Nor Azlina A.Rahman

Internet use and addiction among medical students of Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Malaysia

Background The use of Internet has now become indispensable, and the technology has revolutionized the medical education and practice worldwide. Currently, medical students and professionals have an enormous opportunity to keep them always updated with the exponential growth of knowledge because of potential progression of Internet throughout the world that enables them to become a lifelong learner. Internet addiction is a widespread phenomenon among students and academicians at universities in Malaysia. Students use the Internet for recreational purpose and personal and professional development. The Internet has become an integral part of day-to-day life of the university students, including medical students. The aim of the present study was to examine the Internet use and addiction among students of Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Malaysia. Methods This was a cross-sectional study in which a questionnaire, Internet Addiction Diagnostic Questionnaire, developed by the Center for Internet Addiction, USA, was used. One hundred forty-nine medical students of Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin participated in this study. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software. Results The mean scores were 44.9±14.05 and 41.4±13.05 for male and female participants, respectively, which indicated that both the genders were suffering from mild Internet addiction. Conclusion This study shows almost similar level of Internet usage among medical students irrespective of their socioeconomic background, with no statistically significant (p>0.05) differences, except among the years of study (p=0.007). Overall, from the research data and having worked with this cohort very closely, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin medical students can be labeled as wonted and recurring users of the Internet. Nevertheless, it is very difficult to define as Internet addicts or pathological users of the Internet because of small sample size and cross-sectional study.

Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding exercise among people exercising in gymnasium and recreational parks around Kuantan, Malaysia.

Article history: Physical inactivity is becoming a global epidemic and lead to many diseases. This cross-sectional study tried to investigate knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) regarding exercise among married and single person attending gymnasium and recreational parks. Furthermore, this study tried to look for factors associated with regularity of exercise and to find association between knowledge and attitude on practice of exercise. A total of 103 participants aged above 18 years old were purposely selected to answer an interview-guided questionnaire. Likert scale was used for participants to answer the questionnaire on KAP and the total score for each knowledge, attitude and practice was computed to find the associations using SPSS. The mean age of the respondent wa s 25.34 years (SD=5.699). Knowledge was not significantly associated with practice (r=0.071, p=0.475). There was also no significant correlation between practice and attitude score (r=0.006, p=0.510). Therefore, there is no association between knowledge and attitude on practice of exercise. Besides that, endurance exercise like jogging, cycling and walking was a respondents choice as their exercise routine. Other than that, there are significant associations between factors of gender (p=0.014), marital status (p<0.001) and age (p=0.005) with regularity of exercise. This study found that single person is more regularly doing exercise than married people. Regularity of exercise could be influenced by motivation. Therefore, relevant policies and campaigns might be able to change and boost people towards practicing exercise regularly in Malaysia.

Assessment of academic/non‑academic factors and extracurricular activities influencing performance of medical students of Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Malaysia

Background: Physical and mental comfort is known to have a crucial influence on health and performance amongst medical students. Very often, medical students suffer from poor quality of life (QOL) related to the work-life balance due to the lack of sleep, nutritional and dietary disorders and low physical activity, resulting in a negative impact on their academic performance. This study aims to determine the potential academic/non-academic factors and extra-curricular activities influencing the performance of medical students in Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA). Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted on medical students at the Faculty of Medicine, UniSZA, Terengganu, Malaysia. A sample size of 300 respondents were recruited from Year I to V medical students. The questionnaire was adopted, modified and validated from a similar study in Saudi Arabia. Results: Majority of the students enjoy medical education are self-motivated, have a good command of English, non-smokers and have a sufficient sleep. Conclusion: University medical students possess good QOL within the optimum educational environment.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Malaysian Public University Students on Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Diseases.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) account for 30% of all deaths in Malaysia. Major risk factors for CVD include age, gender, heredity, hypertension, cigarette smoking, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, obesity and physical inactivity. The current study was conducted to understand the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of University students regarding cardiovascular diseases. This is a cross-sectional study using a stratified random sampling method. Students of all faculties of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in Kuantan Campus were included. The respondents were randomly selected from each faculty. The sample size was 163. KAP questionnaire was developed and distributed to the respondents involved. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS version 17.0. The mean and standard deviation of the knowledge, attitude and practice scores were 42.98±2.46, 57.12±5.73 and 26.7±3.507, respectively. Significant difference on knowledge scores were found between different faculties (p<0.001), also on attitude and practice scores in comparison between different genders (p = 0.005 and 0.017, respectively). This study also shows a significant positive correlation between attitude and practice scores (r=+0.354, p<0.001). IIUM students should engage in exercise more and develop a healthier lifestyle.

The Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors among Students of International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuantan Campus

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has become the leading cause of death among other non-communicable disease worldwide. There are many contributing risk factors for the emergence of CVD. A cross-sectional study was conducted to observe the prevalence of CVD risk factors among International Islamic Universiti Malaysia (IIUM) Kuantan Campus (KC) students. 156 participants from different faculties and year of study participated; among them 56 participants were able to complete the whole procedures. A set of questionnaires were distributed to participants. Anthropometric measurements, weight, height, waist circumference, random blood glucose (RBG) and blood pressure were measured. Prevalence of hypertension was 4%. The mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was 114.268 ± 12.034 and 74.964 ± 8.636 of mmHg respectively. Prevalence of overweight and obesity was 34%, with women having a higher percentage (21%) than men (12%). The mean Body-Mass Index (BMI) was 22.184 ± 4.435) kg/m2. The waist circumference has an average of 71.661 ± 9.215 cm. Prevalence of high blood glucose was absent, and the mean blood glucose level was 6.007 ± 1.018 mmol/L. Dietary fibre-rich foods; vegetables were eaten 6-7 times per week, granola bars and fruits were eaten 1-2 times per week. Home cooked foods were taken 1-2 times per week. Fast foods were taken frequently around 3-5 times per week. The study community was engaged in physical activities such as brisk-walk, skipping and sports. Smoking prevalence was 4% only among the male population. The stress level was moderate. The students of IIUM KC practiced healthy diet and were physically active. The CVD-related risks do not prevail among the IIUM KC population