Body mass index and waist circumference trajectories across the life course and birth cohorts, 1996-2015 Malaysia: sex and ethnicity matter.

Objective: The global obesity epidemic remains a significant threat to public health and the economy. Age-period-cohort (APC) analysis is one method to model the trajectory of obesity. However, there is scarce published evidence of such analyses among the South East Asian population.

Age, Period, and Cohort Analysis of Smoking Intensity Among Current Smokers in Malaysia, 1996-2015.

Introduction: Tobacco use is one of the major preventable risk factors for premature death and disability worldwide. Understanding the trend of tobacco use over time is important for informed policy making.

Aims And Methods: The present study aimed to examine the changes in mean daily cigarette consumption among random samples of the Malaysian current smoker population over 20 years using an age-period-cohort (APC) approach.

Validation of the Malay Version of the Decisional Balance Inventory (MDBI) among secondary school-going adolescents.

Introduction: The Decisional Balance Inventory is a tool used to measure propensity to maintain or change a habit which takes into consideration the perceived advantages and disadvantages. This study aimed to establish the validity and reliability of a Malay language version of the DBI for assessing inclination for change in smoking behavior among secondary school-going adolescents in Malaysia.

Methods: We administered the MDBI to 669 secondary school students selected through multistage sampling.

Association of metabolic syndrome with risk of cardiovascular disease mortality and all-cause mortality among Malaysian adults: a retrospective cohort study.

Objectives: This study is aimed at determining the association between metabolic syndrome and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality and all-cause mortality among Malaysian adults.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: The Malaysian Non-Communicable Disease Surveillance (MyNCDS-1) 2005/2006.

Is fast-food consumption a problem among adolescents in Malaysia? An analysis of the National School-Based Nutrition Survey, 2012.

Background: Fast-food consumption is an unhealthy dietary behaviour because it increases the risk of diet-related chronic diseases. We aimed to investigate factors associated with fast-food consumption, namely sociodemographic characteristics, body mass index-for-age, meal away from home habit, and intake of various food groups among adolescents in Malaysia.

Methods: We analysed data from the National School-Based Nutrition Survey (NSNS).

Maggot Debridement Therapy in Malaysia.

Maggot therapy, also known as maggot debridement therapy, larval therapy, biodebridement, or biosurgery, is a type of biotherapy involving the intentional application of live, disinfected fly larvae or maggots into the nonhealing wound of a human or animal to debride the necrotic wound, reduce bacterial contamination of the wound as well as enhance the formation of healthy granulation tissue and stimulate healing in nonhealing wounds. In addition, van der Plas et al reported that the use of the medicinal larvae as natural remover of necrotic and infected tissue had prevented amputation in 11 selected patients. In Malaysia, Aaron et al had demonstrated prevention of amputation in 25 patients.

Prevalence and Factors Associated With Attempts to Quit and Smoking Cessation in Malaysia.

Smoking cessation significantly reduces risk of smoking-related diseases and mortality. This study aims to determine the prevalence and factors associated with attempts to quit and smoking cessation among adult current smokers in Malaysia. Data from the National E-Cigarette Survey 2016 were analyzed.

Smoking susceptibility among non-smoking school-going adolescents in Malaysia: findings from a national school-based survey.

Objective: The identification of susceptible non-smoking adolescents is an essential step in reducing smoking initiation among adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence and factors associated with smoking susceptibility among non-smoking school-going adolescents in Malaysia.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Prevalence and factors associated with secondhand smoke exposure among Malaysian adolescents.

Introduction: Exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) has been proven to be detrimental to health. However, there is little information on SHS exposure among Malaysian adolescents. This study aims to assess the magnitude of and factors associated with SHS exposure among school-going adolescents in Malaysia.

Is the implementation of smoke-free policies at workplaces associated with living in a smoke-free home?: Findings from a national population-based study in Malaysia.

Introduction: Studies have shown that the implementation of smoke-free policies at workplaces have shifted the social norms towards secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure at home. This study aimed to investigate whether working in a smoke-free workplace is associated with living in a smoke-free home (SFH).

Methods: The data were derived from the Malaysian Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS-M), collected in 2011-2012, involving 4250 respondents.

Source of cigarettes among youth smokers in Malaysia: Findings from the tobacco and e-cigarette survey among Malaysian school adolescents (TECMA).

Introduction: Understanding how and where youth obtain tobacco products are major factors in the development of suitable intervention programs to reduce youth smoking. This study aimed to determine the source of cigarettes and the associated factors among Malaysian school adolescent smokers.

Methods: Our sample consisted of 1348 youth aged 10-17 years who were current smokers (having smoked at least once in the last 30 days).

Secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure at home and at the workplace among non-smokers in Malaysia: Findings from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey 2011.

Introduction: Understanding the prevalence of secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure and the associated factors is beneficial for the formulation of effective measures to reduce exposure to SHS. The purpose of this study was to determine SHS exposure at home and workplace, and its associated factors among non-smoker Malaysian adults.

Methods: Data were extracted from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey-Malaysia (GATS-M) that involved a representative sample of 5112 Malaysian adults.

Clustering of lifestyle risk behaviours and its determinants among school-going adolescents in a middle-income country: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Lifestyle risk behaviours such as smoking, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, sedentary behaviour and low fruit/vegetable intake have been identified as the major causes of chronic diseases. Such behaviours are usually instigated in adolescence and tend to persist into adulthood. Studies on the clustering of lifestyle risk behaviours among adolescents are scarce, particularly in developing countries.

Exposure to tobacco secondhand smoke and its associated factors among non-smoking adults in smoking-restricted and non-restricted areas: findings from a nationwide study in Malaysia.

Objectives: Secondhand smoke (SHS) has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Therefore, the aims of the paper are to assess SHS exposure among non-smoking adults in Malaysia attending various smoking-restricted and non-restricted public areas according to the Control of Tobacco Product Regulations (CTPR) as well as its relationship with various sociodemographic variables.

Design: Data were extracted from a cross-sectional study, the Global Adults Tobacco Survey (GATS) 2011 which involved 3269 non-smokers in Malaysia.

Physical activity and overweight/obesity among Malaysian adults: findings from the 2015 National Health and morbidity survey (NHMS).

Background: Overweight and obesity are growing health problems both worldwide and in Malaysia due to such lifestyle changes as decreased physical activity (PA), increased sedentary behavior and unhealthy eating habits. This study examined the levels and patterns of PA among normal-weight and overweight/obese adults and to investigate the association between PA level and overweight/obesity in Malaysian adults.

Methods: This study used data from the 2015 National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS), a nationwide cross-sectional survey that implemented a two-stage stratified random sampling design.

Iodine status among pregnant women in rural Sabah, Malaysia.

Background And Objectives: In 2000, legislation on mandatory universal salt iodisation was enacted in Sabah, Malaysia, to reduce the incidence of iodine deficiency disorders among its population. To evaluate the iodine levels among pregnant women from selected rural divisions in Sabah 13 years after the enactment of the universal salt iodisation programme.

Methods And Study Design: This cross-sectional study was conducted from 1 May to 30 June, 2013, in three rural divisions of Sabah (the Interior, the West Coast, and Kudat).

Determination of antibacterial activity and minimum inhibitory concentration of larval extract of fly via resazurin-based turbidometric assay.

Background: Antimicrobial resistance is currently a major global issue. As the rate of emergence of antimicrobial resistance has superseded the rate of discovery and introduction of new effective drugs, the medical arsenal now is experiencing shortage of effective drugs to combat diseases, particularly against diseases caused by the dreadful multidrug-resistant strains, such as the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The ability of fly larvae to thrive in septic habitats has prompted us to determine the antibacterial activity and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of larval extract of flies, namely Lucilia cuprina, Sarcophaga peregrina and Musca domestica against 4 pathogenic bacteria [Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant S.

Smoking among school-going adolescents in selected secondary schools in Peninsular Malaysia- findings from the Malaysian Adolescent Health Risk Behaviour (MyaHRB) study.

Background: A multitude of studies have revealed that smoking is a learned behaviour during adolescence and efforts to reduce the incidence of smoking has been identified as long-term measures to curb the smoking menace. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence as well as the intra and inter-personal factors associated with smoking among upper secondary school students in selected schools in Peninsular Malaysia.

Methods: A study was carried out in 2013, which involved a total of 40 secondary schools.

Association of physical activity with blood pressure and blood glucose among Malaysian adults: a population-based study.

Background: The health-enhancing benefits of physical activity (PA) on hypertension and diabetes have been well documented for decades. This study aimed to determine the association of PA with systolic and diastolic blood pressure as well as blood glucose in the Malaysian adult population.

Methods: Data were extracted from the 2011 National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS), a nationally representative, cross-sectional study.

Lifestyle, chronic diseases and self-rated health among Malaysian adults: results from the 2011 National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS).

Background: Self-rated health (SRH) has been demonstrated as a valid and appropriate predictor of incident mortality and chronic morbidity. Associations between lifestyle, chronic diseases, and SRH have been reported by various population studies but few have included data from developing countries. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of poor SRH in Malaysia and its association with lifestyle factors and chronic diseases among Malaysian adults.

The discriminative ability of waist circumference, body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio in identifying metabolic syndrome: Variations by age, sex and race.

Objectives: Many studies have suggested that there is variation in the capabilities of BMI, WC and WHR in predicting cardiometabolic risk and that it might be confounded by gender, ethnicity and age group. The objective of this study is to examine the discriminative abilities of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist-hip ratio (WHR) to predict two or more non-adipose components of the metabolic syndrome (high blood pressure, hypertriglyceridemia, low high density lipoprotein-cholesterol and high fasting plasma glucose) among the adult Malaysian population by gender, age group and ethnicity.

Methods: Data from 2572 respondents (1044 men and 1528 women) aged 25-64 years who participated in the Non Communicable Disease Surveillance 2005/2006, a population-based cross sectional study, were analysed.

Prevalence and factors associated with physical inactivity among Malaysian adults.

Using data from the Third National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS III) in 2006, this study examined the association between socio-demographic factors and physical inactivity in a sample of 33,949 adults aged 18 years and above by gender. Physical activity levels were measured using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ vers 1). Physical inactivity was defined as having a total physical activity level of less than 600 metabolic equivalents-minutes per week (METs-minutes/week) contributed by all three different life domains.

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.