Background Antepartum depressive and anxiety symptoms (ADS and AAS) are prevalent in Malaysia. Prior evidence linking maternal ADS and AAS with adverse birth outcomes and caesarean section (CS) or instrumental delivery is conflicting. There is no research in Malaysia on the association between maternal mental disorders and adverse birth outcomes and mode of delivery. This study aims to investigate the independent effect of maternal ADS and AAS on low birth weight (LBW), preterm birth (PTB) and CS or instrumental delivery among women in east and west coasts of Malaysia. Methods We used data from a prospective cohort study of 799 pregnant women from health clinics of two states in east and west coasts of Malaysia. Baseline data were measured at the third trimester of pregnancy on ADS, AAS, socioeconomic condition, anthropometric status, reproductive history and intimate partner violence. Birth outcomes and mode of delivery were determined at the time of delivery. Univariate and multiple Cox’s regressions were applied to assess the association between ADS and AAS and LBW, PTB and CS or instrumental delivery. Results ADS was significantly associated with an increased risk of giving birth to LBW babies in both east coast (RR = 3.64; 95% CI 1.79–7.40) and west coast (RR = 3.82; 95% CI 1.86–7.84), but not with PTB. AAS was associated with increased risk of both LBW (RR = 2.47; 95% CI 1.39–4.38) and PTB (RR = 2.49; 95% CI 1.16–5.36) in the east coast, but not in west coast. The risk of CS or instrumental delivery was evident among women with ADS (RR = 2.44; 95% CI 1.48–4.03) in west coast only. Conclusion ADS predicts LBW in both coasts, AAS predicts LBW and PTB in east coast, and ADS predicts CS or instrumental delivery in west coast. Policies aimed at detection and management of ADS and AAS during antenatal check-up in health clinics may help improve birth outcomes and reduce obstetric interventions.

No abstract

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 pandemic has caused a major impact to global public health including one of the high risk groups which is the medical students. This study was intended to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19 among medical students in International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). MATERIAL AND METHOD: An online cross-sectional study was conducted among 438 medical students of IIUM from 6th July 2020 to 9th July 2020. KAP towards COVID-19 was measured using a structured Malay and English version questionnaire consisting of 13 items on knowledge, 3 items on attitudes and 3 items on practices. RESULTS: The average correct response rate on knowledge was 85.4%. Only 12.1% of the students had correct knowledge on all items, and 1 in every 4 and 5 students had misconceptions on the clinical features and transmission of COVID-19. In term of attitudes towards COVID-19, majority of the respondents believed that COVID-19 would be effectively controlled (85%) and had faith that Malaysia could overcome the war against COVID-19 (99%). Most of the respondents practiced good towards COVID-19 in avoiding crowded places (90%), wearing face masks (95%) and practicing hand hygiene (91.6%). CONCLUSION: Although the results are positive towards KAP, only 1 in every 10 students responded correctly to all knowledge questions, and few proportions had misconceptions on the disease and did not maintain adequate practices. Policies aimed at appropriate health promotion activities may ensure empowering the medical students with adequate knowledge on all aspects of COVID-19, and practice properly following the standard operating procedure implemented by the government.

The use of questionnaire as a tool to measure public perception on their risk of developing disease has been widely used by many researchers. However, in Malaysia, there is no validated questionnaire developed for such purpose yet. This study aim to develop and validate the questionnaire on risk perception of developing five most common non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Malaysia. A cross sectional study was carried out among staff and clients of Kuala Rompin Health Clinic, Pahang aged 18 years and above from different ethnicities and age groups. This study was divided into 4 phases: i) developing the questionnaire involving related specialists and pre testing, ii) improving and editing the questionnaire and redistribution to 130 respondents for the pilot study, iii) factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, and iv) internal consistency reliability testing of the questionnaire. Factor analysis performed showed that factors loading values are all more than 0.4 and items in each domain were correlated with items in the same domain, but not with items in the other domain; findings which support the convergence and discriminant validity of the questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis came up with one five factors best fit model. Internal consistency reliability analysis on health related behavior, special practices, information seeking and perceived probability of diseases have good Cronbach α values of between 0.5 to 0.8, whereas intra-class correlation (ICC) for the perceived severity has a value of between 0.1 to 0.2. Thus, the questionnaire is successfully validated and considered as a useful tool to be used in measuring public perception on their risk of developing NCDs in Malaysia. However, improvement will still be necessary from time to time to ensure its relevance especially if it is to be used by different populations or countries of different background in Malaysia, taking into account the new changes in disease pattern.

Objective: Smartphones have now become a common and almost essential tool in our daily living activities. Students are among those who use smartphones regularly, which could lead to addiction if overused. This study aims to measure the prevalence of smartphone addiction and its relationship with psychological health among clinical year medical students in International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Kuantan. Methods: A total of 226 medical students in their clinical years were recruited through quota sampling method. The students filled in a four-part online-based questionnaire consisted of questions on sociodemographic characteristics, smartphone usage information, smartphone addiction scale-short version, and WHOQOL-BREF. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics. Results: The prevalence of smartphone addiction among clinical year medical students in IIUM was 51%. Bivariate analysis showed that the majority of students chose social networking as their primary purpose of using a smartphone, and this was significantly associated with smartphone addiction (p=0.037). Following multiple logistic regression analysis, students who had chosen games as their primary purpose of smartphone users are 88% less likely to be related with smartphone addiction (p=0.009, 95% CI: 0.025–0.595) as compared to those who used it for academic performance tasks. Students who were not addicted to smartphones reported significantly better psychological quality of life compared to those who were addicted (p<0.001). Conclusion: Half of IIUM’s medical students in clinical years was found to have smartphone addiction, and those with smartphone addiction had poor psychological health. Immediate intervention such as creating awareness in the campus is important in curbing this problem.