1.Text anxiety: State,trait and relationship with exam satisfaction
Loh Tze Ping ; Kavitha Subramaniam ; Saroja Krishnaswamy
Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences 2008;15(2):18-23
Test anxiety is defined as the reaction to stimuli that is associated with an individual’s experience of testing or evaluating situations. This study aims to
examine the fluctuation pattern of anxiety symptoms during a clinical examination and its relationship with underlying anxiety traits. Fourth year medical students
of Penang Medical College undertaking the Ophthalmology clinical examination participated in this study. First phase of the survey, on anxiety symptoms was
conducted immediately after the Ophthalmology clinical examination while the second phase, on pre-existing anxiety traits was conducted six weeks later with the
aid of STAI instrument. Responses for both stages were combined and analyzed. Sixty-three of 122 students responded to both phases of the study, giving a response
rate of 52%. All symptoms except trembling peaked 10 minutes before the exam begun showing a downward progression with no resurgence thereafter. Students
with pre-existing anxiety traits had high anxiety scores 10 minutes into the examination and while with the examiners. Anticipatory anxiety is a source of
concern and can effect performance and appropriate steps should be taken to help the students with this. A few other studies should be done to conclude.
2.Psychometric Properties of the Malay Version of the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEBQ) in a Sample of Malaysian Adults Attending a Health Care Facility
Kavitha Subramaniam ; Wah Yun Low ; Karuthan Chinna ; Kin Fah Chin ; Saroja Krishnaswamy
Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences 2017;24(4):64-73
Objective: This study aims to investigate the psychometric properties of the Malay version of the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEBQ) among Malaysian adults. Method: The Malay version of the DEBQ instrument was administered to 398 outpatients (269 women and 129 men) at the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted to study the construct validity of the instrument. Composite reliability coefficient, Raykov's rho, was used to determine the internal consistency. Results: The proposed three-factor structure for the DEBQ instrument was appropriate, although three items (Items 21, 14 and 27) showed problematic loadings with inappropriate model fit and were removed. The modified version had an appropriate model fit χ2/df = 2.129, TLI = 0.908, CFI = 0.918, RMSEA = 0.053 (90%CI = 0.048–0.058), close-fit P-value = 0.136 and satisfactory internal consistency of 0.914 for emotional eating scale, 0.819 for external eating scale and 0.856 for restrained eating scale. Discussion: The Malay version of the DEBQ is a valid instrument to study eating behaviour traits among Malaysian adults. Further research is warranted to determine if Items 14 and 27 are appropriate for the Malaysian population.