Scales 21-item (DASS-21) has been widely used ever since the establishment of its validity. To consolidate the evidence of the BM DASS-21 validity by examining its concurrent validity. Methods: The BM DASS was administered together with the Hospital Anxiety and Depressive Scale (HADS) to a total of 246 patients at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) Infertility Centre. Results: The anxiety domain of BM DASS-21 had good correlation with anxiety domain in HADS (0.61) but for DASS depressive domain, it had modest correlation with its respective domain in HADS (0.49). Conclusions: The results of this study further ensconced the evidence that the BM DASS-21 had relatively satisfactory psychometric properties for clinical subjects in Malaysia.

Background: Up to date, there are handful questionnaires that have been validated in Bahasa Malaysia (BM). This study aimed to translate the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales 21-item (DASS-21) and measure its psychometric properties. Objectives: To determine the construct validity and acceptability of the DASS, BM. Methods: Two forward and backward translations were done in BM in accordance to guideline, and its validation was determined by using confirmatory factor analysis. A total of 263 subjects were selected by systematic random sampling to represent Malaysian population for reliability and validity purposes. Results: The BM DASS-21 had very good Cronbach’s alpha values of .84, .74 and .79, respectively, for depression, anxiety and stress. In addition, it had good factor loading values for most items (.39 to .73). Correlations among scales were between .54 and .68. Conclusions: BM DASS-21 is correctly and adequately translated to Bahasa Malaysia with high psychometric properties. Further studies are required to support these findings.

Objective: This paper aimed to determine the prevalence of sleeping pills use among university students and its associated factors in Malaysia. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in January 2010 among 200 Malaysia. The survey was conducted by distributing self-administered questionnaires. The questionnaire was developed based on the literature review. The students were chosen randomly using convenience sampling. Results: A total of 200 university students participated in this study. The prevalence of using sleeping pills among university students is 7.5%. The majority of the participants were Malay 146 (73.0%), from urban area 169 (84.5%), from medical and health sciences background 101 (50.5%). This study showed that there is a significant relationship between using sleeping pills and depression (p= 0.03). There is also a significant relationship between using sleeping pills and inducing sleep by reading (p=0.04). Conclusion: The prevalence of sleeping pills usage among university students is relatively high. This study showed that there is a significant relationship between using sleeping pills and depression

Objective: To determine the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of sleep among medical students of IIUM towards and to determine the impact of socio-demographic data on the knowledge, attitude and practice. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 106 students from first, second and third year medical students of IIUM. Verbal consent was taken from the students who were willing to take part in this study. Student knowledge about sleep was studied using a questionnaire. Results: A total of 106 medical students completed the survey, there were 54 female and 52 male. The mean age of the students was 20 ± 0.56 and ranged from 18 to 22 years. In terms of their sleep knowledge, the mean ± SD knowledge, attitude and practice scores were 81.8 ± 16.8, 65.9 ±15.3 and 176 ± 26.3 respectively. In univariate analysis, there was a significant difference between parents’ marital status regarding knowledge of the students (p = 0.03). There was a significant difference between gender regarding attitude of the students (p=0.05). In multivariate analysis, gender and smoking status were significantly affected the overall KAP. Conclusion: This study showed that sleep medicine knowledge was generally low among medical students. Therefore, educational strategies to improve knowledge regarding sleep-related problems and the development of proper sleep practices among medical students are needed.

Objective: Family Environment Scale (FES) is one of the most widely used instruments to measure many family aspects. Cross cultural adaptation of the original FES is essential prior to local utilization as different cultures percept their family environments differently. We attempted to translate the FES into the Bahasa Malaysia language for adolescents, evaluate its reliability using internal consistency and compare its results with the original study. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, involving adolescents aged 12-17 from four secondary schools. The adolescents were selected using quota sampling for different age, ethnic and academic performance. The study was divided into four phases, namely: i) translation of FES, ii) pilot test iii) internal consistency reliability test and iv) comparison of the study results with the original FES. Results: A total of 295 adolescents participated in this study. All of the reliability measurements generated (ranged between Cronbach’s alpha 0.10 - 0.70) were lower than those originally reported for this instrument (ranged between Cronbach’s alpha 0.61 -0.78). Five subscales in the Bahasa Malaysia version were found to be less than Cronbach’s alpha 0.5, which were below the acceptable level for practical or research use. There was considerable variation observed between the sample population of this study and that of the original study, which could be due to the social cultural differences. Conclusion: The Bahasa Malaysia version of FES requires further culturally appropriate revision. A new measuring scale could also be devised to provide an accurate evaluation of the family environment as perceived by Malaysian adolescents, which has acceptable levels of reliability and validity.

Objective: To investigate the correlation between sexual desire and sexual arousal among Malaysian women in a primary care setting. Methods: The Malay Version of Female Sexual Function Index (MVFSI) was used to assess low sexual desire and lack of sexual arousal among the respondents. A total of 230 married women aged 18 – 70 years old participated in this study. Their sociodemographic, marital profiles and correlation between low sexual desire and lack of sexual arousal were examined. Results: More than 60% respondents with low sexual desire have co-exist low sexual arousal and 94.4% respondents with high sexual desire do have high sexual arousal ( χ²= 79.6, p <0.001 ), with correlation of r = 0.852. Conclusions: The strong correlation between sexual desire and arousal has both diagnostic and therapeutic indications, and may also strongly support the circular model (Basson-inspired model) of sexual response among women.

OBJECTIVE: Even though the role of the DICS1 gene as a risk factor for schizophrenia is still unclear, there is substantial evidence from functional and cell biology studies that supports the connection of the gene with schizophrenia. The studies associating the DISC1 gene with schizophrenia in Asian populations are limited to East-Asian populations. Our study examined several DISC1 markers of schizophrenia that were identified in the Caucasian and East-Asian populations in Malaysia and assessed the role of rs2509382, which is located at 11q14.3, the mutual translocation region of the famous DISC1 translocation [t (1; 11) (p42.1; q14.3)]. METHODS: We genotyped eleven single-neucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) within or related to DISC1 (rs821597, rs821616, rs4658971, rs1538979, rs843979, rs2812385, rs1407599, rs4658890, and rs2509382) using the PCR-RFLP methods. RESULTS: In all, there were 575 participants (225 schizophrenic patients and 350 healthy controls) of either Malay or Chinese ethnicity. The case-control analyses found two SNPs that were associated with schizophrenia [rs4658971 (p=0.030; OR=1.43 (1.35-1.99) and rs1538979-(p=0.036; OR=1.35 (1.02-1.80)] and rs2509382-susceptibility among the males schizophrenics [p=0.0082; OR=2.16 (1.22-3.81)]. This is similar to the meta-analysis findings for the Caucasian populations. CONCLUSION: The study supports the notion that the DISC1 gene is a marker of schizophrenia susceptibility and that rs2509382 in the mutual DISC1 translocation region is a susceptibility marker for schizophrenia among males in Malaysia. However, the finding of the study is limited due to possible genetic stratification and the small sample size.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Case-Control Studies ; Humans ; Malaysia* ; Male ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide* ; Risk Factors ; Sample Size ; Schizophrenia*

Minor amputation was performed as a salvage procedure because most of the patients were not able to ambulate and become dependent following major amputation. Minor amputation is defined as amputation at the level of ankle joint and below while major amputation is defines by amputation above the ankle joint. The aim of this study was to compare the quality of life among diabetes patients following major and minor amputations.

Introduction: This paper describes the development and the evaluation of a new Two-dimensional (2D) computer-based (CB) Simulated Learning Environment (SLE) software for routine audiology tests that comes with learning assistance for audiology students. The aim of the study was to serve as preliminary evaluation on the effectiveness of the new 2D CB SLE audiology software among audiology students. Materials and Methods: The development process of the new 2D CB SLE includes, (i) the identification of common errors made by students in the audiology clinic, (ii) the development of five case simulations that include four routine audiology tests incorporating learning assistance derived from the errors commonly made by audiology students and, (iii) the development of 2D CB SLE from a technical perspective. A preliminary evaluation of the use of the 2D CB SLE software was conducted among twenty-six second-year undergraduate audiology students. Results: The pre-analysis evaluation of the new 2D CB SLE showed that the majority of the students perceived the new 2D CB SLE software as realistic and helpful for them in achieving the course learning outcomes and in improving their clinical skills. The mean overall scores among the twenty-six students using the self-reported questionnaire were significantly higher when using the 2D CB SLE software than with the existing software typically used in their SLE training. Conclusions: This new 2D CB SLE software has the potential for use by audiology students for enhancing their learning.

Introduction: This study aimed to determine the risk factors of CHD among the Malaysian adult population. Methods: Using a cross- sectional observational study design, this study involved 365 adult patients aged between 30-64 years, attending clinics from eight government hospitals and four health clinics in Terengganu, Pahang, Selangor, Putrajaya, Penang, Kedah, Johor and Sabah from February 2018 until September 2020. Sociodemographic characteristics, clinical and dietary data, physical activity and stress level were recorded using a structured questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression was used to analyse CHD risk factors. Results: The overall response rate was 99.2%. The adjusted odds ratio of CHD was greater for age (AOR; [%95 CI]) (1.043;[ 1.009,1.078]); waist circumference (1.033;[1.009, 1.057]); total fat intake (1.035;[1.021, 1.050]); full cream dairy products intake (1.004;[1.001, 1.008]); smokers vs non-smokers (4.691;[2.399, 9.176]); individual with family history of CHD vs without family history (2.705;[ 1.496, 4.891]); married vs single (0.434;[ 0.217,0.867]); and lower for HDL cholesterol (0.185;[0.052, 0.662]); Chinese vs Malays (10.619;[ 2.255, 49.995]); and third lowest income (0.197;[ 0.073, 0.532]) and forth lowest income (0.167;[ 0.056, 0.499]) vs lowest income. Conclusion: Age, race, income, smoking and marital status, family history of CHD, waist circumference, HDL cholesterol, total fat intake, full cream dairy products intake were significantly associated with CHD among this population. This finding is particularly important to the primary health carers to identify at-risk CHD individuals thus appropriate intervention could be provided.