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Datasets of demographic profile and perpetrator experience in committing crime among young offenders in Malaysia

Tharshini NK, Ibrahim F, Zakaria E

Data Brief, 2020 Aug;31:105958.
PMID: 32676530 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2020.105958

The datasets in this article provides supplementary information related to: (1) demographic profile of young offenders and (2) perpetrator experience in committing a crime. A quantitative approach based on a cross-sectional survey design was employed to collect data among 306 young offenders undergoing Community Service Order initiated by the Malaysian Social Welfare Department. The resultant data were analysed descriptively using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The result stipulates that the majority of respondents are consist of male young offenders aged 20 years old, Malays, single in marital status, and unemployed. Based on the crime involvement aspect, the result indicates that young offenders involved in stealing (26.1%), does not carry any weapons while committing a crime (50.0%), and entangled in criminal activity due to peer influence (40.0%). Moreover, unfavorable luck contributes to the failure in executing crime (52.6%) which subsequently leads them to be arrested by the police (52.0%).
Fulltext The effectiveness of Realistic Mathematics Education approach: The role of mathematical representation as mediator between mathematical belief and problem solving

Yuanita P, Zulnaidi H, Zakaria E

PLoS One, 2018;13(9):e0204847.
PMID: 30261056 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204847

This study aims to identify the role of mathematical representation as a mediator between mathematical belief and problem solving. A quasi-experimental design was developed that included 426 Form 1 secondary school students. Respondents comprised 209 and 217 students in the treatment and control groups, respectively. SPSS 23.0, ANATES 4 and Amos 18 were used for data analysis. Findings indicated that mathematical representation plays a significant role as mediator between mathematical belief and arithmetic problem solving. The Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) approach successfully increased the arithmetic problem-solving ability of students.
Exploring alternative approaches to next of kin consenting in the semi-emergency neurosurgical scenario

Zakaria EN, Abdullah NA, Ganesan D

Med J Malaysia, 2024 Nov;79(6):735-742.
PMID: 39614792

INTRODUCTION: Prior to any surgical intervention, obtaining informed consent is necessary. In situations where patients are unable to provide informed consent due to mental incapacity or reduced consciousness, the responsibility falls on surrogate decision-makers, typically family members. This predicament commonly arises during neurosurgical emergencies. Various types of surgical emergencies exist, each with its own classification. In cases of life-threatening neurosurgical emergencies and in the absence of next of kin, two consultants have the authority to decide and grant surgical consent. However, for urgent and semi-emergency surgical cases, obtaining consent from the next of kin is crucial. The conventional requirement for the physical presence of the next of kin at the hospital often causes delays in the procedure. This study aims to explore alternative methods for efficiently and compliantly securing this consent for urgent and semi-emergency neurosurgical cases.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective, observational crosssectional survey was conducted from 1st May 2022 to 31st December 2022 at the University of Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur. This survey included all neurosurgical patients aged 18 and above requiring urgent and semiemergency surgery. The next of kin were interviewed using a standardised questionnaire to obtain their perspectives on the effectiveness of the current consenting process, as well as to explore potential alternative methods for obtaining consent. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics.
RESULTS: The survey had 103 responses. The analysis revealed that the most common semi-emergency surgical procedures were craniotomy (22 cases) and external ventricular drain insertion (18 cases), followed by burr hole and drainage (14 cases). The most common primary diagnosis that needed urgent intervention was acute hydrocephalus. Interestingly, more than half of the patients (58 cases, 56.3%) had to wait for over 30 minutes to obtain consent from their next of kin prior to surgery. The next of kin interviewed had an age range of 25 to 72 years. The relationships of the next of kin were children (33 subjects), spouses (26 subjects), siblings (25 subjects), and parents (16 subjects) of the patients. Additionally, 96.1% of the respondents owned a smartphone with a mobile internet data connection, and 85.4% had internet connectivity at home. The most preferred method of telecommunication for this exercise was via WhatsApp. An interesting finding was the association between the level of trust in medical professionals and the preferred consent method. It was discovered that individuals who preferred physical consent had lower trust in the hospital and doctors, while those who preferred remote consent had higher trust.
CONCLUSION: The urban Malaysian population are ready to embrace telecommunication for next-of-kin consent in semiemergency neurosurgical scenarios. These findings form a precursor to further studies to develop algorithms for a secure remote digital surgical consenting platform for urgent or semi-emergency surgical cases.
Fulltext Bullying and Its Associated Individual, Peer, Family and School Factors: Evidence from Malaysian National Secondary School Students

Sabramani V, Idris IB, Ismail H, Nadarajaw T, Zakaria E, Kamaluddin MR

Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2021 Jul 05;18(13).
PMID: 34281145 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18137208

Adolescents involved in bullying can be at risk of developing behavioural problems, physical health problems and suicidal ideation. In view of this, a quantitative research design using a cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of bullying and associated individual, peer, family and school factors. The study involved 4469 Malaysian public-school students who made up the response rate of 89.4%. The students were selected using a randomized multilevel sampling method. The study found that 79.1% of student respondents were involved in bullying as perpetrators (14.4%), victims (16.3%), or bully-victims (48.4%). In a multivariate analysis, the individual domain showed a significant association between students' bullying involvement and age (OR = 1.38; 95% CI 1.12-1.70), gender (OR = 1.73; 95% CI 1.47-0.91), ethnicity (OR = 0.66; 95% CI 0.47-0.91), duration of time spent on social media during the weekends (OR = 1.43; 95% CI 1.09-1.87) and psychological distress level (OR = 2.55; 95% CI 1.94-3.34). In the peer domain, the significantly associated factors were the number of peers (OR = 0.69; 95% CI 0.56-0.86) and frequency of quarrels or fights with peers (OR = 2.12; 95% CI 1.24-3.26). Among the items in the school domain, the significantly associated factors were students being mischievous in classrooms (OR = 1.52; 95% CI 1.06-2.06), student's affection towards their teachers (OR = 1.53; 95% CI 1.06-2.20), frequency of appraisal from teachers (OR = 1.49; 95% CI 1.16-1.94), frequency of friends being helpful in classrooms (OR = 1.92; 95% CI 1.09-3.38) and frequency of deliberately skipping class (OR = 2.91; 95% CI 2.90-1.72). As a conclusion, the study revealed high levels and widespread bullying involvement among students in Malaysia. As such, timely bullying preventions and interventions are essential, especially in terms of enhancing their mental health capacity, which substantially influences the reduction in the prevalence rates of bullying involvement among students in Malaysia.
Fulltext Better outcome of COVID-19 positive kidney transplant recipients during the unremitting stage with optimized anticoagulation and immunosuppression

AlOtaibi TM, Gheith OA, Abuelmagd MM, Adel M, Alqallaf AK, Elserwy NA, et al.

Clin Transplant, 2021 Jun;35(6):e14297.
PMID: 33768630 DOI: 10.1111/ctr.14297

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 is an ongoing pandemic with high morbidity and mortality and with a reported high risk of severe disease in kidney transplant recipients (KTR).
AIM: We aimed to report the largest number of COVID-19-positive cases in KTR in a single center and to discuss their demographics, management, and evolution.
METHODS: We enrolled all the two thousand KTR followed up in our center in Kuwait and collected the data of all COVID-19-positive KTR (104) from the start of the outbreak till the end of July 2020 and have reported the clinical features, management details, and both patient and graft outcomes.
RESULTS: Out of the one hundred and four cases reported, most of them were males aged 49.3 ± 14.7 years. Eighty-two of them needed hospitalization, of which thirty-one were managed in the intensive care unit (ICU). Main comorbidities among these patients were hypertension in 64.4%, diabetes in 51%, and ischemic heart disease in 20.2%. Management strategies included anticoagulation in 56.7%, withdrawal of antimetabolites in 54.8%, calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) withdrawal in 33.7%, the addition of antibiotics in 57.7%, Tocilizumab in 8.7%, and antivirals in 16.3%. During a follow-up of 30 days, the reported number of acute kidney injury (AKI) was 28.7%, respiratory failure requiring oxygen therapy 46.2%, and overall mortality rate was 10.6% with hospital mortality of 13.4% including an ICU mortality rate of 35.5%.
CONCLUSION: Better outcome of COVID-19-positive KTR in our cohort during this unremitting stage could be due to the younger age of patients and early optimized management of anticoagulation, modification of immunosuppression, and prompt treatment of secondary bacterial infections. Mild cases can successfully be managed at home without any change in immunosuppression.