METHODOLOGY: A qualitative case study approach was used to explore and understand how doctors volunteering online balances between work and family in a Health Virtual Community called DoktorBudak.com (DB). A total of seventeen (17) doctors were interviewed using either face-to-face, Skype, phone interview or through email.
RESULTS: The results of this study suggested that doctors perceived the physical border at their workplace as less permeable though the ICT has freed them from the restriction to perform other non-related work (such as online volunteering (OV) works) during working hours. In addition, doctors OV use ICTs to perform work at home or during working hours, they perceive their work and family borders as flexible. Furthermore, the doctors used different strategies when it came to blending, whether to segment or integrate their work and family domains.
CONCLUSION: This study has defined issues on work-family balance and OV. Most importantly this study had discussed the conceptual framework of work-family balance focusing on doctors volunteering online and how they have incorporated ICTs such as Internet technology to negotiate the work-family boundaries, which are permeable, flexible and blending.
Methods: Patients with chronic constipation (Rome III) were evaluated for DD with HRPT and WM during bearing-down "on-bed" without inflated rectal balloon and "on-commode (toilet)" with 60-mL inflated rectal balloon. Eleven healthy volunteers were also evaluated.
Results: Ninety-three of 117 screened participants (F/M = 77/16) were included. Balloon expulsion time was abnormal (＞ 60 seconds) in 56% (mean 214.4 seconds). A modest correlation between HRPT and WM was observed for sphincter length (R = 0.4) and likewise agreement between dyssynergic subtypes (κ = 0.4). During bearing down, 2 or more anal pressure-segments (distal and proximal) could be appreciated and their expansion measured with HRPT but not WM. In constipated vs healthy participants, the proximal segment was more expanded (2.0 cm vs 1.0 cm, P = 0.003) and of greater pressure (94.8 mmHg vs 54.0 mmHg, P = 0.010) during bearing down on-commode but not on-bed.
Conclusions: Because of its better resolution, HRPT may identify more structural and functional abnormalities including puborectal dysfunction (proximal expansion) than WM. Bearing down on-commode with an inflated rectal balloon may provide additional dimension in characterizing DD.
Materials and Methods: The odorant descriptors and distractors of the original version of Sniffin' Sticks were translated into Malay language. It was then tested for familiarity and identifiability in 30 normosmic subjects. The descriptors were replaced until the familiarity of all descriptors and identification rates of odorants achieved ≥ 70%. The validity of the new cultural-adapted version was tested in 60 hypo-anosmic subjects and 60 normosmic subjects with Student t-test. The test-retest reliability was evaluated after two weeks with interclass correlation.
Results: Two odorant descriptors and nine distractors achieved familiarity <70% (13.3% - 66.7%) and were replaced. Another three culturally inappropriate distractors were also replaced. The mean score among the healthy subjects was significantly higher than the subject with smell dysfunction [13.7 (1.12) and 7.3 (3.42); t = 7.24 (df = 34.23), P<0.001]. The coefficient of correlation (r) between test and retest scores was 0.93 (P<0.001).
Conclusion: The cultural adapted Malaysian version of Sniffin' Sticks smell identification test is valid and has high test-retest reliability. This is the first smell identification test validated in Malaysia. It is effective for evaluation of olfactory function in local population.