BackgroundIllicit drug use among university students has been recognized as a global public health issue in recent years. It may lead to poor academic performance that in turn leads to poor productivity in their later life. This study explores prevalence of and factors associated with illicit drug use among university students in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).MethodsThis multi-country cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015 in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. A multi-stage cluster sampling was used to select undergraduate students from one or two universities in each country for self-administered questionnaire survey. Multivariate logistic regression analyses was performed to explore risk factors related to illicit drug use.ResultsParticipants included 7,923 students with a mean age of 20.6 years (SD = 2.8), ranging from 18–30 years. The overall prevalence of frequent (≥10 times), infrequent (1–9 times) and ever (at least once) illicit drug use in the past 12 months was 2.2, 14.7, and 16.9%, respectively. After adjustment, male students were significantly less likely to be infrequent (1–9 times vs. never), but significantly more likely to be ever users compared to females. Compared to those living with parents/guardians, students living away from parents/guardians were significantly less likely to be frequent (≥10 times vs. never) and infrequent users. Students from lower-middle-income countries were significantly more likely to be frequent and infrequent users, but significantly less likely to be ever users compared to those from upper-middle or high-income countries. Students with poor subjective health status were significantly more likely to be frequent users compared to those who reported good subjective health status. Students who reported binge drinking in the past month were significantly more likely to be infrequent users, but significantly less likely to be ever users.ConclusionsOur findings indicate that prevalence of illicit drug use among university students in the ASEAN region varied by country. Concerted social intervention programs should be designed to address related health and behavioral problems such as illicit drug use and alcohol drinking with particular emphasis on at-risk subgroups of this young population.

Elderly population is increasing, while the world has been facing the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which causes a greater adverse impact among older population in various aspects of their lives, such as depression, daily routine disruption, illness, and social and emotional issues. The purpose of this study was to assess the elderly’s depression during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the risk factors including socio-demographic, physical and psychosocial conditions, as well as family support. The method used was cross-sectional design, with a total sampling of 457 participants. The measuring instruments used were ADL (Activities of Daily Living Scale) and IADL (Lowton and Brody Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale) for physical activities assessment, APGAR (Adaptability, Participation, Growth, Affection, Resolution) for family support function assessment, and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) for depression level measurement, with additional questions for psychosocial assessment. 212 elderlies (46.4%) were found with no depression tendency, 183 elderlies (40%) had a tendency of depression, and 62 elderlies (13.6%) had depression. These depression issues were significantly linked to retirement and income among elderly, dependency, fitness and health status, family and social support, and sources of funds. In the presence of depression, control measures for social, health, and psychosocial support must be implemented in order to minimize its impact among the elderly.

Objective. The study aims to investigate cognitive functioning and associated factors in a national general population-based sample of older Indonesians. Methods. Participants were 1228 older adults, 65 years and older (median age 70.0 years, Interquartile Range=6.0), who took part in the cross-sectional Indonesian Family Life Survey-5 (IFLS-5) in 2014-15. They were requested to provide information about sociodemographic and various health variables, including cognitive functioning measured with items from the Telephone Survey of Cognitive Status (TICS). Multivariable linear regression analysis was performed to assess the association of sociodemographic factors, health variables, and cognitive functioning. Results. The overall mean cognition score was 14.7 (SD=4.3) (range 0-34). In adjusted linear regression analysis, older age, having hypertension, and being underweight were negatively associated with better cognitive functioning and higher education was positively associated with better cognitive functioning. Conclusion. Several sociodemographic and health risk factors for poor cognitive functioning were identified which can guide intervention strategies in Indonesia.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indonesian Government enacted a study at home policy for all students. This policy also applied to preschool children aged 2 to 6 years old. The purpose of the research was to examine the duration and impact of digital media use by preschool children in urban areas in Indonesia during weekdays and weekends. Data were collected using a validated questionnaire called the Surveillance of digital-Media hAbits in earLy chiLdhood Questionnaire (SMALLQ®). A total of 951 parents or guardians (17-70 years old) who had preschool children volunteered to complete the questionnaire online. Preschool children have been using screen media since infancy, and the time they spend on-screen time is more than 1 hour per day. The digital media most used were mobile phones (91.6%), followed by television (86.1%) and computers (61%). The parents realized the impact and the importance of limiting time of screen media, but it difficult to prevent their children from using it, especially when learning from home. Hence, there is a need different approach to learning from home, especially to manage the duration of screen time for preschool children.

The development of technology has increased the number of activities workers are able to perform while using visual display units (VDUs), as well as the amount of time spent executing those activities; the developing technology, however, has also increased the probability of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), which can decrease a worker's productivity and result in a company's economic loss. Workers at PT. X use VDUs 8 hours per day. This research aimed to analyse the risk factors that are the likely cause of some MSD symptoms experienced by PT. X workers, such as individual and psychological factors, the work environment, VDU, chair and the work patterns.This research was a cross-sectional study that used proportional stratified random sampling with 95 participants. The study found that most of the workers experienced MSD symptoms (78.6%), of which 70.52 percent were chronic complaints, 1.37 percent were acute complaints and 6.71 percent were a combination of both acute and chronic