METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study involving IC attending a PCU. Caregiver burden and psychological manifestations were measured using previously translated and validated Zarit Burden Interview and DASS-21 questionnaires respectively. Two hundred forty-nine samples were selected for analysis.
RESULT: The mean ZBI score was 23.33 ± 13.7. About half of the population 118(47.4%) was found to experienced caregiver burden whereby majority have mild to moderate burden 90(36.1%). The most common psychological manifestation among IC is anxiety 74(29.7%) followed by depression 51(20.4%) and stress 46(18.5%). Multiple logistic regression demonstrated that women who are IC to patients with non-malignancy were less likely to experience caregiver burden. IC who were highly educated and spent more than 14 h per day caregiving were at least twice likely to experience caregiver burden. Finally, those with symptoms of depression and anxiety were three times more likely to suffer from caregiver burden.
CONCLUSION: Caregiver burden among IC to palliative patients is prevalent in this population. IC who are men, educated, caregiving for patients with malignancy, long hours of caregiving and have symptoms of depression and anxiety are at risk of developing caregiver burden. Targeted screening should be implemented and IC well-being should be given more emphasis in local policies.
PURPOSE: We present eight cases of patients with choroidal melanoma referred to Hospital Serdang, a tertiary centre for oculoplastic issues, from 2021 to 2022.
METHOD: A retrospective case series of patients diagnosed with choroidal melanoma and referred to the Oculoplastic Clinic, Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital Serdang, was undertaken.
RESULTS: A total of eight cases of choroidal melanoma were identified, with a median age of 65 years. Six of them were female, and two were male. There were five of Malay ethnicity, and three were Chinese. Progressive reduced vision (n = 6), noticeable ocular mass (n = 3), and visual field defect (n = 2) were the most common presenting symptoms. The mean tumour thickness was 21.25 mm (range = 10-56 mm), and the largest basal diameter ranged from 10 mm to 53 mm (mean = 22.5 mm). Most were large tumours (n = 7) and above the T3a stage. The level of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was elevated in three cases. Histopathologically, five of the tumours were epithelioid, while the other three were mixed types. All patients underwent enucleation (n = 5) and exenteration (n = 3) with one recurrence. One patient had liver metastasis on the diagnosis of choroidal melanoma.
CONCLUSION: In Malaysia, there is an increasing number of cases of choroidal melanoma. Clinical evaluation remained the mainstay of diagnosis. Treatment should be based on multifactorial prognostication in addition to tumour size. The LDH level may be necessary for providing inexpensive but valuable prognostication and monitoring markers.
Objectives: To identify and prioritize learning needs based on self-perceived competence of ward pharmacists in AMS, to identify predictors of self-perceived competence, learning methods in AMS and perceived barriers to learning.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey involving ward pharmacists from Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz (HCTM) and hospitals under the Ministry of Health was conducted from May to July 2018.
Results: A total of 553 ward pharmacists from 67 hospitals responded to this survey (71.3% response rate). Knowledge of infections, antimicrobials and AMS systems, confidence to advise on various issues relating to antimicrobial therapy and participation in clinical audit and evaluation were among the learning needs identified (median score 3.00). Meanwhile, knowledge on the epidemiology of infections, off-label use of antimicrobials and pharmacoeconomics relating to antimicrobials had lower median scores (2.00) and were thus prioritized as high learning needs. Significant predictors of self-perceived competence in AMS were: gender (P