1.Clinical Characteristic of Paediatric Palliative Care Cases in North Eastern of Peninsular Malaysia
Fahisham Taib ; Wan Maimunah Wan Yusoff ; Suliana Shamsuddin Alias
Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences 2021;17(No.1):133-136
Introduction: Paediatric Palliative care has been a relatively new specialty in Malaysia. It serves to cater hospital and
community support for children with life-limiting illnesses (LLI). The aim of the study is to describe the clinical characteristic of Paediatric Palliative Care (PPC) cases in the North East of Peninsular Malaysia. Methods: Children with
LLI were identified through 2 databases captured by the ‘Sayangku’ Homecare team and Paediatric Palliative Care
(PPC) team. These databases include the details on clinical diagnosis, time of referral and outcome. Children included were those referred from November 2012 to March 2020 to PPC service. The number of new cases referred per
annum (2019) was compared to the crude estimation of prevalence. Results: A total of 216 children were included.
About half of the children with LLI (50.5%) were from group 4 and about a quarter from group 1 (27%) of the ACT/
RCPCH classification. Approximately one third of our cohort (31%) had died, majority from oncology causes. There
were 116 neurology cases, 60 oncology cases and further 48 cases were the remaining cases in our databases. More
than one third (37.5%) of the patients were in the age range of 11-18-year-old. The estimated cases under PPC was
only 7.7% from the estimated annual prevalence of LLI. Conclusion: The current data showed that many of the LLI
cases in our area have gone underreported. There is a need to disseminate information and awareness among the
medical fraternity on the patient’s eligibility for the PPC service.
2.Quality of Work life Among the Paediatricians Graduated from Master of Medicine (MMed) of Universiti Sains Malaysia
Siti Munawwarah KAMAL ; Mohd Rizal MOHD ZAIN ; Fahisham TAIB
Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences 2023;19(No.2):42-47
Introduction: Malaysian Paediatricians suffer from psychological challenges and stresses, but unfortunately, their
quality of work life (QWL) has yet to be studied. This study aims to explore the QWL score and its predictors among
the qualified paediatricians of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). Methods: A cross-sectional study using a validated
QWL questionnaire was performed from June to December 2022. The graduates of Master of Medicine in Paediatrics
(USM) were invited to participate in the study, through an online built QWL questionnaire. Reminders were sent a
few times to increase the response rate. The QWL was used due to a good internal consistency with Cronbach alpha
of 0.95. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the sociodemographic characteristics. The variables for QWL
were determined using logistic regression analysis. Results: The study included the participation of 123 paediatricians. Majority of the participants were Malay (87.8%), Muslim (90%) and married (78%). Among all participants,
53.6% has good QWL score. Factors that associated with good QWL were married status (p= 0.02) and higher salary
(p=0.012). Individuals whose are married and having higher income are 3.2 and 5.2 times respectively more likely to
have good QWL. Conclusion: More than half of qualified paediatricians had good QWL and necessary steps should
be strived at improving these factors for a better work-life balance.
3.Hand Hygiene Compliance during COVID-19 Pandemic among Neonatal Nurses in a Federal University Teaching Hospital in Nigeria
Constance Oko ; Azlina Yusuf ; Fahisham Taib
Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences 2022;18(No.4):119-127
Introduction: Compliance with Hand hygiene (HH) has been considered as a simple and the most efficient strategy
to reduce hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). Compliance with this practice is not often assessed in Nigeria and thus
posed a significant risk to the quality of care and patient safety and especially in this era of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study aimed to assess neonatal nurses’ compliance to “my five moments for HH”. Method: A cross-sectional
observational study was carried out in a Nigerian federal hospital, using an adapted version of a standardized observational WHO tool of ‘’my five moments of HH’’. A Chi-square test was employed to examine the relationship
of HH compliance across units, shifts, and “my five moments for HH” opportunities. Results: The observer recorded
425 HH opportunities and the total HH compliance rate was (62.8%). There was no association between the units,
working shifts, and nurses’ HH compliance. Compliance to HH was dependent on the five moments of HH (p <
0.000), better compliance was seen after body fluid exposure (100%), followed by after newborn contact (86.3%),
and after contact with newborn surroundings (63.4%), while compliance before newborn contact (28.5%), and before an aseptic procedure (9.1%) were poor. Conclusion: The findings of this study showed a significant gap with the
HH compliance among neonatal nurses, suggesting multiple opportunities for neonatal infections despite the current
awareness of HH in the Covid-19 pandemic. Hence, there is a need to intensify infection control practices in Nigeria,
especially on HH practice.
4.Characteristics of Paediatric Death Cases at a Malaysian University Hospital
Nur Amirah Saulius ; Nor Rosidah Ibrahim ; Mohamad Ikram Ilias ; Fahisham Taib
Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences 2023;19(No.6):201-207
Introduction: Auditing of paediatric deaths has rarely been evaluated in hospitals especially in low and middle-income countries. The aim of the study is to describe the characteristics of paediatric death in hospitalised children
and determine the predictors of death location in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). Method: Paediatric
mortality cases for children aged between 29 days and 18 years old at the time of death were analyzed. These were
documented cases between the year 2013 and 2020 at Hospital USM. Case notes were reviewed, and data were
captured retrospectively. Multiple Logistic Regression was used to assess predictors of the location of death especially in the ward setting.Results: Out of 841 paediatric deaths identified during the period of the study, 544 cases were
enrolled. The male gender has a higher proportion (1.4:1). The median age was 56 months, with infancy being the
predominant age group. The median length of hospital stay was 10.5 days. More than half of the cases (58.3%) had
underlying life-limiting illnesses. The majority of the patients had “Do Not Resuscitate” orders. A longer length of
stay (prevalence odds ratio (POR 0.99, 95% CI 0.98, 0.99), being on ventilator (POR 3.42,95% CI 1.95, 6.01), being
terminally ill (POR 0.40,95% CI 0.23, 0.70) and having underlying life limiting illness (POR 0.50, 95% CI 0.33, 0.75)
were the significant predictors for the ward death. Conclusion: Understanding the characteristics of child death and
the factors associated with death location is critical for improving paediatric care and treatment.
5.Immature Brain Teratoma of An Infant In A University Hospital: A Case Report
Ariffin Nasir ; Fahisham Taib ; Nor Rosidah Ibrahim ; Abdul Rahman Izani Ghani ; Suria Emilia Suhana Othman Tan ; Norsarwany Mohamad
Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences 2022;18(No.4):218-220
Teratomatous tumours of the head are rather uncommon. We report a 3-month-old child who presented with acute
signs of raised intracranial pressure, needing craniectomy and subtotal tumour removal. The patient was diagnosed
as intracranial immature teratoma grade 3, from the pathological study and elevated alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). Managing brain teratoma posed a challenge to the managing team due to the location of the tumour, the unavailability
of standardized chemotherapy protocol and the dilemma of commencing adjuvant chemotherapy in a very young
infant. The tumour was partially removed due to its critical location. And chemotherapy was delayed until the patient
achieved 7 months of age. After four rounds of chemotherapy, the patient remained in remission for more than three
years follow up.
6.Measuring Students’ Satisfaction in E-learning Experience: A Validity Study on English version of E-Course Satisfaction Scale (ECSS) among Medical Students
Azizah Othman ; Mohd Jamaluddin Musa ; Nik Mohd Rizal Mohd Fakri ; Fahisham Taib
Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences 2021;17(No.4):410-412
Online learning is now becoming a teaching norm across disciplines and educational contexts. There is a need to
measure the satisfaction level objectively and comprehensively to allow refinement of teaching and learning delivery
methods. To date, there is no English validated scale to measure learners’ satisfaction when learning is conducted
online. We aimed to translate and validate the E-Course Satisfaction Scale which is originally in Turkish into English
among undergraduate medical students. We found that this 35-items with five-point Likert-type responses English
version of the E-Course Satisfaction Scale is valid and reliable to measure students’ satisfaction on their e-learning
experiences.
7.Burnout and Stressor Related Factors among Nurses Caring For Children in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia
Siti Fatimah Abu Hussain ; Fahisham Taib ; Surini Yusoff ; Azriani Ab Rahman ; Azizah Othman ; Norsarwany Mohamad
Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences 2022;18(No.1):214-221
Introduction: The aim of the study is to determine the prevalence of burnout and correlation between burnout score
and stressor domain score and to determine the association between sociodemographic and occupational related
factors with overall burnout among nurses caring for children in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (Hospital USM).
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study using bilingual validated questionnaire; the General Stressor Questionnaire (GSQ) and Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) conducted among nurses providing medical service for children in Hospital USM particularly in wards and clinics. All 159 eligible nurses were recruited and 157 completed
questionnaires were analysed. Pearson’s correlation analysis was applied to study the correlation while simple logistic regression and multiple logistic regressions were applied to study the association. Results: The prevalence of
burnout among nurses caring for children in Hospital USM was 28.7% (95% CI = 21.6, 35.7) with the majority of
them experienced personal burnout (49.7%, 95% CI = 41.9, 57.5). There was a significant moderate positive correlation between different stressor domain score with overall burnout score with p-value < 0.05. Work placement
and bureaucratic constraints were identified as the main contributory factor leading to overall burnout. Conclusion:
Burnout among nurses providing medical services for children in Hospital USM is of concern especially involving
personal burnout. The main stressor related factors of burnout were work placement and bureaucratic constraints.
Therefore, burnout among nurses providing care for children must be addressed in order to enhance their psychological well-being.