{"title":"Strangulated Diaphragmatic Hernia in an Elderly Man","authors":"F. Hayati","doi":"10.17576/mh.2021.1601.25","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17576/mh.2021.1601.25","url":null,"abstract":"A congenital diaphragmatic hernia is very uncommon among adults. A diaphragmatic hernia is primarily acute in onset and it is usually identified after trauma. It occurs mostly on the left side. We would like to report a 68-year-old male who presented with a 4-day history of acute intestinal obstruction with a background history of change in bowel habit for a month secondary to a right diaphragmatic hernia. He did not have any history of trauma. Clinical examination revealed a distended abdomen with high pitched bowel sound and no palpable mass. The right lung was inaudible on auscultation. Computed tomography scan was consistent with a right diaphragmatic hernia and acute intestinal obstruction. We highlight the late onset of a congenital diaphragmatic hernia and emphasize the vital need for perioperative management to ensure a promising surgical outcome.","PeriodicalId":80079,"journal":{"name":"Medicine & health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42225210","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reliability and Validity of the Malay-Version Chicago Lead Knowledge Test (CLKT) among Parents of Preschool Children in Malaysia","authors":"Z. M. Isa","doi":"10.17576/mh.2021.1601.02","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17576/mh.2021.1601.02","url":null,"abstract":"The primary objective of this study was to validate the Malay-version Chicago lead knowledge test (CLKT). The CLKT was chosen based on thorough literature review followed by a systematic translation. Data collection involved three phases; initial test was done among 70 parents, retest was done at two weeks apart among similar respondents with response rate of 71.4% (n=50), and another test among 60 professional group. The authors performed non-parametric tests since the data was not normally distributed. The non-parametric test results showed no significant mean knowledge score differences in all demographic parameters. The difficulty factor ranged from 0.01 to 0.99. The mean + SD for difficulty factor was 0.52 + 0.32. Half of the 24 items (n=12) had a difficulty factor of less than 0.75. Only one item (item 6) had item-total correlation of less than 0.2 (0.140). The overall Cronbach’s α coefficient was 0.851. No significant difference was detected by the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test between the overall score, the test and retest scores for all domains. All domains showed moderate to strong correlation (Spearman’s Correlation: r=0.546 - 0.814, p<0.001). The Mann-Whitney U test showed a significantly higher knowledge score in professional group compared to parent group for all domains and total knowledge score (p<0.001). The Malay-version CLKT was moderately difficult but had a good reliability and validity. Thus, this instrument can be applied in future larger-scale study.","PeriodicalId":80079,"journal":{"name":"Medicine & health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41838729","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Big-Five Personality Traits and Quality of Life in Elderly Malaysian Patients with Diabetes Mellitus: A Cross-Sectional Study","authors":"Luke Sy-Cherng Woon","doi":"10.17576/mh.2021.1601.06","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17576/mh.2021.1601.06","url":null,"abstract":"While diabetes mellitus is highly prevalent in the elderly population with significant impact on quality of life (QOL), we yet to know much about how personality traits affect QOL in this patient population. A cross-sectional study was conducted at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre with the aim to determine the relationship between personality traits and QOL among the elderly (aged ≥60 years) with diabetes mellitus. Sociodemographic and clinical information were obtained. QOL was assessed using the WHO Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOLBREF) questionnaire and personality traits were assessed using the Big Five Inventory (BFI) questionnaire. Depression and anxiety were measured with Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scale, respectively, and controlled for in all analyses. There were in total 170 study participants (median age=69.0 years; IQR: 65.0-73.0; 51.2% male). In stepwise linear regression models, higher conscientiousness scores (β=0.156; P=0.044) and lower neuroticism scores (β=-0.176; P=0.028) were associated with greater QOL in the physical health domain. Higher extraversion scores (β=0.209; P=0.001) and higher conscientiousness scores (β=0.248; P<0.001) were associated with greater QOL in the psychological health domain. Higher agreeableness scores (β=0.286; P<0.001) were associated with greater QOL in the social relationship domain. Finally, higher agreeableness scores (β=0.327; P<0.001) and lower neuroticism scores (β=-0.223; P=0.001) were associated with greater QOL in the environment domain. Personality traits were closely associated with all domains of QOL among elderly patients with diabetes mellitus. Premorbid personality may have important role in moderating the impact of diabetes mellitus on the lives of elderly patients.","PeriodicalId":80079,"journal":{"name":"Medicine & health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49171242","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Screening for Premature Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) using Coronary Artery Calcium (CAC) Score: A Primary Prevention Pilot Study","authors":"H. Hassan","doi":"10.17576/mh.2021.1601.12","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17576/mh.2021.1601.12","url":null,"abstract":"Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) events can be accelerated by positive family history of young coronary artery disease (CAD). Risk factors assessment sometimes fail to predict ACS occurrence. Additional investigations with coronary artery calcium (CAC) score can be used independently in screening for primary prevention in some population. This was a cross-sectional study in asymptomatic population with first degree relatives (FDR) having premature CAD compared with a matched population with no family history of CAD from September 2017 to March 2018 at the Cardiology Clinic of Univeristi Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre. A total of 36 subjects were recruited with equal number in each group. Female were the majority in each group (66.7%). The FDR group were slightly younger compared to the control group [mean (SD) age 36.9 (4.9) against 38 (3.8), respectively). Both groups represent high risk factors including overweight and obesity, abdominal obesity as well as dyslipidemia. Newly diagnosed dyslipidemia was significant in the group with family history (83.3% versus 44.4%, P<0.01). Both groups were screened either into the low or moderate risk Framingham Risk Score group. CAC score was higher in family history group (11.1% vs 0%, P>0.05). In conclusion, CAC may be irrelevant for screening in younger population. However, the yield of other risk factor is still alarming.","PeriodicalId":80079,"journal":{"name":"Medicine & health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44774015","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Online Oral Hygiene Instructions for Orthodontic Patients in Malaysian Population","authors":"N. Yahya","doi":"10.17576/mh.2021.1601.18","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17576/mh.2021.1601.18","url":null,"abstract":"Fixed orthodontic appliances causes plaque accumulation, which leads to the formation of dental caries and gingivitis. Therefore, concise oral hygiene instructions (OHI) is necessary to avoid the occurrence of these diseases. Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) ensures interactive learning to improve knowledge retention. MOOC transfers the responsibility of learning OHI to the patients with remote guidance from the clinician, thus reduces clinical time. This research aimed to develop the MOOC learning content on OHI in orthodontic practice. The secondary aim was to assess the overall analytics data among learners enrolled for the completion rate and time taken to complete the MOOC. The ADDIE principles which were, \"Analyse, Design, Develop, Implement and Evaluate\", were used to develop the MOOC. The contents were based on a published pamphlet of OHI from the Ministry of Health, Malaysia. The MOOC was pre-tested, and content was improved based on the feedback from users and experts. The MOOC named “Penjagaan Kebersihan Pendakap Gigi” utilises the Bahasa Melayu language to educate learners regarding oral care with orthodontic appliances. Sixty-two learners joined the MOOC, with 77.4% achieving a high rate of completion of the MOOC learning content. There were forty-six female learners (74.2%), while male learners comprised sixteen (25.8%). The median (interquartile range) time taken to complete MOOC learning content were 31.50 minutes, (13.00 minutes to 55.50 minutes). This shows that MOOC could be an alternative platform to instruct patients on OHI with fixed appliances. MOOC can potentially reduce clinical time to teach OHI to patients.","PeriodicalId":80079,"journal":{"name":"Medicine & health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48531462","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Stature Estimation from Dry Bone and Radiographic Clavicular Measurements in A Thai Population","authors":"P. Mahakkanukrauh","doi":"10.17576/mh.2021.1601.15","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17576/mh.2021.1601.15","url":null,"abstract":"Stature is one of the main biological features which can be used to classify unidentified skeletal deceased. Also, precise population data is crucial for forensic anthropology frameworks. Nonetheless, the studies concerning this subject in Thailand are limited and regularly focus on long bones. This study attempts to establish stature estimation equations from clavicular dry bone and radiographic measurements. Both sides of the clavicular bones are separated from 25 female and 112 male deceased in an autopsy room situated in Bangkok, Thailand. Twelve variables of each side of the clavicle are measured. The study outcomes show that stature can be estimated by applying 3 variables in a stepwise regression analysis model in unidentified sex remains, with R2 = 0.49 and standard error of estimation (SEE) 5.238 cm. Moreover, the height of the sternal end of clavicle bones can be used to estimate stature in cases of fragmented clavicles recovered from crime scenes with R2 = 0.238 and SEE 6.353 cm. Maximum length shows the best correlation and model fit with stature (R = 0.562, R2 = 0.316 and SEE 6.020 cm) from radiographic measurements. Therefore, this study presents a complementary, beneficial method for forensic anthropologists to create biological profiles of unidentified skeletal remains in cases where the long bones are not obtainable. Moreover, stature estimation from radiographic measurements can be applied in cases of partial skeletonisation.","PeriodicalId":80079,"journal":{"name":"Medicine & health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47973987","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Impact of CD34+ Stem Cell Dose on Engraftment Period in Allogeneic Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplanted Patients","authors":"S. A. Aziz","doi":"10.17576/mh.2021.1601.05","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17576/mh.2021.1601.05","url":null,"abstract":"Haematopoietic progenitor stem cells acquired from the peripheral blood have been increasingly used to treat patient with haematological malignancy. The success of the allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) is significantly dependent on amount of CD34+ stem cell infused which will determine the rate of the haematopoietic recovery and engraftment. This study was aimed to correlate the amount of CD34+ cell infused with the period of engraftment. This retrospective study was conducted on 62 patients with haematopoietic malignancy who have received PBSCT at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre from year 2011 to 2015. The impact of CD34+ stem cell infusion on neutrophil and platelet engraftment and obtaining complete chimerism was studied. Patients were divided into two groups based on the amount of CD34+ stem cell. Group A consisted of 9 patients and infused with <5x106 cells/kg CD34+ cell while Group B consisted of 53 patients and infused with ≥5x106 cells/kg CD34+ stem cell. Data were collected and analysed. Group B patients were significantly associated with faster neutrophil engraftment: 12 (10-14) days while group A were 15 (10-21) days, (p=0.002). Platelet engraftment was also faster in group B: 17(12-25) days compared to group A: 18 (15-30) days. Complete chimerism in group B occurred in 30 (15-90) days and in group A was 60 (30-240) days. Platelet engraftment (p=0.149) and complete chimerism (p=0.021) were not significantly influenced by the CD34+ cell count. This study has shown that infusion of ≥5x106 cells/kg CD34+ stem cell shorten the time to haematopoietic engraftment particularly of neutrophilic engraftment.","PeriodicalId":80079,"journal":{"name":"Medicine & health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42451665","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Comparative Analyses of Serological Biomarkers and Disease Characteristics between Elderly-onset and Younger-onset Rheumatoid Arthritis","authors":"R. Sakthiswary","doi":"10.17576/mh.2021.1601.19","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17576/mh.2021.1601.19","url":null,"abstract":"The onset of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) may occur any time after the age of 16 years. The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical and serological differences between elderly onset RA (EORA); which is begins at the age of 60 and above, with younger onset RA (YORA). A total of 69 EORA and 82 YORA female patients were enrolled in this study. Data on medications, disease duration, age at onset, disease activity at onset and laboratory parameters were collected by reviewing the medical records. All patients had their blood samples taken for serum anticyclic citrulinated peptide (anti-CCP), IgA rheumatoid factor (RF), IgM RF and IgG RF. Besides, the subjects were assessed for their radiographic joint damage based on Modified Sharp Score (MSS) and functional disability based on the Health Assessment Questionnaire-disability Index (HAQ-DI) scores. Despite comparable disease duration and frequency of seropositivity, the YORA group had significantly higher disease activity at onset of the disease (p=0.009). In keeping with this finding, the YORA group had more severe joint damage based on radiographic assessment (MSS scores of 17.49+19.04 versus 10.04+12.79). The YORA group had significantly higher levels of IgA RF and anti-CCP with p-values of 0.035 and 0.002, respectively. Our findings suggest that YORA is associated with more severe disease, worse radiographic joint damage and higher levels of anti-CCP and IgA RF.","PeriodicalId":80079,"journal":{"name":"Medicine & health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42691623","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Forensic Study of Ethnicity and Sex Differences in Fingerprint Patterns in a Malaysian Subpopulation","authors":"Loong Chuen Lee","doi":"10.17576/mh.2021.1601.09","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17576/mh.2021.1601.09","url":null,"abstract":"Fingerprint is one of the most common evidence found at a crime scene. Owing to the uniqueness of fingerprint, it is useful for suspect identification. Typically, the questioned fingerprint is of limited contribution due to blurriness of the minutia or absence of potential suspect. However, it is still useful if the ethnicity or sex of the questioned fingerprint could be inferred to narrow down the scope of searching of suspect. Therefore, this study aims to examine sexual and ethnic differences in fingerprint patterns among the three major ethnic groups in Malaysia, i.e. Malays, Chinese and Indians. In total, 2000 plain fingerprints were collected from all the ten fingers of 200 Malaysians (i.e. 99 males and 101 females). Each of the three ethnic groups was represented by at least 60 subjects. Descriptive statistics and hypothesis test were performed to assess the sexual and ethnic variability of fingerprint patterns. In addition, simple correspondence analysis was also conducted to support the descriptive and inferential statistics. By considering fingerprint patterns in all the ten fingers, loop was the most frequent pattern in Malays (23.0%) and Indians (23.2%), while Chinese (13.9%) showed slightly higher frequency of whorl than Malays (9.6%) and Indians (10.3%). The relative distribution of fingerprint patterns of male was similar to that of female. In conclusion, fingerprint patterns could be used to infer the ethnicity rather than the sex of a suspect in the Malaysian context.","PeriodicalId":80079,"journal":{"name":"Medicine & health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47100145","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}