from 78% in 2000 to 48% in 2006. This study will determine factors associated with unsuccessful treatment among pulmonary TB patients. A retrospective cohort study was conducted on notified and treated pulmonary TB cases in Kota Bharu district Kelantan between January 2006 and December 2007. To identify the associated factors, univariate comparison and multiple logistic regressions were performed. Among the 765 patients identified, 472 (61.7%) cases fulfilled the criteria and were analyzed. There were 316 males and 156 females and their mean (SD) age was 45 (17.9) years. In univariable analysis, age, gender, educational level, employment status, family incomes as well as coexistence of extra-pulmonary TB, smoking, co-morbid disease (diabetes mellitus), HIV status, sputum cultures, chest X-ray findings and duration of delay for diagnosis were all found to have significant relationship with unsuccessful pulmonary TB treatment outcome. After adjusted for the confounders, the significant predictors for unsuccessful tuberculosis treatment were age (Adj. OR 1.09; 95% CI: 1.03-1.15), HIV positive (Adj. OR 23.04; 95% CI: 3.01-176.22) and advanced chest X-ray findings (Adj. OR 6.51; 95% CI: 1.50-28.23). A large proportion of unsuccessfully treated cases could be identified at entry
by screening for age, chest X-rays and HIV status and specially targeted measures could be taken. The use of directly observed treatment short-course (DOTS) should be given more focus and priority among this high risk group of patients.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of Food Nutrition Intervention (FNI) for
improving food handlers’ knowledge and serving of competitive food in the primary school
canteens. We randomized 16 out of 98 primary schools into intervention and control groups
using a multistage sampling method. The training programme for the intervention group and
questionnaires for evaluating knowledge were developed. On-site observations were done to
document all competitive foods served in school canteens. Out of the 79 food handlers who
participated in this study, 33 (41.8%) were in the intervention group and 46 (58.2%) were
in the control group. The majority of food handlers were female, Malay, had education at
middle levels, and at middle-aged. The commonest food category served was carbohydrate
(75%), high-fat foods (34.4%) and food not recommended for sale (34.4%). Knowledge about
healthy food choice in the intervention group at 6 weeks and 12 weeks post intervention were
significantly higher than at baseline. The intervention group also demonstrated significantly
better knowledge composite score at 6 weeks and 12 weeks following intervention. These
improvements were also observed between intervention and control regardless of time. By
six weeks, the number of vegetable menu served significantly increased in the intervention
(p=0.040) and by 12 weeks, the number of milk and milk products served also significantly
increased (p=0.015) as compared to the control group. Thus, the provision of FNI was
associated with significantly improved healthy food knowledge amongst food handlers, the
serving of vegetables and milk or milk products in school canteens.