Introduction: Malnutrition among cancer patients is associated with a higher risk of gastrointestinal toxicity which develops during treatment and may affect quality of life (QOL). Thus, this cross-sectional study aimed to determine the nutritional status and QOL of 30 oncology patients (mean age 50.0+10.7 years) prior to pelvic radiotherapy at Hospital Sultan Ismail, Johor Bahru. Methods: Patients were assessed for anthropometry measurements, 24-h diet recall and nutritional status using Scored Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) questionnaire while the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Care Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) was used to assess QOL two weeks prior to the initiation of pelvic radiotherapy. Results: Mean Body Mass Index (BMI) of patients was 23.3+3.3kg/m2 and 33% of patients experienced weight loss prior to pelvic radiotherapy. The PG-SGA rating indicated that 63% of patients were at Stage A (well-nourished) and 37% were in Stage B (moderate malnutrition). The PG-SGA numerical score was a significant predictor of QOL, after adjusting for socio-demographic factors (R2=0.861, p<0.05). Conclusion: In general, the low nutritional status of the patients indicates the need for early nutritional assessment, education and intervention in ensuring optimal nutritional status throughout the pelvic radiotherapy treatment.

INTRODUCTIONThe aim of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of a modified Malaysian version of the Medication Adherence Reasons Scale (MAR-Scale).

METHODSIn this cross-sectional study, the 15-item MAR-Scale was administered to 665 patients with hypertension who attended one of the four government primary healthcare clinics in the Hulu Langat and Klang districts of Selangor, Malaysia, between early December 2012 and end-March 2013. The construct validity was examined in two phases. Phase I consisted of translation of the MAR-Scale from English to Malay, a content validity check by an expert panel, a face validity check via a small preliminary test among patients with hypertension, and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Phase II involved internal consistency reliability calculations and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

RESULTSEFA verified five existing factors that were previously identified (i.e. issues with medication management, multiple medications, belief in medication, medication availability, and the patient's forgetfulness and convenience), while CFA extracted four factors (medication availability issues were not extracted). The final modified MAR-Scale model, which had 11 items and a four-factor structure, provided good evidence of convergent and discriminant validities. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was > 0.7, indicating good internal consistency of the items in the construct. The results suggest that the modified MAR-Scale has good internal consistencies and construct validity.

CONCLUSIONThe validated modified MAR-Scale (Malaysian version) was found to be suitable for use among patients with hypertension receiving treatment in primary healthcare settings. However, the comprehensive measurement of other factors that can also lead to non-adherence requires further exploration.

Adult ; Antihypertensive Agents ; therapeutic use ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Factor Analysis, Statistical ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; complications ; Malaysia ; Male ; Medication Adherence ; Middle Aged ; Primary Health Care ; methods ; Psychometrics ; methods ; Reproducibility of Results ; Self Report ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Introduction: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) was found to be high among nurses especially those working in the hospital. One of the risk factors of MSDs is psychosocial factors apart from physical and ergonomic factors. However, limited study was found specifically looking at this association among nurses working at tertiary university hospital especially in Malaysia. Hence, the objective of this study is to assess the association between organizational psychosocial risk factors with MSDs among nurses working at tertiary university hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a total of 550 respondents among nurses in University Malaya Medical Centre working from all nursing working department. Samples was selected using Stratified Random Sampling based on nursing working location ratio. A multiple logistic regression was conducted to determine the association between organizational psychosocial factors with MSDs among study population. Results: Multiple logistic regression revealed that supervisors support was associated with MSDs (AOR 0.309, 95%CI 0.133-0.716) even after controlled with confounders such as age, number of children, income, history of musculoskeletal disease, employment grade, total employment duration, work schedule type and selected ergonomic factors. On the other hand, other psychosocial factors which includes decision latitude, psychological job demand, co-worker support, and job insecurity were found not be significant. Conclusion The findings highlighted the relationships between organizational psychosocial factors and MSDs among nurses at tertiary university hospital specifically the role of supervisor support as a protective factor against MSDs among this working population. Hence, hospital top management should incorporate this element as one of the components in their program to reduce MSDs among nurses in the hospital.
Musculoskeletal Diseases