Mental health outcome among teachers has become an escalating problems in many countries. Mental health now- adays has becoming a public health issue. Teachers were not an exclusion from this issue. Several studies did point out teachers with poor mental health status has become an increasing problems in many countries. A total of 272 teachers from the urban, rural and industrial areas participated in this cross sectional study in the Klang Valley. The objective was to determine the risk factors associated with mental health among primary school teachers. The teachers’ mental and physical health status were measured using questionnaires. Respondents were given a set of questionnaire which consisted 5 parts, namely socio-demographic and background status, occupational information and medical history obtained from the first part of questionnaire. The other part consisted of the General Health Questionnaire, Teachers’ Stress Inventory, Modified Nordic Questionnaire and American Thoracic Society for Adult. There was no difference in the background of the groups of teachers except for the educational level (p
Introduction: : The increased pesticide usage is due to intensification of agricultural sector. Pesticide is known to give
an adverse effect to human health and environment. This study aims to investigate the level of knowledge, attitude
and practice (KAP) on pesticide exposure among farmers. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among
vegetable and fruits farmers in the district of Kota Bharu, Kelantan. A modified KAP questionnaire was adapted and
interviewed among 144 respondents. KAP level was constructed from the scores obtained. Results: About 85.4%
of them were males with mean age of 48 years old, and 66% of them finished secondary school. The respondents’
complaint that they had experienced symptoms such as excessive sweating (34.7%), blurred vision (27.1%) and
numbness in legs (22.9%). Around 63% of farmers stored the pesticide bottle at designated place, while 62% wore
personal protective equipment during spraying pesticides. About 61.1% of respondents had moderate knowledge
of the pesticide used, 56.3% of them showed a not concern level of attitude towards pesticide usage, and 21.5% of
them indicated a good practice while handling the pesticide. Significant correlation was observed between attitude
with knowledge and practice (p
Introduction: Soil pollution with heavy metals inadvertent to food contamination resulting from root-soil
heavy metal uptake is of great concern. The aim of this study was to determine the concentration of
heavy metals such as lead (Pb), iron (Fe) and copper (Cu) and cadmium (Cd), in soil and vegetables.
Methods: Using systematic grid sampling, 54 soil samples and 18 vegetable samples were collected from
Kampung Binjai Manis, Kota Bharu and Kampung Aman, Kandis, Bachok, Kelantan. Soil and vegetables samples
were dried, extracted by acid digestion process and analysed using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy.
Results: The overall mean concentration of heavy metal in soil measured in descending order in
Kampung Binjai Manis was Fe (958.53 mg/kg) > Pb (26.07 mg/kg) > Cu (11.83 mg/kg) > Cd (0.66 mg/kg).
Whereas, the overall mean concentration of heavy metal measured in descending order in Kampung Aman
was Fe (461.18 mg/kg) > Cu (8.25 mg/kg) > Pb (2.48 mg/kg) > Cd (0.27 mg/kg). There were significant different
in the mean concentration of Pb, Fe and Cd between Kampung Binjai Manis and Kampung Aman.
In vegetables, only Cu shows significant different between Kampung Binjai Manis and Kampung Aman.
Significant correlations were found between soil and vegetables in Kampung Binjai Manis for
Cu (r= 0.861, p= 0.003) and Cd (r= 0.933, p= 0.001). Conclusion: The mean concentration of heavy
metal in soil and vegetables at Kampung Binjai Manis and Kampung Aman were above the permissible
limit as set by the Department of Environment and World Health Organisation.
Introduction: The use of pesticides in pest management has increased rapidly and occupational exposures had adversely affect human health. This study investigated the types of pesticides used and their neurobehavioral effects towards mosquito control workers. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 46 Kelantanese mosquito control workers in two vector control units by using purposive sampling. Risk assessment on pesticides was based on the Chemical Health Risk Assessment (CHRA). A questionnaire was used to assess neurobehavioral symptoms and neurobehavioral performance was conducted using the Neurobehavioral Core Test Battery (NCTB). The individuals’ cumulative pesticide exposure was calculated by average fogging session within a month (session/month) and multiplying with the average duration for each fogging session (hours/session). Results: The risk level was moderate for all pesticides, except for Actellic 50 EC. Neurobehavioral symptoms reported were fatigue after work (80.4%), drowsiness (39.1%), fatigue after wake-up early in the morning (32.6%), and dizziness (32.6%). None of the reported neurobehavioral symptoms was associated with cumulative pesticide exposure (p > 0.05). Cumulative pesticide exposure was associated with Digit Symbol (Adj OR = -0.19, 95% CI: -0.37,-0.01), Digit Span (Backward) (Adj OR = -0.28, 95% CI: -0.31,-0.05), Trail Making (A) (Adj OR = -0.32, 95% CI: -0.37,-0.01),
Minnesota Manual Dexterity (Dominant) (Adj OR = -0.20, 95% CI: -0.38,-0.03), and Minnesota Manual Dexterity
(Non-dominant) (Adj OR = -0.18, 95% CI: -0.36,-0.01). Conclusion: Cumulative pesticides exposures are associated with the perceptual-motor speed, short-term auditory memory, attention, and coordination. Effective risk communication is proposed as one strategy to reduce pesticide exposure in occupational setting.