Osteoporosis-related fractures have been recognized as a major health problem, particularly in the elderly with a high morbidity and mortality rate. The aims of the study were to identify knowledge and perception toward calcium intake among students at UiTM and to explore the differences between genders in dietary calcium intake. A cross sectional study was conducted through 336 students aged 18 to 34 years old. The participants were randomly chosen from the student’s enrolment list. A modified questionnaire was used to obtain the knowledge and perception of the participants. More than half of the participants have low knowledge regarding dietary calcium intake (58.6%), positive view towards the benefits of calcium intake and low perception towards the barrier of calcium intake. Chi square analysis showed a significant difference between male and female for knowledge (p=0.034) and barrier (p=0.002) for calcium intake. Intervention programs should be adopted to increase the knowledge among young adults to improve their health and prevent risk factors. So, health education specifically on calcium intake will be very useful to improve the knowledge and behavior of students.
Calcium ; Osteoporosis ; Knowledge ; Students ; Universities

Increased rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among young adults between the ages of 15 and 24 years old had been one of the major concerns of the world. For each of the 20 million new recorded STDs cases, people within those age group were responsible for more than 50% of them. This cross-sectional study was done to determine the knowledge, attitudes, risky behaviours and preventive practices related to sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) among undergraduate students in a public university in Malaysia. A total of 1327 university students aged between 19 and 27 years were surveyed by using a self-administered questionnaire. The majority (75.1%) had good knowledge on STDs, and a significant number of students (53.8%) had acceptable preventive practice. Marital status was associated not only to the students’ level of knowledge but also with their preventive practices. Despite having a good knowledge of STDs, students in Science and Technology academic cluster perceived unacceptable preventive practices. This study highlighted some misconceptions about STDs, preventive practices and risky behaviours, raising concerns about a likely future rise in STD incidence. Therefore, interventions to implement strengthened health education on STD-related issues were required to bring change in practices, along with knowledge and attitudes.

Pressure Ulcers (PUs) are a significant health problem for hospitalized patients associated with the leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Each year, more than 2.5 million patients suffer from PUs, and about 60,000 people died due to complications of PUs globally. Although PUs brings devastating consequences, fortunately, it can be prevented. The prevention of PUs represents a marker of quality of care and safety of a health-care organization. PUs prevention indeed needs multidisciplinary collaboration management; however, nurses' role is more significant as they are the frontline in providing patient care. This study aimed to assess knowledge, practice, and perceived barriers of PUs prevention among nurses in a Public Hospital in Selangor. A descriptive and cross-sectional study was used to obtain the data. A purposive sample of 220 nurses had been recruited from ICU, CCU, medical, surgical, and orthopedic wards at Public Hospital in Selangor. Data were obtained from self-administered questionnaires. The result was analyzed using the IBM Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS) Window Version 23. This study revealed that the respondents had adequate knowledge (95.0%) and good practice (96.8%) of PUs prevention. Heavy workload and inadequate staff were mostly cited as the barrier of PUs prevention. In overall, the respondents' knowledge and practice were good; however, deficits in a particular area of knowledge and practice of PUs prevention still exist. The hospital and nursing department should organize continuous education programs and in-house training in related field to optimized nurses’ knowledge and practice regarding pressure ulcer prevention and management.

Clival chordoma is a rare malignant tumor of the brain that typically occurs in older adults. It has a high local recurrence rate and is hence associated with poor prognosis. Here, we report a case of an adolescent who presented with a 1-month history of worsening headache and blurring of vision, as well as a 6-month history of left-sided facial and body numbness. Clinical findings were consistent with left upper motor neuron lesion of the seventh cranial nerve with involvement of the fifth cranial nerve. He was also found to have a sixth cranial nerve palsy demonstrated by diplopia upon lateral gaze with no evidence of papilledema. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain suggested clival chordoma. He was subsequently referred to the neurosurgical team, and he successfully underwent an endoscopic trans-sphenoidal surgery to excise the lesion. He recovered well, continued his follow-ups with the neurosurgical team, and showed good progress. He also attended regular follow-ups with his primary care physician to ensure ongoing psychosocial support and monitoring of his overall health status. This case demonstrates the importance of prompt identification and treatment of clival chordoma in an adolescent. Long-term follow-ups and shared care between primary and secondary care physicians are essential to monitor recurrence of tumor and to provide psychosocial support.

Background: The Diabetes Mellitus in the OffspringQuestionnaire (DMOQ) assesses the perceptions of Type 2diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients on the risk of theiroffspring developing T2DM and the possibility ofintervention to reduce this risk. It has 34 items framed withinseven domains. This study aimed to adapt, translate andvalidate the DMOQ from English into the Malay language.Methods: This was a cross-sectional validation study among159 T2DM patients attending a public primary care clinic inSelangor. The DMOQ English version underwent adaptation,translation, face validation and field testing to produce theMalay version. Psychometric analysis was performed usingExploratory Factor Analysis, internal consistency and testretestreliability.Results: The DMOQ domains were conceptually equivalentbetween English and Malay language. A total of 13 items andtwo domains were removed during the validation process(three items during the content validation, three items due topoor factor loadings, five items as they loaded onto twodomains which were not interpretable, one item as it did notfit conceptually into the factor it loaded onto and one openendedquestion as it did not fit into the retained domains).Therefore, the final DMOQ Malay version consisted of 21-items within five domains. The Cronbach alpha was 0.714and the intraclass-correlation coefficient was 0.868.Conclusion: The DMOQ Malay version is a valid and reliabletool which is consistent over time. It can be used to examinethe perception of T2DM patients towards the risk of theiroffspring developing diabetes and possibility of interventionin Malay-speaking patients.

Introduction: Consistent condom use can reduce the rate of transmission of STD/HIV. Condom self-efficacy is an important determinant of consistent condom use. The Condom Use Self-Efficacy Scale (CUSES) assesses the individual's confidence and expectations to obtain, use, dispose and negotiate use of condom with their sexual partners. This study aimed to adapt, translate and determine the validity and reliability of CUSES Malay version among STD/ HIV patients in a primary care clinic. Methods: This was a cross sectional validation study conducted among STD/ HIV patients in a primary care clinic. The CUSES Malay version underwent content validation (calculation of I-CVI), forward and backward translation, face validation and field testing for psychometric analysis. Psychometric analysis used included Principal Axis Factoring with direct oblimin rotation, internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α) and test-retest reliability analyses (Intraclass Correlation (ICC)). Results: A total of 168 participants were enrolled into this study (99% response rate). In content validation, all items were retained as the I-CVI were >1.00. Feedback from face validation resulted in simpler phrases of some items. One item (B2) was removed due to poor factor loading of <0.3. This resulted in 27 items framed within four factors. These factors were identified as Mechanics, Perceived Barriers, Assertiveness and Intoxicants. Reliability analysis achieved an overall Cronbach's α of 0.878 and ICC >0.4. Conclusion: The CUSES-M is a valid, reliable and stable tool to measure condom use self-efficacy among STD/HIV patients in primary care.

Introduction: The Patient Activation Measure (PAM) is one of the most extensively used, widely translated, and tested instruments worldwide in measuring patient activation levels in self-management. This study aimed to determine the validity and reliability of the PAM-13 Malay version among patients with Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) attending a primary care clinic.Methods: This work is a cross-sectional validation study among patients with MetS attending a university primary care clinic in Selangor. The PAM-13 Malay version underwent a validation process and field testing. Psychometric properties were examined using principal component analysis (PCA) with varimax rotation, scree plot, Monte Carlo simulation, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability analyses. Results: The content of the PAM-13 Malay version and the original version were conceptually equivalent. The questionnaire was refined after face validation by 10 patients with MetS. The refined version was then field-tested among 130 participants (response rate 89.7%). The Kaiser–Meyer– Olkin test was 0.767, and Bartlett’s test of sphericity was ≤0.001, indicating sampling adequacy. Two factors were identified and labeled as (1) Passive and Building Knowledge, and (2) Taking Action and Maintaining Behavior. These labels were chosen as they were conceptually consistent with the items representing the levels of activation in PAM-13. The validated PAM-13 Malay version consisted of 13 items, framed into two domains. The overall Cronbach’s α was 0.79, and the intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.45. Conclusions: The PAM-13 Malay version is valid, reliable, and fairly stable over time. This questionnaire can be used to evaluate the levels of activation among patients with MetS in primary care in Malaysia.