Factors associated with quality of life during COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: The worldwide lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been reported to have an impact on many people's quality of life. This study aims to measure the quality of life for Malaysians during this time and its associated factors. Method(s): This national online survey from August to December 2021 via placement of QR codes in public places such as shopping malls, vaccination centres, and hospital outpatient clinics. The QR code is linked to a google form in Malay, which consists of four sections, including: socio-demographic;validated Fear of COVID-19 Scale;validated Brief COPE scale to assess coping strategies as well as regulating cognition in response to stressors coping mechanisms, and quality of life, measured using a validated WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. The data collected were analysed via linear regression to obtain the final model. Result(s): There were 4904 Malaysian adults who participated in this survey with a mean of age 32(SD=9.2), and the majority being female (83.7%). Based on the finding, 59.1% claim to have had a low overall quality of life during the pandemic. Age, education status, and income as well as psychological related predictors (fear of COVID-19, coping strategies, and psychological distress) are the predictors that explain 69% of the total variance in quality of life among Malaysians. Conclusion(s): Targeting modifiable factors such as psychoeducation on fear of COVID-19, and coping strategies can potentially improve the quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic among Malaysians.

Does high dose favipiravir improve COVID-19 pneumonia patients' outcome? - A retrospective cohort study

Introduction: Human Coronavirus Disease COVID-19 is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV- 2). Favipiravir is an oral, broad-spectrum inhibitor of viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. The Malaysian national consensus guidelines recommended standard favipiravir dosage (1800mg BD day 1 and 800mg BD for 5-14days) to treat COVID-19 pneumonia, which was complied by HSNZ since January 2021. A study in Thailand noted better prognosis in patients given higher favipiravir doses. The Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah infectious disease team applied compassionate treatment, with increased doses (>45mg/kg/day) since June 2021. This study aims to compare the clinical deterioration of patients receiving high or standard doses of favipiravir. Method(s): This is a retrospective cohort study. Electronic medical record of 122 patients admitted during January to August 2021 were selected. Clinical deterioration is defined by occurrence of hypoxia requiring increased oxygenation throughout admission. Analysis via chi-square and Man-Whitney U test were done to compare among two groups. Result(s): The mean age is 57.4+/-16.3 y/o, with 65 (53.3%) men, and 117 (95.9%) Malays. Median day of illness upon admission is 5 (IQR: 3-6), 72(59%) patients have underlying comorbidities. There is no significant difference in baseline characteristics among both groups. Chi-square analysis of occurrence hypoxic deterioration shows no significant difference. However, significant difference is noted in days to deterioration (p<0.001) with high dose 6 days (IQR: 5-7.75), vs standard dose 1 days (IQR: 1-3). Conclusion(s): Among COVID-19 category 4 patients, high dose favipiravir shows superiorly in delaying clinical deterioration, however no significant difference in occurrence of deterioration.

The descriptive study of monitoring the utilisation of pharmacy value-added services in Melaka public health facilities before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: Increasing the usage of pharmacy value added services (PVAS) would help limit contact and alleviate hospital congestion as part of a strategy to combat the spread of COVID-19. The aim of this study is quantified the usage of PVAS in public health care facilities in Melaka before (2019) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020 & 2021). Material(s) and Method(s): The retrospective study in 36 public health facilities of Melaka. The total number of value added services (Drive-Through Pharmacy (DTP), Prescribed Medication Courier Service (PMCS), Integrated Drug Dispensing System (IDDS), and Pharmacy Appointment System (PAS) utilisation were extracted from Statistics Report of Melaka State Pharmaceutical Services 2019-2021. The percentages differences in PVAS utilisation were calculated between before pandemic year (2019) with pandemic year (2020 and 2021). Result(s): The findings showed 15.9% (2020) increment of utilisation of PVAS in Melaka and 24.1% (2021) compared with the 2019. The most increment utilisation of PVAS in Melaka from 2019 are;for year 2020;PMCS (226.6%), DTP (219.2%), IDDS (40.3%) and for year 2021;DTP (285.3%), PMCS (252.4%), IDDS (46.2%). All of the percentages difference if compared with the pre pandemic year with pandemic year it showed significantly difference p<0.05. Conclusion(s): The utilisation of various type of PVAS are increase during the COVID-19 pandemic. This demonstrated that these strategies could assist patients in reducing their visits to health care facilities during a pandemic.

Public Transport, Ridership and Safe Travelling Environment during COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a dramatic decrease in public transport demand. Even though public transport in Malaysia is allowed to reboot and run with total capacity after the end of a movement control order, many public transport users still worry and refuse to take public transport as their movement tools. Therefore, government and public transport service providers must pay attention to improving preventive steps to keep public transport users feeling secure. Thus, the present study proposes a research model encompassing perceived risk, standard operating procedure, and information credibility in understanding the feeling of safety among Malaysian public transport users.

FLEXIBLE UVC WRAP FOR SANITIZATION OF CARRY- HOME ITEMS

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised concerns on public health and household safety. Contamination of carry-home items by the SARS-CoV2 virus represents a potential risk to households. The common method of manual wipedown of carry-home items using liquid-form disinfectants is not a controlled and standardized process due to differences in operator performance and various surface types and topology. This project aims to develop a cost-effective and convenient UVC sanitization device that accommodates carry-home items of different surface topologies. The device is designed in the form of a flexible wrap and can be manually fabricated using readily available off-the-shelf components. Preliminary testing has shown that the device is capable of producing minimum UVC intensity of 27.17 mu W/cm(2) at 275nm wavelength which exceeds the minimum value of 19.97 mu W/cm(2) required to deactivate the coronavirus in 30 seconds.