Neurosurgery has been on the rise, with a yearly estimate of 13.8 million patients suffering from neurological disorders or injuries and require surgery. Psychological distress is relatively frequent in neurosurgical patients due numerous threats and challenges faced therefore, the main objective of this review is to understand the efficiency of music therapy on neurosurgical patients in reducing psychological distress. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and MetaAnalyses (PRISMA) framework was used to guide the methodology of this systematic review. The PICO format was used as a search strategy in terms of specifying search terms and clarifying limits in relation to the population or intervention studied in this review. Databases like SCOPUS, MEDLINE and OVID, The Cochrane Library was utilized to search for relevant records. A total of 48 studies were identified through the databases search. After the removal of duplicates, 39 studies’ titles and abstracts were screened. Through a process of assessing eligibility, 5 studies were consequently included in the review. The year limits for the articles reviewed were 2015 to present, to highlight the more recent findings on the subject. The studies included in this review encompass different countries of origin such as USA, Canada and in Asia, Taiwan, China and India. The findings of this review show that music therapy is an effective intervention in reducing psychological distress, especially anxiety, in neurosurgical patients. Music therapy is also effective as an adjunct therapy for neurosurgical procedures. The cultural aspects infused in music therapy were also discussed in this paper.

This review aims to present an overview of current research findings on the possible effects of circadian rhythm (CR) disruption towards metabolic stress and mental health. CR can be described as an internal biological clock that regulates our body functions, based on our sleep/wake cycle. Any time that our normal 24-hour circadian rhythm is altered or interrupted, it will have physiological and psychological impacts. However, in today’s demanding working world, most of us are working defying the normal conditions without realising the significant drawbacks of it. Therefore, this review summarises the findings from several researches on the physiological (metabolic stress) and psychological (cognitive functioning and mental health) impacts of the CR disruption in order to assist people to have a holistic view on the effects of CR to our mind and body. Evidences that linked these aspects to health circumstances of shift workers have also been highlighted.

Children with Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) faces challenges in academic areas and are often negatively labelled. The learning problems in SLD children were mainly due to poor phonological skill but not much was known about the contribution of visuospatial difficulties. Therefore, this study aims to determine the relationship between phonological awareness skills and global visual-spatial abilities among Malay speaking children with SLD, and to compare children with SLD and typical readers on intellectual functioning, phonological awareness and global visual-spatial ability. An equal number of typical readers (n = 36) and children with SLD were recruited. Data were coded and analysed using Kendall’s Tau-b, independent samples t-test and Mann-Whitney U test. Results showed phonological skills have strong negative correlation with global visual-spatial ability (r = .55). The typical readers have significantly higher IQ and better phonological skills and better global visual-spatial skills as compared to the group with SLD. However, there is no conclusive evidence due to specificity of more than one area measured by the assessment tools. Nevertheless, it provides a direction for future research to look into global visual-spatial aspects of SLD to aid in educational instruction in the future, in addition to the long-standing phonology deficit theory.
Specific Learning Disorders ; dyslexia ; phonological awareness, global visual-spatial ability, intellectual functioning

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have significant challenges in their daily life including social communication and interaction, emotional awareness and management, as well as behavioural issues. Many interventions are conducted based on theoretical backgrounds and past literature. There is lack of research study that interview and explore the real psychological needs of children with ASD in Malaysia. It is a significant component as their needs may vary depending on the cultural background, lifestyle, and social norms. Besides, there is a need to develop standardised intervention module to enhance intervention fidelity and replication of future study. The current study aims to scrutinise the psychological needs of children with ASD in Malaysia, develop a standardised group intervention module based on the identified needs, and then examine the feasibility of the developed module. Nine children with moderate to high functioning of ASD (7 to 12 years old) and their parents from Kuala Lumpur and Sarawak participated in the study. Result from the focus group interview suggests that children with ASD have three major psychological needs which are sociocommunication, awareness of danger, and emotions. The group intervention module was designed to fulfil these needs. The feasibility result shows that the designed module is practical, useful, and understandable for the participants. In view of this, future study may explore the effectiveness of the module. Once the module is proven effective, it can be patented and utilised to improve the psychological functioning of children with ASD in Malaysia.
Autism Spectrum Disorder ; children ; group intervention ; feasibility ; psychological needs.

Introduction: Changes in dietary habits are known to be associated with changes in health outcomes. This study determined food choices among Malaysian adults using secondary data of the Malaysian Adults Nutrition Survey (MANS) in 2003 and MANS in 2014. Methods: A total of 6,742 and 3,000 adults aged 18 to 59 years participated in MANS 2003 and MANS 2014, respectively. Both studies used a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to assess habitual food intake. Results: Overall, the prevalence of adults consuming rice twice daily were 97.3% and 86.9% in 2003 and 2014, respectively. While the percentage of urban dwellers who consumed rice daily differed significantly between 2003 (96.7%) and 2014 (86.9%), the percentage remained quite similar among rural adults in 2003 (97.8%) and 2014 (96.3%). Other top ten food items consumed daily were sugar (2003, 58.5% vs 2014, 55.9%), marine fish (40.8% vs 29.4%), green leafy vegetables (39.9% vs 43.2%) and sweetened condensed milk (35.2% vs 29.3%). In both surveys, a higher percentage of men consumed rice, sugar and sweetened condensed milk on a daily basis compared to women, a higher proportion of whom daily consumed green leafy vegetables and marine fish. Majority of the adults reported drinking plain water daily. Other beverages taken daily were tea, coffee and chocolate-malt drinks. Conclusion: Rice, sugar and sweetened condensed milk were among the top food items consumed daily in 2003 and 2014. Educational efforts to improve dietary intake of Malaysian adults is recommended.

The global prevalence of overweight and obesity among children has increased rapidly in the recent decades, includingin Malaysia. Thus, development of effective interventions to prevent childhood obesity in Malaysia is urgently needed.This paper describes the study design of a 12-week multi-component, school-based nutrition education programme aimedat managing childhood obesity. The objective of Juara Sihat™ is to determine the effectiveness of a nutrition educationprogramme in improving anthropometric status, knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of nutrition, eating habits andphysical activity level among overweight and obese children. This quasi-experimental study involves two primary schoolsin Kuala Lumpur with similar demographic characteristics. Eligibility criteria of research participants are overweightand obese children aged 9 to 11 years. The main components of the Juara Sihat™ intervention are nutrition educationclasses on healthy eating and active lifestyle; physical activity sessions; and active involvements of parents and teachers.The control school does not receive any interventions. The primary outcome is BMI-for-age z-score, while other outcomesinclude waist circumference, body fat percentage, KAP of nutrition score, dietary intake, physical activity level, sedentarybehaviour and biochemical profile. Outcome measures will be assessed at three intervals: baseline, post-intervention 1(3-month follow-up), and post-intervention 2 (6-month follow-up). The Juara Sihat™ programme represents a promisingapproach to examining the effectiveness of a school-based childhood obesity intervention with strong empowerment ofParents’ and Teachers’ Association (PTA). We anticipate that this study may provide insights towards the development ofmore effective strategies in formulating childhood obesity interventions.

Taking care of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) could be a demanding task for parents. Consequently, parentsof children with ASD may experience parenting stress and depression symptoms. This study examined parenting stressand depression symptoms among parents of children and adolescents with ASD. This study also examined the role of childcharacteristics (e.g., age, child quality of life and problem behavior) on parenting stress and depression symptoms and theeffect of parenting stress on parental depression. A total of 78 parents were examined using a questionnaire survey. Theresult indicated that parents caring a younger age group of children with ASD have higher levels of depression symptomscompared to parents caring for older group of children with ASD. The result also revealed a significant difference in levelof depression symptoms between parents with higher levels of parenting stress and parents with lower parenting stress.Only the children age significantly predicts depression symptoms in parents of children with ASD. This indicates thatchildren age is potential to affect mental health among parents of children with ASD.

This review aims to present an overview of current research findings on the possible relationship between phonologicalawareness and visual-spatial skills among individuals with dyslexia. Narrative review of the relevant articles wereobtained through computerized searches of databases such as PubMed, PubMed Central (PMC) and Google Scholarwhich included articles from SAGE, Taylor & Francis and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Press from theyear 2000 to 2014. The key words were explored, both exclusively and in combination with each other, so as to provide abetter understanding of the relationship between them among individuals with dyslexia. Although it is evident that thereis a phonological deficit in individuals with dyslexia, however, it is inconclusive with regards to the visual-spatial deficitand strength. There is a consensus on the nature of phonological awareness skill deficits but not on the visual spatialabilities in dyslexia. In fact, the relationship between phonological awareness and visual spatial abilities in dyslexia isdependent on the area of visual ability measured.

Chronic use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is associated with adverse effects. However, NSAIDs are among the most popular pain killers and easily available over the counter. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of NSAIDs use in Malaysian adults and among those with chronic diseases such as arthritis, kidney disease, hypertension, heart disease and asthma. It also examined the factors associated with NSAIDs use. Data from the National Health Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2011, a nation-wide survey was analysed. A total of 18231 respondents aged 18 years and above responded to this module. Multivariate logistic regression was used to investigate the association between NSAIDs use and associated factors. The overall prevalence of NSAIDs use among Malaysian adults was 14.2% (95%CI 13.3-15.1). Of the respondents, 4.2% (95%CI 3.8-4.7) took NSAIDs once daily. NSAIDs use was highly associated with those who were ever-told to have arthritis (aOR: 3.03; 95%CI 2.60-3.52) and have difficulty of performing daily activities or work (aOR: 2.06; 95%CI 1.86-2.28). Those who were ever-told to have kidney disease (aOR: 2.36; 95%CI 1.74-3.20), ever-told to have asthma (aOR: 1.36; 95%CI 1.17-1.58), ever-told to have heart disease (aOR: 1.34; 95%CI 1.08-1.65), known hypertension (aOR: 1.22; 95%CI 1.08-1.37) also were associated with NSAIDs use. By socio-demographic profiles, NSAIDs use was positively associated with those who have government benefit scheme or private health insurance (aOR: 1.44; 95%CI 1.31-1.58), higher education level (aOR: 1.35; 95%CI 1.20-1.51), higher household income (aOR: 1.26; 95%CI 1.11-1.44, aOR: 1.12; 95%CI 1.02-1.24), currently working (aOR: 1.25; 95%CI 1.13-1.39) and female (aOR: 1.17; 95%CI 1.07-1.28). NSAIDs use was less likely among those aged 60 years and above (aOR: 0.83; 95% CI 0.72-0.97), Chinese (aOR: 0.41; 95% CI 0.36-0.47) and ‘Others’ ethnicity (aOR: 0.82; 95% CI 0.67-0.99) compared to Malay ethnicity. NSAIDs use is prevalent in Malaysian adults and associated with co-morbidities and higher socio-demographic status, thus appropriate awareness should be promoted and highlighted in the community.
non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs ; NSAIDs use ; NHMS ; prevalence ; Malaysia.

Stress is a common problem among university students and studies showed that involvement in exercise could help in reducing stress. However, information regarding the effect of high intensity progressive resistance training (PRT) using a resistant tube on stress among inactive and moderate active young male university students is limited. Hence, the aim of this study is to examine the effect of high intensity PRT using a resistant tube on psychological stress level, cortisol, DHEA and physical fitness in this population. A total of 30 male university students were participated in this quasi-experiment study. Intervention group (n = 14, age: 21.50 ± 1.37 yr) was participaned to carry out high intensity PRT by using resistant tube 3 times per week for 10 weeks; control group (n = 16, age: 21.29 ± 1.86 yr) was asked to continue their current lifestyle as usual. Before and after 10 weeks of intervention, psychological stress was measured by using PSS and SLSI questionnaires; cortisol and DHEA level were measured by using ELISA method. Timed up-and-go (TUG) used to examine dynamic balance and handgrip strength test used to measure muscle strength. Findings showed that the increased of DHEA level after 10 weeks of intervention was significantly difference between control and intervention groups (p < 0.05). There was no significant group difference in changes over time in anthropometric and body composition measurements, stress scores, cortisol level and physical fitness. High intensity PRT using resistant tube may be beneficial in increasing DHEA level among young male adults, which can act as a stress biochemical indicator.
Stress, Psychological