Introduction: Loneliness is a major social problem among the elderly that has gone through almost all countries in the world. Even though loneliness is seen as the health-threatening but, the loneliness assessment is still marginal- ized in routine medical check-up for every senior citizen. Methods: This is a sequential explanatory mixed-method study with a cross-sectional community survey was conducted among 380 community residence elderly followed by in-depth interview among eight respondents. This study aims to measure the loneliness and to explore loneliness experienced by older adults. Data were collected using the short form of Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults (SELSA-S) and data were analysed using SPSS (version 23.0) for windows. In the qualitative study, eight re- spondents were interviewed face-to-face and data were analysed using thematic analysis Braun and Clarke (2006). Results: The results revealed that 37.2% of respondents had loneliness. Bivariate analyses showed the age, level of education and marital status were significantly associated with loneliness. The results of multiple logistic regression discovered gender (OR=1.75,95%CI:1.04-2.93; p=0.03) and marital status (OR=2.24,95%CI: 1.33-3.77;p= 0.002) were a significant predictor of loneliness. In a qualitative study, the result showed two main themes were recorded as causes of loneliness among the elderly are ‘changing the lifestyles’ and ‘ineffective communications. The sub-themes included ‘loss of someone who significant’, ‘limited physical mobility’, ‘all alone’ and ‘no support’. Conclusion: The issue of loneliness needs critically to be addressed even though Malaysia has not reached the ‘aging population’, but the loneliness prevalence experienced by the older adult has similarities with other countries that have attained that status.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric diagnosis made when someone including children who experiences traumatic stressor. Those who are exposed to a more severe trauma have highest level of PTSD. The aim of this study was to measure the prevalence of PTSD and its associated factors among 219 children who were affected by a form of natural disaster which is the tsunami waves in a rural area in Malaysia. A cross sectional study was carried out among children aged 10-12 years 6 months after the traumatic event. Child Posttraumatic Stress Disorder –Reaction Index (CPTSD-RI) was used as a screening instrument which was answered by the affected children through a self-administered questionnaire. Forty six percent of these children had PTSD symptoms; 31.1% of these children had mild, 11.4% had moderate, 3.7% had severe PTSD and none had very severe PTSD. Result also showed that 91.8% had re-experiencing symptoms, 28.3% had numbing/avoidance symptoms and 49.3% had hyperarousal symptoms. Children with low social support (Adj OR = 2.3 (95% CI: = 1.3- 4.2)), and children who experienced deaths among someone close to them (Adj OR = 3.7 (95% CI =1.2 - 11.5)) were more likely to have symptoms of PTSD. This showed that children are at higher risk of developing PTSD as early as 6 months after the event and thus early intervention should be offered to them. Future longitudinal study can be carried out among affected children to assess whether these PTSD symptoms persist over time.