BackgroundSocial media may be an effective medium by which parents could be trained to promote healthy eating behaviour and physical activity for their children. This trial evaluates the effectiveness of a family-based intervention using social media in combination with face-to-face sessions - the REDUCE (REorganise Diet, Unnecessary sCreen time and Exercise) programme - on adiposity of Malay children.MethodsFive primary schools in an urban area in Selangor, Malaysia participated in this two-arm randomized controlled field trial. Participants were parents (n = 134) and their primary school-going children 8–11 years of age who were either overweight or obese. These parent-child dyads were randomly allocated to intervention and wait-list control groups and were blinded to group assignment. The intervention was a four-week training programme using two face-to-face sessions and two Facebook sessions followed by weekly booster sessions over a three-month period using WhatsApp. The primary outcome was body mass index (BMI) z-score. Height, body weight, waist circumference and percentage of body fat were measured by blinded assessors. Data were collected at baseline (T1), immediately post-training (T2) and at three- (T3) and six-month post training (T4) and were analysed using generalized linear mixed modelling adjusted for covariates to estimate the intervention effects. Subgroup analysis was conducted for overweight and obese children.ResultsNinety-one percent of parents completed the study, 64 in intervention group and 58 in wait-list group. At the sixth month post-training, BMI z-scores were significantly reduced in the intervention group compared to the wait-list group, for the all children (overweight and obese children) and within the obese subgroup ((F(6, 517) = 2.817, p = 0.010) and (F(6, 297) = 6.072, p < 0.001) respectively. For waist circumference percentile and body fat percentage, the intervention group experienced a significant reduction compared to the wait-list group, within the obese subgroup ((F(6, 297) = 3.998, p = 0.001) and within the overweight subgroup (F(6, 201) = 2.526, p = 0.022).ConclusionsThe four-month REDUCE intervention programme was effective in reducing childhood adiposity. Further research using this approach needs to be conducted including cost-effectiveness studies before implementing it in a child obesity prevention programme.Trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12617000844347 (7 June 2017 retrospectively registered). National Medical Research Register, Ministry of Health Malaysia: NMRR-14-685-21,874 (July 2014).Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12937-018-0379-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background: Among the factors reported to determine the quality of life of breast cancer patients are sociodemographic background, clinical stage, type of treatment received, and the duration since diagnosis. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the quality of life (QOL) scores among breast cancer patients at a Malaysian public hospital. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study of breast cancer patients was conducted between March to June 2013. QOL scores were determined using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) and its breast cancer supplementary measure (QLQ-BR23). Both the QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23 assess items from functional and symptom scales. The QLQ-C30 in addition also measures the Global Health Status (GHS). Systematic random sampling was used to recruit patients. Results: 223 breast cancer patients were recruited with a response rate of 92.1%. The mean age of the patients was 52.4 years (95% CI = 51.0, 53.7, SD=10.3). Majority of respondents are Malays (60.5%), followed by Chinese (19.3%), Indians (18.4%), and others (1.8%). More than 50% of respondents are at stage III and stage IV of malignancy. The mean Global Health Status was 65.7 (SD = 21.4). From the QLQ-C30, the mean score in the functioning scale was highest for 'cognitive functioning' (84.1, SD=18.0), while the mean score in the symptom scale was highest for 'financial difficulties' (40.1, SD=31.6). From the QLQ-BR23, the mean score for functioning scale was highest for 'body image' (80.0, SD=24.6) while the mean score in the symptom scale was highest for 'upset by hair loss' (36.2, SD=29.4). Two significant predictors for Global Health Status were age and employment. The predictors explained 10.6% of the variation of global health status (R 2 =0.106). Conclusions: Age and employment were found to be significant predictors for Global Health Status (GHS). The Quality of Life among breast cancer patients reflected by the GHS improves as age and employment increases.

A high rate of new cases of PPD was identified in Iranian women. A combination of psychological, sociological, obstetric and sociodemographic factors can render mothers vulnerable to post-partum depression.

Background: Psychosocial interventions for patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee to reduce pain and improve physical and psychological functioning are still lacking in Malaysia. Methods: A parallel-group unblinded randomized controlled trial involving 300 patients was conducted in two hospital orthopedics clinics in Malaysia. Patients were randomly assigned to receive cognitive behavioral-based group therapy (n = 150) or no further intervention (n = 150). The primary outcome was the change from baseline in knee pain as determined by the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) at 6 months. The data collected were analyzed by covariate-adjusted mixed design repeated measures analysis of variance. All analyses were performed under the terms of intention-to-treat. Results: At 6 months, mean change from baseline in the KOOS knee pain score was 0.6 points (95% CI −1.73 to 2.94) in the control group and 8.9 points (95% CI 6.62 to 11.23) (denoting less knee pain intensity) in the intervention group (significant treatment effect p < 0.0001). Patients treated with such an approach also experienced significant improvement in functional ability when performing activities of daily living and had improved ability to cope with depression, anxiety and pain catastrophizing. Conclusion: The intervention module delivered by healthcare professionals had a sustained effect on knee OA pain and functionality over 6 months, thereby leading to an overall improvement in psychological well-being, thus benefitting most of the Malaysian knee OA patients.

Cultural practices could not be perceived as protective mechanisms that protect women from PPD in this traditional society. However, health professionals should be familiar with postpartum beliefs and practices that could support mothers in the postpartum period.