Randomized controlled trial on the effect of Al-Quran recitation vs counseling on smoking intensity among Muslim men who are trying to quit smoking.

INTRODUCTION: Nicotine cravings and withdrawal symptoms are associated with higher rates of relapse. It has been shown that combining behavioral therapy and pharmacotherapy leads to a higher long-term abstinence rate in those who quit smoking. Al-Quran recitation has been proven to reduce anxiety among athletes before tournaments and pulse and heart rates among patients awaiting cardiac operations. As most of the patients who wish to stop smoking experience high-anxiety states, we postulate that Al-Quran recitation will also able to reduce craving among smokers attempting to quit smoking. METHODS: Fifty smokers from an outpatient clinic were randomly assigned to control and intervention groups. They were taught different ways of coping with smoking urges, i.e., counseling using the 12'M' method (control group) versus Al-Quran recitation (intervention group). They met for four consecutive weeks of counselling and to fill out a withdrawal scale. Carbon monoxide (CO) levels were tested at baseline and at week 4. At week 12, the number of cigarettes smoked was measured again. The decrease in the number of cigarettes considered to be clinically significant for the calculation of sample size was based on expert opinion. RESULTS: The reduction in the number of cigarettes smoked was 7 cigarettes in the counselling group and 9 cigarettes in Al-Quran recitation group over 12 weeks duration. There was a statistically significant difference in the number of cigarettes smoked between the groups. There was also a statistically significant difference in the change in cravings between the groups at week 4 (p-value = 0.005). However, the difference in the changes in CO levels between the two groups was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Al-Quran recitation produced a statistically significant reduction in the number of cigarettes smoked at week 12 and a significant change in cravings at week 4 among smokers attempting to quit. Difference in smoking abstinence rates was not measured in this study.

Identification of psychosocial factors of noncompliance in hypertensive patients.

This cross-sectional study was aimed to identify the predictors of medication noncompliance in hypertensive patients. The study was conducted at the Family Medicine Clinic, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia, which is a university-based teaching hospital. All hypertensive patients aged 40 or over-registered from January to June 2004, who had been on treatment for at least 3 months, were screened. Previously validated self-administered questionnaires were used to assess the compliance and psychosocial factors. A total of 240 hypertensive patients were recruited in the study. Of these, 55.8% were noncompliant to medication. Logistic regression showed that age (adjusted odds ratio (OR): 0.96; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.92-0.997; P: 0.035), patient satisfaction (adjusted OR: 0.97; 95% CI: 0.93-0.998; P: 0.036) and medication barrier (adjusted OR: 0.95; 95% CI: 0.91-0.987; P: 0.009) were significant predictors of medication noncompliance. Therefore, younger age, poor patient satisfaction and medication barrier were identified as independent psychosocial predictors of medication noncompliant in hypertensive patients.

Tuberculosis in Malaysia: predictors of treatment outcomes in a national registry.

OBJECTIVES: To determine treatment outcomes and associated predictors of all patients registered in 2012 with the Malaysian National Tuberculosis (TB) Surveillance Registry. METHODS: Sociodemographic and clinical data were analysed. Unfavourable outcomes included treatment failure, transferred out and lost to follow-up, treatment defaulters, those not evaluated and all-cause mortality. RESULTS: In total, 21 582 patients were registered. The mean age was 42.36 ± 17.77 years, and 14.2% were non-Malaysians. The majority were new cases (93.6%). One fifth (21.5%) had unfavourable outcomes; of these, 46% died, 49% transferred out or defaulted and 1% failed treatment. Predictors of unfavourable outcomes were older age, male sex, foreign citizenship, lower education, no bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination scar, treatment in tertiary settings, smoking, previous anti-tuberculosis treatment, human immunodeficiency virus infection, not receiving directly observed treatment, advanced chest radiography findings, multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extra-pulmonary TB. For all-cause mortality, predictors were similar except for rural dwelling and nationality (higher mortality among locals). Absence of BCG scar, previous treatment for TB and MDR-TB were not found to be predictors of all-cause mortality. Indigenous populations in East Malaysia had lower rates of unfavourable treatment outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: One fifth of TB patients had unfavourable outcomes. Intervention strategies should target those at increased risk of unfavourable outcomes and all-cause mortality.

Knowledge and attitude of colorectal cancer screening among moderate risk patients in West Malaysia.

Colorectal cancer is the commonest cancer among males and the third commonest cancer among women in Malaysia. However, almost 80% of patients sought treatment for cancer only when they were already in late stage due to lack of awareness. Hence, the objectives of this study were to determine the knowledge and attitude of colorectal cancer screening among moderate risk patients. A cross-sectional study was conducted between August 2009 till April 2010 in 44 health clinics with Family Medicine Specialists in West Malaysia. Stratified multistage random sampling was applied and a validated Malay version of the questionnaire with the Cronbach' alpha of 0.65 to 0.82 was used. Data were entered using SPSS 12.0 and analysed with STATA 8.0. A total of 1,905 (93.8%) patients responded. The mean (SD) knowledge and attitude score among moderate risk patients were 69.5 (6.11%) and 66.5 (7.07%), whereas, the percentages for good knowledge and attitude were 4.1% and 3.3% respectively. Less than 1% had undergone colorectal cancer screening and the main reasons were not bothered, busy and embarrassment. The majority of patients who had moderate risk for colorectal cancer had extremely low knowledge and attitude towards colorectal cancer screening. As a result, the majority did not undergo any form of colorectal cancer screening.