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@#Introduction: Ramadan fasting affects dietary propensity and mental health. As part of their courses, medical students encounter stressors such as examinations, college assignments, and others that can impact their mental health and contribute to conditions such as anxiety. Limited research has been conducted to date on the impact of Ramadan fasting on anxiety scores among college students. This study aimed to explore the impact of Ramadan fasting on anxiety using DASS-42 scoring system. Methods: A prospective cohort analytic study was conducted with a cross-sectional approach and a one-group pretest-posttest design. A total of 242 medical students were sampled and selected by consecutive sampling. The DASS-42 questionnaire was used to evaluate the respondents’ anxiety scores. Results: We found 99 respondents were experiencing anxiety while 143 were normal. The findings revealed that the anxiety scores fell during the pre- to post-Ramadan period for all respondents (p = 0.003), the respondents who had anxiety (p = 0,000), and the normal respondents (p = 0.001). Conclusion: The current study reports that Ramadan fasting was proven to reduce the anxiety scores of all students including those who experienced anxiety and normal subjects.
ABSTRACT
Objectives@#This study described and compared glycaemic changes with the use of the following Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) metrics: time in range, time in hyperglycaemia and time in hypoglycaemia from retrospective CGM data among children and adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM), before and during Ramadan to better understand the impact of fasting during this season. @*Methodology@#This study was conducted in 2 tertiary centres: Hospital Putrajaya (HPJ) and Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) from February to May 2020. Muslim T1DM patients between ages 8 to18 who intended to fast during Ramadan were given Ramadan-focused education. CGM iPro2® (Medtronic) was used before and during Ramadan, complemented by finger-prick glucose monitoring or self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG). @*Results@#Of the 32 patients, only 24 (12 female) were analysed. Mean age was 13.6 ± 3.1 years old, mean HbAlc was 9.6 ± 1.9% and mean duration of illness was 5.4 ± 3.4 years. Majority (91.7%) were on multiple dose injections (MDI) while only 8.3% were on continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII). All fasted in Ramadan without acute complications. Retrospective CGM analysis revealed similar results in time in range (TIR), time in hyperglycaemia and time in hypoglycaemia before and during Ramadan, indicating no increased hypoglycaemic or hyperglycaemic events related to fasting. Glycaemic variability before Ramadan as measured by the LBGI, HBGI and MAG, were similar to values during Ramadan.@*Conclusion@#Ramadan fasting among T1DM children and adolescents, by itself, is not associated with short-term glycaemic deterioration. T1DM youths can fast safely in Ramadan with the provision of focused education and regular SMBG.
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Background & objectives: There has been an ongoing debate about the impact of Ramadan fasting (RF) on the health of these individuals who fast during Ramadan. The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the relationship between RF and glycaemic parameters in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. Methods: Search terms were decided and databases such as MEDLINE EBSCO, Google Scholar and EMBASE were searched for eligible studies. Standardized mean differences and 95 per cent confidence intervals (CIs) of post-prandial plasma glucose (PPG), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) (%) and fructosamine levels were calculated for different treatment regimens. Results: Of the 40 studies, 19 were found eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Based on pooled results, significant reductions in FPG were found in single oral antidiabetics (OAD) [standardized weighted mean difference (SMD)=0.47, 95% CI=(0.20-0.74)], multi-OAD [SMD=0.36, 95% CI=(0.11-0.61)] and multitreatment subgroups [SMD=0.65, 95% CI=(0.03-1.27)] and overall [SMD=0.48, 95% CI=(0.27-0.70)]. Furthermore, HbA1c(%) [SMD=0.26, 95% CI=(0.03-0.49)] and body mass index (BMI) [SMD=0.18, 95% CI=(0.04-0.31)] were significantly decreased in the multi-OAD group. Interpretation & conclusions: The meta-analysis showed that RF was not associated with any significant negative effects on PPG and fructosamine levels. However, BMI and FPG and HbA1c(%) were positively affected by RF.
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The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of fasting for a period of one month during Ramadan on the lipid profile of Bangladeshi female volunteers who fasted during the Arabic month of Ramadan, when there occurs a change, both in the pattern and timing of dietary intake. Findings of the study showed that Ramadan fast significantly reduced serum Total cholesterol (TC) (p=0.030) and Low density lipoprotein (LDL-C) (p=0.011). A statistically nonsignificant elevation of triglyceride (TG)) was observed (p=0.598). High density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) also found to be raised significantly at the end of fasting (p = 0.037). Findings of the study revealed that fasting during the month of Ramadan changes lipid profile pattern in an aniatherogenic direction and may be beneficial to health.