Displaying all 16 publications

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  1. Ravindran J
    Med J Malaysia, 2008 Dec;63(5):434-5.
    PMID: 19803313 MyJurnal
    The caesarean section rate in Malaysian public hospitals has increased to 15.7% from 10.5% in the year 2000. There are inter-state variations in the rate ranging from a high of 25.4% in Melaka to 10.9% in Sabah. The West Coast states generally had a higher caesarean section rate than the East Coast states as well as East Malaysia. It would be prudent for Malaysia to implement stringent caesarean audits to ensure that rising caesarean section rates are kept in check.
    Matched MeSH terms: Hospitals, Public/statistics & numerical data*
  2. Teh XR, Lim MT, Tong SF, Husin M, Khamis N, Sivasampu S
    PLoS One, 2020;15(8):e0237083.
    PMID: 32780769 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0237083
    INTRODUCTION: Adequate control of hypertension is a global challenge and is the key to reduce cardiovascular disease risk factors. This study evaluates management of hypertensive patients in primary care clinics in Malaysia.

    METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis of 13 784 medical records from 20 selected public primary care clinics in Malaysia was performed for patients aged ≥30 years old who were diagnosed with hypertension and had at least one visit between 1st November 2016 and 30th June 2019. Multivariable logistic regression adjusted for complex survey design was used to determine the association between process of care and blood pressure (BP) control among the hypertensive patients.

    RESULTS: Approximately 50% of hypertensive patients were obese, 38.4% of age ≥65 years old, 71.2% had at least one comorbidity and approximately one-third were on antihypertensive monotherapy. Approximately two-third of the hypertensive patients with diabetic proteinuria were prescribed with the appropriate choice of antihypertensive agents. Approximately half of the patients received at least 70% of the target indicated care and 42.8% had adequately controlled BP. After adjusting for covariates, patients who received counseling on exercise were positively associated with adequate BP control. Conversely, patients who were prescribed with two or more antihypertensive agents were negatively associated with good BP control.

    CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicated that BP control was suboptimal and deficient in the process of care with consequent gaps in guidelines and actual clinical practices. This warrants a re-evaluation of the current strategies and approaches to improve the quality of hypertension management and ultimately to improve outcome.

    Matched MeSH terms: Hospitals, Public/statistics & numerical data
  3. Rajasuriar R, Awang R, Hashim SB, Rahmat HR
    Hum Exp Toxicol, 2007 Feb;26(2):73-81.
    PMID: 17370864
    We retrospectively reviewed poisoning admissions to all government health facilities from 1999 to 2001, in an effort to expand our current knowledge on poisoning in Malaysia to a level that better reflects a nationwide burden. There were 21 714 admissions reported with 779 deaths. The case-fatality rate was 35.88/1000 admissions. The majority of admissions (89.7%) and deaths (98.9%) occurred in adults. Some 55.1% of all admissions were female, mostly involving pharmaceutical agents. Male poisoning admissions were more often due to chemical substances. The prevalence of poisoning and death was highest among Indians compared to all other races in Malaysia. Overall, the majority of poisoning admissions were due to pharmaceutical agents, with agents classified as non-opioid analgesics, anti-pyretics and anti-rheumatics the most common. Pesticides accounted for the largest number of fatalities. It was also the commonest substance reported in cases of intentional self-harm. Most cases of poisoning admissions occurred due to accidental exposure (47%), followed by cases of intentional self-harm (20.7%). Overall, this study has managed to contribute substantial additional information regarding the epidemiology of poisoning in Malaysia, highlighting important issues, such as the rampant poisonings involving pesticides and analgesics, as well as the high prevalence of poisoning among Indians in Malaysia.
    Matched MeSH terms: Hospitals, Public/statistics & numerical data
  4. Chong LA, Lee WS, Goh AYT
    Med J Malaysia, 2003 Mar;58(1):89-93.
    PMID: 14556330
    The profile of admissions staying less than 24 hours admitted to the paediatric wards of University Malaya Medical Center, Kuala Lumpur, over a period of six weeks was reviewed to ascertain the need of a short-stay ward. Ninety-three (22%) of the 428 admissions admitted during the study period were discharged within 24 hours, 56 (60%) were discharged within 12 hours. Major categories of admissions were: elective investigative procedures (43%), and emergency admissions (44%). Reasons for emergency admissions: infections 42%, minor trauma/cerebral concussion 25% and febrile/afebrile seizures 11%. Only 20% required percutaneous oximetry monitoring and 2% required observations more frequently than 2 hourly. There may be a case for a short stay ward in a big paediatric unit in Malaysia.
    Matched MeSH terms: Hospitals, Public/statistics & numerical data*
  5. Wong WJ, Mosiun JA, Hidayati Z, Balkis R, Sharif SZ, Lee D, et al.
    Breast, 2019 Aug;46:136-143.
    PMID: 31176055 DOI: 10.1016/j.breast.2019.05.016
    INTRODUCTION: Breast-conserving surgery (BCS) with radiation therapy is the procedure of choice for early-stage breast cancer. Survival and locoregional recurrence is non-inferior to mastectomy, with superior cosmetic and psycho-social outcomes. Differing health systems have demonstrated a wide variation in the rate of BCS. Little is known about the rate of BCS and factors influencing its practice in middle resource countries. This study aims to examine the BCS rates in Malaysia and to identify factors influencing its uptake.

    METHODOLOGY: This is a multi-centre, cross-sectional study involving the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Queen Elizabeth II Hospital (QEH), and Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (TARH). Patients diagnosed with invasive breast cancer from January 2014 to December 2015 were included, excluding stromal cancers and lymphomas. Univariate and multivariate analyses identified factors influencing BCS.

    RESULTS: A total of 1005 patients were diagnosed with breast cancer in the allocated time frame. Excluding incomplete records and those who did not have surgery, 730 patients were analysed. Overall BCS rate was 32.9%. The BCS rate was highest at QEH (54.1%), followed by UMMC (29.5%), and TARH (17.4%). 16.9% had BCS after neoadjuvant therapy. Factors influencing BCS uptake included age, ethnic group, breast-surgeon led services, AJCC Stage, tumour size, HER-2 expression, and tumour grade.

    CONCLUSIONS: The rate of BCS in Malaysia is low. A wide variation of rate exists among the studied hospitals. Younger age, earlier AJCC stage, and the presence of a Breast sub-specialist surgeon, would make it more likely that the patient has her breast conserved.

    Matched MeSH terms: Hospitals, Public/statistics & numerical data*
  6. Ibrahim MI, Zubair IU, Yaacob NM, Ahmad MI, Shafei MN
    PMID: 31683911 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16214254
    OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) and its associated factors among the nurses working in the public hospitals of Penang, Malaysia.

    METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on nurses, aged 25-60 years, who had been working for at least three months at six public hospitals of Penang. A proportionate stratified random sampling method was applied to select 1292 respondents. The Malay-validated BACKS Tool questionnaire using a 5-point Likert scale was used to obtain data. Simple and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed.

    RESULTS: A total of 989 (76.5%) nurses suffered from LBP at a point of time. The factors significantly associated with LBP among the nurses included working more than seven hours [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) (95% confidence interval (CI)) 1.48 (1.06, 1.98)], twisting of the body while working [AOR (95% CI) 1.60 (1.13, 2.26)], manual handling of patients in wards [AOR (95% CI) 1.44 (1.08, 2.07)], and fatigue [AOR (95% CI) 2.63 (1.94, 3.58)].

    CONCLUSION: The prevalence of LBP among the nurses in the public hospitals of Penang was relatively high. The factors predicting LBP included working more than seven hours a day, twisting of the body while working, manual handling, and fatigue. The findings from this study may better enable policymakers to devote resources to minimize low back pain among nurses. The nurses should be encouraged to comply with safe working procedures.

    Matched MeSH terms: Hospitals, Public/statistics & numerical data*
  7. Ishaq R, Baloch NS, Iqbal Q, Saleem F, Hassali MA, Iqbal J, et al.
    Hosp Pract (1995), 2017 Aug;45(3):104-110.
    PMID: 28490205 DOI: 10.1080/21548331.2017.1328250
    OBJECTIVES: There is increasing prevalence of caesarean sections (CS) worldwide; however, there are concerns about their rates in some countries, including potential fears among mothers. Consequently, we aimed to determine the frequency of CS, and explore patient's perception towards CS attending public hospitals in Pakistan, to provide future guidance.

    METHODS: A two-phased study design (retrospective and cross sectional) was adopted. A retrospective study was conducted to assess the frequency of CS over one year among four public hospitals. A cross sectional study was subsequently conducted to determine patients' perception towards CS attending the four tertiary care public hospitals in Quetta city, Pakistan, which is where most births take place.

    RESULTS: Overall prevalence of CS was 13.1% across the four hospitals. 728 patients were approached and 717 responded to the survey. Although 78.8% perceived CS as dangerous, influenced by education (p = 0.004), locality (p = 0.001) and employment status (p = 0.001), 74.5% of patients were in agreement that this is the best approach to save mother's and baby's lives if needed. 62% of respondents reported they would like to avoid CS if they could due to post-operative pain, and 58.9% preferred a normal delivery. There was also a significant association with education (p = 0.001) and locality (p = 0.001) where respondents considered normal vaginal delivery as painful.

    CONCLUSION: The overall frequency of CS approximates to WHO recommendations, although there is appreciable variation among the four hospitals. When it comes to perception towards CS, women had limited information. There is a need to provide mothers with education during the antenatal period, especially those with limited education, to accept CS where needed.

    Matched MeSH terms: Hospitals, Public/statistics & numerical data*
  8. Hambali AS, Ng KH, Abdullah BJ, Wang HB, Jamal N, Spelic DC, et al.
    Radiat Prot Dosimetry, 2009 Jan;133(1):25-34.
    PMID: 19223292 DOI: 10.1093/rpd/ncp007
    This study was undertaken to compare the entrance surface dose (ESD) and image quality of adult chest and abdominal X-ray examinations conducted at general practitioner (GP) clinics, and public and private hospitals in Malaysia. The surveyed facilities were randomly selected within a given category (28 GP clinics, 20 public hospitals and 15 private hospitals). Only departmental X-ray units were involved in the survey. Chest examinations were done at all facilities, while only hospitals performed abdominal examinations. This study used the x-ray attenuation phantoms and protocols developed for the Nationwide Evaluation of X-ray Trends (NEXT) survey program in the United States. The ESD was calculated from measurements of exposure and clinical geometry. An image quality test tool was used to evaluate the low-contrast detectability and high-contrast detail performance under typical clinical conditions. The median ESD value for the adult chest X-ray examination was the highest (0.25 mGy) at GP clinics, followed by private hospitals (0.22 mGy) and public hospitals (0.17 mGy). The median ESD for the adult abdominal X-ray examination at public hospitals (3.35 mGy) was higher than that for private hospitals (2.81 mGy). Results of image quality assessment for the chest X-ray examination show that all facility types have a similar median spatial resolution and low-contrast detectability. For the abdominal X-ray examination, public hospitals have a similar median spatial resolution but larger low-contrast detectability compared with private hospitals. The results of this survey clearly show that there is room for further improvement in performing chest and abdominal X-ray examinations in Malaysia.
    Matched MeSH terms: Hospitals, Public/statistics & numerical data*
  9. Lee FY, Chan HK, Wong HS
    Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf, 2019 05;28(5):760-761.
    PMID: 30919516 DOI: 10.1002/pds.4780
    Matched MeSH terms: Hospitals, Public/statistics & numerical data*
  10. Tang SCW, Yu X, Chen HC, Kashihara N, Park HC, Liew A, et al.
    Am J Kidney Dis, 2020 05;75(5):772-781.
    PMID: 31699518 DOI: 10.1053/j.ajkd.2019.08.005
    Asia is the largest and most populated continent in the world, with a high burden of kidney failure. In this Policy Forum article, we explore dialysis care and dialysis funding in 17 countries in Asia, describing conditions in both developed and developing nations across the region. In 13 of the 17 countries surveyed, diabetes is the most common cause of kidney failure. Due to great variation in gross domestic product per capita across Asian countries, disparities in the provision of kidney replacement therapy (KRT) exist both within and between countries. A number of Asian nations have satisfactory access to KRT and have comprehensive KRT registries to help inform practices, but some do not, particularly among low- and low-to-middle-income countries. Given these differences, we describe the economic status, burden of kidney failure, and cost of KRT across the different modalities to both governments and patients and how changes in health policy over time affect outcomes. Emerging trends suggest that more affluent nations and those with universal health care or access to insurance have much higher prevalent dialysis and transplantation rates, while in less affluent nations, dialysis access may be limited and when available, provided less frequently than optimal. These trends are also reflected by an association between nephrologist prevalence and individual nations' incomes and a disparity in the number of nephrologists per million population and per thousand KRT patients.
    Matched MeSH terms: Hospitals, Public/statistics & numerical data
  11. Mohd Fauzi MF, Mohd Yusoff H, Mat Saruan NA, Muhamad Robat R
    PLoS One, 2020;15(11):e0241577.
    PMID: 33206663 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241577
    Work-related activities during non-work time may influence the intershift recovery of post-work fatigue. Currently there is no valid and reliable scale available to measure the frequency for such activities among doctors. Therefore, this study aims to develop and validate 'Work-Related Activities during Non-Work Time Scale' (WANTS) that measure the frequency of work-related activities during non-work time for doctors. This was a scale development and validation study among doctors involving item generation, content and construct validation, and reliability assessment. 23-item seven-point Likert-type scale was developed through deductive (literature search) and inductive (interview with source population, authors' experiences, and expert opinion) methods. The content-validated scale was pre-tested, and the improved scale was subsequently administered to randomly-selected 460 doctors working at public hospital setting. Response rate was 77.76% (n = 382). Initial exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with principal axis factoring (PAF) using varimax rotation revealed unstable six-factor structure consisting of 17 variables; thus, we tested one- to six-factor model, and found that four-factor model is the most stable. Further analysis with principal component analysis (PCA) with a single component on each factor found that 17-variables four-factor model is stable. These factors were labelled as 'work-related thought', 'work-to-home conversation', 'task spillover' and 'superior-subordinate communication'. It showed good internal consistency with overall alpha value of 0.837. The scale is thus valid and reliable for measuring the frequency of each construct of work-related activities during non-work time among doctors.
    Matched MeSH terms: Hospitals, Public/statistics & numerical data
  12. Mohd Mujar NM, Dahlui M, Emran NA, Abdul Hadi I, Wai YY, Arulanantham S, et al.
    PLoS One, 2017;12(4):e0176394.
    PMID: 28448541 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0176394
    Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is widely used among the breast cancer patients in Malaysia. Delays in presentation, diagnosis and treatment have been shown to impact the disease prognosis. There is considerable use of CAM amongst breast cancer patients. CAM use has been cited as a cause of delay in diagnosis and treatments in qualitative studies, however there had not been any confirmatory study that confirms its impact on delays. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the use of CAM among newly diagnosed breast cancer patients was associated with delays in presentation, diagnosis or treatment of breast cancer. This multi-centre cross-sectional study evaluating the time points of the individual breast cancer patients' journey from first visit, resolution of diagnosis and treatments was conducted in six public hospitals in Malaysia. All newly diagnosed breast cancer patients from 1st January to 31st December 2012 were recruited. Data were collected through medical records review and patient interview by using a structured questionnaire. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) was defined as the use of any methods and products not included in conventional allopathic medicine before commencement of treatments. Presentation delay was defined as time taken from symptom discovery to first presentation of more than 3 months. The time points were categorised to diagnosis delay was defined as time taken from first presentation to diagnosis of more than 1 month and treatment delay was defined as time taken from diagnosis to initial treatment of more than 1 month. Multiple logistic regression was used for analysis. A total number of 340 patients participated in this study. The prevalence of CAM use was 46.5% (n = 158). Malay ethnicity (OR 3.32; 95% CI: 1.85, 5.97) and not interpreting symptom as cancerous (OR 1.79; 95% CI: 1.10, 2.92) were significantly associated with CAM use. The use of CAM was associated with delays in presentation (OR 1.65; 95% CI: 1.05, 2.59), diagnosis (OR 2.42; 95% CI: 1.56, 3.77) and treatment of breast cancer (OR 1.74; 95% CI: 1.11, 2.72) on univariate analyses. However, after adjusting with other covariates, CAM use was associated with delays in presentation (OR 1.71; 95% CI: 1.05, 2.78) and diagnosis (OR 2.58; 95% CI: 1.59, 4.17) but not for treatment of breast cancer (OR 1.58; 95% CI: 0.98, 2.55). The prevalence of CAM use among the breast cancer patients was high. Women of Malay ethnicity and not interpreting symptom as cancerous were significantly associated with CAM use. The use of CAM is significantly associated with delay in presentation and resolution of diagnosis. This study suggests further evaluation of access to breast cancer care is needed as poor access may cause the use of CAM. However, since public hospitals in Malaysia are heavily subsidized and readily available to the population, CAM use may impact delays in presentation and diagnosis.
    Matched MeSH terms: Hospitals, Public/statistics & numerical data*
  13. Thevi T, Abas AL
    Kathmandu Univ Med J (KUMJ), 2019 4 1;17(66):101-106.
    PMID: 32632055
    Background Since cataract is the leading cause of blindness and no study has been done on the surgical incidence trends, we conducted this research in Melaka. Objective To describe incidences of cataract surgery according to basic demographic variables and types of surgery performed. Method Using the National Eye Database (NED), we performed descriptive statistics calculating incidence rates per 1,000 population by demographic features and types of cataract operations to look at the trends of surgeries in the population. Statistics for population were obtained from the department of statistics. Result From 2007-2010, 6270 patients mostly 60-69 years underwent cataract surgery. Phacoemulsification (78.2%) was the commonest surgery performed. The annual incidence rate of cataract surgery reduced from 2.05 per 1000 population in 2007 to 2.02 per 1000 population in 2010 (p<0.05). Incidence rates for those aged 60 and above rose while for those aged below nine years it declined. Indians had the highest incidence rates followed by Chinese and Malays per 1000 population. Females had a higher incidence rate although there was a declining trend over the years. Conclusion Cataract surgery rates showed a decline. Public health education and awareness on detection and operating upon cataracts should be increased and especially targeted towards vulnerable groups such as women, individuals of Indian ethnicity and those aged 50 years and above.
    Matched MeSH terms: Hospitals, Public/statistics & numerical data*
  14. Ravindran J
    Med J Malaysia, 2003 Jun;58(2):294-5.
    PMID: 14569754
    Matched MeSH terms: Hospitals, Public/statistics & numerical data*
  15. Hasan SS, Bahari MB, Babar ZU, Ganesan V
    Singapore Med J, 2010 Jan;51(1):21-7.
    PMID: 20200771
    INTRODUCTION: The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the utilisation pattern and seizure outcome of newer and older antiepileptic drugs in paediatric clinical practice in a Malaysian hospital setting.
    METHODS: Over a two-month period, all paediatric epilepsy patients from Penang General Hospital, Malaysia who were diagnosed according to the classification of the International League Against Epilepsy were followed up prospectively, and the patients' information was gathered with the help of a validated data collection form. This included demographic characteristics, monotherapy and polytherapy of antiepileptic drugs, as well as the number of seizures experienced.
    RESULTS: Partial seizures, including complex and simple partial seizures (47.2 percent), followed by generalised seizures (40 percent), were the most common seizure types found in this study. An average of 1.51 antiepileptic drugs per patient was prescribed, with 54.3 percent of the patients on monotherapy and 45.7 percent on polytherapy. Overall, sodium valproate was the most frequently prescribed antiepileptic drug (36.8 percent), followed by carbamazepine (30.2 percent) and lamotrigine (10.4 percent). Carbamazepine was the most frequently prescribed monotherapy (28.6 percent), followed by sodium valproate (17.1 percent). The newer antiepileptic drugs were also found to be used as monotherapy in 7.2 percent of the cases. Moreover, a significant difference was observed between the older and newer antiepileptic drugs in terms of the number of seizures experienced (p=0.027). Most (75 percent) of the seizure-free patients were on carbamazepine monotherapy.
    CONCLUSION: Monotherapy was the most frequently used remedy in all forms of epilepsy. Overall, sodium valproate was the most commonly used drug, while carbamazepine was found to be more frequently used as monotherapy. There was a significant difference found between the older and newer antiepileptic drugs, with 87.5 percent of seizure-free patients on older antiepileptic drugs.

    Study site: all paediatric epilepsy patients from Penang General Hospital
    Matched MeSH terms: Hospitals, Public/statistics & numerical data*
  16. Anwar M, Sulaiman SA, Khan TM
    Med Princ Pract, 2010;19(4):312-8.
    PMID: 20516709 DOI: 10.1159/000312719
    OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the patients' knowledge and awareness of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
    SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A face-to-face interview was conducted among the patients visiting the Venereal Diseases Outpatient Department of the General Hospital of Pulau Pinang (Malaysia). A 19-item questionnaire was used. A total of 116 patients participated in the study and 107 patients had valid responses. The reliability and internal consistency of the questionnaire tool was estimated on the basis of Cronbach's alpha (= 0.81). The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 13.0(R)) was used for data analysis. Student's t test and analysis of variance were used to analyse the knowledge differences among the groups.
    RESULTS: Of the 107 patients, 82 (76.6%) were diagnosed with syphilis; AIDS was the most commonly known STI among the patients. Of the 107 patients, 35 were sexually active and of these 23 (65.7%) had more than 1 sexual partner. The most popular source of knowledge was newspapers (51 patients, 47.7%), with hospitals (3 patients, 2.8%) being the least popular one. Overall mean score on knowledge questions was 12.21 out of the maximum of 33 points. Knowledge about causative organisms, risk groups, transmission, symptoms, prevention and treatment of STIs was inadequate. The knowledge level was significantly related to gender (p = 0.03), religion (p = 0.005), educational level (p = 0.000), marital status (p = 0.000) and income level (p = 0.036).
    CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated evidence of poor knowledge of STIs amongst the patients attending an STI service in the General Hospital of Pulau Pinang (Malaysia). Hence there is an immediate need for efforts towards improving patient knowledge of STIs.
    Study site: Venereal Diseases Outpatient Department, General Hospital Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
    Matched MeSH terms: Hospitals, Public/statistics & numerical data*
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