Prevalence of risk for eating disorder amongst International Islamic University Malaysia medical students and its associated factors

Introduction: Eating disorders are a poorly understood condition characterised by severe psychiatric and medical manifestations, in which eating habits, physical health and psychosocial functioning are disturbed. College and university students are among the population who are prone to eating disorder. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of eating disorders risk in the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Kuantan campus amongst the medical students and to identify its associated factors. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study involving 200 medical students of IIUM Kuantan campus session 2014/2015 of all years (20-26 years old) of both genders using a self-administered questionnaire through an online website which is a Google drive between 29th June till 10th July 2015. Result: This study revealed that the prevalence of risk for eating disorder among IIUM Kuantan campus medical students is 15.0 percent. On the same note, the risk is noted to be higher among single female of Malay ethnicity, being middle child, overweight and physically inactive; albeit none of these factors significantly associated with risk of eating disorder among this population. Conclusion: The prevalence of those who have the risk of eating disorder in this study is comparable to the result from the previous studies conducted among college and university students in Malaysia. Nevertheless, the risk of eating disorder is documented among IIUM medical students and warrant a closer look and appropriate reference for those who have the risk

Nicotine dependence and quit smoking: a preliminary survey among adult males in Kuantan, Malaysia

Most of the smokers remain as active smokers and unrecognized their nicotine dependence (ND) level. ND was an important reason to addict smoking. The study determined the prevalence of smoking and ND among adult males and their difficulties to quit smoking. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 296 males aged 18 years and above from Felda Bukit Goh at Kuantan, Malaysia in 2015. Socio-economic status, history of smoking, quit attempt and reasons for failing quit were explored by using a self-administered questionnaire. Level of ND was assessed by validated Malay version of Fagerstrom Test for ND questionnaires. Stratified analysis on relationship among socio-economic status and current smoking status, level of ND was done. The prevalence of current smokers was 61.1% and the prevalence of low and moderate to high ND level was 76.2 % and 23.8 % respectively. Among them 54.1% of smokers were tried to quit smoking ranging from 1 to 30 times by self-awareness (48%) and their main reason to fail was addiction (71.9%). Smokers with monthly household income (RM2000-2999) was independently associated with moderate to high ND with AOR=4.73 (95% CI 1.83-12.18) compared to those with income (less than RM2000). Despite high prevalence of smoking, majority of smokers have low ND and addiction was the main reason to fail quit attempt. Household income was a contributing factor for moderate to high ND. The finding provides hope for the success of smoking cessation programme if it is to be done in this locality

Nicotine dependency of adult male smokers and it’s socio-economic determinants

INTRODUCTION: Most smokers become dependent both physically and psychologically within a few years of daily smoking because of its major chemical component of nicotine in tobacco. Nicotine dependence is occurred at any time which affects on successful smoking cessation. The aim of the study was to measure the prevalence of nicotine dependence (ND) among adult male smokers and influences of socio-economic characteristics on it. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 297 adult males participants with aged ≥18 years and who were recruited purposively from the house-holds which were selected using simple random sampling at FELDA Bukit Goh, Kuantan, Pahang in February 2015. Smoking and nicotine dependence status of the participants were assessed using a self-administered questionnaire in which consisted of modified smoking and tobacco use questions used in National Health Interview Survey and validated Malay version of Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND-M) assessment questionnaires. Fishers’ exact test, ANOVA and median test were applied to infer association between nicotine dependency and socio-economic (SE) variables (age, education, occupation, income and marital status). RESULTS: In the study, 61.3% (182 /297) was current smokers. Among them, the prevalence of low, moderate and high nicotine dependence level were 76.4% (139 /182), 22.5 % (41 /182) and 1.1% (2/182) respectively. The smokers aged 31-40 years old with secondary education, self employed, moderate monthly family income (1000-3000 RM) and married person were lower ND; however, these findings were no statistically significant when a cross analysis and comparing mean or median ND score among different SE background. CONCLUSIONS: High prevalence of low nicotine dependency is a favorable condition to obtain successful smoking cessation among the adult male smokers. No significant socio-economic determinants on level of ND indicated that level of ND should be assessed before engaging in the quit smoking program to provide tailored NRT

Knowledge, attitude and practice on dengue among adult population in Felda Sungai Pancing Timur, Kuantan, Pahang

Background: With increasing number of dengue cases in Malaysia, it’s of utmost importance that immediate action be taken to limit the epidemic. Since dengue control is a behavioral problem, the knowledge, attitude and practice in population needs to be studied in order to control the disease. Hence, the aim of this study is to assess knowledge, attitude and practice regarding dengue and its associated factors among adult residents of Felda Sungai Panching Timur (SPT), Kuantan, Pahang, 2014. Method: A cross sectional study was carried out involving 265 adult respondents. A face to face interview questionnaire which was divided into 2 parts (Part A: Sociodemoghraphic; Part B: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice) was used. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, simple and multiple logistic regression. Results: 53.2% of the respondents had good knowledge about dengue and it was found that the main source of information from mass media (76.6%). However, only 43.4% were found to have good attitude towards dengue. Multiple Logistic Regression analysis showed there was no association between sociodemographic characteristics with the level of knowledge and attitude towards dengue. There was also no association found between knowledge of dengue and the attitude of the respondents towards dengue. Descriptive analysis on the practice of dengue showed majority of the respondents who had possible breeding site for Aedes mosquitos (water container, drains/gutter roof/flower pots/tires) in their compound practiced good habit in preventing the Aedes mosquitoes from breed. Conclusion: Although knowledge and practice towards dengue is good, their attitude require improvement

Difficult to quit smoking beyond “nicotine dependence”: a preliminary survey among adult male smokers in Felda Bukit Goh,Kuantan Pahang, Malaysia

Background: The vast majority of smokers want to quit and most make repeated attempts to do so. Although, effective treatment for nicotine dependence (ND) is present now, repeatedly fail to quit is still a common issue among smokers because of beyond nicotine addiction. Objective: To measure nicotine dependence (ND) level among adult male smokers and influences of socio-economic (SE) characteristics on ND and failing to quit smoking. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive and analytical study was conducted in 2015 among 156 current adult male smokers in Kuantan, Malaysia. Socio-demographic and economic status, history of smoking and quitting attempt within 12 months and reasons for failing quit were identified by using a self-administered questionnaire. Level of nicotine dependence was assessed by validated Malay version of Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence questionnaires. Influence of socio-demographic and economic status on attempt to quit smoking and level of ND was analyzed. Results: Prevalence of low, moderate and high nicotine dependence level were 69.9%, 28.2% and 1.9% respectively. Among them, 55.1% were tried to quit smoking during 12 months. The most of reasons to fail quit attempt were nicotine addiction (69.8%) followed by uncomfortable/ tension/ not alert (10.5%), peer smoking/ social (10.5%), feel sleepy (7.9%) and desire to eat a lot (1.3%). Married smokers (56.6%) aged 31-40 years old (66%) with secondary education (52.9%) , private employee (68.3%), 1000-3000 RM family income per month (58.1%), and low ND score (59.6%) were tried to quit attempt and failed to quit. Smokers with low mean ND score (2.93) were attempted to quit significantly than those with high mean ND score (3.73). Conclusion: Nicotine dependence as a main reason for failing to quit smoking was confirmed in the study; however, influence of socio-demographic and economic characteristics was highlighted to consider in plan for successful quit smoking

Removal of As(III) and As(V) from water using green, silica-based ceramic hollow fibre membranes via direct contact membrane distillation

Arsenite [As(III)] and arsenate [As(V)] removal by direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) using novel hydrophobic green, silica-based ceramic hollow fibre membranes derived from agricultural rice husk was investigated in this work. The green ceramic hollow fibre membranes were prepared from amorphous (ASHFM) and crystalline (CSHFM) silica-based rice husk ash and modified to be hydrophobic via immersion fluoroalkylsilane (FAS) grafting of 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane. Superhydrophobic contact angle values up to 157° and 161° were obtained for ASHFM and CSHFM, respectively. Remarkably, the membrane surface morphology mimicked a look-alike lotus-leaf structure with decrement in pore size after grafting via the silane agent for both membranes. The effect of arsenic pH (3–11), arsenic concentration (1–1000 ppm) and feed temperature (50–80 °C) were studied and it was found that feed temperature had a significant effect on the permeate flux. The hydrophobic CSHFM, with a flux of 50.4 kg m−2 h−1 for As(III) and 51.3 kg m−2 h−1 for As(V), was found to be the best of the tested membranes. In fact, this membrane can reject arsenic to the maximum contaminant level (MCL) limit of 10 ppb under any conditions, and no swelling mechanism of the membranes was observed after testing for 4 hours

A knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) on dengue among adult population in Felda Sungai Panching Timur, Kuantan, Pahang

With increasing number of dengue cases in Malaysia, it's of utmost importance that immediate action be taken to limit the epidemic. Since dengue control is a behavioral problem, the knowledge, attitude and practice in population needs to be studied in order to control the disease. Hence, the aim of this study is to assess knowledge, attitude and practice regarding dengue and its associated factors among adult residents of Felda Sungai Panching Selatan (SPT), Kuantan, Pahang, 2014

Body Mass Index status and its relationship with mode of delivery, birth weight and early feeding history among children in an urban area of Pahang

INTRODUCTION: The body mass index (BMI) of children is currently increasing in trends either globally or locally. In Malaysia, the number of children approaching unhealthy BMI is alarming. Despite the frequently conducted studies on children’s BMI and factors such as diet and physical inactivity, limited studies were done focusing on birth related and early life factors. Thus, this research aims to study the body mass index status and its relationship with birth weight, mode of delivery and early feeding history among children in one of the urban residential area in Kuantan, Pahang. METHODS: A cross-sectional study with face-to-face interview using pre-tested structured questionnaires was conducted in October till November 2018. RESULTS: Among 92 participants, majority were male (52.2%), Malay (58.7%), have working parents (70.9%) and within M40 household income category (50.0%). Median age of the participants was 11 years old and mostly had appropriate birth weight, delivered via spontaneous vaginal delivery and weaned after six months with proportion of 87.0%, 77.2% and 75.0% respectively. Children who were wasted and severely wasted constitute 18.5% and overweight and obese 13.1%. Among the three main factors studied, it was found that only age of weaning hassignificant relationship with BMI status among these children (χ2 =7.58 (2), p=0.023). CONCLUSION: Therefore, intervention as early as during infancy, particularly age of weaning, is important in maintaining the healthy BMI status among these children

Abdominal obesity in Malaysian adults: National Health and Morbidity Survey III (NHMS III, 2006)

Abdominal obesity (AO) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, hypertension and diabetes mellitus in adults. There is a lack of data on the magnitude and socio-demographic profile of AO among Malaysian adults at the national level. In the Third National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS III) conducted in 2006, AO of adults aged 18 years and above was determined based on the waist circumference as part of the nutritional status assessment. This article reports the prevalence of AO in relation to socio-economic factors and demographic characteristics of adult subjects. Out of a total of 33,465 eligible individuals 18 years and above, waist circumference was measured in 32,900 (98.3%) individuals. The prevalence of AO was assessed using the cut-off points recommended by World Health Organization. The mean waist circumference in men and women was 84.0cm [95% confidence interval (95% CI): 83.8, 84.3] and 80.3cm (95% CI: 80.1, 80.6) respectively. The national prevalence of AO was 17.4% (95% CI: 16.9, 17.9). The identified risks of AO were women (OR: 4.2, 95% CI: 3.8, 4.6), aged 50-59 years (OR: 5.6, 95% CI: 4.0, 7.7), Indians (OR: 3.0, 95% CI: 2.4, 3.8), housewives (OR: 1.4, 95% CI: 1.1, 1.7), subjects with primary education (OR: 1.3, 95% CI: 1.1, 1.5) and ever married (OR: 1.4, 95% CI: 1.2, 1.6). Being the largest population-based study on AO among Malaysians, these findings have important public health implications. There is an urgent need to revise public health policies and programmes aimed at prevention of abdominal obesity especially in the groups at risk

Nutritional status of children below five years in Malaysia: anthropometric analyses from the third National Health and Morbidity survey III (NHMS, 2006)

The Third National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS III) was conducted in 2006 on a nationally representative sample of population in Malaysia. Over 21,000 children aged 0-17.9 years were measured for body weight and stature according to the protocol of the World Health Organization. This article describes the nutritional status of children aged 0-59.9 months. Mean z score for weight-for-age (WAZ), height-for-age (HAZ) and BMI-for-age were compared with the z-scores tables of the WHO standards. The overall prevalence of underweight and stunting of the children were 12.9% and 17.2% respectively. These levels included 2.4% severe underweight and 6.0% severe stunting. In terms of z scores, the age group of 0-5.9 months showed the best nutritional status with mean WAZ of-0.33 (95%CI:-0.52, 0.15) and-0.40 (-0.57, 0.24) for boys and girls respectively, while mean HAZ was 0.64 (0.38, 0.89) for boys and 0.76 (0.54, 0.98) for girls. Mean HAZ and WAZ status was least satisfactory after about 6 months, suggesting a faltering in growth rate at an age that coincides with dependence on complementary feeding. Prevalence of overweight based on BMI-for-age for the sexes combined was 6.4%, while that based on WAZ was 3.4%. The NHMS III results indicate that Malaysian children have better nutritional status compared to children under 5 years in neighbouring countries. In order to meet the targets set in the National Plan of Nutrition (2006-2015), more effective intervention programmes are needed to accelerate the reduction of underweight and stunting, and to arrest the rise of overweight in young children