INTRODUCTION: Adolescent depression is prevalent, and teen suicide rates are on the rise locally. A systemic review to understand associated risk and protective factors is important to strengthen measures for the prevention and early detection of adolescent depression and suicide in Singapore. This systematic review aims to identify the factors associated with adolescent depression in Singapore. METHODS: A systematic search on the following databases was performed on 21 May 2020: PubMed, EMBASE and PsycINFO. Full texts were reviewed for eligibility, and the included studies were appraised for quality using the Newcastle Ottawa Scale. Narrative synthesis of the finalised articles was performed through thematic analysis. RESULTS: In total, eight studies were included in this review. The four factors associated with adolescent depression identified were: (1) sociodemographic factors (gender, ethnicity); (2) psychological factors, including childhood maltreatment exposure and psychological constructs (hope, optimism); (3) coexisting chronic medical conditions (asthma); and (4) lifestyle factors (sleep inadequacy, excessive internet use and pathological gaming). CONCLUSION The identified factors were largely similar to those reported in the global literature, except for sleep inadequacy along with conspicuously absent factors such as academic stress and strict parenting, which should prompt further research in these areas. Further research should focus on current and prospective interventions to improve mental health literacy, targeting sleep duration, internet use and gaming, and mitigating the risk of depression in patients with chronic disease in the primary care and community setting.
Humans ; Singapore/epidemiology* ; Adolescent ; Risk Factors ; Depression/etiology* ; Protective Factors ; Male ; Female ; Life Style ; Suicide

INTRODUCTION: Countries are mandating the use of face masks to stem the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Face mask use has been associated with discomfort due to its effects on thermoregulation, breathing and oxygenation. We evaluated the prevalence and severity of self-reported cardiovascular symptoms before and during face mask use. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of 1,001 participants residing in Singapore, who participated in a self-administered questionnaire between 25 April 2020 and 4 May 2020. Symptom severity before and during mask use, and health-seeking behaviour information were collected. The study outcome was self-reported worsening of cardiovascular symptoms and its association with the type of mask worn, duration of mask worn per day, and intensity of physical activities during mask use. RESULTS: The most common symptom reported during mask use was dyspnoea. Independent predictors for self-reported cardiovascular symptoms during mask use were moderate-high physical activity during mask use (odds ratio [OR] 1.634, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.176-2.270, P = 0.003), duration of mask use for ≥3 h (OR 1.672, 95% CI 1.189-2.352, P = 0.003) and type of mask used, after adjusting for age, sex, healthcare-based worker status and presence of comorbidities. N95 mask was associated with worse symptoms when compared to surgical mask. Participants with ≥3 worsening symptoms or worsening dyspnoea, palpitations, fatigue and dizziness were more likely to seek medical help. CONCLUSION Face mask use has been proven to be an effective way in curbing COVID-19 transmission. However, participants in this study had concerns regarding its use and these concerns should be urgently addressed to enable mask use policies to be enacted.
Humans ; COVID-19/epidemiology* ; Pandemics ; Masks/adverse effects* ; Self Report ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Dyspnea/etiology*

Humans ; Cardiomyopathies/genetics* ; Prealbumin/genetics*

Background/Aims: We aimed to determine the association between blood urea level and incident cirrhosis, hepatic decompensation, and hepatocellular carcinoma in chronic liver disease (CLD) patients. Methods: The association between blood urea level and liver fibrosis/liver-related events were evaluated on continuous scale with restricted cubic spline curves based on generalized additive model or Cox proportional hazards models. Then, the above associations were evaluated by urea level within intervals. Results: Among 4,282 patients who had undergone liver stiffness measurement (LSM) by transient elastography, baseline urea level had a U-shaped association with LSM and hepatic decompensation development after a median follow-up of 5.5 years. Compared to patients with urea of 3.6–9.9 mmol/L, those with urea ≤3.5 mmol/L (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 4.15; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.68–10.24) and ≥10 mmol/L (aHR, 5.22; 95% CI, 1.86–14.67) had higher risk of hepatic decompensation. Patients with urea ≤3.5 mmol/L also had higher risk of incident cirrhosis (aHR, 3.24; 95% CI, 1.50–6.98). The association between low urea level and incident cirrhosis and hepatic decompensation was consistently observed in subgroups by age, gender, albumin level, and comorbidities. The U-shaped relationship between urea level and LSM was validated in another population screening study (n=917). Likewise, urea ≤3.5 mmol/L was associated with a higher risk of incident cirrhosis in a territory-wide cohort of 12,476 patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease at a median follow-up of 9.9 years (aHR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.03–1.57). Conclusions We identified a U-shaped relationship between the urea level and liver fibrosis/incident cirrhosis/hepatic decompensation in patients with CLD.

Purpose: This study identified factors predicting malignant upgrade for atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) diagnosed on core-needle biopsy (CNB) and developed a nomogram to facilitate evidence-based decision making. Methods: This retrospective analysis included women diagnosed with ADH at the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) in 2010–2015. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to identify clinical, radiological, and histological factors associated with malignant upgrade. A nomogram was constructed using variables with the strongest associations in multivariate analysis. Multivariable logistic regression coefficients were used to estimate the predicted probability of upgrade for each factor combination. Results: Between 2010 and 2015, 238,122 women underwent mammographic screening under the National Breast Cancer Screening Program. Among 29,564 women recalled, 5,971 CNBs were performed. Of these, 2,876 underwent CNBs at NCCS, with 88 patients (90 lesions) diagnosed with ADH and 26 lesions upgraded to breast malignancy on excision biopsy. In univariate analysis, factors associated with malignant upgrade were the presence of a mass on ultrasound (p = 0.018) or mammography (p = 0.026), microcalcifications (p = 0.047), diffuse microcalcification distribution (p = 0.034), mammographic parenchymal density (p = 0.008). and ≥ 3 separate ADH foci found on biopsy (p = 0.024). Mammographic parenchymal density (hazard ratio [HR], 0.04; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.005–0.35; p = 0.014), presence of a mass on ultrasound (HR, 10.50; 95% CI, 9.21–25.2; p = 0.010), and number of ADH foci (HR, 1.877; 95% CI, 1.831–1.920; p = 0.002) remained significant in multivariate analysis and were included in the nomogram. Conclusion Our model provided good discrimination of breast cancer risk prediction (C-statistic of 0.81; 95% CI, 0.74–0.88) and selected for a subset of women at low risk (2.1%) of malignant upgrade, who may avoid surgical excision following a CNB diagnosis of ADH.

Asian People ; Humans ; Prevalence ; Stereotyping

Cardiomyopathies/therapy* ; Humans ; Sarcoidosis/therapy*

Amyloidosis/diagnostic imaging* ; Cardiomyopathies/diagnostic imaging* ; Diagnostic Imaging ; Humans ; Prealbumin/genetics*

Introduction: This study explored stroke survivors’ understanding regarding stroke, the perceived facilitators and barriers of healthy lifestyle changes, and provision of secondary prevention education. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 stroke patients (13 males and nine females; aged 34-80 years) who were attending rehabilitation clinics in three Malaysian hospitals. Each interview was audiotaped, transcribed, and analysed using the framework approach. Results: Six themes were reported: understanding of stroke; facilitators of healthy lifestyle changes; barriers of healthy lifestyle changes; food taboos; recovery; and provision of secondary stroke prevention. A third of them were uncertain about the cause of stroke and the perception towards risk of recurrent stroke varied widely. The lack of secondary prevention education was obvious although many had received general verbal advices. Several personal, social, and environmental factors were identified as the facilitators or barriers in healthy lifestyle participation. Food taboos were common and had become one of the barriers in practising healthy eating practices. Families had a strong influence on the patient’s belief and behaviour changes, both in positive and negative ways. Besides, patients tended to have a problem in information recall, while some faced confusion during the early stages of stroke recovery. Conclusion: More efforts to improve knowledge regarding cause of stroke and secondary prevention strategies are needed. Use of appropriate behavioural changes strategies, family-centred approach and continuous health education are necessary to facilitate patients’ efforts at making successful lifestyle modification after stroke event.

Adult ; Aged ; Betacoronavirus ; Coronavirus Infections ; complications ; therapy ; Critical Care ; Female ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pandemics ; Patient Positioning ; Pneumonia, Viral ; complications ; therapy ; Prone Position ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Adult ; therapy ; virology ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome