Proper understanding the ‘Instructions to authors’ for a particular journal is the key towards successful submission of a manuscript which will lead to it being published. Common errors that are frequently made by authors in their submission to the Malaysia Journal of Malaysia (MJM) that lead to rejection of their submission or requiring major revisions or minor revisions are listed and discussed in this article. Outright rejection prior to even a peer review process may be made for an article due to: it is poorly written or when there is suspicion on the authenticity of the submission, which contains elements that are suspected to be plagiarised, it is a duplicate submission or not in the format required by the MJM. The editor in charge of the issue makes a recommendation to the Editor in Chief for the final decision.

health concerns, triggering an escalated burden to healthsystems worldwide. The pandemic has altered people’sliving norms, yet coherently escalating countries’ socio-economic instability. This real-time consensus review aimsto describe the epidemiological trends of COVID-19pandemic across six South-East Asian nations, and country-specific experiences on pandemic preparedness, responsesand interventions.Methods: Consensus-driven approach between authorsfrom the six selected countries was applied. Countryspecific policy documents, official government mediastatements, mainstream news portals, global statisticsdatabases and latest published literature available betweenJanuary-October 2020 were utilised for information retrieval.Situational and epidemiological trend analyses wereconducted. Country-specific interventions and challengeswere described. Based on evidence appraised, a descriptiveframework was considered through a consensus. Theauthors subsequently outlined the lessons learned,challenges ahead and interventions that needs to be in placeto control the pandemic. Results: The total number of people infected with COVID-19between 1 January and 16 November 2020 had reached48,520 in Malaysia, 58,124 in Singapore, 3,875 in Thailand,470,648 in Indonesia, 409,574 in Philippines and 70,161 inMyanmar. The total number of people infected with COVID-19 in the six countries from January to 31 October 2020 were936,866 cases and the mortality rate was 2.42%. Indonesiahad 410,088 cases with a mortality rate of 3.38%, Philippineshad 380,729 cases with a mortality rate of 1.90%, Myanmarhad 52,706 cases with a mortality rate of 2.34%, Thailand had3,780 cases with a mortality rate of 1.56%, Malaysia had31,548 cases with a mortality rate of 0.79%, and Singaporehad 58,015 cases with a mortality rate of 0.05% over the 10-month period. Each country response varied depending onits real-time situations based on the number of active casesand economic situation of the country. Conclusion: The number of COVID-19 cases in thesecountries waxed and waned over the 10-month period, thenumber of cases may be coming down in one country, andvice versa in another. Each country, if acting alone, will notbe able to control this pandemic. Sharing of information andresources across nations is the key to successful control ofthe pandemic. There is a need to reflect on how thepandemic affects individuals, families and the community asa whole. There are many people who cannot afford to beisolated from their families and daily wage workers whocannot afford to miss work. Are we as a medical community,only empathising with our patients or are we doing ourutmost to uphold them during this time of crisis? Are thereany other avenues which can curb the epidemic whilereducing its impact on the health and socio-economiccondition of the individual, community and the nation?

Asia ; COVID-19 ; Humans ; Ophthalmologists ; Perception ; SARS-CoV-2

Night-shift work may adversely affect health. This study aimed to assess the effect of night-shift work on the level of urinary 6-sulphatoxymelatonin. Repeated measures of urinary 6-sulphatoxymelatonin on the morning before night-shift work and after first, third and fifth night-shift work was undertaken in 29 males, Malay, day-night-shift workers. A total of 29 male workers participated in this study. Median age was 29 years old. The highest level of urinary 6-sulphatoxymelatonin was at time point 1, followed by a significant reduction from time point 1 to time point 2. Subsequently, there was a progressive increase of urinary 6-sulphatoxymelatonin from time point 2 to 4. However, the urinary 6-sulphatoxymelatonin did not normalise at time point 4 and remained lower than the baseline
Circadian Rhythm

Knee pain (KP) is commonly reported among workers, especially those in non-managerial occupations such as carpenters, miners and construction workers. However, few studies have been conducted on KP among the teacher population. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of KP among school teachers and to explore its association with individual characteristics, lifestyle, work factors, and presence of health conditions. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among teachers at public secondary schools in Selangor, Malaysia. A self-reported questionnaire was utilised to elicit information on socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle, body mass index, work-related factors, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Associations with KP were analysed by logistic regression and reported as odds ratios (ORs) at a 95% confidence interval (CI). The results revealed that the 12-month prevalence of KP was 54.4%. The multivariate analysis showed that age (OR 3.55, 95% CI: 1.92–6.54), kneeling or squatting >1 hour in total (OR 1.48, 95% CI: 1.06–2.08), and physical HRQoL (OR 0.94, 95% CI: 0.92–0.96) were significantly associated with the occurrence of KP. In conclusion, the prevalence of KP among secondary school teachers is high. Age, work-related physical practises, and physical health were found to be significantly associated with KP. Therefore, appropriate strategies should be implemented to address these factors in order to reduce the occurrence of KP, especially among the older teacher population.
Body mass index