The prevalence of occupational stress among academician is increasing in developed and developing countries. The job is not only to teach, but also involve in doing research, publications, consultation and administrative work. This study aims to assess the prevalence of occupational stress among academic staff in a research university and to investigate the association and correlation between stress and job factors which are career development, research, teaching and interpersonal relationship. One research university in Malaysia was selected randomly. A cross-sectional study was conducted and the respondents were recruited by using a randomized stratified sampling method. A total of 380 self-administered and validated Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) and Stress Sources Questionnaires (SSQ) were distributed among academic staff between March to May 2012. The statistical analyses used were χ2, independent–t test and Pearson Correlation. Response rate was 81.1%. Stress prevalence was 22.1%. All socio-demographic factors showed no association with stress except ethnic group. Teaching, research and career development had significant association with stress among academic staff (p<0.05). Overall result showed career development, that include university condition and required publications for promotion were the greatest source of stress among the academicians. Occupational stress showed positive linear relationship to career development, research and teaching. There was a fair positive relationship between occupational stress and career development, research and teaching. It is recommended to organize continuous stress assessment program to identify and evaluate the current level of stress at the university level. This data could be a foundation for implementing prevention and control measures to reduce stress in the workplace.
Keywords: academic staff, lecturer, occupational stress, research, teaching, career development, interpersonal relationship, research university, job stress
Diagnosis-related group (DRG) system is patient classification system designed to produce limited number of classes
which are relatively similar in terms of resource consumption and clinical characteristics. The aim of this study was to
assess the level of knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of Turkish health care providers toward DRG system
implemented in Turkey.A total of 238 healthcare providers were randomly selected from two urbanand one rural hospital
in Turkey.A questionnaire was used for data collection; contacting 32 items (10 items about knowledge, 12 items about
attitude and 10 items about the practice) and its validity and reliability were confirmed. Data analysis was performed
using chi-square and multivariate logistic regression.In this study,only one third of healthcare providers showed good
knowledge (35.7%) and good practice (37.4%) about DRG system,compared to 54.2% of them showed good attitude.There
was significant difference between age, gender, occupation groups and whether the respondents have attended a
workshop for DRG system in terms of KAP (p > 0.05).These results indicated the need for further actions to implement
DRG system in terms of creation of suitable environment and increasing awareness among healthcare providers,
especially male, medical doctors, nurses, elderly, and those who have never attended a workshop, in addition to regular
review to ensure the program would reach its targets.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is an upcoming public health problem in Malaysia. This study analysed the
trend of Hepatitis B (HB) cases from 2003 to 2012 and project the cases for an 18-year period (2013–2030).
Based on the national data of annual reported cases and the Malaysian population projections (2010–2040),
trend/regression lines were fitted to analyse the trend and estimated HB incidence. The number of HB
cases decreased for six consecutive years and began to increase from 2010 onwards. During the 10-year
period (2003–2012), the highest number of HB cases was reported in Sabah, followed by Pahang and
Wilayah Persekutuan; the lowest was reported in Perlis. The exponential curve shows a decrease of HB
cases by an average of 6.3%. However, the polynomial curve shows fluctuations in the trend, with a higher
degree of R-square (0.8655). Most states appear to be at moderate vulnerability to HBV infection (Kedah,
Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Terengganu, Sabah, and Sarawak), except for Melaka, Wilayah Persekutuan, and
Selangor, which were at high risk of HB incidences. Overall, the estimated HB cases indicate that the
number of cases and the incidence rates will increase in the future in all states, except for Penang. As the
estimated HB cases and incidence rates show an increasing pattern, the government should strengthen
their strategies in the management of HB and take preventive measures such as educating the public
through awareness programmes, conducting compulsory blood screening, and sustaining the Expanded
Programme on Immunization effectively.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in Malaysia and many parts of the world. Potentially modifiable risk factors for CVD include diabetes mellitus, hypertension, abdominal obesity, smoking and psychosocial stress. Over the last several decades, efforts to prevent or treat CVD risk factors have resulted in significantly lower rates of CVD-related mortality. However, many patients have never achieved adequate control of CVD risk factors despite them being identified. The aims of this study were to measure the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and to determine its associated factors. A cross sectional study was carried out in a rural area of Malaysia from March 2011 to November 2011 on 1489 respondents aged 18 and above who were selected via convenient sampling. The survey was conducted via a face-to-face interview using a standardized self administered questionnaire. Prevalence of cardiovascular disease identified was 72 cases (4.8%). Overall, the prevalence of modifiable risk factors were predominant compared to non modifiable, with abdominal obesity (51.2%) hypertension (39.5%) and psychosocial stress (33.8%) being among the highest. However, the prevalence of other modifiable risk factors was relatively low with smoking (25.2%), and diabetes mellitus (10.9%) respectively. Respondent with diabetes mellitus and hypertension were 4 times more likely to have cardiovascular disease and those who are obese had associated 2.5risks towards cardiovascular disease. Therefore, community health intervention measures should be mobilized,specifically on prevention and control of lifestyle-related risk factors.
Realizing the huge potential of e-learning in casemix education and since there was no e-learning program on casemix and clinical coding available globally. International Centre for Case-mix and Clinical Coding (ITCC) proposed to establish a universal case-mix education programs through providing an e-learning program (ELP) for case-mix and clinical coding and evaluate its success. The aim of this study is to describe the process of development of e-learning program for casemix system and clinical coding. The introduction of course about casemix and clinical coding was redesigned for elearning program by applying ADDIE model (refer to Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation).A total number of 57 learners attended to the course from around the world (40 different countries). The mean age of subjects was 34.70±8.66 years. Regarding profession, the largest percentiles (40.4%) of e-learners were belonging to academic sector and healthcare sector. All of the participants felt satisfied or very satisfied with the program. There was a significant difference between pre-test and post-test for e-learners knowledge score at the 0.05 alpha levels. The findings of the evaluation of the case-mix e-learning program indicated that e-learners found the educational performances of the case-mix online program to be satisfactory. With the advent of modern computer networking systems, organizations can employ these systems to enhance learning and performance improvement of case mix system.
The association between nutrition and cancer in general had been a controversial issue between scientists in the last
three decades, because some argued that there is a relationship and some nutrients can help in preventing cancer
occurrence, although this has not been a consistent finding by other studies. Studies were identified through a
systematic review of literature available on PubMed in between 1st January 2010 to 31st December 2013. We
included all studies that assessed nutrition or diet with occurrence or mortality of breast cancer. Out of 42 articles,
we included 8 articles in our screening and discussion. Among these 8 studies, there were 2 case-controls, 3 cohort
and 3 randomized control trials (RCT) studies. Although most studies reported that nutrition isassociated with
decreased risk, some reported the contrary,whereas others reported no relation. It was demonstrated a conflict
between the included papers in regards of the association between nutrition and breast cancer. These finding needs
to be re-evaluated in future studies.
Lower back, neck and shoulder pain are the most prevalent musculoskeletal problems affecting office workers worldwide, and they have both personal and socioeconomic consequences as well. Several hypotheses regarding the underlying mechanisms and the maintenance behind office work-related musculoskeletal disorders have been presented. There is some evidence, based on epidemiological studies as well as studies upon smaller groups of subjects, that individuals who sit and work for a long time not only show cognitive impairment at the workplace, but also suffer from poorer and fragmented daytime sleep, in addition to increased risks of developing various psychological, physiological and medical impairments and musculoskeletal disorders. The related physical mechanisms behind musculoskeletal disorders are discussed in the context of new findings. The main causes, as well as varying levels in severity of musculoskeletal disorders,not to mentionthe link between such disorders in the neck, shoulder and lower back regions and physical activity among office workers are also stated. The main objective of this review paper is to conduct a systematic review to identify musculoskeletal disorders and how these disorders are
correlated with physical activity among office workers. The results of this review indicate that the musculoskeletal disorder is a critical issue among office workers and the main cause is related to the absence of physical activity as well as the subjects’ sedentary lifestyle. As a practical message, regular physical activity can be effective in the prevention and decrease of physical discomfort among office workers who suffer from musculoskeletal pain.
A concern in breast cancer involves changes in weight which may adversely affect the prognosis of patients. This
study intended to evaluate weight changed uring chemotherapy and its association with prognostic outcome
measured as event-free survival (EFS)among breast cancer patients. A total of63 women diagnosed with breast cancer
and have been treated by anthracycline-based chemotherapy between 2005 and 2011were included.A weight change
(WC) was calculated based on relative percentage of weight changes from baseline to post-chemotherapy and
categorized into either weight change (WC >5%) or stable (±5% WC).Survival probabilities were estimated using the
Kaplan-Meier (SPSS 20). Upon treatment completion, 42.9% of the women experienced weight changes. A small
weight reduction was observed (61.1 ± 11.6kg to 60.2 ± 11.9kg; -0.8 ± 4.0kg; p=0.106). The median EFS of women who
experienced weight change was shorter (median 61.0 months) compared to those who maintained their weight
(median 89.0 months) (p=0.044). In this study, weight changes during breast cancer chemotherapy were associated
with poorer prognosis in comparison to women who maintained their weight.
Our study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practice behaviours of primary healthcare professionals in government Maternal and Child Healthcare Clinics (MCHC) on the association between oral health and pregnancy outcomes namely pre-term and/or low birth weight (PT/LBW) infants and to identify the barriers of utilisation of oral healthcare services by pregnant mothers. Questionnaires were distributed to government healthcare professionals working at all seven government MCHC in the Manjung District, Malaysia. 136 out of 158 questionnaires were returned completed yielding a 92% response rate. The questionnaire covers respondents characteristics, attitude and practice behaviours related to oral health and barriers faced when referring pregnant mothers to the dental clinic. 65% of respondents noticed dental/ gum problems in the pregnant mothers that they encountered. The two most frequent response for outcome of delivery linked to gum/ dental problems were premature delivery (49%) responses and low birth weight (27%). Although 95% of the respondents believed that regular dental check-ups is compulsory for pregnant mothers, only 69% regularly refer pregnant mothers for dental check-ups. There was a significance between healthcare professionals that receive continuing dental education and their referrals of antenatal mothers for dental check-ups .
Study site: Maternal and Child Health Clinics (Klinik Kesihatan), Manjung District, Perak, Malaysia.
Tuberculosis (TB) is known as a disease that prone to spatial clustering. Recent development has seen a sharp rise in the number of epidemiologic studies employing Geographical Information System (GIS), particularly in identifying TB clusters and evidences of etiologic factors. The aim of this systematic review is to determine evidence of TB clustering, type of spatial analysis commonly used and the application of GIS in TB surveillance and control. A literature search of articles published in English language between 2000 and November 2015 was performed using MEDLINE and Science Direct using relevant search terms related to spatial analysis in studies of TB cluster. The search strategy was adapted and developed for each database using appropriate subject headings and keywords. The literature reviewed showed strong evidence of TB clustering occurred in high risk areas in both developed and developing countries. Spatial scan statistics were the most commonly used analysis and proved useful in TB surveillance through detection of outbreak, early warning and identifying area of increased TB transmission. Among others are targeted screening and assessment of TB program using GIS technology. However there were limitations on suitability of utilizing aggregated data such as national cencus that were pre-collected in explaining the present spatial distribution among population at risk. Spatial boundaries determined by zip code may be too large for metropolitan area or too small for country. Nevertheless, GIS is a powerful tool in aiding TB control and prevention in developing countries and should be used for real-time surveillance and decision making.
The overweight and obese population may affect the population health which can lead to economic stability and development of the countries to be compromised. Thus, this study estimates the burden of disease attributable to overweight and obesity in Malaysia for adults aged 20-59 years old. Population attribution fraction (PAF) and disability-adjusted life year (DALY) have been used to quantify years of life lost from premature death and number of years lost due to disability resulting from obesity and overweight. The burden of disease attributable to overweight was 1582 and 1146 PYs per 1000 persons for male and female, respectively. Meanwhile, the burden of disease attributable to obesity was 2951 PYs per 1000 persons with women in the lead at 1657 PYs per 1000 persons. The burden of overweight and obesity among Malaysian adults is substantial. The outcome of this study is crucial as it gives a comprehensive information on the burden of overweight and obesity in Malaysia. The information from this study also enables the authorities to develop activities and programs to combat obesity and tomaintain healthy lifestyle among Malaysian.
Prenatal genetic screening is offered during pregnancy to detect foetuses that have certain diseases. It is widely used in the detection of congenital malformation which results in foetal birth defects. Unawareness of the society on the importance of prenatal genetic testing contributes to the increase in the birth defect rate.Future parents should be exposed with the importance in performing prenatal genetic screening.The purpose of this study was to examine the knowledge and perception level of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) Kuantan students regarding prenatal genetic screening thalassemia, Down syndrome and neural tube defects.This is a cross-sectional study whereby192 respondents were selected using convenience sampling method. A set of close-ended questionnaire was distributed among students in IIUM Kuantan. Independent t-test, parametric test (One- Way ANOVA test), non-parametric test (Mann-Whitney test) and correlation coefficient(Pearson) were used to find all related factors influencing knowledge and perception and to find association between knowledge and perception of IIUM Kuantan students.From this study, it was found that the level of knowledge and perception of IIUM Kuantan students regarding prenatal genetic screening of thalassemia, Down syndrome and neural tube defects was relatively high. Married students hada betterknowledge compared to unmarriedstudents (p=0.008). Moreover, students from Kulliyyah (Faculty) of Medicine had adequate level of knowledge (p
Introduction: The transboundary smoke haze has become a major concern as it had a wide ranging impact in Southeast Asia from the aspect of public health to national economics. This review aims to synthesize available literature in epidemiology, economics and haze related studies to provide essential information for the valuation of health costs associated with haze in Malaysia. Methods: Evidence on health economic impact of haze was gathered by conducting a literature review and collecting information on the health effects of haze and the cost of it as well as the hospitalization cost from medical illnesses and hospital admissions due to haze. Articles were taken from those that were published from 1999 to 2016.Results: The 1997 Asian Haze episode has caused increasing trend of prematurity of mortality and respiratory problems and several series of haze later had caused increased number of hospitalization. The cost impact on hospital admission ranges from MYR1.8 million in 2005 to MYR118.9 million in 2013. During the 1997 haze, the incremental cost of illness (COI) was noted to be MYR 21million and it shot up to MYR 410 million during the 2013 haze. Conclusion: The haze gives a serious health effect to our country and our neighbours. These health effect has caused a significant health economy impact which include rise in hospital admission cost and medication, incremental cost of illness and extend to cost of medical-related leaves taken and lead to loss of income opportunities.
Needlestick injury (NSI) is a serious occupational hazard against healthcare workers (HCWs) in a hospital setting with multiple implications, thus adherence to post-NSI management including follow-up protocol is crucial.This research was conducted to describe the distribution of NSI cases among HCWs working in Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH)’s hospital in Selangor and adherence to a follow-up protocol, as well as the factors related to it.This was a cross-sectional quantitative study reviewing retrospectively all notified NSI cases in January-September 2016. Data were taken from Sharps Injury Surveillance (SIS) system and analyzed into descriptive and analytical statistics.There were 143 notified NSI cases. The majority of the cases were female(76.2%), Malay(60.1%), medical doctors(56.6%) and in a medical-based department (44.8%). The median age of NSI cases was 27 years old (IQR:5) and median years of employment was 1.5 (IQR:4.5). Most cases happened in a ward setting (58.7%) involving contaminated (95.8%) hypodermic needle (43.4%), occurred mostly during the procedure of drawing blood (23.1%). Only 86.7% of NSI cases were source-known and some were tested positive with blood borne pathogens. However, no occurrence of seroconversion among the injured HCWs detected. The overall adherence rate to the follow-up protocol was 72.3%. Multiple logistic regression yielded significant association between age, gender, department, device contamination, procedure conducted and source HBV status with adherence to follow-up of post-NSI protocol. Further comprehensive studies involving more determinants such as therapy-related factors and potential interventions are needed to optimize adherence rate to the follow-up protocol post-NSI.
Nurses’ job performance is defined as the effectiveness of a person in carrying out his or her duties related to patient care. Aim of this study is to measure job performance among nurses in a tertiary hospital and its associated factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted among nurses selected from four departments, which were Obstetrics & Gynecology (O&G), medical, surgical and Cardiac Care Unit (CCU)/High Dependency Unit (HDU). A Malay validated Six-Dimension Scale of Nursing Performance (6-DSNP) questionnaire was used to measure job performance. Nurses who have one child more compared to other nurses had significantly lower total mean score of job performance by -0.06 (95% CI 0.11, 0.01). Nurses working in medical department [adj.β=0.16 (95% CI 0.01, 0.30)] and CCU/HDU [adj.β= 0.33(95% CI: 0.17, 0.50)] had significantly higher total mean scores of jobs performance compared to O&G department. Effective strategies and re-examining work conditions are imperative for better job performance.
Study site: Department of
Medical, Department of Surgical, Department of
Obstetrics & Gynecology (O&G) and Cardiac Care
Unit/ High Dependency Unit (CCU/HDU) of Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM)
Assessing a child’s functional abilities and limitations can provide useful information for occupational therapists to develop individualised intervention plans. Usually paediatric assessments require parents to rate their child on different domains of health and functional performance. To do so, parents need to be able to understand the assessment content and instructions to rate their child accurately. The primary purpose of this study was to examine if parents in Malaysia understood the content and instructions of three assessments: the Sensory Profile Caregiver Questionnaire (SP), the Sensory Processing Measure Home Form (SPM) and the Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function Parent Form (BRIEF). The secondary purpose was to examine perceptions about the clarity and relevancy of each of the items in each assessment. Thirty parents, recruited using convenience sampling, completed a survey about the assessments. In general, the parents indicated no problems or only minor problems in understanding the content and instructions of all three assessments. The parents also provided comments to improve the clarity of the assessment items. Comments were primarily related to the terms or jargon language used. Elaborations of the terms or jargon were later provided based on the parents’ comments. All three assessments were identified as relevant to be used in the Malaysian population. The results suggest that all three assessments can be used by parents and are suitable to be implemented by occupational therapists working with children in Malaysia.
We investigated the association between housing conditions with a primary focus on basic housing infrastructure and WHOQOL BREF score among the Orang Asli and non-Orang Asli populations. A cross–sectional study was conducted between August 2014 and May 2015 among the Orang Asli and non-Orang Asli populations in Kuala Langat, Selangor. Sampling of the population was done through multistage sampling while eligible respondents participated conveniently. The socio-demographic information collected consisted of age, ethnicity, marital status, educational level, and employment status. Basic housing infrastructure variables including the types of housing unit, wall construction material, availability and types of toilet, availability of electricity, source of water supply, and availability of garbage collection facilities were obtained. Among the Orang Asli respondents, having the pour type of toilet in the house was significantly (p=0.003) associated with a reduction in the physical health domain score by 0.36 (95% CI: -0.61,-0.12). Conversely, having no toilet in the house and living in a semi-detached house had significantly (p=0.023 and p=0.026 respectively) increased the social relationships domain score by 0.81 (CI: 0.11, 1.51) and 3.90 (CI: 0.47, 7.34) respectively. Unavailability of garbage disposal facilities was found to be significantly (p
The main objective of this research is to compare the seating pressure during the driving session between two
different types of national cars. The objective of this research is to conduct object pressure distribution study on
two different types of car seat using CONFORMat (model 5330) with system model CER2, compare and analyse the
results based on object pressure between both car seat. Twelve respondents participated a driving session with
TekscanCONFORMat (model 5330) setup using the same route for both national car. We select two types of national
cars equipped with automatic transmission for this research. The seat pressure on the subject along the journey is
recorded using TekscanCONFORMat Research 7.60 software. Later, comparison made with respect to the seat
pressure experiencedby twelve respondents. The results shows different values of backand seat pressure recorded
among the twelve subjects. Lastly, the results are analysedand discussed at the end of this paper. Model B seat
design has better ability to distribute evenly the pressure to both seat and back. However, results for Model A
showed the pressure is more concentrated on the seat area.
Anthropometric study is one of the oldest branches of study in ergonomics where it serves a purpose in study of
proportion and size for human body. One of the common methods used in anthropometric measurement is traditional
measurement or direct measurement. However, Malaysia is still left behind other countries in development of national
anthropometric database. Researchers in Malaysia are still relying on the traditional anthropometric (TA)
measurement. There are several important factors that contribute to problems in TA such as accuracy, time, posture,
identification of landmarks, instrument positions and orientations, and pressure exerted due to measuring equipment. In
view of the fact that the difficulties of obtaining human anthropometry, it becomes necessary to propose a method which
has less contact executed to respondent. This study aims to propose a new anthropometric measurement method using
motion capture camera (MCC) method, later to develop the database for youth male population. A pilot test was done
in order to confirm the measuring procedure as well as the flow of the study. Next, the Minitab statistical software used
to check the validity and reliability of data using the tests of a) Accuracy-Pearson/Spearman Correlation b) BiasPaired
T-Test c) Test-Retest Reliability-Pearson/Spearman Correlation d) Precision-Mean Absolute Difference and
Relative Error Measurement. Results showed that the validity and reliability of this motion camera has successfully
obtained and the anthropometric data for youth male respondents has successfully constructed. These findings can be
used and expended to the national anthropometric database to be utilised in ergonomics design.
Discomfort and pain issue at the body part are common complaints reported by car drivers. It is due to driving task
require physical demands and need to maintain and adapt several postures in a constrained space while controlling
the car. Hence, this study aims to determine the pattern of shoulder activation muscle consisting of the Trapezius
muscle in two different driving posture. Respondents were required to grasp the steering wheel at 8 and 4 hand
position. The Surface Electromyography was used to get the reading for left muscle’s Trapezius Descendent (TD) at
two different positions; i) closest distant from steering wheel and ii) far distant from the steering wheel. Then,
Temporal Analysis was used to evaluate the pattern of the driving action. From the experiment, it shows the
different value of muscle activation occurred while driving according to turning action. The far seated position
depicted greater activation on driving action compared to the closer seated to the steering wheel. In conclusion, the
driving posture effects the activation of shoulder and arm’s muscles as early as after 20 seconds of driving activity.
Hence, choosing the correct driving posture allowed a comfortable driving environment for the driver.