IIUM Medical Journal Malaysia (IMJM)
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The Effect of Listening to Al-Quran Recitation among Uncontrolled Hypertensive Muslim Patients Attending Primary Care Clinic in Kelantan, Malaysia: A Randomised Control Trial
Get PDFIntroduction: Prevalence of hypertension in Malaysia has been increasing over the years. Despite varieties of treatment, a large proportion of hypertensive patients still have uncontrolled blood pressure. Several non-pharmacological approaches have been used as non-pharmacological management to reduce blood pressure. This study intended to determine the effect of listening to Quran recitation on blood pressure among Muslim patients with uncontrolled hypertension. Material and Method: This study was a randomized controlled trial involving 202 Muslim patients with uncontrolled hypertension. They were randomly allocated to either listening to Quran recitation group or control group. Blood pressure (BP) and heart rate were measured at baseline and after the intervention. Results: In the intervention group, the mean changes in systolic BP and diastolic BP were -5.9 and -3.8mmHg respectively while for heart rate was -4.06 bpm. In the control group, the mean changes in systolic BP and diastolic BP were -1.68 and -1.84 mmHg respectively while for heart rate was -1.39 bpm. ANCOVA analysis showed that the mean changes in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and heart rate between intervention and control group were statistically significant (P values = 0.001). Conclusions: This study showed a reduction of blood pressure immediately after listening to Quran recitation. However, a longer study on listening to Quran needs to be done to show a sustained decrease of BP of the patient.
A Single Centre Case-Series of Covid-19 Infection in Kidney Transplant Recipients
Get PDFINTRODUCTION: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) has mutated over time, affecting its virulence, pathogenicity and disease severity. In December 2019, a new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has emerged causing a disease known as coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The COVID-19 has a broad spectrum of severity ranging from an asymptomatic to a severe acute respiratory syndrome requiring mechanical ventilation. COVID-19 is often more severe in people aged 60 years or more, or those with health conditions like lung or heart disease, diabetes, or conditions that affect the immune system including kidney transplant recipients. In this case series, we presented our experience with 17 kidney transplant recipients who had COVID-19 infection. In India, COVID-19 peaked twice: once between August and November 2020, and again between March and June 2021. Thus, there was paucity of COVID-19 data in kidney transplant recipients in India during these times. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Our case series constituted a retrospective observational study involving 17 kidney transplant recipients who experienced COVID-19 infection from November 2020 to September 2021 at a solitary tertiary care center in Pune. Within our institution, the nephrology team assessed kidney transplant recipients with COVID-19 for appropriate immunosuppression dosing, renal drug clearance when deemed necessary, and overall well-being. Treatment for COVID-19 adhered to institutional protocols. RESULTS: In our case series, majority of the patients (n=13) had COVID-19 in March 2021 to July 2021 and the commonest presenting symptoms were fever and cough. Out of 17 kidney transplant recipients included in this case series, 13 patients survived while 4 patients succumbed to infection. CONCLUSION: An individualized, case-based approach to managing transplant recipients with COVID-19 is crucial for achieving favorable clinical outcomes
A Teenage Girl with Large Lung Mass
Get PDFExtraskeletal Ewing Sarcoma is rarely reported. A fifteen-year-old girl presented with the right-sided pleuritic chest pain, shortness of breath, and productive cough with whitish sputum associated with poor oral intake. She subsequently underwent contrast-enhanced Computerized Tomography thorax, which showed lobulated heterogenous hypodensity occupying the entrance of the right superior pulmonary vein, extending to the left atrium
A Case Series of RT-QuIC Positive Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease-First Two Cases from Malaysia
Get PDFCreutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is invariably a fatal neurodegenerative disorder that presents rapidly progressive dementia with multifaceted involvement of the nervous system. In this case series, we present case reports of two elderly patients diagnosed with sporadic CJD who presented with rapid progression of cognitive decline and myoclonus. Supportive findings on further investigations included cortical ribboning on diffusion-weighted MRI brain; generalised periodic complexes on electroencephalogram with positive cerebrospinal fluid 14-3-3 and pathogenic prion protein (PrPSc) detection on RT QuIC confirming the diagnosis of sporadic CJD in both cases to a great extent
Contextual, Radiological Anatomy (RA) Learning needs Evaluation for Curricular Improvement
Get PDFINTRODUCTION: As a part of the MBBS curriculum review exercise, University of Cyberjaya (UoC), Malaysia had come up with a study to investigate the feedback and learning needs pertaining to radiological anatomy (RA) in pre-clinical teaching. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A single-institutional survey of all five-year medical students was done using an adapted instrument which had both open and close-ended questions on the radiological anatomy teaching received so far and the perception on the teaching methods and content. 405 respondents out of 503 (80%) (year 1=115, year 2= 78, year 3=79, year 4=78, year 5=55) replied. There were totally 136 male and 269 female respondents. RESULTS: Though the overall student learning time (SLT) was adequate, year 3 students (62%) reported inadequate radiological anatomy SLT. Pre[1]clinical students (57.5%) reported more of formal radiological anatomy teaching while clinical students indicated informal teaching (Informal: 15.1 %, Even mix of formal and informal: 56.6 %). Female students reported higher response of adequate SLT (69.1%) and formal teaching (46.9%) compared to males. Small group learning such as gross anatomy practical sessions, problem-based learning, clinical skills teaching, and clinical correlates sessions were recommended. Abdomen and thorax were the most preferred regions where radiological anatomy could be explored further. X-ray followed by CT and MRI were the most favoured radiological modalities to learn topographical anatomy. CONCLUSION: The study provided sound feedback on the existing radiological anatomy teaching practices. Data shows stark contrast between the needs of the students and the current practices indicating that it is quite substantial for curriculum review
Covid-19 Pandemic: Help-seeking for Smoking Cessation among Adult Smokers in Malaysia during the Full Movement Control Order (FMCO)
Get PDFINTRODUCTION: In Malaysia, the annual death due to smoking habits recorded as more than 23 thousand yearly. Hence smoking cessation should be emphasized to reduce the annual mortality and morbidity. The purpose of this study is to identify the help-seeking behavior in smoking cessation among adult smokers and to determine its influencing factors during the Full Movement Control Order (FMCO) in Malaysia. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Data were collected from cross-sectional surveys of Malaysian adult smokers. The questionnaire was distributed online through the official social media account of the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOHM) which commenced from 31st May 2021 in conjunction with the World No Tobacco Day. A multivariate binomial logistic regression was employed to analyze the relationship model between the predictors with the help-seeking for smoking cessation. RESULT: Out of 2,545 Malaysian adult smokers who have responded, 2,303 were males (90.5% of respondents) with mean age(sd) of 34.82(8.11) years (18 to 77 years). Slightly half (n=1353, 53%) have reported seeking help for smoking cessation and (n=1468, 57.7%) reported being unaware of the quitline services. Factors, such as quit smoking attempt (OR; 1.844, 95% CI = 1.384-2.458), Covid-19 pandemic situation (OR; 1.841, 95% CI= 1.553-2.183), being married (OR: 1.279, 95% CI = 1.04-1.57), unaware about quitline services (OR; 0.660, 95% CI = 0.557-0.781), non-alcohol drinkers (OR; 0.658, 95% CI = 0.473-0.916) significantly predicted the behaviour of help-seeking for smoking cessation. CONCLUSION: The results of this study would potentially support public health efforts in Malaysia in further enhancing health promotion and education programs as well as further strengthen the policy towards quit smoking issues
Reliability and Validity Study on Work Safety Culture Questionnaire (WSCQ) among Government Office Worker using Information Motivation and Behavior (IMB) Model
Get PDFINTRODUCTION: The Workplace Safety Culture Questionnaire (WSCQ) was developed to assess the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices on Workplace Safety Culture (WSC) among public sector office workers in Nigeria. The main objective of this study was to determine the validity and reliability of the new Workplace Safety Culture Questionnaire (WSCQ) using the Information Motivation and Behavior (IMB) model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The WSCQ questionnaire was completed twice by the respondents themselves, with an interval of ten days between sessions, to assess the accuracy of the initial results with the retest. This study involved 44 participants. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha showed significant item consistency for each construct in the second pilot study. The information construct (Cronbach's α=0.929 and minimum corrected item-total correlation (CITC)=0.399). The motivation construct (Cronbach's α=0.932 and minimum corrected item-total correlation (CITC)=0.450). The behavior construct (Cronbach's α=0.812 and minimum corrected item-total correlation (CITC)= 0.401). In test-retest reliability, Cohen's kappa coefficient for construct of information for all items was almost 70% between (kappa k=0.689-1000, p<0.001). The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for the construct of motivation for all items is 90% between (ICC=0.810-1000, p><0.001) and (kappa k=0.944-1000, p><0.001) for the construct of behavior was 71% for all items. CONCLUSION: This study introduces the WSCQ using the IMB model among public sector office workers as the first official validation of the WSCQ.>
Bibliometric Analysis of Global Research on Long-Acting Reversible Contraception and Healthcare Workers
Get PDFINTRODUCTION: Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) is a feasible solution to reduce unintended pregnancy and abortion rates. Nonetheless, the worldwide prevalence of LARC remains low. The LARC uptake depends heavily on healthcare workers because every LARC insertion requires a clinician’s visit, and they are a trusted source of contraceptive information. The study is aimed to explore the trend and distributions of global publications related to LARC and healthcare workers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Articles related to LARC and healthcare workers were retrieved from the Scopus database. Eligible publications were limited to research articles, reviews, and conference papers published in the English language with no date restriction. The bibliometric data was analysed using Biblioshiny to obtain distributions in terms of the number of publications, journals, countries, institutions, citations, and keywords. RESULTS: A total of 681 eligible publications related to LARC and healthcare workers were retrieved from the Scopus database between 1967 to 2022. The number of publications was low for the first four decades but increased steadily from 2010 onwards. The leading country in this research area was the United States of America and the majority of the most productive institutions were from this country. Half of the frequently cited publications highlighted healthcare workers’ bias, attitude, and practice on LARC provision to clients. CONCLUSION: This bibliometric analysis can guide scholars to understand the global overview of research about LARC and healthcare workers. It may be useful for health practitioners and researchers who are interested in exploring this research area
Glyphosate Suppresses the Ability of PON1 to Hydrolyse Oxidized-LDL in the Exposed Farm Workers in Pahang, Malaysia
Get PDFINTRODUCTION: Paraoxonase 1 (PON1) is a high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-associated enzyme which is known to hydrolyse most pesticides including organophosphates (OPs) and prevent atherosclerosis by inhibiting oxidative modification of low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Glyphosate is one of the common organophosphate pesticides used in agriculture in many developing countries including Malaysia. The aim of this study to is to assess the PON1 ability to hydrolyse oxidized LDL in glyphosate exposed farm workers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional comparative study, a total of 103 subjects (53 Glyphosate-exposed and 50 non-exposed) were recruited. Fasting serum samples were analysed for PON1 activities towards substrates paraoxon, phenylacetate, and diazoxon, as well as for lipid profiles and oxidized-LDL (ox-LDL). RESULTS: The results showed lower basal paraoxonase activity [156.96 (58.87) vs 177.06 (66.78)], arylesterase activity [90.06 (17.14) vs 96.92 (23.87)] and diazoxonase activity [850.93 (206.75) vs 990.48 (248.73)] in glyphosate-exposed compared to non-exposed, however, only diazoxonase activity was statistically significant (p<0.05). PON1 activity is not significantly different with different length of period of exposure except for arylesterase. There was also significantly higher (p<0.05) ox-LDL in the exposed group but no significant differences in lipid profiles (p>0.05) between the two groups. The PON1 to ox-LDL ratio which probably reflects the ability of PON1 to hydrolyse ox-LDL were also significantly lower (p<0.05) among the glyphosate-exposed group. CONCLUSION: The results suggested that the decreased PON1 activity in glyphosate-exposed individuals could predispose them to the development of atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease through decreased PON1 ability to hydrolyse ox-LDL.