Three urban public primary schools in the district of Petaling, Selangor were surveyed for obesity amongst the schoolchildren and factors related to it. The prevalence of obesity amongst primary schoolchildren, with the mean age of 8.91 years was 9.5%. In addition, it was more prevalent among the boys (p
Acute appendicitis is one of the most common differential diagnoses for acute abdominal pain made by emergency doctors. Suspected cases require surgical referral for observation or definitive intervention to prevent complications. A high index of suspicion and good clinical skills with the aid of scoring systems allows early decision making, which includes optimal pain control. The objective of this study was to identify the pain score and is relationship to the cut-off points of the Alvarado scoring system so that justifies early surgical referral or discharge for suspected acute appendicitis from the Emergency Department of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC). This was a cross sectional study of acute abdominal pain from June 2007 to September 2008. All patients who fulfilled the criteria and consented to the study were assessed for Alvarado score, verbal numerical pain score (VNRS) and their subsequent management. Patients with an Alvarado score of ≥7 were likely to have acute appendicitis (80.1% sensitivity and 52.63% specificity) and those with the score of ≤3 were unlikely to have acute appendicitis. The median pain score was 7.00 (IQR: 5.00-8.50) but 72.5% did not receive any analgesia. There was no direct relationship between the pain score with Alvarado score. Oligoanalgesia in patients with acute appendicitis still exist in Emergency Department of UKMMC.
Gait and balance disorder are among the most common causes of falls in elderly and often lead to injury, disability and loss of independence. However, there might be a discrepancy between elderly’s perception of their own walking ability, balance, risk of fall with doctor’s evaluation. The aim of this study was to compare perception of the elderly’s walking ability, balance and risk of fall with clinical assessment. This cross sectional study was done in a Primary Care Clinic which involved elderly > 60 years using systematic random sampling. Participants completed a self-administered questionnaire comprising of sociodemographic data and question assessing their perception of ability of walking, balance and risk of fall. Actual clinical assessment was done using Tinetti Performance Oriented Mobility Assessment. Most of the participants perceived they had good walking (84.4%) and balance ability (77%). A small proportion (11.5%) agreed that they are at risk of fall. There was a good agreement in walking ability (k: 0.702, p:
Introduction : The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and the pattern of falls in community dwelling older people attending a primary care clinic in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Methods : A cross sectional study was conducted in an urban primary care clinic. Participants aged 60 years and older were included in the study. A structured questionnaire, assessing socio-demographic variables, medical and falls history was administered by one investigator over a 3-month period in 2004.
Results : A total of 151 respondents participated in this study with a response rate of 72%. The prevalence of falls was 47.0% over the previous 12-months period. Fifty-seven percent reported experiencing recurrent falls. Majority (61%) of falls occurred in the home and the two most common places were the bathroom (27%) and stairs (27%). Sixty-one percent of older people who fell, sustained an injury and most sought medical attention.
Conclusion : In conclusion, falls are common amongst older people attending this primary care clinic. It occurred commonly in the home in the bathroom and near stairs. However, a larger local community study is warranted to determine the prevalence and risk factors for falls in Malaysia.
Study site: primary care clinic in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Background: Somalia is a country that still practices Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Female genital mutilation (FGM) constitutes all procedures, which involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs whether for cultural or any other nontherapeutic reasons.
Methodology: A cross-sectional community based study was conducted among males and females above 18 years of age attending the Out Patient Clinic and Mother & Child Clinic of Elder District, Rural Hospital Galgadud Region, Somalia in June 2006 using a structured questionnaire to access the respondents’ knowledge, attitude and practice.
Results: Four hundred respondents were interviewed and male respondents were noted to be more knowledgeable than their female counterparts (p 0.004) and so does respondents with formal education (p <0.001) and had occupation (p <0.001). Majority of the female respondents (97.1%) favors the practices of FGM and reasons such as to protect virginity (p <0.001), increase marital opportunity (p <0.001) and religious recommendations (p <0.001) were noted to be the important
factors in the continuation of FGM. All of the female respondents have had some form of FGM, giving the prevalence rate of 100% with 64.1% underwent the procedure at between the age of 5-10 years old and the commonest form of FGM were infibulations. Mother (69.4%) was the important decision maker for these women.
Conclusion: Aggressive education programme should be introduced targeting the women in this community. They should be well informed on the complication of FGM and its health effects. Providing clinics will help to alleviate some of the complications related to FGM. Law on protecting women from these practices should be introduced and enforced.
Key Words: female genital mutilation, knowledge, attitude, practice
Study site: Clinic of Elder District, Rural Hospital Galgadud Region, Somalia
Introduction: Epidemiology of fungal infections in an infectious disease reference centre is different from other institutions. This study aimed to look at the scenario of fungal infections at an infectious disease reference centre in Malaysia. Methods: All positive fungal cultures from an infectious disease reference centre were identified by routine mycology laboratory methods. Patient demographic, laboratory and clinical data were collected and analyzed. Duplicate data were excluded. Results: Middle-aged Malay males were the most common group. However, increased proportions of Chinese, Myanmar and Indonesians reduced the Malay predominance in HIV-positive group. In all patients, Candida species represented 64.1% isolates, followed by Cryptococcus neoformans (14.7%) and Penicillium marneffei (14.7%). Among HIVpositive individuals, C. neoformans (37.9%) was the most common species, followed by P. marneffei (35.6%) and all Candida species (17.2%). In contrast to other non-infectious disease reference centres, common causes of fungaemia included P. marneffei (43.5%), Candida species (25.8%), C. neoformans (24.2%) and H. capsulatum (6.5%). Conclusion: The prevalence of fungal infection at an infectious disease reference centre is different from other non-infectious disease reference centres. This may have an impact on current antifungal practice especially empiric antifungal therapy, patient morbidity and mortality.
Background : Family planning is a method to control family size and to increase the intervals between chidbirths using multiple methods of contraceptives.
Objectives : This study aims to determine the pravelance of family planning practice among married women (wife less than 55 years old) and its related factors and also to determine the husbands knowledge on family planning and their support.
Methodology : This is a cross sectional study done through direct interviews amongst 118 married couples in Kampung Sesapan Batu Mingkabau, Hulu Langat Selangor.
Results : On family planning practise, 43.2% of couples is currently practising, 22.0% have practiced but stopped and 34.8% have never used any types of family planning methods. As high as 75% of wives received support from their husband to pratice family planning. There is a significant association between family planning practice and wife’s age, husband’s age, wife’s occupation, wife’s education, wife’s knowledge and husband’s support. Husband’s knowledge , number of live children and husband’s education have no significant assocation in influencing family planning practice.
Conclusion : To achieve better knowledge and family planning practises, husband’s involvement and support must be encouraged to ensure the correct informations and support are delivered to both couples. Approach through husbands is regarded as one of the key factors to the success of rural women family planning practice.
Introduction : Nursing is an occupation associated with high risk of developing back pain due to their nature of work practices. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of back pain among nurses working in government health clinics and hospitals in Port Dickson and the factors associated with it.
Methods : A cross sectional study was conducted involving 126 nurses working in government health clinics and district hospital in Port Dickson. They were universally sampled. A selfadministered questionnaire, assessing personal and socio-demographic characteristics, back pain, work factors and psychosocial factors.
Results :The prevalence of back pain among nurses was 79.4% and factors that showed significant association were workplace (p=0.026) and carried heavy load (p=0.043).
Conclusion : Where one work and nature of work one does has been shown in this study to be important issues to be considered in helping to manage back pain related to work. It is also recommended that staff need to be encouraged to do exercise to strengthen the back muscles, increase spinal flexibility and blood circulation to the spine as well as need to be reminded regarding ergonomic adjustment at work.
This study aimed to determine the psychosocial factors associated with school truancy in secondary school students attending three high risk schools in Kuala Lumpur. It is a cross-sectional study involving 373 Form Four students. Socio demographic, family, living and school characteristics of the respondents were obtained through self-administered questionnaires. There were significantly greater percentage of divorced parents (p=0.025, OR=2.52, 1.01
A cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2009 till May 2010 to determine the quality of life and factors influencing it among physically disabled teenagers. Data were collected from 59 physically disabled teenagers using guided questionnaire Short Form 36 (SF-36) and General Health Questionnaires 12 (GHQ 12). Quality of life among physically disabled teenagers is low for most domains of SF-36 as compared to the general Malaysian population. There was significant difference in quality of life among different races (mental health domain) and among different educational level and type of disability (physical functioning domain). There was no significant association between general health domain and other variables. Higher satisfaction in house, school and recreational environment showed a better quality of life. Higher stress level had a lower quality of life. Lack of disabled friendly environment at home, school and recreational places probably contribute to their quality of life. Schools and public places should have more disabled friendly facilities to improve independency and accessibility. Better education and training will increase their independence and enhance self-confidence. More attention and support at this age is important for them to develop interpersonal skills and character for their future.