SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC, LIFESTYLE AND HEALTH FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH DEPRESSION AMONG ADULTS IN MALAYSIA: AN ETHNIC COMPARISON

@#Depression is a serious mental health illness worldwide. The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationships between depression and its risk factors of sociodemography, lifestyle, and health among the adults of the different ethnic groups in Malaysia.

Management of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus in Children & Adolescents in Primary Care

The Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Management of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus in Children & Adolescents was developed by a multidisciplinary development group and approved by the Ministry of Health Malaysia in 2015. A systematic review of 15 clinical questions was conducted using the evidence retrieved mainly from MEDLINE and Cochrane databases. Critical appraisal was done using the Critical Appraisal Skills. Recommendations were formulated on the accepted 136 evidences using the principles of Grading Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation tailored to the local setting. Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease, which usually occurs at an early age, and is associated with various complications including retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy and cardiovascular morbidity. Good glycaemic control early in the disease results in lower frequency of chronic diabetes complications, which in turn reduces the healthcare cost. Accurate classification of diabetes and optimum management with the aim to achieve glycaemic targets is of utmost importance.

The Socio-demographic Determinants of Smoking and Alcohol Consumption: A Cross Sectional Study in Penang, Malaysia

The primary objective of the present study was to investigate the impact of sociodemographic factors on smoking and alcohol consumption among adults in Penang (Malaysia). A cross-sectional primary survey data with 398 respondents was used for analysis. The present study applied logistic regression models to examine the factors affecting the odds of smoking and alcohol consumption. The results showed that gender, ethnicity and education could significantly affect smoking. In particular, males (OR: 26.678) had a higher likelihood of smoking compared to the females, whereas Chinese (OR: 0.177), Indians/others (OR: 0.331) and individuals with tertiary education (OR: 0.258) had a lower likelihood of smoking than others. In terms of alcohol, gender, ethnicity and marital status were found to have a significant influence on the likelihood of alcohol consumption. Specifically, males (OR: 5.051), Chinese (OR: 37.796) and Indians/others (OR: 10.863) were more likely to consume alcohol than others, while married individuals (OR: 0.380) were less likely to consume alcohol than unmarried individuals. Based on the findings of the present study, numerous population-based intervention measures were suggested.

Analysis of Antarctic proteobacteria by PCR fingerprinting and screening for antimicrobial secondary metabolites.

Fifty-seven proteobacterium species were successfully isolated from soils of Barrientos Island of the Antarctic using 11 different isolation media. Analysis of 16S rDNA sequencing of these isolates showed that they belonged to eight different genera, namely Bradyrhizobium, Sphingomonas, Methylobacterium, Caulobacter, Paracoccus, Ralstonia, Rhizobium, and Staphylococcus. All isolates were studied for capability of producing antimicrobial and antifungal secondary metabolites using high-throughput screening models. Approximately 23 (13/57) and 2% (1/57) of isolates inhibited growth of Candida albicans ATCC 10231(T) and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 51650(T), respectively. These results indicated that proteobacterium species isolates from Antarctic could serve as potential source of useful bioactive metabolites. Enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-PCR fingerprinting produced nine clusters and 13 single isolates, with a high D value of 0.9248. RAPD fingerprinting produced six clusters and 13 single isolates, with a relatively low D value of 0.7776. ERIC-PCR analysis proved to have better discrimination capability than RAPD analysis and generated better clustering for all proteobacterium species isolates. We conclude that ERIC-PCR is a robust, reliable and rapid molecular typing method for discriminating different genera of proteobacteria.

Influence of Socio-demographic Factors on Physical Activity Participation in a Sample of Adults in Penang, Malaysia

Introduction: Given the importance of physical activity to health, this study investigated the socio-demographic determinants of physical activity participation in a sample of adults in Penang. Methods: Through convenience sampling, a total of 398 adults agreed to answer a prepared questionnaire on their socio-demographic background and physical activity participation. The data were analysed using the binary logit model. Frequent physical activity participation is defined as taking part more than 11 times in leisure-time physical activity such as swimming and jogging, each time lasting more than 15 minutes in a typical month, whereas participation that is less than the frequency and time duration specified above is referred to as infrequent physical activity. Results: Age, male, being Chinese, high educational attainment, self-rated excellent health status and presence of family illnesses are positively associated with the likelihood of frequent participation in physical activity. On the contrary, being married, having low income and residing in rural areas are inversely related with the propensity of frequent physical activity participation. Conclusion: The majority in this sample of adults do not participate in physical activity frequently, and the reasons given include lack of health awareness, limited leisure time, budget constraints, and lack of sports amenities.