Relationship between performance barriers and pharmacist competency towards the implementation of an expanded public health pharmacy role.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between performance barriers and competency, and implementation of an expanded public health role for community pharmacists. METHODS: A validated questionnaire was utilised for this study whereby three variables of the study (performance barriers, competency and public health role) were measured using a 5-point Likert scale. Three hundred questionnaires were distributed to target respondents of registered community pharmacies in five states (Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, Perak and Penang) in Malaysia. The data were analysed utilising the principles of structural equation modelling. KEY FINDINGS: There were 191 completed and usable responses received, which represented a 66.7% response rate. This study showed perceived competency had a direct relationship with delivering a general public health role. A perceived lack of competency was shown to be a barrier to fulfilling a public health role. However, other factors, such as design of premises, IT infrastructure and pay, were not viewed as barriers to carrying out a public health role. CONCLUSION: Perceived competency is an obstacle for community pharmacists to undertake a public health role in Malaysia. Adequate training programmes in pharmaceutical public health have to be put in place to address this concern and this should therefore be a priority

Pattern of antidepressant utilization at a tertiary hospital in Malaysia (2009-2011)

The specific goals of this study are to determine trends in the usage and comparison of clinical patterns of antidepressant treatment modality in a tertiary hospital between year 2009-2011. We retrospectively reviewed prescription records in the Outpatient Pharmacy Department (OPD) of a tertiary hospital in central Malaysia from 2009 to 2011.About 3000 prescriptions, containing at least one anti-depressant drug, were systematically sampled and evaluated. Malay patients had a decreasing trend of 3% in anti-depressant usage over the study.Escitaloprom (SSRI) group was found to be the most widely utilized antidepressant with a steady increase of 9% while usage of Fluvoxamine was found to show a decreasing trend over the three years.The overall pattern profoundly favoured monotherapy modality rather than combination therapy among practitioners.This study also found an increasing pattern in the use of antidepressants with antianxiety and antipsychotic.In general, this study has contributed additional information regarding the prescribing pattern of anti-depressants in Malaysia at the current moment

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND MEDIA ENVIRONMENT AS ANTECEDENTS OF CHILDHOOD OBESITY IN MALAYSIA

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the influence of physical activity and media viewing on the occurrence of childhood obesity in Malaysia.Methods: A 42-item validated questionnaire in the Malay and English language, containing Likert scale close-ended questions was used to explore the degree of physical activity practiced by families as well as trends on media viewing restrictions among parents in 5 selected states of Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 1200 self-administered questionnaires were sent out to schools in rural and urban areas of the respective 5 states and body mass index (BMI) for children was measured using the WHO 2007 reference standards. A total of 802 completed and usable questionnaires were obtained yielding a response rate of 66.6%. Chi-square and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the results.Results: The findings revealed that while children may have agreed limits on media viewing (television/computer/video games), as the child's BMI increased the rate of agreed limits decreased. However, the enforcement of these limits was not consistent. Interestingly, 70% of the parents who did not enforce restrictions on media viewing were also obese themselves. In terms of physical activity, this was far lower among obese and severe obese children and family activities involving physical activity was scarce with a rate of 25%.Conclusion: The study affirms the fact that Malaysia needs to promote engagement in physical activity as a national policy and shows that the importance of enforcing media viewing restrictions should be highlighted to the community at large

Prognostic biomarkers in cardiovascular diseases

The use of biomarkers as a reliable and reproducible indicative of the risk, severity, and progression of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) may greatly enhance the prognostic capability of primary healthcare clinicians. In primary healthcare, the realistic and wise use of reliable biomarkers could minimize the time and costs for effective diagnosis and suitable personalized therapy for CVD patients. Therefore, the aim of the present scoping review is to evaluate the prognostic significance of biomarkers in the progression and monitoring of CVDs. The review was conducted according to the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Eight databases were searched for articles published as of June 2021 using search terms: cardiovascular diseases AND biomarkers AND prognosis. A total of 21 studies were included in this scoping review. This review identified biomarkers BNP, cTnT yielded better accuracy of disease progression prediction in ACS and HF respectively. The availability of CVDs prognostic biomarkers in primary healthcare clinics could promote improved clinical outcomes of patients

Attitudes towards and the confidence in acceptance of telemedicine among the people in Sabah, Malaysia

The access to healthcare in rural areas is difficult and telemedicine could be a promising solution to this problem if it is accepted by the population. The aim of this study was to assess different attitudes towards telemedicine, the level of confidence and acceptance of telemedicine among rural populations in Sabah. A questionnaire based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) framework and other validated studies were developed to achieve the data for this study. The questionnaire was distributed to the residents of Penampang and Putatan in Sabah. The questions were scored using a five-level Likert scale and the level of confidence was rated from 0 to 100%. A high mean score of attitudes towards use and a moderate score of confidence was observed in the findings, indicating positive attitude towards telemedicine and reasonable level of confidence in using telemedicine services for their healthcare needs. Findings in this study revealed a high level of acceptance among the respondents, which was found to be generally consistent with previous telemedicine studies

Prognostic Biomarkers in Cardiovascular Diseases

The use of biomarkers as a reliable and reproducible indicative of the risk, severity, and progression of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) may greatly enhance the prognostic capability of primary healthcare clinicians. In primary healthcare, the realistic and wise use of reliable biomarkers could minimize the time and costs for effective diagnosis and suitable personalized therapy for CVD patients. Therefore, the aim of the present scoping review is to evaluate the prognostic significance of biomarkers in the progression and monitoring of CVDs. The review was conducted according to the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Eight databases were searched for articles published as of June 2021 using search terms: cardiovascular diseases AND biomarkers AND prognosis. A total of 21 studies were included in this scoping review. This review identified biomarkers BNP, cTnT yielded better accuracy of disease progression prediction in ACS and HF respectively. The availability of CVDs prognostic biomarkers in primary healthcare clinics could promote improved clinical outcomes of patients