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  1. von Delft A, Dramowski A, Sifumba Z, Mosidi T, Xun Ting T, von Delft D, et al.
    Clin Infect Dis, 2016 05 15;62 Suppl 3:S275-80.
    PMID: 27118858 DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciw037
    "Occupational MDR-TB"  …  "XDR-TB"  …  "Treatment-induced hearing loss": 3 life-changing messages imparted over the phone. Three personal accounts are shared highlighting the false belief held by many healthcare workers (HCWs) and students in low-resource settings-that they are immune to tuberculosis despite high levels of occupational tuberculosis exposure. This misconception reflects a lack of awareness of tuberculosis transmission and disease risk, compounded by the absence of accurate occupational tuberculosis estimates. As the global problem of drug-resistant (DR) tuberculosis evolves, HCWs are increasingly infected and suffer considerable morbidity and mortality from occupational DR tuberculosis disease. Similarly, healthcare students are emerging as a vulnerable and unprotected group. There is an urgent need for improved detection, vaccines, preventive therapy, treatment, and support for affected HCWs and those they care for, as well as destigmatization of all forms of tuberculosis. Finally, efforts to protect HCWs and prevent DR tuberculosis transmission by universal implementation of tuberculosis infection control measures should be prioritized.
    Matched MeSH terms: Health Personnel*
  2. van der Werf ET, Redmond NM, Turnbull S, Thornton H, Thompson M, Little P, et al.
    Br J Gen Pract, 2019 Apr;69(681):e236-e245.
    PMID: 30858333 DOI: 10.3399/bjgp19X701837
    BACKGROUND: Severity assessments of respiratory tract infection (RTI) in children are known to differ between parents and clinicians, but determinants of perceived severity are unknown.

    AIM: To investigate the (dis)agreement between, and compare the determinants of, parent and clinician severity scores.

    DESIGN AND SETTING: Secondary analysis of data from a prospective cohort study of 8394 children presenting to primary care with acute (≤28 days) cough and RTI.

    METHOD: Data on sociodemographic factors, parent-reported symptoms, clinician-reported findings, and severity assessments were used. Kappa (κ)-statistics were used to investigate (dis) agreement, whereas multivariable logistic regression was used to identify the factors associated with illness severity.

    RESULTS: Parents reported higher illness severity (mean 5.2 [standard deviation (SD) 1.8], median 5 [interquartile range (IQR) 4-7]), than clinicians (mean 3.1 [SD 1.7], median 3 [IQR 2-4], P<0.0001). There was low positive correlation between these scores (+0.43) and poor inter-rater agreement between parents and clinicians (κ 0.049). The number of clinical signs was highly correlated with clinician scores (+0.71). Parent-reported symptoms (in the previous 24 hours) that were independently associated with higher illness severity scores, in order of importance, were: severe fever, severe cough, rapid breathing, severe reduced eating, moderate-to-severe reduced fluid intake, severe disturbed sleep, and change in cry. Three of these symptoms (severe fever, rapid breathing, and change in cry) along with inter/subcostal recession, crackles/crepitations, nasal flaring, wheeze, and drowsiness/irritability were associated with higher clinician scores.

    CONCLUSION: Clinicians and parents use different factors and make different judgements about the severity of children's RTI. Improved understanding of the factors that concern parents could improve parent-clinician communication and consultation outcomes.

    Matched MeSH terms: Attitude of Health Personnel
  3. Zun AB, Ibrahim MI, Mokhtar AM, Halim AS, Wan Mansor WNA
    PMID: 31185665 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16112054
    BACKGROUND: Patient feedback is an important tool in assessing health system quality. The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) was developed in 2006 as a standardized instrument to assess patient perceptions in the United States of America. This study aimed to translate and validate the HCAHPS questionnaire into the Malay language in order to assess patient perceptions of health services in Malaysia.

    METHODS: The original HCAPHS in English was translated into Malay based on the established guideline. The content validation involved an expert panel of 10 members, including patients. The face validation pilot testing of the HCAHPS-Malay version was conducted among 10 discharged patients. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) used principal axis factor, and varimax rotation was established based on a cross-sectional study conducted among 200 discharged patients from Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (Hospital USM).

    RESULTS: The overall content validity index was 0.87, and the universal face validity index was 0.82. From the EFA, the factor loading value ranged from 0.652 to 0.961 within nine domains. The internal consistency reliability with Cronbach's alpha was 0.844.

    CONCLUSION: The HCAHPS-Malay is a reliable and valid tool to determine patients' perception of healthcare services among inpatients in Hospital USM based on the content and face validation result together with a good construct validity and excellent absolute reliability. Further testing on HCAHPS-Malay version in other settings in Malaysia needs to be done for cross-validation.

    Matched MeSH terms: Health Personnel
  4. Zolkefli Y
    Malays J Med Sci, 2018 May;25(3):135-139.
    PMID: 30899195 DOI: 10.21315/mjms2018.25.3.14
    Can a lie be justified if it saves a human life or a community, or if another great evil is avoided? The article proposes that health professionals need not always tell the truth, depending on situation; but, this does not refute the significance of telling the truth. It also elucidates the value of telling the truth, and the challenges for telling the whole truth. Two prominent theories of ethics, Deontological and Consequentialism are deliberated, together with the integration of examples to illustrate main areas of interest.
    Matched MeSH terms: Health Personnel
  5. Zolkefli Y
    Malays J Med Sci, 2021 Apr;28(2):157-160.
    PMID: 33958969 DOI: 10.21315/mjms2021.28.2.14
    People suffering from mental health conditions are often unwilling to reveal their status and this includes health professionals. They may wrestle with the pros and cons of revealing their health status to their employer in particular as they seek to reconcile personal privacy with professional duty. There is no simple, clear consensus as to whether they have a moral duty to share the information voluntarily or explicitly to share it with the employer. Additionally, there is a concern as to whether a degree of non-disclosure is justifiable to protect the privacy of health care professionals in some circumstances. Decisions surrounding the disclosure of a mental health problem are nuanced and may require that competing needs and values be reconciled. Although self-declared mental health status is an intrinsic moral good, the healthcare professional needs to feel confident and ready to come forward.
    Matched MeSH terms: Health Personnel
  6. Zolkefli Y
    Malays J Med Sci, 2020 Dec;27(6):144-147.
    PMID: 33447141 DOI: 10.21315/mjms2020.27.6.13
    We recognise that people lie to health professionals for several reasons. However, these incidents endanger the well-being of the professionals and bring us to the question of whether people have an exclusive moral duty to always profess the truth about their health and other facts, particularly in a pandemic crisis. This review argues that an honest patient is a key to undertaking their roles as health professionals and delivering the best services possible to meet the needs of the patient. Greater awareness and comprehension of the potential ramifications of dishonesty, not only helps establish the moral obligation, to tell the truth, particularly in a pandemic situation, but also translates into a better relationship with health professionals. It also enforces an ethical solidarity on every single of us to show tangible moral response to ensure that those most vulnerable to risks from the pandemic illness such as health professionals are protected as far as possible.
    Matched MeSH terms: Health Personnel
  7. Zhou D, Davitadze M, Ooi E, Ng CY, Allison I, Thomas L, et al.
    Postgrad Med J, 2023 Mar 22;99(1167):25-31.
    PMID: 36947426 DOI: 10.1093/postmj/qgac008
    BACKGROUND: Simulation via Instant Messaging-Birmingham Advance (SIMBA) delivers simulation-based learning through WhatsApp and Zoom, helping to sustain continuing medical education (CME) for postgraduate healthcare professionals otherwise disrupted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This study aimed to assess whether SIMBA helped to improve clinical knowledge and if this improvement in knowledge was sustained over time.

    METHODS: Two SIMBA sessions-thyroid and pituitary-were conducted in July-August 2020. Each session included simulation of various real-life cases and interactive discussion. Participants' self-reported confidence, acceptance, and knowledge were measured using surveys and multiple-choice questions pre- and post-simulation and in a 6- to 12-week follow-up period. The evaluation surveys were designed using Moore's 7 Levels of CME Outcomes Framework.

    RESULTS: A total of 116 participants were included in the analysis. Significant improvement was observed in participants' self-reported confidence in approach to simulated cases (thyroid, n = 37, P 

    Matched MeSH terms: Health Personnel/education
  8. Zhang L, Hussain Z, Ren Z
    Curr Drug Targets, 2019 Feb 14.
    PMID: 30767742 DOI: 10.2174/1389450120666190214141626
    BACKGROUND: Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is a critical brain disorder in which excess cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is accumulated in the brain's ventricles causing damage or disruption of the brain tissues. Amongst various signs and symptoms, difficulty in walking, blurred speech, impaired decision making and critical thinking, and loss of bladder and bowl control are considered the hallmark features of NPH.

    OBJECTIVE: The current review was aimed to present a comprehensive overview and critical appraisal of majorly employed neuroimaging techniques for rational diagnosis and effective monitoring of effectiveness of employed therapeutic intervention for NPH. Moreover, a critical overview of recent developments and utilization of pharmacological agents for treatment of hydrocephalus has also been appraised.

    RESULTS: Considering the complications associated with the shunt-based surgical operations, consistent monitoring of shunting via neuroimaging techniques hold greater clinical significance. Despite having extensive applicability of MRI and CT scan, these conventional neuroimaging techniques are associated with misdiagnosis or several health risks to patients. Recent advances in MRI (i.e., Sagittal-MRI, coronal-MRI, Time-SLIP (time-spatial-labeling-inversion-pulse), PC-MRI and diffusion-tensor-imaging (DTI)) have shown promising applicability in diagnosis of NPH. Having associated with several adverse effects with surgical interventions, non-invasive approaches (pharmacological agents) have earned greater interest of scientists, medical professional, and healthcare providers. Amongst pharmacological agents, diuretics, isosorbide, osmotic agents, carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, glucocorticoids, NSAIDs, digoxin, and gold-198 have been employed for management of NPH and prevention of secondary sensory/intellectual complications.

    CONCLUSION: Employment of rational diagnostic tool and therapeutic modalities avoids misleading diagnosis and sophisticated management of hydrocephalus by efficient reduction of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) production, reduction of fibrotic and inflammatory cascades secondary to meningitis and hemorrhage, and protection of brain from further deterioration.

    Matched MeSH terms: Health Personnel
  9. Zawiah M, Al-Ashwal FY, Saeed RM, Kubas M, Saeed S, Khan AH, et al.
    Front Public Health, 2020;8:419.
    PMID: 32850608 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.00419
    Background: In the past decade, Yemen has witnessed several disasters that resulted in a crumbled healthcare system. With the declaration of COVID-19 a global pandemic, and later the appearance of first confirmed cases in Yemen, there is an urgent need to assess the preparedness of healthcare facilities (HCFs) and their capacities to tackle a looming COVID-19 outbreak. Herein, we present an assessment of the current state of preparedness and capabilities of HCFs in Yemen to prevent and manage the COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: An online survey for HCFs was developed, validated, and distributed. The questionnaire is divided into five main sections: (1) Demographic variables for participants. (2) HCFs capabilities for COVID-19 outbreak. (3) Support received to face the emergence and spread of COVID-19. (4). Current practices of infection prevention and control measures in the HCFs. The last section focused on the recommendations to ensure effective and timely response to this outbreak in Yemen. Descriptive analysis was used to analyze data using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS), version 23. Results: Responses were received from healthcare workers (HCWs) from 18 out of 22 governorates in Yemen. Out of the 296 HCWs who participated in the study, the vast majority (93.9%) believed that the healthcare system in Yemen does not have the resources and capabilities to face and manage a COVID-19 outbreak. Approximately 82.4% of participants rated the general preparedness level of their HCFs as very poor or poor. More specifically, the majority of HCWs rated their HCFs as very poor or poor in term of availability of the following: an adequate number of mechanical ventilators (88.8%), diagnostic devices (88.2%), ICU rooms and beds (81.4%), and isolation rooms (79.7%). Conclusions: The healthcare facilities in Yemen are unprepared and lack the most basic resources and capabilities to cope with or tackle a COVID-19 outbreak. With the current state of a fragile healthcare system, a widespread outbreak of COVID-19 in Yemen could result in devastating consequences. There is an urgent need to provide support to the healthcare workers and HCFs that are on the frontline against COVID-19.
    Matched MeSH terms: Health Personnel*
  10. Zawiah M, Yousef AM, Al-Ashwal FY, Abduljabbar R, Al-Jamei S, Hayat Khan A, et al.
    Pharmacogenet Genomics, 2021 Aug 01;31(6):125-132.
    PMID: 34187984 DOI: 10.1097/FPC.0000000000000430
    BACKGROUND: Pharmacogenetics (PGx) science has evolved significantly with a huge number of studies exploring the effect of genetic variants on interindividual variability of drug response. In this study, we assessed the knowledge, attitudes and preparedness of Pharm-D vs. medical students toward PGx.

    METHOD: A paper-based cross-sectional survey was performed. A pilot-tested questionnaire consisting of 21 questions (demographics 5, knowledge 6, attitude 6, and preparedness 4) was administered to 900 healthcare students at different years of study. Descriptive and inferential analyses were used.

    RESULTS: Out of the 900 students approached, 852 (94.7%) completed the questionnaire. The overall students' mean (SD) percentage knowledge score (PKS) was poor [46.7% (18.7)]. The mean (SD) attitude and preparedness scores for all students were 4.68 (1.32), and 1.9 (1.40), respectively, indicating overall positive attitudes, but low preparedness to apply PGx to clinical care. Pharm-D students' overall PKS was significantly higher than medical students (P 

    Matched MeSH terms: Attitude of Health Personnel
  11. Zanaridah MN, Norhayati MN, Rosnani Z
    BMJ Open, 2021 Jun 01;11(6):e044372.
    PMID: 34078635 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044372
    OBJECTIVES: To determine the level of knowledge and practice of evidence-based medicine (EBM) and the attitudes towards it and to identify the factors associated with its practice among primary care practitioners in Selangor, Malaysia.

    SETTING: This cross-sectional study was conducted in randomly selected health clinics in Selangor. Data were collected from primary care physicians using self-administered questionnaires on knowledge, practice and attitudes regarding EBM.

    PARTICIPANTS: The study included 225 respondents working in either government or private clinics. It excluded house officers and those working in public and private universities or who were retired from practice.

    RESULTS: A total of 32.9% had a high level of EBM knowledge, 12% had a positive attitude towards EBM and 0.4% had a good level of its practice. The factors significantly associated with EBM practice were ethnicity, attitude, length of work experience as a primary care practitioner and quick access to online reference applications on mobile phones.

    CONCLUSIONS: Although many physicians have suboptimal knowledge of EBM and low levels of practising it, majority of them have a neutral attitude towards EBM practice. Extensive experience as a primary care practitioner, quick access to online references on a mobile phone and good attitude towards EBM were associated with its practice.

    Matched MeSH terms: Health Personnel
  12. Zakiah MJ, Nidzwani M, Hanizah N, Affirul CA
    Clin Ter, 2016;167(1):e1-5.
    PMID: 26980635 DOI: 10.7417/T.2016.1911
    The training of emergency medical officers has always been informal. Only recently, the presence of emergency physician may have a positive influence in their training and development. This study aims to determine the effect of Emergency Physician (EP) presence on the training exposure and confidence level of medical officers in their practice.
    Matched MeSH terms: Health Personnel
  13. Zakaria N, Mohd Yusof SA
    J Infect Public Health, 2016 Nov-Dec;9(6):774-780.
    PMID: 27686258 DOI: 10.1016/j.jiph.2016.08.017
    BACKGROUND: Hospital Information Systems (HIS) can improve healthcare outcome quality, increase efficiency, and reduce errors. The government of Malaysia implemented HIS across the country to maximize the use of technology to improve healthcare delivery, however, little is known about the benefits and challenges of HIS adoption in each institution. This paper looks at the technology and people issues in adopting such systems.

    METHODS: The study used a case study approach, using an in-depth interview with multidisciplinary medical team members who were using the system on a daily basis. A thematic analysis using Atlas.ti was employed to understand the complex relations among themes and sub-themes to discover the patterns in the data. .

    RESULTS: Users found the new system increased the efficiency of workflows and saved time. They reported less redundancy of work and improved communication among medical team members. Data retrieval and storage were also mentioned as positive results of the new HIS system. Healthcare workers showed positive attitudes during training and throughout the learning process.

    CONCLUSIONS: From a technological perspective, it was found that medical workers using HIS has better access and data management compared to the previously used manual system. The human issues analysis reveals positive attitudes toward using HIS among the users especially from the physicians' side.
    Matched MeSH terms: Attitude of Health Personnel*
  14. Zakaria N, Zakaria N, Alnobani O, AlMalki M, El-Hassan O, Alhefzi MI, et al.
    Int J Med Inform, 2023 Feb;170:104914.
    PMID: 36521421 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2022.104914
    BACKGROUND: During the past two decades, various sectors and industries have undergone digital transformation. Healthcare is poised to make a full transformation in the near future. Although steps have been taken toward creating an infrastructure for digital health in the Middle East, as it stands, digital health is still an emerging field here. The current global health care crisis has underscoredthe need for digitization of the healthcare sector to provide high-value, high-quality care and knowledge generation. With the advent of digital transformation in countries around the globe, there is a rising demand for investment and innovation in health information technology. With the demand for health informatics (HI) graduates in different disciplines (e.g., healthcare professions, information technology, etc.), there is an urgent need to determine and regulate clear career pathways and the core competencies necessary for digital health professional to practice effectively and to allow technology to add value to the healthcare systems. Given the changing landscape of the profession, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are experiencing a rising demand to produce digital health professionals who can meet the needs of all the stakeholders involved, including patients, healthcare professionals, managers, and policymakers. However, despite the number of region-wide initiatives in the form of training programs, there remains a knowledge-practice gap and unclear job roles within the HI community. In recent years, regional digital health workforce initiatives have been put forward, such as the GCC Taskforce on Workforce Development in Digital Healthcare. The taskforce initiated a survey and several workshops to identify and classify HI disciplines according to the needs of the job market and through comparisons with similar efforts developed across the globe, such as the TIGER project and the EU*US eHealth Work project. Digital health implementation has been flourishing in the Middle East for the past 15 years. During this period, while digital health professions have been thriving in the industry to deliver tools and technologies, academic institutions have offered some amount of training and education in digital health; however, the career pathway for digital health professionals is not clear due to mismatch about the qualifications, skills, competencies and experience needed by the healthcare industry.

    OBJECTIVES: Due to this discrepancy between the academic curriculum and the skills needed in the healthcare industry, the objectives of this study are to define the career pathway for eHealth professions and identify the challenges experienced by academic institutions and the industry in describing digital health professionals.

    METHODS: We elicited qualitative data by conducting six focus groups with individuals from different professional backgrounds, including healthcare workers, information managers, computer sciences professionals, and workers in the revenue cycle who participated in a workshop on November 2-3, 2019, in Dubai. All focus group sessions were audio-recorded and transcribed, and participants were de-identified before analysis. An exploratory method was used to identify themes and subthemes. Saturation was reached when similar responses were found during the analysis. In this study, we found that respondents clearly defined eHealth career pathways based on criteria that included qualifications, experience, job scope, and competency. We also explored the challenges that the respondents encountered, including differences in the required skill sets and training and the need to standardize the academic curriculum across the GCC region, to recognize the various career pathways, and to develop local training programs. Additionally, country-specific projects have been initiated, such as the competency-based Digital Health framework, which was developed by the Saudi Commission of Healthcare Specialties (SCFHS) in 2018. Competency-based digital health frameworks generally include relevant job definitions, roles, and recommended competencies. Both the GCC taskforce and the Saudi studies capitalized on previous efforts by professional organizations, including Canada's Digital Health formerly known as (COACH), the U.S. Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), and the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

    RESULTS: In this study, we found that respondents defined eHealth career pathways based on different criteria such as: qualifications; various background of health and IT in the HI field; work experiences; job scope and competency. We also further explore the challenges that the respondents encountered which delineates four key aspects such as need of hybrid skills to manage the digital transformation, need of standardization of academic curriculum across GCC, recognition of the career pathways by the industry in order to open up career opportunity and career advancement, and availability of local training programs for up-skilling the current health workforce.

    CONCLUSION: We believe that successful health digital transformation is not limited to technology advancement but requires an adaptive change in: the related competency-based frameworks, the organisation of work and career paths for eHealth professionals, and the development of educational programmes and joint degrees to equip clinicians with understanding of technology, and informaticians with understanding of healthcare. We anticipate that this work will be expanded and adopted by relevant professional and scientific bodies in the GCC region.

    Matched MeSH terms: Health Personnel/education
  15. Zairul-Nizam ZF, Gul YA
    J Orthop Surg (Hong Kong), 2003 Dec;11(2):178-83.
    PMID: 14676344
    To survey Malaysian orthopaedic surgeons' attitudes to and use of venous thromboembolic disease prophylaxis.
    Matched MeSH terms: Attitude of Health Personnel/ethnology*
  16. Zairul-Nizam ZF, Ibrahim NA
    Med J Malaysia, 2022 Nov;77(6):750-754.
    PMID: 36448395
    Medicine and healthcare can rightly be considered as High Reliability Organization (HRO) when it strives to promote and maintain reproducible and safe outcomes for all patients. Situational awareness (SA) as a concept meant to augment patient safety has often been discussed in the literature, but our own local contribution to this important discussion is decidedly deficient. Being initially implemented in the aviation industry, this concept has been extended to be a crucial element in high-demand activities, including healthcare. As such, extensive exposure is given early on during the training of medical personnel in many countries. We believe that our own medical students and other healthcare candidates in training should be similarly exposed to this concept as it can have a tremendous impact on patient well-being and safety. This paper attempts to provide a short overview of the SA in healthcare and how we can similarly promote its inclusion in our training programmes.
    Matched MeSH terms: Health Personnel
  17. Zailani S, Iranmanesh M, Nikbin D, Beng JK
    J Med Syst, 2015 Jan;39(1):172.
    PMID: 25503418 DOI: 10.1007/s10916-014-0172-4
    With today's highly competitive market in the healthcare industry, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a technology that can be applied by hospitals to improve operational efficiency and to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that may effect RFID adoption in Malaysia's healthcare industry. In addition, the moderating role of occupational level was tested. Data was collected from 223 managers as well as healthcare and supporting staffs. This data was analyzed using the partial least squares technique. The results show that perceived ease of use and usefulness, government policy, top management support, and security and privacy concerns have an effect on the intent to adopt RFID in hospitals. There is a wide gap between managers and healthcare staff in terms of the factors that influence RFID adoption. The results of this study will help decision makers as well as managers in the healthcare industry to better understand the determinants of RFID adoption. Additionally, it will assist in the process of RFID adoption, and therefore, spread the usage of RFID technology in more hospitals.
    Matched MeSH terms: Attitude of Health Personnel*
  18. Zailani S, Gilani MS, Nikbin D, Iranmanesh M
    J Med Syst, 2014 Sep;38(9):111.
    PMID: 25038891 DOI: 10.1007/s10916-014-0111-4
    The purpose of this study is to explore the determinants of telemedicine acceptance in selected public hospitals in Malaysia and to investigate the effect of health culture on the relationship between these determinants and telemedicine acceptance. Data were gathered by means of a survey of physicians and nurses as the main group of users of telemedicine technology from hospitals that are currently using telemedicine technology. The results indicated that government policies, top management support, perception of usefulness and computer self-efficiency have a positive and significant impact on telemedicine acceptance by public hospitals in Malaysia. The results also confirmed the moderating role of health culture on the relationship between government policies as well as perceived usefulness on telemedicine acceptance by Malaysian hospitals. The results are useful for decision-makers as well as managers to recognize the potential role of telemedicine and assist in the process of implementation, adoption and utilization, and, therefore, spread the usage of telemedicine technology in more hospitals in the country.
    Matched MeSH terms: Attitude of Health Personnel*
  19. Zaharias G, Piterman L, Liddell M
    Acad Med, 2004 Feb;79(2):148-55.
    PMID: 14744716
    BACKGROUND: Much research on gender differences in medicine has centered on women as better communicators, more egalitarian, more patient-centered, and more involved with psychosocial problems, preventive care, and female-specific problems. Hardly any research has examined the interaction between the doctor's gender and the patient's gender. The authors examined students' perceptions and comfort levels regarding patients' gender during consultation.

    METHOD: This cross-sectional study used a questionnaire to survey final-year medical students at one school in 1999. It tested students' patient-centeredness, "patient-care" values, and degree of comfort in performing certain intimate physical examinations.

    RESULTS: Women students were more patient-centered than were men students. Both genders were more attuned to the concerns of patients of their own gender, were more comfortable with personal rather than sexual issues, and were more uncomfortable with performing more intimate examinations upon the opposite gender. Using comparable case studies, it was also shown that the female student-female patient dyad had significantly greater "patient-care" values than did the male student-male patient dyad.

    CONCLUSION: Medical students did not behave in a gender-neutral way in the consultation. There is a powerful interaction between a student's gender and a patient's gender. This warrants further investigation in the real clinical situation because it has implications on the outcomes of the consultation.

    Matched MeSH terms: Attitude of Health Personnel*
  20. Zabedah, B., Badrul Hisham, A.S.
    MyJurnal
    Introduction : Human displacement during disaster would cause women and their dependent children to be particularly vulnerable. Yet, women failed to make their voices heard. Thus their needs, priorities and perceptions would not be identified which in turn could hinder an effective emergency response and a full recovery process.
    Objective : This paper provides a general overview of problems and issues experienced by women and their dependent children during the Johore flood disaster. With this information, relevant agencies shall focus, among other considerations, on the special needs of women and children in planning and carrying out emergency responses in the future.
    Methodology : This paper was written based on data and information obtained from the Johore Flood Disaster Report and observations made by the health teams on the flood victims throughout the flood period.
    Findings and Discussions : Pregnant mothers with 36 weeks of gestation or more were evacuated from their homes to the health centres or hospitals when the Johore flood disaster struck. Regular maternal and child health (MCH) services were conducted at the flood relief centres. Despite the efforts by health care providers, we observed women facing some unique issues and problems. These include: 1) Effects of loss of security and protection; 2) Disruption of social relations and privacy; 3) Inadequate supply of basic items and; and 4) Economic disruption. Recommendations for future relief work are: i) Predisaster planning for emergency response must engage and involve women representatives. Women must also be recruited as emergency and relief workers; ii) Assessment of predetermined capacity of identified relief centres with gender consideration for evacuees must be done; iii) All relief centres shall have physical partition between families. Breast feeding room with access to clean water should also be provided; iv) Gender, cultural and religious sensitivity with regards to social protection and relations shall be observed at all times; v) Women should engage and be made occupied with suitable activities to encourage healthy social interaction thus avoiding feelings of boredom and helplessness; vi) Basic personal items for women and adolescent girls, such as sanitary towel and undergarments, and places to wash and hang them in privacy must be provided; vii) Elderly women may have to temporarily stay at unaffected relatives’ or old folk homes throughout the disaster period, and; viii) No smoking policy shall be enforced at all times in flood relief centres.
    Conclusion : Women and their dependent children have been recognised as one of the vulnerable groups during disasters. Thus, women shall be empowered as partners in formulating any emergency response plan so that together they would be able to complement all disaster mitigation, relief and recovery efforts in amore effective manner.
    Matched MeSH terms: Health Personnel
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