The large population of human congestion in Makkah during Hajj would promote contagious diseases. Thus, the pilgrims require health care services that are efficient, effective, and high quality. The aim of this study is to determine the type of health-related problems among Malaysian pilgrims and to identify the health care services required by them during Hajj in Makkah. A cross-sectional study was conducted in which involved 379 Malaysian pilgrims in 2013/14234H. The survey was conducted after the pilgrims completed their Hajj ritual. A total of 400 sets of questionnaires were distributed at Abraj Janadriyah Hotel, which was occupied by more than 3000 Malaysian pilgrims. The response rate for this survey was 93%. Male respondents were constituted of 49.6% and female respondents were 50.4% with the mean age 52 years old. The underlying disease among Malaysian pilgrims during Hajj was respiratory disease (77.5%). The demands for health personnel (36.1%) and quality medication (34.7%) are among the important healthcare services required by the Malaysian pilgrims in Makkah. Respiratory disease is a common disease experienced by Malaysian pilgrims in Makkah. A certain types of services such as health personnel and quality medicine are strongly demanded by the Malaysian pilgrims to overcome their health problem during Hajj. This research provides a fundamental input to the health care providers, and also benefited the Hajj management authority to improve the quality of hajj management in future.
Hajj and ‘Umrah pilgrimage are a huge congregation performed by Muslims in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. The pilgrimage causes overcrowding and congestion that can lead to a high risk of health problems, especially when pilgrims have health problems. The purpose of this study is to assess the reliability of EQ-5D as a measuring tool to capture the health status of the pilgrims. Data collection was done during Ramadhan’s ‘Umrah in 2014. In this cross-sectional study, a total of 300 self-administered questionnaires attached with the EQ-5D-5L questions were distributed to Malaysian ‘Umrah pilgrims in Makkah and willing to participate in the study. The outcomes from the questionnaires and EQ-5D-5L were systematically analysed by using the SPSS software. The response rate was 64%, involved female (53%) and male (47%) respondents with the mean age of 55 years old. Hypertension (21.5%) and diabetes (16.2%) were the commonest underlying health problems suffered by the respondents in this study. Based on the EQ-5D outcomes, 53.3% of the respondents had no problem in their movement. However, the mean of EQ-VAS (visual analogue scale) presented 83 out of 100 scaling point, which means they might have problems in their health status. In addition, this study revealed, respondents with underlying illnesses had difficulty in some dimensions in EQ-5D. Hypertension was identified as the commonest underlying disease amongst the pilgrims. A contradicted outcome from the objective and subjective measuring scales of EQ-5D and EQ-VAS respectively; presented its sensitivity of EuroQol as a measuring tool for the quality of life among pilgrims living within such congestion.