Backache is a common health problem associated with non ergonomic working environment. A cross sectional study amongst the rubber tappers was conducted to determine the prevalence of low back pain and ergonomic factors related to it. The respondents were 116 male rubber tappers from Felda scheme in the state of Pahang who were selected by random sampling. The result showed prevalence of low back pain was 60.3% and has significant association with history of backache (p<0.05). Rubber tappers were 6 times more higher to develop low back pain if they had history of backache (Odd Ratio =6.24, 95% CI). There were no significant association between socio-demographic factors and low back pain. Ergonomic factors such as bending during tapping, respondents’ height and duration of the tapping showed no significant association with low back pain. Further study should be done in ergonomic aspect to explore the problem.
Key words: Low back pain, rubber tapper, Felda, ergonomic.
Satu kajian keratan rentas telah daalanlcan ke atas kanak-lcanak yang tinggal 0.5 km dari sebuah lcuari di Sungai Siput Utara. Objelctif kajian ini ialah untulc mengkaji hubungan PM10 dengan fungsi paru-paru kanak-kanak tersebut. Seramai 51 orang kanak-/canak yang ringgal berhampiran kuari dan terdedah dengan debu kaur tehih dipilih, manakala 37 orang kanak-kanak yang tinggal berjauhan tetapi di daerah yang sama telah dipilih sebagai perbandingan untuk lag ian ini. Borang soalselidik telah digunakan untuk mendapatlcan maklumat latarbelakang dan sejarah respiratori dari ibu bapa kanalc-kanak terlibat. Fungsi paru-paru kanak-kanak pula diukur dengan menggunakan Pony Graphic S pirometer. Min kepekatan PM1 0 selama 24 jam di dalam rumah kediaman di kawasan terdedah ialah 76.66 (g/m3 dan di kawasan perbandingan 41 .55 (g/m3. Perbezaan kepekatan PM10 di antara kedua kawasan ini adalah signifikan (p=0.01). Hasil ujian fungsi paru-paru menunjukkan perbezaan yang signifikan di antara fungsi paru-paru kanalc-kanalc terdedah dengan kanak-kanak perbandingan dari segi FVC % jangkaan (t = -8.227, p = 0.01) dan FEV1 % jangkaan (t = -8.729, p = 0.01). Min fungsi paru-paru kanak-kanak lelaki di kawasan terdedah, (FVC % jangkaan = 68.05, FEV1 % jangkaan = 73.71) adalah lebih rendah daripada kawasan perbandingan (FVC % jangkaan= 89.78, FEV1 %~ jangkaan = 86.97). Min fungsi paru-paru kanak-kanak perempuan di kawasan terdedah (FVC % jangkaan= 69.64, FEV1 % jangkaan =74.90) juga adalah lebih rendah daripada hawasan perbandingan ( F VC % jangkaan = 90.99, FEV1 % jangkaan : 87 .7 9). Prevalens kejejasan parurparu FVC % jangkaan l
A cross-sectional study on helminthiasis among rural primary schoolchildren aged 9 to 10 years Bachok, Kelaritan was perfumed. A total of 680 schoolchildren participated in the study. Stool specimens were examined for the presence of the ova of Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and hoolcwonn. The worm load was then measured using the modified Stoll`s volumetric dilution
technique. The overall prevalence of helminthiasis was 77 .2%. Trichuris trichiura were the commonest type of heminth noted - 66.8%, compared with Ascaris lumlrricoides (49.7%) and hookworm (1.8%). Mixed infections with Ascaris lumlyricoides and Trichuris trichiura was the commonest type of infection 249(41 .5%) . For Ascaris lumbncoides, 34.6% had mild and 5 I .3% had moderate worm load while for Trichurb trichiura, 66.5% had mild and 30.8 % had moderate worm load. Only 14.1% and 2.7% 4 of the schoolchildren had a heavy load of Ascaris lumlwicoides and Trichuris trichiura respectively. All the schookhildren with hookworm were only mildly infected. Targeted mass treatment for rural Mahysian schoolchildren is still essential, especially in areas where poverty and malnutrition are still prevalent.
Aspek pantang larang dalam pemakanan dan perkhidmatan bomoh merupakan entiti unik dalam budaya masyarakat Orang Asli. Satu kajian irisan lintang di kalangan masyara/cat Orang Asli pinggiran (di Pos Betau) dan pedalaman (Pos Sinderut) Kuala Lipis telah dijalankan pada 25hb September hingga 6 Oktober 1999 bagi mengetahui pola pemakanan dan amalan pantang larang dalam aspek pemakanan yang mempengaruhi tahap pemakanan seseorang. Seramai 255 orang responden telah ditemuduga oleh kakitangan terlatih menggunakan borang soal selidik berpandu dimana 15 orang dari kawasan pinggiran dan 104 orang dari pedalaman. Hasil kajian menuruukkan Orang Asli pinggiran lebih kerap mengombil makanan dalam sehari (p
Corporate culture can simply be defined as “The way we do things around here". It comprise of assumptions, values, norms and tangible signs. Ministry of Health has started its culture building in 1991. Prior to this study, there have been two studies to evaluate its implementation. There were two types of respondents, where administered questionnaires were sent to all head of departments and all U3 medical ojjicers in public services in Malaysia, About 50% (n=126) of head of departments and only 18% (n=1321) of medical ojjicers responded. The study shows that at least 83% of head of departments perceived that the three core value of corporate culture has been implemented in their departments. However for rites and rituals, less than habf of them have implemented it. Singing of corporate song is done more in hospital as compared to health. As for medical officer, only 28% of them have received training on corporate culture. Among those who have received training, only a quarter understood the meaning of corporate culture. Doctors were also asked to give opinion on how to generate a caring doctor. About one-third suggested to reduce the workload of doctors. Apart from increasing manpower, workload can also be reduced by reengineering the system and upgrading the doctors’ competency.
The objectives of this study are to determine the prevalence of hand-arm vibration (HAVS) among the automobile
assembly workers and the associated risks. A cross sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of
HAVS and also ascertain the association between HAVS and reduction in VPT among workers using vibration hand held
tool in automobile industry. Aim of this study was to determine the prevalence Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome
(HAVS) among vibrating hand held tool exposed workers. A cross sectional study design using structured
questionnaire and invasive measurement of vibrotactile perception threshold (VPT) at the fingertips was conducted
in one of the automobile company in Klang Valley. All the respondents were hand arm vibration exposed workers. A
total 109 assembly line workers with at least one year job tenure participated in this study. The finding revealed
that 27.5% of workers reported HAVS through questionnaire. This study consisted of 109 respondents. All of them
were male. The mean age was 32.9 years. The mean daily vibration exposure for 8-hours was 1.41m/s2. There was
11% of the tools measured were above the Action Level recommended by European Union Directive 2002. The overall
prevalence of HAVS based on reported symptom through questionnaire was 27.5%. None of the respondent reported
any whiteness at their fingers due to exposure to vibration. However, 36.7% of the respondent reported tingling
sensation and 57.8 % reported the feeling of numbness in their hands. Only 10.1% claim that the pain was
persistence. Since this study was done among exposed workers without control group, the thresholds were measured
by comparing the observed VPT with the VPT of healthy population provided by ISO 13091-2. The result showed that
98.2% of the respondent in this study having positive threshold which indicate the percentage of respondent that
having deterioration in finger tactile perception. The positive threshold from comparison above showed that the
respondent of this study was affected with the vibration exposure. The value proven that the exposure has caused
the deterioration of tactile sensitivity in 98.2% of respondent in this study which showed by having positive threshold
compared to healthy population. The result also showed that there was a significant correlation between daily
vibration exposure A (8) and VPT at both frequency tested which was 31.5Hz (r = 0.417, p = 0.002) and 125Hz (r =
0.480, p = 0.001). Even though the mean daily vibration exposure for 8-hours was low and below the recommended
level, the workers still exposed to the effect of hand arm vibration.
This study focuses on the application of the Malaysian Driving Behaviour Questionnaire(DBQ). The aim of this study is
to investigate and analyse the significant driving behaviour of the ageing Malaysian automobile drivers. The sets of
questionnaire was completed by a total number of 102 ageing drivers consists of 58 males (56.86%) and 44 females
(43.14%). The age of respondents ranges from 50 to 75 years (M = 57.21) and (SD = 5.60). The DBQ contains 12 items
of demographic questions and 41 items measuring driving behaviour in traffic. The driving behaviours were classified
into four factors which are driving distractions, violations, errors and lapses. The most significant correlation
coefficient is between age and distractions (r = 0.456, p
Health care has emerged as one of the fastest growing industry worldwide. This induced health care costto rise tramendously. However, it is important to preserve high quality health care services that are equitable and affordable. In many countries, people are expected to contribute to the cost of the health care. Are populations ready to accept the concept and willing to pay for health financing scheme? What possible factors that may associate with their decision? This is the objective of the study, to examine the relevance evidence for this through a systematic review of literatures.We systematically searched Ovid MEDLINE and Google Schoolar databases until April 2016. We assessed the study population willingness to pay for health financing scheme and determine the significant variables that associate with WTP. 19 full-text articles were included in the review. Factors that were found significantly associated with WTP for health financing scheme by many studies were age, education, income and residential locality. Other factors that also found associated with WTP were health care services utilization and expenditure. The review findings showed that WTP for health financing scheme is beyond the households’ financial capacity and has multifactorial influences.
Maternal self-efficacy in breastfeeding is one of the potential modifiable factors which is consistently linked with positive breastfeeding outcomes. This study aimed to develop a Malay translation of the original English BSES-SF and to conduct a validity and reliability assessment on both antenatal and postnatal questionnaires among 101 pregnant women in their third trimester and 104 women on their first week postpartum. The Malay translation of the English BSES-SF was conducted by using back-to-back translation processes, followed by validity and reliability evaluation. The validated Malay version of the questionnaire BSES-SF was then administered on the respondents. The questionnaire comprised of socio-demographic, antenatal, and breastfeeding information. Furthermore, data on infant feeding method were collected via telephone call made to the respondents at four weeks postpartum. The Cronbach’s Alpha value for antenatal BSES-SF questionnaire was0.94, while the value for postnatal BSES-SF questionnaire was 0.95. The factor analysis identified a one-dimensional structure which able to explain 59.02% of the variance for antenatal questionnaire and 60.43% of the variance for postnatal questionnaire. In addition, high antenatal and postnatal breastfeeding self-efficacy scores were significantly associated with the practice of exclusive breastfeeding at four weeks postpartum. As a conclusion, Both Malay versions of the antenatal and postnatal BSES-SF questionnaires are valid and reliable tools to assess breastfeeding self-efficacy among Malaysian mothers.
Ocular injuries or trauma to the eye can be caused by variety of objects resulting in a spectrum of lesions in the eye. We did a Pubmed/Google/Science Direct search to review the spectrum of ocular injuries in Malaysia. In our review, we included 28 papers providing information on ocular injuries which were published from Malaysia during the period 1991-2016 in different medical journals. Prevalence was more among males with an average age of 35 years. Among adults they were more common in the workplace but in children it occurred at home. Few wore protective glasses at work. The mode of injury was due to sharp objects hitting the eye, motor vehicle and domestic accidents, firecrackers, chemicals and rarer causes like superglue and durian fruit. Prognostic factors for outcome were the initial visual acuity, length of the wound, associated factors like hyphaema, intraocular foreign body and vitreous prolapse. Missing the diagnosis of perforation of the eyeball is possible without eliciting a proper history. Protective devices must be worn to prevent injuries. Display of health education charts showing the effect of injuries in the eye and their preventive measures in health centres, private hospitals, schools, factories and sports centres will increase the awareness of public about the ocular injuries. It is important to diagnose the tissues involved in ocular trauma by the general practitioners and primary care physicians and refer the patients to the Ophthalmologist urgently for treatment to salvage vision. Compensation mechanisms should then be put forth in terms of rehabilitation and for monetary loss.
Worldwide prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents increased substantially over decades. Addressing potential risk factors of obesity among adolescents is very important for a successful intervention program in this population. The present study aimed to identify the sociodemographic determinants of obesity among school adolescents in Terengganu. A cross-sectional survey involving 3,798 school adolescents age 12 years old from 136 government primary schools in Kuala Terengganu and Besut districts were carried out from November 2014 to June 2015. For the purpose of this paper, the data for 2,842 school adolescents classified as either normal BMI (< +1SD) (n= 2,305) or obese (+2SD) (n= 537) based on WHO cut-off points were taken for analysis. Sociodemographic information on subjects and their parents were obtained from self-reported questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements were conducted by Physical Education teachers and uploaded into a specific developed database. The prevalence of obesity was relatively high in both genders in this study. Binary logistic regression analysis found gender, parental BMI, household income, household size and maternal working status were independently associated with obesity among school adolescents in this population. In the final model, being male, having working mother, and having obese parents were identified to be potential risk factors for obesity whilst having large household size lower the risk of obesity among these adolescents. Prevention programs are needed to increase awareness about the risk factors of obesity in adolescent and interventions should now focus on family member as well mainly the parents.
Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM) is broadly used as an adjunct treatment for patients to treat various kinds of disease, prevent disease and to sustain and enhance quality of life of the users. The study is aimed to investigate the association between CAM uses, Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and anthropometric indices among workers or staffs in Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) Gong Badak Campus, Kuala Terengganu. A total of 300 subjects participated in this study and completed the malay version of modified HRQol (SF-12) questionnaires. Anthropometric measurements among the subjects were done. Independent t-test, One-way ANOVA and Pearson correlation were used to test the association and the hypotheses. The prevalence of CAM users was 37.3%. The results showed that bodily pain score domain was significantly higher among non-CAM users. Overall, male had higher Mental Health Composite Score (MCS) score than female. Physical Health Composite Score (PCS) was only correlated negatively with BMI among non-CAM users but negative correlated with body fat percentage in both CAM and non-CAM users. As conclusion, HRQoL had significant negative correlation with body fat percentage among CAM users. No association was found between CAM use and HRQoL scores.
Dengue fever is one of the most dangerous vector-borne diseases. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), dengue fever is a mosquito-borne infection caused by virus serotype DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4. In Malaysia, dengue fever cases are on the rise from 6,000 cases in 1995 to over 40,000 in 2010, and this number is still rising. In 2014, the increase of dengue fever cases was alarming. It was reported that up to the end of the year 2014, there were 108,698 notified cases, indicating an increment of 151% compared to the same period of time in 2013 with only 43,346 reported cases. Selangor was the highest contributor of dengue fever cases in 2014. The objective of this paper is to study the relationship between climatic factors namely temperature, rainfall and humidity to the prevalence of dengue fever in Subang Jaya and Sepang district, Selangor. Data on monthly average temperature, precipitation, relative humidity and dengue fever cases for each month in 2014 and 2013 were collected. Data collection was dealt with a few institutions such as Malaysian Meteorological Department, Subang Jaya and Sepang Municipal Council and health district offices. Data were analysed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) Version 20. General linear model analysis was used to investigate the relationship between the climatic variables and dengue prevalence. Results and Discussion: Based on the general linear model, rainfall and humidity were found to have significant relationships to monthly dengue fever cases (p=
Introduction: Transboundary haze occurred was primarily derived from seasonal forest fires which has highly been concerned of the health effect on the local community. As awareness of the source and dangers of smoke haze spread, Malaysian government increasingly came under pressure from the public and civil society at the national, state, and district level to address the haze issues. However, the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) inequalities of urban and rural community could be a barrier in promoting awareness on haze. Objective: To determine the urban and rural inequality in KAP on haze. Methodology: A total of 400 urban and rural residents from Klang Valley was recruited to participate in this study. A validated survey form was used as the study instrument which composed of four parts: (1) Sociodemographic information, (2) Haze knowledge, (3) Attitude (concerns) during haze episodes, (4) Practices (protective behaviors) to prevent against the health effects of haze. Result: There were significant differences of KAP on transboundary haze among urban-rural population. Urban population has higher knowledge and protective behaviors on hazes; however, both the rural-urban residents presented moderate levels of concerns on hazes. Conclusion: It is necessary to provide timely information (knowledge and practices) on haze to rural residents, at the same time, improve the urban residents’ concerns (attitudes) over the haze phenomenon. This will help to raise the overall awareness level to transboundary haze by translating into a state of the resilient community.
The large population of human congestion in Makkah during Hajj would promote contagious diseases. Thus, the pilgrims require health care services that are efficient, effective, and high quality. The aim of this study is to determine the type of health-related problems among Malaysian pilgrims and to identify the health care services required by them during Hajj in Makkah. A cross-sectional study was conducted in which involved 379 Malaysian pilgrims in 2013/14234H. The survey was conducted after the pilgrims completed their Hajj ritual. A total of 400 sets of questionnaires were distributed at Abraj Janadriyah Hotel, which was occupied by more than 3000 Malaysian pilgrims. The response rate for this survey was 93%. Male respondents were constituted of 49.6% and female respondents were 50.4% with the mean age 52 years old. The underlying disease among Malaysian pilgrims during Hajj was respiratory disease (77.5%). The demands for health personnel (36.1%) and quality medication (34.7%) are among the important healthcare services required by the Malaysian pilgrims in Makkah. Respiratory disease is a common disease experienced by Malaysian pilgrims in Makkah. A certain types of services such as health personnel and quality medicine are strongly demanded by the Malaysian pilgrims to overcome their health problem during Hajj. This research provides a fundamental input to the health care providers, and also benefited the Hajj management authority to improve the quality of hajj management in future.
Hajj and ‘Umrah pilgrimage are a huge congregation performed by Muslims in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. The pilgrimage causes overcrowding and congestion that can lead to a high risk of health problems, especially when pilgrims have health problems. The purpose of this study is to assess the reliability of EQ-5D as a measuring tool to capture the health status of the pilgrims. Data collection was done during Ramadhan’s ‘Umrah in 2014. In this cross-sectional study, a total of 300 self-administered questionnaires attached with the EQ-5D-5L questions were distributed to Malaysian ‘Umrah pilgrims in Makkah and willing to participate in the study. The outcomes from the questionnaires and EQ-5D-5L were systematically analysed by using the SPSS software. The response rate was 64%, involved female (53%) and male (47%) respondents with the mean age of 55 years old. Hypertension (21.5%) and diabetes (16.2%) were the commonest underlying health problems suffered by the respondents in this study. Based on the EQ-5D outcomes, 53.3% of the respondents had no problem in their movement. However, the mean of EQ-VAS (visual analogue scale) presented 83 out of 100 scaling point, which means they might have problems in their health status. In addition, this study revealed, respondents with underlying illnesses had difficulty in some dimensions in EQ-5D. Hypertension was identified as the commonest underlying disease amongst the pilgrims. A contradicted outcome from the objective and subjective measuring scales of EQ-5D and EQ-VAS respectively; presented its sensitivity of EuroQol as a measuring tool for the quality of life among pilgrims living within such congestion.
This study is to determine the prevalence and the associated factors of low-back pain (LBP), which has multifactorial causes, among ambulance workers in Kelantan, Malaysia. The cross-sectional study involved ambulance workers in the emergency department in all government hospitals in Kelantan. Those who did not consent, complete or return the questionnaire as well as having rheumatic diseases were excluded from the study. The participants were asked to answer a self-administered questionnaire in English. Descriptive analyses and Chi-square test were used. A total of 168 respondents had completed the questionnaires with a response rate of 85.0%. Questionnaires with more than 95.0% items completed were included in the analysis (n=143). The respondents had a higher proportion of male than female (63.6% versus 36.4%). Assistant Medical Officer comprised of 60.0% of all respondents and the rest were nurses. The respondents’ age ranged between 23 to 58 years old with a mean age of 38.27 and standard deviation (SD) of 7.27. The mean duration of involvement in ambulance service was 9.68 years (SD 6.97). The majority (98.5%) of the respondents were Malay. Gender, smoking status and hobbies were the associated factors of LBP among ambulance workers. The modifiable risk factors should be emphasized to the ambulance workers as a measure to prevent the development of LBP.
As air travelling now becomes cheaper and available to almost all people of any walk of life, travelling across international borders is fast becoming a lifestyle of many. Having travel health service as part of health care services is important to address the issues of travel related illnesses among travellers. However, lacks of published guidelines pertaining to travel health service rendering many countries to overlook its importance. The aim of this paper is to review published literatures and authoritative websites on the components needed to develop guideline to establish travel health services. A systematic literature search was done using pre-specified keywords for literatures published between years 2000 – 2016. Literatures written in English and fully accessible were all included. No exclusion criteria was set before the search. Online authoritative websites pertaining to travel health were also referred. A total of six literatures ranging from expert opinion, review paper and original study, together with three authoritative websites related to travel health were reviewed. Among the important components needed to be considered for developing the guideline for establishing travel health services are to prioritise pre-travel health service, to set up specialised travel health clinic, to produce travel health/medicine specialist, to emphasize on continuous education and training of the practitioners and to apply multiagency and multidisciplinary approach with adequate fund for research in travel health. As a conclusion, policy makers should prioritise and select the most important components in developing guideline for travel health service.
This cross sectional study investigated the test –retest reliability of the Malay Version Job Content
Questionnaire (M- JCQ) among electricity linemen. The M-JCQquestionnaire was administered to 10
electricity linemen working in private sub-contract company. The data were collected at two occasions
with one week interval of time between each sessions. Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) and Bland
Altman plot were used to analyze the reliability of the M-JCQ. The ICC for the ‘psychological demand’,
‘decision latitude’, ‘work related social support’ and ‘job insecurity’ scale were 0.96, 0.52, 0.99 and 0.55
respectively. The Bland Altman plot indicated that the tests and retest score for all the four scales had an
acceptable agreement. These findings indicated that the M- JCQ is reliable and consistent for assessing
work related psychosocial risk factors among electricity linemen.
Patients with chronic heart failure suffer from undesirable effects in their daily activities. Effective self-care management in conjunction with social support gives improved the wellbeing of patients with chronic heart failure. This study determines social support and self-care management among patients with chronic heart failure. A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Cardiology Clinic in Hospital Serdang, Selangor from April 2014 to June 2014. A questionnaire consisting of demographic characteristics, MOS Social Survey and Self-Care Heart Failure Index (SCHFI) was distributed to a total of 113 respondents. The results show moderately high level of social support (3.51±0.89) and level of self-care management (160.49±44.39). For instance, social support and self-care management were not statistically significant with the demographic characteristics (p>0.05). There was a positive correlation between social support and self-care management (r=0.263, p<0.05) and the findings suggest that social support should be considered a predictor in self-care management of patients with chronic heart failure.
Keywords: social support, self-care management, patient(s), chronic heart failure
Study site: Cardiology Clinic in Hospital Serdang, Selango