Medical Journal of Malaysia

This study is aimed to determine knowledge and practices on radiation protection among radiographers in nuclear medicine department. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among radiographers in nuclear medicine departments in four health institutions in Malaysia. A set of questionnaires was distributed to 17 respondents using convenience sampling. Approximately more than 75% and 44% - 56% of the radiographers have good knowledge of radiation protection and frequent adherence to radiation protection practices, respectively...

INTRODUCTION: One of the most common musculoskeletal pain that causes disability in healthcare settings is low back pain that presents without a specific cause and is known as nonspecific low back pain (NSLBP). NSLBP can cause impairment in motor control, which is the ability of the body to execute a precise and stabilized movement in space. Many factors affect motor control dysfunction and lead to different physical impairments, consequently requiring different approaches in clinical settings...

INTRODUCTION: Dengue fever, a vector borne disease transmitted primarily by Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, has triggered a significant global resurgence. While many vector control programs depend on the use of chemical insecticides to curb outbreaks, its heavy reliance raises environmental concerns and the risk of insecticide resistance. Alternatively, botanically derived insecticidal agents with larvicidal properties offer an ecofriendlier option. This review aims to analyze scientific reports that described the effectiveness of plant-derived extracts for vector control...

INTRODUCTION: The ankles and feet of footballers are the most commonly affected areas by acute and chronic injuries, especially sprains. The durability of changes in motor control for the sprained injury strongly suggests that central motor commands have been reorganized and restructured involving the sensorimotor system. Indirectly, providing strength training improves muscular strength and benefits cardiometabolic health, coordination, sensorimotor, and motor performance. Thus, this study aimed to identify the effects of strengthening exercises on motor control among footballers with sprained ankles...

INTRODUCTION: Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often face significant challenges in verbal communication, social interaction, and exhibit repetitive behavioral patterns. These challenges persist across various developmental stages, particularly impacting their social communication abilities. This scoping review aims to explore the range of occupational therapy interventions that are employed to enhance social communication skills in children with ASD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A literature search was conducted independently on scientific databases: Scopus, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and Web of Science (WOS)...

INTRODUCTION: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is one of the most prevalent chronic complications of diabetes mellitus (DM) that can significantly result in disability and impaired quality of life. The DPN of the foot has been extensively studied in diabetes care. Nevertheless, the DPN of hand has been the road less taken in research and clinical practice. Thus, a scoping review was conducted to identify all available standardized hand assessments which have been used, developed, or tested in individuals with DM...

INTRODUCTION: Lower Cross Syndrome (LCS) is a prevalent condition that manifests as muscular tension due to the asymmetry in the strength of the lower extremity muscles. This imbalance could be due to the tautness of the iliopsoas, rectus femoris, tensor fascia latae, adductor group, gastrocnemius, and soleus muscles. LCS causes a postural imbalance in the individual, which triggers low back pain (LBP). When LCS is present alongside LBP, may cause the upper body to sway more in the transverse plane and at the lumbar level, making walking and termination of gait (GT) more difficult...

INTRODUCTION: Obesity can be considered a major public health concern throughout the world. Various studies have been conducted to combat the rising number of cases of this health problem. Therefore, identifying the roots of the disease is critical in developing the desperately needed treatment approaches. However, in order to fully understand the origin of this disease, figuring out the metabolites present, and the alterations that occurred in a particular metabolism are crucial, and the information regarding the metabolites involved is limited...

INTRODUCTION: Surveillance of mosquito breeding sites is essential because it provides the information needed to assess risks and thus respond to dengue outbreaks. This article aims to review existing research on the viability of using unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) to identify potential breeding sites for Aedes mosquitoes and highlight the issues related to their implementation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors conducted a literature search in four databases (Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, and IEEE Xplore) and completed it in December 2022...

INTRODUCTION: Vision screening has been initiated to detect potential vision problems, paving referral pathways towards a full eye examination. Time-cost-labour practicality challenges of equipment-based vision screening have lingered for decades. Going for the highest sensitivity and specificity or opting for a pragmatic and affordable vision screening program remains a dilemma in public eye health. We aimed to report the development of a new online and equipment-free vision screening called Eye: Questionnairebased Vision Screening (EyeQVS)...

INTRODUCTION: Night eating is a very common dietary behaviour among university students. This study aims to investigate the relationship between night eating and BMI, stress, sleep quality and duration of study among university students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 385 university students including foundation and undergraduate students took part in this study. Self-administered online surveys were used to obtain sociodemographic data, and anthropometry measurements including weight and height, night eating during studying, duration of the study, opinion on eating and academic performance, sleep quality, level of depression, anxiety, and stress of the respondents...

INTRODUCTION: Breastfeeding women are susceptible to musculoskeletal symptoms and hormonal changes that can affect the ocular surface. As exposure to visual display units (VDU) that is known to cause symptoms of dry eye and computer vision syndrome (CVS) is increasing worldwide, including among breastfeeding women, it is unknown whether this group of VDU users would experience CVS more than non-breastfeeding women. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the association between breastfeeding status and symptoms of CVS and dry eye...

INTRODUCTION: The SARS-CoV-2 virus, responsible for the global COVID-19 pandemic and its associated high morbidity and mortality, continues to be a significant public health concern. This study investigates the influence of temperature variables on COVID-19 transmission in Terengganu, Malaysia, which, despite having experienced a comparatively lower number of cases, presents a unique environment for understanding how temperature factors may play a critical role in virus transmission dynamics...

INTRODUCTION: Hip fractures, predominantly due to decreased bone density and falls, significantly impact elderly health, disproportionately affecting women and placing a strain on healthcare resources. This study aims to conduct an indepth epidemiological analysis of hip fracture incidence among the elderly in Pahang, Malaysia, to inform better healthcare strategies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, medical records of patients admitted with hip fractures between 2019 and 2021 at Hospital Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah (HoSHAS) in Pahang were analyzed...

INTRODUCTION: Cleaners perform a vital role in environmental health by keeping the place clean, but they are also exposed to various hazards. Yet, there is a lack of effective and accessible occupational safety standard measures, thus making this to be difficult to monitor the long-term health effects of cleaners. This study aims to determine the respirable dust exposure on respiratory symptoms among cleaners in a public university in Selangor. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 51 cleaners...

BACKGROUND: Indoor air quality is an important concern for kindergartener because young children are more vulnerable to the effects of poor air quality. Poor indoor air quality can cause respiratory problems and other health issues, which can negatively affect a child's ability to learn and grow. Aim of this study is to determine the trend and status of indoor air pollutants in study areas by using descriptive statistics and cluster analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Air temperature (T), relative humidity (RH), air movement (AM), carbon dioxide (CO2), formaldehyde (HCHO), and particulate matter (PM) are the monitored parameters...

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 still wreaking havoc in Malaysia, with 3,221,680 cases and 32,326 deaths as of 20 February 2022. In the Oil and Gas industry, implementing quarantine before mobilising to or after mobilising from onshore and offshore locations was mandatory to help stop the spread of the virus. However, previous studies have shown that quarantine can significantly impact public mental health. This study intends to assess the psychosocial stress experienced by Oil and Gas industry employees during periods of quarantine in various regions (PMA: Terengganu, SBA: Sabah, SKA: Sarawak) and between onshore and offshore employees...

INTRODUCTION: Several necessary initiatives have been made to create a readily available vaccine against the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide pandemic. However, the vaccination program's success is dependent on the population's willingness as well as their knowledge of vaccination. Hence, the present study aimed to assess the level of knowledge and acceptance towards the COVID-19 vaccine among the community in Johor Bahru, Johor. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted using an online survey between February and May 2022, with 423 respondents...

INTRODUCTION: The palm oil (PO) industry is one of the most important sectors in the Malaysian economy. Workers at PO mills are, however, at risk for a number of health and safety issues, including heat stress, as the PO is one of the industries with high heat exposure. Heat stress occurs when a person's body cannot get rid of excess heat. Heat stress can result in heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heat rash, and heat stroke. It also results in physiological and psychological changes that can have an impact on a worker's performance...

INTRODUCTION: Motion and pulsation artifacts are the most prominent types of artifacts in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of the shoulder. Therefore, this study examined the Periodically Rotating Overlapping Parallel Lines with Enhanced Reconstruction (PROPELLER) technique with small flex coil (SFC) and dedicated shoulder coil (DSC) for the reduction of motion and pulsation artifacts. The signalto- noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of the standard proton density fat saturation (PDFS) pulse sequence and the PROPELLER proton density fat saturation (PROPELLER PDFS) pulse sequence were also evaluated...