MEMBERSHIP RATE, PERCEPTION AND AWARENESS OF THEIR PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION AMONG NEWLY LICENSED PHARMACISTS

Objectives: The Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society (MPS) is the professional association for pharmacists in Malaysia. It plays a significant role in the continuous education of pharmacists by serving as a platform to inform members of the latest developments in pharmacy, to further stimulate interest and collaboration in research and also to uphold and enhance the standards and ethics of the profession. Unfortunately, like many professional associations, the goals of the MPS are hindered by its low membership rate. The objective of this study was to determine the membership rate, perception and knowledge of the MPS among recently licensed pharmacists.Methods: A voluntary survey was conducted, using a questionnaire, among pharmacists who were recently licensed and in the process of completing their compulsory service. The total number of respondents was 175.Results: Ninety-five percent of those surveyed felt that a professional association was important for the future of pharmacists, yet only 50% were MPS members. More than 85% of respondents were women and most of them (54.3%) were graduates from private universities. The majority of those who were not members of MPS indicated that they did not join MPS because they were unaware of the benefits of membership or lacked time for MPS activities. This is likely a contributing factor to low rates of membership observed among professional pharmaceutical associations worldwide.Conclusion: Accordingly, we believe that greater effort by MPS, and similar professional bodies, to improve awareness of the association and benefits of membership would increase membership and the long-term will benefit the pharmacy profession.Â

Kecelaruan psikogeriatrik di kalangan warga tua: satu kajian awal

Satu kajian awal bagi menyaring kecelaruan psikogeriatrik di kalangan warga tua telah dijalankan. Tujuan kajian ini dijalankan adalah untuk menentukan peratusan kes kecelaan kognitif, strok dan kemurungan dalam sampel populasi yang berumur di antara 60-89 tahun. Seramai 40 orang subjek dan pemberi maklumat subjek di sekitar Lembah Kelang, Kuala Lumpur dan Selangor dipilih. Alat penyaringan yang digunakan dalam kajian ini ialah Psychogeriatric Assessment Scale (PAS). Psychogeriatric Assessment Scale (PAS) terdiri daripada dua bahagian iaitu laporan subjek dan laporan pemberi maklumat subjek. Laporan subjek digunakan untuk menyaring kecelaan kognitif, strok dan kemurungan. Manakala laporan pemberi maklumat subjek digunakan untuk menyaring kemerosotan kognitif, strok dan perubahan tingkah laku subjek. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan peratusan kes kecelaan kognitif (lelaki 67% kes, perempuan 64.3% kes) dan strok (lelaki 75% kes, perempuan 64.3% kes) yang tinggi di kalangan subjek lelaki dan wanita. Terdapat juga hubungan yang signifikan di antara laporan subjek dengan laporan pemberi maklumat subjek mengikut setiap skala PAS. Alat ujian psikologi PAS mampu menyaring masalah psikogeriatrik di kalangan warga tua dan ketepatan penyaringan dapat dinilai dengan data pemberi maklumat daripada alat ujian PAS. Penyaringan psikogeriatrik adalah penting untuk mengenal pasti kehadiran kecelaan fungsi kognitif dan kemurungan di kalangan warga tua pada peringkat awal

A review of online intervention for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

The aim of this paper is to summarize and discuss the existing online intervention for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). This paper is using the narrative approach and the search engine used include PubMed, SAGE Journals, EBSCO host and Cochrane Library. A total of 10 articles were included for this review and it categorised by authors into five online intervention programmes for OCD which are BiP OCD, OCD? Not Me!, OCD-NET, iCBT and COT. All these programmes were aimed to help the people who suffer from OCD, but the programmes might have some differences in term of the age range of the participants, the duration of the programme, and slight differences in term of the contents of the programmes and measures used. The online intervention for OCD used the principles of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and included the part of psychoeducation, exposure and response prevention (ERP), and relapse prevention. The contents of psychoeducation, ERP and relapse prevention, and the effectiveness of the online intervention programme for OCD will be discussed in this paper. The future research should emphasize on the development of an online intervention for OCD in Malaysia by considering the cultural and language issues in Malaysia

A review on online intervention for anxiety disorder

Anxiety Disorders share features of excessive fear and anxiety related behavioral disturbances. Diagnosis of Anxiety Disorders often leads to a high financial burden to the sufferers and economical lost to the society with high rates of health care costs and days on sick leave. Online intervention is seen as a good option to deal with anxiety issues. Therefore this paper aimed to review past studies on online intervention programs for anxiety related problems and its effectiveness. Eight studies from electronic databases PubMed, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, and CINAHL were identified. The findings suggest that an online intervention program can be effective in reducing anxiety symptoms. Several different psychological treatments for Anxiety Disorders exist, but Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is the most used in online intervention program. Online program using CBT targeting Anxiety Disorders is commonly based on psychoeducation, cognitive restructuring, and relaxation. Additional interventions components often used in online intervention programs are problem-solving, worry exposure, mindfulness, and relapse prevention. In conclusion, the online interventions for Anxiety Disorders could serve as cost and time effective alternatives, but with certain considerations, especially on adherence towards the treatment

Projek perintis album memori digital untuk warga tua demensia ringan dan sederhana di Malaysia – satu kajian kebolehlaksanaan

Peningkatan trend menggunakan informasi dan komunikasi teknologi dalam penyampaian proses kenangan pada orang yang mengidap demensia semakin ketara. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk meninjau kesesuaian penggunaan Album Memori Digital (DMA) dalam proses kenangan dan seterusnya mengkaji manfaat psikososial penggunaan DMA ini pada warga tua demensia yang tinggal di komuniti. Kaedah: Kajian ini menglibatkan lima peserta berdemensia ringan dan sederhana dan penjaga utama mereka. Setiap peserta berpeluang untuk mengenang kisah hidup mereka dengan seorang terapis selama 8 minggu berturut-turut dengan menggunakan Life Review Experience Form (LREF). Justerus itu, kisah hidup individu berdigital setiap peserta digubalkan. Proses ini juga direkodkan secara audio. Kisah hidup berdigital ini disampaikan dengan format multimedia dan disiarkan dengan menggunakan DMA. DMA ini diberikan kepada peserta sebagai hadiah. Data kualitatif dikumpulkan sejurus selepas penggubalan DMA dan 6 minggu kemudian. Keputusan: Analisis rekod audio dan data interview menunjukkan DMA memberikan kesan-kesan positif psikososial pada peserta termasuk keseronokan, keselesaan, merangsang memori jangka panjang dan meningkatkan komunikasi dan interaksi sosial di antara ahli-ahli keluarga dan rakan-rakan mereka. Penjaga-penjaga utama turut menyatakan DMA membantu mereka memahami dan mengimbas kembali masa lepas orang kesayangan mereka. DMA turut mengalihkan fokus penjaga pada keupayaan peserta daripada kelemahan mereka. Kesimpulan: Kajian ini menunjukkan kesesuaian penggunaan DMA dalam meningkatkan kesan positif psikososial pada individu yang demensia di Malaysi

Positive effects of Individual Cognitive Behavior Therapy for patients with unipolar mood disorders with suicidal ideation in Malaysia: a randomised controlled trial

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of Individual Cognitive Behavior Therapy (ICBT) in treating patients with mood disorders with suicidal ideation. A total of 69 patients (48 females, 21 males) with the diagnoses above were randomly allocated to either the group of Treatment As Usual (TAU)+ICBT (n=33) or the TAU group (n=36). All participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSS), Positive and Negative Suicide Ideation Inventory (PANSI), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21). These questionnaires were administered at pre-treatment, midway through treatment (week 4), post-treatment (week 8), and at follow-ups after three months (week 20) and six months (week 32). Factorial ANOVA results showed that the TAU+ICBT patients improved significantly and at faster rate as compared to the TAU group, which showed improvement only from pre to mid treatment on DASS-D and BHS-T measures. The effect size (Cohen's d), for the TAU+ICBT group showed large effect (1.47) for depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation (1.00). These findings suggest that ICBT used in addition to the TAU, was effective in enhancing treatment outcome of patients with unipolar mood disorders as well as, reducing risk for suicide behavior

Cognitive intervention and its cultural components for people with dementia in Asia : a systematic review

People with dementia in the world is expected to increase to 139 million by the year 2050. Psychosocial approach has become a powerful tool to prevent cognitive decline due to aging effect in older adults. However, there is still lack of evidence on the psychosocial benefits of cognitive intervention on older adults with dementia in Asian countries. Therefore, the aim of this review is to synthesize latest evidence on the psychosocial benefit of cognitive intervention on Asian older adults with dementia. PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus database have been used to aid the research. This review is limited to studies with randomized controlled trial (RCT) and controlled trial design. Nine randomized controlled trials out of 3897 studies have met the criteria for this review. Result revealed that cognitive intervention program is useful in improving global cognitive functioning of Asian older adults with dementia. Besides, cognitive interventions also significantly improve quality of life, depressive symptoms, and behavioural and psychological symptoms. Cognitive intervention as an alternate to pharmacological approach, can potentially benefit older adults with dementia. Future research should look further on the effects of cognitive intervention to specific cognitive domains such as attention, memory, executive function, and language as well as its usefulness in improving other areas of individuals’ functioning

A Review of Risk Factors for Cognitive Impairment in Stroke Survivors

In this review, we aimed to identify the risk factors that may influence cognitive impairment among stroke survivors, namely, demographic, clinical, psychological, and physical determinants. A search from Medline, Scopus, and ISI Web of Science databases was conducted for papers published from year 2004 to 2015 related to risk factors of cognitive impairment among adult stroke survivors. A total of 1931 articles were retrieved, but only 27 articles met the criteria and were reviewed. In more than half of the articles it was found that demographical variables that include age, education level, and history of stroke were significant risk factors of cognitive impairment among stroke survivors. The review also indicated that diabetes mellitus, hypertension, types of stroke and affected region of brain, and stroke characteristics (e.g., size and location of infarctions) were clinical determinants that affected cognitive status. In addition, the presence of emotional disturbances mainly depressive symptoms showed significant effects on cognition. Independent relationships between cognition and functional impairment were also identified as determinants in a few studies. This review provided information on the possible risk factors of cognitive impairment in stroke survivors. This information may be beneficial in the prevention and management strategy of cognitive impairments among stroke survivors