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Introduction: Indoor air quality significantly impacts public health due to extensive indoor activity and the presence of hazardous substances. This study examines the association between indoor air quality parameters (fine particulate matter less than 2.5 microns [PM2.5], respirable particulate matter less than 10 microns [PM10], nitrogen dioxide [NO2], volatile organic compound [VOCs]) and heavy metal concentrations (chromium [Cr], manganese [Mn], nickel [Ni], lead [Pb], arsenic [As], and cadmium [Cd]) in indoor air particulate matter and dust from school environments, with students' respiratory health and lung inflammation in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. Materials and methods: Data were collected from 332 students across 24 Form 2 classrooms in six secondary schools. Data on respiratory symptoms and health were collected by questionnaire, while lung inflammation was assessed using fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) measurements. Dust from classrooms was vacuumed using specific filters, digested for heavy metals with the aqua regia method, and analysed with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results: From the questionnaire, 13% reported wheezing for the past 12 months, 51.5% throat dryness, 60.8% influenza symptoms, 50.6% sore throat, 27.7% irritating cough, 23.8% breathing difficulty, 11.4% asthma, and 55.1% respiratory infections. Heavy metals concentrations in the indoor air particulate matter in descending order is Cr>Pb>Mn>Ni>As>Cd, while in the settled dust was Mn>Pb>As>Ni>Cr>Cd. Approximately 49.4% of students exhibited lung inflammation, with FeNO levels exceeding 20 parts per billion (ppb). Conclusion: Air Mn, Pb, As, PM10, CO2, and VOCs are related to lung inflammation and reported respiratory symptoms among school students especially among male. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Low back pain is an occupational hazard that can be preventable but disabling, potentially affecting the work performance of healthcare workers. Previous studies have primarily focused on nurses, especially in hospital settings, leaving a gap in our understanding of staff in community health clinics with different work environments. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of low back pain and its associated occupational risk factors among healthcare workers in community health clinics. Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 360 healthcare workers in Kota Kinabalu district collected sociodemographic data, occupational characteristics, low back pain history, and psychological characteristics. Low back pain risk assessment was performed using the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) and BACKS tool. Results: Among 360 participants, 71.7% reported experiencing low back pain within the past 12 months. Significant associations were found by Chi-Square test between low back pain and the number of children, Body Mass Index (BMI), smoking status, manual handling, awkward postures, assisted lifting of heavy objects, and psychological factors. The findings highlight the high prevalence of LBP among healthcare workers and its association with various occupational factors. Implications for designing specific disease prevention programs to protect healthcare workers are considered, thus enabling them to maintain the highest level of care for the general public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Surabaya River is a tributary downstream of the Brantas River, which is the longest river in East Java. The source of raw water for the city of Surabaya comes from the Surabaya River. Currently, the pollutants in the Surabaya River are not only organic and heavy metals but also microplastics. This study aims to identify the microplastic content in human stool as well as possible sources of microplastic pollutants in the community living in the Surabaya river basin area. This research was conducted on ten samples of human stools in the Surabaya river basin area. The results showed that the types of microplastics found in human stool samples were divided into three types, namely the type of fibre, the type of fragment, and the type of filament. The most common types of microplastics were the types of fragments and filaments found in nine human stool samples. Meanwhile, the type of fibre was only found in seven samples of human stool. With the discovery of the three types of microplastics in human stool, the human stool in the Surabaya river basin area has been contaminated by microplastics. This can be possible because most of the respondents' drinking water consumption comes from bottled water. In general, this type of microplastic fragment can come from plastic bottles, plastic bags and pipe fragments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indoor air pollutants affect children's health and previous research mostly focuses on respiratory and allergic diseases. However, little is known about the risks among school children in East Malaysia. Therefore, we studied associations between school children's respiratory and allergic symptoms and indoor air pollutants in schools in Sabah, Malaysia. We randomly selected 332 school children (14 years old) from 24 classrooms in 6 secondary schools in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Information on personal characteristics, respiratory and allergic symptoms were gathered by using a standard questionnaire. The skin prick test was used to characterize their atopy. In each classroom, the indoor concentrations of particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), formaldehyde, total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), carbon dioxide (CO2) temperature and relative humidity were monitored. Overall, 11.7% reported doctor-diagnosed asthma, 14.8% wheezing, 17.5% day-time breathlessness, 37.0% breathlessness after exercise, 13.0% breathlessness at night-time, 55.1% rhinitis and 10.8% skin allergic in the last 12 months. Regression analysis showed that the onset of wheezing was common in doctor-diagnosed asthma (OR= 8.29, 95% CI= 3.70-16.10) and with parental asthma/allergy (OR= 2.13, 95% CI= 1.10-4.15), and associated with concentrations of NO2 (OR= 1.03, 95% CI= 1.01-1.21) and CO2 (OR= 1.01, 95% CI= 1.01-1.11). Day-time breathlessness was associated with indoor NO2 (OR=1.02, 95% CI= 1.02-1.35) and TVOC (OR= 1.30, 95% CI= 1.10-1.52). The indoor concentrations of NO2, CO2, TVOC and PM2.5 as well as parental asthma/allergy, and parental smoking were risk factors to the health outcome of respiratory and allergic symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Primary health care providers face a wide range of stressors and are at high risk of developing occupational burnout, which may cause ineffectiveness and reduce the productivity of the health care system. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the primary health care provider working in health facilities under Tuaran Area Health Office. A total of 199 of 604 providers randomly selected as respondents for this study. Self-administered questionnaire and the Maslach Burnout Inventory are used for data collection. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the prevalence and Chi-square test was used to determine the association of risk factors. Results: Prevalence of occupational burnout is 10.1% with high level of overall burnout (n = 20), 60.8% are having low to moderate level of overall burnout (n = 121) and 29.1% has no burnout (n = 58). A significant relationship was observed between burnout, high workload, out-of-scope workload and distance between home and workplace (p=0.01). However, no significant relationship was observed between burnout and age, gender, marital status, financial status, education level, experience and income. Conclusion: This study shows that distribution of workload as well as the job scope may affect burnout. Further study can be conducted to identify home-workplace distance relation to burnout. With the identification of these factors, a counter measures and intervention can be implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Leukaemia is the fourth leading cause of death among children aged 0 to 14. This study aimed to determine the prognostic factors of death in childhood leukaemia in Malaysia. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted for all childhood leukaemia patients aged 0 to 19 years diagnosed between 2010 and 2014 using data from the Malaysian National Cancer Registry database. Death dates were updated until 31st December 2019. The Cox proportional hazard model was used to determine the prognostic factors and hazard ratios. Results: Among the 1,212 children with leukaemia, females had a 19% (HR: 0.81, 95% CI: 0.68, 0.96) reduced risk of death than males. Meanwhile, patients aged less than one year, or between 10-14 and 15-19 years old reported adjusted hazard ratios of 1.7 (p<0.05), 1.7 (p<0.001), and 2.2 (p<0.001), respectively, when compared with patients aged 1-4 years old. Malay children with leukaemia had a 33% (HR: 1.33, 95% CI: 1.05, 1.68) higher risk of mortality than the Chinese. Patients with Mature B-cell (1a2) subtypes, acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) (1b) subtypes, and "unspecified and other" leukaemia (1e) subtypes showed 1.6 (p<0.05), 1.5 (p<0.001), and 1.6 (p<0.001) times the risk of death as compared to acute lymphoid leukaemia (ALL) (1a1) subtypes. Conclusion: Sex, age, ethnicity, and leukaemia subtypes were the four prognostic factors of mortality among pediatric patients. Early detection and treatment may improve childhood leukaemia survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide, the gap between organ supply and demand has widened over the years. Malaysia has one of the lowest deceased organ donation rates. Success rate of organ or tissue procurement depends on not only the approach rate by health care providers but also the awareness among the public, whereby it can be a platform for family initiation of organ donation. The purpose of this study is to assess the knowledge of and determine the factors influencing attitude toward organ and tissue donation among patients in a primary clinic. A cross-sectional analytical study was carried out. Self-administered questionnaires were given to 400 patients who registered at an outpatient clinic in April 2018. Convenience sampling was applied. Monthly income, education level, occupation, and knowledge level are significantly associated with attitude of the respondents toward organ and tissue donation. Occupation influenced attitude toward organ donation. Knowledge of organ donation and brain death both significantly affected attitude toward organ donation. The greater the knowledge of organ donation and brain death, the more positive impression or attitude toward organ donation. Education level and income are the main predictors that influence attitude toward organ donation. Hence, it is important for public health units to promote and deliver public education on organ donation, change public misconceptions, and work parallel with hospitals to increase organ donation rates in Sabah. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]