Linear Programming Optimization of Local Food-Based Recommendations for Undernourished Urban Poor Malaysian Children Aged 2 to 5 Years.

Background: Poor diet quality may contribute to undernutrition, particularly affecting young children from low-income households. Therefore, affordable and healthy local food-based recommendations (FBRs) are needed.

Objectives: This study aimed to (1) identify problem nutrient(s), (2) identify locally available nutrient-dense food sources that can provide adequate nutrients to meet the recommended dietary intakes of undernourished urban poor children aged 2-5 years, and (3) use linear programming to recommend a daily diet based on the current food patterns that achieves dietary adequacy and meets average food costs for these children.

Prognostic Factors Associated With Survival Distribution of Admission to Delayed Rapid Response Team Activation Among Deteriorating Patients: A Retrospective Study.

Aims: To investigate the prevalence of rapid response team delays, survival distribution of admission to rapid response team delay and its prognostic factors.

Design: A retrospective single-centre study.

Methods: Data on rapid response team activations from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2022 were retrieved from electronic medical records at a tertiary hospital in Hangzhou, China.

Incidence and determinants of low birth weight in Peninsular Malaysia: A multicentre prospective cohort study.

Background And Objective: Pregnant mothers are at risk of many adverse pregnancy outcomes, including infants with low birth weight (LBW). The World Health Organization aimed to achieve a 30% reduction in the number of LBW infants by the year 2025. In this study, we aimed to determine the incidence and determinants of LBW infants among pregnant mothers attending government health clinics in Peninsular Malaysia.

Effectiveness of a Multifaceted Mobile Health Intervention (Multi-Aid-Package) in Medication Adherence and Treatment Outcomes Among Patients With Hypertension in a Low- to Middle-Income Country: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: The high prevalence of uncontrolled hypertension in Pakistan is predominantly attributed to poor medication adherence. As more than 137 million people in Pakistan use cell phones, a suitable mobile health (mHealth) intervention can be an effective tool to overcome poor medication adherence.

Objective: We sought to determine whether a novel mHealth intervention is useful in enhancing antihypertensive therapy adherence and treatment outcomes among patients with hypertension in a low- to middle-income country.

Predictors of elevated C-reactive protein among pre-treatment, newly diagnosed breast cancer patients: A cross-sectional study.

Background & Aims: Accumulating evidence showed that inflammation contributes markedly to cancer progression, with C-reactive protein (CRP) being one of the lengthily studied inflammation marker. For breast cancer (BCa), pre-treatment elevated CRP upon diagnosis was linked with increased mortality. This study aimed to identify factors predictive of elevated CRP in pre-treatment BCa population that can serve as potential therapeutic targets to reduce inflammation.

Association between dietary inflammatory index and body fat percentage among newly diagnosed breast cancer patients.

Background: Obesity, particularly excessive body fat, is an established risk factor and substantial prognostic determinant in breast cancer. Recent studies suggested that diet-related inflammation plays a key role in obesity. This study aimed to determine the association between energy-adjusted dietary inflammatory index (E-DII) and body composition, particularly body fat percentage, among patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer.

Efficacy and Tolerability of a Sunscreen Containing Licochalcone a and L-Carnitine as an Adjunct to Retinoids in the Management of Acne and Post-Acne Pigmentation Among Malaysian Patients.

Purpose: We aim to evaluate the effectiveness and tolerability of a sunscreen formulation containing licochalcone A (LicA) and L-carnitine (LC) as an adjuvant to adapalene in the management of acne and post-acne pigmentation (PAH).

Patients And Methods: A randomized, double-blind, active comparator-controlled trial of 51 patients aged 18 years or older with a clinical diagnosis of mild-to-moderate acne vulgaris was conducted at the Hospital Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah, Universiti Putra Malaysia. The efficacy and tolerability of once-daily adapalene 1.

Level of fear towards COVID-19 and its determinants among healthcare providers in Malaysia: A cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Malaysia is one of the hardest-hit countries by COVID-19 in Asia. The rapidly rising number of cases had sparked fear among healthcare providers. This study aimed to assess the determinants of fear towards COVID-19 among healthcare providers in primary care settings.

Effects of a Rapid Response Team on Patient Outcomes: A Systematic Review.

Background: Despite the widespread adoption of the rapid response team (RRT) by many hospitals, questions remain regarding their effectiveness in improving several aspects of patient outcomes, such as hospital mortality, cardiopulmonary arrests, unplanned intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and length of stay (LOS).

Objectives: To conduct a systematic review to understand the rapid response team's (RRT) effect on patient outcomes.

Methods: A systematic search was conducted using PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, and two trial registers.

A self-management app to improve asthma control in adults with limited health literacy: a mixed-method feasibility study.

Background: Digital technology tailored for those with limited health literacy has the potential to reduce health inequalities. Although mobile apps can support self-management in chronic diseases, there is little evidence that this approach applies to people with limited health literacy. We aimed to determine the acceptability of a self-management app in adults living with asthma and have limited health literacy and the feasibility of delivering the intervention and assessing outcomes.

Stop and Play Digital Health Education Intervention for Reducing Excessive Screen Time Among Preschoolers From Low Socioeconomic Families: Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: High prevalence of excessive screen time among preschool children is attributable to certain parental factors such as lack of knowledge, false perception about screen time, and inadequate skills. Lack of strategies to implement screen time guidelines, in addition to multiple commitments that may hinder parents from face-to-face interventions, demands the need to develop a technology-based parent-friendly screen time reduction intervention.

Objective: This study aims to develop, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of Stop and Play, a digital parental health education intervention to reduce excessive screen time among preschoolers from low socioeconomic families in Malaysia.

Effectiveness of video self-instruction training on cardiopulmonary resuscitation retention of knowledge and skills among nurses in north-western Nigeria.

Background: Adaptable cardiopulmonary resuscitation/basic life support (CPR/BLS) training are required to reduce cardiac arrest mortality globally, especially among nurses. Thus, this study aims to compared CPR knowledge and skills retention level between instructor-led (control group) and video self-instruction training (intervention group) among nurses in northwestern Nigeria.

Methods: A two-arm randomized controlled trial study using double blinding method was conducted with 150 nurses from two referral hospitals.

Interactions of genetic and macronutrient intake with abdominal obesity among middle-aged vegetarians in Malaysia.

Background And Objectives: Evidence for gene-diet interactions is lacking among individuals with specific dietary practices including vegetarians. This study aimed to determine the interactions of rs174547 in the fatty acid desaturase 1 (FADS1) gene with macronutrient such as carbohydrate (particularly fibre), protein and fat intakes on abdominal obesity among middle-aged Malaysian vegetarians of Chinese and Indian ethnicity.

Methods And Study Design: The present cross-sectional study was conducted among 163 vegetarians in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Malaysia.

Factors predicting health-related quality of life of the Malaysian B40 school-aged children living in urban-poor flats in the central region of Malaysia.

Background And Objectives: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is a multidimensional concept that indicated an individual's holistic health, whereby the urban-poor community are susceptible to low HRQoL due to their high vulnerability. This study aimed to determine factors that predicted the HRQoL among the urban-poor school-aged children.

Methods And Study Design: This is a cross-sectional study and a total of 408 primary school-aged children (male: 72.

An exploratory study on the handwritten allographic features of multi-ethnic population with different educational backgrounds.

Ethnicity, native and/or foreign language knowledge, as well as the learned writing systems potentially influence the development of an individual's handwriting. The unique education system consisting of National schools, Chinese-medium vernacular schools, Tamil-medium vernacular schools, and Islamic religious schools in Malaysia may have established specific characteristic handwritten allographic features that deserve investigation within the intelligence context. This study was aimed to explore handwritten allographic features of handwriting samples from 120 subjects (30 writers from four different educational backgrounds mentioned above).

Determinants of the use of family planning methods among rural women in Plateau state, Nigeria.

This study aimed at determining the factors that influence family planning practice among rural women of Pankshin district in Plateau state, Nigeria. A cross-sectional study using a simple random sampling method was conducted from October to December 2019. A self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection among 302 respondents.

Risk factors for early TB treatment interruption among newly diagnosed patients in Malaysia.

TB treatment interruption has resulted in delayed sputum conversion, drug resistance, and a high mortality rate and a prolonged treatment course, hence leading to economic and psychosocial affliction. To date, there are limited studies investigating the physico-social risk factors for early treatment interruptions. This prospective multicenter cohort study aimed to investigate the risk factors for early treatment interruption among new pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) smear-positive patients in Selangor, Malaysia.

Effectiveness of Triple Benefit Health Education Intervention on Knowledge, Attitude and Food Security towards Malnutrition among Adolescent Girls in Borno State, Nigeria.

Knowledge and attitude are essential components of food security as malnutrition remains a critical public health concern among adolescents. The study evaluates the effectiveness of a Triple Benefit Health Education Intervention on knowledge, attitude and food security towards malnutrition among adolescent girls. This was a cluster randomized controlled trial among 417 randomly selected adolescent girls aged 10 to 19 years old in Maiduguri, Borno state, Nigeria from October 2019 to March 2020.

Psychological distress among healthcare providers during COVID-19 in Asia: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic is having a devastating effect on the mental health and wellbeing of healthcare providers (HCPs) globally. This review is aimed at determining the prevalence of depression, anxiety, stress, fear, burnout and resilience and its associated factors among HCPs in Asia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Material And Methods: We performed literature search using 4 databases from Medline, Cinahl, PubMed and Scopus from inception up to March 15, 2021 and selected relevant cross-sectional studies.

Parental Feeding Practices and Child-Related Factors are Associated with Overweight and Obesity in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Atypical eating behaviors displayed by children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) predispose them to unhealthy weight gain. We determined the factors associated with body weight status among 261 children with ASD (3-18 years) at nine autism intervention centers. Their mothers completed a self-administered questionnaire on sociodemographic background, parenting style, parental feeding practices, parenting stress, sleep habits, eating behaviors, and autism severity.