Prevalence of clustering of lifestyle cardiovascular risks and its association with cardiovascular screening activities among apparently healthy government servants in ‘Wisma Persekutuan’ Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu

Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death and disability among men and women in nearly all nations, including Malaysia and are projected to remain the single leading cause of death up to 2030. Lifestyle cardiovascular risks such as dietary habits, physical inactivity and smoking are considered fundamental risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Some studies in developed countries have found that lifestyle risk factors occur in combination with each other and are not randomly distributed across populations. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was done from June to August 2013 to determine the prevalence of lifestyle risks, clustering of lifestyle risks, and optimal screening; to determine the association of clustering of lifestyle risks with cardiovascular screening activities among government servants in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. A questionnaire which consisted of a case report form, International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and the dietary component of WHO STEPs were used as tools. The questionnaires were distributed to 121 government servants aged ≥20 years without any established cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular screening for a history of blood pressure, blood glucose, serum lipids and BMI measurement were done for each participant. Findings: The study response rate was 90.9% (110 of 121). Prevalence of smoking, physical inactivity and unhealthy diet were 20%, 50% and 87% respectively. Prevalence was more in the lower socio-economic group. The prevalence of clustering of lifestyle cardiovascular risks was 57%. The prevalence of optimal cardiovascular screening for age was 49%. Clustering of lifestyle risks was significantly associated with non-optimal screening (p=0.004). Other significant factors associated with non-optimal screening were female gender, age and last visit to medical practitioner more than one year. Conclusion: Measures needed to be done to promote affordable healthier diet and healthy lifestyle activities. Promotion of healthy lifestyle behaviors should be done via synergistic action of public health and primary care sectors and emphasis should be made at primary care level to screen those with multiple lifestyle cardiovascular risks in order to optimize cardiovascular disease prevention

Development and validation of an inventory to evaluate the implementation of main educational elements in promoting higher-order thinking skills

A valid, reliable and practical instrument is needed to evaluatethe implementation of higher order thinking skills (HOTs) amongst teachers in primary schools. The purpose of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of an inventory in promoting HOTs. The inventory wasadapted from Nurasyikin (2016), Gulistan et. al(2016) and Gonzales and Fugan (2012). The instrumentin the form of questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 220 primary school teachers teaching Islamic education subject. The content validity was assessed by a group of experts, and the construct validity wasmeasured byanExploratory Factor Analysis. The reliability of the instrument wasmeasured by thealpha coefficient reliability or Cronbach Alpha. Results of Exploratory Factor Analysis suggestedthat 12 items neededto be removed due totheirnon-dimensionality as they hadmore or less equal loadings on several factors. The instrument developed yielded high values of internal consistency as reflected by the Cronbach alpha values. The final draft of the instrument contained 107 items which was consideredvalid and reliable. Even though the validity and reliability of the instrument werewithin the acceptable range, more data neededto be gathered with a bigger sample, and further analysis using an Item Response Theory (IRT) model could beused to explore deeper into the psychometric characteristics of the items

Prevalence of Latent Tuberculosis Infection and its Associated Factors Among Diabetic Patients Availing Primary Health Care in Terengganu State, Malaysia

Objectives: Diabetes mellitus (DM) patients are considered to be at high risk for contracting latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). This study aimed to determine the prevalence of LTBI and its associated factors among diabetic patients attending primary care clinics in Terengganu state, Malaysia. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among diabetic patients attending 11 health clinics in the Terengganu region from June 2017 to November 2018. The selected participants were administered a tuberculin skin test (TST). Simple and multivariate logistic regressions were applied to evaluate the significant associated factors of LTBI. Results: The total number of participants were 703 DM patients. The factors found associated with LTBI were poor diabetic control status (odds ratio (OR) = 8.53; p=0.008), being a healthcare worker (OR = 7.91; p=0.001), history of contact with TB patients (OR = 5.69; p < 0.001), bronchial asthma (OR = 5.28; p=0.019), coronary heart disease (OR = 3.45; p=0.026), and nephropathy (OR = 0.34; p=0.040). The presence of LTBI was found in 34 (4.8%) participants. Conclusions: At 4.8%, the prevalence of LTBI among DM patients in Terengganu is relatively low. Diabetics with poorly controlled blood glucose levels, nephropathy, bronchial asthma, coronary heart disease, history of TB patient contact, or working in the healthcare profession should be periodically tested for LTBI

Confirmatory factor analysis of the teaching strategy for HOTs and LOTs Inventory in the Malaysian context

Promoting students’ higher order thinking skills is now becoming more important in an education system. An effective teaching strategies are required to teach those skills to students. Hence, avalid, reliable and practical instrument is needed to evaluate teaching strategies used in promotingstudents’ higher order thinking skills (HOTs) and lower order thinking skills (LOTs). The aim of this study is to explore different factor structure of the teaching strategies scale by using the second-order Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The instrument is adapted from an instrument developed by Gulistan (2016) to suit with the Islamic education teachers in the Malaysian context. 220 primary school teachers teaching Islamic education subject was selected randomly from one of the state in Malaysia. The content validity is assessed by a group of experts, and the construct validity is measured by Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The reliability of the instrument is measured by the alpha coefficient reliability or Cronbach Alpha. Results indicated that the teaching strategies inventory is a valid and reliable scale. The measurement model is validated with two factors (‘Acquiring Knowledge’ and ‘ApplyingKnowledgeand Reflection on Knowledge’). This study provides support for using a valid instrument in evaluating teaching strategies used by Islamic education teachers in primary level in real study later

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Evaluation of usability of Malaysia Diabetes Prevention Program (MyDiPP) mobile app – a pilot study

Malaysia is confronting a type 2 diabetes (T2DM) epidemic; around 3.9 million Malaysians have T2DM. Lifestyle modification intervention is effective in reducing or delaying the onset of T2DM among high-risk individuals. The Malaysia Diabetes Prevention Programme (MyDiPP) app is a lifestyle intervention digital therapy with multiple approaches (weight loss, dietary modification, physical activity, and quality of life). This study aimed to assess the usability of the MyDiPP mobile app among high-risk individuals in Kuala Terengganu. A random sample of 10 users was selected in the usability evaluation of the MyDiPP mobile app. Data collection methods included an online survey on the usability aspect of mobile apps in terms of usefulness, ease of use, satisfaction, and ease of learning. The results showed that MyDiPP mobile app is useful, easy to use, satisfying, and easy to learn from the high-risk adults’ perspectives with slightly agree, moderately agree, and strongly agree to have the highest percentage. From these results, it can be inferred that, from the perspective of high-risk individuals, MyDiPP mobile app meets the usability aspects and can be used to help prevent the development of diabetes among at-risk adults

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat