Teachers face one of the highest demands of any professional group to use their voices at work. Thus, they are at higher risk of developing voice disorder than the general population. The consequences of voice disorder may have impact on teacher’s social and professional life as well as their mental, physical and emotional state and their ability to communicate. Objectives of this study are to determine the prevalence of voice disorder and the relationship between voice disorder with associated risk factors such as teaching activities and lifestyle factors among primary school teachers in Bintulu, Sarawak. A cross sectional study was conducted based on random sample of 4 primary schools in Bintulu, Sarawak between January-March 2014. A total of 100 full-time primary school teachers were invited to participate in the study. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire addressing the prevalence of voice disorder and potential risk factors. Descriptive analysis and chi-square test was used to measure the relationship between voice disorder and associated risk factors. The response rate for this study was 78% (78/100). The study found that the prevalence of voice disorder among primary school teachers in Bintulu, Sarawak was 13%. Chi-square test results revealed that factors significantly associated with voice disorder (p<0.05) were smoking (p=0.012), consuming alcohol beverages (p=0.012) for lifestyle factors while teaching session (p=0.049) for teaching activities. A low prevalence of voice disorder exists among primary school teachers in Bintulu, Sarawak. Smoking, consuming alcohol beverages and teaching session has proven to be significantly associated causing voice disorder among them.

The objective of study is to determine traffic noise level and non-auditory effect among shop lot workers at Kajang Selangor. This cross sectional study was carried to study traffic noise exposure with annoyance and work performance level among shop lot workers in Jalan Mendaling, Jalan Tukang and Jalan Sulaiman at Kajang town, Selangor. This study involves 120 shop lot workers that exposed to the traffic noise during their working hours where they are randomly selected. Noise exposure was estimated using the Sound Level Meter for environmental noise. The traffic volume was recorded using video recorder and calculated using tally counter. One set questionnaire consist standard questionnaire was used to assess the annoyance level and work performance level among the respondents. Respondents were predominantly by male which are 94 and female, 26 respondents. The mean age of the respondent were ranged between 41 to 60 years old. Only 12.5% of respondent are ranged 21 until 30 years old. In total of 120 respondent, 54.2% of them are Chinese while Malay and India only 30% and 15.8% respectively. The result showed that the traffic noise level at study areas are exceeded the permissible sound limit of commercial and business area during daylight which is 70 dB(A). Regarding work performance, 94 respondents are having low work performance level and 82% of respondent high annoyance level during the exposure of traffic noise from four different sources which are noise from the traffic, speeding vehicle, high traffic volume and exhaust system. There is a significant relationship between traffic noise level with work performance level (p=0.001) and annoyance level (p=0.026). The average traffic noise (Laeq) level at Jalan Mendaling, Jalan Tukang and Jalan Sulaiman is 71.19 dB(A) which were high and exceeds permissible sound level from road traffic, commercial and business place at day time, 70 dB(A). The exposure from the traffic noise effect the annoyance level and work performance level among the shop lot worker. In order to reduce traffic noise exposure towards the shop lot workers, some recommendation are needed to control the traffic noise such as build a noise barrier, plant trees and also enforcement of legal requirement in noise level.

These days, there is a growing concern that schoolchildren are carrying too heavy school back on their backs. The use of a back pack is the most important factor causing low back pain among students. Thus, a cross sectional study was conducted on 81 schoolchildren from two different types of primary school in Kajang, Selangor. The objective of this paper is to determine the association between schoolbag weight and back pain among primary schoolchildren in Kajang, Selangor. For the method, respondents’ body weight and their schoolbag weight were measured using the electronic body composition OMRON and KERN weighing scale respectively, while the height was measured using Body Meter Seca 208cm. Back pain in the past one week was assessed using questionnaire, adapted from previous studies. This studied involving 81 primary schoolchildren from two types of school which were government and private school. 74.1% of schoolchildren had the schoolbag weight more than 10% of their body weight. 32.1% of schoolchildren reported having back pain and 21.0% of them were female respondents. Back pain was detected in 24.7% government schoolchildren and 7.4% private schoolchildren. There was significant association between back pain and; relative weight (x2=9.720, p=0.002) and types of school (x2=4.949, p=0.026). As conclusion, schoolchildren that carry schoolbag heavier than that generally recommended which is not more than 10% of body weight will experienced the back pain

Dengue fever is one of the most dangerous vector - borne diseases. According to the World Health O rganization (WHO), dengue fever is a mosquito - borne infection caused by virus serotype DEN - 1, DEN - 2, DEN - 3 and DEN - 4. In Malaysia, dengue fever cases are on the rise from 6,000 cases in 1995 to over 40,000 in 2010, and this number is still rising. In 2014, the increase of dengue fever cases was alarming. It was reported that up to the end of the year 2014, there were 108,698 notified cases, indicating an increment of 151% compared to the same period of time in 2013 with only 43,346 reported cases. Selangor was the highest contributor of dengue fever cases in 2014. The objective of this paper is t o study the relationship between climatic factors namely temperature, rainfall and humidity to the prevalence of dengue fever in Subang Jaya and Sepang district, Sel angor. Data on monthly average temperature, precipitation, relative humidity and dengue fever cases for each month in 2014 and 2013 were collected. Data collection was dealt with a few institutions such as Malaysian Meteorological Department, Subang Jaya a nd Sepang Municipal Council and health district offices. Data were analysed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) Version 20. General linear model analysis was used to investigate the relationship between the climatic variables and dengu e prevalence. Results and Discussion: Based on the general linear model, rainfall and humidity were found to have significant relationships to monthly dengue fever cases (p= <0.001, p= 0.002). Rainfall was identified as the most significant predictor becau se rainfall can provide more breeding places for Aedes mosquitoes. As for humidity, higher relative humidity had been associated with increased Aedes aegypti feeding activity, survival and egg development. Temperature was not significantly related to month ly dengue fever cases (p= 0.561) in this study. However, this could be due to the short period of study. Conclusion: Climatic factors play an important role in the prevalence of dengue fever. However, there are many other factors of dengue fever that shoul d be considered such as urbanisation as well as community knowledge, attitude and practice.

Increasing number of motoring industries can contribute to air pollution which increase in turn the respiratory symptoms amongst schoolchildren. This study was done to explore the associations between respiratory symptoms and exposures to traffic related air pollution amongst schoolchildren. Cross-sectional study (schoolbased) of 10, 11 and 12 years old children would be done in two schools in Kota Bharu, Kelantan with reference to Sekolah Kebangsaan Langgar dan Sekolah Kebangsaan Demit. The total sample size in this study are 124 (n = 124). Sampling procedure employed was the probability sampling method of simple. Respondents were to answer questions by using the adaptation questionnaires from International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC). Data were analysed by using Statistical Package For Social Sciences (SPSS). The finding shows that there are associations between respiratory symptoms and exposures to traffic-related air pollution amongst schoolchildren in two schools in Kota Bharu (p <0.05). The exposure to the traffic-related air pollution increased the respiratory symptoms amongst schoolchildren in studies area.

Dengue fever is one of the most dangerous vector-borne diseases. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), dengue fever is a mosquito-borne infection caused by virus serotype DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4. In Malaysia, dengue fever cases are on the rise from 6,000 cases in 1995 to over 40,000 in 2010, and this number is still rising. In 2014, the increase of dengue fever cases was alarming. It was reported that up to the end of the year 2014, there were 108,698 notified cases, indicating an increment of 151% compared to the same period of time in 2013 with only 43,346 reported cases. Selangor was the highest contributor of dengue fever cases in 2014. The objective of this paper is to study the relationship between climatic factors namely temperature, rainfall and humidity to the prevalence of dengue fever in Subang Jaya and Sepang district, Selangor. Data on monthly average temperature, precipitation, relative humidity and dengue fever cases for each month in 2014 and 2013 were collected. Data collection was dealt with a few institutions such as Malaysian Meteorological Department, Subang Jaya and Sepang Municipal Council and health district offices. Data were analysed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) Version 20. General linear model analysis was used to investigate the relationship between the climatic variables and dengue prevalence. Results and Discussion: Based on the general linear model, rainfall and humidity were found to have significant relationships to monthly dengue fever cases (p= <0.001, p= 0.002). Rainfall was identified as the most significant predictor because rainfall can provide more breeding places for Aedes mosquitoes. As for humidity, higher relative humidity had been associated with increased Aedes aegypti feeding activity, survival and egg development. Temperature was not significantly related to monthly dengue fever cases (p= 0.561) in this study. However, this could be due to the short period of study. Conclusion: Climatic factors play an important role in the prevalence of dengue fever. However, there are many other factors of dengue fever that should be considered such as urbanisation as well as community knowledge, attitude and practice.
Temperature ; rainfall ; humidity ; dengue fever ; Selangor

An age-related ocular disease such as cataract that causes reduction of visual functions would affect the individual driving performance. The aim of this study was to compare driving difficulties between Malaysian drivers with bilateral cataracts and without cataract. This cross-sectional study involved measurement of visual functions [visual acuity (VA) and contrast sensitivity (CS)] and driving difficulty of 61 subjects who are actively driving with valid driving license. Subjects were divided into bilateral cataract group (n=30) and non-cataracts group as control group (n=31); which age and gender matched. Results showed that the mean±SD for composite driving difficulty score in the bilateral cataract group and in the control group were 72.08±15.95 and 87.50±12.60 respectively. It showed that both groups had lower mean composite score which indicates difficulty in driving. Results also showed significant mean difference composite driving difficulty score between cataract and control group (p<0.001). Drivers with bilateral cataracts were also found to have significant difficulty when driving the rain (p=0.034), at night (p=0.013) and when driving on local or highway (p=0.005) compared to drivers without cataract. Subsequent Spearman’s Rho showed significant moderate positive correlation between driving difficulty and binocular CS (rs =0.404, p=0.027). This study showed that drivers with cataract would experience driving difficulties compared to the drivers without cataract.

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a group of disease which are related to the heart and its circulations. The main modifiable risk factors of the CVD disease are hypertension, hyperglycemia and obesity. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge, awareness and practice on cardiovascular disease risk factors among Gombak community in Kuala Lumpur. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study using self-administered questionnaire and anthropometric measurement among 388 subjects in Gombak District, Kuala Lumpur. Descriptive data analysis and multivariate binary logistic regression were carried to identify demographic and factors associated. Results: The prevalence of the risk factors was high among study subjects, including obesity (24.2%), hypertension (42.3%) and hyperglycemia (26.8%). More than half (64.4%) of the study subjects having at least one of the risk factor. The multivariate binary logistic model factor illustrated that compare to Malays, Chinese were 37% less likely to have obesity (CPR=0.67; 95% Cl: 0.26-1.69). Gombak district community are more likely to have the knowledge on the CVD risk factor but lack of awareness and poor in practicing the prevention action. The Indian ethnic group was less likely to be aware (APR: 0.33, Cl: 0.05-2.31) and others bumiputera ethnic group were less likely to prevent (APR: 0.58, CI: 0.20-1.65) the risk of CVD. The Chinese ethnic less likely to have the knowledge (APR: 0.88, Cl: 0.35-2.22). Conclusion: Gombak community was more likely to have the knowledge but less likely to be aware and lack of practice of prevention of the risk factors of CVD.