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  1. Fulltext The prevalence of functional impairment among elderly aged 60 years and above attending Klinik Kesihatan Batu 9 Ulu Langat, Selangor
    Loh KY, Khairani O, Norlaili T
    Med J Malaysia, 2005 Jun;60(2):188-93.
    PMID: 16114159
    The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of functional impairment and its associated factors among patients aged 60 years and above attending Klinik Kesihatan Batu 9 Ulu Langat, Selangor. This is a cross sectional community health clinic based study. A total of 260 elderly patients attending the community health clinic were interviewed. They were clinically assessed for functional impairment by using the 9 item Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) scale. There were 118 (45.4%) elderly male and 142 (54.6%) elderly female with age ranging from 60 years to 92 years with the mean age of 67.5 and 65.5 years for male and female respectively. Chinese form the largest population (42.3%) followed by Malay (36.5%), Indian (19.2%) and others (2.0%). The overall prevalence of functional impairment among elderly aged 60 years and above in this study was 33.5%. Among the functionally impaired, two patients (0.8%) were totally dependent. There were significant associations between functional impairment and older age (p = 0.025), lower income group (p = 0.010), lower education level (p = 0.030) and history of chronic medical illness (p = 0.020). Functional impairment had no significant association with ethnic group, gender, occupation and living arrangement. For daily activities that were assessed, the commonest impairment was inability to perform shopping (40%) followed by impairment in climbing up staircase (36.6%) and impairment in taking medication (35%). Advanced age, lower income, lower education and history of medical illness are associated with functional impairment. Functional impairment is an important consideration in caring for the elderly patients in the community. These findings have implications in caring of the elderly in which attention need to be paid to activities such as shopping, climbing stairs and taking medication. The use of the IADL scale is feasible for screening of functional impairment among the elderly population in the community.
    Matched MeSH terms: Primary Health Care/statistics & numerical data*
  2. Fulltext Text messaging reminders to reduce non-attendance in chronic disease follow-up: a clinical trial
    Liew SM, Tong SF, Lee VK, Ng CJ, Leong KC, Teng CL
    Br J Gen Pract, 2009 Dec;59(569):916-20.
    PMID: 19712544 DOI: 10.3399/bjgp09X472250
    Non-attendance results in administrative problems and disruption in patient care. Several interventions have been used to reduce non-attendance, with varying degree of success. A relatively new intervention, text messaging, has been shown to be as effective as telephone reminders in reducing non-attendance. However, no study has looked specifically at using text messaging reminders to reduce non-attendance in chronic disease care.
    Matched MeSH terms: Primary Health Care/statistics & numerical data*
  3. Fulltext Prevalence of anxiety among women attending a primary care clinic in Malaysia
    Mohd Sidik S, Arroll B, Goodyear-Smith F
    Br J Gen Pract, 2011 Jun;61(587):e326-32.
    PMID: 21801511 DOI: 10.3399/bjgp11X577990
    Background: This is the first study investigating Anxiety among women attending a primary care clinic
    in Malaysia.
    Aim: The objective was to determine the factors associated with anxiety among these women.
    Design: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a government-funded primary care clinic in Malaysia. Consecutive female patients attending the clinic during the data-collection period were invited to participate in the study.
    Method: Participants were given self-administered questionnaires, which included the validated Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 questionnaire (GAD-7) Malay version to detect anxiety.
    Results: Of the 1023 patients who were invited, 895 agreed to participate (response rate 87.5%). The prevalence of anxiety in this study was 7.8%, based on the GAD-7 (score ≥8). Multiple logistic regression analysis found that certain stressful life events and the emotional aspect of domestic violence were significantly associated with anxiety (P<0.05).
    Conclusion: The prevalence of anxiety among women in this study is similar to that found in other countries.
    Factors found to be associated with anxiety, especially issues on domestic violence, need to be addressed andmanaged appropriately.
    Keywords: anxiety; Malaysia; prevalence; primary care; women.
    Questionnaire: Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale; GAD-7 (Malay version); Hark questionnaire
    Matched MeSH terms: Primary Health Care/statistics & numerical data
  4. Pharmaco-epidemiologic study of the prescription of contraindicated drugs in a primary care setting of a university: a retrospective review of drug prescription
    Dhabali AA, Awang R, Zyoud SH
    Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther, 2011 Aug;49(8):500-9.
    PMID: 21781650 DOI: 10.5414/cp201524
    BACKGROUND: The prescription of contraindicated drugs is a preventable medication error, which can cause morbidity and mortality. Recent data on the factors associated with drug contraindications (DCIs) is limited world-wide, especially in Malaysia.

    AIMS: The objectives of this study are 1) to quantify the prevalence of DCIs in a primary care setting at a Malaysian University; 2) to identify patient characteristics associated with increased DCI episodes, and 3) to identify associated factors for these DCIs.

    METHODS: We retrospectively collected data from 1 academic year using computerized databases at the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) from patients of USM's primary care. Descriptive and comparative statistics were used to characterize DCIs.

    RESULTS: There were 1,317 DCIs during the study period. These were observed in a cohort of 923 patients, out of a total of 17,288 patients, representing 5,339 DCIs per 100,000 patients, or 5.3% of all patients over a 1-year period. Of the 923 exposed patients, 745 (80.7%) were exposed to 1 DCI event, 92 (10%) to 2 DCI events, 35 (3.8%) to 3 DCI events, 18 (2%) to 4 DCI events, and 33 patients (3.6%) were exposed to 5 or more DCI events. The average age of the exposed patients was 30.7 ± 15 y, and 51.5% were male. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that being male (OR = 1.3; 95% CI = 1.1 - 1.5; p < 0.001), being a member of the staff (OR = 3; 95% CI = 2.5 - 3.7; p < 0.001), having 4 or more prescribers (OR = 2.8; 95% CI = 2.2 - 3.6; p < 0.001), and having 4 or more longterm therapeutic groups (OR = 2.3; 95%CI = 1.7 - 3.1; p < 0.001), were significantly associated with increased chance of exposure to DCIs.

    DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study in Malaysia that presents data on the prevalence of DCIs. The prescription of contraindicated drugs was found to be frequent in this primary care setting. Exposure to DCI events was associated with specific socio-demographic and health status factors. Further research is needed to evaluate the relationship between health outcomes and the exposure to DCIs.
    Matched MeSH terms: Primary Health Care/statistics & numerical data*
  5. Extent and determinants of patients' unvoiced needs
    Low LL, Sondi S, Azman AB, Goh PP, Maimunah AH, Ibrahim MY, et al.
    Asia Pac J Public Health, 2011 Sep;23(5):690-702.
    PMID: 21878464 DOI: 10.1177/1010539511418354
    Patients with issues or health problems usually plan to discuss their concerns with their health care providers. If these concerns were not presented or voiced during the health care provider-patient encounter, the patients are considered to have unvoiced needs. This article examines the extent and possible determinants of patients' unvoiced needs in an outpatient setting. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 5 Ministry of Health Malaysia primary health facilities throughout the country. Of 1829 who participated, 5 did not respond to the question on planned issues. Of the 1824 respondents, 57.9% (95% confidence interval = 47.1-68.7) claimed to have issues/problems they planned to share, of whom 15.1% to 26.7% had unvoiced needs. Extent of unvoiced needs differed by employment status, perceived category of health care provider, and study center. Perceived category of health care provider, method of questionnaire administration, and study center were the only significant determinants of unvoiced needs. Unvoiced needs do exist in Malaysia and there is a need for health care providers to be aware and take steps to counter this.

    Study site: 5 Ministry of Health Malaysia primary health facilities throughout the country
    Matched MeSH terms: Primary Health Care/statistics & numerical data*
  6. Use of ATC to describe duplicate medications in primary care prescriptions
    Lim CM, Aryani Md Yusof F, Selvarajah S, Lim TO
    Eur J Clin Pharmacol, 2011 Oct;67(10):1035-44.
    PMID: 21499761 DOI: 10.1007/s00228-011-1025-4
    PURPOSE: We aimed to demonstrate the suitability of the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification (ATC) to describe duplicate drugs and duplicate drug classes in prescription data and describe the pattern of duplicates from public and private primary care clinics of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

    METHODS: We analyzed prescription data year 2005 from all 14 public clinics in Kuala Lumpur with 12,157 prescriptions, and a sample of 188 private clinics with 25,612 prescriptions. As ATC Level 5 code represents the molecule and Level 4 represents the pharmacological subgroup, we used repetitions of codes in the same prescription to describe duplicate drugs or duplicate drug classes and compared them between the public and private clinics.

    RESULTS: At Level 4 ATC, prescriptions with duplicates drug classes were 1.46% of all prescriptions in private and 0.04% in public clinics. At Level 5 ATC, prescriptions with duplicate drugs were 1.81% for private and 0.95% for public clinics. In private clinics at Level 5, 73.3% of prescriptions with duplicates involved systemic combination drugs; at Level 4, 40.3% involved systemic combination drugs. In the public sector at Level 5, 95.7% of prescriptions with duplicates involved topical products.

    CONCLUSIONS: Repetitions of the same ATC codes were mostly useful to describe duplicate medications; however, we recommend avoid using ATC codes for tropical products for this purpose due to ambiguity. Combination products were often involved in duplicate prescribing; redesign of these products might improve prescribing quality. Duplicates occurred more often in private clinics than public clinics in Malaysia.
    Matched MeSH terms: Primary Health Care/statistics & numerical data*
  7. Fulltext Somatisation disorder and its associated factors in multiethnic primary care clinic attenders
    Khoo EM, Mathers NJ, McCarthy SA, Low WY
    Int J Behav Med, 2012 Jun;19(2):165-73.
    PMID: 21562781 DOI: 10.1007/s12529-011-9164-7
    Background Somatisation disorder (SD) has been reported as common in all ethnic groups, but the estimates of its prevalence have varied and the evidence for its associated factors has been inconsistent.
    Purpose This study seeks to determine the prevalence of SD and its associated factors in multiethnic primary care clinic attenders.
    Methods This cross-sectional study was on clinic attenders aged 18 years and above at three urban primary care clinics in Malaysia. The operational definition of SD was based on ICD-10 criteria for SD for research, frequent attendance, and excluded moderate to severe anxiety and depression. The instruments used were the ICD-10 symptom list, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, a semi-structured questionnaire, and SF-36.
    Results We recruited 1,763 patients (response rate 63.8%). The mean age of respondents was 44.7±15.8 years, 807 (45.8%) were male; there were 35.3% Malay, 30.1% Chinese and 34.6% Indian. SD prevalence was 3.7%; the prevalence in Malay was 5.8%, Indian 3.0% and Chinese 2.1%. Significant associations were found between SD prevalence and ethnicity, family history of alcoholism, blue-collar workers and the physical component summary (PCS) score of SF-36. Multivariate analysis showed that SD predictors were Malay ethnicity (OR 2.7, 95% CI 1.6, 4.6), blue-collar worker (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.2, 3.5) and impaired PCS score of SF-36 (OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.90, 0.95).
    Conclusion The prevalence of SD was relatively uncommon with the stringent operational criteria used. SD preponderance in blue-collar workers may be attributable to secondary gain from getting sickness certificates and being paid for time off work.
    Keywords Somatisation disorder . Associated factors . Primary care . Ethnic groups . Prevalence Questionnaire: ICD-10 symptom list; Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale; HADS; SF-36
    Matched MeSH terms: Primary Health Care/statistics & numerical data
  8. Fulltext Morbidity profiles at three primary care clinics in Perlis, Malaysia
    Kamarudin MF, Mohamad Noh K, Jaafar S
    Med J Malaysia, 2012 Aug;67(4):363-8.
    PMID: 23082442 MyJurnal
    Matched MeSH terms: Primary Health Care/statistics & numerical data*
  9. Clinically important drug-drug interactions in primary care
    Dhabali AA, Awang R, Zyoud SH
    J Clin Pharm Ther, 2012 Aug;37(4):426-30.
    PMID: 22081958 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2710.2011.01314.x
    WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) cause considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide and may lead to hospital admission. Sophisticated computerized drug information and monitoring systems, more recently established in many of the emerging economies, including Malaysia, are capturing useful information on prescribing. Our aim is to report on an investigation of potentially serious DDIs, using a university primary care-based system capturing prescription records from its primary care services.
    METHODS: We retrospectively collected data from two academic years over 20 months from computerized databases at the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) from users of the USM primary care services.
    RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Three hundred and eighty-six DDI events were observed in a cohort of 208 exposed patients from a total of 23,733 patients, representing a 2-year period prevalence of 876·4 per 100,000 patients. Of the 208 exposed patients, 138 (66·3%) were exposed to one DDI event, 29 (13·9%) to two DDI events, 15 (7·2%) to three DDI events, 6 (2·9%) to four DDI events and 20 (9·6%) to more than five DDI events. Overall, an increasing mean number of episodes of DDIs was noted among exposed patients within the age category ≥70 years (P=0·01), an increasing trend in the number of medications prescribed (P<0·001) and an increasing trend in the number of long-term therapeutic groups (P<0·001).
    WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: We describe the prevalence of clinically important DDIs in an emerging economy setting and identify the more common potentially serious DDIs. In line with the observations in developed economies, a higher number of episodes of DDIs were seen in patients aged ≥70 years and with more medications prescribed. The easiest method to reduce the frequency of DDIs is to reduce the number of medications prescribed. Therapeutic alternatives should be selected cautiously.

    Study site: e Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM
    Matched MeSH terms: Primary Health Care/statistics & numerical data*
  10. Fulltext Medical errors in primary care clinics--a cross sectional study
    Khoo EM, Lee WK, Sararaks S, Abdul Samad A, Liew SM, Cheong AT, et al.
    BMC Fam Pract, 2012 Dec 26;13:127.
    PMID: 23267547 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2296-13-127
    BACKGROUND: Patient safety is vital in patient care. There is a lack of studies on medical errors in primary care settings. The aim of the study is to determine the extent of diagnostic inaccuracies and management errors in public funded primary care clinics.

    METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in twelve public funded primary care clinics in Malaysia. A total of 1753 medical records were randomly selected in 12 primary care clinics in 2007 and were reviewed by trained family physicians for diagnostic, management and documentation errors, potential errors causing serious harm and likelihood of preventability of such errors.

    RESULTS: The majority of patient encounters (81%) were with medical assistants. Diagnostic errors were present in 3.6% (95% CI: 2.2, 5.0) of medical records and management errors in 53.2% (95% CI: 46.3, 60.2). For management errors, medication errors were present in 41.1% (95% CI: 35.8, 46.4) of records, investigation errors in 21.7% (95% CI: 16.5, 26.8) and decision making errors in 14.5% (95% CI: 10.8, 18.2). A total of 39.9% (95% CI: 33.1, 46.7) of these errors had the potential to cause serious harm. Problems of documentation including illegible handwriting were found in 98.0% (95% CI: 97.0, 99.1) of records. Nearly all errors (93.5%) detected were considered preventable.

    CONCLUSIONS: The occurrence of medical errors was high in primary care clinics particularly with documentation and medication errors. Nearly all were preventable. Remedial intervention addressing completeness of documentation and prescriptions are likely to yield reduction of errors.

    Matched MeSH terms: Primary Health Care/statistics & numerical data*
  11. Fulltext Statins and risk of treated incident diabetes in a primary care population
    Zaharan NL, Williams D, Bennett K
    Br J Clin Pharmacol, 2013 Apr;75(4):1118-24.
    PMID: 22845189 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.2012.04403.x
    (i) To examine the incidence of new onset treated diabetes in patients treated with different types of statins and (ii) the relationship between the duration and dose of statins and the subsequent development of new onset treated diabetes.
    Matched MeSH terms: Primary Health Care/statistics & numerical data*
  12. Fulltext Prevalence of toenail onychomycosis among diabetics at a primary care facility in Malaysia
    Muthupalaniappen L, Azimah MN, Kharuddin NF, Tzar MN
    Southeast Asian J. Trop. Med. Public Health, 2013 May;44(3):479-83.
    PMID: 24050080
    Onychomycosis increases the risk of developing secondary bacterial infection and cellulitis if left untreated. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of onychomycosis among diabetics and its associated factors. A cross sectional study using universal sampling of all type 1 and 2 diabetic patients attending a primary care facility of the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) from January to March 2011 was conducted. Samples were taken from clinically abnormal nails and from the first right toenail in the absence of nail abnormalities and cultured for fungal elements. A total of 151 diabetics participated in the study. The mean patient age was 60.7 +/- 9.1 years. A total of 123 nail samples (81.5%) were culture positive for fungal elements. A positive correlation was found between onychomycosis and increasing age (p = 0.011) and clinically abnormal nails (p < 0.05). There were no significant correlations with gender, ethnic group, duration of diabetes, types of diabetes or glycemic control. The prevalence of onychomycosis among diabetics in our study was high.
    Matched MeSH terms: Primary Health Care/statistics & numerical data*
  13. Fulltext Changes in trends and pattern of strong opioid prescribing in primary care
    Zin CS, Chen LC, Knaggs RD
    Eur J Pain, 2014 Oct;18(9):1343-51.
    PMID: 24756859 DOI: 10.1002/j.1532-2149.2014.496.x
    BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the prescribing trends of four commonly prescribed strong opioids in primary care and explored utilization in non-cancer and cancer users.
    METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted from 2000 to 2010 using the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink. Prescriptions of buprenorphine, fentanyl, morphine and oxycodone issued to adult patients were included in this study. Opioid prescriptions issued after patients had cancer medical codes were defined as cancer-related use; otherwise, they were considered non-cancer use. Annual number of prescriptions and patients, defined daily dose (DDD/1000 inhabitants/day) and oral morphine equivalent (OMEQ) dose were measured in repeat cross-sectional estimates.
    RESULTS: In total, there were 2,672,022 prescriptions (87.8% for non-cancer) of strong opioids for 178,692 users (59.9% female, 83.9% non-cancer, mean age 67.1 ± 17.0 years) during the study period. The mean annual (DDD/1000 inhabitants/day) was higher in the non-cancer group than in the cancer group for all four opioids; morphine (0.73 ± 0.28 vs. 0.12 ± 0.04), fentanyl (0.46 ± 0.29 vs. 0.06 ± 0.24), oxycodone (0.24 ± 0.19 vs. 0.038 ± 0.028) and buprenorphine (0.23 ± 0.15 vs. 0.008 ± 0.006). The highest proportion of patients were prescribed low opioid doses (OMEQ ≤ 50 mg/day) in both non-cancer (50.3%) and cancer (39.9%) groups, followed by the dose ranks of 51-100 mg/day (26.2% vs. 28.7%), 101-200 mg/day (15.1% vs. 19.2%) and >200 mg/day (8.25% vs. 12.1%).
    CONCLUSIONS: There has been a huge increase in strong opioid prescribing in the United Kingdom, with the majority of prescriptions for non-cancer pain. Morphine was the most frequently prescribed, but the utilization of oxycodone, buprenorphine and fentanyl increased markedly over time.
    Matched MeSH terms: Primary Health Care/statistics & numerical data*
  14. Blood pressure control among hypertensive patients with and without diabetes mellitus in six public primary care clinics in Malaysia
    Cheong AT, Tong SF, Sazlina SG, Azah AS, Salmiah MS
    Asia Pac J Public Health, 2015 Mar;27(2):NP580-9.
    PMID: 23536235 DOI: 10.1177/1010539513480232
    Hypertension is a common comorbidity among diabetic patients. This study aimed to determine blood pressure (BP) control among hypertensive patients with and without diabetes. This was a cross-sectional study in 6 public primary care clinics in Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia. Hypertensive patients aged ≥18 years and attending the clinics were selected via systematic random sampling. The BP control target was defined as <130/80 mm Hg for diabetic patients and <140/90 mm Hg for nondiabetic patients. A total of 1107 hypertensive patients participated in this study and 540 (48.7%) had diabetes. About one fourth (24.3%) of the hypertensive patients with diabetes achieved BP control target, compared with 60.1% patients without diabetes (P < .001). Being diabetic and on ≥2 antihypertensive treatments were associated with poor BP control. Attention needs to be given to these groups of patients when managing patients with hypertension.
    Matched MeSH terms: Primary Health Care/statistics & numerical data*
  15. Time to achieve first blood pressure control after diagnosis among hypertensive patients at primary health care clinics: a preliminary study
    Cheong AT, Mohd Said S, Muksan N
    Asia Pac J Public Health, 2015 Mar;27(2):NP485-94.
    PMID: 23343640 DOI: 10.1177/1010539512472361
    This study aimed to examine the duration to achieve first blood pressure (BP) control after the diagnosis of hypertension. This was a retrospective cohort study on 195 hypertensive patients' (age ≥18 years) records from a primary health care clinic. The median time to achieve first BP control was 7.2 months (95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.99-9.35). Cox proportional hazards regression results showed female patients were 1.5 times more likely to achieve BP control when compared with male patients (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.50, 95% CI 1.09-2.09, P = .013). Those with monotherapy were 2 times more likely (HR = 2.09, 95% CI = 1.39-3.13, P < 0.001) and those on 2 drugs were 3.5 times more likely (HR = 3.49, 95% CI = 1.65-7.40, P = .001) to achieve BP control than those with nonpharmacological treatment. The median time to achieve BP control was longer than the recommended time. Doctors may need to consider starting the pharmacological treatment early and be more aggressive in hypertensive management for male patients.
    Matched MeSH terms: Primary Health Care/statistics & numerical data*
  16. Reducing medical errors in primary care using a pPragmatic complex intervention
    Khoo EM, Sararaks S, Lee WK, Liew SM, Cheong AT, Abdul Samad A, et al.
    Asia Pac J Public Health, 2015 Sep;27(6):670-7.
    PMID: 25563351 DOI: 10.1177/1010539514564007
    This study aimed to develop an intervention to reduce medical errors and to determine if the intervention can reduce medical errors in public funded primary care clinics. A controlled interventional trial was conducted in 12 conveniently selected primary care clinics. Random samples of outpatient medical records were selected and reviewed by family physicians for documentation, diagnostic, and management errors at baseline and 3 months post intervention. The intervention package comprised educational training, structured process change, review methods, and patient education. A significant reduction was found in overall documentation error rates between intervention (Pre 98.3% [CI 97.1-99.6]; Post 76.1% [CI 68.1-84.1]) and control groups (Pre 97.4% [CI 95.1-99.8]; Post 89.5% [85.3-93.6]). Within the intervention group, overall management errors reduced from 54.0% (CI 49.9-58.0) to 36.6% (CI 30.2-43.1) and medication error from 43.2% (CI 39.2-47.1) to 25.2% (CI 19.9-30.5). This low-cost intervention was useful to reduce medical errors in resource-constrained settings.
    Matched MeSH terms: Primary Health Care/statistics & numerical data
  17. Fulltext Health profiles of foreigners attending primary care clinics in Malaysia
    Ab Rahman N, Sivasampu S, Mohamad Noh K, Khoo EM
    BMC Health Serv Res, 2016 06 14;16:197.
    PMID: 27301972 DOI: 10.1186/s12913-016-1444-0
    BACKGROUND: The world population has become more globalised with increasing number of people residing in another country for work or other reasons. Little is known about the health profiles of foreign population in Malaysia. The aim of this study was to provide a detailed description of the health problems presented by foreigners attending primary care clinics in Malaysia.

    METHODS: Data were derived from the 2012 National Medical Care Survey (NMCS), a cross sectional survey of primary care encounters from public and private primary care clinics sampled from five regions in Malaysia. Patients with foreign nationality were identified and analysed for demographic profiles, reasons for encounter (RFEs), diagnosis, and provision of care.

    RESULTS: Foreigners accounted for 7.7 % (10,830) of all patient encounters from NMCS. Most encounters were from private clinics (90.2 %). Median age was 28 years (IQR: 24.0, 34.8) and 69.9 % were male. Most visits to the primary care clinics were for symptom-based complaints (69.5 %), followed by procedures (23.0 %) and follow-up visit (7.4 %). The commonest diagnosis in public clinics was antenatal care (21.8 %), followed by high risk pregnancies (7.5 %) and upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) (6.8 %). Private clinics had more cases for general medical examination (13.5 %), URTI (13.1 %) and fever (3.9 %). Medications were prescribed to 76.5 % of these encounters.

    CONCLUSIONS: More foreigners were seeking primary medical care from private clinics and the encounters were for general medical examinations and acute minor ailments. Those who sought care from public clinics were for obstetric problems and chronic diseases. Medications were prescribed to two-thirds of the encounters while other interventions: laboratory investigations, medical procedures and follow-up appointment had lower rates in private clinics. Foreigners are generally of young working group and are expected to have mandatory medical checks. The preponderance of obstetrics seen in public clinics suggests a need for improved access to maternal care and pregnancy related care. This has implication on policy and health care provision and access for foreigners and future studies are needed to look into strategies to solve these problems.
    Matched MeSH terms: Primary Health Care/statistics & numerical data*
  18. A systematic review of anxiety prevalence in adults within primary care and community settings in Malaysia
    Wong CH, Sultan Shah ZU, Teng CL, Lin TQ, Majeed ZA, Chan CW
    Asian J Psychiatr, 2016 Dec;24:110-117.
    PMID: 27931891 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajp.2016.08.020
    BACKGROUND: Anxiety disorders are common mental health disorders with significant impact on the individual as well as burden on the country as a whole.
    METHODS: A systematic review of databases, reference lists, internet sources, and input from content experts revealed 42 studies that documented the prevalence of anxiety symptoms or disorders. 12 of these studies specifically evaluated anxiety disorders.
    RESULTS: 4 studies looked at the prevalence of anxiety disorders in the general population, whilst the remainder focused on selected population groups: university students (4 studies); substance abuse (3 studies); and victims of abuse (1 study). Studies in the general population showed that the prevalence of generalised anxiety disorder was 0.4-5.6%, mixed anxiety and depression were 3-5%, panic without agoraphobia 0.4%, phobia unspecified 0.5-%, and anxiety not-otherwise-specified 0.3-6.5%. We found significant variability in anxiety disorders in the studies in selected population groups. The variability could also have been affected by methodological factors within each study.
    CONCLUSION: This study provides a broad overview of the prevalence of anxiety disorders in Malaysia. More research is required to develop diagnostic instruments that are validated for local use and comparable with international standards. Reliable prevalence estimates are lacking within certain groups, e.g. those in rural, indigenous, migrant population groups and those exposed to natural disasters.
    Matched MeSH terms: Primary Health Care/statistics & numerical data*
  19. Fulltext Variation of polypharmacy in older primary care attenders occurs at prescriber level
    Ong SM, Lim YMF, Sivasampu S, Khoo EM
    BMC Geriatr, 2018 02 23;18(1):59.
    PMID: 29471806 DOI: 10.1186/s12877-018-0750-2
    BACKGROUND: Polypharmacy is particularly important in older persons as they are more likely to experience adverse events compared to the rest of the population. Despite the relevance, there is a lack of studies on the possible association of patient, prescriber and practice characteristics with polypharmacy. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the rate of polypharmacy among older persons attending public and private primary care clinics, and its association with patient, prescriber and practice characteristics.

    METHODS: We used data from The National Medical Care Survey (NMCS), a national cross-sectional survey of patients' visits to primary care clinics in Malaysia. A weighted total of 22,832 encounters of patients aged ≥65 years were analysed. Polypharmacy was defined as concomitant use of five medications and above. Multilevel logistic regression was performed to examine the association of polypharmacy with patient, prescriber and practice characteristics.

    RESULTS: A total of 20.3% of the older primary care attenders experienced polypharmacy (26.7%% in public and 11.0% in private practice). The adjusted odds ratio (OR) of polypharmacy were 6.37 times greater in public practices. Polypharmacy was associated with patients of female gender (OR 1.49), primary education level (OR 1.61) and multimorbidity (OR 14.21). The variation in rate of polypharmacy was mainly found at prescriber level.

    CONCLUSION: Polypharmacy is common among older persons visiting primary care practices. Given the possible adverse outcomes, interventions to reduce the burden of polypharmacy are best to be directed at individual prescribers.

    Matched MeSH terms: Primary Health Care/statistics & numerical data
  20. Assessing primary care data quality
    Lim YMF, Yusof M, Sivasampu S
    Int J Health Care Qual Assur, 2018 Apr 16;31(3):203-213.
    PMID: 29687760 DOI: 10.1108/IJHCQA-08-2016-0111
    Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess National Medical Care Survey data quality. Design/methodology/approach Data completeness and representativeness were computed for all observations while other data quality measures were assessed using a 10 per cent sample from the National Medical Care Survey database; i.e., 12,569 primary care records from 189 public and private practices were included in the analysis. Findings Data field completion ranged from 69 to 100 per cent. Error rates for data transfer from paper to web-based application varied between 0.5 and 6.1 per cent. Error rates arising from diagnosis and clinical process coding were higher than medication coding. Data fields that involved free text entry were more prone to errors than those involving selection from menus. The authors found that completeness, accuracy, coding reliability and representativeness were generally good, while data timeliness needs to be improved. Research limitations/implications Only data entered into a web-based application were examined. Data omissions and errors in the original questionnaires were not covered. Practical implications Results from this study provided informative and practicable approaches to improve primary health care data completeness and accuracy especially in developing nations where resources are limited. Originality/value Primary care data quality studies in developing nations are limited. Understanding errors and missing data enables researchers and health service administrators to prevent quality-related problems in primary care data.
    Matched MeSH terms: Primary Health Care/statistics & numerical data*
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