Quality of life in Malaysian colorectal cancer patients: a preliminary result.

OBJECTIVE: Rapidly increasing colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence in Malaysia and the introduction of cutting edge new treatments, which prolong survival, mean that treatment outcome measures meed to be evaluated, including consideration of patient's quality of life (QoL) assessment. There are limited data on QoL in CRC patients, especially in Malaysia. Therefore, this study was performed focusing on cancer stages and age groups. METHODS: The cross sectional study was conducted from June to September 2011 at three public tertiary hospitals with the EORTC QLQ C-30 questionnaire in addition to face to face interview and review of medical records of 100 respondents. RESULTS: The mean age was 57.3 (SD 11.9) years with 56.0% are males and 44.0% females, 62% of Malay ethnicity, 30% Chinese, 7% Indian and 1% Sikh. Majority were educated up to secondary level (42%) and 90% respondents had CRC stages III and IV. Mean global health status (GHS) score was 79.1 (SD 21.4). Mean scores for functional status (physical, emotional, role, cognitive, social) rangeds between 79.5 (SD 26.6) to 92.2 (SD 13.7). Mean symptom scores (fatigue, pain, nausea/vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, insomnia, dyspnoea, loss of appetite) ranged between 4.00 (SD 8.58) to 20.7 (SD 30.6). Respondents role function significantly deteriorates with increasing stage of the disease (p=0.044). Females had worse symptoms of pain (p=0.022), fatigue (p=0.031) and dyspnoea (p=0.031). Mean insomnia (p=0.006) and diarrhea (p=0.024) demonstrated significant differences between age groups. CONCLUSION: QOL in CRC patients in this study was comparable to that in other studies done in developed countries. Pain, fatigue and dyspnoea are worse among female CRC patients. Given that functions deteriorates with advanced stage of the disease at diagnosis, a systematic screening programme to detect cases as early as possible is essential nationwide.

Caregivers' satisfaction of healthcare delivery at paediatric clinics of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre in 2009.

Patient's satisfaction has become increasingly important as patients evaluate healthcare services for both medical cost and quality. The purpose of this study was to measure the prevalence and the factors influencing caregivers' satisfaction. A cross sectional study of 262 respondents using universal sampling method was conducted at the paediatric clinics of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC). Overall, 90.5% were satisfied with the services provided. Satisfaction rates based on various healthcare delivery domains were: 95.0% for communication skills, 88.5% for interpersonal aspect, 83.6% for technical quality, 82.1% for financial aspect, 72.9% for time spent with doctors and 64.9% for ease of contact. This study shows that the caregivers (an unpaid person who helps a person cope with disease) were highly satisfied with the communicational aspect delivered by the clinic. However, there is still room for improvement on ease of contact domain and waiting time in order to produce high quality service.

The coexistence of anxiety and depressive personality traits in migraine.

INTRODUCTION: Migraine is associated with a variety of personality traits. The objective of this study was to reevaluate the personality traits using Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) in migraine patients diagnosed by applying the new International Classification of Headache Disorders-2 criteria. METHODS: This was a case control study involving 70 migraine patients and 70 age- and gender-matched controls. The personality traits in the two groups were analysed using the MMPI. Data was analysed using the chi-square test. RESULTS: The migraine patients showed a higher MMPI score on the following personality traits: depression (39 versus 15, p-value is less than 0.0005), and anxiety (24 versus 11, p-value equals 0.011). Both depressive and anxiety personality traits were significantly higher in migraine patients. CONCLUSION: All migraine patients should probably be screened for their personality traits and psychopathology using the MMPI.