Non-citizen labors in the country have been found to face difficulties in accessing healthcare services. The study seeks to investigate the existence of barriers in accessing primary healthcare services by non-citizen labors in Malaysia. This study was conducted on 323 non-citizen labors residing in the urban areas of Malaysia, particularly of Johor Bahru and Klang Valley from May to September 2017. Relevant information regarding the personal barriers (language, preference for physician's gender, difficulty taking leave from work), structural barriers (availability of public clinic in residential area, travel time to the public clinic,physician's knowledge and skill) and financial barriers (insurance coverage, fear of losing daily income,transportation costs) on using primary healthcare services at public clinics were obtained. The result of the analysis revealed that the barriers cited by non-citizens to seek primary healthcare in Malaysia were lack of medical insurance protection (75.1%), non-availability of a public clinic in the residential area (38.7%), not receiving the needed or wanted services (21.3%), long travel time to the nearest public clinic (17.3%), language (10.2% of respondents), negative perception about the doctors' knowledge and skills (9.9%), difficulty taking leave (7.8%), fear of losing daily income (7.7%), high transportation cost (3.7%) and different doctor gender preference (2.5%). Therefore, barriers to access healthcare services among noncitizens exist in Malaysia.
Objectives: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is
an essential dimension of overall human quality of life,
in which disparities have been hypothesised between
women and men, as well as between citizens and
non-citizens of a country in past literatures. This study
is to evaluate and compare the HRQoL of citizens and
non-citizens living in greater Kuala Lumpur and Johor
Bahru, as well as comparing HRQoL between genders.
Materials and Methods: The SF-8 questionnaire was
used to collect information from 1,708 respondents
(1,032 Malaysian citizens and 676 non-citizens),
via face-to-face interview between October and
December 2015.
Results: Overall, respondents reported moderate
HRQoL. Non-citizens reported better HRQoL than the
Malaysian citizens, while men reported better HRQoL
compared to women (for both citizens and non-citizens).
Conclusions: The HRQoL of both citizens and noncitizens’
in Malaysia could be improved. Measures should
be taken to remove the disparity in HRQoL between
men and women, aiming to achieve equal health status
for both genders.