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Fulltext Awareness, Knowledge, Attitude and Preventive Practice of Leptospirosis Among Healthy Malaysian and Non-Malaysian Wet Market Workers in Selected Urban Areas in Selangor, Malaysia

Samsudin S, Saudi SNS, Masri NS, Ithnin NR, T Z M T J, Hamat RA, et al.

Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2020 02 19;17(4).
PMID: 32093098 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17041346

Leptospirosis has been reported as an endemic in most tropical countries. Among high risk occupations, leptospirosis includes workers in agriculture and domestic animal industries. Environmental hygiene in the wet market has established a link between the presence of rodents with probability of leptospirosis infection. This study was aimed to compare the level of knowledge, attitude and preventive practice against leptospirosis between healthy Malaysian and non-Malaysian wet market workers in selected wet markets in urban areas of Selangor. A cross-sectional study in the determined area was conducted with the participation of 147 respondents. The respondents were randomly chosen from the list provided by the state agency that regulates these markets. A self-administered bilingual validated questionnaire (English and Bahasa Melayu) was distributed to the selected respondents. There were 68 (48.3%) Malaysian respondents and 79 (53.7%) non-Malaysian respondents. The majority of them were males, who attained formal education and were less than 40 years old. Meanwhile, the respondents earned less than RM3000. Among the Malaysian respondents, 80.9% were aware of leptospirosis as compared to 17.7% of the non-Malaysian colleagues (p < 0.05). All items of knowledge showed that the Malaysian respondents scored higher as compared to non-Malaysian respondents. On attitude towards infection prevention, most Malaysian respondents had a positive attitude, while most non-Malaysian respondents had undecided perception on the majority of crucial attitude items. In practicing preventive measures, there was a marked significant difference in proportion between Malaysian and non-Malaysian respondents for items on "Specific Protection and Isolation at Source." There was a significant gap on knowledge, attitude and preventive practice among Malaysian workers as compared to non-Malaysian workers. Therefore, it was highly recommended the health promotion implementation should also provide specific focus on non-Malaysian workers.
Fulltext Vitamin D deficiency in Malaysian adolescents aged 13 years: findings from the Malaysian Health and Adolescents Longitudinal Research Team study (MyHeARTs)

Al-Sadat N, Majid HA, Sim PY, Su TT, Dahlui M, Abu Bakar MF, et al.

BMJ Open, 2016 08 18;6(8):e010689.
PMID: 27540095 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010689

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (<37.5 nmol/L) among young adolescents in Malaysia and its association with demographic characteristics, anthropometric measures and physical activity.
DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional study among Form 1 (year 7) students from 15 schools selected using a stratified random sampling design. Information regarding sociodemographic characteristics, clinical data and environmental factors was collected and blood samples were taken for total vitamin D. Descriptive and multivariable logistic regression was performed on the data.
SETTING: National secondary schools in Peninsular Malaysia.
PARTICIPANTS: 1361 students (mean age 12.9±0.3 years) (61.4% girls) completed the consent forms and participated in this study. Students with a chronic health condition and/or who could not understand the questionnaires due to lack of literacy were excluded.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Vitamin D status was determined through measurement of sera 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D). Body mass index (BMI) was classified according to International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) criteria. Self-reported physical activity levels were assessed using the validated Malay version of the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C).
RESULTS: Deficiency in vitamin D was seen in 78.9% of the participants. The deficiency was significantly higher in girls (92.6%, p<0.001), Indian adolescents (88.6%, p<0.001) and urban-living adolescents (88.8%, p<0.001). Females (OR=8.98; 95% CI 6.48 to 12.45), adolescents with wider waist circumference (OR=2.64; 95% CI 1.65 to 4.25) and in urban areas had higher risks (OR=3.57; 95% CI 2.54 to 5.02) of being vitamin D deficient.
CONCLUSIONS: The study shows a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among young adolescents. Main risk factors are gender, ethnicity, place of residence and obesity.

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