A systematic review and network-meta analysis (NMA) were performed to estimate significance of the anxiolytic effect of lavender essential oil taken as silexan capsules versus other comparators (i.e., placebo/paroxetine/lorazepam). The outcome of interest was Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA). Weighted mean differences (WMD) were calculated to estimate the treatment effect at the confidence interval of 95%. League tables were generated using treatment effect, for all pairwise comparisons, where WMD < 0 favors the column-defining treatment. Five studies were identified with a total of 524 participants receiving treatment with silexan 80 mg and 121 participants taking silexan 160 mg. The NMA results indicated that consumption of silexan 160 mg resulted in higher decline of HAMA score [WMD −1.14 (−1.10, 3.39)] in comparison to silexan 80 mg, placebo [−2.20 (−4.64, 0.24)] and paroxetine [−1.24 (−5.34, 2.85)]. The effect of silexan 80 mg was observed to be same as that of paroxetine. Overall, silexan 160 mg was noticed to be a more efficient treatment giving significant decline in HAMA score across other comparators. However, no improvements in HAMA score was observed for the group receiving lorazepam 0.5 mg when compared to silexan 160 mg, silexan 80 mg, paroxetine 20 mg, and placebo.

Background: While the global maternal mortality ratio (MMR) shows a decreasing trend, there is room for improvement. Midwifery education has been under scrutiny to ensure that graduates acquire knowledge and skills relevant to the local context. Objective: To review the basic professional midwifery qualification and pre-practice requirements in countries with lower MMR compared with Malaysia. Methods: A rapid review of country-specific Ministry of Health and Midwifery Association websites and Advanced Google using standardised key words. English-language documents reporting the qualifications of midwives or other requirements to practise midwifery from countries with a lower MMR than Malaysia were included. Results: Sixty-three documents from 35 countries were included. The minimum qualification required to become a midwife was a bachelor’s degree. Most countries require registration or licensing to practise, and 35.5% have implemented preregistration national midwifery examinations. In addition, 13 countries require midwives to have nursing backgrounds. Conclusion: In countries achieving better maternal outcomes than Malaysia, midwifes often have a degree or higher qualification. As such, there is a need to reinvestigate and revise the midwifery qualification requirements in Malaysia.

BACKGROUND Prediabetes, where an individual’s glycaemic variables are significantly higher than normal but lower than the threshold for diabetes, is a major health problem. People with prediabetes experience a higher risk of developing chronic kidney disease, neuropathy, diabetic retinopathy, cardiac events, and stroke. The implementation of lifestyle-changing interventions or programs designed to monitor and adjust a prediabetic person’s lifestyle, daily activities, and diet has been demonstrated to substantially reduce the risk of developing diabetes.[4] Implementing these interventions, however, is not without its challenges. One way to overcome these challenges would be the use of distal technologies such as telehealth, mobile health, game‐based support, social platforms, patient portals, as well as wearable devices. To the best of our knowledge, no reviews have attempted to summarise the published research related to the use of distal technologies for the prevention of diabetes. OBJECTIVE The aim of this systematic review is to critically appraise studies where distal technologies have been applied in a prediabetic population. The systematic review also aimed to synthesize the evidence to determine the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions utilizing distal technologies in people with prediabetes. METHODS The systematic review was conducted on articles from database inception till 31st December 2020 within the PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCOPUS, and The Cochrane Library databases. The databases were searched for published articles describing the use of distal technologies in prediabetes. The search terms related to digital health and prediabetes were used. The reference lists of included articles were also reviewed to identify any relevant articles that may have been missed. This study was registered with PROSPERO: CRD42020188051. Articles which met the following inclusion criteria were included: 1) the study included prediabetic individuals, 2) was a randomised controlled trial, 3) the intervention included the use of any distal technology, and 4) published in peer-reviewed journals. RESULTS The initial search identified a total of 364 articles. After the removal of duplicates and ineligible articles, 29 articles were selected for inclusion in this review. Meta-analysis of 15 of the studies showed that distal technologies was effective in reducing participants’ body weight by 1.24 kg [95% CI: -1.92, -0.56], their BMIs (MD: -0.64; -0.93 to -0.35) and waist circumference (MD: -1.27; -2.22 to -0.32), when compared to usual care/control. HbA1c levels were lowered marginally by 0.05% (95% CI: -0.09% to -0.02%) in the intervention group compared to the control group. However, distal technologies had limited impact on FPG (-0.11 mmol/l; -0.25 to 0.02), total cholesterol (-0.06 mmol/l; 95% CI: -0.14 to 0.03), low density lipoprotein (-0.04; -0.09 to 0.02), high density lipoprotein (0.03; -0.01 to 0.07) and triglyceride levels (-0.05; -0.13 to 0.02) compared to control group. CONCLUSIONS The evidence reviewed suggests that lifestyle interventions incorporating distal technologies can be effective in helping prediabetics reduce their body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, and blood glucose. The effectiveness of these interventions in improving lipid profile, blood pressure, and quality of life remains unclear. While the results are encouraging, more work is required to improve the evaluation and implementation of these complex interventions.