Displaying all 11 publications

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  1. Amirah M.S., Farahiyah S.K., Sugathan, S., Ohn, Mar S.
    MyJurnal
    Background: A systematic review reported a high prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practice during pregnancy. Earlier Malaysian studies related to it were based on Malay predominant populations.

    Objectives: The study objectives were to determine prevalence, types, aims, and associated factors of CAM use during pregnancy and the postnatal period among women who gave birth in a Malaysian tertiary hospital.

    Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among women who were admitted to the postnatal wards of “Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Ipoh, Perak state, Malaysia” using a structured questionnaire, designed to collect data on the participants’ demography, details of CAM practice and their attitude towards its use.

    Results: The prevalence of CAM use among 134 respondents was 87.3%. The most commonly used method was naturopathy using abdominal hot stone application or massage as reported by 72% respondents. It was rated highly effective in improving circulation or recuperation by 90% of users. Herbal usage was reported by 36% and the commonest type was Indonesian traditional herbal medicine “Jamu”. The use of CAM was significantly low among Chinese respondents (P
  2. Venkataramani, P., Sadanandan, T., Jamshed, F., Sugathan, S., Sidhu, M.S.
    MyJurnal
    A teacher’s perspective about what makes an effective medical teacher is changing. Medical
    teachers are not data-banks of facts and experience, imparting knowledge passively. It was
    decided to see what our faculty (Malaysian and non-Malaysian) thought were attributes of an
    effective medical teacher.

    Methodology:
    This was a cross-sectional study in a private medical school in Malaysia. We obtained Ethics’
    Committee approval. The estimated sample size was 73. Faculty willing to participate after
    verbal informed consent were included. Thirty attributes were rated on a 5-point Likert scale.
    Attributes were grouped into four categories: “teaching-related”, “personal traits” “interaction
    with students”, and “teacher as a doctor”.

    Results:
    One hundred and four faculty completed the questionnaire (63.5% male, 36.5% female, 20.2%
    preclinical, 25% surgical, 25% medical, 10.6% public health-family medicine and 19.2% general
    studies lecturers).
    Top ranking attributes selected from the percentage of faculty who rated each strongly were
    “enabled to understand basic principles and enthusiastic” (77.9%), “made subject meaningful to
    practice”, and “encouraged students to participate” (76%), “ethical” (73.1%), “presented
    logically” (69.2%), “motivated students” (68.3%), “spoke loudly and clearly” (67.3%),
    “passionate” (65.4%), “showed concern for students” (64.4%), “no bias” (63.5%), “punctual”
    and “gave feedback”(61.5%).
    Overall ranking for grouped attributes in descending order was “personal traits”, “teachingrelated”,
    “interaction with students” and “teacher as a doctor”.

    Conclusions and take home message:
    Teachers in this study, did not rank knowledge among the top 10 attributes overall. Awareness of
    perspectives of teachers will help administrators to organize appropriate staff development
    activities.
  3. Than, M., Thwin, S.S., Wai, M.M., MPhil, T. Yesmin, F. Zaini, Jaafar, K.A.M., et al.
    MyJurnal
    Human nose can be found in many shapes and sizes. Racial, ethnic and environmental influences can result in different appearances of the nose. Nasal parameters such as nasal height, nasal width and nasal index were investigated in the Malay population, using convenient sampling methods. Study sample consisted of 80 young Malay adults (40 males, 40 females) aged 19-30 years. The mean + SD values of nasal height of Malay male and female were 52.2 + 5.3 and 50.4 + 9.7 respectively. The mean + SD values of nasal width of Malay male and female were 39.7 + 3.0 and 36.7 + 3.2 respectively. Mean nasal indices in male and female were 76.66 and 74.55 respectively. The predominant nose type in Malay was found to be of mesorrhine type (medium nose) in both male (67.5%) and female (70%). These findings were comparable with studies done in other Asian races such as Malaysian Indian, Chinese and other Indians. The findings of this study may contribute to satisfactory outcomes in cosmetic and reconstructive rhinoplastic surgery, anthropology, and forensic medicine in the Malay population.
  4. Wahinuddin S., Rashrina A.R., Muhammad Faiz M.S., Muhammad A.A., Abdullah A.C., Ong, P.S., et al.
    MyJurnal
    Objective. A hospital-based cross-sectional descriptive study documenting the common clinical manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in a tertiary rheumatology center in the state of Perak in Malaysia. Method. The 1997 American College of Rheumatology classification revised criteria and the 2012 Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinic criteria were used and all patients attending the rheumatology clinic at a tertiary referral centre were included. The demographics and other clinical information were retrieved from patients’ outpatient clinical records.

    Results. One-hundred SLE patients were included in this cross-sectional study, the majority of whom were of the Malay ethnic group (47%) followed by Chinese (41%) and Indians (12%). Almost 91% of the patients in our study were females. Mean age was 34.94 years (SD = 12.7; 95% confidence interval, 32.42 – 37.46), almost 79% were in the 20-50 years age group. Anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) was positive in 70% of patients while only 28% were positive for anti-double-stranded deoxyribonucleic antibody (dsDNA). Major clinical manifestations were hematological disorders (53%) followed by a malar rash (41%), photosensitivity (30%) and oral ulcers (27%).

    Conclusion. Clinical phenotypes, demographics of SLE patients in this study shows no significant difference across age, gender, and ethnic groups. The current data, though limited, shows a high frequency of hematological and mucocutaneous manifestation in these patients.
  5. Benjamin B, Benjamin MA, Swe M, Sugathan S
    Osteoporos Sarcopenia, 2016 Jun;2(2):77-81.
    PMID: 30775470 DOI: 10.1016/j.afos.2016.03.003
    Objectives: Osteoporosis is a rapidly rising cause of concern for elderly patients. Various classes of drugs are available in the market. Bisphosphonates are considered as a first-line therapy for the prevention and treatment. Denosumab is an antiresorptive agent which is a RANK ligand inhibitor. There is a scarcity of comparison between these two classes of drugs. The aim of this study is to compare efficacy of Bisphosphonates and Denosumab in various parameters.

    Methods: Literature search was done for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing bisphosphonates with denosumab. RCTs with a treatment period of at least one year with a baseline bone mineral density (BMD) and bone turnover markers (BTM) and follow up values at one year were included in the study. All included studies were also analysed for complications. The study has also been registered in PROSPERO International prospective register of systematic reviews.

    Results: A total of five RCTs were identified providing data on 3751 participants. In all five studies, the BMD changes at both hip and spine were statistically significant in favour of denosumab. Result was similar in three studies that studied BMD changes at the wrist. Denosumab also produced significant reduction in BTM as early as one month, but at one year there was no difference compared to the bisphosphonates. There was no statistically significant differences in the complication rates.

    Conclusions: Though both bisphosphonates and denosumab were effective with similar side effects, the latter was statistically superior in increasing the BMD and reducing the BTM.
  6. Sugathan S, Ali O, Myint Soe M, Ismail S, Ahmad W
    Saudi J Biol Sci, 2021 Aug;28(8):4818-4824.
    PMID: 34354471 DOI: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.05.011
    Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is defined as a cluster of known disorders that increase the risk for morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus. This cross sectional study was carried out to estimate the prevalence of MetS using Adult Treatment Panel 3 (ATP 3) classification and socio-demographic and lifestyle factors contributing to metabolic syndrome among rural indigenous Malaysian population from Perak state, Malaysia which included 148 rural Malay and 145 Orang Asli(OA) individuals. This community based cross-sectional study revealed that the prevalence of MetS was significantly higher among Malays (27.7%) as compared to Orang Aslis (13.8%). Overall Prevalence of Metabolic syndrome in the rural indigenous Malaysian population was 20.8%. Prevalence of abdominal obesity and high blood pressure were significantly higher among Malays as compared to OA population. Metabolic syndrome was significantly higher among those above 45 years of age group in overall rural indigenous Malaysian population and among OA. The prevalence of MetS was significantly higher among those who were obese and overweight and among Malays who were regularly taking snacks between meals. There was no significant association between other dietary risk factors, smoking, alcohol use or physical activity with metabolic syndrome.
  7. Venkataramani P, Sadanandan T, Savanna RS, Sugathan S
    Med Educ, 2019 05;53(5):499-500.
    PMID: 30891812 DOI: 10.1111/medu.13860
  8. Chan SC, Ganeson JV, Ong JT, Sugathan S
    Fam Med Community Health, 2020;8(1):e000188.
    PMID: 32201548 DOI: 10.1136/fmch-2019-000188
    Objective: To explore the perception of medical students from a private medical college in Perak, Malaysia, on primary care practice and induce the factors influencing their perception and willingness to consider primary care as a career pathway.

    Design: Qualitative study using focus group discussions. Participants' responses were audio recorded, transcribed, grouped under various domains and listed out and analysed.

    Setting: A private medical college in Perak state, Malaysia.

    Participants: Forty-six medical students from years 2 to 5 were included. Eight focus groups were formed with two focus groups from each academic year (six students each in seven groups and four students in one group). Students were informed through their respective student leader of each year and received a participant information sheet and an informed consent form which were completed and returned if they decided to participate in the focus group discussions.

    Results: The participants had different levels of understanding of primary care depending on their level of exposure to primary care. Senior students with more exposure had a better understanding about primary care and its services. Attractive factors towards choosing primary care as a career included short working hours with a more balanced family and social life, being able to treat patients as a whole with continuity of care and closer relationship with patients. Unattractive factors included routine, unchallenging and boring practice, poor salary, work overload and administrative work in government clinics, being less recognised by other specialties; and the poor perception by other doctors that those pursuing primary care were not 'brilliant enough' for more 'sophisticated disciplines like surgery or paediatrics'.

    Conclusion: This study showed that the medical students' level of exposure to primary care played a crucial role in determining their understanding of primary care practice and their choice of career in primary care. Issues to be addressed include remuneration, workload and the prejudice against primary care as a career pathway. Suggestions included introducing early exposure to fun and challenging primary care postings in the medical curriculum and producing well trained, skilled and enthusiastic role models.

  9. Waryam Singh Malhi FSA, Sugathan S, Binti Azhar NAS, Binti Wan Roslan WIN, Abu Bakar HAB, Binti Zolkaine SM
    Educ Health (Abingdon), 2021 12 24;34(2):55-63.
    PMID: 34937299 DOI: 10.4103/1357-6283.332958
    Background: Sexual harassment (SH) may occur anywhere in the world, including the hospital setting. Medical and nursing students are not excluded from being sexually harassed during their clinical practice. This study examined the experiences and compared the perception of SH between female medical and nursing students during their clinical practice in Perak, Malaysia.

    Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study design was done among female medical and nursing students during their clinical practice.

    Results: Total respondents were 481 female medical and nursing students (response rate of 96.2%). About 17.8% of medical and 18.8% of nursing students had been sexually harassed. The most common harasser for medical and nursing students were males (51.2% and 48.8%, respectively), patients (39.7% and 60.3%, respectively), age 30s (41.0% and 59.0%, respectively) and 40s (65.5% and 34.5%, respectively), occurred in medical wards for both groups (50% each). From the SH checklist, 76.9% of medical and 73.5% of nursing students had experienced at least one item of the total 18 items. The abnormal sexual desire of an individual was chosen as the reason for SH by 44.9% of medical and 33.8% of nursing students. The majority of respondents said the issue of SH in clinical practice was very serious. Around 32% of medical students choose the fear of being disadvantaged during clinical practice as the reason why the victims kept quiet while 41.5% of nursing students chose because of not having evidence. Both groups of students suggested establishing rules and laws relating to SH (30.8% and 35.5%, respectively) as effective methods to prevent it. About 75.3% of medical and 81.6% of nursing students agreed that it was very necessary for implementing a SH prevention program.

    Discussion: Although SH is not a new issue, there is insufficient exposure about SH among medical and nursing students. This can be corrected by increasing their knowledge and awareness about SH.

  10. Yap KH, Ung WC, Ebenezer EGM, Nordin N, Chin PS, Sugathan S, et al.
    PMID: 28919856 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2017.00287
    Background: Cognitive performance is relatively well preserved during early cognitive impairment owing to compensatory mechanisms. Methods: We explored functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) alongside a semantic verbal fluency task (SVFT) to investigate any compensation exhibited by the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and mild Alzheimer's disease (AD). In addition, a group of healthy controls (HC) was studied. A total of 61 volunteers (31 HC, 12 patients with MCI and 18 patients with mild AD) took part in the present study. Results: Although not statistically significant, MCI exhibited a greater mean activation of both the right and left PFC, followed by HC and mild AD. Analysis showed that in the left PFC, the time taken for HC to achieve the activation level was shorter than MCI and mild AD (p = 0.0047 and 0.0498, respectively); in the right PFC, mild AD took a longer time to achieve the activation level than HC and MCI (p = 0.0469 and 0.0335, respectively); in the right PFC, HC, and MCI demonstrated a steeper slope compared to mild AD (p = 0.0432 and 0. 0107, respectively). The results were, however, not significant when corrected by the Bonferroni-Holm method. There was also found to be a moderately positive correlation (R = 0.5886) between the oxygenation levels in the left PFC and a clinical measure [Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score] in MCI subjects uniquely. Discussion: The hyperactivation in MCI coupled with a better SVFT performance may suggest neural compensation, although it is not known to what degree hyperactivation manifests as a potential indicator of compensatory mechanisms. However, hypoactivation plus a poorer SVFT performance in mild AD might indicate an inability to compensate due to the degree of structural impairment. Conclusion: Consistent with the scaffolding theory of aging and cognition, the task-elicited hyperactivation in MCI might reflect the presence of compensatory mechanisms and hypoactivation in mild AD could reflect an inability to compensate. Future studies will investigate the fNIRS parameters with a larger sample size, and their validity as prognostic biomarkers of neurodegeneration.
  11. Bharathithasan M, Ravindran DR, Rajendran D, Chun SK, Abbas SA, Sugathan S, et al.
    PLoS One, 2021;16(11):e0260281.
    PMID: 34843539 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260281
    BACKGROUND: There is a growing need to use green alternative larvicidal control for Aedes larvae compared to chemical insecticides. Substantial reliance on chemical insecticides caused insecticide resistance in mosquito populations. Thus, research for alternate chemical compounds from natural products is necessary to control Aedes larvae. This study explores the analysis of chemical compositions from Areca catechu nut as a potential larvicide for Aedes (Diptera: Culicidae).

    METHODS: The Areca catechu nut collected from Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia was grounded into powder and used for Soxhlet extraction. The chemical analysis of the extracts and their structures were identified using the GCMS-QP2010 Ultra (Shimadzu) system. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Chemistry WebBook, Standard Reference Database 69 (https://webbook.nist.gov/chemistry/) and PubChem (https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/), the two databases used to retrieve the synonyms, molecular formula, molecular weight, and 2-dimensional (2D) structure of chemical compounds. Next, following WHO procedures for larval bioassays, the extracts were used to asses larvicidal activity against early 4th instar larvae of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus.

    RESULTS: The larvicidal activities were observed against early 4th stage larvae with different concentrations in the range from 200 mg/L to 1600 mg/L. The LC50 and LC95 of Aedes aegypti were 621 mg/L and 2264 mg/L respectively; whereas the LC50 and LC95 of Aedes albopictus were 636 mg/L and 2268 mg/L respectively. Mortality was not observed in the non-target organism test. The analysis using gas chromatography and mass spectrometer recovered several chemical compounds such as Arecaidine, Dodecanoic acid, Methyl tetradecanoate, Tetradecanoic acid , and n-Hexadecanoic acid bioactive components. These chemical constituents were used as additive formulations in pesticides, pest control, insect repellent, and insecticidal agents.

    CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed significant outcomes from the extract of Areca catechu nut and it deserves further investigation in relation to chemical components and larvicidal actions between different species of Aedes mosquitoes. Even though all these findings are fundamental, it may have some interesting potentials to be developed as natural bio-larvicidal products.

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