The effectiveness of health education package on knowledge, attitude and practice of influenza a (H1N1) among secondary school children in Kelantan

Health education is crucial in providing individuals with the information, skills and motivation necessary for decision making about lifestyle and personal health behavior. An effective health education is vital as the pandemic will affect a very large numbers of people. People must be well informed with factual and up to date information. This study was conducted to determine level of knowledge, attitude and practice among secondary school children on influenza A (H1N1) and to evaluate the effectiveness of health education package on influenza A (H1N1). A community intervention trial was conducted among secondary school children in two districts in Kelantan; namely Kota Bharu and Bachok from July to December 2010. Students in one school in Bachok were allocated as the intervention group and those in Kota Bharu as the control group. Form four students were selected by using cluster sampling according to class. Data was collected using knowledge, attitude and practice questionnaire before, immediately after and intervention. The intervention group was given a lecture, video shows and printed materials (booklet and pamphlet) on influenza A (H1N1). The control group was given a video show on hazards of smoking. Repeated measures analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was applied in data analysis. A total of 436 students in SMK one month after the Bachok (intervention group) and SMK. Kota (control group) were included in the study. The study involved all Malay students aged 16 years old. More than half of them were females (62.6% for control group and 52.8% for intervention group). The baseline mean (SD) for knowledge, attitude and practice scores were 69.35 (8.81), 65.77 (7.14) and 35.42 (6.19) respectively. After controlling the potential numerical covariate, there were significant improvements in knowledge (F=53.70, p<0.001) and attitude (F=5.37, p=0.005) scores in the intervention group compared to the control group over time. However there was no significant difference between the groups for practice. This study suggests that health education package is an essential component in improving knowledge and attitude of students on influenza A (H1N1). Having good knowledge and attitude will lead to better prevention and control and this in turn will reduce the incidence of disease and cost due to influenza A (H1N1) infection and may halt the epidemic

Depression and quality of life in patients with neurological disorder in a Malaysian hospital

Objective: To investigate association between major depressive disorder (MDD) and quality of life in patients with neurological disorder. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out at a Malaysian hospital between April 2016 and December 2016 using convenience sampling. Patients aged ≥18 years with intracranial tumour or other brain disorders were invited to participate. Quality of life was assessed using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life questionnaire version 3.0; diagnosis of MDD was made using Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Results: Of 122 patients approached, 100 (66 women and 34 men) were included (response rate, 93.5%), with a mean age of 45.3 years. The prevalence of MDD in patients with neurological disorder was 30%. Compared with non-depressed patients, patients with MDD had poorer global health status / quality of life (p = 0.003), and reduced physical (p = 0.003), role (p = 0.021), emotional (p < 0.001), cognitive (p = 0.004), and social (p = 0.007) functioning, as well as more symptoms of fatigue (p = 0.004), pain (p < 0.001), dyspnoea (p = 0.033), insomnia (p < 0.001), appetite loss (p = 0.002), constipation (p = 0.034), diarrhoea (p = 0.021), and financial difficulties (p = 0.039). Conclusion: Patients with MDD had reduced quality of life. Fatigue, pain, dyspnoea, insomnia, appetite loss, constipation, diarrhoea, and financial difficulties were prevalent among patients with MDD

Increased endothelial progenitor cells with age and grade of malignancy in astrocytic glioma patients

Astrocytic gliomas are the most common primary brain tumours that originated from human glial cells. The tumours rely upon endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) for neoangiogenesis. This study aimed to investigate the association between tissue resident EPCs in a brain tumour and normal adjacent tissue in relation to age and grade of astrocytic glioma. Astrocytic glioma patients (n=22), grade I to grade IV were consented from Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia. Brain tumour tissue and normal adjacent brain tissue samples were obtained from each patient during surgery. The EPCs were stained with CD133+ and VEGFR-2+ markers. The tissue residents EPCs for each sample were determined using the immunofluorescence microscopy method. The age of the patients increased by disease severity in the following order (Grade I: 21.33±20.79 years) < (Grade II: 46.50±0.707 years) < (Grade III: 47.38±11.95 years) < (Grade IV: 48.44 ±10.66 years). The EPCs in brain tumour correlated significantly with the age of the patients with positive correlation (Spearman's rho correlation test, r=0.52; p=0.013). The tissue resident EPCs in the brain tumour (median=0.40, IqR=0.59) were significantly higher compared with the adjacent normal brain (median=0.067, IqR=0.29) (Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test, Z stat=-3.587, p<0.001). Higher tissue resident EPCs were found in high grade (III & IV) glioma compared with EPCs in low grade (I & II) glioma (median=0.61, IqR=0.70 vs. median=0.26, IqR=0.30; z=-1.763 p=0.078). This study showed increased EPCs with age and grade of malignancy in astrocytic glioma patients. Therefore, targeting EPCs in gliomas based on tumour grade malignancy and age of the patients might be useful in effective treatment of astrocytic glioma

Quality of life among patients with brain pathology in a Malaysian hospital

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of symptoms and problems in Malaysian brain pathology patients. A total of 100 respondents in Kuala Lumpur Hospital were included in this cross-sectional study. The study utilized European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality Of Life questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30). Patient with a "symptom/problem" having the minimum response of "a little". A response of "quite a bit" was defined as having a "severe symptom/problem". The two most prevalent "symptoms/problems" among the neurological disorder patients were fatigue (65%; severe: 28%) and reduced cognitive functioning (64%; severe: 25%). The mean number of "symptoms/problems" ranged from 4.63 (meningioma) to 6.80 (cerebellar edema) while the mean number of "severe symptoms/problems" ranged from 1.39 (astrocytic glioma) to 2.8 (cerebellar edema). Therefore special attention should be given to these patients in order to improve the overall quality of life of the patients