METHODS: A nationwide data set was examined for this secondary data analysis. The dependent variable was the degree of risk, which was measured based on the number of high-risk behaviours in which adolescents participated. Age, gender, ethnicity, self-rated academic performance, family size, parental marital status and parental academic attainment were included as independent variables. Analyses stratified by educational level were conducted. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated using ordered logit.
RESULTS: The most common high-risk behaviour among Malaysian adolescents was physical inactivity (35.97%), followed by smoking (13.27%) and alcohol consumption (4.45%). The majority of adolescents had low risks (52.93%), while only a small proportion had high risks (6.08%). Older age was associated with increased odds of having high risks (OR: 1.26). Male adolescents had higher odds of being in a high-risk category compared to female adolescents (OR: 1.28). Compared to Malays, Chinese adolescents had higher odds of being in a high-risk category (OR: 1.71), whereas Indian adolescents had lower odds (OR: 0.65). Excellent academic performance was associated with reduced odds of participating in high-risk behaviours (OR: 0.41).
CONCLUSION: Personal factors are important determinants of high-risk behaviours. This study provides a better understanding of those adolescent groups that are at greater risk.
PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: An intervention directed towards reducing participation in high-risk behaviours among adolescents who have both poor academic performance and less-educated parents may yield promising outcomes.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted between January and December 2012. A total of 350 adult patients in a teaching hospital were screened for risk of malnutrition using 3-MinNS and Subjective Global Assessment (SGA). To assess interrater reliability, each patient was screened for risk of malnutrition using 3-MinNS by 2 different nurses on 2 different occasions within 24 hours after admission. To assess the validity of 3-MinNS, the level of risk of malnutrition identified by the nurses using 3-MinNS was compared with the risk of malnutrition as assessed by a dietitian using SGA within 48 hours after the patients' enrolment into the study. The sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values were calculated in detecting patients at risk of malnutrition. Interrater reliability was determined using κ statistics.
RESULTS: Using SGA, the estimated prevalence of moderate to severe malnutrition was 36.3% (127/350). There was 94% proportional agreement between 2 nurses using 3-MinNS, and interrater reliability was substantial (κ = 0.79, P < .001). The analysis showed that 3-MinNS had moderate sensitivity (61.4%-68.5%) but high specificity (95.1%).
CONCLUSIONS: The 3-MinNS is a reliable and valid screening tool for use by healthcare professionals for identifying newly admitted medical and surgical patients who are at risk of malnutrition.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: A nationally representative data of adolescents that consists of 25399 respondents is used. The demographic (age, gender, education) and lifestyle (fruits and vegetables consumption, carbonated soft drink consumption, cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, sex behaviour, participation in physical education class, obesity) determinants of physical activity are assessed using binomial regression.
RESULTS: The results show that age is negatively associated with time spent in physical activity. However, being male and education levels are positively related to time spent in physical activity. Having unhealthy lifestyle and being obese are associated with low levels of physical activity. Physical education seems to promote participation in physical activity.
CONCLUSION: In conclusion, demographic and lifestyle factors play an important role in determining levels of physical activity among adolescents. In order to reduce the prevalence of physically inactive adolescents, policy makers should focus primarily on late adolescents, females, adolescents who engage in unhealthy lifestyle and seldom attend physical education classes, as well as obese adolescents.
METHODS: The National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2017 (n = 8230) was used for analyses. It was a nationwide survey conducted in Malaysia. The dependent variables were measured by three risk behaviors (cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking and use of illicit drugs). Probit regressions were utilized to examine the effect of mental health on the probability of smoking, drinking and using illicit drugs. Demographic and lifestyle factors were used as the control variables. Truancy was identified as a mediating variable.
RESULTS: Anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation affected cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking and use of illicit drugs through mediation of truancy. After controlling for demographic and lifestyle factors, students with anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation were more likely to smoke, drink and use illicit drugs compared with their peers without any mental health disorders. Furthermore, the likelihood of consuming cigarettes, alcohol and illicit drugs was found to be higher among students who played truant than those who did not.
CONCLUSION: Mental health plays an important role in determining participation in risk behaviors among ethnic minority students in Malaysia. Public health administrators and schools have to be aware that students who suffer from mental health disorders are likely to indulge in risk behaviors.
METHODS: Data from four population-based National Health and Morbidity Surveys conducted in 1996, 2006, 2010, and 2015 were pooled. Hierarchical Age-Period-Cohort (HAPC) analysis explored the trajectories of BMI and waist circumference across the life course and birth cohorts by sex and ethnicity. These models assumed no period effect.
RESULTS: Generally, BMI and waist circumference trajectories increased across age and birth cohorts. These trajectories varied by sex and ethnicity. Females have more profound increasing BMI and waist circumference trajectories than their male counterparts as they age and as cohort recency increases. Chinese have less profound BMI and waist circumference increases across the life course and birth cohorts than other ethnic groups.
CONCLUSIONS: The profound increasing cohort trajectories of obesity, regardless of sex and ethnicity, are alarming. Future studies should focus on identifying factors associated with the less profound cohort effect among the Chinese to reduce the magnitude of trajectories in obesity, particularly among future generations.
DESIGN AND MEASURES: Data were analysed from the Global School-Based Student Health Survey Timor-Leste (n = 3455). An ordered probit model was used to assess the effects of demographic, lifestyle, social, and psychological factors on different levels of worry-related sleep problems (i.e., no, mild and severe sleep problems).
RESULTS: School-going adolescents were more likely to face mild or severe worry-related sleep problems if they were older, passive smokers, alcohol drinkers and moderately active. School-going adolescents who sometimes or always went hungry were more likely to experience worry-related sleep problems than those who did not. Involvement in physical fights, being bullied, and loneliness were positively associated with the probability of having modest or severe worry-related sleep problems.
CONCLUSION: Age, exposure to second-hand smoke, alcohol consumption, physical activity, going hungry, physical fights, being bullied and loneliness are the important determining factors of adolescent worry-related sleep problems. Policymakers should pay special attention to these factors when formulating intervention measures.
METHOD: Data from the Tobacco and E-Cigarette Survey among Malaysian Adolescents (n = 13,117) were analysed. Ordered probit models were used to assess factors associated with passive smoking risk perception (i.e. not harmful, probably not harmful, probably harmful, harmful).
RESULTS: About one-third of adolescents did not perceive that passive smoking was harmful (30.4%). Adolescents with the perception that passive smoking was not harmful were more likely to be students at low grade levels, be males, be non-Malays and be low-pocket-money recipients and those who used e-cigarettes and who smoked. Being aware of anti-smoking advertisements (direct effect = 0.174; indirect effect = 0.012) and taught on the dangers of smoking (direct effect = 0.179; indirect effect = 0.003) partially mediated the positive relationship between grade levels and perceived risk of passive smoking.
CONCLUSION: Policies implemented to reduce exposure to passive smoking should highlight the important role of demographic factors, lifestyle profiles, anti-smoking advertisements and education about the dangers of smoking in improving passive smoking risk perception among adolescents.
AIM: To describe demographic patterns, histopathological findings, and locations of oral and maxillofacial lesions in newborns (birth-1 month) and infants (>1 month-2 years) reported over 51 years.
DESIGN: A retrospective cross-sectional study on histopathological records of newborns and infants was conducted. Patients' demographic characteristics (age, gender, and race), histopathological diagnosis, and lesion's location were gathered. Pearson's chi-square or Fisher's exact test was performed to determine associations between demographic characteristics and different categories of lesions.
RESULTS: Out of 66,546 specimens received, 0.44% (290 specimens) were from patients aged 2 years and younger (27 newborns and 263 infants). The most common category was inflammatory/reactive (44.2%), followed by tumour/tumour-like (42.0%), cystic/pseudocystic (6.6%), and miscellaneous lesions (5.5%). Mucous extravasation cysts (23.4%) and Langerhans cell histiocytosis (7.2%) were the most common histopathological diagnoses. Tumour/tumour-like lesions were significant in newborns (P = .021), and majority were congenital epulis (40.7%). Inflammatory/reactive lesions were significantly higher in male (P = .025) and infants (P =