Introduction: Individual differences pertaining to cognitive and affective processes toward job stress stimuli may influence food choice and intake, leading to overeating and obesity. This study was conducted to determine the relationship between job stress and abdominal obesity with anger as a personality trait and overeating as moderators among male workers in Malaysia.
Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 492 male employees from 33 private companies in various states in Malaysia. The companies and workers were approached by convenience sampling. Workers who fulfilled the study inclusion criteria completed validated questionnaires assessing job stress, anger as a personality trait and overeating, using the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory-Exhaustion, Spielberger Trait Anger Scale and Three Factor Eating Questionnaire-Uncontrolled, respectively. Weight, height and abdominal circumference were taken for each participant. Moderation effect analyses were conducted based on standard multiple regression.
Results: For two-way interaction, a significant curvilinear regression equation was found to predict overeating based on job stress as a predictor and anger as a moderator (β=0.93, SE=0.46, t=2.03, p=0.043). High anger was associated with higher overeating behaviour on exposure to high job stress level (F (7, 484) = 9.36, p
Introduction: The Penan people are largely settled in rural and remote areas of
Sarawak with high rates of undernutrition among the children. The study aimed to
determine the nutritional status and infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices
of Penan children. Methods: Subjects consisted of 121 children, aged between 0-23
months, from 15 Penan longhouses in Belaga district. Malnutrition was assessed
using anthropometric measurements of children and categorised according to the
World Health Organization (WHO) Growth Standards (2006). Feeding practices were
assessed using questionnaires based on WHO IYCF Indicators (2008). Results:
The prevalence of underweight was 29.8%; stunting 43.0% and wasting 5.8%.
Prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding under 6 months was 44.4%. About 86% of
infants aged 6-8 months were already given solid, semi-solid and soft foods. The
proportion of children aged 6-23 months achieving minimum dietary diversity
(MDD) was 76.6%, while minimum meal frequency (MMF) was 83.0% (breastfed and
non-breastfed). Among the children who achieved MDD, 64.9% of their meals were
derived from 4-5 food groups. More than half (55.3%) of all subjects (breastfed and
non-breastfed) received minimum acceptable diet (MAD). Achievement of iron-rich
foods (IRF) indicator was 77.7%. There was no significant association between the
IYCF indicators of MDD, MMF and MAD and underweight, stunting and wasting.
Conclusion: A high prevalence of poor nutritional status was recorded among
the Penan children. While the IYCF indicators apparently showed satisfactory
complementary feeding practices, future studies should assess quantitatively the
intake of complementary food among Penan infants and young children.
OBJECTIVE: To assess a better strategy to implement oral iron supplementation in preschool Orang Asli children with high prevalence of iron deficiency, as opposed to the current practice, yet inefficient, of daily oral iron supplementation regime.
METHODS: A randomized controlled trial was conducted in preschool children presenting to a remote health center (Klinik Desa Kenang, Sungai Siput, Perak) with iron deficiency state. Oral iron prescribed as a daily unsupervised dose (group A) was compared to a weekly supervised administration (group B) over eight weeks.
RESULTS: Before intervention, iron deficiency was prevalent in these children (91.2%). The mean baseline haemoglobin and ferritin levels of group A were 9.9 (+/- 1.1) g/dL and 8.9 (+/- 1.3) mg/L respectively, and that of group B were 9.9 (+/-1.2) g/dL and 9.7 (+/- 1.9) mg/L respectively. After eight weeks of treatment, the mean rise in haemoglobin and ferritin levels of group A were 1.2 (+/- 0.6) g/dL and 18.1 (+/- 15.1) mg/ L respectively, as compared to group B, where the mean rise in haemoglobin and ferritin levels were 1.8 (+/- 0.7) g/dL and 35.2 (+/- 21.8) mg/ L respectively. The differences in the rise of haemoglobin and ferritin levels of the two groups were statistically significant (p<0.025). Both regimes were however effective in improving the iron status in a short term (88% in group A and 100% in group B), but group B had a better iron improvement (35.2 +/- 21.8 versus 18.1 +/-15.1 mg/L).
CONCLUSION: It was concluded that the supervised weekly oral iron supplementation regime was more effective than the unsupervised daily supplementation for treating iron deficiency in preschool Orang Asli children. Since iron deficiency is so common in these children and in view of the possibility of poor compliance with the unsupervised regime, an intermittent supervised treatment is proposed as the most effective strategy to address this nutritional problem.
This research was conducted to evaluate the effects of supplementation of jackfruit puree on probiotic (Lactobacillus acidophilus FTDC 1295) in terms of cell count, viability and nutritional value of dadih. Four samples of dadih were prepared in this investigation; Control, Jackfruit dadih, Probiotic dadih and Jackfruit Probiotic dadih (Control, ConJD, ConPD and JPD respectively). Results revealed that dadih supplemented with jackfruit puree (JPD) directly improved the probiotic cell counts which are significantly higher than the dadih without jackfruit puree (ConPD). The high probiotic viability in dadih (ConPD 92%; JPD 96%) indicated that it can be an effective probiotic delivery vehicle. The chemical compositions (moisture, total solids, fat, protein, mineral, organic acid, and pH) showed variations in its pattern due to the differential in formulations and the incorporations of probiotic bacteria. In addition, the Total Phenolic Content and the antioxidant capacity were reported to be the highest in dadih supplemented with jackfruit puree and probiotic (JPD) as compared with other dadih samples. These are attributed by the presence of jackfruit puree and probiotic in the samples which effectively increased the total phenolic content which directly increase the antioxidant activity
Obesity prevalence and body image consciousness are on the rise, and women often try to lose weight using a variety of methods. This paper reports the knowledge on body weight management amongst working women aged 30 – 45 years in Kuala Lumpur. Respondents comprised 131 school teachers and 122 civil servants. Anthropometric measurements included body weight and height; while knowledge on weight management was assessed using a questionnaire. The respondents were Malay (64%), Chinese (26%) and Indian women (10%) with mean age of 38.3 ± 4.6 years old. The respondents were grouped into two weight categories based on body mass index (BMI): normal weight (BMI 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m2) and overweight (BMI ≥ 25.0 kg/m2). Mean body weight and BMI were significantly different (p < 0.001) between the two weight categories. Overweight and normal weight groups had mean body weight of 69.0 ± 9.5 kg and 53.5 ± 5.3 kg; while mean BMI were 29.2 ± 3.6 kg/ m2 dan 21.9 ± 1.7 kg/m2; respectively. Mean scores for knowledge on weight management were similar for both weight categories, 62.4 ± 13.7 and 61.8 ± 13.4 for overweight and normal weight, respectively. A majority of overweight (71%) and normal weight (73%) women had moderate level (scores 50–74%) of weight management knowledge. However, it was interesting to note that there were more overweight women (20%) who had high knowledge level (scores ≥ 75%) as compared to normal weight women (15%). Only 9% of overweight and 12% of normal weight women demonstrated low knowledge level (scores <50%). School teachers were significantly (p < 0.001) more knowledgeable than civil servants in weight management matters with mean knowledge scores of 65.5 ± 12.3 and 58.4 ± 13.9, respectively. On the whole, the results indicated that women were fairly knowledgeable in healthy body weight management. Knowledge on body weight management is essential for preventing comorbidity risks related to overweight problem. The study also revealed that there was a need for nutrition education related to body image and effective weight management. Key words: Body weight management, working women, overweight, obesity
Introduction: Introduction: The paper explores turnover intention and job satisfaction among healthcare employees of Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia. Methods: A nationwide study was carried out in order to identify dimensions of job satisfaction and turnover intention among public healthcare employees. Data was collected by means of self-administered questionnaire and distributed based on quota sampling. Results: The study shows that public healthcare workforce is generally satisfied with their work (mean 3.45). In addition, medical specialists and assistant medical officers were found to be significantly more satisfied than other job designations. However, intention to resign was high among medical specialists, pharmacists and dentists. A high proportion of medical specialists also had received job offers from the private sector. Conclusion: The findings showed that employee turnover may not necessarily be due to job dissatisfaction, but rather due to demand from the private sector. Findings from the study would assist policy-makers with respect to talent management in public healthcare service.
Objective: This case report highlights the risk of Torsade de Pointes (TdP), a life threatening cardiac arrhythmia in a heroin dependent patient receiving methadone substitution therapy who was prescribed erythromycin for upper respiratory tract infection. Method: We report a case of a 35-year-old Malay man on methadone maintenance treatment who developed TdP possibly due to drug interaction between methadone and erythromycin. Results: The
patient reported feeling unwell, chest pain and feeling dizzy after consuming 2 doses of erythromycin. ECG monitoring showed prolonged rate-corrected QT interval leading to TdP. The patient was admitted to the ward where the cardiac arrhythmia ceased following methadone discontinuation. This cardiac arrhythmia was most likely due to drug interaction between methadone and erythromycin (an enzyme inhibitor) which led to an increase in methadone concentration and potentiated the adverse effects. Conclusion: As methadone is a beneficial treatment for heroin dependent patients, the risk of cardiac arrhythmia is of great concern. To avoid complications of drug interaction, patients on methadone therapy should be advised to seek medical assessment before taking other drugs. As TdP is life threatening, it is thus important that physicians and psychiatrists involved in the treatment of
heroin dependent patients on methadone substitution therapy be made aware of this risk.
Ocean sediments give information on the paleoclimatic evolution in the geological past which gives detailed information on both the age of the sediments and both paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic conditions during sedimentation. One possible way to date sediments is with 210Pb method which can be used to date sediments up to 100 years. In this study, two core samples labelled as JB15 and JB17 were collected using pledging corer, analysed and measured for the activity of 209Po and 210Po using the alpha spectrometer. Applying the methods, average sedimentation rates for JB15 and JB17 were calculated as 0.38 cmyr-1 and 0.43 cmyr-1, respectively. Assuming that the sedimentation rate values are accurate, this might imply that the sediments at the depth of 30 cm were deposited 70 years ago.
The objective of this project was to determine the physico-chemical and sensory characteristics of bread supplemented with four different levels (control, 5%, 10%, and 15%) of pumpkin flour. The physical (weight, loaf volume, specific volume and oven spring) and chemical (moisture, protein, fat, fibre and ash) attributes were determined in the raw pumpkin, pumpkin flour (PF), control and supplemented breads. Sensory attributes were conducted on the control and supplemented breads. Increasing the level of substitution from 5% to 15% pumpkin flour significantly (p
The use of polyclonal antibody (IgG) has recently been applied to the detection of bacteria. We developed a lateral flow assay (LFA) strip using a specific IgG in combination with colloidal gold on a nitrocellulose membrane. A conjugate, gold-anti Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7 IgG was developed in this study for the detection of E. coli O157:H7 in food. The 40 nm in size of colloidal gold nanoparticles was used to conjugate the anti-E. coli O157:H7 IgG. The optimal concentration, 12.0 µg/ml of the anti-E. coli O157:H7 IgG was determined by standard curve generated in titration method. The serially diluted of E. coli O157:H7 was detected and clearly visualized on the LFA strip as low as 106 CFU/ml (result not shown). The IgG raised in rabbit have shown specific binding capacity against E. coli O157:H7. No other genus of bacteria, including Salmonella typhimurium, Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter jejuni reacted to the IgG. The LFA strip could also detect E. coli O157:H7 in different food samples matrices after 18 h-enrichment and this result were in accordance with the results of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and colony count.
Occupational Related Chronic Low Back Pain (OCLBP) is a globally recognized illness that causes reduction in productivity and substantial economic burden to the countries. It requires a multidisclipinary approach involving employer, healthcare provider, compensatory and enforcement agencies. However there is no specific guideline or pathway that has integrated the roles of each responsible agency. The objective of this article is to highlight the need and to propose a coordinated approach through the concept of Integrated Care Pathway (ICP). Therefore, we reviewed international and local guidelines as well as published articles on chronic low back pain and care pathway. We believed that development of a pathway will be able to organize the role of management at every level, reducing the variations in the management, addressing issues of communicating the findings between the responsible stakeholders, fulfilling the requirements as the laws, allows effective and feasible approaches to take place in terms of cost and practicality, and increase the awareness on occupational diseases. Expected challenges such as limitation of resources, unawareness and lack of understanding on OCLBP from every level are issue that we agreed can be bridged through ICP.
Objective: Despite the availability of modern anti-emetics, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) symptoms remain distressing to a high number of cancer patients. This study intended to (1) describe the incidence of CINV and antiemetic usage; (2) assess the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and correlate its components with Global Health Status; (3) evaluate HRQoL status in relation to CINV among breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in two government hospitals located in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia (Terengganu, Kelantan). The Morrow Assessment of Nausea and Emesis Follow-up (MANE-FU) and European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) were administered. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests were employed (SPSS 16). Results: Respondents included 41 female patients (age = 49 ± 9.6 years; Malay = 92.7%; no family history of breast cancer = 68.3% and on moderately emetogenic chemotherapy = 97.6%). Majority of patients experienced nausea during or after chemotherapy (90.2%) and rated it as ‘severe’. Most patients had taken anti-emetic
(87.8%) and considered it ‘somewhat useful’. The median score for Global Health Status was 50 (IqR= 16.7). Emotional Functioning, Fatigue and Pain correlated fairly with HRQoL (rs= +0.435; -0.417; -0.387 respectively). Patients with ‘a lot’ and ‘moderate’ nausea displayed significantly more fatigue compared to those with little nausea (p=0.029). Those who experienced vomiting reported worse HRQoL profile compared to those who did not (p=0.011). Conclusion: These findings generally ascertained that CINV remains poorly controlled and significantly interferes with HRQoL, providing rooms for improvements in therapeutic intervention.
This study deals with the analysis of the cure rate estimation based on the Bounded Cumulative Hazard (BCH) model using interval censored data, given that the exact distribution of the data set is unknown. Thus, the non-parametric estimation methods are employed by means of the EM algorithm. The Turnbull and Kaplan Meier estimators were proposed to estimate the survival function, even though the Kaplan Meier estimator faces some restrictions in term of interval survival data. A comparison of the cure rate estimation based on the two estimators was done through a simulation study.
Leachate (liquid pollutant), which is highly contaminated with organic matter and toxic substances is a major
problem that arised from landfill. Biological methods have proven to be effective to remove organic matters that are
abundant in leachate. This study is intended to compare the used of free mycelia and immobilized mycelia of the
white-rot fungi, Ganoderma australe for the removal of landfill leachate organics. The organics fraction of landfill
leachate was measured by biological oxygen demand (BOD5), and chemical oxygen demand (COD). The experiment
revealed that free mycelia of G. australe showed capability in removing leachate BOD5 but not COD. However, the
use of immobilized G. australe displayed the best result in the removal of BOD5 and COD leachate after 4 weeks of
treatment in flasks with 93.09% and 17.84% percentage removal of BOD5 and COD, respectively. Therefore, G.
australe can be considered potentially useful in the treatment of landfill leachate as they can help in removing BOD
and COD due to their biodegradative abilities.
Fine needle aspiration cytology under radiologic guidance for diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma is well established and is increasingly utilized. This is because renal cell carcinoma displays fairly characteristic cellular features permitting correct cytologic identification. We present a case of a 66-year-old man who had advanced renal cell carcinoma with spread to aortic and cervical lymph nodes, lungs and liver. Fine needle aspiration cytology of the para-aortic mass showed tight clusters of malignant cells with abundant and vacuolated cytoplasm consistent with renal cell carcinoma. Histology of the left cervical lymph nodes together with immunohistochemistry findings were consistent with the cytologic diagnosis of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. The patient succumb to his illness three years after the diagnosis was made.
The accumulation of tear film proteins as well as microbes colonization onto worn contact lenses can be eliminated conventionally by mechanical rubbing during the cleaning process. Lens2® functions in rotation manner to loosen the deposits on the contact lens and has antimicrobial coating to keep lenses away from contamination. The objective of this study was to determine the efficiency of Lens2® to remove deposited protein and reduce microbial contamination compared to conventional method. Twenty-eight subjects each wore a pair of contact lens FDA Group 1 (Polymacon, SoftLens® 38, Bausch & Lomb) for one month and cleaned them using multipurpose solution (COMPLETE® MoisturePLUSTM, Advanced Medical Optics) separately using two different methods. The right lens was cleaned conventionally while the left lens were cleaned using the Lens2®. The control group of thirteen subjects each wore a pair of contact lens for the same period and cleaned both conventionally. These lenses and its cases were then analyzed for protein deposition using Bichinchoninic Acid Assay (BCA) Kit (Sigma, USA) in 96-well plate. Microbial contamination was determined by culturing the samples on nutrient agar for bacteria and fungi and non-nutrient agar for amoeba isolation. The mean of total protein on control lenses (17.014 ± 13.246 µg/mL) was not significantly different from those on the Lens2® (21.623 ± 19.127 µg/mL). There were also low growth numbers of amoeba in each group of samples. Interestingly, there were no growths of amoeba from all Lens2® samples collected. There was also low growth numbers of bacteria in each sample group whereby Lens2® had the lowest growth of bacteria. No growth of fungi was obtained from all samples. The automatic lens cleaner, Lens2® was found to be as efficient as the conventional cleaning method. However, the Lens2® has additional advantage because of its antimicrobial material and need shorter time in the cleaning process as well as easy and effective.
A cross sectional study was carried out to determine the relationship between dust exposure and pulmonary function in male steel workers in Terengganu, Malaysia. The investigation included spirometric testing and detailed personal interviews using a structured questionnaire adopted from British Medical Research Council (BRMC) Questionnaire on respiratory symptoms. Respiratory symptoms commonly reported by the male workers were morning phlegm (33.1%), shortness of breath (31.9%), chest tightness (30.4%), and morning cough (17.8%). Age and duration of employment were among the factors associated with respiratory symptoms (p
This paper investigates the confidence intervals of R2 MAD, the coefficient of determination based on
median absolute deviation in the presence of outliers. Bootstrap bias-corrected accelerated (BCa)
confidence intervals, known to have higher degree of correctness, are constructed for the mean and standard deviation of R2 MAD for samples generated from contaminated standard logistic distribution. The results indicate that by increasing the sample size and percentage of contaminants in the samples, and perturbing the location and scale of the distribution affect the lengths of the confidence intervals. The results obtained can also be used to verify the bound of R2 MAD.
Introduction : Limited access to health services, variations in quality of health care and pressure to contain escalation of health care cost are problems in health care systems that are faced by all the societies in the world especially in developing countries. There is an urgent need to conduct a study to assess perception of individual towards health care services in the new planned National Healthcare Financing Scheme.
Objective : The study objective is to examine the perception towards health care services among the farming community and to assess the willingness to contribute to The New National Health Financing Scheme.
Methods : A cross sectional study involving farmers in the state of Selangor in Peninsular Malaysia was conducted. A total of 400 farmers as the household head were selected using multistage random sampling method.
Results : The respondents’ mean score of perception towards public healthcare services were higher than the respondents’ mean score of perceptions towards private healthcare services except for accessibility and convenience aspects. There was no association between willingness to contribute to The New National Healthcare Financing Scheme and perception towards public healthcare services but there was association between willingness to contribute to The New National Healthcare Financing Scheme and perception towards private healthcare services.
Conclusion : Perception towards healthcare services is an important element in the implementation of The New National Healthcare Financing Scheme as it will determine the willingness of an individual to contribute to it.
Garis panduan saringan telinga tengah oleh American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) telah menyarankan agar pendekatan kuantitatif digunakan untuk menginterpretasi keputusan timpanogram. Berbanding pendekatan kualitatif yang digunapakai untuk menginterpretasi timpanogram sebelum ini, pendekatan kuantitatif adalah lebih sesuai kerana ianya bersifat objektif serta dapat diaplikasi dengan peralatan timpanometer komersial yang terdapat di pasaran sekarang. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mendapatkan nilai mutlak ciri timpanometri iaitu puncak statik admitan akustik dikompensasi (Puncak Ytm), kelebaran timpanogram (TW) dan isipadu salur telinga luar (Vea) di kalangan kanak-kanak pra-sekolah normal dan Sindrom Down. Lima belas kanak-kanak normal dan 12 kanak-kanak Sindrom Down yang memenuhi kriteria pemilihan subjek terlibat di dalam kajian ini. Nilai purata Puncak Ytm dan Vea bagi kanak-kanak normal masing-masing adalah 0.36 mmho dan 0.57 cm3 manakala kanak-kanak Sindrom Down mencatat nilai purata 0.14 mmho dan 0.38 cm3. Kanak-kanak normal dan Sindrom Down masingmasing mencatatkan nilai purata TW 99.73 dan 148.65 daPa. Analisis statistik menunjukkan terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan di antara kedua-dua kumpulan subjek bagi ketiga-tiga nilai parameter timpanometri yang diperolehi.