Attitude Towards Anti-smoking Measures and Its Associated Factors Among Adults in Sub-urban Area, in Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia

@#Introduction: General population across different countries have shown an overall support for anti-smoking measures that vary significantly by certain population parameters. However, characteristics of the public attitude in a community who has been exposed to prolonged awareness campaigns and smoke-free area legislation is unclear. Consequently, we investigate residents who reside next to Batu Buruk beach in Kuala Terengganu city which has been gazetted as a smoke-free area since 2017. Methods: The cross-sectional study involves self-administered validated questionnaires. Multiple linear regression with forward method was applied to identify significant factors associated with the attitude towards anti-smoking measures. Results: A total of 295 residents participated. Most of them were Malays (96.6%), married (64.4%), attained up to the secondary school level (45.4%) and employed (59.7%). The mean value of the total attitude scores was 181.86 (range: 70-200). Multivariate analyses revealed those having higher monthly income had a higher total attitude scores (adjusted b: 6.91, 95% CI: 2.15, 11.66), while current daily smokers had a lower total attitude scores towards anti-smoking measures than non-smokers (adjusted b: -23.30, 95% CI: -29.55, -17.05). These findings highlight comparatively stronger and more consistent support for anti-smoking measures that may vindicate high-stake investment and legislation against smoking. Conclusion: The novel evidence may also better-inform the strategy to expand the initiatives further through profiling the target population with heightened emphasis on the economic standing and prevalence of current daily smokers. Future research may adopt experimental design to establish causality relationship between predictors and outcomes revealed in this community.

Inflammation of the Gums

@#An 18-year-old woman presented to the clinic with painless bleeding of her gums upon brushing her teeth. The bleeding stopped spontaneously, and there was no other bleeding tendency. On further questioning, the patient had irregular menses and was taking the oral contraceptive pills (OCP) Diane-35ED® to regulate her menses. She had been on this medication for four months. She was not on any other medication and had no chronic illness.

Bluish swelling on the foor of the mouth

@#A healthy, six-year-old girl presented to the clinic with a three-day history of swelling on the foor of her mouth (Figure 1). Te swelling was painless and was not associated with discharge or bleeding inside her mouth. She also denied any fever, signifcant loss of weight or appetite, halitosis, dysphagia, and odynophagia. Tere was no other neck or chest swelling. On physical examination, her face and neck appeared normal and symmetrical. Cervical and submandibular lymph nodes were not palpable. However, there was an ill-defned, rounded, bluish swelling approximately 2 cm in diameter on the left foor of the mouth lateral to the frenulum. Te swelling was soft with a smooth surface but non-tender upon palpation. Tere was no bleeding or discharge noted in the oral cavity. Other oral structures appeared normal despite multiple caries on her deciduous teeth.

Demographic study of brain tumour in a neurosurgical department in Terengganu, Malaysia

@#patients, families as well as the surrounding communities,especially the healthcare services. It can be classified intoeither a benign slow growing tumour (non-cancerous) andmalignant tumour (cancerous). The purpose of this studywas to determine the incidence and pattern of brain tumouradmitted to the Neurosurgery Department in HospitalSultanah Nurzahirah (HSNZ), Terengganu, Malaysia.Methods: This is a retrospective study of incidence andpattern of BT admitted to the Neurosurgery Department inHSNZ. Data was collected from the yearly census of BTregistered from 2013 to 2018.Results: A total number of 386 new cases of primary BT wereregistered. The number of cases of BT was found to belowest among children (0 to 10 years old) with only 4.4% butat peak among elderly aged between 51 to 60 years old(26.2%). As for gender, males constituted about 44.5%(n=172) whereas females accounted for 55.5% (n= 214) of thecases. In total, meningioma was found to have the highestincidence (27.2%) followed by metastases brain tumour(18.1%) and glioma (17.4%). Conclusions: This study has shown that the incidence of BTwas led by meningioma which had a high prevalence amongthe elderly population, followed by metastasis BT andgliomas.