METHOD: Articles, reports and guidelines used in providing mother and child health services in Malaysia published since 2000 were reviewed.
RESULTS: There was no specific monitoring strategy used for SGA infants without critical health issues in early childhood, as they were commonly treated as healthy infants. Several challenges in aligning theory with the current practice of healthcare service delivery and recommendations for dealing with such challenges were identified.
CONCLUSION: The alignment of theory with the current practice of service delivery should be tailored to the needs and demands parallel to the dynamic change in populations in the urbanisation era.
Objective: Here, we report three cases of AS that were diagnosed after the patients developed AAU. Methods: A case series illustrated AAU leading to the diagnosis of AS years after the initial episode of low back pain. A comparison of the clinical presentation, diagnosis, and outcomes was also illustrated.
Result: We report three cases of acute anterior uveitis (AAU)-associated AS diagnosed only after many visits to the primary health care provider with the complaint of chronic low back pain. All three patients had irreversible radiological changes upon diagnosis of AS. The AAU resolved with topical steroids, and one patient developed cataract.
Conclusion: A high index of suspicion of AS in a young adult with chronic back pain before the development of AAU may prevent further functional loss and provide a better prognosis. Diagnosis of AS following AAU is not only associated with dependency but also may rob the vision of a young adult.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted using an online Google Form. PCDs working at primary healthcare clinics were selected via simple random sampling. The online form contained items on sociodemographic and practice characteristics and a validated questionnaire on knowledge, attitude and self-efficacy towards screening and treating hepatitis C. Data were statistically analysed.
RESULTS: A total of 242 PCDs were included in the analysis. The median age was 35 years (interquartile range [IQR]=5). The majority of the PCDs were women (83.9%) and Malay (71.9%) and had a median working experience of 6 years (IQR=6). The mean self-efficacy score was 12.67 (standard deviation=3.38). The factors associated with a higher level of self-efficacy in screening and treating hepatitis C were postgraduate qualification, training within the last one year, better knowledge and attitude scores and prior experience in treating hepatitis C.
CONCLUSION: The identified factors are crucial in improving the self-efficacy among PCDs in hepatitis C care services. Policymakers are suggested to implement training programmes and encourage continuous medical education, exposure to patient management and postgraduate certification in family medicine to help PCDs in treating hepatitis C better.
METHOD: This cross-sectional study was conducted using 3-month secondary data from the Mawid application. The study included 3134 comments from 380,493 patients who visited 38 PHC centres in Riyadh and responded to the Mawid application evaluation questionnaire. Data were analysed using SPSS version 21.
RESULTS: Approximately 59.1% of the patients' comments were negative (patients' complaints); only 19%, positive; 8.40%, mixed; and 13.6%, unrelated. The patients' complaints (n=2969) were obtained from 380,493 patients within 3 months, yielding a complaint rate of 2.6 per 1000 attendances per month. The majority of the complaints (79.3%) were from patients visiting nonspecialised PHC centres. Approximately 59.1% of the complaints fell under the management domain; 23.6%, patient-staff relationship domain; and only 17.2%, clinical domain.
CONCLUSION: Management and interpersonal problems constituted the main patients' complaints in the PHC centres in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, future studies must clarify the reasons contributing to these complaints. Increasing the number of physicians, providing staff training and continuous auditing are mandatory to improve patients' experiences in PHC centres.
METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted among patients aged >18 years attending Klinik Kesihatan Putrajaya Presint 9 with a high risk of contracting COVID-19 recruited via systematic random sampling. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. A multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the associated factors.
RESULTS: The response rate for this study was 97.4% (N=489). The median patient age was 55 years. Approximately 51.7% were men, and 90.4% were Malays. Approximately 81.2% were willing to receive a COVID-19 booster vaccine. The patients who perceived COVID-19 as a serious illness (Adjusted Odd Ratio, AOR=2.414), those who perceived COVID-19 booster vaccines as beneficial (AOR=7.796), those who disagreed that COVID-19 booster vaccines have many side effects (AOR=3.266), those who had no doubt about the content of COVID-19 vaccines (AOR=2.649) and those who were employed (AOR=2.559) and retired (AOR=2.937) were more likely to be willing to receive a booster vaccine than those who were unemployed and those who did not have close friends or family members who contracted severe COVID-19 (AOR=2.006).
CONCLUSION: The majority of the participants were willing to receive a COVID-19 booster vaccine. Healthcare authorities should take initiatives to design targeted public intervention programmes to increase the willingness for COVID-19 booster vaccination.
Method: This was a cross-sectional study with universal sampling conducted between July and October 2017. A total of 146 patients with asthma aged 18 years and older in a primary care clinic in Putrajaya, Malaysia were recruited. Logistic regressions were used for statistical analysis to examine the association between improper MDI techniques and their related factors.
Results: The majority (83%) of respondents were female with a median age of 37 (IQR = 30.75-49.25) years, and the median duration of asthma of 20 (IQR = 10-30) years. An improper MDI technique was observed in 100 (71.9%) patients. The most frequently missed step was exhaling gently and fully before inhalation (51.4%). Respondents who were not on an MDI preventer (adjusted OR: 2.487, 95% CI: 1.121-5.519, p = 0 .025) or had used an MDI 5 years or fewer (adjusted OR: 3.369, 95% CI: 1.425-7.964, p = 0.006) were more likely to employ an improper MDI technique.
Conclusion: There was a high proportion of improper MDI techniques among patients with asthma. Patients not using an MDI preventer or who had used an MDI less than 5 years were at higher risk of improper MDI technique.