Background: A cross sectional study was carried out to identify the level and factors associated with patients’ satisfaction in antenatal clinic at Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Methods: A total of 150 respondents were selected by using convenience sampling method. Data was collected via structured questionnaire with face to face interview. The obtained data was analyzed by using SPSS version 11.5.
Results: Majority of the respondents were Malay (72%), while Chinese (18%) and Indian (10%).
Age of the respondents around 19 to 40 years old with tertiary education level (50.7%) and most of them are working (76.4%). More than half of the respondents were satisfied with the service that they received (56.7%), while the others (43.3%) not satisfied. Generally, most of the respondents were satisfied with interpersonal aspects from the staff (62%), technical quality of the doctors (79.3%), efficacy (78%), availability (50.7%), and the financial aspect (70%). Meanwhile, the respondents were not satisfied with the several aspects i.e. accessibility (61.3%), convenience (51.3%), and continuity of care (81.3%). In bivariate analysis, the result of this study showed that there were only two factors significantly related with level of satisfaction (p
Study site: Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM)
Background : A cross-sectional survey was carried out in December 2007 to compare the healthrelated quality of life (HRQoL) of stroke survivors with that of general Malaysian population.
Methodology : Stroke patients were recruited from two community-based rehabilitation centres in Selangor. HRQoL was assessed using Medical Outcome 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36).
Result : A total of 61 patients (34 males and 27 females) were interviewed. Majority were Chinese (85%) and a small percentage were Malays (15%). 82% (n=50) were elderly of 60 years and above, and the remaining 18% (n=11) were younger patients. 64% had stroke for one year and more, and 36% were less than a year post-stroke. All subjects were community-dwellers and lived with their families. The result showed that with the exception of bodily pain, the mean score of all SF-36 health domains of stroke patients were lower than that of the general population. The greatest difference was in role physical, followed by physical functioning. Female patients demonstrated higher score than the males in all SF-36 domains, in particular general health (57.2 vs 70.3, p=0.01) and social functioning (52.2 vs 73.1, p=0.00). There were no differences of HRQoL domains after comparison according to poststroke duration (all p>0.05).
Conclusion : HRQoL of stroke survivors is lower than that of Malaysian general population in all SF-36 health domains, with the exception of bodily pain.
Functional recovery in the immediate post stroke period predicts the long-term prognosis of post stroke patients. Despite the advancement in stroke rehabilitation in improving the physical function of survivors, there are other factors that may influence functional recovery. We aimed to assess the functional recovery of ischaemic stroke patients attending a tertiary hospital and its associated factors in order to make recommendations for post stroke care after hospital admission. A three months prospective observational study looking at functional recovery using the Modified Barthel’s Index (MBI) and depression (Patient Heath Questionnaire-9) score of post stroke patients. There were 46 ischaemic stroke patients who were recruited for the study. At three months, only 37 patients were eligible for analysis. The mean age was 67.2 (SD 11) years with the Malays (50%) making up the majority of the patients, followed by Chinese (41.3%) and Indians (8.7%). There was a total of seven (15.2%) deaths. Hypertension was the most common risk factor (89.1%) followed by dyslipidaemia (65.2%) and diabetes mellitus (63.0%). The mean MBI difference was 45.2 (SD 27.0) with a median MBI of 17.0(IQR 33.0) at baseline compared to 85.0(IQR 42.0) at three months (p < 0.001, CI 35.98,55.45). The prevalence of depression (PHQ-9≥10) was 21.6%. Lower functional recovery was found among depressed patients (p
Introduction : Limited access to health services, variations in quality of health care and pressure to contain escalation of health care cost are problems in health care systems that are faced by all the societies in the world especially in developing countries. There is an urgent need to conduct a study to assess perception of individual towards health care services in the new planned National Healthcare Financing Scheme.
Objective : The study objective is to examine the perception towards health care services among the farming community and to assess the willingness to contribute to The New National Health Financing Scheme.
Methods : A cross sectional study involving farmers in the state of Selangor in Peninsular Malaysia was conducted. A total of 400 farmers as the household head were selected using multistage random sampling method.
Results : The respondents’ mean score of perception towards public healthcare services were higher than the respondents’ mean score of perceptions towards private healthcare services except for accessibility and convenience aspects. There was no association between willingness to contribute to The New National Healthcare Financing Scheme and perception towards public healthcare services but there was association between willingness to contribute to The New National Healthcare Financing Scheme and perception towards private healthcare services.
Conclusion : Perception towards healthcare services is an important element in the implementation of The New National Healthcare Financing Scheme as it will determine the willingness of an individual to contribute to it.
Background : Miscarriage is a common problem in pregnancy which can occur during early, mid or late pregnancy. Incomplete miscarriage can be treated expectantly, medically or surgically. The most preferred method used in UKMMC is using sharp curettage.
Methodology : This study is conducted in the UKMMC from 1st January 2010 to 30th March 2010. The purpose of this study is to analyze the cost of treating incomplete miscarriage using metal sharp curettage from the provider’s perspective per patient-day.
Result : A total of 17 samples were eligible for analysis from 46 patients who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The cost is derived from cost calculation on capital and recurrent costs. Results showed that the average cost for treating incomplete miscarriage using sharp curettage per day is RM252.56. Recurrent costs contributed 83.3% of the total treatment with overhead cost was the biggest percentage (51.6%). Discussion The treatment cost for incomplete miscarriage using sharp curettage is found to be higher as compared to medical approach according to literatures. The higher cost of surgical approach was mainly attributed to the recurrent cost which is included in the calculation.
Conclusion : Effective usage of the operation theatre and all resources should be managed and utilized well in order to achieve optimum outcome.
Introduction: In view of high healthcare expenditure, Malaysia also faces problems in healthcare financing. The policy option is to establish a national health financing scheme. However, it is a problem to develop mechanisms to cover social insurance package to more than one third of the population working in informal sector such as farmers. Therefore, there is an urgent need to assess the ability and willingness of the farming community. The main objective was to study the ability and willingness in the farming community to contribute to national healthcare financing scheme.
Methodology: This a cross sectional study involved 400 farmers in Selangor. A total of 92.3% farmers were able to pay for the healthcare.
Results: Willingness to contribute to The national healthcare financing scheme were RM2.00 per month.
Conclusion: The education level influenced the ability to pay while the educational level and per capita income influenced willingness to pay.
Background: A randomised clinical trial was carried out to study the cost-effectiveness of continuous venovenous hemofiltration using high volume and standard volume.
Methods: Study was done through interviews involving patients or their relatives and document review on patients’ treatment and progress note during the hemofiltration therapy in the Intensive Care Unit, Hospital University Kebangsaan Malaysia. Study also involved secondary data analysis and a structured questionnaire survey to assess the treatment and medical cost incurred by the hospital during the continuous venovenous hemofiltration therapy.
Results: The result of this study showed that the continuous venovenous hemofiltration given at high volume 4-6 litres/hour is more cost effective than standard volume of 2 litres/hour. The Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score reduction in the high volume hemofiltration is 3.0 units over 24 hours. This reduction is higher than the standard volume hemofiltration which is only 0.5 unit over 24 hours.
Conclusions: High volume hemofiltration is more cost effective than standard volume therapy, where only RM 5,552 compared to RM 23,512 is needed for every one unit of SOFA score reduction respectively.
Helicobacter pylori has been implicated as an aetiologic agent for type B chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer and gastric cancer. It is considered the most common bacterial infection in the world with approximately 50% of the population being infected. The majority of infected individuals are asymptomatic, with some developing gastritis only. However, chronic infection with H. pylori without antibiotic treatment predisposes infected individuals to the development of gastric cancer. The aim of this study is to determine active H. pylori infection among patients with symptoms of dyspepsia using three combinations of diagnostic methods. In this report, we studied 1,376 consecutive patients who underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Center (UKMMC) for dyspepsia from the period January 1999 to December 2002. The classification of patient’s diagnosis was assessed by endoscopic and histological examination. The H. pylori status was determined by rapid urease test, histological examination or H. pylori culture. Presence of H. pylori infection was confirmed in 30.8% of patients with dyspepsia. H. pylori infection was more prevalent in older patients and in males compared to females. Patients with severe gastroduodenal diseases were more commonly infected with H. pylori. There was a significant difference in H. pylori prevalence among the different ethnic groups. Indians had the highest infection rate (45.4%), followed by Chinese (36.8%) and the lowest were seen in Malays (18.3%). This finding on determination of active H. pylori infection among patients with dyspepsia is consistent with serological studies that showed racial differences in H. pylori prevalence. However, the pattern of H. pylori infection does not reflect the prevalence of severe gastroduodenal diseases among different ethnic groups.
Background : Two of the most common indicators of institutional healthcare quality are Hospital Accreditation Status and Patient Satisfaction. However, the relationship between them is not well understood. In Malaysia, only 20.48% hospitals have been accredited. This is very much less compared to hospitals in America, Europe, Australia and certain Asian countries whereby 90% of their hospitals have already been accredited.
Objective : The objective of this study was to compare the extent to which a patient’s satisfaction is related to hospital accreditation status, to examine the relationship between patient satisfaction and hospital work load and to determine factors that influence patients’ satisfaction.
Methodology : A cross-sectional study was conducted whereby 150 patients from each accredited and non-accredited hospital involved in this study group giving a total of 300 samples. `SERVQUAL’ instrument was used in this study. Patients were interviewed at 2 different times - during admission and upon discharge.
Result : Results showed 34.7% patients were satisfied with services in accredited hospital and 30.6% patients were satisfied with services in non-accredited hospital. `Corporate Culture’ component showed the lowest satisfaction score among the entire dimension in both categories hospitals. Patient satisfaction was noted to be reduced with increase in hospital work load. Other factors which significantly influence patient satisfaction include level of education, employment status and patient income. There was no significant difference in patient satisfaction between accredited and non-accredited hospital in all dimension measured.
Conclusion : Therefore there is no difference of patients’ satisfaction with regards to services provided by accredited and non-accredited hospitals.
Background: A randomised single blinded clinical trial comparing the effectiveness of two methods of cataract surgery with intraocular lens implantation: extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE) and phacoemulsification (PEA) was carried out at Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (HUKM) between March 2000 and August 2001. Methods: The effectiveness of cataract surgery was assessed from the quality of life specifically for vision via Visual Function 14 (VF-14) preoperatively, one week, two months and six months after surgery. Results: The result showed that there was a significant increased in VF-14 scores after a week, two months and six months postoperation compared to the score before surgery for both techniques. However there was no significant difference in VF-14 scores when compared between ECCE and PEA. Conclusions: This study indicated that both techniques give equal benefit to cataract patients. Since effectiveness of cataract surgery with intraocular lens implantation is unrelated to operative procedures, less costly technique should be promoted.
Introduction : Diabetes mellitus is recognized as a major public health problem worldwide. The burden of diabetes to society are morbidity, mortality and extensive usage of health care services.
Methodology : This study aimed to determine the provider’s cost in treating diabetic foot patient per day in orthopaedic ward, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC) in year 2006. Result : A total of 54 patients fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria, only 29 were eligible for analysis. The cost of health care providers derived from cost calculation on capital and recurrent costs. Results showed that the average cost for treating diabetic foot patient per day is RM 634.57. Recurrent costs contributed 75.3% of the total diabetic foot treatment and Intensive Care Unit costs was the biggest percentage (40.5%).
Discussion : The results were comparable with findings by Case-Mix Unit of UKMMC. Treatment cost of diabetic foot is substantial and therefore avoidance of this complication must be emphasized to all diabetic patients.
Hypertension is one of the commonest health problems in Malaysia and its cases are on a rise. In conjunction with the above statement, it is predictable that the cost of healthcare services will further increase in the future. Therefore, cost study is necessary to estimate the health related economic burden of hypertension in Malaysia. A cross sectional study was carried out to quantify the direct treatment cost of hypertension. Three hundred and ninety one hypertensive patients’ data from Bandar Tasik Selatan Primary Medical Centre in year 2010 were collected and analysed. The direct treatment costs were calculated. The result showed that out of 391 hypertensive patients, 12.5% was diagnosed hypertensive without any co-morbidity, 25.3% with 1 co-morbidity dyslipidemia only; 4.3% with diabetes mellitus type 2 only; 0.5% with chronic kidney disease only and none with ischaemic heart disease. Patients with 2 co-morbidities (dyslipidemia and diabetes mellitus type 2) were 42.2%; with 3 co-morbidities (diabetes mellitus type 2, dyslipidemia and chronic kidney disease) was 4.3%. The mean cost of direct treatment of hypertension per visit/ year was RM289.42 ±196.71 with the breakdown costs for each component were medicines 72.2%, salary 14.6%, laboratory tests 5.0%, administration 4.4% and radiology tests 3.8%. Dyslipidemia is by far the commonest co-morbidity among hypertensive patients. Direct costs of treating hypertension are mostly dependent on present of co-morbidity and numbers of drugs used. Thus, the annual budget could be calculated precisely in the future especially for drugs.