ABSTRACT
@#Introduction: The ability of a person to self-regulate and practise healthy lifestyle behaviours determine one’s weight status. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship of self-regulation, dietary practices, and physical activity with overweight status among male and female adolescents. Methods: This crosssectional study used multistage cluster sampling involving government secondary school students aged between 13 and 14 years old in Hulu Langat, Selangor. Students answered a validated self-administered questionnaire comprising socio-demography, dietary practices, physical activity, and self-regulation items. Their body mass index (BMI) was calculated, and weight status was determined using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) BMI chart. Results: Among 636 students, 27.0% were “overweight”, affecting more male than female students (p=0.032). Majority of them (96.7%) were motivated to maintain healthy body weight, but only a third of the students took vegetables, fruits and grains (32.4%), and performed vigorous physical activity (31.1%) regularly. Regardless of the “overweight” status, there were no significant differences in dietary practices, physical activity, and autonomous regulation for both genders. Female students showed a higher level of controlled regulation than male students in non-overweight (p=0.005) and overweight (p<0.001) groups. Higher controlled regulation increased the odds of being overweight among female students (AOR=1.04, 95% CI=1.04-1.08, p=0.010). Conclusion: Thus, health authorities need to develop programmes to assist, particularly female students, in practising higher autonomous regulation to combat overweight and obesity, as this group exhibits a high level of controlled regulation, which increases the likelihood of being overweight.
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Abstract@#Introduction: The increasing prevalence of depression has been a major public health concern. Being a marginalized population put the inmates at risk of depression. The main objective of this study was to identify the determinants of depression among the inmates according to the biopsychosocial model. Methods: A cross sectional study involving 460 male inmates was conducted at a medium security prison in Seremban. Only Malaysian adult prisoners who have been convicted and had spent a minimum of three months in the prison were eligible for the study. They were selected using the probability proportional to size using stratified random sampling. Data was collected using validated and pre-tested questionnaire by face-to-face interviews, with depression was measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 22 with a p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The results showed prevalence of depression were 40.70% (95% CI: 36.21-45.19) with its development being predicted by presence of communicable disease (AOR=2.145, 95% CI: 1.123-4.095), history of childhood abuse (AOR=1.762, 95% CI: 1.045-2.972), sentences of more than 5 years (AOR=3.801, 95% CI: 1.529-9.450), being non-Muslims (AOR=2.261, 95% CI: 1.461-3.497) and perceived stress (AOR=4.007, 95% CI= 2.610-6.151). Conclusions: This study revealed an alarmingly high prevalence of depression among the male inmates, with stress being the strongest risk factor. Reintegration of the prisoners into the community should be considered as part of the rehabilitation program to ensure continuation of psychiatric care and reduce relapsing.
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@#Introduction: A methanol outbreak occurred in the district of Hulu Langat on 16 September 2018. The Hulu Langat District Health Office received 25 notifications of a suspected methanol poisoning from Kajang and Ampang Hospital. An outbreak investigation was done to determine the source followed by a preventive and control measure. Method: Active case detection was done on cases living quarters and workplaces. Patients were interviewed, and their blood and urine samples were sent for methanol analysis. Samples of suspected alcoholic beverages were also sent for analysis. A suspected case was defined as any person presented with clinical symptoms with a history of consuming alcoholic beverages within five days before symptoms and high anion gap metabolic acidosis. A confirmed case was defined as a suspected case with positive blood and urine methanol. Results: In total, there were 25 suspected cases, of which 12 cases were confirmed. The calculated attack rate was 48%. There were six mortalities (50%) secondary to severe metabolic acidosis. The most common presenting symptom was vomiting (75%) and abdominal pain (41.7%). These cases were linked to consumption of illicitly produced alcohol. Samples of the alcoholic drinks were positive containing high level of methanol. Conclusion: The methanol outbreak in the Hulu Langat was successfully managed. Appropriate control and prevention measures were taken, including health promotion and joint enforcement activities. Steps were taken successfully through collaborations with multiple agencies and cooperation with Selangor Health Departments and the Ministry of Health. Continuous surveillance on the product of liquor, and health promotion are essential to prevent a similar outbreak from happening again in future.
ABSTRACT
@#Prisoner tend to be marginalized and deprived that it burdens them with psychological trauma, predominantly depression. This review will identify the determinants of depression among adult inmates. Literatures published from 2012 to March 2017 were searched from various databases. Inclusion criteria were English full text, adults with a diagnosis of depression while exclusion criteria were diagnostic instruments, clinical or drug trials. The review adhered to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement reporting. A total of 168 studies were identified although only 14 studies were eligible for final review. Factors associated with inmates’ depression range from the potentially modifiable to non-modifiable. Recognized modifiable factors were psychological, family support, and environment while non-modifiable were biological, demographic, individual, and social. Determinants identified should be addressed in formulation of better targeting therapy, in terms of both prevention and treatment of depression among inmates.