Introduction: Evaluation of mental health literacy is important in assisting the development of intervention and policies toward preventing mental health problems. This study aims to explore mental health literacy and its socio- demographic predictors in a group of housewives living in low-cost apartments in Selangor, Malaysia. Methods: A Malay version of the self-administered Mental Health Literacy Scale (MHLS) was used in this cross-sectional study. Age, ethnicity, religion, educational level and family income were tested using one-way ANOVA and independent t-test. Result: A total of 103 eligible respondents participated in the study. Most respondents were from the age group of 30 and above, from the Malay ethnic group, Muslims, had formal education up to secondary level with a monthly family income below RM4000 (USD980). The overall mean (sd) mental health literacy score was low 106.65 (11.21) and was significantly associated with ethnicity, religion, educational level and family income (p>0.05). Conclusion: Mental health literacy scores were low and showed variations within sociodemographic groups.
Introduction: Sustained optimal adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is required for long-term suppression of vi- ral replication. However, adherence level in Jos, Nigeria has been reported to be below optimal adherence, thus this study investigates the predictors of adherence to antiretroviral therapy among Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) patients there. Methods: A validated and pretested questionnaire was used in this cross-sectional study to collect data on sociodemographic characteristics, duration of being on ART, alcohol consumption, presence of symptoms, drug type and disclosure status from 224 randomly selected adult HIV patients. Chi-square and binary logistics re- gression were used for data analysis. Level of significance was set at 0.05. Results: Only 14.3% of the respondents had optimal adherence. Adherence to ART is significantly associated with gender (p = 0.043), duration of ART use (p = 0.041), alcohol (p = 0.029), drug type (p = 0.001), and disclosure status (p = 0.004). Binary logistics regression reveals that females are 2.4 times more likely to have optimal adherence than males, patients on ART for over 10 years are 2.5 times more likely to have optimal adherence than those less than 10 years, and patients with disclosed HIV status are 3.3 times more likely to have optimal adherence than those who had not. Conclusion: Generally, the patients had suboptimal adherence. Being female, having longer duration on ART and disclosure status are predictors for optimal adherence. Intervention with emphasis on males and new patients on ART is recommended to educate on optimal adherence and motivate patients to disclose their status.