DESIGN: A cross-sectional study performed using an anonymous online questionnaire distributed through social media, email and the Department of Social Welfare.
SETTING: Malaysian families were invited to answer the questionnaires. The sampling was performed between 12 May 2020 and 9 June 2020.
INTERVENTION: The psychological impact was assessed using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES). The mental health status was assessed using the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) 21.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: (1) Psychological impact on Malaysian families. (2) Prevalence of mental health status of Malaysian families during COVID-19 pandemic.
RESULT: A total of 409 Malaysian families have responded (409 parents and 348 children), 154 respondents (38%) reported high psychological impact (score 14) for psychological construct and 189 respondents (46%) reported high psychological impact (score 6) for behavioural construct. A significantly higher proportion of respondents with not permanent employment status of the family lead reported high psychological impact. The prevalence of anxiety reported from family respondents was 23%. Forty-five children answered the DASS-21 questionnaire; 28.5% reported anxiety, 31.4% reported depression and 13.3% reported stress. The job security status of the family lead was found to be the predictive factor for the mean total IES-R score (psychological construct) and ethnicity for mean total CRIES-8 and CRIES-13.
CONCLUSION: Rates of depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic were high. Findings suggest that urgent measures to ensure job security among Malaysian families are important to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychosocial and mental health outcomes.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 241 medical students. Validated questionnaires were administered to measure burnout, psychological distress, emotional intelligence, personality traits, and academic stress, respectively. A structural equation modelling analysis was performed by AMOS.
RESULTS: The results suggested a structural model with good fit indices, in which psychological distress and academic stress were noted to have direct and indirect effects on burnout. The burnout levels significantly increased with the rise of psychological distress and academic stress. Neuroticism was only found to have significant indirect effects on burnout, whereby burnout increased when neuroticism increased. Emotional intelligence had a significant direct effect on lowering burnout with the incremental increase of emotional intelligence, but it was significantly reduced by psychological distress and neuroticism.
CONCLUSION: This study showed significant effects that psychological distress, emotional intelligence, academic stress, and neuroticism have on burnout. Academic stress and neuroticism significantly increased psychological distress, leading to an increased burnout level, while emotional intelligence had a significant direct effect on reducing burnout; however, this relationship was compromised by psychological distress and neuroticism, leading to increased burnout. Several practical recommendations for medical educators, medical students, and medical schools are discussed.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study design was conducted on 162 breast cancer survivors from various breast cancer support groups in Malaysia. Psychological distress status was assessed based on depression and anxiety scores by applying the Malay version of Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7). Both instruments were self-administered along with a set of questionnaires comprising demographic, medical history, quality of life, and upper extremity function assessment. Outcomes from the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 were analyzed for severity level of psychological distress, and its association with relevant variables, arm morbidity symptoms, as well as the duration of cancer survivorship.
RESULTS: The univariate analysis showed that breast cancer survivors with arm morbidities after breast surgery had a higher score of depression (5.0 vs 4.0, p = 0.011) and anxiety (3.0 vs 1.0, p = 0.026) than those who did not. Besides that, receiving fewer post-rehabilitation treatments (p = 0.049) and having a family history of cancer (p = 0.022) were correlated with higher anxiety level. The level of depression and anxiety was inversely proportionate with quality of life and positively correlated with greater disability of the arm function (p
METHODOLOGY: An online cross-sectional study was conducted via non-probabilistic convenience sampling. Data were collected on sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle, COVID-19 related influences. Mental health status was assessed with depression, anxiety, and stress scale (DASS-21).
RESULTS: 388 students participated this study (72.4% female; 81.7% Bachelor's student). The prevalence of moderate to severe depression, anxiety and stress among university students are 53.9%, 66.2% and 44.6%, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression analysis found that the odds of depression were lower among students who exercise at least 3 times per week (OR: 0.380, 95% CI: 0.203-0.711). The odd ratio of student who had no personal history of depression to had depression, anxiety and stress during this pandemic was also lower in comparison (OR: 0.489, 95% CI: 0.249-0.962; OR: 0.482, 95% CI: 0.241-0.963; OR: 0.252, 95% CI: 0.111-0.576). Surprisingly, students whose are currently pursuing Master study was associated with lower stress levels (OR: 0.188, 95% CI: 0.053-0.663). However, student who had poorer satisfaction of current learning experience were more likely to experience stress (OR: 1.644, 95% CI: 1.010-2.675).
LIMITATIONS: It is impossible to establish causal relationships between variables on mental health outcomes, and there is a risk of information bias.
CONCLUSION: The prevalence of mental health issues among university students is high. These findings present essential pieces of predictive information when promoting related awareness among them.
DESIGN AND METHODS: Participants were randomly selected using multi-stage sampling methods from three public universities in the study location. Participants completed measures of internet and smartphone addictions, depression, anxiety, stress, and suicidality, along with sociodemographic items.
FINDINGS: At bivariate level, both internet and smartphone addictions were found to have significant positive correlations with depression, anxiety, stress, and suicidality. At multivariate level, only internet addiction emerged as a consistent significant predictor for depression, anxiety, stress, and suicidality.
PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The present findings have implications for mental health professionals to routinely screen for psychological disturbance in young adults who have potential risks for internet addiction.
METHODS: A representative sample of 1747 adolescents (13-14 years) was randomly selected from 6 schools in a south part of Malaysia. Respondents were asked to fill consent form, and questionnaires including Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 and Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents.
RESULTS: Majority of respondents (71.9%) was Malay and more than half of the adolescents had low physical activity. About 40% had depression symptoms, followed by anxiety symptoms (65.9%) and stress symptoms (38.5%). Level of physical activity was significantly associated with gender, anxiety and stress (P<0.001). There were no associations with race, religion and depression symptom.
CONCLUSIONS: This study provides some evidence among school-going adolescents related to anxiety and stress symptoms and low physical activities. Further studies are needed to show the protection effects of higher physical activity for depression, anxiety and stress symptoms in adolescents.
OBJECTIVE: To review the prevalence of illness, stress, and corresponding risk factors among educators in Malaysia.
METHOD: Scopus, ProQuest, PubMed, ScienceDirect, CAB, and other computerized databases were searched according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to identify studies published between January 2013 and April 2019 on the prevalence and associated risk factors of illness and stress among educators (S1 Checklist). The keywords used included educator, teacher, lecturer, academic staff, teaching profession, university staff, academician, faculty, illness, injury, disease, pain, WMSD, dysphonia, hoarseness, stress, mental health, strain, health problem, disorder, and/or Malaysia. Selected studies were evaluated by quality assessment.
RESULTS: Twenty-two articles fulfilled the eligibility criteria. The prevalence of illness and stress was determined for low back pain (33.3-72.9%); upper back pain (33.33-56.4%); neck/shoulder pain (40.4-80.1%); upper arm discomfort (91.3%); forearm pain (89.6%); wrist pain (16.7-93.2%); hip pain (13.2-40.9%); thigh discomfort (91.8%); lower leg discomfort (90.5%); knee pain (23.7-88.0%); ankle/feet pain (19.3-87.7%); elbow pain (3.5-13.0%); voice disorder (10.4-13.0%) and stress (5.5-25.9%). Sex, education level, teaching experience, quality of life, anxiety, depression, coping styles, and others were reported as associated risk factors across the studies.
CONCLUSIONS: There appears to be a cause for concern regarding musculoskeletal disorders, voice disorder, and stress reported among educators in Malaysia. While most risk factors matched those reported in studies elsewhere, others such as school characteristics (school level, government or private school, and location [rural/urban]) have not been investigated.
METHODS: Through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Costs in Oncology study, 1490 newly diagnosed cancer patients were followed-up in Malaysia for 1 year. Health-related quality of life was assessed by using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) and EuroQol-5 (EQ-5D) dimension questionnaires at baseline, 3 and 12 months. Psychological distress was assessed by using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Data were modeled by using general linear and logistic regressions analyses.
RESULTS: One year after diagnosis, the mean EORTC QLQ-C30 Global Health score of the cancer survivors remained low at 53.0 over 100 (SD 21.4). Fifty-four percent of survivors reported at least moderate levels of anxiety, while 27% had at least moderate levels of depression. Late stage at diagnosis was the strongest predictor of low HRQoL. Increasing age, being married, high-income status, hospital type, presence of comorbidities, and chemotherapy administration were also associated with worse HRQoL. The significant predictors of psychological distress were cancer stage and hospital type.
CONCLUSION: Cancer survivors in this middle-income setting have persistently impaired HRQoL and high levels of psychological distress. Development of a holistic cancer survivorship program addressing wider aspects of well-being is urgently needed in our settings.