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Background: A growing proportion of people experience incomplete recovery months after contracting coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). These COVID-19 survivors develop a condition known as post-COVID syndrome (PCS), where COVID-19 symptoms persist for > 12 weeks after acute infection. Limited studies have investigated PCS risk factors that notably include pre-existing cardiovascular diseases (CVD), which should be examined considering the most recent PCS data. This review aims to identify CVD as a risk factor for PCS development in COVID-19 survivors. Methods: Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist, systematic literature searches were performed in the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases from the earliest date available to June 2023. Data from observational studies in English that described the association between CVD and PCS in adults (≥ 18 years old) were included. A minimum of two authors independently performed the screening, study selection, data extraction, data synthesis, and quality assessment (Newcastle-Ottawa Scale). The protocol of this review was registered under PROSPERO (ID: CRD42023440834). Results: In total, 594 studies were screened after duplicates and non-original articles had been removed. Of the 11 included studies, CVD including hypertension (six studies), heart failure (three studies), and others (two studies) were significantly associated with PCS development with different factors considered. The included studies were of moderate to high methodological quality. Conclusion: Our review highlighted that COVID-19 survivors with pre-existing CVD have a significantly greater risk of developing PCS symptomology than survivors without pre-existing CVD. As heart failure, hypertension and other CVD are associated with a higher risk of developing PCS, comprehensive screening and thorough examinations are essential to minimise the impact of PCS and improve patients' disease progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Home injury among the elderly was among the recognized public health issues that could become more prevalent in any nation that would approach an ageing society. However, the community's perception and preparedness toward the nature of this condition still needed to be improved. This study aimed to determine the community's profile on unintentional home injury risks among the elderly. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the community of low-income urban areas in Selangor, using non-probability sampling and a validated self-administered questionnaire covering three domains of risk for unintentional home injuries. Results: 246 respondents participated in this study, with a mean age of 40. The proportion of reported unintentional home injuries among the elderly was 7.3%. Fall was the most common type of injury (72.7%). Of the three domains for risks of unintentional home injuries, only two domains for risks of unintentional home injuries, were significantly associated with the community's gender (with home safety domain: difficulties in moving things [p=0.027] and difficulties with a staircase [p=0.034]); self-manage domain: concerned when missing medications [p=0.029]), educational level (with self-manage domain: self-care ability [p=0.012] and ability to take balanced diet [p=0.008]), and occupational status (with self-manage domain: concerned when losing weight [p=0.028]) which were home safety and ability to self-manage. Conclusion: The gender and educational level of the community members might reflect different community profiles regarding the risk of unintentional home injuries among the elderly. Thus, to overcome the dangers of elderly unintentional home injuries in the future, policymakers should advocate targeted health education programs for both the elderly population and the community at large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) relies on the use of invasive tools such as colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy. Non-invasive tools are less sensitive in detecting the disease, particularly in the early stage. A number of researchers have used metabolomics analyses on serum/plasma samples of patients with CRC compared with normal healthy individuals in an effort to identify biomarkers for CRC. The aim of the present review is to compare reported serum metabolomics profiles of CRC and to identify common metabolites affected among these studies. A literature search was performed to include any experimental studies on global metabolomics profile of CRC using serum/plasma samples published up to March 2018. The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS) tool was used to assess the quality of the studies reviewed. In total, nine studies were included. The studies used various analytical platforms and were performed on different populations. A pathway enrichment analysis was performed using the data from all the studies under review. The most affected pathways identified were protein biosynthesis, urea cycle, ammonia recycling, alanine metabolism, glutathione metabolism and citric acid cycle. The metabolomics analysis revealed levels of metabolites of glycolysis, tricarboxylic acid cycle, anaerobic respiration, protein, lipid and glutathione metabolism were significantly different between cancer and control samples. Although the majority of differentiating metabolites identified were different in the different studies, there were several metabolites that were common. These metabolites include pyruvic acid, glucose, lactic acid, malic acid, fumaric acid, 3-hydroxybutyric acid, tryptophan, phenylalanine, tyrosine, creatinine and ornithine. The consistent dysregulation of these metabolites among the different studies suggest the possibility of common diagnostic biomarkers for CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Occupational injury among Healthcare Workers (HCWs) is a very common occurrence in the medical industry as the workplace especially hospitals expose them to injuries because of the presence of different types of occupational hazards. There are many risk factors that contribute to occupational injuries and the understanding of these factors can help health organizations take corrective actions and preventive measures to reduce the risks that HCWs face. Objective: The aim of this study is to identify the prevalence of occupational injuries among health care workers at 48 Model Hospital (48 MH) in Sana'a, Yemen and the associated factors that contribute to Work-Related Injuries (WRIs). Methods: A cross-sectional study and simple random sampling, using a self-administrated questionnaire, consisting of eight (8) dimensions factors relating to work injuries among hospital direct care workers during the last one year of employment was administered. The SPSS 20 was used for statistical analysis whereby a total of 476 respondents constituted a response rate of 76% with a prevalence of injury at 53%. Results: Majority of respondents reported the following commonest hazards: Musculoskeletal Injuries (MSIs)(53%), punctures (18.7%), lifting and exertion(45.7%) and Needle stick Injuries (NSIs)(18.6%). Demographic factors such as age, gender, Body Mass Index (BMI) and education level were found to be significantly associated with WRIs (p < 0.001). Nurses and orderlies had higher risks of sustaining injuries compared to other occupations whereby the majority of injuries were reported in the Emergency Room (ER). Night shifts and overextended working hours significantly contributed to the high risk factor. Conclusion: Direct care occupations expose workers to a variety of risk factors contributing to occupational injuries and understanding of these factors can help health organizations take immediate corrective actions and control measures to reduce injury incidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Diabetes mellitus is a growing health problem in most countries. In Malaysia, there was an increase in prevalence over the years. This makes diabetes also a growing concern in Malaysia, which warrants strengthening of the prevention and control programme. Aims: This paper aims to describe the profiles of diabetes mellitus type 2 in tertiary setting and to identify the risk factors for high level of HbA1c among the study population. The findings will give a glimpse on current status of diabetes in our country and may reflect the achievement of the country in combating this disease. Settings and Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted in UKM Medical Centre. Methods and Material: Medical records of patient with E11 ICD-10 code were collected using Case Report Form. Statistical Analysis Used: Descriptive analysis done of mean and median while test of association were done using Spearman correlation and logistic regression. Results: The results showed that majority of inpatients of DMT2 showed mean age of 58.8 + 12.6 years and most were males (56.7%) with secondary level of education (41.7%). Median duration of disease was 12.0 + 11.0 years with median HbA1c level of 8.9 ± 4.4%. Only small proportion of patients achieved the desired level of HbA1c <6.5% (21.3%) and significant association was found with tertiary level of education [AOR=0.10, 95%CI=0.01- 0.96] and with type of anti-diabetic therapy [AOR=15.90, 95%CI=2.03-124.30]. Conclusions: In conclusion, diabetes mellitus type 2 inpatients still showed unsatisfactory glycemic control and holistic approach using health education should be advocated continuously in the future in view of education being one of the predictors for the good HbA1c outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Early diagnosis and accurate staging of the disease is vital to improve the prognosis. Metabolomics has been used to identify changes in metabolite profiles in the different stages of cancer in order to introduce new non-invasive molecular tools for staging. In this systematic review, we aim to identify the common metabolite changes in human biological samples and the dominant metabolic pathways associated with CRC progression. A broad systematic search was carried out from selected databases. Four reviewers screened and reviewed the titles, abstracts, and full-text articles according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Quality assessment was conducted on the eight articles which met the criteria. Data showed that the metabolites involved with redox status, energy metabolism and intermediates of amino acids, choline and nucleotides metabolism were the most affected during CRC progression. However, there were differences in the levels of individual metabolites detected between the studies, and this might be due to the study population, sample preparation, analytical platforms used and statistical tools. In conclusion, this systematic review highlights the changes in metabolites from early to late stages of CRC. Moreover, biomarkers for prognosis are important to reduce CRC-related mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]