Althea Medical Journal
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Characteristics of Asthma Patients Seeking Care at West Java’s Top Referral Hospital, Indonesia
Background: The increasing incidence of asthma in many countries in recent decades makes asthma a global health problem. The aim of the study was to determine the characteristics of asthma patients at the Respirology Outpatient Clinic of Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital as West Java’s Top referral hospital. Methods: The study used a cross-sectional design. The study population was the medical record data of asthma patients at the Respirology Outpatient Clinic during June 2012–June 2013. There were 1,591 patient’s medical records at the Respirology Outpatient Clinic of Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital Bandung in that period and 140 medical records were diagnosed with asthma. Seventy medical records were excluded because of inadequate data and 70 medical records were the sample of this study. The collected data were presented using percentage. Results: Seventy percent of the cases were female. From these cases 34% of patients were aged 51–60 years. The partially controlled type was the most frequent type of asthma (62%). The most common sign and symptom was shortness of breath (86%). The most common drug used was Beta 2 agonist drugs (90%).Conclusions: The characteristic of asthma is that the patients are mostly female. Mostly the patients were in the age range of 51–60 years. The partially controlled type is the most frequent type of asthma. Shortness of breath is the most common clinical manifestation in asthma. Beta 2 agonist is the most used drug for asthma. [AMJ.2017;4(1):78–82]DOI: 10.15850/amj.v4n1.102
Nutritional Status Among Elderly in Ambulatory Care Setting
Background: Nutritional status is a final outcome from a balance between food intake and body’s needs of the nutrients. Elderly is people whose age more than 60 years old. In Indonesia, elderly population has increased. Its phenomena is also known as population aging. Population aging is related to malnutrition in elderly. Malnutrition is defined as the insufficient, excessive or imbalanced consumption of nutrients.The objective of this study was to describe the nutritional status among elderly outpatients in geriatrics clinic of Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital Bandung.Methods: This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study that used primary data in geriatrics clinic Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital Bandung from September 2013 to October 2013. The sampling method was convenience sampling. This study was done with 43 elderly ( women, n=27 and men, n=16) outpatients.The nutritional status was classified by the questionnaire of Mini Nutritional Assessment into malnourished, risk of malnutrition and without malnutrition (adequate). After collecting the data, it was analyzed by Microsoft Excel in presenting the proportion of the elderly nutritional status.Results: Among all the respondents, 27 (63%) respondents had adequate nutrition and 16 (37%) respondents had risk of malnutrition. There was no respondent who had malnutrition (undernutrition). Conclusions: Majority of elderly outpatients in geriatrics clinic Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital had adequate nutrition. DOI: 10.15850/amj.v4n2.108
Treatment Seeking Patterns among Dengue Fever Patients: A Qualitative Study
Background: Incidence of dengue fever is increasing drastically and has become a major public health problem globally. The reason patients are late in seeking medical treatment should be identified in order to prevent complications which can be avoided to produce a good prognosis. This study was conducted to find the pattern of treatment seeking behaviour among dengue fever patients and their influencing factors using a health utilisation model. Methods: Data on health seeking behaviour were collected among the dengue fever patients who were admitted to Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital Bandung from September–October 2014. The data were collected through in-depth interview with patients who were diagnosed with dengue fever and dengue haemorrhagic fever. All the interviews were recorded using an audio recorder. The recordings were transcribed and then translated into English and analyzed using thematic analysis.Results: Nine patients were interviewed. The age of the patients ranged between 17 to 46 years. Altogether 7 patterns were identified with patients treatment seeking behavior. Most of them took longer steps to reach adequate care with blood examination. These longer steps, caused by lack of facilities to perform blood test in primary health care facilities, no bed for admission and also low skills of health care providers in diagnosing patients. The primary health care facility played an important role in the delay of patients acquiring definite care for their dengue fever.Conclusions: Health care seeking behavior is hampered by the inadequacy of primary health care facilities to provide adequate services to dengue patients.
Level of Activity Daily Living in Post Stroke Patients
Background: Stroke is the leading cause of disability and dependency which directly decrease patient’slife quality . Disability caused by stroke can be prevented by holistic and comprehensive management plan of stroke. Until now, there was no study conducted to evaluate management for post stroke patients in Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital (RSHS). Therefore, this studyaimed to describe level of activities of daily living (ADL) in post stroke patients in Neurology unit of RSHS as a basic evaluation for a better management hereafter.Methods: This descriptive quantitative study participated by 31 post-stroke outpatients in Neurology Policlinic of RSHS was conducted from September to October 2015. Interviews were done to assess level of ADL by the Barthel Index score. Variables correlated with ADL (age, gender, stroke type, stroke occurrence, stroke risk factors and muscle strength) were collected from medical records. Collected data was input and presented in tables. Results: There were 19 females and 12 males with the age group of 55-64 year old (35.5%). Most subjects had first stroke attack (71.0%). The most common type and risk factor were ischemic stroke (83.9%) and hypertension (81%) respectively. Patients with a maximum score in the entire extremity muscle strength were in the range of 60-70%. Out of the 31 patients, 18 (58.1%) were classified as independent in ADL. Conclusions: The majority of post stroke patients in the Neurology unit of RSHS wereindependent in ADL. DOI: 10.15850/amj.v4n2.106
Quadriceps and Hamstring Muscle Strength in Elderly based on Lifestyle
Background: Studies have shown that muscle strength will decline with aging and inactivity, with 1% to 3% loss of muscle strength each day. Nevertheless, different lifestyles have different effect on muscle strength. This study was conducted to analyze the differences in quadriceps and hamstring muscle strength in elderly from 60–79 years olds according to lifestyle.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from September to November 2015. The subjects were 31 older persons from community who voluntarily participated the research procedure and were divided into 2 groups, active group and sedentary group according to International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Quadriceps and hamstring muscle strengths were measured using the push and pull dynamometer. The collected data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon rank sum test and the unpaired t-test. Results: This study discovered that the mean difference in hamstring muscle strength was 6.09 ± 0.70, p< 0.001; median difference in Quadriceps muscle strength was 5.00 (13.00, 6.50), p<0.001. Conclusions: There is a higher Quadriceps and Hamstring muscle strength in elderly active lifestyle compared to elderly sedentary lifestyle.
Prophylactic Antibiotic Pattern in Open Reduction Internal Fixation for Closed Fractures at Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital Bandung in 2013
Background: Surgical site infection remains a serious complication of a surgery. Prophylactic antibiotics should be used in open reduction and internal fixation to prevent surgical site infection. This study aimed to study the pattern of prophylaxis used in internal fixation of closed fractures as this surgery is considered as a high-risk orthopedic procedures.Methods: This retrospective-descriptive study was performed from August to October 2014. Subject was closed fracture patient who underwent open reduction and internal fixation at Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital Bandung in 2013. Data about characteristics of patients and pattern of the use of prophylactic antibiotics were obtained from patients’ medical record.Results: Medical records from 76 patients who underwent ORIF were analyzed. Sixty eight patients (68.4%) were given 1 gram cefazolin intravenously as preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis. Timing for administration of antibiotics was 30–60 minute preoperatively in 34 (44.2%) patients. All Patients were given postoperative prophylaxis for 4.09 ± 1.36 days in average. The antibiotic most commonly used was cefazolin in 51 (63%) patients. All patients were prescribed an oral antibiotic at discharge. Cefadroxil was the most common antibiotic prescribed for patients at discharge. Conclusions: Cefazolin is the most common preoperative prophylactic antibiotic given to patients. All Patients are given postoperative prophylaxis and prescribed an antibiotic at discharge.
Refractive Errors in State Junior High School Students in Bandung
Background: Uncorrected refractive error is one of the avoidable causes of vision impairment in children and adults. Vision problem in children has been shown to affect their psychological and academic performance. This study aims at identifying and gaining more insights on the characteristic of the refractive errors in state junior high school students in Bandung to avoid uncorrected refractive errors.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in September–November 2015 in state junior high schools in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. Sample was selected using multistage random sampling technique. Children were examined using tumbling E examination; then students with visual acuity worse than 6/12 underwent Snellen Chart test, refractometry without pupil dilatation, correction with trial lens, then was followed by direct ophthalmoscopy.Results: From a total of 435 children who completed all the examination, 80 children (18.39%) had refractive errors; consisted of 151 eyes (94.38%) with myopia and 9 eyes (5.62%) with astigmatism. Refractive errors were found to be more common in female children (73.7%) than male children (26.3%). Among those with refractive errors, 45 children (56.3%) did not use any corrective glasses before the examination.Conclusions: Routine refractive error test in vision screening examination is needed for students. It is equally important to raise more awareness toward eye disease in community. [AMJ.2016;3(3):545–8]DOI: 10.15850/amj.v3n4.93
Peer Pressure and Smoking Behavior in Elementary School Students
Background:Adolescence is an important period in which many individuals are vulnerable to onset and progression of smoking. Peers are strongly associated with adolescent smoking initiation. This study is conducted to determine whether there is a relationship between peer pressure and smoking behavior in male elementary school students.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in October 2014. Respondents were male students from grade four and five from state elementary schools (SDN) in Jatinangor district who voluntarily followed the research procedure. The sampling method used in this study was two-stage cluster sampling. A validated questionnaire was provided after getting informed consent from the respondents. The data analysis was performed using chi-square test.Results: As much as 110 male subjects were included in the study. Data showed that 57 students (51.8%) which were more than half of the number of students ever smoked and 53 students never smoked. Out of 110 students, 69 students (62.7 %) experienced peer pressure and 41 students (37.3%) never experienced peer pressure. The result of chi-square test from the study showed that the p-value is 0.000.Conclusions: There is a relationship between peer pressure and smoking behavior in male elementary school students in Jatinangor district. [AMJ.2017;4(1):1–5]DOI: 10.15850/amj.v4n1.101
Destructive Effect of Calcium Hypochlorite against Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm
Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the most common bacteria contaminating the hemodialysis water and has high capability to form a biofilm. The presence of biofilm is hazardous because it becomes a constant source of bacterial and toxin release toward the hemodialysis patient’s blood. Calcium hypochlorite (Ca(OCl)2) is an easily obtained disinfectant. This study was aimed to detect the destructive effect of Ca(OCl)2 against P. aeruginosa biofilm and the optimal disinfectant concentration required to achieve significant effect.Methods: This experimental study was conducted in six replicates from September to October 2015 in Microbiology Laboratory of Faculty of Medicine Universitas Padjadjaran Bandung. A modified tissue culture plate method was performed to grow P. aeruginosa biofilms which were subsequently treated with Ca(OCl)2 in various chlorine concentrations, namely 20, 30, 40, and 500 parts per million (ppm). The data was analyzed using Welch Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Games-Howell post-hoc tests and presented in tables.Results: Data were obtained from 36 flat-bottomed polystyrene wells. There was a statistically significant mean difference between groups [F(4, 11.92)= 91.198, p<0.001)]. All of the tested chlorine concentrations caused significant decreases in biofilm optical densities (p = 0.027 for 20 ppm and p< 0.001 for 30, 40, and 500 ppm).Conclusions: Ca(OCl)2 with chlorine concentrations of 20, 30, 40, and 500 ppm have significant destructive effect against P. aeruginosa biofilm. The mean differences among treated groups were not significant. The most optimum concentration is 30 ppm
Relationship between Drugs Use and Sexual Risk Behaviors among Senior High School Students
Background: Drugs use and risky sexual behavior among teenager are some of crucial problems arising in Indonesia. Statistic showed that there is an increasing prevalence in drugs use and risky sexual behavior among teenagers. This study was conducted to analyze the relationship between drugs use and risky sexual behaviors among high school students. Methods: An analytic study involving 432 students in 5 state high schools located in Kerees region Bandung, West Java, Indonesia, was carried out in 2013. The region was chosen due the high prevalence of substance abuse. The inclusion criteria were every high school students in the Karees region. The exclusion criteria were the students who refused to participate in the study, did not come when the sample was taken, and did not fill the questionnaire completely. The instruments used for the study were questionnaires with cross-sectional technique. Furthermore, the questionnaire used for analyzing drugs use was Addiction Severity Index-Lite Version (ASI-lite) questionnaire; with additional questionnaire to analyze risky sexual behaviors.Results: Out of 432 students, 23.8% students already engaged to one or more risky sexual behavior. Among all respondents, the prevalence of students who had already done kissing was 22.7%, necking 9.3%, petting 7.2% and sexual intercourse 1.2%. Illegal drugs had been used at least once by 21.8% students. According to Chi-square test, drugs use and risky sexual behavior were related.Conclusions:The prevalence of both drugs use and risky sexual behaviors are high and students who use drugs are more prone to do risky sexual behavior. [AMJ.2017;4(1):125–8] DOI: 10.15850/amj.v4n1.103