OBJECTIVE: To explore the practitioners' perspectives of reflexology in Malaysia.
METHODS: Data was collected using face-to-face semi-structured interviews with practitioners in Malaysia. The interviews were conducted in the Malay language and recorded. Interview conversations were translated and transcribed verbatim. Responses relating to different themes were identified in each of the interviews and a coding frame was developed. For each theme, the relevant data enabled a description of the range of views and experiences. Data collection and analysis were conducted concurrently and recruitment was stopped when saturation had been reached. All respondents gave written consent for their participation.
RESULTS: The findings show that reflexology treatment nowadays has been accepted as one of the ways to maintain general health. Practitioners believe that reflexology is able to detect some problems in to the body, which can make patients aware of a health condition and seek further treatment. However, if reflexology is not performed correctly, it may cause negative effects such as pain and bruises. Some practitioners voiced concern that illegal activities are taking place in unethical reflexology centers.
CONCLUSIONS: Empowering the practitioner as a professional would help gain the public's trust and confidence in their treatment. Strict enforcement of regulation related to illegal conduct in reflexology centers will improve people's perception of the practice.
METHODS: A review and comparison of mHealth apps in pediatric care found in Google's Play Store (Android system) and Apple's App Store (iOS system) were performed. For the structured review of the available literature, Google Scholar, PubMed, IEEE Xplore Digital Library, and Science Direct online databases were used for the literature search. The assessment criteria used for comparison included requirement for Internet connection, size of application, information on disease, diagnostic tools, medical calculator, information on disease treatments, dosage recommendations, and drug interaction checker.
RESULTS: Fifty mHealth apps for general pediatric care and 8 mHealth apps for specific pediatric diseases were discussed in the literature. Of the 90 mHealth apps we reviewed, 27 that fulfilled the study criteria were selected for quality assessment. Medscape, Skyscape, and iGuideline scored the highest (score=7), while PediaBP scored the lowest (score=3).
CONCLUSIONS: Medscape, Skyscape, and iGuideline are the most comprehensive mHealth apps for HCPs as quick references for pediatric care. More studies about mHealth apps in pediatric care are warranted to ensure the quality and reliability of mHealth apps.
METHODS: A review and comparison of mHealth apps for caring of older people available in Google's Play Store (Android system) and Apple's App Store (iOS system) were performed. Systematic review of previous relevant literature were conducted. The assessment criteria used for comparison were requirement for Internet connection, information of disease, size of app, diagnostics and assessment tools, medical calculator, dosage recommendations and indications, clinical updates, drugs interaction checker, and information on disease management.
RESULTS: Twenty-five mHealth apps were assessed. Medscape and Skyscape Medical Library are the most comprehensive mHealth apps for general drug information, medical references, clinical score, and medical calculator. Alzheimer's Disease Pocketcard and Confusion: Delirium & Dementia: A Bedside Guide apps are recommended for clinical assessment, diagnosis, drug information, and management of geriatric patients with Alzheimer disease, delirium, and dementia.
CONCLUSIONS: More studies about mHealth apps for caring of older people are warranted to ensure the quality and reliability of the mHealth apps.
METHOD: A review and comparison of mobile apps available in Google's Play Store (Android system) and Apple's App Store (iOS system) were performed. The comparison was based on the availability of options, especially DoReADI functionalities. The assessment criteria were as follows: requirement for an Internet connection, subscription fee charged, size of app, dose recommendation, drug indication, dose calculator, drug picture, dose adjustment, pregnancy safety, interaction checker, interaction classification, clinical teaching advice, contraindicated drug, black box warning, adverse effect, contraindication or precaution, as well as toxicology and pharmacology information.
RESULTS: Eight mobile medical apps were included and used to compare their features and functionalities. The 4 apps that scored the highest (14/17 points) are: Lexicomp®, Epocrates®, Micromedex®, and Drugs.com ®. Lexicomp and Micromedex do not provide the image of the drug and have an access subscription fee. Epocrates does not provide interaction classification and clinical teaching advice, and occupies a large space in the memory to be installed. Meanwhile, My Blue Book® scored the lowest (9/17 points) because certain features such as toxicology information, drug interaction, clinical teaching advice, contraindicated drug, and black box warning were not included.
CONCLUSION: Based on the features assessment criteria of each mobile medical application, Lexicomp, Epocrates, Micromedex, and Drugs.com are the apps that scored the highest. Epocrates and Micromedex are useful for checking drug interactions. In addition, some of the apps have additional features for the DoReADI criteria, for example, dose calculator and interaction classification.
METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Studies assessing sodium intake in adults aged 18 years and above with reported elevated blood pressure will be included. Five electronic databases (MEDLINE, Embase, Global Health, WoS and Cochrane CENTRAL) will be systematically searched from inception to March 2021. Also, a manual search of bibliographies and grey literature will be conducted. Two reviewers will screen the records independently for eligibility. One reviewer will extract all data, and two others will review the extracted data for accuracy. The methodological quality of included studies will be evaluated based on three scoring systems: (1) National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute for interventional studies; (2) Biomarker-based Cross-sectional Studies for biomarker-based observational studies and (3) European Micronutrient Recommendation Aligned Network of Excellence for validation studies of dietary self-report instruments.
ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: As the proposed systematic review will collect and analyse secondary data associated with individuals, there will be no ethical approval requirement. Findings will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed journal or presented at a conference.
PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020176137.
Materials and Methods: The study used a qualitative exploratory design, comprising 12 in-depth interviews. A semi-structured topic guide was used to explore all relevant aspects of the topic, which were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim. All the interviews were conducted in a few beauty salons in purposively selected city areas in the state of Kedah, Malaysia.
Results: Of the 12 patients, seven (58%) reported a positive experience of facial candling treatment, with improvement in the condition of their allergic rhinitis. Specific themes about the experience of facial candling treatment that were identified within the transcript data included knowledge about facial candling, options for disease treatment, effectiveness of facial candling, sources of information, comparison, application of treatment, treatment budget, and safety. The major strength lies in the fact that reasons for using facial candling were uncovered from the perspectives of people with allergic rhinitis through the in-depth interviews.
Conclusions: The motives of these participants for using facial candling are mainly due to cultural influence and its low cost of treatment. There were mixed responses from the participants about the usefulness of facial candling. Most of the respondents had not assessed the safety of prolonged use of facial candling and regarded it as a safe procedure as this has been practiced for generations.
OBJECTIVE: This systematic review aimed to assess, in middle- and older-aged people, the relationship between dietary sodium intake and cognitive outcomes including cognitive function, risk of cognitive decline, or dementia.
METHODS: Six databases (PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Psych info, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library) were searched from inception to 1 March 2020. Data extraction included information on study design, population characteristics, sodium reduction strategy (trials) or assessment of dietary sodium intake (observational studies), measurement of cognitive function or dementia, and summary of main results. Risk-of-bias assessments were performed using the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) assessment tool.
RESULTS: Fifteen studies met the inclusion criteria including one clinical trial, six cohorts, and eight cross-sectional studies. Studies reported mixed associations between sodium levels and cognition. Results from the only clinical trial showed that a lower sodium intake was associated with improved cognition over six months. In analysis restricted to only high-quality studies, three out of four studies found that higher sodium intake was associated with impaired cognitive function.
CONCLUSION: There is some evidence that high salt intake is associated with poor cognition. However, findings are mixed, likely due to poor methodological quality, and heterogeneous dietary, analytical, and cognitive assessment methods and design of the studies. Reduced sodium intake may be a potential target for intervention. High quality prospective studies and clinical trials are needed.
Purpose: This study aimed to assess pharmacy students' knowledge and attitudes towards geriatric pharmacy education and older patients to determine their preparation in delivering appropriate medical care to the geriatric population.
Methods: Self-administered questionnaires were distributed among pharmacy students in different Malaysian universities. The survey included several sections to assess multiple aspects such as sociodemographic information, assessment of knowledge using a validated 28-item Geriatric Knowledge Assessment Scale (GKAS), and attitudes towards geriatrics education.
Results: The response rate was around 70% of the respondents. The mean (± standard deviation) age of the cohort was 22.28 (±1.12) years. Despite around 78% of pharmacy students claiming that their knowledge of geriatric care is adequate, their GKAS score showed that only around 20% have high geriatric knowledge. Around 80% of them showed a positive attitude on the importance of taking courses focused on geriatric care and demonstrated interest to further knowledge and training in geriatric care. However, more than half of the students were uncertain of their answers towards their attitudes regarding older patients.
Conclusion: Given the growing role of pharmacists in the ageing population, this study highlights the importance of geriatric care education among potential pharmacists. Therefore, we urge the need to improve/develop geriatrics education and training into the pharmacy curriculum to ensure sufficient preparation for actual practice after graduation.
OBJECTIVE: This systematic review aimed to review epidemiological reports to determine the prevalence of MCI and its associated risk factors in LMICs.
METHODS: Medline, Embase, and PsycINFO were searched from inception until November 2019. Eligible articles reported on MCI in population or community-based studies from LMICs and were included as long as MCI was clearly defined.
RESULTS: 5,568 articles were screened, and 78 retained. In total, n = 23 different LMICs were represented; mostly from China (n = 55 studies). Few studies were from countries defined as lower-middle income (n = 14), low income (n = 4), or from population representative samples (n = 4). There was large heterogeneity in how MCI was diagnosed; with Petersen criteria the most commonly applied (n = 26). Prevalence of amnesic MCI (aMCI) (Petersen criteria) ranged from 0.6%to 22.3%. Similar variability existed across studies using the International Working Group Criteria for aMCI (range 4.5%to 18.3%) and all-MCI (range 6.1%to 30.4%). Risk of MCI was associated with demographic (e.g., age), health (e.g., cardio-metabolic disease), and lifestyle (e.g., social isolation, smoking, diet and physical activity) factors.
CONCLUSION: Outside of China, few MCI studies have been conducted in LMIC settings. There is an urgent need for population representative epidemiological studies to determine MCI prevalence in LMICs. MCI diagnostic methodology also needs to be standardized. This will allow for cross-study comparison and future resource planning.
METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Primary outcomes focus on feasibility measures of recruitment, retention, implementation and acceptability of the intervention. Secondary outcomes will include blood pressure, cognitive function, body composition and physical function (including muscle strength and gait speed). Adherence to the dietary intervention will be assessed through collection of biological samples, 24-hour recall and Food Frequency Questionnaire. A subgroup of participants will also complete postintervention focus groups to further explore the feasibility considerations of executing a larger trial, the ability of these individuals to make dietary changes and the barriers and facilitators associated with implementing these changes.
ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval has been obtained from Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee and Medical Research and Ethics Committee of Malaysia. Results of the study will be disseminated via peer-reviewed publications and presentations at national and international conferences.ISRCTN47562685; Pre-results.