Introduction:: Halitosis, or bad breath, is a prevalent health concern with social and psychological implications. This study investigated the knowledge of halitosis among undergraduate students at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), focusing on health-science (HS) and non-health-science (non-HS) students. The research aimed to contribute to the understanding of halitosis within the context of undergraduate student populations and the impact of health science-based programmes. Methods:: The study was conducted among 4108 undergraduate UBD students using a self-administered, closed-ended online questionnaire. Results:: 279 students from five UBD undergraduate faculties participated in the study giving a response rate of 6.79%. HS students exhibited significantly higher awareness of factors contributing to halitosis, including smoking, tooth cavities, incorrect teeth cleaning, gastrointestinal tract disease, tonsillitis and certain medications. Furthermore, HS students reported receiving more educational material on halitosis (24.1% vs. 2.3%). Both HS and non-HS students primarily relied on dentists (62.0% vs. 56.1%) for halitosis consultations. In terms of self-perception, no significant difference was found between the two groups. The vast majority of students agreed that halitosis could negatively impact a person's life (92.8%). 49.1% of the respondents have been told that they have bad breath and felt embarrassed. Conclusion: The greater level of halitosis-related knowledge in HS students indicates the positive impact of HS programs and the potential need for educational initiatives among non-HS students. Halitosis presents a potentially significant issue in the sample, reflecting the relevance of its physical and psychological impact. Broader research with larger and more diverse samples is necessary to improve generalisability.

Purpose: To determine the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and the factors associated with retinopathy among type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients in Brunei Darussalam. Methods: Cross-sectional study of all type 2 DM patients who attended diabetic eye screening over a 3-month period at one of four government hospitals. We assessed association between DR with the following variables: age, sex, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), duration of DM, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and microalbuminuria. Results: There were 341 patients (female, 58.9%; mean age, 55.3 ± 11.9 years) with a mean duration of DM of 9.4 ± 7.4 years and mean serum HbA1c of 8.4% ± 1.9%. The overall prevalence of any DR was 22.6% (95% confidence interval, 18.8–27.1) with prevalence rates of 4.1% (95% confidence interval, 2.1–6.4) for proliferative DR and 9.7% (95% confidence interval, 6.8–13.2) for vision-threatening DR. Multivariate analysis showed that DR was significantly associated with certain age groups (reduced in older age groups), longer duration of DM (11 years or more), poor control (HbA1c >9.0%) and presence of any microalbuminuria. Conclusions DR affects one in five patients with DM in Brunei Darussalam, comparable to rates reported for other Asian populations. It is especially worrying that one in ten patients with DM had vision-threatening DR. DR was significantly associated with longer duration of DM, poor control and presence of microalbuminuria but reduced in older age groups. It is important to advocate good control right from the time of diagnosis of DM and institute timely and effective management of retinopathy. DR was significantly associated with longer duration of DM, poor control of diabetes, and presence of microalbuminuria but reduced in older age groups.