Systematic review on factors associated with depression among mothers of children with cancer.

BACKGROUND: Despite evidence of depression among mothers of children with cancer, there appears to be a lack of studies or concern regarding factors associated with depression among these mothers. OBJECTIVE: To review the factors associated with depression among mothers of children with cancer. METHOD: Pubmed, Medline, Cochrane, CINAHL, Psychology, and Behavioural Sciences Collection, and Academic Search Complete were searched according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to identify studies published between 2010 to 2022 on the associated risk factors of depression among mothers of children with cancer. The keywords used included mothers OR maternal' AND 'Child*' AND 'cancer OR tumo*r OR neoplasm' AND 'factors OR facilitators AND barriers OR predictors OR determinants AND 'depression'. Selected studies were evaluated by quality assessment. RESULT: Five articles fulfilled the eligibility criteria. The factors associated with depression among mothers of children were socio-demographic risk factors (marital status, education level, annual income, child cancer diagnosis), and stress factors (caregiving stress, cancer-related stress, general stress). There were other factors associated with depression that act as mediators along the process which were emotion-focused coping and perceived social support. CONCLUSION: Besides the commonly reported socio-demographic risk factors (marital status, education level, and annual income), other factors include stress factors (caregiving stress, cancer-related stress, and general stress). Furthermore, emotion-focused coping and perceived social support act as mediators along the process. More studies are warranted to explore depression among these mothers to ensure the most appropriate and effective preventive measures.

Level of dengue preventive practices and associated factors in a Malaysian residential area during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne viral infection that is endemic in more than 100 countries and has the highest incidence among infectious diseases in Malaysia. The increase of dengue fever cases during the COVID-19 pandemic and the movement control order (MCO) highlighted the necessity to assess the dengue preventive practices among the population. Thus, this study aimed to determine the level of dengue preventive practices and its associated factors among residents in a residential area in Johor, Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 303 respondents from a Johor residential area between May and June 2021. A validated self-administered questionnaire was created using google forms and distributed to the respondents via WhatsApp. The questionnaire consisted of three sections: (i) Sociodemographic characteristics and history of dengue fever, (ii) dengue preventive practices, and (iii) six constructs of the Health Belief Model (HBM). The association between the dependent and independent variables were examined using multiple logistic regression with a significant level set at less than 0.05. RESULT: About half of the respondents have a good level of dengue preventive practices. Respondents with a history of dengue fever (aOR = 2.1, 95% CI: 1.1-4.2, p = 0.033), low perceived susceptibility (aOR = 1.8, 95% CI: 1.1-3.0, p = 0.018), high self-efficacy (aOR = 1.7, 95% CI: 1.0-2.8, p = 0.045), and high cues to take action (aOR = 2.5, 95% CI: 1.5-4.2, p < 0.001) had higher odds of practicing good dengue preventive measures. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated a moderate level of dengue preventive practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, a stronger dengue control programme is recommended by focusing on cues to take action, self-efficacy, and recruiting those with a history of dengue fever to assist health authorities in promoting good dengue preventive practices in the community.