1.A Study of Patients’ Satisfaction with the Emergency Department (ED) of Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (HUKM)
Ismail Saiboon ; Ho Siew Eng ; Bala Krishnan ; Siti Nooraini Ali ; Noorafindi Murad ; Audrey Pathnathan ; Choy Yin Choy
Medicine and Health 2008;3(1):7-13
Patients’ satisfaction is of critical interest to all healthcare providers. Satisfied patients are
more likely to seek health care and to comply with prescribed treatment regimes. The
objective of the study was to identify factors that influence patient satisfaction with
Emergency Department HUKM (ED HUKM). This study was conducted at ED HUKM from January 2007 till March 2007. A convenience sample of 100 participants was recruited
from triage 4. The Davis Consumer Emergency Care Satisfaction Scale (CECSS) was
adopted and modified. It consists of 19 questions; used a 5 point, Likert type scale of 1 to 5
(1= completely disagree and 5= completely agree) to measure patient satisfaction with
triage, health care providers caring behaviours and health teaching. Results showed that
75 participants (75%) were satisfied. There were no significant difference found between
male and female patients with total CESCC scores (t=0.308, p values >0.05). Pearson
product moment correlation coefficients showed a positive relationship between total and
subscale patient satisfaction scores, caring scores (r=0.905, p value <0.05) and teaching
scores (r=0.695, p < 0.05). Overall, patients were satisfied with services at the ED HUKM.
Patients’ satisfaction remains as an important quality outcome measure of emergency care
in any hospital.
2.Do Medical Students Know, Bother About, And Practise Preventive Measures In Malaysia?
Md Mizanur Rahman ; Mohaamad Shaah ; Yuggesh Kumar ; Sumeetha Marimuthu ; Mithrra Sundaram ; Shaundari Muniandy ; Mahanagaraani Yogeswaran ; Shamilaa Bala Krishnan Muthiah
Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine 2020;20(2):197-206
Since December 2019, a novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) creates a global threat. Medical students are more susceptible to be infected by the virus. This study aimed to assess COVID-19 related knowledge, attitude towards COVID-19, and preventive behaviours against COVID-19 among medical students within the first month of the onset of the outbreak in Malaysia. We collect data from medical students using an online Google survey form. Out of 696 students, 467 responded to the questionnaire. The analysis revealed that the mean percentage of knowledge was (85.04), attitude (84.12), and preventive practice (77.75) respectively. Hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis revealed that living with family (p<0.01) and knowledge of COVID-19 (p<0.001) appeared to be important predictors of attitude toward COVID-19. However, gender (p<0.001), living status (p<0.001), frequency of travel during movement control order (p<0.01), attitude towards COVID-19 (p<0.001) have appeared significant predictors for preventive practice against COVID-19. But knowledge of COVID-19 had no impact on preventive practice against COVID-19 (p>0.05). We found a high level of COVID-19 related knowledge, attitude, and preventive practice against COVID-19 among medical students. A sustained knowledge, attitude, and preventive behavioural strategy could play an ingredient in upholding the student’s learning and practice against any disease like COVID-19.
3. Anti-chikungunya activity of luteolin and apigenin rich fraction from Cynodon dactylon
Krishnan Saravana MURALI ; Shanmugaraj Bala MURUGAN ; Ramalingam SATHISHKUMAR ; Krishnan Saravana MURALI ; Bupesh GIRIDARAN ; Palani GUNASEKARAN ; Kaveri KRISHNASAMY ; Srinivasan SIVASUBRAMANIAN ; Savariar VINCENT ; Sundaram DINESH
Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine 2015;8(5):352-358
Objective: To obtain luteolin and apigenin rich fraction from the ethanolic extract of Cynodon dactylon (L.) (C. dactylon) Pers and evaluate the fraction's cytotoxicity and anti-Chikungunya potential using Vero cells. Methods: The ethanolic extract of C. dactylon was subjected to silica gel column chromatography to obtain anti-chikungunya virus (CHIKV) fraction. Reverse phase-HPLC and GC-MS studies were carried out to identify the major phytochemicals in the fraction using phytochemical standards. Cytotoxicity and the potential of the fraction against CHIKV were evaluated in vitro using Vero cells. Reduction in viral replication was assessed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) after treating the viral infected Vero cells with the fraction. Results: Reverse Phase-HPLC and GC-MS studies confirmed the presence of flavonoids, luteolin and apigenin as major phytochemicals in the anti-CHIKV ethanolic fraction of C. dactylon. The fraction was found to exhibit potent viral inhibitory activity (about 98%) at the concentration of 50 μg/mL as observed by reduction in cytopathic effect, and the cytotoxic concentration of the fraction was found to be 250 μg/mL. RT-PCR analyses indicated that the reduction in viral mRNA synthesis in fraction treated infected cells was much higher than the viral infected control cells. Conclusions: Luteolin and apigenin rich ethanolic fraction from C. dactylon can be utilized as a potential therapeutic agent against CHIKV infection as the fraction does not show cytotoxicity while inhibiting the virus.