Quality of energy intake in Malaysian adolescents: prevalence, characteristics, determinants and impact of implausible reporters.

OBJECTIVE: Misreporting of energy intake (EI) in nutritional epidemiology is common and even severe among adolescents. Thus, the current study aims to examine the presence, bias and impact introduced by implausible reporters. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Central and eastern regions of Peninsular Malaysia. PARTICIPANTS: A stratified random sampling was employed to select 917 secondary school-going adolescents (aged 15-17 years). RESULTS: The prevalence of under-reporters was 17·4 %, while no over-reporters were identified. Under-reporters had higher body composition and lower dietary intakes (except for vitamin C, Cr and Fl) compared with plausible reporters (P < 0·05). Adolescents with overweight and obesity had a higher odds of under-reporting compared with under-/normal weight adolescents (P < 0·001). In model 3, the highest regression coefficient (R2 = 0·404, P < 0·001) was obtained after adjusting for reporting status. CONCLUSIONS: Overweight and obese adolescents were more likely to under-report their food intake and consequently affect nutrient intakes estimates. Future analyses that include nutrient intake data should adjust for reporting status so that the impact of misreporting on study outcomes can be conceded and consequently improve the accuracy of dietary-related results.

Physical function assessment of older adults with lower body fractures at 3 months post-discharge from hospital.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Physical function assessment can be performed to assess functional mobility among older adults, especially after a traumatic incident such as lower body fracture (LBF). The objective of this study was to evaluate physical function of older patients with LBF after 3 months of discharge from the hospital. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 89 patients were followed up at the discharge phase. Four independent variables were tested: age, sex, type of fracture, and use of a walking aid before fracture. Mobility and strength were assessed with the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test and hand-grip strength (HGS) test, respectively. RESULTS: The majority of the patients were ≥65 years old (64%), female (61.8%), of Chinese ethnicity (50.6%), and had a hip fracture (51.7%). The mean time for TUG test was 26.11 seconds, while mean HGS was 19.02 kg. We found significant differences in TUG test scores with respect to all independent variables tested: age (P=0.026), sex (P=0.011), fracture type (P<0.001), and use of a walking aid before fracture (P=0.004). Significant differences were also detected in HGS test scores with respect to all independent variables tested: age (P<0.001), sex (P<0.001), fracture type (P<0.001), and use of a walking aid before fracture (P=0.035). CONCLUSION: Increasing age, female sex, having a hip fracture, and use of a walking aid before fracture predicted reduction in the physical function and strength among older adults with LBF.