ABSTRACT
The educational needs of epilepsy family caregivers vary depending on their relationship to the patients, their role in providing care and their emotional needs. Carers often have lack of confidence in their ability to seek information, resulting in barriers to receive information. Various educational programmes / materials about epilepsy were designed to improve the awareness, knowledge and attitudes (AKA) of patients and their families. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the feasibility, acceptability and practicality of Animated Epilepsy Educational Video (AnEEV) and AKA of family caregivers (FCGs). This part of a randomized, controlled study included a sample of 32 epilepsy FCGs who were recruited from the Neurology and Paediatric Clinics of Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah (HSNZ), Kuala Terengganu. Descriptive statistics were employed for data analyses (SPSS 17.0). Most were women (59.46%), married (65.6%), earning between RM1001 - RM2000 (34.4%), receiving secondary level education (65.6%) and were patients’ parents (65.6%). The AnEEV was highly acceptable (97.0%), easy to understand (90.9%), attractive (93.9%) and useful (87.9%). Almost all carers recommended AnEEV to other carers (97.0%) and were hoping to receive such educational materials in the future (93.9%). The Total AKA score was generally good (median=125.0; range=75.0-155.0) with awareness being moderate (median=30.0; range=0.0-50.0), knowledge was good (median=60.0; range=40.0-75.0) and attitudes were positive (median=35.0; range=10.0-40.0). The overall outcomes signified that AnEEV were well-received by the family caregivers and these favourable findings suggested that AnEEV could help in improving AKA for carers, which could ultimately assist epilepsy treatment, management and rehabilitation process
ABSTRACT
concern in breast cancer involves changes in weight which may adversely affect the prognosis of patients. This study intended to evaluate weight changed uring chemotherapy and its association with prognostic outcome measured as event-free survival (EFS)among breast cancer patients. A total of63 women diagnosed with breast cancer and have been treated by anthracycline-based chemotherapy between 2005 and 2011were included.A weight change (WC) was calculated based on relative percentage of weight changes from baseline to post-chemotherapy and categorized into either weight change (WC >5%) or stable (±5% WC).Survival probabilities were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier (SPSS 20). Upon treatment completion, 42.9% of the women experienced weight changes. A small weight reduction was observed (61.1 ± 11.6kg to 60.2 ± 11.9kg; -0.8 ± 4.0kg; p=0.106). The median EFS of women who experienced weight change was shorter (median 61.0 months) compared to those who maintained their weight (median 89.0 months) (p=0.044). In this study, weight changes during breast cancer chemotherapy were associated with poorer prognosis in comparison to women who maintained their weight.
ABSTRACT
Objectives: Accurate medical information is essential among health care professionals to aid dissemination of information to the public. This study aimed to determine the level of knowledge about breast cancer and to identify related factors among undergraduate health sciences students in a public university in Terengganu, Malaysia. Methods: The respondents included students aged 18 years old or older who were enrolled in nursing, medical laboratory technician (MLT) and radiography diploma programmes. A Breast Cancer and Chemotherapy Questionnaire (BCCQ) was administered; higher scores on it indicated better knowledge. The reliability and validity of the BCCQ was considered adequate. Descriptive statistics, independent t test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple logistic regressions were employed (SPSS 16). Results: A total of 239 respondents participated (mean age = 19.8 ± 0.1 years; females = 83.7%). The knowledge level was moderate. Females, nursing, and final-year students possessed significantly better knowledge. After adjusting for covariates, significant factors determining good breast cancer knowledge include being in the nursing discipline and years of study. Conclusion: This study has generally ascertained that knowledge related to breast cancer and chemotherapy among this sample population remains moderate and is not uniformly disseminated. An increase in knowledge is required to ensure an optimal level of knowledge, particularly for the junior students and those from courses other than nursing.
ABSTRACT
Background: University students generally tend to engage in problematic eating behaviours, including unhealthy dieting, skipping meals, and high intake of fast food, although they are aware of the negative consequences. Eating behaviours have been shown to be interestingly related to quality of life (QoL). Our study aimed to 1) assess general nutrition quality of life (NQoL) status and 2) compare NQoL status based on gender, financial resources, study courses, year of study, and body mass index (BMI) profiles. Methods: This study was conducted among undergraduates of health sciences in a local public university in Terengganu. Students completed the Malay version of NQoL (6 domains; 50 items; Likert-type responses 1–5). Data analysis was carried out by using SPSS 16.0, utilising descriptive and parametric statistics. Results: A total of 241 students were enrolled [age = 19.7 (0.1) years; female (83.0%); Malay (96.7%)]. Social/Interpersonal Factors [3.84 (0.43)] emerged as the best component, while Food Impact [3.10 (0.40)] was the worst. Across all variables, only gender and study courses showed significantly different NQoL. Females scored better than males in Self-Efficacy (confidence in food selection ability) (p < 0.05). Nursing students also experienced significantly greater NQoL (mean = 3.58, 95% CI = 3.47, 3.68) than radiography students in Self-Efficacy (p < 0.05). Medical laboratory technology students had a significantly more favourable NQoL rating (mean = 3.62, 95% CI = 3.47, 3.76) than nursing students in Self-Image (p < 0.05). Study courses significantly influenced the NQoL status of students with Good NQoL, while those with Poor NQoL were mostly influenced by gender and financial resources (p < 0.05). Conclusion: These outcomes indicate that specific demographic characteristics seemed to make a difference in the NQoL of undergraduate students.
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this review is to provide a summary of studies on the effectiveness nutrition education interventions used by college students. Electronic databases such as Medline, Science Direct, CINAHL (EBSCOhost), and Google Scholar were explored for articles that involved nutrition education interventions for college students and that were published between 1990 and 2011. Fourteen studies, which involved a total of 1668 college students as respondents, were identified and met the inclusion criteria. The results showed that there were 3 major forms of nutrition education interventions: web-based education, lectures, and supplement provisions. Dietary intake measures were used in almost all studies and were primarily collected with food records, recall, food frequency questionnaires, and dietary habit questionnaires. The outcome measures varied among the studies, with indicators such as consumption of food, nutrition knowledge, dietary habits, physical activity, and quality of life. Methodological issues were also identified. In general, college students experienced significant changes in their dietary habits after the interventions were employed. The highlighted methodological issues should be considered to improve the quality of similar research in future.
ABSTRACT
Objective: This study was aimed to determine the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms , to examine their association with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) profiles and to determine the predictors on overall HRQoL. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. The Malay Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire (MMQoL) were administered to a sample of 150 cancer patients (mean age = 50.4 years). Chi-square test, correlation and multiple regression were utilised for data analysis. Results: The prevalence for mild anxiety and depressive symptoms was 30.7% and 23.3% respectively. The HADS-A correlated strongest with Total MMQoL Score (r = - 0.578) and Psychological Well-Being (r = -0.526). Only HADS-A (beta = - 0.486), and HADS-D (beta = -0.173) were significant in predicting overall health-related quality of life. Conclusion: Findings in our study indicated that the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms in Terengganu cancer patients are moderate. If anxiety and depression are identified and treated, health-related quality of life among oncology patients appropriately could significantly be improved.