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INTRODUCTION@#This study examined maternal, delivery and infant factors associated with cord thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) concentrations in an Asian population.@*METHODS@#The Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) study is a mother-offspring birth cohort from 2 major hospitals in Singapore. Cord serum TSH was measured using the Abbott ARCHITECT TSH Chemiluminescent Microparticle Immunoassay and the ADVIA Centaur TSH-3 Immunoassay. After excluding infants with a maternal history of thyroid disease, screening cord TSH results from 604 infants were available for multivariable regression analysis in relation to the factors of interest.@*RESULTS@#Babies born by vaginal delivery had significantly higher cord serum TSH concentrations than babies born by caesarean section. Cord serum TSH concentrations differed significantly by measurement method. There was no association of cord TSH concentrations with ethnicity, sex, birth weight, gestational age, maternal body mass index, gestational weight gain, gestational diabetes mellitus status and other maternal, delivery and infant factors studied.@*CONCLUSION@#Interpretation of cord serum TSH results may need to take into account mode of delivery and measurement method.
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Ramadan is one of the special months for Muslims all over the world. During Ramadan, able-bodied Muslims are abstained from eating, drinking and even smoking from dawn to sunset. In Malaysia, the duration of fasting are normally around 13 hours at any time of the year as it is located near the equator. The altered food intake timing and long period of fasting do influence on eating behavior of fasting individuals. This is especially on those who do not know the right meals to eat during the time of breakfast. Hence, this issue may favor those intended to organize Ramadan Bazaar along the streets and Ramadan buffets in hotels. The implications of these two phenomena which create an abundant food environment may lead to food wasting, binge eating and overeating. However, this may benefit the country's economy; the Muslims need to be mindful that Ramadan is a month of moderation. Hence, the food carnivals during Ramadan need to be observed wisely for the benefit of the ritual and in point of view of population health
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This study aimed to develop and examine the validity and reliability of a pregnancy symptoms questionnaire. A total of 214 pregnant women aged 19 to 40 years old were purposive randomly recruited from December 2009 to January 2010 in Antenatal Clinic, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia. Pregnant mothers at second and third trimesters were interviewed to complete the Pregnancy Symptoms Questionnaire (PSQ). The PSQ was developed by experts in nutrition, obstetrics and statistics. The PSQ consists of 38 items on frequency and severity of pregnancy symptoms. Factor analysis was done using Promax rotation method to check for construct validity. A total of 16 items which had poor correlation (<0.3) and less important content were removed during the final revise. The 22 remaining items were found to be loaded on the three components (general, constitutional and somatic pain). The overall Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.93 and for each three components ranges from 0.70–0.87. The results suggest that the final PSQ consisting of 22 items is valid and reliable for measuring the frequency and severity of the symptoms experienced during pregnancy. It can be used in nutritional studies related to pregnancy and its outcome.