Globally, the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and the average life expectancy is on the rise. As diabetes mellitus is commonly associated with old age, it is very important to ensure good glucose control to reduce complications and improve quality of life. A cross sectional study was conducted among elderly diabetics in Kulim with the aim to determine the prevalence of glucose control and its associated factors. Three hundred and twenty nine respondents were chosen through stratified random sampling in all the seven health clinics in Kulim. Respondents were interviewed personally using a structured questionnaire. HbA1c level of 6.5% and below was considered as good glucose control. Prevalence of good glucose control was 22.5%. Being male (Adjusted prevalence odds ratio, APOR = 1.75, 95% CI: 1.02-3.00), age of 70 years and above (APOR = 2.48, 95% CI: 1.40-4.39) and duration of diabetes less than five years (APOR = 2.10, 95% CI:1.21-3.64 ) were found to have significant association with good glucose control. As a conclusion, this study showed that the low prevalence of good glucose control was determined by gender, age and duration of illness.
This is a follow-up study to assess the socio demographic profile of a sample of 28,605 women seeking pregnancy terminations at a private clinic in Penang over a seven year period as compared to an earlier study in 1995 of a sample of 23,986 women over a six and a half year period at the same clinic. This study was conducted using computerized patient medical records and paper reports generated from the computer data. The earlier 1995 study showed that the profile of a typical abortion client was a Chinese (60%), housewife (45%) in her late twenties (47%) with a monthly household income of less than RM1,200 (58%), having her first abortion (51%) and who had used contraception before (78%). For the seven year period from 1998-2005, the follow-up profile of a woman seeking an abortion in the same clinic in urban Malaysia was one with a monthly household income of less than RM2,000 (100%) in her late twenties (54%) who had used contraception in the past (85%). It is noted that the percentage of Malay respondents has increased (34%). The percentage of women who had a prior abortion at this clinic or elsewhere has also increased (68%), as compared to the preliminary study. Non-use of contraception remained an issue and traditional methods still outweighed the use of more effective contraceptive methods. In conclusion, fewer housewives and more Malay and Indonesian factory workers contributed to the clinic client profile over these seven years compared to that of the earlier study in 1995.
A study was undertaken amongst private primary care providers in three urban centres of Malaysia to understand the organizational structure of the facilities and to assess the cost of running such services. A total of 150 clinics were involved in the study. Data was collected through interviews with owners of the clinics using semi-structured questionnaires. Solo-practitioners owned 64.7% of the clinics while 35.3% of them were owned by group practice. This study showed that the mean number of patients visited the clinics daily was 49.3 with the average operating hours of 79.4 hours/week (range 28.0 - 168.0 hours/week). Group practice clinics operates 23.9 hours longer than solo-practice clinics. Group practice clinics were more likely to offer 24 hours service than solo-practice clinics. Most of the clinics were manned by a single doctor (57.3%), 30.0 % had two doctors and only 12.7% were run by more than two doctors. On average, group practice employed greater number of supporting staff than solo-practice clinics (6.0 vs 4.3 people). The mean annual cost to run each facility was found to be RM 444,698. The mean cost per patient was found to be RM 32.09 for solo-practice clinics and RM 38.55 for group practice. Wages represented the highest proportion in the recurrent cost (61.1%) followed by drugs (29.2%) and consumables (2.7%). Building cost (67.9%) and equipment cost (25.9%) were the major capital costs for the clinics. This study could serve as a basis to reimburse private primary care providers in the future health financing scheme in Malaysia. To improve efficiency and contain cost in primary care settings, efforts should be targeted towards cost of wages and drugs utilised by the providers in their daily practice.
Key words: Private practice; primary care; costs; Malaysia.
The objective of this study was to find out whether integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in a Primary Health Care Clinic improves client’s waiting time. This was a descriptive study based on a total of 588 clients, i.e. 291 clients from an ICT integrated primary health care clinic, which was Putrajaya Health Clinic and 297 clients from a manual health clinic, which was Salak Health Clinic, from 5th December 2000 until 10th January 2001. Clients attending both clinics during this study period were systematically random sampled. Information was obtained from structured questionnaires. Data were analysed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 10.0. Selected quantitative time variables, their mean and standard deviation were calculated. Integration of ICT in a primary health care clinic did not improve client’s waiting time. It was demonstrated by this study that the integration of ICT in Putrajaya Health Clinic led to significantly longer average waiting time (39.76 minutes) and longer average total time spend in the clinic (57.14 minutes) as compared to a manual clinic, Salak Health Clinic where its average waiting time was only 23.13 minutes and average total time spend in the clinic was 39.15 minutes. Based on the findings, it is possible that integration of ICT in a primary health care clinic could not play as a significant factor for improving or reducing client’s waiting time in Putrajaya Health Clinic yet, at least not for the time being. This is the first study to document waiting times specifically in our first ICT integrated primary health care clinic. Since it was found that integration of ICT in a primary health care clinic had made client’s waiting time significantly longer than the waiting time in a manual clinic, it could be interesting for future research to look into client’s satisfaction in an ICT environment clinic.
Key words: ICT, client satisfaction, primary care
Introduction: Insulin has been viewed as a treatment option of last resort in type 2 diabetes management. The decision to start insulin therapy is often diffi cult. Patients are usually reluctant to begin insulin and many cases delay the initiation of insulin therapy. The aim of this study is to determine the magnitude of insulin refusal or recognize as psychological insulin resistance (PIR) and to identify its predictors. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study and data was collected from two primary public health clinics in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. The study sample consisted of 404 insulin naive patients with type 2 diabetes. A self-administered questionnaire was used to obtain demographic and clinical information. Results: Fifty-one percent of patients with type 2 diabetes were found to be unwilling to take insulin. Regression analysis revealed that females were 2.7 times more likely to resist insulin treatment compared to males and those with uncontrolled diabetes were 1.8 times more likely to resist insulin treatment compared to controlled diabetics. Patients will refuse insulin if they perceived their diabetes worsen with insulin use. After controlling for other attitudinal belief factors in the model, an increase in one unit of perceived disease severity will increase the likelihood of PIR around 2 times. Conclusion: Several misconceptions regarding insulin therapy were identified and specifi c education intervention is recommended for successful transition to insulin therapy.
A cross sectional study to determine general health and body composition was conducted for comparison between rural samples (Teluk Intan, Perak) and urban samples (Klang Valley, Selangor). Systematic random sampling was used in Z health clinics in Klang Valky and 4 health clinics in Telult Intan, Perak The results showed that urban population was more heterogeneous (Malay 63.7%, Indian 19.8%, Chinese 14.9%) compared with the rural population (Malay 75%, Indian 22.1%, Chinese 2.9%). Mean age for urban population was 44 2 1.6 years and for rural was 50 i 14.4 years. There was significant difference in the BMI (p < 0.05) between urban and rural populations where more people in the urban areas had higher BMI. There was a significant difference in the waist hip ratio (p < 0.05) between urban and rural areas where more people in the urban areas had above normal waist hip ratio. There was no significant difference in chronic diseases suffered and family medical history of the rural and urban samples.
Public health care programme evaluation includes determining the programme effectiveness (outcome assessment), efficiency (economic evaluation), accessibility (reachability of services) and equity (equal provision for equal needs). The purpose of this study was to make comparison on cost·( efficiency and costeffectiveness in managing type 2 diabetes between the Ministry of Health (MOH) health clinics with family medicine specialist (FMS) and health clinics without FMS. A costeffectiveness analysis was conducted alongside across-sectional study at two government health clinics in Machang, Kelantan, one with FMS and the other without FMS. A total of 300 patients, of which 155 from the health clinic without FMS and 145 from the other group were evaluated for sociodemographic and clinical characteristics from August 2005 to May 2006. HbA1c
analysis was measured for each patient during the study period. Macrocosting and microcosting were used to determine costs. The provider cost for diabetic management ranged from RM270.56 to RM4533.04 per diabetic patient per year, withla mean cost of RM1127.91(t906.08) per diabetic patient per year in health clinic with FMS. In health clinic without FMS, the provider cost ranged from RM225.93 to RM4650.13, with a mean cost of RM802.15 (:626.26). Proportion ofgood HbA1c was 17.2% for health clinic with FMS and 10.3% for the health clinic without FMS. The annual mean provider cost per proportion of good HbA1c control (< 7%) (Costefkctiveness ratio/ CER) was RM6557.65.for health clinic with FMS and RM7787.88 for health clinic without FMS. This provider cost-epfectiveness ratio was not different statistically between the health clinic with FMS and health clinic without FMS (p=0.063). The cost of building, equipments, overheads, staff and consumables were higher for FMS group. Sensitivity analysis was performed for three discount rates (0, 5 and 7%). Relative cost-effectiveness of diabetes management in health clinic with FMS and health clinic without FMS was unchanged in all sensitivity scenarios. Even though, there was no significantly difference in provider CER in type 2 diabetes management at Malaysian MOH health clinics, but the provider CER in health clinic with FMS was lower compared to health clinic without FMS. Therefore, we can conclude that the presence of FMS in the health clinic will effectively improved the management of type 2 diabetes.
Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of defaulters of immunization, and their associated risk factors among children age 12 to 24 months. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in all government's maternal child health clinics in District of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Data was collected using a standardised questionnaire from July to November 2006. Results: The prevalence rate for defaulting immunization was 16.8% from the 315 respondents. Bivariable analysis showed various significant factors associated with defaulters such as mother’s employment status, family mobility, transportation and cost. Nonetheless, multivariable analysis showed only mother’s age, mother employment status and family size were the significant predictors for defaulting immunization. Immunization that had the highest rate of defaulters was DPT–OPV booster dose (56.6%), followed by MMR immunization (43.4 %) and
DPT-Hib/OPV and Hep B third dose (37.7%).Conclusion: Employed mothers with bigger family size should be more closely monitored and advised to reduce the chance of defaulting on the immunization. Health promotion activities also should focus to these groups of mothers.
Objective: To study the effect of depressive disorders, severity of depression and, sociodemographic factors on drug compliance among hypertensive patients at primary care clinics. Methods: A total of 201 hypertensive patients on treatment for at least 3 months who attended the HUKM Primary Care Clinic and Salak Polyclinic were selected for this study. Patients were screened for depressive disorders using the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS) and those who scored 8 and more were further interviewed to establish a diagnosis using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Patients who were diagnosed to have depressive disorders were further rated for the severity of the illness by using Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD). Drug compliance was assessed during a 2 month follow up using the pill counting method (ratio 0.8 – 1.2 considered as compliant). Results: The prevalence of non-compliance among hypertensive patients was 38.3%. There was no association between the diagnosis of depressive disorders and drug compliance. Among the 12 patients who had depressive disorders, severity of depression as rated by HAMD, showed significant association with drug compliance (Mann-Whitney test z = -2.083, p
Objective: To investigate the correlation between sexual desire and sexual arousal among Malaysian women in a primary care setting. Methods: The Malay Version of Female Sexual Function Index (MVFSI) was used to assess low sexual desire and lack of sexual arousal among the respondents. A total of 230 married women aged 18 – 70 years old participated in this study. Their sociodemographic, marital profiles and correlation between low sexual desire and lack of sexual arousal were examined. Results: More than 60% respondents with low sexual desire have co-exist low sexual arousal and 94.4% respondents with high sexual desire do have high sexual arousal ( χ²= 79.6, p
A study was conducted at Greentown Health Clinic, Ipoh to assess and classify asthma by levels of control based on the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA). The secondary objective was to identify those patients whose control was suboptimal. A total of 102 patients were included in this study based on random sampling between 25th April 2008 and 6th June 2008. Standard Asthma Control Questionnaires were used to classify asthma and levels of control. Baseline Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR) measurements and PEFR at audit visits were also recorded. All data were analysed using SPSS version 13. The study showed that only 39.2 % of the patients were classified as having controlled asthma, 34.3 % had asthma that was partly controlled and 26.5 % of the patients had uncontrolled asthma. Among those patients who had inadequate asthma control, more than half of them had nocturnal attacks and exacerbations. These findings demonstrate the need by the attending doctor to improve assessment of the patient’s control of asthma by actively questioning the patients and subsequently improving management to achieve optimal control of asthma.
Study site: Klinik Kesihatan Greentown, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Objective: The MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) is a short, structured diagnostic interview compatible with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (DSM-IV). It was designed for clinical practice, research in psychiatric, primary care settings and epidemiological surveys. This preliminary study aims to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Malaysian Version of MINI for Major Depressive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder symptoms criteria only.
Methods: Six hours of MINI training was given as part of a National Health Morbidity Survey training program for layman interviewers (n=229) and three videos were prepared by an expert psychiatrist for inter-rater reliability purposes. Meanwhile, for validity purposes, the MINI was administered to patients with Major Depressive Disorder (n=30), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (n=20) and to a normal population (n=60), to conform against the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM-IV) that was administered by psychiatrists.
Results: Overall the inter-rater reliability was satisfactory (0.67 to 0.85) and the concordance between the MINI’s and expert diagnoses was good, with kappa values of greater than 0.88.
Conclusions: The Malay version of the MINI is adjusted to the clinical setting and for the assessment of positive cases in a community setting. Modifications were highlighted to correct any identified problems and to improve the reliability of the MINI for future research and clinical use.
The aim of the study was to compare sexual functioning among Malaysian women in a primary care setting between those with a low and high frequency sexual intercourse. Across-sectional study on 230 married Malaysian women in a primary-care setting was conducted at the Bandar Tun Razak Clinic, Cheras. A validated Malay version of Female Sexual Function Index questionnaire (MVFSFI) was used to assess the sexual functioning profiles among women with low and high sexual activity. The percentage of women who had sexual intercourse 3-4 times a week, 1-2 times a week and < 1-2 times a month were 13.4%, 44.3 % and 42.4 % respectively. Women with a low frequency of sexual intercourse (Low SI) tended to suffer from more sexual dysfunction, (χ²=28.98, p < 0.001) compared to those with a high frequency of sexual intercourse (High SI) group. Women who were less sexually active (having low frequency intercourse, ie. ≤ 1 – 2 times per week) were found to be less sexually aroused (χ²= 25.9, p< 0.001), less orgasmic (χ²=19.8, p< 0.001), less lubricated during sexual activity (χ²=11.1, p< 0.001), complain of sexual pain (χ²=4.3, p = 0.033) and feels less satisfied sexually (χ²=12.6, p< 0.001).The problem of female sexual dysfunction (FSD) in the Malaysian primary care population with low sexual activity needs to be addressed.
Iodine is an essential micronutrient for normal physical and mental development. Iodine deficiency is endemic in 130 countries worldwide, including Malaysia. This is a cross-sectional study done to determine the prevalence and risk factors of iodine dejiciency among 342 rural mothers attending antenatal clinics in Bachok, Kelantan. A self-adrninistered questionnaire on the knowledge, attitudes, practices and other risk factors relating to iodine deficiency was done. Physical examination for thyroid enlargement was carried out and urine samples were taken for urine iodine determination. The prevalence of iodine deficiency based on urine iodine Q level of less than 100 mcg/l was 63.0 % (95% CI: 57.8, 68.2). The mean urinary iodine level was 87.3 mcg/l with a median of 78.0 mcg/l. However, the goiter prevalence was only 9.4%. The total mean scores of knowledge, attitudes and practices were generally low at 58.6 (SD 7.9), 52.9 (SD 7.9) and 42.9 (SD 10.9) respectively. Logistic regression analysis found that a smoking husband is a risk for iodine deficiency (OR=2.0). In conclusion, iodine deficiency disorders among rural antenatal mothers were still prevalent in Bachok. Their level of knowledge on the causes, effects, prevention and clinical presentations of Q iodine deficiency disorders were poor. In addition, having a husband who is a smoker increases the risk of the antenatal mothers developing iodine denciency.
Study site: Antenatal clinic (klinik kesihatan), Bachok, Kelantan, Malaysia
The pandemic of obesity is of great concern as its associated co-morbidities are devastating; causing lifelong burden to individual’s health and is economically costly to a country. Factors that lead to obesity are a combination of environmental and genetic factors. The Pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) gene resides in chromosome 2p23.3, and its protein is composed of 241 amino acids which is responsible for the production of polyhormones that regulate appetite and food intake. The study aimed to investigate the prevalence of the RsaI single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) site in the 5’-untranslated region (UTR) of POMC and its possible association with obesity among 302 multi-ethnic Malaysian subjects (142 obese, 160 non-obese; 120 males, 182 females) from the Kampar Health Clinic. Subjects were recruited by convenience sampling with informed consent and socio-demographic data as well as anthropometric measurements were taken. Subjects were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction - restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis using DNA extracted from blood. The distribution of the RsaI genotypes was significantly different among the different ethnicities, but the mutated RsaI (- / -) genotype was rare as it only occurred in 8.9% of the subjects. With the frequency of the RsaI (-) allele of 0.31, it was associated with the percentage of skeletal muscles (p
Introduction: Bekam, an Islamic variant of cupping, is an ancient form of traditional medicine still practised today in Malaysia. There are published findings indicating that cupping benefits patients with low back pain, other musculoskeletal pain and even pain from cancer, herpes zoster and trigeminal neuralgia when pain is measured on an analogue scale. We proposed to investigate whether in addition to pain improvement on an analogue scale we could show if pain relief might be demonstrated in terms of reduction of analgesic use.
Methods: We carried out a retrospective cross sectional study on subjects who had been for outpatient clinic treatment with chronic pain of at least one month and who completed at least two bekam therapy sessions. In addition to documenting a pain score before and after therapy we documented their analgesic consumption.
Results: A total of 77 respondents, with overlapping symptoms of headache, backache and joint pains were included. The mean pain score before bekam therapy was 6.74±1.78, and was 2.66±1.64 after two sessions of therapy. Twenty eight respondents completed six sessions of bekam therapy and had a mean pain score of 2.25±1.32 after. Thirty-four patients consumed analgesic medication before starting bekam therapy and only twelve did so after. The consumption of analgesics was significantly lower after bekam therapy.
Conclusions: Bekam therapy appears to help patients experience less pain and reduce the amount of analgesic medication they consume. Nevertheless only a randomised prospective study will eliminate the biases a retrospective study is encumbered with and we believe would be worth doing.
Poor adherence to anti-hypertensive agents may be a major contributor for suboptimal blood pressure control among patients with hypertension. This study was conducted to assess the adherence to antihypertensive agents using Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) among primary care patients, and to determine whether the blood pressure control is associated with the level of adherence.
An audit of Diabetes Control and Management-Diabetes Registry Malaysia (ADCM-DRM) was started to monitor the provision of diabetes care in the country. A total of 20,646 patients were registered in the registry until 31st December 2008. This report set out to determine the Type 2 diabetes controls and treatment profiles of these cohorts of patients. This was a registry-based observational study conducted from May to December, 2008. An online standard case record form was available for site data providers to register their diabetic patients aged 18 years old and above annually. Demographic data, diabetes duration, treatment modalities, as well as various risk factors and diabetes complications were reported. Data were analyzed using Data Analysis and Statistical Software (Stata) version 9. A total of 81 centres, 6 of which were hospitals, participated in this registry until 31st December 2008, contributing a total of 20646 patients. A majority of them (99.2%) had Type 2 diabetes mellitus. The mean HbA1c was 8.0% (SD 2.10), with 30.1% and 17.9% of the patients who attained HbA1c < 7% and HbA1c < 6.5%, respectively. Metformin was prescribed more than sulfonylurea while only 11% had insulin. A review of the diabetic care policy and strategies in the primary health care clinics is needed to implement a more effective treatment of diabetes in this country.