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INTRODUCTION: Obesity has reached pandemic level with higher prevalence among women. Obese pregnant women have higher risk of comorbidities, maternal and fetal complications. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of vaginal delivery and pregnancy outcomes of obese primigravida presented with spontaneous labour at term. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective cohort study was conducted in a tertiary hospital in Perak involving 250 obese primigravida (BMI ≥27.5kg/m2) and 250 non-obese primigravida. Data collected from August 2020 till January 2021 and analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent T-test and Mann-Whitney U test by SPSS version 23.0. RESULTS: Our study found that there were no significant differences in the proportion of vaginal delivery and caesarean delivery between obese and non-obese primigravida [72.0% vs. 78% (vaginal delivery) and 28% vs. 22% (caesarean delivery)] with spontaneous onset of labour at term. No difference in complications of labour such as PPH and OASIS (p=0.187), with high successful delivery without complications. Obese women presented with cervical dilatation of 4cm had longer delivery interval [5.82(2.97) vs. 4.75(2.71), p=0.013] but shorter delivery interval at 6cm [2.41(1.58) vs. 3.61(1.78), p=0.026] compared to non-obese. They also had higher caesarean rate indicated for abnormal labour progress [28(71.8) vs. 11(28.2), p=0.019] and higher comorbidities [149(72.3) vs. 57(27.7), p=

INTRODUCTION: Acute myeloid leukaemia is a haematological malignancy with diverse cytogenetic abnormalities and molecular mutations. Amongst the important mutations are FMS-related tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) and nucleophosmin 1 (NPM1) gene mutations. These mutations have been shown to be of prognostic significance. A cross-sectional study to examine the frequency of these mutations and their association with the haematological and cytogenetic characteristics of the cases was carried out in Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 43 cases were included in the study. Polymerase chain reaction-based assays were employed for mutation detection from the retrieved trephine biopsy tissue blocks. Mutation positivity was subsequently validated by Sanger DNA sequencing. RESULTS: Six of the 43 cases (14.0%) of the acute myeloid leukaemia were positive for FLT3-type internal tandem duplications (FLT3-ITD) and a similar proportion (6/43, 14.0%) were positive for NPM1 mutations. FLT3 mutations at codon D835 (FLT3-D835) mutation was identified in three of the cases (7.0%) while concurrent mutations of NPM1 and FLT3-ITD were seen in two of the mutation-positive cases (4.7%). The total white cell count was found to be significantly higher in patients with FLT3 mutations (p=0.001). Other haematological parameters and the cytogenetic results did not reveal any significant association with the mutational status. CONCLUSION: The frequency of FLT3-ITD, FLT3-D835, and NPM1 mutations among AML patients were 14%, 7%, and 14% respectively. Follow-up studies to include the clinical parameters and the treatment outcomes are advocated.

INTRODUCTION: Sexual dysfunction after childbirth is reported to be prevalent worldwide. The risk factors for sexual dysfunction is still underexplored.Thus,this study aims to determine the possible risk factors associated with sexual dysfunction among post-partum women.MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in nine primary care clinics in Kuantan involving 420 women within six months postpartum. The respondents were conveniently sampled and completed the data collection forms comprising of their socio-demographic data, the Malay version Female Sexual Function Index (MVFSFI) Questionnaire to measure the sexual dysfunction score. Descriptive analysis, Chi-square test, and binary logistic regression were used for data analysis.RESULTS: Among the women sampled, those with higher education had a 72% increased risk of developing postpartum sexual dysfunction (aOR=1.72, 95%CI=1.01,2.81). Women who practised non-hormonal contraception were a 42% lower risk of getting postpartum sexual dysfunction as compared to those who consumed hormonal contraception (OR=0.58, 95%CI=0.35,0.95).CONCLUSION: Education level is associated with a higher risk of developing postpartum sexual dysfunction. Non-hormonal contraceptive methods were found as a protective factor for developing postpartum sexual dysfunction. Therefore, doctors can advise those postpartum women with sexual dysfunction and on hormonal contraception to change to non-hormonal methods.

Introduction: Based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), sexual intention is determined by three main socio-cognitive factors which are permissive attitudes, social-norms and self-efficacy in performing premarital sexual activity. Premarital sex associated with increased risk of sexually transmitted diseases and detrimental social implications. The aim of this study was to explore the correlation of the socio-cognitive factors in predicting intention to engage in premarital sex amongst late adolescents in Kuantan government secondary schools. Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 466 pre-university students aged 18-19 years from nine government secondary schools in Kuantan district. A self-administered validated Youth Sexual Intention Questionnaire (YSI-Q) was used. Statistical analyses were done using IBM SPSS version 22.0. Results: Permissive attitude (r=0.579, p

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is an insidious sleep breathing disorder, with cardinal manifestations of snoring, witnessed breathing pause during sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness. The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of OSA and its associated factors among adult population in Taman Dato’ Rashid Salleh, Kuantan. Materials and method: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 157 participants who lived in Taman Dato’ Rashid Salleh from May 2018 to June 2018. Obstructive sleep apnea was quantified using the self-administered Malaynvalidated Berlin questionnaire which apart from the demographic data included three categories (10 questions) designed to elicit information regarding snoring (category 1), daytime somnolence (category 2) and the presence of obesity and/or hypertension (category 3). The respondents were considered as high risk of OSA if two or more categories were positive. Weight, height and neck circumference were measured by using Secca© weight scales, Secca© stadiometer and non-elastic plastic tape, respectively. Descriptive statistics was used to measure the prevalence, while chi-square test was used to explore the association of OSA and its background variables. Results: Out of 157 respondents, female and Malay were dominant with the 56.7% and 91.0 %, respectively. The mean age of the respondents was 36.7 (12.2) years old. The prevalence of high risk of OSA in was 18.5%. There was no association between gender, age, race, smoking and neck circumference with risk of OSA while Body Mass Index (BMI) and hypertension were significantly related to an increased risk for developing OSA (p-value < 0.001 and p=0.001, respectively). Conclusions: Two in every 10 adults in Taman Dato’ Rashid Salleh, Kuantan were at high risk of OSA. It is recommended that appropriate health promotion should be targeted to this community to instill awareness and increase the level of understanding of the public on OSA.

Introduction: Cervical cancer is the third most common cancer among women in Malaysia. It has the advantage of having the Pap smear as a reliable screening test. Unfortunately, the screening uptake in Malaysia is still very low. This study was performed to determine the knowledge, practice and barriers of Pap smear screening among sexually active patients in Obstetrics and Gynaecology wards in the largest government hospital in the state of Pahang. Materials and Methods: These cross sectional study was conducted in August 2017 using self-administered validated questionnaire covering the socio-demographic factors, knowledge on Pap smear and risk factors of cervical cancer, practice, and barrier of Pap smear screening. Bivariate analyses were used for associations between the variables. Results: The mean score of knowledge of the 156 women recruited was 52.01. Forty nine percents had good knowledge about Pap smear and only 39.7% ever had Pap smear screening. Majority of the patients were not aware of the risk factors for cervical cancer. The most common barrier to screening was time constraint (45.5%). There was statistically significant association between parity and practice of Pap smear (p

Introduction: Sleep is one of the important needs in human life and good quality of sleep among adult population reduced the risk factor for adverse health outcome. This study aimed to determine the quality of sleep and its related factors among adult population in an urban area of Pahang. Materials and Methods: Cross sectional study was done on a selected urban housing area in Pahang. Participants were adult population, aged more than 18 years old (observation unit) in selected houses (n=180). Measurements obtained via the questionnaire include respondents’ socio-demographic, co-morbidity, smoking status, physical activity, monthly household income and caffeinated drinks consumed. Sleep quality was measured using the validated Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Results: A total of 145 respondents (response rate 81%) were available for data analysis. The prevalence of good sleeper (60%) was more than poor sleeper. Adjusted logistic regression showed that only those who did not take caffeinated drinks in the past one week had higher chance of having good quality of sleep as compared to those who take (OR=3.6, p=0.048). No other significant relationship was seen between quality of sleep and socio-demographic characteristics, exercise or co-morbid history. Conclusion: Majority of adult population in this selected urban area in Pahang have good quality of sleep and result showed significant relationship between quality of sleep with not taking caffeinated drinks, but not other factors. Nevertheless, programs such as sleep quality awareness campaign need to be done to educate the population and maintain this good sleep quality.

Introduction: Topic on sexuality has largely remained a taboo subject for discussion between parents and their children in Malaysia, which might contributed to increase sexual activity among adolescent age group. This study was undertaken to assess the level of knowledge, attitude and their associated factors among standard 4 and 5 students in a primary school in Kuantan, Pahang. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 281 students from standard 4 and 5 students using a self-administered validated Malay version KAPSRH questionnaire. Universal sampling was used for selection of students who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Descriptive statistics was used to explain respondents' background characteristics and multiple logistic regression was used to find the association. Results: Of the 252 students completed the surveys, 135 were males and 117 were females with the mean age of 10.47. It was found that more that half students reported to have good knowledge (56.3%) and attitude (59.4%) towards sexual and reproductive health. Year of study (p

Introduction: The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) states that behaviour is determined by four main domains of social-cognitive factors; attitudes, social norms, self-efficacy and sexual intention. The aim of this study was to explore the correlation of the socio-cognitive factors predicting sexual intention to engage in premarital sex amongst late adolescent in Kuantan government secondary schools. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 466 single students aged 18 to 19 years in nine government secondary schools in Kuantan district. A self-administered validated Youth Sexual Intention Questionnaire (YSI-Q) that measured permissive attitude, perception of social norms, perceived selfefficacy and sexual intention towards premarital sex activity has been used. Statistical analyses were done using IBM SPSS version 22.0. Results: There was a significant difference of sexual intention between male (35.6%) and female (64.4%) students with a mean(SD) of 10.54(3.8) and 7.3(2.9) respectively. Permissive attitude, perception of social norms (peer pressure) and perceived self-efficacy have significant positive correlation on sexual intention towards premarital sex with the value of (r=0.579, p

Introduction: Technologies in the classroom require teacher’s knowledge and skills in utilizing it. Teaching for medical student can be different in some areas. To date, no studies has been conducted on the use of technologies among medical lecturer in International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). Thus, the objective of this survey is to determine the level of awareness, practice and perception of learning management system (i-Ta’aleem) and educational technologies among Kulliyyah of Medicine (KOM) lectures. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among all IIUM KOM lecturers. Only 26.1% responded to the self-administered questionnaire which was distributed via google form for one month. Descriptive analysis was used to analyze the background information and their awareness, practice and perception. Results: Majority of the respondents were male (56.8%), permanent staff (94.6%) with mean years of service at IIUM was 6.7. Most of them owned technology tools [smartphone (100%), personal computer (73.0%), tablet (54.1%) and laptop (97.3%)]. All of them heard about i-Ta’aleem. However, 78.4% never use i-Ta’aleem and only a small percentage of them always uses other technologies for their teaching and learning (2.7% to 5.4%) except the usage of laptop (48.6%) and projector (59.5%). Conclusion: Although the lecturers were aware about i-Ta’aleem and owned high technology tools and gadget, only a small percentage of them use it in teaching activities.

Educational experts affirm that students prefer various type of learning preference. It is known that the learning style preferences vary among medical students worldwide. Knowing the types will help medical educators to improve their way of conveying lectures and teaching in a more effective learning environment. This study aims to describe the learning style preferences of pre-clinical medical students and the association with their socio-demography. This is a cross sectional study done among Year 1 and Year 2 pre-clinical year medical students in a public university in Kuantan Pahang. Medical students who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were recruited using systematic random sampling. A validated learning style questionnaire (VARK) was used to assess their learning style. Descriptive statistics and bivariable analysis was used using SPSS version 23. A total of 166 pre-clinical year medical students participated in this study. The mean age was 21.3 (0.84). Majority of them were Malays (98.2%) and females (69.9%). Most of the students preferred unimodal learning style (80.0%) with the most preferred learning style preferences being kinaesthetic (39.1%). Bivariable analysis showed female students preferred kinesthetic learning style compared to male students (p=0.03). In this study, majority of the pre-clinical year medical students preferred ‘life-like’ learning experience in their study. Hence, we recommend that medical educators to be more aware of the varieties of learning style preferences in order to improve the quality of teaching and learning experiences.

Background: Balanced and sufficient maternal nutritional intake ensures not only the wellbeing of pregnant mother, fetus, and newborn (protection of life) but also her future health and her three generations (protection of progeny). Nutritional inadequacies during pregnancy have been reported and several factors were attributed. The objectives were to measure nutritional knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) during pregnancy and the relationship with socio-demographic characteristics. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 320 antenatal and postnatal mothers in Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan (HTAA), Pahang, Malaysia from 18th July to 27th August 2016. A pre-tested self-constructed, interview-guided questionnaire was used. Independent variables were age, ethnicity, educational level, marital status, and monthly household income. Outcomes were nutritional KAP-level with median used for the categorization. The relationship between independent variables and outcomes was obtained by logistic regression with significance at p

Background: With increasing number of dengue cases in Malaysia, it’s of utmost importance that immediate action be taken to limit the epidemic. Since dengue control is a behavioral problem, the knowledge, attitude and practice in population needs to be studied in order to control the disease. Hence, the aim of this study is to assess knowledge, attitude and practice regarding dengue and its associated factors among adult residents of Felda Sungai Panching Timur (SPT), Kuantan, Pahang, 2014. Method: A cross sectional study was carried out involving 265 adult respondents. A face to face interview questionnaire which was divided into 2 parts (Part A: Sociodemoghraphic; Part B: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice) was used. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, simple and multiple logistic regression. Results: 53.2% of the respondents had good knowledge about dengue and it was found that the main source of information from mass media (76.6%). However, only 43.4% were found to have good attitude towards dengue. Multiple Logistic Regression analysis showed there was no association between sociodemographic characteristics with the level of knowledge and attitude towards dengue. There was also no association found between knowledge of dengue and the attitude of the respondents towards dengue. Descriptive analysis on the practice of dengue showed majority of the respondents who had possible breeding site for Aedes mosquitos (water container, drains/gutter roof/flower pots/tires) in their compound practiced good habit in preventing the Aedes mosquitoes from breed. Conclusion: Although knowledge and practice towards dengue is good, their attitude require improvement.

Introduction: Oral health care during pregnancy is greatly important as it is crucial to the health and well-being to both pregnant mother and baby. Studies showed that mothers with oral health problem have greater risk of prematurity and low birth weight babies. This study aimed to measure the associated factors of oral health problem among pregnant mothers. Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted among purposely selected 296 pregnant mothers aged 18- 45 years from the biggest district in Pahang State, Malaysia. This 18 months study used validated self-administered questionnaire which was asking on socio-demographic characteristics, and knowledge, attitude and practice on oral health. Oral health status was assessed by dentists using Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Need (DFMT index). Descriptive analysis used to describe respondents background and multinomial logistic regression used to examine the associations. Results: Majority of the respondents (89.9%) were among young mothers (35 years), Malay (91.9%), mean gestation of two, and from low socioeconomic status (59.5%). Of the 296 respondents, 111 (48.1%) had low experience with dental caries, 57 (24.7%) had moderate experience, and 63 (24.3%) had high experience with dental caries. Older age had higher risk to experience dental caries and those who had good attitude were protected, p=0.018 and p=0.023 respectively. Conclusion(s): Age and attitude were significant factors associated to oral health problem among pregnant mothers. Thus, health promotion and good attitude should be instilled from younger age.

Introduction: Oral health problem among pregnant woman has been shown to have possible association with preterm birth and low birth weight. Several studies found that pregnant women have limited knowledge of these adverse outcome. The aims of this study were to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practices of pregnant women and to examine their practices in relation with their intraoral health status. Materials and Methods: This a cross-sectional study where pregnant women from government health clinics in Kuantan, Pahang completed a questionnaire to assess their knowledge, attitudes and practices towards oral health. A thorough dental examination was done to attain their oral health status. Results were analyzed by descriptive analysis, chi square test and multiple logistic regressions. Results: 296 pregnant women participated in this study. The mean age of the respondents was 28.7 years and the mean parity was two (2). Majority of them were Malay (91.9%) and had education below than higher secondary school (47.3%). Most respondents demonstrated poor knowledge (67%) and poor attitude (54%) about dental health in general.175 (59.1%) respondents do not know that gum disease are common in pregnancy and 235 (79.4%) of them are unaware of gum problems causing possible risk of adverse outcome in pregnancy. Half of them (53%) had good practice on oral health. Women with increase parity and are working were less likely to develop missing teeth. Good attitude towards dental health was found to be a protective factor for oral health disease. Conclusion(s): Most women were less knowledgeable and had poor attitude about oral and dental health. Gestation, employment and good attitude were significantly associated with good oral health outcome. Hence, targeted education should be promoted during pre-pregnancy in order to prevent possible adverse pregnancy outcome.