METHODS: This was a registry-based, cross-sectional study. All the CRC cases reported by 18 hospitals to the National Cancer Patient Registry - Colorectal Cancer (NCPR-CC) between January 2007 and December 2017 were included in the analysis. The patients were categorized by age into the above-50 and under-50 groups. The changes in the age-standardized incidence and mortality rates of both the age groups were determined using the time-series analysis, and the impact of age on the mortality risk was assessed using the Cox regression analysis.
RESULTS: Of the 6,172 CRC patients enrolled in the NCPR-CC, 893 (14.5%) were in the under-50 group. As compared with their older counterparts, the patients in the under-50 group were more likely to be female, be of Malay ethnicity, be non-smokers, have a family history of CRC, and present late for treatment. The age-standardized incidence and mortality rates of CRC in the under-50 group remained stable over the years, while a decreasing trend was clearly seen in the mortality rates of CRC in the above-50 group (p=0.003). Nevertheless, the two age groups also did not differ in the mortality risk (adjusted hazards ratio: 1.10; 95% CI: 0.90, 1.36).
CONCLUSION: Young-onset CRC constituted a considerable proportion of CRC cases in Malaysia. However, in contrast with the findings of most studies, it demonstrated neither an uptrend in age-standardized incidence rates nor a higher mortality risk. Our findings suggest the need to upscale and lower the recommended age for CRC screening in Malaysia.
METHOD: Eligible healthy Malay volunteers were invited to undergo the high-resolution esophageal manometry (inSIGHT Ultima, Diversatek Healthcare, Milwaukee, WI, USA). In recumbent and standing positions, test swallows were performed using liquid, viscous, and solid materials. Metrics including integrated relaxation pressure 4 s (IRP-4 s, mmHg), distal contractile integral (DCI, mmHg s cm), distal latency (DL, s), and peristaltic break (PB, cm) were reported in median and 95th percentile.
RESULTS: Fifty of 57 screened participants were recruited, and 586 saline, 265 viscous, and 261 solid swallows were analyzed. Per-patient wise, in the recumbent position, 95th percentile for IRP-4 s, DCI, DL, and PB were 16.5 mmHg, 2431 mmHg s cm, 8.5 s, and 7.2 cm, respectively. We observed that with each posture, the use of viscous swallows led to changes in DL, but the use of solid swallows led to more changes in the metrics including DCI and length of PB. Compared with a recumbent posture, anupright posture led to lower IRP-4 s and DCI values. Both per-patient analysis and per-swallow analyses yielded almost similar results when comparing the different postures and types of swallows. No major motility disorders were observed in this cohort of asymptomatic population. However, more motility disorders were reported in the upright position.
CONCLUSIONS: Variations in metrics can be observed in different postures and with different provocative swallow materials in a healthy population. The normative Chicago 3.0 metrics are also determined for the Malay population.
METHODS: Each alloy was immersed in growth medium for 0-21 days, and the elution was analyzed to detect the released metals. The elution was further used as the treatment medium and exposed to seeded HGFs overnight. The HGFs were also cultured directly to the titanium alloy for 1, 3 and 7 days. Cell viability was then determined.
RESULTS: Six metal elements were detected in the immersion of titanium alloys. Among these elements, molybdenum released from Ti-10Mo-10Cr had the highest concentration throughout the immersion period. Significant difference in the viability of fibroblast cells treated with growth medium containing metals and with direct exposure technique was not observed. The duration of immersion did not significantly affect cell viability. Nevertheless, cell viability was significantly affected after 1 and 7 days of exposure, when the cells were grown directly onto the alloy surfaces.
CONCLUSIONS: Within the limitation of this study, the newly developed β-titanium alloys are non-cytotoxic to human gingival fibroblasts.
Methods: This study involved semi-structure in-depth interview with fifteen healthcare professionals from a training hospital focused on: (i) the existing issues and challenges encountered while managing patients for their nutrition and care and (ii) issues related to the current practice among healthcare professionals. Details pertaining to the participants' verbal and non-verbal responses were recorded, transcribed ad verbatim and analysed using themes codes.
Results: Patients' attitude and behaviour, language barriers and prioritising time were found as the common problems with patients, while limited knowledge on the relationship between diabetes-periodontitis, limited availability of appropriate and cultural-based health educational tools, lack of inter-professional multidisciplinary collaboration in managing patients, and constrains in time as well as costly therapy were common issues in the current practice.
Conclusions: Cost-effective efforts must be focused on overcoming these issues besides emphasizing the needs on developing an integrated module to achieve better management outcomes.
OBJECTIVES: The current study aims at motivating readers to help improve students' attitudes towards research work within the university context.
METHOD: The target demographic of the current research comprises masters and doctoral students from three major public institutions in Xi'an, China. We aimed to examine the effects of the variables and the study employed correlation and stepwise regression.
RESULTS: The results show that advisor support influences attitudes towards research positively and significantly (β= 0.20, p
AIM OF THE STUDY: To assess the effectiveness of miswak in maintaining periodontal health among adults.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the effect of miswak published in PubMed, EBSCOHOST (Dentistry & Oral Sciences), SCOPUS, and Cochrane Database for Systematic Review (CDSR) from inception to May 08, 2022. The primary outcomes of interest were changes in the periodontal health measured with plaque and gingivitis scores as well as subgingival bacteria load. The quality of evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) approach while the estimates of effect were pooled using a random-effects model.
RESULTS: Ten eligible articles were identified, of which 9 could be analysed quantitatively. The remaining report was included as part of the qualitative analysis. The meta-analysis showed that miswak was comparable with the toothbrush in reducing the mean plaque score (p= 0.08, SMD: 0.39, and 95% CI: -0.05 to 0.83) and mean gingivitis score (p= 0.37, SMD: 0.13, and 95% CI: -0.16 to 0.43). Even higher certainty of evidence for the effect of miswak on mean plaque reduction on labial surface of anterior teeth. However, the adjunctive effect of miswak was significantly more superior for reducing plaque (p= 0.01, SMD: 0.68, and 95% CI: 0.14 to 1.22) and gingivitis score (p= 0.04, SMD: 0.66, and 95% CI: 0.03 to 1.29).
CONCLUSIONS: Miswak effectively reduced plaque and gingivitis scores to a level comparable to toothbrush when used exclusively. Adjunctive miswak use was particularly effective in improving periodontal health. However, the included studies inadequately reported on the method of toothbrushing using miswak and the frequency of miswak use. Therefore, further clinical studies are recommended to explore on the advantages and proper method of miswak practice for optima outcome and safety.