Introduction: The number of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) keeps increasing every year. ASD is a neurodevelopmental disability that affects social communication and social interaction. They also demon-strate restricted, repetitive pattern of behaviour, interest or activities (RRB) that shows at an early developmental age. Due to this characteristic, ASD children are facing difficulties in social skills aspect such as eye contact, expression, and making friends. Studying and reciting the Quran are often used in Malaysia to ameliorate the symptoms, but there is no specific study in Malaysia that demonstrates the impact of these renditions on ASD’s children’s social skills. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect selected Qur’anic verses recitation on the social skills of the children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Methods: This study will use the quasi-experimental research design. This study will be held at IDEAS Autism Centre, Rawang. The purposive sampling technique will be used and 14 ASD Muslim children aged 4-6 years old will be chosen. The ASD children will be divided into an experimental and control group. The experimental group will be listening to selected Qur’anic verses before the intervention. The Social Responsiveness Scale- Second Edition (SRS-2) will be used to assess the response. The scale consists of a 65-item questionnaire, with a 4-point Likert-scale. Results: The expected result for this study is the ASD children in the experimental group will have lower Total-scores of SRS-2 compared to control group. Conclusion: Listening to Qur’anic recitation provides a cost-effective complementary therapy to improve social skills among Muslim ASD children. Information from this study also can be used as a stepping stone in developing the teaching module to ASD children.
MeSH terms: Autism Spectrum Disorder; Complementary Therapies; Olfaction Disorders; Autistic Disorder; Child; Child, Preschool; Communication; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Islam; Malaysia; Surveys and Questionnaires; Research Design; Friends; Control Groups; Social Skills
Introduction: Refractive error is the most common cause of visual impairment among the school children. The visual acuity screening has long been administered through the school health service in Malaysia. The objective of this study was to examine the status of refractive error in the school health screening from year 1990 to 2017. Methods: Every year an average of 1.2 million students were screened for refractive errors through school health service. Stu-dents with visual acuity reading of 6/9 or worst based on 6-meter Snellen chart ware referred for confirmation of refractive error. Secondary data on school visual acuity screening from the Health Informatics for the period of 1990 to 2017 were used to describe the changing pattern of refractive errors. Results: It was observed that the prevalent of suspected refractive errors amongst the Standard 1 student increased from 7 per 1,000 students examined in 1990 to 44.4 per 1,000 students in the 2000 and further increased to 74 per 1,000 students before slow decline to 55 per 1,000 students from year 2015 to 2017. A higher level of detection was observed for students in standard 6 and form 3 between the period of 1990 to 2009 (78/1,000 and 65/1,000 respectively) and further decline thereafter to lowest level in 2017 (33/1,000 to 21.5/1,000 respectively). Conclusion: The Standard 1 students in the 21st century have higher rate of suspected refractive errors compared to their counterpart that lived in the 20th century. Community awareness program need to be introduce for early detection of visual acuity problem.
MeSH terms: Child; Humans; Malaysia; Medical Informatics; Reading; Refractive Errors; School Health Services; Students; Visual Acuity; Vision, Low
Introduction: Workplace violence (WPV) among healthcare workers (HCW) remains a significant public health issue in Malaysia. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors of WPV among HCW in Emergency Departments of public hospitals in Melaka. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 231 HCW who were selected in Emergency Departments (ED) from three public hospitals in Melaka through proportionate stratified random sampling method. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaire which consists of three parts (personal and workplace data, workplace violence, and psychosocial workplace environment factors). The period of workplace violence studied was any occurrence of it within six months prior to this study. The data were anal-ysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 24. Results: The prevalence of WPV was found to be 38%, of which 88.9% were psychological violence, and were mostly perpetrated by combinations of type of perpetrators (51.9%). Multiple logistic regression shows that those aged 40 years and below have 5.4 times more likely to experience workplace violence compared to other age group, respondents with low job support has 2.9 times more likely to experience workplace violence compared to its counterpart, and respondents who work in secondary hospital have 2.7 times more likely to experience workplace violence compared to those who work in tertiary hospital. Conclusion: Preventive measures to prevent this issue should be in placed to tackle WPV especially among the at risk groups.
MeSH terms: Adult; Cross-Sectional Studies; Emergency Service, Hospital; Health Personnel; Hospitals, Public; Humans; Malaysia; Public Health; Surveys and Questionnaires; Software; Prevalence; Logistic Models; Workplace; Tertiary Care Centers; Workplace Violence
Introduction: Food poisoning may occur as single sporadic cases or massive outbreak in any institution, including boarding schools. Early this year, Cheras District Health Office had implemented set of interactive games on food safety programme at two boarding schools in Cheras which had repeated incidences of food poisoning outbreak. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of interactive games on knowledge of food safety among school children in Cheras. Methods: This study is a retrospective study based on secondary data. Two boarding school with total of 135 students were. The students were divided into 4 groups and participates in all 4 modules of interactive games. There were 10 items pre and post questionnaire on food safety knowledge collected during the program with score ranged zero to ten. The data were analysed descriptively and analytically with paired t test. Results: The response rate of this study was 100 %. Majority of the respondents were Malays (68.1%) and male (66.7%). The mean score at pre and post were 6.78 and 7.72 respectively. Paired t test showed that there was a significant increase of 0.94 mean score of knowledge after the programme (p-value < 0.05, CI 95%= -1.212, -0.664). Conclusion: The knowledge scores on food safety of the students increased significantly after the interactive game. However, without control group, the improvement cannot be said solely due to the program itself.
Introduction: Workers in health sector are exposed 5 times more workplace violence as compared to workers in other sectors. Their consequences can range from mild to severe, affecting the victim, quality of services and orga-nization. The objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of educational intervention on workplace violence among healthcare workers in health clinics. Methods: This study is a single blinded cluster randomized trial to see the ef-fectiveness of education intervention on coping with workplace violence involving 10 cluster clinics with total 82 respondents in each control and intervention group. Data was collected using pretested questionnaire at baseline, 1-month and 6-months post intervention. The analysis used were descriptive, compared mean at baseline, repeated measures of variance and Mixed Model. Results: Response rate 94% at 1-month due to loss to follow up. Majority of the respondents were female (82.3%), and Malays (83.5%). The prevalence of workplace violence was 27.4% and mostly involved psychological violence (95.6%). There were no significant different between control and interven-tion group characteristic at baseline. Repeated measures MANOVA test was conducted to test intervention effect on dependent variables. The results until 1-month time showed significant difference between intervention and control group on combination of the dependent variables over time in coping (F(1,162)=9.51, p=0.002, and η2=0.06), knowledge (F(1,162)=10.47, p=0.001, and η2=0.061) and confidence (F(1,162)=15.65, p
MeSH terms: Adaptation, Psychological; DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Health Personnel; Humans; Malaysia; Surveys and Questionnaires; Prevalence; Workplace; Control Groups; Workplace Violence
Introduction: Learning disability (LD) is a neurologically related processing problem which can interfere with basic and higher learning skill. The prevalence of learning disability was estimated to be ranging from 5 and 9 percent in general population. The aim of this study was to describe the trend of LD among lower primary school children particularly among Year 3 school children from 2013 to 2018. Methods: Data were taken from the Ministry of Health database on LD among lower primary school children particularly among Year 3 school children in Malaysia from 2013 until 2018. These data were collected from the assessment of LD school children who were referred from schools nationwide to the government medical practitioners. Results: There were approximately 2.6 million Year 3 school children in Malaysia from 2013 until 2018. Of these, a total of 9,063 school children were diagnosed to have LD. There was an increase trend in the incidence of LD from 13 per 10,000 school children in 2013 to 77 per 10,000 school children in 2016. From 2017 onwards there was a reduction in the incidence which consistently remained at 35 per 10,000 school children. Of these, the highest incidence was seen in school children with Intellectual Disabil-ity (ranging from 18 to 36 per 10,000 school children) followed by those with Specific Learning Disability (ranging from 1 to 23 per 10,000 school children) from 2013 until 2018. Conclusion: Learning disability although not as common as other disabilities in general population is still an important issue that need to be tackled to improve the well-being of those affected.
Introduction: Obesity is a major public health concern worldwide. The increasing prevalence of obesity in all ages can cause chronic illnesses, such as Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Cardiovascular Diseases. The Body Mass Index (BMI) is generally used to classify an adult population as underweight (BMI =25.0 kgm-2) or obese (BMI >=30.0 kgm-2). The normal BMI range lies between 18.5 and 24.99 kgm-2. Physical activity is an important component of lifestyle interventions for weight loss and the prevention of weight regain. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of physical activity in reducing the obesity among the selected participants in Taman Impian Ehsan, Hulu Langat. Methods: This study was a one-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design. The physical activity program took place three times a week for six months started from June to December 2018 which is a part of KOSPEN activity. Results: Thirty participants were recruited in the program. For pre- intervention study, 4 participants have normal body weight (BMI 18.5-24.99), 12 participants were overweight (BMI 26.0 to 30.0kgm-2) and 14 participants were obese (BMI > =30.0 kgm-2). Twenty six of participants were retained in the program while the rest quitted. Post-intervention study shows that seven participants have normal BMI, 10 partici-pants were still overweight and nine participants still categorized as obese. Post-intervention study showed that 17 participants managed to lose weight with minimum of 1.2 kg and maximum of 22.6 kg. The average reduction of the body weight was 5%. Conclusion: Physical activity is one of most feasible approach that can assist communities in developing healthy behaviours that promote weight loss and maintain ideal body weight.
MeSH terms: Adult; Body Weight; Cardiovascular Diseases; Chronic Disease; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Humans; Life Style; Obesity; Public Health; Research Design; Thinness; Weight Loss; Exercise; Body Mass Index; Prevalence; Overweight; Ideal Body Weight
Introduction: Zika virus is mainly transmitted to human through bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito. It was reported that the transmission also occurs by blood transfusion, sexual intercourse and from mother to foetus. The World Health Organization (WHO) had declared Zika infection outbreak as Public Health Emergency of Internation-al Concern (PHEIC) in February 2016. Since December 2016, total of eight Zika cases had been reported to Ministry of Health, Malaysia (MOH). Since there is no available vaccine and specific treatment for the Zika virus infection, the preventive practices against Zika virus infection is the only defense and method to curb the infection. The ob-jective of this study is to determine predictors of preventive practices towards Zika virus infection among patients attending health clinics in Seremban. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done in selected public health clinics in Seremban, involving 874 respondents recruited by simple random sampling method. Primary data was collected using self-administered questionnaires in English and Bahasa Malaysia. Descriptive and analytical statistics were performed using SPSS version 22.0. Results: Majority of the respondents were female (57.2%), below 40 years old (62.5%), Malay (83.1%), Muslim (83.8%), married (86.2%) and had secondary school education (51.8%), working (64.9%) with monthly household income of
MeSH terms: Zika Virus Infection; Zika Virus; Adult; Aedes; Animals; Blood Transfusion; Coitus; Cross-Sectional Studies; Disease Outbreaks; Female; Humans; Islam; Malaysia; Marriage; Mothers; Public Health; Surveys and Questionnaires; Schools; World Health Organization
Introduction: Restricted and repetitive behaviours (RRBs) is one of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) core criteria. Exhibitions of RRBs produce profound implications on the functional aspect of these children and family. Evidence found that RRBs is related to the reward system dysfunction in the basal ganglia of these children. RRBs induces intrinsically rewarding effects on children with ASD. Listening to music was found to influence the reward system on the typical population and also discover to be promising as complementary strategies for ASD. A study found that high functioning adolescents with ASD cognitively stimulated through listening to happy music. Planning inter-vention for RRBs by looking towards the mechanism of reward system function remained unexplored. The primary objectives of this study is to examine the effect of happy music on RRBs symptoms. Methods: This study will use a randomised control trial research design with pre-test and post-test assessments in 20 children with ASD. Two parallel randomly assigned group will undergo twelve weeks of intervention sessions. The experimental group will listen to happy music and engage in free play sessions. For the control group, they will engage in free play session only without the music. Parents will complete the Repetitive Behaviour Scale-Revised, which consists of 6 subscales on RRBs to measure the outcome of the study. Results: The study will compare the RRBs between two groups. Con-clusion: Outcome of this study may set forth further investigation on the management of RRB using non-aversive contemporary approach.
MeSH terms: Autism Spectrum Disorder; Adolescent; Auditory Perception; Behavioral Symptoms; Child; Ganglia; Humans; Music; Parents; Reward; Stereotypic Movement Disorder; Control Groups
ABSTRACTS FOR INTERNATIONAL FAMILY HEALTH CONFERENCE 2019 (I-FaH 2019). Health Intervention Towards Community Wellness, Held at Oriental Crystal Hotel, Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia. 4-5th September, 2019
Introduction: In Malaysia, the proportion of safe deliveries remains above 98% since 2010. Safe delivery is defined as deliveries conducted by trained personnel; either doctors, nurses with midwifery training or community nurses. Despite the good coverage of trained personnel and continuous effort to promote birth preparedness among antenatal mothers, unsafe delivery still occur in Malaysia and reported as 0.5% in NHMS 2016.
Methods: A retrospective analysis on the characteristics of unsafe deliveries from the national surveillance data for the period of 2015 to 2017 was carried out. Characteristics of mothers are extracted from the reports of unsafe delivery investigation by Ministry of Health Malaysia and descriptive analyses are carried out by year for trending.
Results: Total of 985 unsafe deliver-ies were reported and investigated in 2015, 1201 in 2016 and 1045 in 2017. About 37.7% to 49.9% (n=453-521) of these deliveries were among Malaysians followed by 22.9% to 40% (n=239-394) among non-citizen without identification document and 11.1% to 27.6% (109-332 deliveries) among non-citizen with identification document. It is commonly reported among mothers aged 26 to 35 years old (38.6% to 43.4%; n=454-463) and multiparous (47.3% to 52.0%; n=494-512). About 25.5% to 35.4% (n=251-370) of these mothers never attended antenatal check-up. Five main reported reasons which had contributed to the unsafe deliveries in 2015 to 2017 were; invalid identification documents, financial constraints, transportation problems, far distance from health facilities and mother’s personal choice.
Conclusion: These findings translate into possible intervention targeted the above population on unsafe deliveries. Multi-sectoral strategies and inter-agency partnership are needed in strengthening the intervention.
Introduction: Antenatal period is the best time to promote physical activity among women. However, this oppor-tunity is usually missed due to various factors such perceived harm to the baby, tiredness, difficulty to perform the activities, pelvic and back pain, lack of information, as well as low social support. This study determined the associ-ation of social support with the level of physical activity among pregnant women in the district of Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. Methods: A total of 936 antenatal women met the eligibility criteria and were enrolled in a cross-sectional study using proportionate stratified random sampling. Data on social support from the spouse, family and friend were obtained using a 5-point Likert scale while physical activity was assessed using a short version of the Interna-tional Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Statistical analysis was conducted using chi-square test to evaluate the association between the study variables. Results: A total of 880 respondents completed the questionnaire. Out of that, 64.2% were physically inactive. Significant associations were found between social support from the spouse (p < 0.001), family (p = 0.001) and friends (p = 0.004) with the level of physical activity among the respondents. Conclusion: Social support plays a pivotal role in motivating antenatal women to perform physical activity. Thus, health intervention on physical activity among these women should involve the spouse, family members and friends to ensure the success of the program.
MeSH terms: Back Pain; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Pregnancy; Surveys and Questionnaires; Social Support; Exercise; Spouses; Friends; Pregnant Women
Introduction: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a public health concern globally, characterized by impairments in cognitive process, social functioning, communication skills, behaviours and interests. These problems require mul-tidisciplinary approach through an early intervention programme (EIP) which is remarkably expensive. To date, the knowledge of EIP costs for ASD children in Malaysia remains unknown. The objective of this study was to determine the annual average EIP costs for ASD children from the societal perspective (total average costs, education costs, treatment costs, and living costs), and its contributing factors. Methods: A cross-sectional cost analysis study using simple random sampling according to proportion was conducted among 280 parents of ASD children receiving EIP services in Klang Valley. The data was collected using interview-based questionnaire and proforma. The Ac-tivity-based Costing Technique and Microsoft Excel 2016 were used to estimate the total annual average EIP costs, education costs, treatment costs, and living costs per ASD child. The association between the total annual average EIP costs and its contributing factors were carried out using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 25. Results: The total annual average EIP costs, education costs, treatment costs, and living costs per ASD child were estimated at RM15,158; RM3,896; RM1,948; and RM4,409 respectively. There was a significant association (p
MeSH terms: Autism Spectrum Disorder; Child; Cognition; Cross-Sectional Studies; Humans; Malaysia; Parents; Public Health; Surveys and Questionnaires; Health Care Costs; Early Medical Intervention
Introduction: HIV-related stigma refers to prejudice, negative attitudes and abuse directed at people living with HIV (PLHIV) and interferes with both prevention and treatment efforts. This study was designed to examine drivers of HIV-related stigma among healthcare workers in health clinics in Hulu Langat, Selangor. Methods: This is a sin-gle-blinded, cluster randomised controlled trial (parallel groups). A total of 158 participants from the intervention group and 158 participants from the control group were randomised via balloting process at the cluster (clinic) level. A comprehensive self-administered questionnaire based on the stigma index tool was used. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS version 25 involving descriptive and bivariate analyses. The baseline results were analysed using the chi-square test and Mann-Whitney U test. Results: The response rate for the intervention group was 83.5% and 81.6% for the control group (82.3% combined response rate). Majority of the respondent’s age between 30 – 39 years old, female, nurses, have experience working with PLHIV and worked for 0 – 9 years in the healthcare setting. Comparison of total infection concern score (p = 0.001) and total willingness to treat key populations (KPs) score (p = 0.025) between intervention and control group at baseline were significant. However, comparison of total opinion/perception about PLHIV score, total knowledge about HIV score, total intention to stigmatise score and total health facility policies and guidelines score between intervention and control group at baseline showed no significant dif-ference. Conclusion: The significant difference between groups on certain scores above might be due to different job category between the two groups thus influence how willing they are in treating PLHIV. These findings may assist stigma reduction intervention programmes targeting healthcare providers in Hulu Langat, Selangor and ensure quality care for PLHIV.
MeSH terms: Adult; Delivery of Health Care; Female; Health Facilities; Health Personnel; Humans; Pregnancy; Prejudice; Surveys and Questionnaires; Stereotyping; HIV Infections; Chi-Square Distribution; Statistics, Nonparametric; Intention; Control Groups; Social Stigma
Introduction: Tuberculosis negatively impacts the patients’ quality of life (QoL). Information on QoL among tuber-culosis patients may highlight gaps in the current management of the disease by identifying target groups with lower QoL. This study aimed to identify the sociodemographic factors associated with QoL among patients followed up in an urban tertiary hospital. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among adults with drug-sensitive pulmonary tuberculosis, selected using simple random sampling method, in the Institute of Respiratory Medicine, Kuala Lumpur. The WHOQOL BREF was utilised to evaluate the physical, psychological, social relationships and environment domains of QoL. Descriptive analysis and univariate analyses to test association between independent sociodemographic factors and QoL domain mean scores were done. Results: A total of 237 patients participated with a response rate of 96.34%. The factor associated with the physical domain was sex (t = 2.06, p = 0.04), whilst age (F = 3.77, p = 0.02), sex (t = 4.04, p < 0.001), marital status (F = 3.09, p = 0.04) and education level (F = 4.92, p = 0.008) were associated with the social relationships domain. Age (F = 3.55, p = 0.03), sex (t = 2.12, p = 0.03), edu-cation level (F = 7.97, p < 0.001) and monthly household income (F = 3.57, p = 0.03) were factors associated with the environment domain. No sociodemographic factors were associated with the psychological domain in this study. Conclusion: Patients who were younger, female, married, had tertiary education or monthly household income of more than RM6000 were associated with higher QoL. Targeted interventions among the sociodemographic groups with lower QoL could complement current clinical management to improve tuberculosis patients’ QoL.
MeSH terms: Adult; Cations; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Quality of Life; Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary; Pulmonary Medicine; Marital Status
Introduction: Vaccine hesitancy is “to delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccination despite availability of vacci-nation services. Vaccine hesitancy is complex and context specific, varying across time, place and vaccines...”. National vaccination data showed presence of hesitancy and the potential for others to develop hesitancy. An over-view of vaccine hesitancy is needed to organise our understanding and to focus our efforts in health promotion. The objectives of this review were to (1) describe the scope of vaccine hesitancy involving target population, theoretical developments and practical implications and (2) to identify potential research avenues for health promotion in Ma-laysia. Methods: Scoping review methodology was used. Search strategy utilised keywords for publications from the year 2000 onwards with a focus on local parental vaccine hesitancy. Literature review focused on global theoretical development and analysis were done on local empirical findings. Results: Theoretical developments have led to the Vaccine Hesitancy Determinant Matrix (VHDM) describing factors within three themes: “vaccine/vaccination-specif-ic issues”, “individual or group influence” and “contextual influence”. Parents can be classified into ‘unquestioning acceptor’, ‘cautious acceptor’, ‘hesitant’, ‘late or selective vaccinator’ and the ‘refuser’ of all vaccines. Globally, various mode of interventions has been explored. However, there was a disproportionate focus on knowledge, at-titude and practice research among local parents. There were only two local interventional studies that have been published. Conclusion: There is a dearth of interventional studies locally. Each of the parental groups outlined needs a tailored approach to combat vaccine hesitancy. Global interventional research showed a multitude of approaches towards educational intervention that local researchers should capitalise on developing strategies, techniques and modules for the local population.
MeSH terms: Health Promotion; Health Services Needs and Demand; Vaccination; Vaccines
Introduction: Childhood obesity is increasing in prevalence in Malaysia. Excess in dietary intake and inadequate physical activity contribute to the development of obesity among children. The objective of this study was to de-termine the association between eating behaviour and excess weight among primary school children in an urban community in Malaysia. Methods: This is a baseline data of a randomized control field trial of a family-based inter-vention to reduce adiposity in overweight and obese children. It involved five primary government schools in Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor. The inclusion criteria include parent-child dyad; children aged 7 to 10 years with body mass index (BMI) z-score of +1 standard deviation or more. Parents completed the validated self-administered Children Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ). This questionnaire assessed children’s eating behaviour that includes food responsiveness, enjoyment of food, emotional overeating, desire to drink, slowness in eating, satiety responsiveness, emotional undereating and food fussiness. The children’s weight and height were measured and the BMI z-score was calculated. The association between CEBQ subscales and obesity was assessed using multiple linear regression, adjusted for sex and family income. Results: One hundred and thirty-four parent-child dyads had participated in this study. The food responsiveness was found to be significant with excess weight (β = 0.094, 95% CI: 0.02-0.17, p= 0.014). Conclusion: The food responsiveness subscale was associated with excess weight. This eating behaviour need to be taken into consideration in the development and implementation of health campaign targeted at the re-duction of childhood obesity.
MeSH terms: Body Weight; Child; Feeding Behavior; Government; Health Promotion; Humans; Hyperphagia; Malaysia; Surveys and Questionnaires; Exercise; Body Mass Index; Prevalence; Linear Models; Adiposity; Overweight; Pediatric Obesity
ABSTRACTS FOR INTERNATIONAL FAMILY HEALTH CONFERENCE 2019 (I-FaH 2019)
Introduction: As cervical cancer is the third most common cancer among women and ten percent of cervical cancer incidence among those 65 years and above, Pap smear is still relevant to be performed among older women. The aim of this study was to determine the determinants of Pap smear screening among older women in an urban setting.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 515 women aged 50 and above in two urban health centres in Gombak, Selangor. The sampling technique conducted was random systematic sampling. The indepen-dent variables were age, marital status, employment status, gynaecological history (family history of cervical cancer, menopause, hysterectomy), obstetric history (number of live births, ever had contraception), presence of chronic diseases (hypertension, Diabetes Mellitus, heart disease). Results: Only 202 (39.2%) out of 515 undergone Pap smear screening. An estimated 80.7% of them had their last Pap smear a year ago. The mean age of the respondents was 58.83± 7.05 years old and 77.3% had one and more comorbidities. The respondents preferred health care person-nel as the source for the pap smear information compared to reading materials and internet. Married vs divorced (aOR=1.89,p=0.02); those with heart disease (aOR=0.32,p value=0.01; those with Diabetes Mellitus (aOR=0.57,p value=0.01; those who had hysterectomy (OR=2.89, p value=0.04) and those who had contraception (aOR=3.72, p value =
Introduction: Undernutrition among under-five children is a very common issue in Malaysia, especially among the Orang Asli population. Therefore, identifying the prevalence and factors associated with undernutrition will assist in tackling the issue of undernutrition and reducing the morbidity and mortality rate associated with it. Methods: A total of 47 conveniently selected Orang Asli children aged 6 to 59 months from Kampung Paya Bungor, Gambang, Kuantan, Pahang participated in this cross-sectional study. A face-to-face interview was carried out by using the validated Questionnaire for the Study of Malnutrition in Rural Malaysia 2009. The weight and height of the children were measured and plotted on the growth chart. All the data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 24.0. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the background characteristics of the respondents and univariate analyses were used to identify suitable factors to be included in multivariate analysis. Binary logistic regression was done to determine independent factors associated with undernutrition. Results: The overall prevalence of undernutrition was 55.3%. The prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting was 34.0%, 34.0% and 14.9% respectively. This research also revealed that gender (p=0.042) and family size (p=0.024) was shown to have a statistically significant association with undernutrition. However, there were no significant associations between undernutrition with other factors. Conclusion: The prevalence of undernutrition among under-five Orang Asli children was a concern. It was found that the factors associated with undernutrition were female children and children from small families. Prompt interventions aimed at the Orang Asli community should be done to overcome these problems.
MeSH terms: Body Weight; Child; Child, Preschool; Cross-Sectional Studies; Family Characteristics; Female; Growth Disorders; Humans; Infant; Malaysia; Morbidity; Surveys and Questionnaires; Thinness; Prevalence; Multivariate Analysis; Logistic Models; Malnutrition; Growth Charts
Introduction: The need for client feedback in assessing healthcare services is widely recognized. However, little is known about the satisfaction of adolescent clients utilising healthcare services in Malaysia. To the best of our knowl-edge, there is no validated instrument to measure the satisfaction of adolescent clients attending health clinics in Malaysia. The objective of this study was to determine the reliability of the Malay Version of the Ministry of Health’s Adolescent Client Satisfaction Questionnaire among adolescents attending health clinics in North-eastern Malaysia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in January 2019 among adolescents aged ten to nineteen years old that attended four designated health clinics in the Kelantan state of Malaysia. The test for Cronbach’s alpha was per-formed to determine the internal consistency reliability. Results: There were a total of 85 adolescent clients involved in this study. The mean age of the respondents was 15.6 years old. Majority of respondents were female, Malay, students and attained secondary level of education. The internal consistency reliability was good as the Cronbach’s alpha of the domain was 0.854. The corrected item-total correlation for the domain was acceptable as it was 0.4 and above. Conclusion: The Malay Version of the Ministry of Health’s Adolescent Client Satisfaction Questionnaire showed excellent internal consistency reliability. Therefore, it may be recommended to be used as a tool to measure the satisfaction level among adolescents attending health clinics in Malaysia.
MeSH terms: Adolescent; Adult; Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Educational Status; Female; Humans; Malaysia; Personal Satisfaction; Surveys and Questionnaires; Students; Reproducibility of Results; Patient Satisfaction; Young Adult
Introduction: Family planning practice is important among the high-risk mothers. Thus, the knowledge, attitude and practice of family planning among health care workers are very important in influencing the use of contraception among them. The objective of this study was to determine level of knowledge, attitudes and practices related to contraception among doctors and nurses in Petaling District, Selangor, Malaysia. Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 300 doctors and nurses working in the Maternal and Child Health Unit from six large public health clin-ics in Petaling district was conducted in May 2019. A self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Results: A total of 109 doctors and 149 nurses participated in this study. The response rate was 86%. The median duration of service in KKM and working in MCH were 9 years (IQR 6.0) and 3 years (IQR 6.0) respectively. Majority (74%) had attended CME on family planning. The mean score of knowledge was 9.0 (out of 13) (SD 1.899). In terms of attitude, 51.6% would often suggest family planning to relatives or friends. Three common perceived barriers for effective counselling on family planning were too many patients (94.5%), time constraint (91.7%) and inadequate knowledge on contraception (60.4%). Common preferred methods of contraception among users were hormonal method (33.1%), followed by barrier (condom) method (29.5%). Medical officers had better knowledge score as compared to nurses (p
MeSH terms: Child Health; Attitude; Child; Contraception; Counseling; Cross-Sectional Studies; Family Planning Services; Female; Health Personnel; Humans; Malaysia; Mothers; Public Health; Surveys and Questionnaires; Condoms; Friends