Women of reproductive age frequently suffer from psychiatric disorders. The risk of developing anxiety, bipolar, and depressive disorders is especially significant during the perinatal period. This article aims to identify and discuss the different psychiatric conditions that might affect pregnant women and update the mother's carers about the recent and updated bidirectional relationship between psychiatric disease and adverse pregnancy outcomes, As well as the most updates in diagnostic and management strategies. A thorough analysis of the literature was conducted using database searches in EMBASE, Science Direct, Google Scholar, Scopus, and PubMed to obtain the objectives and aim of the study. The presence of maternal mental illness during pregnancy has been linked to preterm delivery, newborn hypoglycemia, poor neurodevelopmental outcomes, and disturbed attachment. Placental anomalies, small-for-gestational-age foetuses, foetal discomfort, and stillbirth are among more undesirable perinatal outcomes. Pregnancy-related psychiatric disorders are frequent. The outcomes for pregnant women, infants, and women's health are all improved by proper diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric problems.
20 June 2021 in Australian Journal of Rural Health
Unhealthy lifestyle contributes mainly to an increased prevalence of non-communicable diseases including hypertension and cardiovascular diseases tend to increase in Malaysia. These diseases lead to an increased risk of end organ damage and cardiovascular complications. In this study, the prevalence of prehypertension and its associated risk factors among a cohort of university students in Sabah was determined. This is a prospective, cross-sectional study conducted among 365 undergraduate students irrespective of faculties at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). Standardized and validated World Health Organization (WHO) STEPS questionnaires were used to collect sociodemographic data. Additionally, clinical and anthropometric data were measured and recorded by a trained staff, followed by descriptive and logistic regression analyses. A total of 365 UMS undergraduate students aged 18 years and above participated in the study. The prevalence of prehypertension among university students was high (31%) (95% CI [29.1%, 34.3%]). Well-known risk factors for hypertension including family history of hypertension, reduced sleep duration, reduced physical activity, smoking, being overweight or obese were significantly associated with the risk of developing prehypertension (P < .05) among UMS students. However, no association was observed between ethnicity, age, and gender with prehypertension. A worryingly high percentage of UMS students are prehypertensive, indicating the need of early preventive strategies aimed at increasing awareness, early screening, and lifestyle modification to reduce the rising burden of the disease and the associated complications in this age group.
Nutritional knowledge, attitudes and practice (KAP) may guide healthy meal choices. Here, nutritional KAP was compared across school students in Sabah based on locality and gender. A cross-sectional survey of students aged 15–19 years was conducted using multistage sampling. Nutritional KAP was measured via questionnaire. Anthropometric measures of weight and height were taken in person to calculate body mass index (BMI). Among the 994 participants, 80% were urban and 60% were female (mean age 16.5 ± 0.6 yr). Most were of Kadazan-Dusun (23%) ethnicity. Measured height for age Z score (HAZ) and BMI for age Z score (BAZ) differed between urban and rural students (−1.2 ± 0.8 versus −1.5 ± 0.7 for HAZ; p < 0.001; 0.2 ± 1.4 versus −0.1 ± 1.3; p = 0.02, respectively). No difference in nutritional knowledge was found, although urban students prioritized having a healthy/balanced diet (59.55% versus 48.50%, p = 0.03) and ate daily breakfast (57.4% versus 10.2%, p < 0.001) compared to rural. Females scored higher on nutritional knowledge than males (18.9 ± 2.8 vs. 18.1 ± 3.4, respectively, p = 0.0001), yet males selected more healthy/balanced foods (63.3% versus 53.3%, p = 0.041). The gap remains between nutritional KAP and translating this to healthy eating among adolescents, related to locality and gender.
31 January 2022 in Journal of Public Health Research
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major public health threat. Therefore, CRC screening uptake has been a focus with the established precancerous lesion and the strong association of early detection with staging and survival of the disease. However, CRC screening is relatively low in many countries. This article briefly discussed the current situation of CRC, recommendations, and current uptake of CRC screening in various countries. Besides that, this article also highlights the potential factors that help to predict the CRC screening uptake worldwide. Identification of those factors could guide policymakers to develop an effective strategy to improve the CRC screening uptake and ultimately improve the health outcome of the population.
The Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18) is an 18-item self-report checklist designed to screen for psychological symptoms in medical patients. This study aimed to assess the psychometric properties of BSI among a diverse group of Indonesian adolescents. This study involved 80 15 to 18-year-old adolescents from a drug rehabilitation center in West Java, Indonesia. The instrument was translated into Bahasa Indonesia, and its content validity index was calculated using Aiken’s V formula. The CVI ranged from 0.73 to 1.00 for BSI. The factor loadings of each of the three scales in the BSI ranged from 0.43 and 0.88. The model was acceptable and appropriate when confirmatory factor analyses of the BSI were conducted. The Cronbach alpha coefficient of the BSI was 0.925. The findings of this study give evidence that the BSI is a viable and beneficial screening tool for detecting substance use problems among Indonesian adolescents.