No abstract

Healthcare workers (HCWs) must be aware of the latest data supporting or refuting the use of oral dietary supplements (ODS) in order to disseminate evidence-based health information and help patients make informed decisions. Nevertheless, there is relatively scant data on the prevalence of dietary supplement use among HCWs, the types of dietary supplements recommended to patients by HCWs, and their reasons for recommending these products, particularly during the COVID-19 outbreak. This study examined the prevalence of ODS use among surveyed HCWs, considered the types of ODS used and recommended by those HCWs, identified the reasons given by those HCWs for using or not using ODS, and determined whether those HCWs were recommending or not recommending ODS to their patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional study targeted all HCWs working at a district hospital in Malaysia and was conducted via a self-administered online survey. The survey revealed that 67.3% of HCWs did not recommend ODS for patient use during the pandemic, despite 55.3% of HCWs reported personal use of ODS during the pandemic. Type of HCWs (P=0.001), monthly household income (P=0.019), prior ODS use (P<0.001) and recommendation of ODS to patients (P<0.001) were significantly associated with personal ODS use during the pandemic. Vitamin C was the most commonly used (81.3%) and recommended (95.0%) ODS. “To maintain overall health and wellness” was the most common reason for personal ODS use and recommendation to patients (83.3% & 79.2%). Given the increasing rate of ODS use during the pandemic, further research should be done so that evidence-based recommendations can be formulated to ensure patient safety.

This study aims to identify the relevant risk factors based on different sociodemographic backgrounds among ischaemic stroke patients in relation to age. We included all adult ischaemic stroke patients from 1st January 2013 to 31st December 2019 who presented to Hospital Seberang Jaya. The study utilized data that were collected from medical records and were presented with descriptive and inferential statistics.

Bioactivity is an important aspect in biomaterial science ensuring materials used are safe for clinical application. The study describes fabrication of composites containing polylactic acid (PLA) – polyethylene glycol (PEG) with incorporation of sol-gel derived 45S5 bioactive glass (BG). Thermal analysis via Differential Thermal Analysis shows a favorable point over degree of crystallization that influence cells attachment, although non-significant difference in values indicates BG has homogenously dispersed. This correlates to X-ray diffraction analysis where non-significant difference is seen in intensities of the diffraction peaks, which confirms low impact of BG brittleness properties over the fabricated composite. Composites’ pH and degradation study in Simulated Body Fluid shows a steady increment profile over time and lower degradation rate for the composite after incorporation of BG. In vitro cell proliferation study also showed that HDF cells seeded on composite film of P/BG2.5 exhibit highest cell viability with steady increment of proliferation throughout the observation period.