Association of BMI with risk of CVD mortality and all-cause mortality.

Objective: To determine the relationship between BMI and risk of CVD mortality and all-cause mortality among Malaysian adults.

Design: Population-based, retrospective cohort study. Participants were followed up for 5 years from 2006 to 2010.

Sociodemographic factors associated with multiple cardiovascular risk factors among Malaysian adults.

Background: To determine the prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of multiple risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) among Malaysian adults.

Methods: We analysed data on 1044 men and 1528 women, aged 24-64 years, participants in the Non Communicable Disease Surveillance 2005/2006, a nationally representative, population-based, cross-sectional study. Prevalence of obesity, high blood pressure, dyslipidaemia, hyperglycemia, physical inactivity, smoking, risky drinking, low vegetable and fruit intake were determined and multivariable logistic regression was used to identify sociodemographic factors associated with having ≥3 of these cardiovascular disease risk factors.

Prevalence and factors associated with smoking intentions among non-smoking and smoking adolescents in Kota Tinggi, Johor, Malaysia.

Intention to smoke is a valid and reliable factor for predicting future smoking habits among adolescents. This factor, however, has received inadequate attention in Malaysia. The present paper elaborates the prevalence and factors associated with intent to initiate or to cease smoking, among adolescent nonsmokers and smokers in Kota Tinggi, Johor, Malaysia.

Silica exposure is associated with an increased risk of developing ACPA-positive rheumatoid arthritis in an Asian population: evidence from the Malaysian MyEIRA case-control study.

Objectives: Silica exposure has been associated with an increased risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), especially among smokers. In this study, we aimed at examining the association between silica exposure (and its interaction with smoking) and the risk of RA in the Malaysian population.

Methods: In total, 149 cases and 213 matched controls, all men, were included between August 2005 and December 2009.

Survival rate of breast cancer patients in Malaysia: a population-based study.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Malaysian women. Other than hospital-based results, there are no documented population-based survival rates of Malaysian women for breast cancers. This population- based retrospective cohort study was therefore conducted.

The assessment of risk factors for the Central/East African Genotype of chikungunya virus infections in the state of Kelantan: a case control study in Malaysia.

Background: The aims of the study were to assess the risk factors in relation to cross border activities, exposure to mosquito bite and preventive measures taken.An outbreak of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection in Malaysia has been reported in Klang, Selangor (1998) and Bagan Panchor, Perak (2006). In 2009, CHIKV infection re-emerged in some states in Malaysia.

Non-practice of breast self examination and marital status are associated with delayed presentation with breast cancer.

Delay in seeking treatment for breast cancer is a barrier to the early diagnosis and management of the disease, resulting in a poorer prognosis. We here estimated the prevalence of delayed presentation for breast cancer and identified possible influential sociodemographic factors in a cross-sectional study of 250 patients diagnosed with primary breast cancer at the Radiotherapy and Oncology Clinic in Kuala Lumpur Hospital. Data were collected by face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire and from medical records.

Silica exposure is associated with an increased risk of developing ACPA-positive rheumatoid arthritis in an Asian population: evidence from the Malaysian MyEIRA case-control study.

OBJECTIVES: Silica exposure has been associated with an increased risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), especially among smokers. In this study, we aimed at examining the association between silica exposure (and its interaction with smoking) and the risk of RA in the Malaysian population. METHODS: In total, 149 cases and 213 matched controls, all men, were included between August 2005 and December 2009.

Smoking interacts with HLA-DRB1 shared epitope in the development of anti-citrullinated protein antibody-positive rheumatoid arthritis: results from the Malaysian Epidemiological Investigation of Rheumatoid Arthritis (MyEIRA).

Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a multifactorial autoimmune disease in which genetic and environmental factors interact in the etiology. In this study, we investigated whether smoking and HLA-DRB1 shared-epitope (SE) alleles interact differently in the development of the two major subgroups of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), anti-citrullinated proteins antibody (ACPA)-positive and ACPA-negative disease, in a multiethnic population of Asian descent.

Methods: A case-control study comprising early diagnosed RA cases was carried out in Malaysia between 2005 and 2009.

Smoking is associated with an increased risk of developing ACPA-positive but not ACPA-negative rheumatoid arthritis in Asian populations: evidence from the Malaysian MyEIRA case-control study.

We investigated the association between cigarette smoking and the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the Malaysian population. A total of 1,056 RA patients and 1,416 matched controls aged 18-70 years within a defined area of Peninsular Malaysia were evaluated in a case-control study between August 2005 and December 2009. A case was defined as a person with early diagnosed RA using the 1987 American College of Rheumatology criteria for RA.

A case-control study of influenza vaccine effectiveness among Malaysian pilgrims attending the Haj in Saudi Arabia.

Objectives: To determine influenza vaccine effectiveness against clinically defined influenza-like illness among Malaysian pilgrims attending the Haj in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: During February and March 2000, the authors conducted an unmatched case-control study. Case patients were identified at one of five hotel clinics, while controls were residents of these hotels who had not attended a clinic.