In South and Southeast Asian countries, tobacco is consumed in diverse forms, and smoking among women is very low. We aimed to provide national estimates of prevalence and social determinants of smoking and smokeless tobacco use among men and women separately.

Introduction: Health professionals play an important role in providing advice to their patients about tobacco prevention and cessation. Health professionals who use tobacco may be deterred from providing cessation advice and counselling to their patients. We aimed to provide prevalence estimates of tobacco use among student health professionals and describe their attitudes towards tobacco cessation training. Methods: Country-wise aggregate data from the Global Health Professions Student Survey on ‘c urrent cigarette smoking’ (smoking cigarettes on 1 or more days during the past 30 days), and ‘ curren t use of tobacco products other than cigarettes’ (chewing tobacco, snuff, bidis, cigars or pipes, 1 or more days during the past 30 days) were analysed. For each WHO region, we estimated mean prevalence rates of tobacco use weighted by the population of the sampling frame and aggregate proportions for ‘ health professionals’ role’ and ‘ cessation training’ indicators using ‘ metaprop ’ command on Stata V.11. Results: A total of 107 527 student health professionals participated in 236 surveys done in four health profession disciplines spanning 70 countries with response rates ranging from 40% to 100%. Overall, prevalence of smoking was highest in European countries (20% medical and 40% dental students) and the Americas (13% pharmacy to 23% dental students). Other tobacco use was higher in eastern Mediterranean (10%–23%) and European countries (7%–13%). In most WHO regions, ≥70% of the students agreed that health professionals are role models, and have a role in advising about smoking cessation to their patients and the public. Only ≤33% of all student health professionals in most WHO regions (except 80% dental students in the Eastern Mediterranean region) had received formal training on smoking cessation approaches and ≥80% of all students agreed that they should receive formal cessation training. Conclusions: Tobacco control should take place together with medical educators to discourage tobacco use among student health professionals and implement an integrated smoking cessation training into health professions' curricula.

Prevalence of pre‐hypertension is higher among young adults and may increase the risk for hypertension and cardiovascular morbidity. Music therapy has been investigated to reduce the blood pressure in the hypertensive population; however, its efficacy on blood pressure in pre‐hypertensive young adults is not known. Thirty pre‐hypertensive (systolic blood pressure [SBP] = 120‐139 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure [DBP] = 80‐89 mmHg) young adults were recruited and randomly assigned into two groups. Music group (N = 15) received music therapy by passive listening to music for 30 minutes/day, 5 days/week for 4 weeks, along with Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan (a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, low‐fat dairy or unsaturated fat) and limit the daily sodium intake less than 100 mmol/day. The control group (N = 15) practiced only DASH eating plan and sodium restriction. The SBP, DBP, and heart rate (HR) were measured before and after 4 weeks of intervention. There was a significant reduction in SBP (8.73 mmHg, p < .001) and HR (6.42 beats/minute, p = .002); however, the reduction in DBP (1.44 mmHg, p = .101) was not statistically significant in the music group. Control group did not exhibit any significant reduction in SBP (0.21 mmHg, p < .836), DBP (0.81 mmHg, p < .395) and HR (0.09 beats/minute, p < .935). In conclusion, music therapy reduced significantly SBP and HR suggesting that it could be a promising tool to prevent the progression of pre‐hypertension toward hypertension among young adults.

Background: Young adults, particularly university students might be at greater risk of developing psychological distress, and exhibiting symptoms of anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary objective of this study was to explore and compare the determinants and predictors of mental health (anxiety and depression) during and after the COVID-19 lockdown among university students. Methods: This was an observational, cross-sectional study with a sample size of 417 students. An online survey utilizing International Physical Activity Questionnaire–Short Form (IPAQ-SF), General Anxiety Disorder–7 (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was distributed to Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman students via Google forms. Results: During lockdown, family income [χ² (1, n = 124) = 5.155, p = 0.023], and physical activity (PA) [χ² (1, n = 134) = 6.366, p = 0.012] were associated with anxiety, while depression was associated with gender [χ² (1, n = 75) = 4.655, p = 0.031]. After lockdown, family income was associated with both anxiety [χ2 (1, n = 111) = 8.089, p = 0.004], and depression [χ2 (1, n = 115) = 9.305, p = 0.002]. During lockdown, family income (OR = 1.60, p = 0.018), and PA (OR = 0.59, p = 0.011) were predictors for anxiety, while gender (OR = 0.65, p = 0.046) was a predictor for depression. After lockdown, family income was a predictor for both anxiety (OR = 1.67, p = 0.011), and depression (OR = 1.70, p = 0.009). Conclusion: Significant negative effects attributed to the COVID-19 lockdown, and certain factors predisposed to the worsening of mental health status in university students. Low family income, PA, and female gender were the major determinants and predictors linked to anxiety and depression.

Background: Adopting lifestyle interventions is pivotal in coronary artery disease (CAD) management and prevention to amplify cardiovascular and mental well-being. This study aims to quantify the effect of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) on anxiety, depression and stress in CAD patients.Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted by searching four electronic databases (PubMed, CENTRAL, Scopus, and Science Direct) through December 2023. The risk of bias was assessed using the PEDro tool, and the study outcomes were expressed as standard mean difference at 95% CI.Results: Out of 1838 yielded results, eight RCTs involving 623 participants with a mean age of 56.96 ± 4.89 met the prespecified eligibility criteria. The pooled results showed a statistically significant and beneficial effect of MBIs on CAD patients’ mental health status in regards to anxiety (SMD = −0.83; 95% CI [−1.19, −0.46], p < 0.001), depression (SMD = − 0.86; 95% CI [−1.14, −0.58], p < 0.001), and stress (SMD = −0.69; 95% CI [−1.27, −0.12], p = 0.02). The subgroup sensitivity analyses based on the region (Asia vs. Europe) indicated a statistically non-significant subgroup effect of MBIs on anxiety (I² = 63.9%, p = 0.10) and depression (I² = 25.8%, p = 0.25), and a significant effect on stress (I² = 80.0%, p = 0.03). Although the methodological quality of the trials was generally satisfactory, all studies lacked allocation concealment and blinding. Additionally, gender imbalances, and inadequate follow-up may have potentially compromised the validity of the trials.Conclusion: Mindfulness-based interventions are beneficial for improving CAD patients’ anxiety, depression and stress symptoms. Nevertheless, it is imperative to conduct more rigorous and robust studies with an equal gender ratio and long-term follow-up.

The likelihood of pre-hypertensive young adults developing hypertension has been steadily increasing in recent years. Despite the fact that aerobic exercise training (AET) has demonstrated positive results in lowering high blood pressure, the efficacy of different types of AET among pre-hypertensive young adults has not been well-established. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and continuous moderate-intensity training (CMT) on the blood pressure (BP) of physically inactive pre-hypertensive young adults. In total, 32 adults (age 20.0 ± 1.1 years and BMI 21.5 ± 1.8) were randomly assigned to three groups: HIIT, CMT and control (CON). The HIIT and CMT groups participated in 5 weeks of AET, while the CON group followed a DASH diet plan only. The HIIT protocol consisted of a 1:4 min work to rest ratio of participants, at an 80–85% heart rate reserve (HR-reserve) and a 40–60% HR-reserve, respectively, for 20 min; the CMT group exercised at 40–60% of their HR-reserve continuously for 20 min. In both the HIIT and CMT groups, systolic blood pressure (SBP) (3.8 ± 2.8 mmHg, p = 0.002 vs. 1.6 ± 1.5 mmHg, p = 0.011) was significantly reduced, while significant reductions in the diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (2.9 ± 2.2 mmHg, p = 0.002) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) (3.1 ± 1.6 mmHg, p < 0.0005) were noted only in the HIIT group. No significant differences in SBP (−0.4 ± 3.7 mmHg, p = 0.718), DBP (0.4 ± 3.4 mmHg, p = 0.714), or MAP (0.1 ± 2.5 mmHg, p = 0.892) were observed in the CON group. Both HIIT and CMT decreased BP in physically inactive pre-hypertensive young adults; however, HIIT yielded more beneficial results in terms of reducing the SPB, DBP and MAP.