Objective: This study aims to determine the incidence rate of phlebitis among patients with peripheral intravenous catheter. Methods: An observational study was conducted in one of the hospitals in East Coast Malaysia. There were 321 data collected among patients who had peripheral intravenous catheter in medical, gynecology and orthopedic wards. The incidence of phlebitis was evaluated using modified Visual Infusion Phlebitis score checklist. Results: The incidence of phlebitis, was found out to be 36.1% (n=116/321). Most patients who developed phlebitis had visual infusion phlebitis, with a score of two (34.9%) and the rest developed phlebitis with a score of three (1.2%). Conclusion: This high incidence of phlebitis indicated a worrying outcome. Therefore, the study findings suggested that a specific guideline on post insertion management of peripheral intravenous catheter should be revised which may help in reducing more incidence of phlebitis, subsequently reduce infection in ward, and provide more safety environment in hospital and reducing cost in managing infection control.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) causes 70% of all death globally. The prevalence of CKD has shown an increasing trend for the past 20 years in Malaysia. Thus, determining the knowledge and awareness of CKD among healthcare students in preparing them to be a good healthcare provider in the future is important. This study aimed to determine the association between knowledge and awareness about CKD among International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) undergraduate students. A crosssectional study was conducted among 108 students using simple random sampling method. The questionnaire was given to the class representative to be self-administered to interested students. It had close-ended questions consisting of Part A to Part D. The scoring given for correctly answered items was one and the total score for Part C was 7 marks. Most of the students were female (70.4%). The mean knowledge score of CKD was 3.65 (SD = 1.12) with nearly half of the students (43.5%) classified as having poor knowledge. Most respondents were aware about CKD (99.1%) and have heard about it from medical personnel (48.1%) and the Internet (25.9%). Further analysis showed that only courses taken by the respondents were significantly associated with knowledge on CKD (p = 0.039). The level of knowledge among undergraduate students is still poor, yet they are aware about the existence of CKD and its aetiology. Therefore, the health sciences curriculum should emphasise on CKD management from a multidisciplinary aspect of care. It is recommended to conduct similar research among different student populations to create awareness and obtain important baseline findings.