ABSTRACT
Statistical editors of the Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences (MJMS) must go through many submitted manuscripts, focusing on the statistical aspect of the manuscripts. However, the editors notice myriad styles of reporting the statistical results, which are not standardised among the authors. This could be due to the lack of clear written instructions on reporting statistics in the guidelines for authors. The aim of this editorial is to briefly outline reporting methods for several important and common statistical results. It will also address a number of common mistakes made by the authors. The editorial will serve as a guideline for authors aiming to publish in the MJMS as well as in other medical journals.
ABSTRACT
Background: A high level of awareness on tuberculosis (TB) is crucial for the success of the prevention and treatment among the high risk populations. Having a good perception about the treatment of TB may increase the acceptance of the control measures in decreasing the spread of the disease. Aims & Objective: To develop and validate a Questionnaire about the knowledge of the causes, mode of transmission, the prevention of TB and the perception of TB treatment among TB patients in Malaysia. Materials and Methods: A Cross-sectional study was conducted among TB patients attended the Respiratory Clinic at the Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab II, Kelantan, Malaysia. This study used a self-administrated questionnaire that takes approximately 10 minutes to complete and was generally well received by the respondent’s. The validation involved content validity, exploratory factor analysis for the construct validity and internal consistency for reliability. Results: A total of seventy TB patients comprising of 39 males (55.7%) and 31 females (44.3%) responded. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy (KMO) was (0.827 and 0.723) and Bartlett's test of Sphericity was highly significant (P<0.001). The exploratory factor analysis was used with the extraction method of the principal component and the varimax rotation with normalization. The factor analysis showed six factors within the 28 items which were associated with TB knowledge, the cause and prevention, the mode of transmission and the perception of TB treatment. The internal consistency was [0.893, 0.552, 0.701 and 0.729] for the four factors of TB knowledge and [0.889 and, 0.697] 2 factors for the perception of TB treatment respectively. Conclusion: The questionnaire on TB knowledge, on the causes, the mode of transmission, and the prevention of TB and the perception of TB treatment was valid and reliable with good items that enables its use for assessing TB knowledge among TB patients and the community.
ABSTRACT
RetCam is an excellent screening tool for the detection of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). However, affordability is a barrier when adopting the use of RetCam in developing countries. We aimed to describe different stages of ROP using ultrasonographic B-scan and to evaluate the association between funduscopic examinations and ultrasonographic B-scan findings in premature neonates with ROP in Malaysia. A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in 90 eyes of 47 premature neonates with different stages of ROP in three tertiary hospitals in Malaysia. Experienced ophthalmologists performed detailed funduscopic examinations using binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy (BIO). A masked examiner performed a 10 MHz ultrasonographic B-scan evaluation with 12 meridian position images within 48 hours of clinical diagnosis. Data from the clinical examination and ultrasonographic findings were collected and analysed. We recruited 37 eyes (41.1%) with stage 1 ROP, 29 eyes (32.3%) with stage 2, 18 eyes (20.0%) with stage 3, and 3 eyes (3.3%) with stages 4 and 5 based on the clinical assessment. Ultrasonography correctly identified 3 (8.1%) stage 1 eyes, 17 (58.6%) stage 2 eyes, 13 (72.2%) stage 3 eyes, and 3 each (100%) of the stage 4 and 5 eyes. There was a significant association between the funduscopic signs and the ultrasound findings for stage 2 ROP and above (Fisher’s exact test, p <0.001). In conclusion, all stages of ROP were detected and described with a 10 MHz ultrasonic B-scan system. A significant association was observed between funduscopic signs and ultrasonographic findings in premature Malaysian neonates with stage 2 ROP and above.