Introduction: The use of assessment tools to measure postnatal mental illness is essential in healthcare settings. However, variations in the types of tools and their reliability in a particular population lead to under-recognition of mental health status in postnatal mothers. The aim of this review is to evaluate the most recent 10 year of research on the validity and reliability of postnatal mental illness assessment tools. Methods: A literature search of studies from online databases PubMed, Scopus, and Science Direct was conducted. Results: A total of 59 studies were selected for this review. Several studies utilised multiple assessment tools, and a total of 96 assessment tools were identified and classified into six domains: postnatal blues, postnatal stress, postnatal anxiety, postnatal depression, postnatal psychosis, and postnatal psychological disorder. In this review, EPDS was the most common tool used to identify postnatal depression and anxiety while DASS 21 was the most common tool used to identify postnatal psychological disorder. There is a wide range in preponderance of evidence for the reliability of each assessment tool and there were inconsistencies in assessing the validity of the assessment tools. Conclusion This review provides information regarding some of the main assessment tools currently available to measure postnatal mental illnesses. There were no standardised tools that were used in a particular setting. The results may differ in different population because there are differences in not only languages and dialects, but also cultural and racial backgrounds, which greatly influences their perception and interpretation of postnatal mental illness.
Mental Disorders

Introduction: The prevalence of hypertension in Malaysia is increasing and an effectivemanagement of hypertension is important to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.Objective: To determine the knowledge, awareness and perception towards hypertension amongresidents in nursing homes as well as the roles of caregivers in hypertension management.Method: A face-to-face survey with 200 hypertensive residents and 30 caregivers from 24 nursinghomes in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Malaysia was conducted.Result: Of all the hypertensive residents, 90.5% (n = 181) knew that lowering their blood pressure couldimprove their health. Most residents strongly believed that taking antihypertensive drugs is importantfor keeping their high blood pressure under control (n = 162, 81%). Taking medication was perceivedas the most important factor in controlling the high blood pressure (58%, n = 116) compared to lifestyleor diet modification. The majority of the caregivers reported that they played a major role in managinghypertension, especially with regards to medication-taking. task (66.7%, n = 20).Conclusion: The knowledge, attitude and perceptions of hypertension play a relatively major rolein the self-management of hypertension. The role of caregivers also needed to be recognised inmanaging hypertension in nursing homes.

Thyroid associated ophthalmopathy is an autoimmune disorder affecting the orbital and periorbital tissues. Hyperthyroidism is commonly associated with thyroid associated ophthalmopathy, however in 5% to 10% of cases it is euthyroid. Genetic, environmental and endogenous factors play a role in the initiation of the thyroid ophthalmopathy. Smoking has been identified as the strongest risk factor for the development of the disorder. The pathogenesis involves activation of both humoral and cell mediated immunity with subsequent production of gycoaminoglycans, hyaluronic acid resulting in oedema formation, increase extraocular mass and adipogenesis in the orbit. The natural history of the disease progresses from active to inactive fibrotic stage over a period of years. Diagnosis is mainly clinical and almost all patients with ophthalmopathy exhibit some form of thyroid abnormality on further testing. Treatment is based on the clinical severity of the disease. Non-severe cases are managed by supportive measures to reduce the symptomatology and severe cases are treated by either medical or surgical decompression. Rehabilitative surgery is done for quiescent disease to reduce diplopia and improve cosmesis.