Awareness And Belief Regarding Breast Cancer Among Women Living In Selangor, Malaysia

@#Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality among women. The aim of the current study was to assess the factors affecting awareness and beliefs regarding breast cancer, among women living in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. A cross-sectional study was conducted among women living in Selangor aged 18 to 65 years old, with a total of 483 participants. A validated questionnaire regarding awareness and belief was used. The questionnaires consist of 25 questions comprising of socio-demographic, history of other diseases, awareness and belief. The prevalence of poor awareness among women was 63.4%. while the poor level of belief was 84.7%. There was a significant association between awareness and educational background, family history of breast cancer (P=0.001, P=0.032) respectively. The association between awareness and belief was significant (P=0.02). As a conclusion: There is a high level of poor belief and poor awareness among women in Selangor, Malaysia regarding breast cancer. Source of information such as the internet plays a major role in breast cancer prevention, and the majority of them do not know the technique of breast self-examination. More health promotion is needed to target general population through big campaign of awareness.

The Relationship between the Neighborhood Safety and Nutritional Status of Children in Baghdad City, Iraq.

Introduction. The neighborhoods where the children live play an important role in their development physically and mentally. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between neighborhood safety and child nutritional status in Baghdad city, Iraq. Methods. A cross-sectional study was carried out in Baghdad city, Iraq, among 400 primary school children from 4 schools. BMI-for-age Z score was used to assess the nutritional status of the children. Newly developed questionnaires on neighborhood safety were distributed to the parents to answer them. Results. In this study, males were more predominant than females with 215 participants compared to 185 females. A total of 49% were normal weight, 38.8% either overweight or obese, and only 12.2% underweight. There was a significant relationship between father education, father and mother working status, family income, and children nutritional status (P = 0.10, 0.009, <0.001, 0.37), respectively. The association between neighborhood safety variables and child nutritional status was significant except for worrying about child safety and thinking of leaving the neighborhood (P = 0.082, 0.084), respectively. Conclusion. Nutritional status of school children continues to be a public health issue in Iraq especially Baghdad city. There was a significant association between neighborhood safety and children nutritional status.

Family context and Khat chewing among adult Yemeni women: a cross-sectional study.

Khat chewing is associated with unfavourable health outcomes and family dysfunction. Few studies have addressed the factors associated with khat chewing among Yemeni women. However, the family and husband effects on chewing khat by women have not been addressed. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of khat chewing among Yemeni women and its associated factors, particularly husbands and family factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 692 adult Yemeni women in the city of Sana'a in Yemen using structured "face to face" interviews. Mean (±SD) age of women was 27.3 years (±6.10). The prevalence of chewing khat by women was 29.6%. Factors associated with chewing khat among women were chewing khat by husbands (OR = 1.8; 95% CI: 1.26, 2.53), being married (OR = 2.0; 95% CI: 1.20, 3.37), frequent family social gatherings (OR = 1.5; 95% CI: 1.06, 2.10), high family income (OR = 1.57; 95% CI: 1.12, 2.21), larger house (OR = 1.63; 95% CI: 1.16, 2.31), and age of women (OR = 0.64; 95% CI: 0.44, 0.92). It is concluded that khat chewing by women in this study was significantly associated with family factors and with khat chewing by their husbands. Urgent action is needed to control khat chewing particularly among women.

Social and psychological factors affecting eating habits among university students in a Malaysian medical school: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Eating habits have been a major concern among university students as a determinant of health status. The aim of this study was to assess the pattern of eating habits and its associated social and psychological factors among medical students. METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted among 132 medical students of pre-clinical phase at a Malaysian university. A self-administered questionnaire was used which included questions on socio-demography, anthropometry, eating habits and psychosocial factors. RESULTS: Mean (± SD) age of the respondents was 22.7 (± 2.4) years and (the age) ranged from 18 to 30 years. More than half had regular meals and breakfast (57.6% &, 56.1% respectively). Majority (73.5%) consumed fruits less than three times per week, 51.5% had fried food twice or more a week and 59.8% drank water less than 2 liters daily. Eating habits score was significantly low among younger students (18-22 years), smokers, alcohol drinkers and those who did not exercise. (p<0.05). Four psychological factors out of six, were significantly associated with eating habits (p<0.05). In multivariate analysis, age and 'eating because of feeling happy' were significantly associated with eating habits score (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Most of the students in this study had healthy eating habits. Social and psychological factors were important determinants of eating habits among medical students.