Background: Low birth weight can lead to infant death, especially during the first year of life. Aims: To assess risk factors related to low birth weight babies in Sana'a, Yemen. Methods: We conducted an unmatched case-control study of 252 women who came for delivery at Al Thawra Hospital, Sana'a, Yemen, between August and October 2016. Results: Significant risk factors for low birth weight were: birth interval < 2 years; history of pre-eclampsia during current pregnancy; preterm gestational age < 37 weeks; and khat chewing or smoking during pregnancy. After controlling for all the confounders, only birth interval < 2 years was significantly associated with low birth weight. Conclusion: Shorter birth interval is an important risk factor for low birth weight; therefore, improving maternal awareness of this should be emphasized during postnatal follow-up.
Introduction: Adolescence is a crucial phase in life, as this is the time when they are developing their identity, while at the same time forming relationships with others, including their family members. This study investigated adolescents’ mental health status in Malaysia and its associated factors including self -esteem and parenting style that are experienced by them. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 248 school-going adolescents aged 13 and 14 years in Selangor, Malaysia. The validated Malay version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was utilized to assess adolescents’ mental health status. In addition, the adolescents’ self-esteem was also assessed using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale Questionnaire while the Parental Bonding Instrument was used to assess their parent’s parenting style. Results: Almost 20% of the adolescents were found to have mental health problems such as emotional and conduct problems, hyperactivity disorder and peer problems. Using multivariate analysis, factors that were associated with mental health problems were family income (AOR=2.788, 95% CI=1.397, 5.563), adolescents’ self-esteem (AOR=0.799, 95% CI=0.668, 0.955) and their perception on parental control (AOR=1.175, 95% CI=1.020, 1.353). Conclusion: This study shows that one fifth of these adolescents had mental health problems. Low socio-economic factors, over controlling parents and poor self-esteem were associated with these problems. In conclusion, it is important to educate parents on effective parenting style, as improper parenting may cause psychological distress among adolescents. Improving families’ socioeconomic status and adolescents’ self-esteem can also enhance their mental health and well-being.
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the quality of life among flood victims exposed at three worst districts in Pahang, Malaysia. Methods: Semi-guided questionnaires were distributed randomly to a total of 602 flood victims. Quality of life (QOL) was measured using WHO Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF), which were assessed based on four domains, i.e. physical activity, psychological, social relationships and environment. Results: Victims of the flood had a poorer quality of life in all the domains especially physical (59.0%) and psychological (53.3%) domain. The impact of the flood on QOL was higher among women, those who reside in the urban area, the elderlies and persons with high education and income. Conclusion: Flood event has reduced the QOL of victims. The impact of flood has been found to be mitigated over the time and relief efforts. Interventions aimed to reduce these concerns in acute post-flood areas are essential to minimize poor QOL among the affected victims. Keywords: Flood, WHOQOL-BREF, Malaysia, victim, QOL, urban
Worldwide, around 8 million people die yearly due to tobacco usage. Cigarette smoking is the most popular form of tobacco usage. Smoking has linked to many detrimental health effects among adults and adolescents. Recognising the burden of smoking, World Health Organization have implemented various tobacco control strategies under the Framework Convention of Tobacco Control and mPOWER. This includes implementation of plain packaging and pictorial warning. In Asia, only Thailand, Singapore, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Israel have implemented plain cigarette pack. However, some countries have made progress to implement plain cigarette pack. Although some countries have not implemented plain pack, implementation of larger pictorial warning serve as a pathway for implementation of plain packaging. Countries with pictorial warning on cigarette pack should ensure it covers at least 50% of pack. Timor Leste has the largest pictorial warning on cigarette pack in the world. In conclusion, only 5 countries in Asia have implemented plain pack and some countries in this region are yet to implement size of pictorial warning according to requirement of World Health Organization. All countries should target to implement standardized pack to denormalise tobacco usage.
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