Background: The COVID-19 infection spread rapidly in Malaysia, and elderly people with underlying comorbidities were affected most. The study aimed to determine the effect of exercise on QOL and mental health among elderly people residing in old age homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Out of 178 older adults from old age homes in Kedah and Penang States, 39 respondents undertook aerobic and strengthening exercises. A single group pre-test and post-test study was conducted in one government home and nine private homes in the northern region of Malaysia. The DASS-21 scale was used to assess mental health, and the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire was used to evaluate QOL. Results: After 12 weeks of the exercise programme, scores for the physical domain increased from 53.1 to 61.8, for the psychological domain from 51.8 to 59.3, for the social domain from 53.2 to 60.5 and for the environmental domain from 67.2 to 72.1. Moreover, there was a significant reduction in the depression score from 6.2 to 4.4, the anxiety score from 3.5 to 2.2 and the stress score, from 4.6 to 2.8. Conclusion: Performing aerobic and strengthening exercises for a minimum of 12 weeks may have helped to improve mental health among the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it may also improve the quality of life for those who are residing in old age homes.

Background: Health seeking behavior is defined as any deed that an individual tackles to perceive themselves to have a health issue or to be sick for the endeavor of discovering a suitable countermeasure. Delays in seeking health care are usually associated with an increase in the mortality rate and the perk of early treatment and control are also acknowledged. Aims and Objective: The present study aimed at finding the morbidity and health seeking behavior among the rural population, Malaysia. Materials and Methods: A community survey was carried out in the rural area of Kedah State and the sample size was 114. A structured questionnaire was used and the data were collected by face to face interview method. Results: Majority of the residents (71.9%) were apparently healthy while 28.1% were diagnosed with illness. Top three common diseases were hypertension (53.1%), diabetes (34.4%) and heart disease (6.3%). About 81.3% of them were taking their medications regularly whereas18.7% were not compliant. Among those with illnesses,31.3% of the respondents were using traditional medicine. About half of the respondents felt that they need not get check-ups and this becomes the major barrier to health care. It was followed by long wait,lack of doctors and mass media. The source of health information was mainly from health staff followed by mass media, friends and campaigns. Conclusion: Based on the study we can conclude that improving health literacy through intensive awareness campaigns and mass media and providing access to technology may create more health awareness and healthconsciousness in individuals and encourage them to lead a healthy lifestyle. Increasing the number of health care professionals and health care centers will motivate the individuals to monitor their diseases and treatment to improve the quality of life.

Background: Polio is reported as reemerging disease in Malaysia after 27 years of being free from it. It is important to identify the awareness towards polio vaccine among the medical students who are the future and the pillars of the nation, to develop a country. Aims and Objectives: This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude, and barriers toward polio immunization among pre-clinical medical students. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 190 pre-clinical students from a private university after obtaining informed consent and institutional ethical clearance. Data collected from Google Forms questionnaire were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: Insufficient knowledge, especially on disease nature, transmission, and correct dosage of vaccine, was noticed. Findings revealed that 79.5% of the students showed unfavorable attitude toward polio immunization. Year 2 students are more positive toward the vaccination compared to year 1. Main barriers toward polio immunization selected by the respondents are disagreement from the spouse, insecure about vaccine safety, and distance of the health center. Conclusion: Pre-clinical students should enhance their knowledge to be able to recognize the various barriers of polio immunization in our country and be part of the effort in solving these barriers as polio eradication is critical to ensuring a healthier future for children.

Papillary muscles are one of the important components of the musculature of the ventricles of the heart. Various diseases of papillary muscle dysfunction such as papillary muscle ischemia, left ventricular dilation, non-ischemic papillary muscle atrophy, papillary muscle or chordae congenital anomalies, dilated or hypertrophic cardiomegaly are commonly observed. Apparently normal postmortem hearts (n=60) were used in this study. Based on gender, specimens were grouped as follows: group A (n=41) ‘male’ and group B (n=19) ‘female’. The length and breadth of the anterior, posterior and septal papillary muscles were measured. The mean length of the anterior papillary muscle was 17.27 (±4.30) mm in males, 16.98 (±3.70) mm in females, the posterior papillary muscle was 14.04 (±3.78) mm in males, and 13.81 (±2.47) mm in female, and septal papillary muscle was 7.35 (±2.78) mm in male and 6.73 (±1.94) mm in female. The breadth of anterior papillary muscle was 5.75 (±1.24) mm and 5.94 (±1.76) mm, posterior papillary had 5.02 (±1.09) mm and 4.77 (±0.80) mm, and septal papillary was 3.97 (±0.81) mm and 3.86 (±0.38) mm in male and female accordingly.

Introduction: The COVID-19 cases in Malaysia increased dramatically and every individual must comply with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to prevent the high burden on health facilities. Since it has no effective treatment; nonetheless, early recognition of the disease and applying prevention strategies will help to mitigate the virus propagation.  This study aimed to determine the attitude and adherence of COVID SOPs among Malaysians. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted through an online and a total of 206 participants from different states of Malaysia took part in this survey by convenience sampling method. Those who scored ≥ 80% were considered as having a favourable attitude and good adherence to COVID SOPs. Chi-square test and multiple logistic regression were applied to assess the association between sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents, attitude and adherence of COVID SOPs. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: More than two thirds of the respondents had favourable attitude (70.9%; 95% CI: 64.7%, 77.1%) and good adherence to SOP (69.4%; 95% CI: 63.1%, 75.5%). A  compliance of < 60% .with SOP measures like carrying hand sanitizers, avoiding visiting the crowded places and red zone areas were common among the respondents. The finding of this study showed that gender has a significant association with attitude (p=0.002).Females were three times more likely to have a positive attitude than males. Conclusion: The Malaysian population studied exhibited a good knowledge, attitude and practice with regard to COVID 19 SOP’s. Self-regulation is notably higher among the Malaysian population however, observing total compliance will require enforcement by the authorities.

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Background: The learning environment has a significant impact on the academic success and learning process of students. Implementing a high-quality, student-centered curriculum demands an assessment of the educational environment. The focus of this study was to compare the learning environments of first-year medical and dental students at a private Malaysian University using the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire, a validated method for evaluating educational environments. Methodology: A cross-sectional analytical study was undertaken with students who agreed to participate. The trial lasted three months. After obtaining consent from students for participation, demographic information was gathered. Students in the lecture hall were given physical copies of the DREEM questionnaire to assess their learning environment. A total of 225 students participated, and IBM SPSS version 23 was used to analyze the data. The Chi-square and Student t tests were employed to establish the existence of an association or difference between two variables. Result: A total of 225 students were involved in this study showing 100% response rate. The total score indicated that the majority (84%) regarded the educational environment was outstanding, 15.56 percent had a more promising opinion, and a very small percentage (0.44%) believed the educational environment was terrible. In this study with noteworthy findings, medical students were happier with their lecturers and with their own academic abilities than dental students. The weakest 19 questions were identified. Most respondents had extremely favorable attitudes toward the educational environment, followed by a moderately favorable opinion. Less than 1% of pupils exhibited a negative attitude. Conclusion: In this study, perceptions of the educational environment was satisfactory for both medical and dental students, but more positive for medical students. Measures must be taken to improve the scores and ensure that the scores are consistent across both faculties.

Context/Background: Today, poor mental health is one of the most neglected diseases although it is one of the leading causes of disabilities in both developed and developing countries. This mental health issue becomes a problem among university students too. This study was aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors of depression, anxiety, and stress (DAS) among university students. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was carried out in a private university of northern Malaysia during 2020. A random sample of 161 students were included and DASS-21 was used to determine the prevalence of DAS. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the associated factors. Results: The prevalence of DAS among students were 34.8%, 42.2%, and 33.5%, respectively. In contrast to years 2 and 4, the prevalence of all types of mental disorders were lower in years 1 and 3. The students’ living area, residence, academic year, and parental income were significantly associated with anxiety whereas the age group of the students and parent’s income did so for depression. The variables; age group, academic year and parent’s income were identified as significant determinants for the presence of stress among students. Conclusions: The significant extent of the mental health problems was detected among university students in Malaysia. Despite the small sample, this analysis indicates that opportunities exist to improve campus-based mental health education and psychological support among university students.