Lived Experience after Bariatric Surgery among Patients with Morbid Obesity in East Coast Peninsular Malaysia: A Qualitative Study.

Living with morbid obesity is challenging since it affects various dimensions of life. Sustainable weight loss via bariatric surgery helps people suffering from morbid obesity to lead a healthy and meaningful life. This study highlights the challenges before bariatric surgery and the impact on one's life. A phenomenological approach was employed using in-depth interviews with 21 participants (15 females and 6 males) who had undergone surgery at least 6 months prior to the study with the mean age of 42.6 years. Due to excess body weight, the physical limitation had a serious negative impact on their social life, making them targets of bias and stigmatisation. Surgery was the best option for them to attain sustainable weight loss and to lead a new life. However, a few participants struggled with the side effects of surgery. Five themes were discovered, namely, (1) social restraint; (2) experiencing bias and stigmatisation; (3) bringing new life; (4) boosting self-esteem; and (5) facing the negative side of surgery. This study serves as a platform to explore the difficulties faced by people with morbid obesity and the changes that the participants experienced after the surgery for future intervention to curb the rising number of people with morbid obesity.

Achievement of LDL Cholesterol Goal and Adherence to Statin by Diabetes Patients in Kelantan.

BACKGROUND: Statins are a class of potent drugs that can be used to reduce cholesterol, especially low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). However, their effectiveness is limited if adherence to treatment is poor. The objectives of the study are to estimate the proportion of diabetic patient who has achieved LDL-C goal and to determine the association of LDL-C achievement with socio demographic factors and statin therapy adherence. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study involving 234 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and dyslipidaemia attending an outpatient clinic in a hospital in Kelantan. Interviews and self-administered questionnaires were used to determine their sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Adherence to therapy was assessed using the Medication Compliance Questionnaire (MCQ). The associations between the achievement of LDL targets and sociodemographic/clinical factors, including adherence, were analysed with simple logistic regression. RESULTS: About 37.6% of patients achieved their LDL-C target. The percentage of patients who adhered to statin use was 98.3%, and 20.5% of these patients reported full adherence. There was no significant association between achievement of LDL-C targets with adherence or any other sociodemographic factors, such as age, gender and educational or economic status (all P-value < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Despite a high level of adherence, the majority of patients failed to achieve LDL-C targets. More concerted efforts are needed to improve this.