Early identification and rapid treatment of red tag patients may decrease morbidity and mortality. We examined the clinical characteristics, etiologies and one week mortality rate of red tag (life threatening and potentially life threatening illness) patients at the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysai (HUSM). A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Emergency Department of the HUSM from 1 August 2006 to 31 January 2007; 440 eligible patients were analyzed. The group had a mean age of 47.2 +/- 22 years, with 67.3% of the patients being male. Twenty-three percent were trauma cases with motor vehicle accident being the major mechanism of injury. Fifty-four percent of the cases had cardiac related illnesses. The mean duration of stay in the Emergency Department (ED) was 3.9 +/- 1.5 hours. The survival rate at one week was 76.6%. The non-trauma group comprised 74.0% of death cases. Acute coronary syndrome and road traffic accidents comprised 22.0% of total death cases at one week. Red tag patients constitute a large proportion of ED cases and may remain in the ED for significant periods of time.
Study site: Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM)
Background: This cross-sectional was aimed to assess the prevalence of pre-pregnancy care services usage and its determinant factors among women of reproductive age in Kedah, Malaysia.
Methods: Overall, 1347 respondents who attended 24 government health clinics, were chosen using systematic multistage random sampling. A validated self-administered questionnaire which consisted of sections including socio-demographic characteristics, social support, knowledge on pre-pregnancy care, perception on risk of pregnancy, health status, as well as intention and awareness on pre-pregnancy care services were distributed.
Results: The prevalence of utilization of pre-pregnancy care services was still low i.e. 44.0%. Bivariate and multivariate analysis showed consistent significant level between all factors and pre-pregnancy care usage except for family planning practice. The factors that showed significant difference with the usage of pre-pregnancy care services were age of more than 35 (P<0.001), high education level (P<0.001), non-working mothers (P<0.001), multipara (P=0.001), awareness on the existence of pre-pregnancy care services in government health facilities (P<0.001), intention to use the services (P=0.0030), having medical illness (P=0.005), having social support (P=0.001), high knowledge (P<0.001), and positive perception (P<0.001).
Conclusion: Low usage of pre-pregnancy care services can be improved through health screening on reproductive-aged women with positive determinant factors at the triage level in integrated clinics. Information and knowledge on pre-pregnancy services should be disseminated among community members through various means including roadshows and pre-wedding workshops.