The effectiveness of dental health education tools for visually impaired students in Bukit Mertajam

Oral health is a vital component of overall health. It is important in adults and children alike, however, it is even more crucial for children with special needs as they have limited ability to perform oral health practices. Disabled children deserve the same opportunity for oral health as normal children. Unfortunately, oral health care is the most unattended health needs of the disabled children. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of dental health education tools for visually impaired students in two schools in Bukit Mertajam, Penang. The project utilized dental health education tools consisting of an oral health module (printed in braille for the blind and in font 18px for the partially blind), an audio narration of the module were prepared and content-validated by an expert panel. Baseline plaque scores of 38 subjects aged 6-17 years were determined by a trained dental staff nurse. The module was then administered to the subjects facilitated by the teachers. Post intervention plaque scores were recorded again after one month. The pre and post intervention data were analyzed using Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test with a significant p value set at < 0.05. The results showed that there was a reduction in the overall median plaque score in both partially blind (n = 22) and totally blind (n =16) subjects (2.2 (IQR 0.7) to 1.8 (IQR 0.5) and 2.1 (IQR 0.4) to 2.0 0 (IQR 0.7) respectively). The score difference in the totally blind group was significant (p=0.025). Reductions in plaque scores were also observed in stratified data (based on age); with the partially blind aged 12-17 years showing the greatest reduction. However, the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.067). At younger age, tooth brushing should be supervised by parents as their manual dexterity and cognitive ability is still low. In addition, the younger subjects are less motivated if compared to the older ones. These factors could affect the result of the overall mean OHI-score in this study. In conclusion, the tools appeared to have a positive effect on promoting good oral hygiene among students with visual impairment. We recommend for further studies to be conducted on a bigger sample

Stronger pack warnings predict quitting more than weaker ones: Finding from the ITC Malaysia and Thailand surveys

Background: We examined the impact of cigarette pack warning labels on interest in quitting and subsequent quit attempts among adult smokers in Malaysia and Thailand. Methods. Two overlapping cohorts of adults who reported smoking factory- made cigarettes from Malaysia and Thailand were interviewed face-to-face (3189 were surveyed at baseline and 1781 re-contacted at Wave 2; 2361 current smokers were surveyed at Wave 2 and 1586 re-contacted at Wave 3). In Thailand at baseline, large text only warnings were assessed, while at Wave 2 new large graphic warnings were assessed. In Malaysia, during both waves small text only warnings were in effect. Reactions were used to predict interest in quitting, and to predict making quit attempts over the following inter-wave interval. Results: Multivariate predictors of &quot;interest in quitting&quot; were comparable across countries, but predictors of quit attempts varied. In both countries, cognitive reactions to warnings (adjusted ORs; 1.57 &amp; 1.69 for Malaysia at wave 1 and wave 2 respectively and 1.29 &amp; 1.19 for Thailand at wave 1 and wave 2 respectively), forgoing a cigarette (except Wave 2 in Malaysia) (adjusted ORs; 1.77 for Malaysia at wave 1 and 1.54 &amp; 2.32 for Thailand at wave 1 and wave 2 respectively), and baseline knowledge (except wave 2 in both countries) (adjusted ORs; 1.71 &amp; 1.51 for Malaysia and Thailand respectively) were positively associated with interest in quitting at that wave. In Thailand only, &quot;cognitive reactions to warnings&quot; (adjusted ORs; 1.12 &amp; 1.23 at wave 1 and wave 2 respectively), &quot;forgoing a cigarette&quot; (adjusted OR = 1.55 at wave 2 only) and &quot;an interest in quitting&quot; (adjusted ORs; 1.61 &amp; 2.85 at wave 1 and wave 2 respectively) were positively associated with quit attempts over the following inter-wave interval. Salience was negatively associated with subsequent quit attempts in both Malaysia and Thailand, but at Wave 2 only (adjusted ORs; 0.89 &amp; 0.88 for Malaysia and Thailand respectively). Conclusion: Warnings appear to have common mechanisms for influencing quitting regardless of warning strength. The larger and more informative Thai warnings were associated with higher levels of reactions predictive of quitting and stronger associations with subsequent quitting, demonstrating their greater potency. <br /

Time perspective as a predictor of smoking status: findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Surveys in Scotland, France, Germany, China, and Malaysia

BACKGROUND: Prior studies have demonstrated that time perspective-the propensity to consider short-versus long-term consequences of one\u27s actions-is a potentially important predictor of health-related behaviors, including smoking. However, most prior studies have been conducted within single high-income countries. The aim of this study was to examine whether time perspective was associated with the likelihood of being a smoker or non-smoker across five countries that vary in smoking behavior and strength of tobacco control policies. METHODS: The data were from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Surveys in five countries with large probability samples of both smokers (N=10,341) and non-smokers (N=4,955): Scotland, France, Germany, China, and Malaysia. The surveys were conducted between 2005-2008. Survey respondents indicated their smoking status (smoker vs. non-smoker) and time perspective (future oriented vs. not future-oriented) and provided demographic information. RESULTS: Across all five countries, non-smokers were significantly more likely to be future-oriented (66%) than were smokers (57%), &chi;(2)(1, N = 15,244) = 120.64, p &lt; .001. This bivariate relationship between time perspective and smoking status held in a multivariate analysis. After controlling for country, age, sex, income, education, and ethnicity (language in France), those who were future-oriented had 36% greater odds of being a non-smoker than a smoker (95% CI: 1.22 to 1.51, p&lt;.001). CONCLUSION: These findings establish time perspective as an important predictor of smoking status across multiple countries and suggest the potential value of incorporating material to enhance future orientation in smoking cessation interventions

The effects of smoking norms and attitudes on quitting intentions in Malaysia, Thailand and four Western nations: A cross-cultural comparison

This research investigated the influence of smoking attitudes and norms on quitting intentions in two predominantly collectivistic countries (Malaysia and Thailand) and four predominantly individualistic Western countries (Canada, USA, UK, and Australia). Data from the International Tobacco Control Project (N = 13,062) revealed that higher odds of intending to quit were associated with negative personal attitudes in Thailand and the Western countries, but not in Malaysia; with norms against smoking from significant others in Malaysia and the Western countries, but not in Thailand; and with societal norms against smoking in all countries. Our findings indicate that normative factors are important determinants of intentions, but they play a different role in different cultural and/or tobacco control contexts. Interventions may be more effective if they are designed with these different patterns of social influence in mind

Effectiveness of antismoking media messages and education among adolescents in Malaysia and Thailand: findings from the international tobacco control southeast Asia project

INTRODUCTION: Finding ways to discourage adolescents from taking up smoking is important because those who begin smoking at an earlier age are more likely to become addicted and have greater difficulty in quitting. This article examined whether anti smoking messages and education could help to reduce smoking susceptibility among adolescents in two Southeast Asian countries and to explore the possible moderating effect of country and gender. METHODS: Data came from Wave 1 of the International Tobacco Control Southeast Asia Project (ITC-SEA) survey conducted in Malaysia (n = 1,008) and Thailand (n = 1,000) where adolescents were asked about receiving antismoking advice from nurses or doctors, being taught at schools about the danger of smoking, noticing antismoking messages, knowledge of health effects of smoking, beliefs about the health risks of smoking, smoking susceptibility, and demographic information. Data were analyzed using chi-square tests and logistic regression models. RESULTS: Overall, significantly more Thai adolescents reported receiving advice from their nurses or doctors about the danger of smoking (p &lt; .001), but no country difference was observed for reported antismoking education in schools and exposure to antismoking messages. Multivariate analyses revealed that only provision of antismoking education at schools was significantly associated with reduced susceptibility to smoking among female Malaysian adolescents (OR = 0.26). Higher knowledge of smoking harm and higher perceived health risk of smoking were associated with reduced smoking susceptibility among Thai female (OR = 0.52) and Malaysian male adolescents (OR = 0.63), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Educating adolescents about the dangers of smoking in schools appears to be the most effective means of reducing adolescents\u27 smoking susceptibility in both countries, although different prevention strategies may be necessary to ensure effectiveness for male and female adolescents

Characteristics of clients with nicotine dependence and short-term abstinence: findings from the USM Tobacco Quitline Service in Malaysia

Background Globally, quitlines have been shown to be an effective means for smoking cessation. The success of quitting among smokers is contributed by many factors such as nicotine dependence, motivation, income and educational levels, previous quit attempts, environmental characteristics and quit methods. This study will determine the characteristics of clients with nicotine dependence and short- term abstinence (one month duration) among those registered with the USM Tobacco Quitline Service. Methods Secondary analysis of USM Tobacco Quitline clients with the age range between 18-80 years old who completed initial assessment (one week pre Quit Date (QD)) and have been followed-up within one month post QD. The Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), which is a validated six-item scale, was used to assess the nicotine dependence among those that registered for Quitline service one week prior to QD. Continuous abstinence (relapse or continue quitting) data was obtained for one month post QD. Results Of the 418 registered clients, 68.2% (n=285) confirmed their registration. Sixty four clients completed their initial assessment and were followed-up within one month post QD. Majority (93.8%) of them were males with the mean age of 44. All clients with high FTND score and 95.5% clients with moderate FTND score successfully achieved one month smoke- free (short-term abstinence) higher than clients with mild FTND score. Conclusions The findings showed that smokers with high and moderate FTND scores were able to achieve better short-term abstinence compared to those with mild FTND score. Further research needs to be conducted to understand the reason for this behaviour. This result does not take into account other abstinence factors. A long-term abstinence data would provide an insight on the ways to improve the service particularly in the diverse client background

Using cognitive interviewing and behavioral coding to determine measurement equivalence across linguistic and cultural groups: An example from the international tobacco control policy evaluation project

This study examined and compared results from two questionnaire pretesting methods (i.e., behavioral coding and cognitive interviewing [CI]) to assess systematic measurement bias in survey questions for adult smokers across six countries (United States, Australia, Uruguay, Mexico, Malaysia, and Thailand). Protocol development and translation involved multiple bilingual partners in each linguistic/cultural group. The study was conducted with convenience samples of 20 adult smokers in each country. Behavioral coding and CI methods produced similar conclusions regarding measurement bias for some questions; however, CI was more likely to identify potential response errors than behavioral coding. Coordinated qualitative pretesting of survey questions (or postsurvey evaluation) is feasible across cultural groups and can provide important information on comprehension and comparability. The CI appears to be a more robust technique than behavioral coding, although combinations of the two might be even better