Introduction: Greater needs of medical doctors to provide appropriate care for both genders related diseases, however men face more problem since their problems have less been recognized. Objective: The objective was to determine the level of men’s health knowledge among final year medical students in USM and MU. Method: A total of 199 final year medical students from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Kelantan, Malaysia and Monash University, Melbourne, Australia (75 students from USM and 124 students from MU) were enrolled in the study and completed self-administered questionnaire on the topics related to male sexual and reproductive health. Result: The response rate for USM and MU was 44% and 68.9% respectively. Out of 52 items, 17 items were significantly had higher percentage in answering correctly (p
Sexual dysfunction, which is defined as 'difficulty during any stage of the sexual encounter that prevents or impairs the individual or couple from enjoying sexual activity', is globally prevalent in males with prediabetes and diabetes. It is an early harbinger of cardiovascular diseases and has a profound impact on one's physical, mental, and social health. Among patients with either prediabetes or diabetes, the most common male sexual dysfunctions are hypogonadism, erectile dysfunction, and premature ejaculation. In Asia, although sexual health is an important factor of men's health, it is rarely discussed freely in real-life practice. Addressing sexual health in Asian males has always been challenging with multiple barriers at the levels of patients and health care providers. Therefore, the assessment and management of sexual dysfunction in routine clinical practice should involve a holistic approach with effective patient-provider communication. In this review, we discuss the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and the management of hypogonadism, erectile dysfunction, and premature ejaculation among males with either prediabetes or diabetes (type 1 and type 2), as well as the evidence gaps across Asia.
Background: Men's health in Malaysia is slowly gaining more attention, but minimal research has examined how Malaysian men behave and seek treatment. While few studies have investigated men's treatment-seeking behavior (TSB), those that have been conducted seem to be inconclusive and tend to yield contradictory findings.
Objectives: This paper aims to determine the proportion of inappropriate TSB and to explore in-depth treatment-seeking behavior among male civil servants in northeastern Malaysia.
Methods: This paper adopted a mixed-methods approach, specifically a concurrent parallel study design. A quantitative study using a self-administered questionnaire was performed to identify the proportion of appropriate and inappropriate TSB among male civil servants in northeastern Malaysia. Concurrently, a qualitative study was conducted involving six focus group discussion sessions, and the results of both parts were integrated to provide a detailed explanation of TSB among the participants.
Results: A total of 381 participants were involved in the quantitative study, yielding a response rate of 94.8%; 246 (64.6%) engaged in inappropriate TSB. Some of the reported morbidities among the participants were hypertension (26.5%) and diabetes mellitus (26.2%). From the qualitative study, a main theme related to TSB emerged with several sub-themes, which were health literacy, stage of seeking treatment, preference for alternative treatment, perceived threat of illness, self-treatment, and the influence of family members and others.
Conclusions: TSB among male civil servants in northeastern Malaysia is poor, and the factors contributing to it are multidimensional. This study has provided new valuable evidence on men's TSB in northeastern Malaysia. The findings can be used to facilitate and improve current policies and the implementation of men's health services throughout the country.
Men have shorter life expectancy and higher mortality than women; however, only a few countries have dedicated men's health policies. Men's health reports can support the development of men's health policies. The 2013 Asian Men's Health Report (AMHR) systematically documents and compares the status of men's health across countries in Asia. The AMHR can be used as an exemplar to guide future men's health reports. The main challenges during creation of the AMHR were the lack of comprehensive health databases and the variety of data quality between countries. The AMHR revealed variations in mortality and morbidity across diseases, regions, and income groups, prompting a Delphi survey among men's health stakeholders to determine whether any dedicated men's health policies in Asia existed and to reach a consensus on the recommendations of men's health policies. The AMHR helped to promote men's health in Asia and across the world, generated research questions and collaborations, provided evidence to support development of men's health policies, identified the need to improve existing health databases, and developed a framework for the creation of other men's health reports.
Men’s health remain unclear term for majority of general population as well as physician worlwide. Nowadays there is an increase interest in addressing men’s requirement in health care as a separate branch. When discussing about men’s health, it is fair to say that even a man himself does not know much about men’s health. Most of them think that men’s health is just a discussion on sex. This thought is not entirely right. The scope of men’s health is actually larger than the male sex organ itself. To define men’s health, we have to look at man holistically.
OBJECTIVE: There is currently no documentation on the availability and implementation of policies related to men's health in Asia. This Delphi study aimed to achieve an Asian consensus on men's health policy based on the opinions and recommendations from men's health key opinion leaders.
STUDY DESIGN: A two-phase Delphi online survey was used to gather information from men's health stakeholders across Asian countries.
METHODS: All stakeholders were invited to participate in the survey through men's health conferences, personal contacts, recommendations from international men's health organizations and snowballing method. Stakeholders were asked about their concerns on 17 men's health key issues as well as their opinion on the availability and recommendations on men's health policies and programmes in their countries.
RESULTS: There were a total of 128 stakeholders (policy makers, clinicians, researchers and consumers), from 28 Asian countries, who responded in the survey. Up to 85% of stakeholders were concerned about various men's health issues in Asia and in their respective country, particularly in smoking, ischaemic heart disease and high blood pressure. There is a lack of men's health policies and programmes in Asia (availability = 11.6-43.5%) and up to 92.9% of stakeholders recommended that these should be developed.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings call for policy change and development, and more importantly a concerted effort to elevate men's health status in Asia.
Men's health has gained prominence over the past few years but it is still not on par with the attention or funding that women and child health is getting. In Asia, this issue is even more conspicuous. With westernization of lifestyle, Asian men's problems emulate their Western counterparts but there are certain issues unique to Asian men due to cultural differences. This review will discuss the health issues affecting Asian men and suggest measures that can be taken to overcome them.
The aging man is becoming a major burden to Asian countries because of the current poor health status of Asian men and the aging Asian population. Life expectancy at birth for men is shorter than women by an average of 4 years in Asian countries and major causes of death are cardiovascular disease, cancers, injuries and infections. However, there are considerable variations between Asian countries because of great disparity in socioeconomic status. Male-specific disorders, such as male sexual health and urological conditions, are other major health burdens because they have a great impact on men's quality of life. More importantly, many risk factors to the causes of mortality and morbidities, such as high-risk behavior and smoking, can be improved with health promotion and early intervention. The current evidence suggests that the poor health status of men is the result of their poor health care utilization, negative health-seeking behavior, the adverse social environment for men and gender-insensitive health care delivery. However, much evidence is still needed as Asian countries have great diversity in culture, societal values and men's needs. Asian time-tested wisdom on a balanced healthy lifestyle to longevity should be explored as potential men's health promotional programs. Taking into account Asian men's health-care needs, a gender-streamlined approach and man-friendly health care delivery should be on the national agenda in managing the aging man.
PURPOSE: The proposed Men's Health Index (MHI) aims to provide a practical and systematic framework for comprehensively assessing and stratifying older men with the intention of optimising their health and functional status.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A literature search was conducted using PubMed from 1980 to 2012. We specifically looked for instruments which: assess men's health, frailty and fitness; predict life expectancy, mortality and morbidities. The instruments were assessed by the researchers who then agreed on the tools to be included in the MHI. When there was disagreements, the researchers discussed and reached a consensus guided by the principle that the MHI could be used in the primary care setting targetting men aged 55-65 years.
RESULTS: The instruments chosen include the Charlson's Combined Comorbidity-Age Index; the International Index of Erectile Function-5; the International Prostate Symptom Score; the Androgen Deficiency in Aging Male; the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe Frailty Instrument; the Sitting-Rising Test; the Senior Fitness Test; the Fitness Assessment Score; and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21. A pilot test on eight men was carried out and showed that the men's health index is viable.
CONCLUSIONS: The concept of assessing, stratifying, and optimizing men's health should be incorporated into routine health care, and this can be implemented by using the MHI. This index is particularly useful to primary care physicians who are in a strategic position to engage men at the peri-retirement age in a conversation about their life goals based on their current and predicted health status.
KEYWORDS: Health status indicators; Men; Physical fitness; Retirement