INTRODUCTION: Diabetic patients generally have a good idea about healthy diet however their awareness regarding specific dietary recommendations is questionable. Thus, this paper aims to examine the awareness regarding specific dietary components among diabetic patients at a primary care clinic and its influence on self-reported dietary practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA) questionnaire (English-Malay version) was used. It was adapted with additional questions to assess respondents' awareness on: (1) healthful eating plan, (2) the quantity of one serving of fruits and vegetables, (3) choices and the allowed quantity of high fat food intake, (4) meaning of carbohydrate, and (5) carbohydrate spacing per day. RESULTS: From the 360 respondents, 85.0% knew about healthful eating plan. However, those who were unaware of the meaning of carbohydrate, carbohydrate spacing, the allowed high fat food intake, and the quantity of one serving of fruits and vegetables were 34.1%, 47.5%, 40.0%, and 30.8% respectively. Generally, the dietary practice reported by those who knew 'one serving of fruits and vegetables' (p<0.001), 'allowed quantity of high fat food intake' (p=0.001), 'meaning of carbohydrate' (p<0.001), or 'carbohydrate spacing' (p<0.001) was significantly different than those who were unaware of these terms. CONCLUSION: Although most respondents knew about healthful eating plan, majority of them were unaware of the specific dietary components, suggesting superficial dietary knowledge. Unfortunately, poor dietary awareness significantly influenced their self-reported dietary practice which could be considered as inaccurate. Thus, strategies to improve their dietary knowledge is necessary at the primary care setting.

Aim: To determine the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress, and its associated sociodemographic and clinical factors among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Background: The number of PLWHA with a near-normal life expectancy has been increasing. This has led them to face various challenges living with the disease, exposing them to multiple psychological problems. Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at an HIV clinic in a government hospital in Northern Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 206 PLWHA were recruited using systematic random sampling. Sociodemographic factors and presence of negative emotional states were recorded using a self-administered questionnaire comprising the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale 21 (DASS-21). Results: The prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress were 36.9%, 45.1% and 26.7% respectively. The majority had moderate to extremely severe symptoms of depression (71.1%), anxiety (88.2%), and stress (72.27%). After controlling for cofounders using multiple logistic regression, those with a co-morbidity had 3.02 times the odds of having depression compared to those without co-morbidity (p = 0.01). The non-Malays had 53% less chance to experience anxiety compared to Malays (p = 0.01). Those with lower monthly household income were more likely to experience stress than those with higher income, the worst was among participants with income of