MyMedR

Some epidemiological aspects and economic costs of injuries in Malaysia

Arokiasamy JT, Krishnan R

Asia Pac J Public Health, 1994;7(1):16-20.

Injuries are one of the leading causes of death in the world. In Malaysia, injuries form one of the three main causes of mortality. They are also an important cause of permanent and temporary disability and work absenteeism in the productive age group. Increasing affluence and industrialization coupled with growing population and transportation needs in rapidly developing countries like Malaysia have resulted in a surge of road and occupational injuries. Three quarters of fatalities due to road, occupational, drowning and home injuries occur in those below 45 years of age. A majority of injuries in these categories are attributed to "human" factors and therefore can be prevented by public education and enforced training of workers. The total annual economic loss due to all types of injuries is estimated to be 2 billion Malaysian Ringgit (US$1 = MR2.76 approximately). The government is currently in the process of setting up full-time departments for road safety and occupational health and safety.

Knowledge, attitude and practice factors in childhood acute respiratory infections in a peninsular Malaysia health district

Vasanthamala A, Arokiasamy JT

Asia Pac J Public Health, 1989;3(3):219-23.

PMID: 2620023 DOI: 10.1177/101053958900300308

This study compares the knowledge, attitudes and practice of mothers in two ethnic groups with regard to acute respiratory infections (ARI) in their child. Most had traditional beliefs as to the cause of ARI with only a minority knowing the causes. Most mothers were aware of the effect of frequent attacks of ARI on the health status of their child and of the importance of early treatment. Reasons for their becoming worried during an episode of ARI in their child indicated that problems of distance, transportation and arrangements for care of their other children predominate. A large proportion of the respondents felt that their present knowledge of ARI was inadequate and were thus interested in obtaining more information.

Nutritional problems of Malaysian children and approaches taken to overcome them

Arokiasamy JT

Asia Pac J Public Health, 1990;4(1):65-71.

PMID: 2223281

Nutritional status of children is an important factor in child survival, especially in developing countries. It is therefore important that nutritional problems are addressed and overcome. This paper reviews the many studies conducted in Malaysia on nutritional problems among children. It also documents the approaches, including intersectoral approaches, that have been taken to overcome these problems. Possible actions that have to be taken in the future to further improve the nutritional status of Malaysian children are discussed.

Caregiving burden is associated with short rather than long duration of care for older persons

Zainuddin J, Arokiasamy JT, Poi PJ

Asia Pac J Public Health, 2003;15(2):88-93.

PMID: 15038681 DOI: 10.1177/101053950301500203

This is a preliminary cross-sectional study of 51 caregivers of older persons attending the Geriatric Clinic at an urban hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A questionnaire helped determine how the duration of caregiving affects the outcome of caregiver burden. The short version of Zarit's Burden Interview (BI) allowed the burden level to be grouped as low or high burden. The duration of caregiving was also grouped into short (two or less years) or long (more than two years) durations. One third of the caregivers, 31% (16 out of 51) reported high burden and within this group 81%, (13 out of 16) are short duration caregivers. Majority of the longer duration caregivers, 88% (21 out of 24) reported low level of burden. This was a significant finding (p-value 0.008). The study also showed that a higher proportion of caregivers are employed, working in the private sector, and earn less than RM2,000 per month. However, these findings were not significantly associated with high burden. It is concluded that although this study showed low level of caregiver burden, shorter duration of caregiving is associated with higher level of burden and longer duration of caregiving is associated with lower level of burden.
Study site: Geriatric clinic, University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Fulltext Prevalence of self-reported tuberculosis, knowledge about tuberculosis transmission and its determinants among adults in India: results from a nation-wide cross-sectional household survey

Sreeramareddy CT, Harsha Kumar HN, Arokiasamy JT

BMC Infect Dis, 2013;13:16.

PMID: 23324535 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2334-13-16

BACKGROUND: Knowledge about symptoms and transmission of tuberculosis determines health seeking behavior and helps in prevention of tuberculosis transmission in the community. Such data is useful for policy makers to formulate information, education and communication strategies for tuberculosis control.
METHODS: A secondary data analysis of India demographic and health survey, 2005/6 was carried out. Questions about self-reported tuberculosis, transmission and curability of tuberculosis were analysed. Correct knowledge (without misconceptions) about tuberculosis transmission was used as a dependant variable and the explanatory variables tested were: demographic data, education, wealth quintiles, frequency of exposure to media and the curability of tuberculosis. Determinants of correct knowledge without misconceptions were tested by univariate and multivariate analyses using national weighting factor to adjust for complex sampling design.
RESULTS: A total of 109,070 households (response rate of 93.5%) and 198,718 participants (response rate of 91.6%) completed the survey. The samples of men and women interviewed were 74,360 and 124,358 respectively. Prevalence rate of self-reported tuberculosis was 445 per 100,000 usual household residents and 4.60 per 1,000 participants. The number of respondents who had "heard of an illness called tuberculosis" was 177,423 (89.3%). Of these 47,487 (26.8%) participants did not know and 55.5% knew about the correct mode of tuberculosis transmission i.e. "Through the air when coughing or sneezing". The common misconceptions about transmission were "Through food" (32.4%), "Sharing utensils" (18.2%), and "Touching a person with tuberculosis" (12.3%). Only 52,617 (29.7%) participants had correct knowledge without misconceptions. Being male (aOR 1.17, 95% CIs 1.14, 1.21), being a Hindu (aOR 1.20, 95% CIs 1.14, 1.26) or Muslim (aOR 1.26, 95% CIs 1.18, 1.34), listening to radio (aOR 1.08, 95% CIs 1.04, 1.13) and "Tuberculosis can be cured" (aOR 1.47, 95% CIs 1.41, 1.53) were associated with correct knowledge without misconceptions.
CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge about tuberculosis transmission is very poor and misconceptions still exist. Among the traditional mass media, the frequency of listening to radio was associated with correct knowledge about tuberculosis transmission. Strategies to deliver information, education and communication campaigns could be improved.

Fulltext Exploration of risk taking behaviors and perceived susceptibility of colorectal cancer among Malaysian adults: a community based cross-sectional study

Al-Dubai SA, Ganasegeran K, Alabsi AM, Shah SA, Razali FM, Arokiasamy JT

BMC Public Health, 2013 Oct 07;13:930.

PMID: 24093502 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-930

BACKGROUND: Perceived susceptibility to an illness has been shown to affect Health-risk behavior. The objective of the present study was to determine the risk taking behaviors and the demographic predictors of perceived susceptibility to colorectal cancer in a population-based sample.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 305 Malaysian adults in six major districts, selected from urban, semi-urban, and rural settings in one state in Malaysia. A self-administered questionnaire was used in this study. It was comprised of socio-demographics, risk-taking behaviors, and validated domains of the Health Belief Model (HBM).

RESULTS: The mean (± SD) age of the respondents was 34.5 (± 9.6) and the majority (59.0%) of them were 30 years or older. Almost 20.7% of the respondents felt they were susceptible to colorectal cancer. Self-reported perceived susceptibility mirrored unsatisfactory screening behaviors owing to the lack of doctors' recommendation, ignorance of screening modalities, procrastination, and the perception that screening was unnecessary. Factors significantly associated with perceived susceptibility to colorectal cancer were gender (OR = 1.8, 95% CI 1.0-3.3), age (OR = 2. 2, 95% CI 1.2-4.0), ethnicity (OR = 0. 3, 95% CI 0.2-0.6), family history of colorectal cancer (OR = 3. 2, 95% CI 1.4-7.4) and alcohol intake (OR = 3.9, 95% CI 2.1-7.5).

CONCLUSION: The present study revealed that screening behavior among respondents was unsatisfactory. Hence, awareness of the importance of screening to prevent colorectal cancers is imperative.

Fulltext Industrialization and urbanization--the impact on health: the experience of Peninsular Malaysia

Arokiasamy JT

J Hum Ergol (Tokyo), 1990 Dec;19(2):201-12.

PMID: 2130092 DOI: 10.11183/jhe1972.19.201

Fulltext Duplicate publication: a joint statement from the Singapore Medical Journal and the Medical Journal of Malaysia

Peh WC, Arokiasamy JT

Singapore Med J, 2007 Dec;48(12):1067-8.

PMID: 18043832 MyJurnal

Fulltext Prevalence, distribution and correlates of tobacco smoking and chewing in Nepal: a secondary data analysis of Nepal Demographic and Health Survey-2006

Sreeramareddy CT, Ramakrishnareddy N, Harsha Kumar H, Sathian B, Arokiasamy JT

Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy, 2011;6:33.

PMID: 22185233 DOI: 10.1186/1747-597X-6-33

BACKGROUND: Nearly four-fifths of estimated 1.1 million smokers live in low or middle-income countries. We aimed to provide national estimates for Nepal on tobacco use prevalence, its distribution across demographic, socio-economic and spatial variables and correlates of tobacco use.
METHODS: A secondary data analysis of 2006 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) was done. A representative sample of 9,036 households was selected by two-stage stratified, probability proportional to size (PPS) technique. We constructed three outcome variables 'tobacco smoke', 'tobacco chewer' and 'any tobacco use' based on four questions about tobacco use that were asked in DHS questionnaires. Socio-economic, demographic and spatial predictor variables were used. We computed overall prevalence for 'tobacco smoking', 'tobacco chewing' and 'any tobacco use' i.e. point estimates of prevalence rates, 95% confidence intervals (CIs) after adjustment for strata and clustering at primary sampling unit (PSU) level. For correlates of tobacco use, we used multivariate analysis to calculate adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and their 95% CIs. A p-value < 0.05 was considered as significant.
RESULTS: Total number of households, eligible women and men interviewed was 8707, 10793 and 4397 respectively. The overall prevalence for 'any tobacco use', 'tobacco smoking' and 'tobacco chewing' were 30.3% (95% CI 28.9, 31.7), 20.7% (95% CI 19.5, 22.0) and 14.6% (95% CI 13.5, 15.7) respectively. Prevalence among men was significantly higher than women for 'any tobacco use' (56.5% versus 19.6%), 'tobacco smoking' (32.8% versus 15.8%) and 'tobacco chewing' (38.0% versus 5.0%). By multivariate analysis, older adults, men, lesser educated and those with lower wealth quintiles were more likely to be using all forms of tobacco. Divorced, separated, and widowed were more likely to smoke (OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.14, 1.94) and chew tobacco (OR 1.36, 95% CI 0.97, 1.93) as compared to those who were currently married. Prevalence of 'tobacco chewing' was higher in eastern region (19.7%) and terai/plains (16.2%). 'Tobacco smoking' and 'any tobacco use' were higher in rural areas, mid-western and far western and mountainous areas.
CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of tobacco use is considerably high among Nepalese people. Demographic and socioeconomic determinants and spatial distribution should be considered while planning tobacco control interventions.

A cohort study of health care workers to assess nosocomial transmissibility of Nipah virus, Malaysia, 1999

Mounts AW, Kaur H, Parashar UD, Ksiazek TG, Cannon D, Arokiasamy JT, et al.

J Infect Dis, 2001 Mar 1;183(5):810-3.

PMID: 11181159 DOI: 10.1086/318822

During 1998-1999, an outbreak of Nipah virus encephalitis occurred in Malaysia. To assess the possibility of nosocomial transmission, 338 health care workers (HCWs) exposed and 288 HCWs unexposed to outbreak-related patients were surveyed, and their serum samples were tested for anti-Nipah virus antibody. Needlestick injuries were reported by 12 (3%) HCWs, mucosal surface exposure to body fluids by 39 (11%), and skin exposure to body fluids by 89 (25%). No encephalitis occurred in either group. Three exposed and no unexposed HCWs tested positive by EIA for IgG antibodies. It is likely that these 3 were false positives; no IgM response occurred, and the serum samples were negative for anti-Nipah virus neutralizing antibodies. The risk of nosocomial transmission of Nipah virus appears to be low; however, given the high case-fatality rate and the presence of virus in respiratory secretions and urine of some patients, standard and droplet infection-control practices should be maintained with these patients.

Fulltext Looking beyond a seven billion population -- excitement or trepidations?

Arokiasamy JT

Med J Malaysia, 2011 Oct;66(4):286-7.

PMID: 22299543

Fulltext Singapore Declaration on equitable access to health information in the Western Pacific Region

Arokiasamy JT

Med J Malaysia, 2009 Dec;64(4):264-5.

PMID: 20954548

As part of an initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) to establish a virtual Global Health Library, the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific has developed the Western Pacific Regional Index Medicus, or WPRIM, to facilitate the sharing, exchange and management of health knowledge. It is recognized that articles in peer-reviewed journals contain information that is essential for health services, health sciences, health policy and public health promotion. The need to access research publications from work done in the various countries of the Region has resulted in each country’s National Journal Selection Committee screening their journals using certain minimum criteria. Those selected are recommended to be part of the WPRIM.

Fulltext Malaysia's ageing population: challenges in the new millennium

Arokiasamy JT

Med J Malaysia, 1999 Dec;54(4):429-32.

PMID: 11072458

Medical schools in Malaysia--meeting the future

Jalaludin MA, Arokiasamy JT

Med J Malaysia, 2002 Dec;57 Suppl E:3-4.

PMID: 12733183

Fulltext Social problems and care of the elderly

Arokiasamy JT

Med J Malaysia, 1997 Sep;52(3):231-7.

PMID: 10968091

Several countries of Asia, including Malaysia, have in recent years experienced spectacular economic growth and social change. This, together with declining fertility
rates and mortality rates, and accompanying increased
expectation of life at birth have resulted in rapid population ageing of these countries. However, relative
to the developed countries, where fertility and mortality declines, and improvements in social and economic conditions have evolved gradually over a period of a century, these phenomena in the developing countries of Southeast Asia are evolving in a much shorter time period aided by the availability of medical and technological advances and interventions that can prevent deaths and births and prolong the duration of disability free years of life. This poses a challenge to countries like Malaysia who have to cope with the ageing phenomenon with limited resources that are available. The elderly are a heterogeneous group who are affected by both health and non health factors. The latter are largely social factors related to health that contribute to social problems faced by the elderly. This paper addresses these before looking at the care of the elderly.

Fulltext Malaysia's ageing issues

Arokiasamy JT

Med J Malaysia, 1997 Sep;52(3):197-201.

PMID: 10968084

Accidental poisoning: selected aspects of its epidemiology and prevention

Arokiasamy JT

Med J Malaysia, 1994 Jun;49(2):109-12.

PMID: 8090087

http://www.e-mjm.org/1994/v49n2/Accidental_Poisoning.pdf

Fulltext Microbial diseases in Malaysia: recent experiences

Arokiasamy JT

Med J Malaysia, 1996 Mar;51(1):4-11.

PMID: 10967972

Microbial diseases continue to occur in Malaysia despite the marked socio-economic development that has been taking place in the country along with improvements in the medical, health, and environmental sectors. This paper highlights the continuing presence of the numerous microbial diseases including the emergence of new problems such as AIDS. Local publications dealing with work on several microbial diseases is reviewed to show that this group of diseases will pose challenges for a long while. Undoubtedly several other diseases that were relatively unrecognised in the past are increasingly being identified owing to recent availability of diagnostic facilities and equipments. The need for continued vigilance is emphasised.

Fulltext The prevalence, nature and severity of disabilities in a Malaysian community

Chen PCY, Arokiasamy JT, Gan CY

Med J Malaysia, 1983 Sep;38(3):206-11.

PMID: 6231457

Fulltext Attitudes of 110 married men towards family planning

Arokiasamy JT

Med J Malaysia, 1980 Sep;35(1):22-7.

PMID: 7253993

This is a study of 110 married men as to their attitudes to family planning. Most of the respondents approved of family planning. There is a reluctance to plan families before the first child. more among the Malays than among the Indians. Majority of the respondents [81%] have discussed family planning with their wives, and are also willing to allow their wives to practise family planning. Induced abortion is not favoured by the respondents especially the Malays. Only half the respondents are practising family planning and it appears that the better educated approve as well as practise family planning more than those with less education. A large proportion [89%] of respondents are interested in learning more about family planning.
Study site: Army Garrison Hospital, Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

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