METHODOLOGY: A total of 25 participants agreed to participate in this qualitative study during the period from 20th July 2011 until 24th of September 2011. The proposal of this study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Management and Science University (MSU). Once the participant agreed to be interviewed, date, time and place of the interviews were determined. Consent form was obtained from participants before the interview began. Participants were briefed about the study and its purpose, and after asking their permission, their replies were recorded. The data was organized into themes and analyzed manually.
RESULTS: Twenty-five Malaysian traditional healers participated in this qualitative study. The age of participants ranged between 26 to 78 years old. The majority were in the age group of 31-60 years old, male, Chinese, degree holders with a monthly income ranging from 1,000-5,000 Ringgit Malaysia (RM) and were married (56%, 80%, 48%, 52%, 68%, 84% respectively). The majority defined cancer as having high cholesterol or abscess accumulation. A few of them defined cancer as a type of cell growth. The majority mentioned that food and unhealthy lifestyles are the primary causes of cancer. Surprisingly some of them mentioned that cancer is caused by interference by ghosts. Regarding the diagnosis of cancer, the majority mentioned that they refer their patients to modern physicians' medical report when it comes to diagnosing or treating patients with cancer. The most common cancers that many patients came to seek treatment were breast cancers, followed by colon cancers, liver and lung cancers.
CONCLUSION: Despite good knowledge about the causes of cancer among traditional healers, misconceptions still exist. Insufficient knowledge about the definition of cancer was noted among the traditional healers. This urges immediate action by the Ministry of Health of Malaysia to set up a strict regulation and regular monitoring of the traditional healers nationally. Traditional and Complementary Medicine may be integrated into the healthcare system and need to have sustained cooperation for the benefit of patients since about 80% of patients use traditional medicines.
Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study and the response along with demographic details was collected through a validated questionnaire; the results were analyzed by using a validated data collection tool. The results were concluded based on good, moderate, and poor responses, which were evaluated through data analysis by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software version 20.0., SPSS Inc., Chicago, III, USA. A value of P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: In total, 182 (44.4%) of male and 228 (55.6%) of female respondents were selected for this study. Studies showed that a greater knowledge level was observed among female respondents (15.55 ± 2.7, P < 0.001). The selected Chinese population had relatively good knowledge (i.e., 15.63, P = 0.006). People practicing Buddhism had also good knowledge. Rural population had lesser family income and showed a good practice pattern and understanding (P = 0.006). The positive attitude was identified among women ( P < 0.001) with a mean score of 15.55 ± 2.7. Postgraduate participants were found to have diverse results with SD ± 6.23, and 77.1% had a good attitude. A statistically significant association was observed between religion and attitude of respondents (P < 0.001).
Conclusion: Although a better practice was noticed in Malaysian population, more awareness is required and knowledge should be disseminated among the population to improve the overall health and quality of life in Malaysia.
Methods: Based on the morphine withdrawal model, rats were morphine treated with increasing doses from 10 to 50 mg/kg twice daily over a period of 6 days. The treatment was discontinued on day 7 in order to induce a spontaneous morphine abstinence. The withdrawal signs were measured daily after 24 h of the last morphine administration over a period of 28 abstinence days. In rats that developed withdrawal signs, a drug replacement treatment was given using mitragynine, methadone, or buprenorphine and the global withdrawal score was evaluated.
Results: The morphine withdrawal model induced profound withdrawal signs for 16 days. Mitragynine (5-30 mg/kg; i.p.) was able to attenuate acute withdrawal signs in morphine dependent rats. On the other hand, smaller doses of methadone (0.5-2 mg/kg; i.p.) and buprenorphine (0.4-1.6 mg/kg; i.p.) were necessary to mitigate these effects.
Conclusions: These data suggest that mitragynine may be a potential drug candidate for opiate withdrawal treatment.
METHODS: Country-specific data from a multinational prospective cohort study, Association of Southeast Asian Nations Costs in Oncology Study, comprising 1,249 cancer survivors were included. Household costs of complementary medicine (healthcare practices or products that are not considered as part of conventional medicine) throughout the first year after cancer diagnosis were measured using cost diaries. Study outcomes comprised (1) shares of household expenditures on complementary medicine from total out-of-pocket costs and health costs that were respectively incurred in relation to cancer, (2) incidence of financial catastrophe (out-of-pocket costs related to cancer ≥ 30% of annual household income), and (3) economic hardship (inability to pay for essential household items or services).
RESULTS: One third of patients reported out-of-pocket household expenditures on complementary medicine in the immediate year after cancer diagnosis, accounting to 20% of the total out-of-pocket costs and 35% of the health costs. Risk of financial catastrophe was higher in households reporting out-of-pocket expenditures on complementary medicine (adjusted odds ratio: 1.39 [95% CI, 1.05 to 1.86]). Corresponding odds ratio within patients from low-income households showed that they were substantially more vulnerable: 2.28 (95% CI, 1.41 to 3.68). Expenditures on complementary medicine were, however, not associated with economic hardship in the immediate year after cancer diagnosis.
CONCLUSION: In settings with universal health coverage, integration of subsidized evidence-based complementary medicine into mainstream cancer care may alleviate catastrophic expenditures. However, this must go hand in hand with interventions to reduce the use of nonevidence-based complementary therapies following cancer.
METHODS: Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 48 parents of children with ASD at a single tertiary referral hospital in Malaysia. Correlation analysis was used to explore associations between parental satisfaction scores, perception of progress scores and use of CHA.
RESULTS: Use of CHA was reported by parents for 35.4% of children with ASD in the sample. Parents who were less satisfied with conventional treatment and parents who perceived poorer progress in their child's development were more likely to use CHA. Strong positive relationship was found between parent satisfaction with ASD treatment scores and parent perception of progress scores, which indicates that parents who were satisfied with treatment were more likely to perceive greater progress in their child's development. Improvement in child's progress was most appreciated by parents in their child's behavior (85.5%), social skills (83.3%) and motor skills (77.1%).
CONCLUSION: The use of CHA was common among children with ASD. Parents were more likely to practice CHA when they were less satisfied with conventional treatment and perceived poorer progress. A larger multicenter study is required to further explore the practice of CHA among children with ASD throughout Malaysia.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A study was conducted to analyze data on the utilization of T&CM services within public hospitals. Secondary data on 822 patients' satisfaction with services offered at 15 T&CM units was analyzed to examine the overall levels of satisfaction with T&CM services in public hospitals in Malaysia.
RESULTS: Overall, 99.4% of patients were satisfied with T&CM services and most patients (91.8%) felt that T&CM treatment positively impacted their health. Overall satisfaction was not affected by lower levels of satisfaction with subcategories of service, such as the number of treatment sessions received (90.7% satisfied), date to the next appointment (90.7% satisfied), and the absence of adverse effects of treatment received (87.1% satisfied). There were no significant associations between the socioeconomic status of the respondents and the level of satisfaction reported; however, respondents with a monthly salary of Ringgit Malaysia (RM) 1000 to RM 3000 were more than twice as likely to be strongly satisfied with services received (adjusted odds ratios [AOR]: 2.12, 95% CI: 1.19-3.78).
CONCLUSION: This study revealed a high level of satisfaction among patients who had received T&CM treatment at public hospitals in Malaysia. High satisfaction with T&CM treatment validates the integrative management approach adopted in patient care within the public hospitals in Malaysia.