Advocacy and training on "Home care" for filarial lymphoedma (FLE) patients are provided through morbidity management and disability prevention (MMDP) clinic commonly known as filariasis clinic and clinical improvement is assessed by follow-up visits. While the physicians aim at reducing the recurrent ADL (coined as ADLA in 1997) episodes, the patients expect reduction in LE volume. The objective of the present study was to know whether the MMDP clinic serves the primary expectation of the FLE patients. LE patients who attended the clinic for at least four follow-up consultations and had LE volume measurements at three points of time during the one year period of observation were considered for analysis. Clinical assessment was done for LE grading and LE volume was measured by water displacement volumetry. Sixty-three patients who fulfilled the follow up criteria were included. It was observed that the median LE volume was 914ml (IQR 269 - 1935) at first visit of the observation period which reduced to 645ml (IQR 215- 1666) and 752ml (IQR 215 - 1720) at first and second follow-up visits respectively. Over all, in short span of one year, 21 of the 63 patients (33.3%) who visited MMDP clinic at least four times in a year were benefitted through the MMDP advocacy and the National filariasis control programme need to emphasise on the importance of follow up visits to FLE patients.
ABSTRACTS FOR INTERNATIONAL FAMILY HEALTH CONFERENCE 2019 (I-FaH 2019). Health Intervention Towards Community Wellness, Held at Oriental Crystal Hotel, Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia .4-5th September, 2019
Introduction: Obesity, a major risk factor for chronic disease, is a growing problem in Malaysia. Current data from the National Health Morbidity Survey (NHMS) shows that prevalence of overweight for children under five years has increased from 6.5% (NHMS 2011) to 7.6 % (NHMS 2015). Childhood obesity needs to be addressed as studies also have shown that childhood obesity contributes to adult chronic disease. Increase in chronic diseases will cause an increase in health care cost. Intervention programmes are available and currently target schoolchildren and adults. No programme yet targeting at children under five years. This survey was conducted to understand parents level of knowledge with regards to healthy lifestyle among children under-5 years.
Methods: Parents attending Health Clinics in the state of Perak were given self-administered questionnaire.
Results: Twenty two (22) Health Clinics from 11 districts in Perak were involved in the survey. A total of 600 parents or care givers participated. Majority were unaware of good sleep hygiene and screen time limitation.
Conclusion: Awareness of healthy lifestyle for children under 5 years has not been given due attention. Health intervention via promotion is needed for prevention of obesity.
INTRODUCTION: In Malaysia, Diabetes Medication Therapy Adherence Clinic (DMTAC) in hospital settings significantly improved patients' glycaemic control and cardiovascular risk. Until now no randomised controlled trial of DMTAC has been done in a primary care setting where the access to subspecialist services (endocrinologists, expensive medication, etc.) is limited. The objective of this research is to compare the glycaemic control among diabetes mellitus (DM) patients between those received additional DMTAC service and those received normal clinic service in primary care settings.
MATERIALS AND METHOD: This was a parallel, randomised controlled study. The selected participants were patients aged 18 to 70 years with type 2 DM on diabetic medication who were being treated in Kota Samarahan Health Clinic with HbA1c above 8% and who never attended any education of DM prior to the study. The control group received normal clinic visits with consultations by a medical officer. The intervention group received four or more DMTAC visits in addition to normal clinic visits. The primary outcomes were HbA1c while the secondary outcomes were the occurrence of severe hypoglycaemia, weight gain and medication compliance of patients. The subjects were randomised by numbered envelope opened chronologically by the investigator during the initial assessment. All health care professionals (nurse, lab staff and medical officer) except DMTAC pharmacist managing the subjects were blinded as there were no markings on the patients notes indicating that they were in this study. The demographic data was collected during screening while health data including glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels were collected at baseline, sixth month and one year.
RESULTS: In all, 100 patients were randomised into control and intervention groups (n=50 per arm). The change of HbA1c in the intervention group (mean=-1.58) was significantly more than the control group (mean=-0.48) at 12 months with a mean difference of -1.10% (p=0.005, Cohen's d=0.627). Both study groups had similar significant changes of subjects from non-compliance to compliance (control group, n=11 vs. intervention group, n=10). The changes of BMI after 12 months between control group (0.24 kg/m2) and intervention group (0.24 kg/m2) was not significant (p=0.910). There were no episodes of severe hypoglycaemia detected in both groups.
CONCLUSION: The addition of DMTAC service in primary care can improve glycaemic control among patients. The study was registered in the National Medical Research Register (Malaysia): NMRR-13-1449-18955.
Study site: Klinik Kesihatan Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia
OBJECTIVES: Diabetes is a primarily self-manageable condition. Healthcare professionals usually offer education, treatment, and support, but patients themselves are responsible for the daily management of their condition. Increasing the effectiveness of self-management support may have a considerable impact on health care, especially for elderly people. The aim of this study was to describe diabetes self-care among elderly diabetics and to determine its associated factors.
METHODS: This report describes a cross-sectional study involving 143 elderly diabetes patients in the outpatient department of the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM). Self-care activities assessed in this study included dietary control, physical activity, self-monitoring of blood glucose, medication adherence, and situational related adherence behaviour, all of which were obtained using the validated Malay Elderly Diabetes Self-Care Questionnaire (MEDSCaQ).
RESULTS: The mean (±SD) age of the subjects was 67.9 (±5.4) years old. A majority was Malay, with a mean HbA1c of 8.4 (±1.9). The mean diabetes self-care score was 26.5 (±8.0). Factors with a positive impact on diabetes self-care included being non-Malay (β = 5.275, p = 0.002), having family as care givers (β = 8.995, p = 0.004), having a higher level of family support (β = 0.159, p = 0.042), and possessing acceptable (β = 4.375, p = 0.001) or good knowledge of diabetes (β = 5.893, p = 0.004). The presence of neuropathy negatively impacted self-care, while diabetes nephropathy had a positive impact on self care (β = -4.053, p = 0.003).
CONCLUSIONS: Elderly individuals with type 2 diabetes in HUSM have a moderate score of diabetes self-care practice based on the MEDSCaQ. Determinants for good diabetes self-care include race, social support, having care-takers during periods of illness, diabetes knowledge, and diabetic microvascular complications.
Study site: outpatient department, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM), Kelantan, Malaysia
Background: Despite the numerous health education programmes provided to the type 2 diabetes patients worldwide, the outcome of the diabetic management remains a challenge globally. Health literacy plays an important role in determining the outcomes from the diabetes management.
Materials and Methods: This study was aimed to determine the level of health literacy and its associated factors among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients attending a government health clinic. This study also aimed to determine the association between the associated factors, such as sociodemographic, socioeconomic characteristics, type of treatment, diabetes duration, and knowledge on diabetes and the level of health literacy as well as the predictors of the level of health literacy. This was a cross-sectional study that was conducted from 1st February 2016 to 30th July 2016. A total of 360 participants were randomly selected from a government health clinic through a systematic random sampling method. A validated, self-administered questionnaire incorporating sociodemographic characteristics, socioeconomic characteristics, history of type 2 diabetes, diabetes knowledge and health literacy level was used in this study. Data was analysed using IBM Statistical Package for Social Science Version 22.0. Chi square test, Fisher’s Exact test and simple logistic regression were used to measure the association between the associated factors and health literacy level. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to analyse the predictors influencing health literacy level among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.
Result: The response rate was 80%. Majority of the respondents have limited health literacy level (85.8%). There were significant association between ethnic group and health literacy level (χ2=6.317, P=0.042), level of education and health literacy level (χ2=6.304, P=0.043) and diabetes knowledge score and health literacy level [Odds Ratio (OR)=1.254, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) (1.063,1.479)]. Finally, the significant predictors for adequate health literacy level were the Chinese ethnic group [Adjusted OR (AOR)=4.441, 95% CI (1.472,13.392)] and diabetes knowledge score [AOR=1.238, 95% CI (1.031,1.488)].
Conclusion: In conclusion, level of health literacy among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients was significantly associated with the ethnic group, level of education and diabetes knowledge score. It can also be concluded that Chinese ethnic group and diabetes knowledge score were the significant predictors for adequate health literacy level among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.
This cross sectional study describes the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) among 100 patients attending the diabetic clinic at Klinik Kesihatan Seri Manjung from December 2002 until January 2003. A face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire was carried out for data collection. The results revealed that 87% of the respondents were able to answer 50% or more questions on knowledge correclty, while 98% of them had 50% or more score for the attitude questions. Ninety-nine percent of them reported 50% or more score for the questions on practice. However, only 56% of them practice all 4 of the practices that were asked - regular exercise, healthy diet, monitoring blood glucose level, and monitoring body weight. There was a significant positive correlation between knowledge and attitude (r=0.536, p<0.01), but there was no significant correlation found between attitude and practice. The results indicate that an increase in knowledge will increase the attitude, however this is not necessarily the same between attitude and practice. A better structured educational programme on diabetes and preventive measures should be conducted for all especially those with diabetes to improve their practice towards diabetes. Keywords: Diabetes Mellitus, Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP)
BACKGROUND: Accurate national estimates of the disease burden associated with rotavirus diarrhea are essential when considering implementation of a rotavirus vaccination program. We sought to estimate rotavirus disease-associated morbidity and mortality in Malaysia, using available sources of information.
METHODS: We analyzed national data from the Ministry of Health (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) to derive rates of hospitalization, clinic visits, and deaths related to acute gastroenteritis (AG) among children <5 years of age. The number of events attributable to rotavirus infection was estimated by multiplying age-stratified rates of detection of rotavirus from 2 hospital surveillance sites by national data.
RESULTS: In 1999 and 2000, an average of 13,936 children (1 in 187 children) were hospitalized annually for AG. Surveillance of visits to outpatient clinics for AG identified an average of 60,342 such visits/year between 1998 and 2000. The AG-associated mortality rate was 2.5 deaths/100,000 children. On the basis of the finding that 50% of children were hospitalized for rotavirus diarrhea, we estimated that 1 in 61 children will be hospitalized for rotavirus disease and that 1 in 37 children will seek treatment as an outpatient.
CONCLUSIONS: Among Malaysian children, there is a significant burden associated with AG- and rotavirus disease-related hospitalizations and outpatient visits, and this burden potentially could be prevented by the use of rotavirus vaccines.
Data source: (1) hospital discharges, (2) clinic visits for AG, and (3) registration of deaths, together with (4) new data from hospital-based rotavirus surveillance studies
BACKGROUND: Outpatient discharge decision making in dermatology is poorly understood.
OBJECTIVE: To identify the influences on clinicians' thought processes when making discharge decisions in dermatology outpatient clinics.
METHODS: Forty clinicians from 11 National Health Service Trusts in England were interviewed. The interviews were audiorecorded, transcribed, coded and thematically analysed.
RESULTS: The mean age of the clinicians was 48.8 years (range 33.0-67.0), 17 (43%) were men and 19 (48%) had > 20 years of clinical experience. One hundred and forty-eight influences were reported, with five main themes: (i) disease-based influences included type of diagnosis (100% of clinicians), guidelines (100%) and treatment needed (100%); (ii) clinician-based influences included the clinician's level of experience (100%), seniority (37%), emotional attitude (95%), 'gut feeling' (25%), personal attitude towards discharge (45%) and level of perception (100%); (iii) patient-based influences included patients' ability to cope with their disease (100%), wishes (70%), quality of life (32%), command of English (40%) and cultural background (25%); (iv) practice-based influences included good primary care (100%), secondary support structure (100%) and clinic capacity pressure (67%); (v) policy-based influences included pressure from hospital managers (57%) and an active discharge policy (7%). Fourteen (9%) influences were potentially inappropriate.
CONCLUSION: This study has identified multiple factors influencing outpatient discharge decision making. This provides the basis for developing evidence-based training to improve discharge decision appropriateness.
PIP:
A total of 552 women in 1983 have undergone laparoscopic sterilization under local anesthesia with sedation in the family planning clinic at Maternity Hospital and the Specialist Center at Batu Complex. A review was made to evaluate the risks, benefits, and safety of outpatient surgery in view of the shortage of anesthetic personnel, operating theaters and costs to patients if general anesthesia were to be used instead. Anesthetic complications (0.9%) were found to be of a very minor nature, not requiring hospitalization. Surgical complication was higher at 3.8%. There was a high rate (21%) of difficulties encountered at operation, 15% for medical officers and trainees but only 6% for specialists. In summary, a very low complication rate was encountered with local anesthetics. The use of local anesthesia with sedation is advocated. This cuts down on costs, hospitalization and recovey time and overcomes the perennial problem of shortage of anesthetic staff and operating theaters. The rate of the surgical complications was related to the surgeon's experience.
Study site: family planning clinic at Maternity Hospital and the Specialist Center at Batu Comple
OBJECTIVES: As is true for other chronic illnesses, perception of disease control is pivotal to patient empowerment in diabetes care. This study aimed to describe the perception of diabetes control by patients with poor glycated hemoglobin (A1C) levels so as to explore the relationship between perception and various sociodemographic and disease characteristics and to measure the patients' knowledge, attitudes and practices in diabetes care.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was made involving 276 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. After obtaining informed consent, their sociodemographics, medical histories and most recent available blood investigations were documented. Patients were asked about their perceptions of diabetes control-whether it was excellent, moderate or poor. A Malay-language knowledge, attitudes and practice questionnaire was administered to respondents. Analyses were descriptive and exploratory.
RESULTS: The median age of the subjects and the durations of diabetes were 56 (interquartile range, 48-62) years and 8 (interquartile range, 4-13) years, respectively. The median A1C level was 9.5% (interquartile range, 8.3%-11.4%). Despite having poor A1C levels, 28.4% of patients perceived that their diabetes control was excellent; 58.9% perceived it as moderate, and only 12.7% accurately perceived it as poor. A significant number of those with higher education had wrong perceptions, indicating that other factors, such as effective communication, need to be considered. The absence of an association between perception and duration of diabetes suggests that information given over the years did not contribute to patients' understanding of disease control. Younger patients had better knowledge scores. Those with higher education levels had higher quartiles of knowledge and attitude but not practice scores.
CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated discordance between perceived diabetes control and actual A1C levels, which may hinder effective diabetes care.
Study site: a tertiary referral center and a primary care centre in Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia
Introduction: This study aimed to cross-culturally adapt a Malay version of Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) and to evaluate its psychometric properties in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Materials and Methods: The English version KOOS was translated into a Malay version using forward and backward translation process, followed by face validity and content validity. Two hundred and twenty-six knee OA patients attending the Outpatient and Orthopaedic Clinics, Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital, completed the Malay version KOOS. Construct validity using confirmatory factor analysis and internal reliability assessment were performed. Results: The results showed that the original five-factor model with 42 items failed to achieve acceptable values of the goodness of fit indices, indicating poor model fit. A new five-factor model of 26 items demonstrated acceptable level of goodness of fit (comparative fit index= 0.929, incremental fit index= 0.930, Tucker Lewis fit index= 0.920, root mean square error of approximation= 0.073 and Chisquared/degree of freedom= 2.183) indices to signify a model fit. The Cronbach's alpha value for the new model ranged from 0.776 to 0.946. The composite reliability values of each construct ranged between 0.819 and 0.921, indicating satisfactory to high level of convergent validity. Conclusion: The five-factor model with 26 items in the Malay version of KOOS questionnaire demonstrated a good degree of goodness of fit and was found to be valid, reliable and simple as an assessment tool for symptoms, pain, activity of daily living, sports and recreational activity and quality of life for Malaysian adults suffering from knee osteoarthritis.
Study site: Outpatient and orthopedic clinics, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM)
The Malaysian Dengue Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) have been developed to provide evidence-based guidance in the management of dengue infections. The use of these guidelines is essential to ensure its recommendations are being practiced. However, the adherence to the guidelines for management of dengue (revised 2nd edition) by healthcare providers still remains unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the proportion among healthcare providers that adhere to this Dengue CPG. A retrospective cohort study of dengue cases registered from 1 January 2014 to 1 June 2015 was conducted in public hospitals and health clinics in Selangor, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur. Adherence to the CPG recommendations were recorded by reviewing patients' case notes. Overall proportion of adherence in clinical components of the recommendation were (7.1 to 100.0% versus 7.7 to 73.8%) in history taking, (6.7 to 100.0% versus 12.3 to 60.0%) in physical examinations, (18.4 to 100.0% versus 23.1 to 83.2%) in assessment of warning signs, (0.6 to 100.0% versus 12.3 to 87.7%) in assessment of haemodynamic status, (60.0 to 100.0% versus 27.7 to 40.0%) in diagnosis, (46.6 to 80.0% versus 52.3%) in case notifications, (73.2 to 100.0% versus 89.2 to 96.9%) in performing specific laboratory investigations and (7.9 to 100.0% versus 21.5%) in monitoring, for outpatient versus inpatient, respectively. Adherence trends were demonstrated to be higher in hospital settings compared to outpatient settings. Adherence to this Dengue CPG varies widely with overall good clinical outcomes observed.
Study site: public hospitals and health clinics in Selangor, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur
INTRODUCTION: Dengue infection is the fastest spreading mosquito-borne viral disease in the world. One of the complications of dengue is dehydration which, if not carefully monitored and treated, may lead to shock, particularly in those with dengue haemorrhagic fever. WHO has recommended oral fluid intake of five glasses or more for adults who are suspected to have dengue fever. However, there have been no published studies looking at self-care intervention measures to improve oral fluid intake among patients suspected of dengue fever.
OBJECTIVE: To assess the feasibility and effectiveness of using a fluid chart to improve oral fluid intake in patients with suspected dengue fever in a primary care setting.
METHODS: This feasibility study used a randomized controlled study design. The data was collected over two months at a primary care clinic in a teaching hospital. The inclusion criteria were: age > 12 years, patients who were suspected to have dengue fever based on the assessment by the primary healthcare clinician, fever for > three days, and thrombocytopenia (platelets < 150 x 109/L). Both groups received a dengue home care card. The intervention group received the fluid chart and a cup (200ml). Baseline clinical and laboratory data, 24-hour fluid recall (control group), and fluid chart were collected. The main outcomes were: hospitalization rates, intravenous fluid requirement and total oral fluid intake.
FINDINGS: Among the 138 participants who were included in the final analysis, there were fewer hospital admissions in the intervention group (n = 7, 10.0%) than the control group (n = 12, 17.6%) (p = 0.192). Similarly, fewer patients (n = 9, 12.9%) in the intervention group required intravenous fluid compared to the control group (n = 15, 22.1%), (p = 0.154). There was an increase in the amount of daily oral fluid intake in the intervention group (about 3,000 ml) compared to the control group (about 2,500 ml, p = 0.521). However, these differences did not reach statistical significance.
CONCLUSION: This is a feasible and acceptable study to perform in a primary care setting. The fluid chart is a simple, inexpensive tool that may reduce hospitalization and intravenous fluid requirement in suspected dengue patients. A randomized controlled trial with larger sample size is needed to determine this conclusively.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN) Registry ISRCTN25394628 http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN25394628.
Study site: Primary care clinic, University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) has increased with the fast growing of aging population, thereby posing great challenges to provision of care for AD patients. Pharmacists play a vital role in the management of AD; this includes recognizing early symptoms of AD, providing medication counseling to AD patients and their caretakers, and identifying potential adverse drug reactions. A comprehensive understanding of the disease progression, as well as the pharmacological therapy, is essential to provide effective care to AD patients. The level of knowledge about AD among the pharmacists, however, remains unknown. Hence, this study aimed to assess the knowledge on AD among the pharmacists in public hospitals and health clinics and its correlates. A clear picture of the characteristics associated with different levels of knowledge could facilitate the targeted re-training of pharmacists. The 30-item validated Alzheimer disease knowledge scale (ADKS) tool was pilot-tested and used in this cross-sectional study. All pharmacists, from nine public hospitals and seven public health clinics in the State of Selangor, Malaysia, were invited to participate in this cross-sectional survey. The ADKS score was computed and compared across demographics characteristics. A total of 445 pharmacists responded to the survey. These pharmacists had a moderate overall score in ADKS; nevertheless, high scores were recorded in the domains of treatment management and care giving. No difference in AD knowledge was found among pharmacists worked in public hospitals and health clinics, except for the domain of care giving (p = 0.033). Ethnicity and age group were independent predictors of ADKS score in the current study. The pharmacists in the current study had moderate AD knowledge. On-going education and training programme on AD, in particular the domains other than treatment management and care giving, should be provided to the pharmacists to ensure delivery of quality care to AD patients.
Study site: Klinik Kesihatan, Hospitals, Selangor, Malaysia
Introduction: Little is known about anxiety symptoms among diabetic patients, especially among those who are living in rural areas in Malaysia. Thus, the aim of this paper is to investigate the prevalence of anxiety among diabetic patients and factors associated with anxiety in rural communities in Malaysia. Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 464 diabetes mellitus patients in rural health districts and outpatient clinics in Malaysia was conducted. Each participant was interviewed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Results: Respondents consisted of 193 (41.6%) males and 271 (58.4%) females. The mean age of participants was 59.65 ± 10.16 years and the mean duration of diabetes mellitus was 6.9 ± 6.3 years. Results indicate that 15% of the participants have anxiety symptoms. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that patients with history of ischemic heart disease and depression and those who were underweight have higher anxiety scores with adjusted OR 5.06 (95% CI 1.79 to 14.27), 27.71 (95% CI 14.23 to 53.98) and 14.6 (95% CI 2.49 to 84.82), respectively. Conclusions: This study suggests that although the prevalence of anxiety among diabetics is low, primary care physician should be trained to identify high risk patients and to manage their condition in order to improve the clinical outcome.
Study site: rural health districts and outpatient clinics in Malaysia
RATIONALE, AIMS, AND OBJECTIVES: Patient concerns are often neglected in consultations, especially for chronic diseases where patients and providers fall into the routine of chronic disease management in consultations. One strategy to elicit patient concerns has been to ask patients to complete agenda lists before the consultation. This study aimed to explore the impact of a preconsultation agenda website in addressing patients' unmet needs during chronic disease consultations.
METHODS: Patients entered their concerns into a website (Values In Shared Interactions Tool (VISIT)). Doctors accessed this information via the electronic medical records before consultations. Individual in-depth interviews were then conducted with patients and doctors on the website's impact on consultations. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically.
RESULTS: The average age (years) was 65.7 for patients (n = 8) and 35.7 for doctors (n = 7). Patients in the study entered between 1 to 6 items in the website. From postconsultation interviews, we found that the website impacted the consultation in 5 ways: (1) It facilitated patients to communicate their full agenda to doctors; (2) it helped address unmet patient needs as it gave them opportunity to raise other issues besides their chronic condition; (3) it facilitated rapport between doctor and patient; (4) it facilitated doctors to organize their consultation around the concerns the patient had listed; and (5) it disrupted the doctor's usual consultation style if the list of concerns was lengthy.
CONCLUSIONS: Integrating patient concerns into electronic health records helped to facilitate patient-centred consultations. Doctors found this information useful but felt uneasy if the agenda list was too long or too complex. Areas for future studies include training doctors to manage complex agendas and formal evaluation of the VISIT tool.
Study site: Primary care clinic, University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
BACKGROUND: Anxiety disorders are common mental health disorders with significant impact on the individual as well as burden on the country as a whole.
METHODS: A systematic review of databases, reference lists, internet sources, and input from content experts revealed 42 studies that documented the prevalence of anxiety symptoms or disorders. 12 of these studies specifically evaluated anxiety disorders.
RESULTS: 4 studies looked at the prevalence of anxiety disorders in the general population, whilst the remainder focused on selected population groups: university students (4 studies); substance abuse (3 studies); and victims of abuse (1 study). Studies in the general population showed that the prevalence of generalised anxiety disorder was 0.4-5.6%, mixed anxiety and depression were 3-5%, panic without agoraphobia 0.4%, phobia unspecified 0.5-%, and anxiety not-otherwise-specified 0.3-6.5%. We found significant variability in anxiety disorders in the studies in selected population groups. The variability could also have been affected by methodological factors within each study.
CONCLUSION: This study provides a broad overview of the prevalence of anxiety disorders in Malaysia. More research is required to develop diagnostic instruments that are validated for local use and comparable with international standards. Reliable prevalence estimates are lacking within certain groups, e.g. those in rural, indigenous, migrant population groups and those exposed to natural disasters.
BACKGROUND: Malaysia has achieved universal health coverage since 1980s through the expansion of direct public provision, particularly in rural areas. However, no systematic examination of the rural-urban distribution of primary care services and resources has been conducted to date for policy impact evaluation.
METHODS: We conducted a national cross-sectional survey of 316 public and 597 private primary care clinics, selected through proportionate stratified random sampling, from June 2011 through February 2012. Using a questionnaire developed based on the World Health Organization toolkits on monitoring health systems strengthening, we examined the availability of primary care services/resources and the associations between service/resource availability and clinic ownership, locality, and patient load. Data were weighted for all analyses to account for the complex survey design and produce unbiased national estimates.
RESULTS: Private primary care clinics and doctors outnumbered their public counterparts by factors of 5.6 and 3.9, respectively, but the private clinics were significantly less well-equipped with basic facilities and provided a more limited range of services. Per capita densities of primary care clinics and workforce were higher in urban areas (2.2 clinics and 15.1 providers per 10,000 population in urban areas versus 1.1 clinics and 11.7 providers per 10,000 population in rural areas). Within the public sector, the distribution of health services and resources was unequal and strongly favored the urban clinics. Regression analysis revealed that rural clinics had lower availability of services and resources after adjusting for ownership and patient load, but the associations were not significant except for workforce availability (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 0.82; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.71-0.96).
CONCLUSIONS: Targeted primary care expansion in rural areas could be an effective first step towards achieving universal health coverage, especially in countries with limited healthcare resources. Nonetheless, geographic expansion alone is inadequate to achieve effective coverage in a dichotomous primary care system, and the role of the private sector in primary care delivery should not be overlooked.
This paper reports a second outbreak of acute haemorrhagic conjunctivitis due to coxsackievirus A24 in peninsular Malaysia. Between June 2002 and early October 2003, 10,327 patients, comprising 3,261 children and 7,066 adults, were treated for acute conjunctivitis in 11 government health clinics in the Melaka Tengah district of the state of Melaka. The figure grossly underestimates the size of the outbreak; as no patients treated in private clinics in the same district were included. Institution and household surveillance showed that the commonest presenting clinical feature of the illness was eye-discharge (91.2%), followed by foreign body sensation (81.8%), pain (78.3%) and subconjunctival haemorrhage (74.4%). The mean duration of illness was 6.5 and five days for patients with and without subconjunctival haemorrhage respectively.
OBJECTIVE: To study the knowledge, attitudes and practices on various contraceptive methods among all government health clinic staff in the state of Kelantan.
DESIGN: Questionnaire-based study.
SETTING: All government health clinics in the state of Kelantan which are health facilities located outside the general hospital and seven district hospitals.
SUBJECTS: All 711 nursing staff employed in government health clinics in Kelantan state (sisters, staff nurses, assistant nurses and midwives).
METHOD: Pretested, prestructured proforma was sent out to all the nursing staff employed in all peripheral health centres to be completed by them and returned the same day via the medical officer in charge of that district.
RESULTS: Most of the respondents were more than 30 years of age, married, multiparous and working for more than 5 years. Eighty to ninety percent practised contraception, with the majority of midwives preferring pills and the majority of staff nurses preferring condoms. Thirty to forty percent from all groups felt that folk methods are effective, and should be encouraged. Only about 50% of staff nurses are well informed on all contraceptive methods, but among assistant nurses and midwives, this figure is only 33%. A high proportion felt that the nursing curriculum deals inadequately with this subject.
CONCLUSION: The first step towards achieving success in our family planning programme lies in imparting more information to this target group of health workers, by incorporating more lectures during training and sending them for courses.
PIP: 711 government health clinic nursing staff in Kelantan state were surveyed about their knowledge, attitudes, and use of various contraceptive methods. 11 sisters, 122 staff nurses, 173 assistant nurses, and 334 midwives returned the questionnaire the same day of receipt. Most respondents were older than age 30 years, married, multiparous, and working for more than 5 years. 80-90% practiced contraception, with the majority of midwives preferring oral pills and the majority of staff nurses preferring condoms. 30-40% from each subgroup of respondents believed folk methods of contraception are effective and worthy of being encouraged. Approximately 50%, 33%, and 33% of staff nurses, assistant nurses, and midwives, respectively, were well informed on all contraceptive methods. A high proportion of staff felt that the nursing curriculum fails to adequately address the subject. The authors stress that in order to realize success in the family planning program, more information must first be imparted to these health personnel. To that end, more lectures could be provided during training, followed by frequent and thorough refresher courses for all nursing staff.