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Introduction The risk factors associated with mental health among adolescents are usually described by researchers at an individual level. Neighbourhood factors and health have opened a new insight into the field of epidemiology. The aim of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of a newly developed Neighbourhood Factors on Mental Health Questionnaire among Malaysian adolescents. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in four secondary schools in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia using a newly developed questionnaire which comprised of two main domains and seven items. Exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha were used to measure the instrument's construct validity and reliability. Results A total of 106 adolescents participated in this research. The majority of adolescents were 13 years old (40.6%), female (55.7%), Malays (68.9%), have parents who only studied until secondary school (66.0%) and lived in flats (32.1%). Bartlett's Test of Sphericity was significant (Chi-square = 258.361, p<0.001) and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) value was 0.820. The final model of the instrument contained two domains, the neighbourhood physical environment and neighbourhood social environment factors. Factor loadings for all items were satisfactory ranging from 0.591 to 0.870. The overall Cronbach's alpha was 0.810. Conclusions The Neigbourhood Factors on Mental Health Questionnaire was found to be a valid and reliable instrument. It can be used to assess neighbourhood physical and social factors that can influence mental health of adolescents in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many adolescents today do not meet the recommended guidelines on physical activity due to sedentary behaviour, which in turn leads to the increasing prevalence of obesity in this population. Obesity in youth will not only pose risk towards obesity in adulthood but also predisposes to many other non-communicable diseases and other adverse health outcomes. It is crucial to gain an understanding of the barriers faced by overweight and obese adolescents to engage in regular physical activity and reduce their sedentary behaviour, as their perceptions may differ from adolescents in general. Behavioural determinants can be explored using the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, Behaviour (COM-B) model from the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW), along with the application of Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to further explore the psychological determinants of behaviour. The identification of barriers and facilitators to increasing physical activity among adolescents with overweight and obesity will enable the tailoring of behaviour change interventions to encourage and sustain physical activity behaviour in this target population. This study aims to explore perceived barriers and facilitators to increase physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviour in adolescents with overweight and obesity using the TDF and COM-B model, as well as to ascertain their needs and preferences regarding implementable strategies with an emphasis on technology-supported interventions. Participants will be recruited using convenience sampling through social media advertisements. Interested participants will be screened for eligibility, which are: 1) aged 10-19, 2) overweight or obese (based on US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) criteria), 3) does not meet the minimum amount of physical activity by WHO, defined as at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity of physical activity per day; following which participant information sheet will be given. A minimum of ten (10) adolescents will be recruited for this study. Before the interview, written informed consent will be acquired by both participants and their respective parents, and participants' demographics will be obtained. In-depth semi-structured interviews (IDIs) will be conducted online with all participants, using a topic guide that is informed by the COM-B and the TDF domains to explore perceived barriers and facilitators to increase physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviour. In addition, the participants will also be asked about their needs and preferences for a digital health intervention. All interviews will be digitally recorded, anonymized and transcribed verbatim. Further, IDIs will stop at the point of saturation. Descriptive statistics will be reported to summarise participant characteristics. Thematic analysis will be used to analyse the interview using ATLAS.ti software, first using an inductive approach, followed by a deductive mapping to link to the TDF which could then be mapped to the COM-B. Quotations from participant responses will be selected to illustrate key themes. The findings from this study will not only provide a detailed description of the perceived barriers and facilitators to increase physical activity among adolescents with overweight and obesity but will also inform the design and development of a theory-based digital behaviour change intervention to address this target behaviour in this population, by matching identified determinants to appropriate behaviour change techniques in the intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Positive and negative psychological reactions have been described in head and neck cancer patients. Nevertheless, the relationships between these responses across time need to be studied to understand the patients' strengths and vulnerabilities. Objectives The aim of this study is to determine the changes in posttraumatic growth (PTG), depression and anxiety longitudinally and the correlations between PTG and depression and anxiety in head and neck cancer patients. Methods A prospective study was conducted on 60 head and neck cancer patients within a year of diagnosis recruited from an oncology referral centre in Malaysia with 50 patients completing the study. The PTG Inventory-Short Form (PTGI-SF) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were used at baseline and at 6 months follow-up. Results There were significant reductions in the scores of PTGI-SF (mean difference = −5.5, p = 0.014), HADS (Depression) (mean difference = −2.0, p < 0.05) and HADS (Anxiety) (mean difference = −2.0, p < 0.05) from baseline to follow-up. However, their correlations were not significant. HADS (Depression) score at baseline showed weak inverse correlation with PTGI-SF score (rho = −0.147, p = 0.309), whereas PTGI-SF score had weak positive correlations with HADS (Anxiety) at baseline (rho = 0.261, p = 0.067), HADS (Depression) at follow-up (rho = 0.083, p = 0.566) and HADS (Anxiety) at follow-up (rho = 0.111, p = 0.445). HADS scores also did not predict total PTGI-SF score longitudinally. Conclusion There were reductions in PTG, depression and anxiety within a year of cancer diagnosis and 6 months later with no significant correlations between PTG with depression and anxiety. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Health related behavior act as a gate to our health. Practicing good health related behavior will prevent us from contacting diseases especially of the non-communicable type, while engaging in poor health related behavior will increased the risk few folds. Objective: To determine the prevalence of health related behavior and its associated factors among the rural community in Malaysia. Methods: Cross sectional study on 520 residences aged 18 years and above from different ethnic and age group. Results: Respondents reported they engaged in physical activities for at least 3 times a week (39.5%), smoking at least 5 sticks cigarettes a day among male (52.2%) but mostly not smoking (99.4%) among female nor consumed any alcohol (99.6%). Most consumed fast food once a month (32.7%) and snacking between main meals for once per week (46.9%). The bivariable analysis shows that factors which significantly associated with high risk health related behaviors were male, younger age, high level of education and female respondents with high body mass index. Conclusion: This study revealed that the prevalence of physically active is low while smoking among male respondents is high. Snacking is also high but comparable to other study conducted locally while fast food consumption is low. Thus, considering the importance of health related behaviors in improving health and preventing NCDs in this population, efforts need to be made to promote the good health related behavior in these settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The surrounding environment influences the constitution of illness perceptions. Therefore, local research is needed to examine how Libyan diabetes patients perceive diabetes and how their perceptions influence their medication adherence. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the National Centre for Diabetes and Endocrinology in Tripoli, Libya, between October and December 2013. A total of 523 patients with type 2 diabetes participated in this study. A self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection; this included the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire and the eight-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale. Results: The respondents showed moderately high personal control and treatment control perceptions and a moderate consequences perception. They reported a high perception of diabetes timeline as chronic and a moderate perception of the diabetes course as unstable. The most commonly perceived cause of diabetes was Allah’s will. The prevalence of low medication adherence was 36.1%. The identified significant predictors of low medication adherence were the low treatment control perception (p=0.044), high diabetes identity perception (p=0.008), being male (p=0.026), and employed (p=0.008). Conclusion: Diabetes illness perceptions of type 2 diabetic Libyans play a role in guiding the medication adherence and could be considered in the development of medication adherence promotion plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Elderly is a vulnerable population that is prone for sarcopenia which is associated with the loss of muscle mass, strength and function which are one the diseases that affects elderly. Association between environmental factors with sarcopenia should be explored as it has the potential to influence the health and disability of a person. At present, limited research is conducted to investigate the association which could be attributed to the complex interaction between the human and environmental interactions. Hence this review is conducted to identify the environmental factors associated with sarcopenia. Methods: A systematic review was conducted using PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science and manual search following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) criteria. We used articles that have been written in English and relevant articles were then screened, duplicates were removed, eligibility criteria were applied, and studies that met the criteria were reviewed. The keywords environmental factors, pollutants food environment, neighbourhood environment, locality and sarcopenia were included. Results: Initial search generated 934 publications and 12 articles were included after inclusion and exclusion criteria for this review. In this review, environmental factors associated with sarcopenia are divided into 3 themes that comprises of food environment (availability and physical access, economic access and food quality and safety), neighbourhood environment and pollutants. Conclusion: This systematic review revealed association between the food environment, neighbourhood environment and pollutants with sarcopenia. The findings are salient as it could aid the the policy makers to formulate the necessary strategy to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with sarcopenia especially with the increase in ageing population globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Most weight interventions among patients with severe mental illness (SMI) used body mass index (BMI) as outcome measure but excluded waist circumference (WC) although the latter is a stronger predictor of obesity complications. This study aimed to assess a weight-management program consisting of education, exercise and behavioural techniques for patients with SMI using weight parameters including WC as the outcome measures. Methods: A group intervention was carried out as part of psychiatric outpatient community service. It used structured modules on diet, exercise and related topics comprising of education and exercises sessions with a total of 12-week duration. The participants were outpatients with SMI recruited through referrals to the program by the treating doctor. The participants' body weight, BMI and WC were measured at the baseline, fortnightly and at the end of the program. Results: A total of 27 patients participated in the program which was carried out in 6 cycles. The pre- and post-intervention comparisons analysis of the weight parameters found a significant reduction in the WC (mean = 3.878 cm + 5.165, p = 0.001) while no significant changes were recorded in body weight and BMI. Conclusion: Small but significant loss in WC and possibly weight maintenance were achieved using this non-pharmacological intervention. Modest loss in WC may have an impact on reducing the risk of obesity-related health risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: To determine sociodemographic and psychological factors associated with bullying behavior among young adolescents inMalaysia. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of four hundred ten 12-year-old adolescents from seven randomly sampled schools in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Sociodemographic features of the adolescents and their parents, bullying behavior (Malaysian Bullying Questionnaire), ADHD symptoms (Conners Rating Scales), and internalizing and externalizing behavior (Child Behaviour Checklist) were obtained from adolescents, parents and teachers, respectively. Results: Only male gender (OR = 7.071, p = 0.01", CI = 1.642-30.446) was a significant sociodemographic factor among bullies. Predominantly hyperactive (OR = 2.285, p = 0.00", CI = 1.507-3.467) and inattentive ADHD symptoms reported by teachers (OR = 1.829, p = 0.03", CI = 1.060-3.154) and parents (OR = 1.709, p = 0.03", CI = 1.046-2.793) were significant risk factors for bullying behavior while combined symptoms reported by young adolescents (OR = 0.729, p = 0.01", CI = 0.580-0.915) and teachers (OR = 0.643, p = 0.02", CI = 0.440-0.938) were protective against bullying behavior despite the influence of conduct behavior (OR = 3.160, p = 0.00", CI = 1.600-6.241). Internalizing behavior, that is, withdrawn (OR = 0.653, p = 0.04", CI = 0.436-0.977) and somatic complaints (OR = 0.619, p = 0.01", CI = 0.430-0.889) significantly protect against bullying behavior. Discussions: Recognizing factors associated with bullying behavior, in particular factors distinctive to the local population, facilitates in strategizing effective interventions for school bullying among young adolescents in Malaysian schools [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a known precursor to Alzheimer disease, yet there is a lack of validated screening instruments for its detection among the Malaysian elderly. Objective: To compare the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-BM) with the Malay version of the Mini Mental State Examination (M-MMSE) in the detection of MCI among the Malaysian elderly. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study conducted at the primary care centre of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur from December 2011 to mid-January 2012. Subjects aged 60 and above were recruited using systematic sampling method. Cut-off scores of 22/23 for MoCA-BM and 25/26 for M-MMSE were adopted. Kappa value and Pearson's correlation coefficient were used to ascertain the correlation between MOCA-BM and M-MMSE. Data were analysed using Mann-Whitney and Chi Square tests. Results: The mean age of the 180 subjects enrolled was 65.3 years (SD = 5.4). They had a median of 6 years (IqR 25-75 = 5-11) total formal education. The prevalence of MCI using MoCA-BM and M-MMSE was 55.6% and 32.8% respectively. The odds of developing MCI were 1.153 (95% CI = 1.055, 1.261; p < 0.05) for every 1 year increase in age, 0.813 (95% CI = 0.690, 0.959; p < 0.05) with every extra year of education. Increasing age and lower education level were significantly associated with MCI. The MoCA-BM showed good internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha of 0.80. It had moderate correlation with M-MMSE (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.770, p b 0.001) and moderate agreement for detecting MCI with Kappa values of 0.497 (p b 0.001). Conclusion: The prevalence of MCI was higher using MoCA-BM compared to M-MMSE. Both instruments showed moderate concordance for screening MCI with correlation of their scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The study aimed to determine the rates of functional remission and employment as well as the factors associated with functional remission among patients with Schizophrenia, receiving community psychiatric service in an urban setting in Malaysia. Methods: From a total of 250 patients randomly selected, 155 fulfilled the study requirement and were assessed on their functional remission status using the Personal and Social Performance Scale. The relationships between functional remission and socio-demographic factors, clinical factors, social support, symptom remission and rates of hospitalization were examined. Results: The results revealed that 74% (n = 115) of the respondents had functional remission with only 20% (n = 31) currently employed. Functional remission was found to be significantly associated with good social support (84.4% versus 36.4% p b 0.001, OR = 9.487 [95% CI = 4.008-22.457]); shorter illness duration of less than 10 years (81.2% versus 66.7% p = 0.038, OR = 2.167 [95% CI = 1.035-4.535]); good medication compliance (79.1% versus 50.0% p = 0.002, OR = 3.778 [95% CI = 1.570-9.090]); hospital admissions of lower than 3 per year (80.5% versus 44.4% p b 0.001 OR = 5.150 [95% CI = 2.145-12.365]) and; symptomatic remission (87.3% versus 37.4% p b 0.001 [95% CI = 0.070 (0.029-0.168]). A multiple regression analysis revealed only social support, lower hospitalization rate and symptom remission, as significant predictors of functional remission. Conclusion: A majority of patients with Schizophrenia in this study achieved functional remission, however, only a small percentage of them were employed. Functional remission was influenced by severity of illness and levels of social support in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]