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Introduction: The burden of cardiovascular disease and early morbidity and mortality is exacerbated by hypertension. According to the 2019 National Health and Morbidity Survey, 30% of adults in Malaysia aged over 18 years had hypertension. Our study aimed to investigate the association between medication adherence and blood pressure control and the factors associated with antihypertensive medication adherence. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among adult patients with hypertension who had been under treatment at public primary health clinics in the Melaka Tengah District. A self-administered questionnaire was used, and blood pressure was measured. Descriptive and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (version 28). Results: A total of 1531 patients were recruited in this study. Among them, 74.1% had good antihypertensive medication adherence, and 51.4% had their blood pressure controlled. Medication adherence was significantly associated with blood pressure control (P<0.005). The multivariate analysis showed that the determinants for antihypertensive medication non-adherence were Malay ethnicity, secondary education, farther distance from the clinic, experience of side effects of antihypertensive medications, concern about long-term side effects and usage of alternative medicine (P<0.05). Taking multiple antihypertensive medications was the only factor associated with uncontrolled blood pressure (P<0.05). Conclusion: Addressing issues on medication adherence is important to ensure blood pressure control. The factors associated with non-adherence should be closely monitored to improve blood pressure control and prevent adverse health outcomes. Single-pill combination antihypertensive medications are encouraged to reduce pill burden and improve blood pressure control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is growing at a fast pace and permeates many aspects of people’s daily lives. Medical students’ inclination towards AI in the medical field increases the probability of successful AI adoption and its value in the medical field. This study was conducted to evaluate medical AI readiness among undergraduate medical students. A cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2022 to April 2022 in a private medical institution in Malaysia. A non-probability purposive sampling method was used to enroll students and a questionnaire was distributed online via Google Forms. The questionnaire, captioned “Medical Artificial Intelligence Readiness Scale for Medical Students (MAIRS-MS)”, was used for data collection. The analysis included frequency tables, percentages, standard deviation, unpaired t-test, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) test. Out of 105 participants, 67.62% scored 53 to 83, followed by 24.76%, who scored 84 to 114, and 7.62%, who scored 22 to 52 on the medical AI readiness scale. The mean of the total score of medical AI readiness obtained was 75.04. There were significant correlations between age and study year with the ability, vision, and ethics domains of medical AI readiness. A significant association was observed between previous training with all four domains of medical AI readiness. Policymakers and the educational sector should set up more AI training centers to provide and introduce basic courses on AI. More AI courses should be provided to younger populations to engage in AI digital information earlier, thus enabling them to acquire more confidence in interacting with AI technology in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immediate resuscitation is crucial for the survival of a patient with cardiac arrest. Research has suggested that self-led bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is significantly associated with favourable neurological outcomes for patients. Furthermore, medical students play an important role in providing public CPR training to the community. This study aims to evaluate the effects of a CPR training programmes and a public training event on the knowledge, attitudes, and perceived competency towards CPR among medical students. The quasi-experimental study was conducted among the medical students in clinical years studying at a private medical institution in Malaysia. The intervention group received CPR training for two sessions and participated as trainers in a community-training event; the control group was excluded from these activities. A total of 106 students (intervention group, n = 51; control group, n = 55) participated in this study. The total knowledge score (5.24 ± 1.67 vs 3.75 ± 1.22, P < 0.001), attitude score (22.38 ± 3.67 vs 20.82 ± 2.33, P = 0.011), and perceived competencies to perform CPR and automated external defibrillator (AED) (7.22 ± 2.33 vs 4.93 ± 2.40, P < 0.001) were significantly higher among the participants in the intervention group compared to those in the control group after the intervention. Meanwhile, concerns regarding initiating CPR was significantly higher in the intervention group compared to the control group (12.44 ± 5.15 vs 9.55 ± 3.96, P = 0.002). The results suggested that CPR training is beneficial for students and should be organised regularly. In addition to providing physical skills training, such sessions should explain legal implications of initiating CPR and should encourage and assure students to do so in case of an emergency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has caused an extraordinary situation, especially for the healthcare workers (HCWs), leading to increased psychological stress. The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of different grades of anxiety and depression across different centers in the Philippines and identify demographic factors associated with them. Design and Method: A cross-sectional, web-based, multi-center study was conducted among HCWs of Philippines from April 20- May 20, 2020. The study instruments used were the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Risk perception scores were analyzed using Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis test. Logistic regression was done to identify factors significantly associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression determined. Results: A total of 516 HCWs were included in the study. Most of them have anxiety symptoms (70.74%), but only half of them have symptoms of depression (50.97%). In addition, gender, age, marital status, living status, occupation, work premises, and availability of mental health services were significantly associated with the participants’ anxiety symptoms. In contrast, gender, marital status, occupation, and work premises were significantly associated with depression symptoms. Conclusion: This study reiterates the fact and demonstrates that COVID-19 has disrupted the mental well-being of HCWs in the Philippines. Majority of HCW was psychologically affected by COVID-19. Therefore, there is a dire need to address mental illness amongst HCWs and frame guidelines based on proven algorithms to overcome these mental illnesses [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To evaluate the impact of a mass media campaign in terms of improving breast cancer (BC) symptoms awareness and screening uptake. Design Before—and after—study with comparator groups. Setting Selangor State, Malaysia. Participants Malaysian women aged >40 years (n=676) from randomly selected households. Intervention A culturally adapted mass media campaign (TV, radio, print media and social media). Primary and secondary outcome measures The primary endpoint was BC symptoms awareness, which was assessed with the Breast Cancer Awareness Measure precampaign and postcampaign. Secondary outcomes included campaign reach, self-efficacy to notice BC symptoms and clinical outcomes. Clinical breast examination and mammogram screening data were collected from hospitals and clinics. Results Most participants recognised at least one of the campaign materials (65.2%). The odds of seeing the campaign were lowest for Chinese women (adjusted OR 0.25, 95% CI 0.15 to 0.40) compared with Malays and for women aged >70 years (adjusted OR 0.47, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.94) compared with younger women. Participants who recognised the campaign were significantly more likely to have improved awareness post campaign compared with non-recognisers particularly for key symptoms such as ‘a lump or thickening in your breast’ (88.9% vs 62.1%) and ‘discharge or bleeding from nipple’ (79.7% vs 55.3%). Improvement in symptoms awareness scores was not associated with sociodemographic variables. Conclusions Implementation in Malaysia of an evidence-based mass media campaign from the UK that was culturally adapted appeared to lead to improved awareness about some BC symptoms, though various modes of media communication and perhaps other health education approaches may be required to extend the reach to diverse, multiethnic populations and all age groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Scientific research not only promotes health and combats diseases of an individual, but also it can strengthen the effectiveness of health systems. Hence, understanding of scientific methods becomes a crucial component in the medical profession., Aims: This study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and barriers toward research among undergraduate medical and dental students., Settings and Design: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 295 undergraduate Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) students from a private medical college in Malaysia., Materials and Methods: We purposively selected 360 students attending the 3 rd , 4 th , and 5 th year in MBBS course and BDS course in September 2015. A total of 295 students who were willing to provide written informed consent were included in this study. We collected data using a validated, self-administered, structured questionnaire which included 20 questions about knowledge toward scientific research, 21 attitude items in regard to scientific research, a list of 10 barriers toward conducting medical research, and 5 questions of confidence to conduct the medical research., Statistical Analysis Used: Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, ANOVA, and multiple linear regression., Results: Among the students, 56.9% had moderate knowledge while the majority (83.3%) had moderate attitude toward scientific research. The majorly cited barriers were the lack of time (79.9%), lack of knowledge and skills (72.1%), lack of funding (72.0%) and facilities (63.6%), and lack of rewards (55.8%). There was a significant association between age, academic year, and knowledge of research as the older age group, and 4 th - and 5 th -year students had higher knowledge score. The students of higher attitude score had better-perceived barriers score toward research with regression coefficient 0.095 (95% confidence interval 0.032-0.159)., Conclusions: Even though the students had the positive attitudes toward scientific research, a supportive and positive environment is needed to improve skills and knowledge of research and to overcome the barriers toward the conduct of scientific research., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest.