METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 1294 married Malaysian older couples who were randomly selected from all 14 states in Malaysia. The data were collected by trained enumerators using a set of validated questionnaires consisting of eight sections, namely sociodemographic characteristics, chronic diseases, perceived health status, life satisfaction, body mass index, disability status (World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule), social support (Lubben Social Network Scale) and sexual intimacy.
RESULTS: Having good social support (AOR 0.57, 95% CI 0.45-0.74) from family and friends were protective determinants against poor sexual intimacy in later life. Meanwhile, those who were aged 70-79 years (AOR 1.81, 95% CI 1.35-2.42), aged >80 years (AOR 35.49, 95% CI 4.80-262.18), women (AOR 1.47, 95% CI 1.13-1.90), non-Malay (AOR 1.93, 95% CI 1.50-2.48), received only informal education (AOR 1.81, 95% CI 1.35-2.42), had gastritis (AOR 2.62, 95% CI 1.58-4.34), had a stroke (AOR 3.83, 95% CI 1.04-14.12), perceived their current health status was satisfactory (AOR 1.52, 95% CI 1.15-2.00) and disabled based on the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (AOR 3.14, 95% CI 1.34-7.36) were at risk of poor sexual intimacy.
CONCLUSIONS: The majority of older Malaysian couples were having poor sexual intimacy despite being still married and sleeping with their partners, reflecting the presence of underlying barriers towards sexual intimacy in later life among older Malaysians. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2019; 19: 492-496.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this clinical study was to formulate a custom-made, 2-color chewing gum for the mixing ability test and to develop an image-processing method for color mixing analysis.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: Specimens of red-green (RG) chewing gum were prepared as a test food. Twenty dentate participants (10 men, 10 women; mean age 21 years) took part in this study. Each participant masticated 1 piece of RG gum for 3, 6, 9, 15, and 25 cycles, and this task was repeated 3 times consecutively (total n=15 for each participant). The boluses were retrieved and flattened to 1-mm-thick wafers and scanned with a flatbed scanner. The digital images were analyzed using ImageJ software equipped with a custom-built plug-in to measure the geometric dispersion (GD) of baseline red segment. The predictive criterion validity of this method was determined by correlating GD to the number of mastication cycles. The hardness and mass of RG chewing gum were measured before and after mastication. Hardness loss (%) and mass loss (%) were then calculated and compared with those of a commercially available chewing gum.
RESULTS: The 2-way repeated-measures ANOVA with post hoc Bonferroni test showed that GD was able to discriminate among the groups of different numbers of mastication cycles (P
METHODS: The AAQ II which has been translated into Malay language via back translation procedure was distributed to 101 cancer patients and 100 non-cancer patients. The evaluation of psychometric properties in this study included content validity index, internal consistency, parallel reliability, exploratory factor analysis, concurrent validity, sensitivity and specificity of AAQ II Malay version.
RESULTS: AAQ II Malay version has established good content validity index, acceptable internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha value of 0.91, excellent parallel reliability and adequate concurrent validity. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) results demonstrated AAQ II Malay version is a unidimensional factor instrument. The result of sensitivity and specificity of AAQ II Malay version indicated cancer patients who scored more than 17.5 were having significant psychological inflexibility.
CONCLUSION: AAQ II Malay version is a reliable and valid instrument to measure psychological inflexibility among cancer patient in Malaysia.
Design: Qualitative study using focus group discussions. Participants' responses were audio recorded, transcribed, grouped under various domains and listed out and analysed.
Setting: A private medical college in Perak state, Malaysia.
Participants: Forty-six medical students from years 2 to 5 were included. Eight focus groups were formed with two focus groups from each academic year (six students each in seven groups and four students in one group). Students were informed through their respective student leader of each year and received a participant information sheet and an informed consent form which were completed and returned if they decided to participate in the focus group discussions.
Results: The participants had different levels of understanding of primary care depending on their level of exposure to primary care. Senior students with more exposure had a better understanding about primary care and its services. Attractive factors towards choosing primary care as a career included short working hours with a more balanced family and social life, being able to treat patients as a whole with continuity of care and closer relationship with patients. Unattractive factors included routine, unchallenging and boring practice, poor salary, work overload and administrative work in government clinics, being less recognised by other specialties; and the poor perception by other doctors that those pursuing primary care were not 'brilliant enough' for more 'sophisticated disciplines like surgery or paediatrics'.
Conclusion: This study showed that the medical students' level of exposure to primary care played a crucial role in determining their understanding of primary care practice and their choice of career in primary care. Issues to be addressed include remuneration, workload and the prejudice against primary care as a career pathway. Suggestions included introducing early exposure to fun and challenging primary care postings in the medical curriculum and producing well trained, skilled and enthusiastic role models.
METHODS: A questionnaire was distributed among a sample of female and male OMFS surgeons in Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Data were statistically analyzed to calculate significant differences between gender groups.
RESULTS: A total of 110 (70 males and 40 females) or (18.7%) of a total of 587 (OMFS) surgeons in the three countries participated. Respondents had a mean age of: 39.2 ± 9.0 years (range = 25-60 years). Significantly more males (60) than females (24) indicated satisfaction with their careers (P = 0.008), and significantly more males (66) than females (23) thought that OMFS is the right specialty for them (P
METHODS: The study sample consisted of 750 students (female: 51.7%, male: 48.3%), with a mean age of 20.2 years (SD = 1.2). Decision balance (DB) scale was assessed with the 10-item DB-M. Standard forward-backward translation was performed to translate the English version of the DB into Malay version (DB-M).
RESULTS: The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) results based on the hypothesised measurement model of two factors and ten items demonstrated adequate factor structure after the addition of some correlated item residuals (comparative fit index (CFI) = .979, Tucker and Lewis index (TLI) = .969, standardised root mean square residual (SRMR) = .037, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = .047). The construct reliability and average variance extracted values were .850 and .839, and .542 and .538, for perceived benefits and perceived barriers, respectively. Meanwhile, the Cronbach's alpha was .857 and .859, and the intraclass correlation coefficient for test-retest reliability was .979 and .960 for perceived benefits and perceived barriers respectively. The findings provided evidence for measurement invariance of DB-M for the male and female samples. The final CFA model fit the data well for both male sample (CFI = .975, TLI = .964, SRMR = .040, RMSEA = .052) and female sample (CFI = .965, TLI = .949, SRMR = .044, RMSEA = .058).
CONCLUSIONS: The translated version of the DB-M was valid and reliable for assessing the level of perceived benefits and perceived barriers in exercise among university students in Malaysia.
Methods: Nineteen private general practitioners in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur participated in in-depth interviews in 2015. A topic guide was used for interview navigation. Participants were asked to discuss their experiences and approaches in managing pregnant adolescents. We used purposive sampling to recruit consenting private general practitioners who had experience in managing adolescent pregnancy. The verbatim transcripts of the audio-recorded interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Data reached saturation at the nineteenth in-depth interview. Results: Two themes emerged. Under the theme 'inadvertent advocator,' participants described their tasks with regards to building trust, calming angry parents and delivering comprehensive counseling and care related to the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents, including requests for abortions. Theme two, 'challenges of private general practitioners,' refers mainly to personal and religious conflicts arising from a request for an abortion and deficiencies in support and multidisciplinary integration within their practice settings.
Conclusion: General practitioners practicing in the private sector identify themselves as active players in supporting pregnant adolescents but face many challenges arising from the personal, religious, professional and community levels. Addressing these challenges is important for optimal care delivery to pregnant adolescents in this community.
METHODS: Using thematic analysis based on three frameworks, 120 posted messages and comments were examined from MyEndosis Facebook group-a support group for women with endometriosis from January to July 2014.
RESULTS: Results showed the issues discussed were (a) personal struggles, (b) medication and treatment, (c) alternative medication, (d) side effects, and (e) medication recommended by doctors. While using this social medium, users found (a) emotional support, (b) esteem support, (c) information support, (d) network support, and (e) tangible assistance in their engagement with others.
CONCLUSION: The analysis suggested that users' interactions were structured around information, emotion, and community building, which many doctors and nurses were not aware of. The group was shaped as a social network where peer users share social support, cultivate companionship, and exert social influence.
METHODS: The questionnaire was first developed in English language, and then assessed for its contents by a team of experts. It was then forwardly translated to Hausa, and backwardly translated again to English by independent language experts. These two English versions were then compared by a Public Health expert, following which the questionnaire was administered to 190 Hausa speaking antenatal care attendees. Exploratory factor analysis was performed on the data collected. Sixty three out of the 190 respondents were invited after 2 weeks to answer the same questionnaire, following which reliability tests were performed.
RESULTS: The questionnaire showed good internal consistency, with Cronbach's alpha values of 0.859, 0.890 and 0.773 for information, motivation and behavioural skills constructs respectively. The motivation and behavioural skills constructs were able to delineate their items into three and two sub-sections respectively. The factor loadings for the two constructs ranged from 0.610 to 0.965. As for test retest reliability, the Krippendorff's alpha values for the items of the motivation section ranged from 0.941 to 0.996; that for behavioural skills ranged from 0.810 to 0.953, while for frequency of ITN use, it was 0.988. The Cohen's kappa values for the information section ranged from 0.689-0.974, except the item for 'fever' (zazzabi) which was 0.382, and was as such reworded to a simpler terminology 'hotness of the body' (zafin jiki).
CONCLUSIONS: The Hausa language IMB questionnaire on malaria in pregnancy demonstrated good validity, and a high level of reliability. It is as such recommended for use among Hausa speaking communities to ensure uniformity and objectivity.