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Fulltext Yen Loan to KLIA project: socio economic impact on the Sepang and Bandar Enstek area

Asmadi Hassan

International Journal of East Asian Studies, 2016;5(1):1-13.
MyJurnal

In 1994, the Government of Malaysia received 61.518 million yen to commence Kuala Lumpur
International Airport (KLIA) project. The airport is located in the district of Sepang, Selangor, which
was originally oil palm plantations and small villages. The construction project completed and began in
used in the 1998. This paper is to evaluate the impact of Japan's ODA for Malaysia, particularly yen
loan to socioeconomic. In term of socioeconomic impact, many new cities were established such as
Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi, Bandar Baru Nilai, Banting, Bandar Enstek and Cyber Jaya. Similarly, new
housing, schools, shopping malls and other facilities such as the Sepang International Circuit and
Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) were built. New roads connecting to the airport also completed
the development of these places. In terms of employment, previously many who depended on agriculture,
now turned to business, hospitality, services, transportation and others. In fact the huge investment
significantly affected the surrounding population, particularly the creation of modern towns, businesses
and educational centers which gave rise to various types of employment.

Matched MeSH terms: Employment
Rheumatoid arthritis: case review from MOH collaborative rheumatology centers in Malaysia. [Abstract]

Sulaiman W, Othman M, Mokhtar AM, Rosman A, Ong SG, Soo IS, et al.

APLAR Journal of Rheumatology, 2006;9 Suppl 1:A54-A55.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1479-8077.2006.00199_24.x

Objective: To determine the number of RA cases and to evaluate the demographic patterns in all 4 Rheumatology Referral Centers under the Ministry of Health Malaysia. Materials and methods: One thousand and eighty-four rheumatoid arthritis patients from all 4 centers i.e. Hospital Selayang, Putra Jaya, Seremban and Taiping which are situated in the west coast of West Malaysia, using rheumatoid arthritis database comprising of basic clinical and patient questionnaire, until the end of year 2004 were analysed. Results: At the time of documentation, 88.6% were female at all range of ages especially between age of 25 and 54 years (77.6%) with female to male ratio 8 :1. 52.1% were housewives. Mean age of onset of RA was 49.6 Â± 11.8 SD with female 49.3 Â± 11.7 SD and male 52.0 Â± 12.0 SD (p < 0.05). Indian was the predominant ethnic group (54.5%), followed by Malay (31.4%), Chinese (11.6%) and others (27%). Majority had their education up to secondary level (50.8%), followed by primary (32.6%), and tertiary (6.3%) levels while 10.3% of cases had not received any formal education in their lives. 74.4% were seropositive and 87.3% fulfilled at least 4 out of 7 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) revised criteria for rheumatoid arthritis. 74% were diagnosed RA within 2 years after the onset of arthritis. Seropositivity was not significantly related to gender. Positive rheumatoid factor was dominated by Indian followed by Malay and Chinese. 83.3% were married. 23.3% female and 33.9% male between age group 25-54 were employed. 7.4% had achieved their retirement at time of entry whilst 8.9% were unemployed. Employment status was statistically significant across gender (p < 0.001). The cases differed between rheumatology centers as well as individual practices. Conclusion: There are increasing numbers of RA cases in Malaysia. Results from this study did not reflect the true prevalence of RA in Malaysia. Hence, a larger and more comprehensive database on RA with collaboration of all Government and Private Hospitals in the whole nation will provide better information about the patient case mix in different healthcare settings, treatment practice as well as disease complications. The implementation of rheumatology centers with better regional cooperation, will lead to better treatment and outcome in terms of identification of early as well as established RA cases. Early referral to the centers will be made possible for proper treatment institution and rehabilitation. Hence, improve quality of life including socio-economic status especially among those within the productive age.

Matched MeSH terms: Employment
Fulltext Trends of disability among workers in Malaysia: case study on SOCSO’scontributors

Shamshimah Samsuddin, Noriszura Ismail

Jurnal Sains Kesihatan Malaysia, 2018;16(1):87-94.
MyJurnal

Occupational injury is an issue that needs to be considered in reducing the problems of disability and death in the
workplace. Healthy and high-productivity workers are one of the important factors that are important to the economic
growth of a country. This study aims to identify the trend of disability for employees covered by the Employment Injury
Scheme under the Social Security Organization Malaysia (SOCSO) for the years 2009-2013. Based on the descriptive
analysis, 80% of the total numbers of workers who suffer injury or death in the workplace are male employees. In
addition, workers aged 25 and above are more prone to injury and death associated with work. The results showed that
socio-demographic factors such as gender and age, as well as level of disability are several important factors that need
to be considered in identifying the trend of disability among employees.

Matched MeSH terms: Employment
Early Detection of Ganoderma Basal Stem Rot of Oil Palms Using Artificial Neural Network Spectral Analysis

Ahmadi P, Muharam FM, Ahmad K, Mansor S, Abu Seman I

Plant Dis, 2017 Jun;101(6):1009-1016.
PMID: 30682927 DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-12-16-1699-RE

Ganoderma boninense is a causal agent of basal stem rot (BSR) and is responsible for a significant portion of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) losses, which can reach US$500 million a year in Southeast Asia. At the early stage of this disease, infected palms are symptomless, which imposes difficulties in detecting the disease. In spite of the availability of tissue and DNA sampling techniques, there is a particular need for replacing costly field data collection methods for detecting Ganoderma in its early stage with a technique derived from spectroscopic and imagery data. Therefore, this study was carried out to apply the artificial neural network (ANN) analysis technique for discriminating and classifying fungal infections in oil palm trees at an early stage using raw, first, and second derivative spectroradiometer datasets. These were acquired from 1,016 spectral signatures of foliar samples in four disease levels (T1: healthy, T2: mildly-infected, T3: moderately infected, and T4: severely infected). Most of the satisfactory results occurred in the visible range, especially in the green wavelength. The healthy oil palms and those which were infected by Ganoderma at an early stage (T2) were classified satisfactorily with an accuracy of 83.3%, and 100.0% in 540 to 550 nm, respectively, by ANN using first derivative spectral data. The results further indicated that the sensitive frond number modeled by ANN provided the highest accuracy of 100.0% for frond number 9 compared with frond 17. This study showed evidence that employment of ANN can predict the early infection of BSR disease on oil palm with a high degree of accuracy.

Matched MeSH terms: Employment
Fulltext Marketing margins of aquaculture shrimp production in Kedah

Wen, Chiat Lee, Lim, Siak Ze, K. Kuperan Viswanathan, Md Ariful Islam

Borneo Journal of Marine Science and Aquaculture, 2020;4(1):20-23.
MyJurnal

Shrimp aquaculture has great potential for providing income and employment opportunities to farmers. Shrimp production can also contribute to economic growth given its high value and demand in Malaysia. However, it is often said that players in the marketing channel extract high margins for themselves. This study intends to verify this claim by examining a case study based on white leg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) aquaculture in Kedah. The data for this study was obtained from a detailed study involving a shrimp retailer in Kedah. The marketing margins were calculated from the interviews of the farmer and the retailer. The results showed that the marketing channel was quite efficient because there was no large gap in the prices between the marketing channels. The difference between retail price and farm price is only RM7 per kilogram for the white shrimp which accounts for 43.75 percent of total farm price and represents the cost of bringing shrimps from the farm to the retail market.

Matched MeSH terms: Employment
Assessing quality of life using WHOQOL-BREF: A cross-sectional insight among patients on warfarin in Malaysia

Iqbal MS, Kassab YW, Al-Saikhan FI, Almalki ZS, Haseeb A, Iqbal MZ, et al.

Saudi Pharm J, 2020 Aug;28(8):936-942.
PMID: 32792838 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsps.2020.06.014

Background and aim: The effect of anticoagulation control on overall Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in patients taking warfarin in Malaysia has not been explored yet. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate HRQoL among patients on warfarin in Malaysia.
Methods: HRQoL among patients on warfarin was measured using WHOQOL-BREF (World Health Organization Quality of life Assessment: Brief Version). Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.
Results: Out of 319 patients, more female patients were observed than the males (n = 221, 69.3%, and n = 98, 30.7% respectively). Mean scores for the physical (61.14 ± 15.96), psychological (68.58 ± 16.11), social (63.55 ± 27.06) and environmental domains (62.78 ± 17.58) were observed. Statistically, a significant association was found between the comorbidities other than CVDs with health satisfaction (p = 0.002), physical (p = 0.001), psychological (p

Matched MeSH terms: Employment
Fulltext Key Teacher Attitudes for Sustainable Development of Student Employability by Social Cognitive Career Theory: The Mediating Roles of Self-Efficacy and Problem-Based Learning

Liu X, Peng MY, Anser MK, Chong WL, Lin B

Front Psychol, 2020;11:1945.
PMID: 33117202 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01945

Higher education policy and talent training are failing to meet the ever-changing expectations of employers and society in Taiwan, resulting in a gap between university education and employment. This study used social cognitive career theory (SCCT) to explore the relationships among self-efficacy, transformational leadership (TL), student employability (SE), and problem-based learning (PBL) in higher education institutions (HEIs). The analysis of 637 undergraduates from 16 Taiwanese HEIs using structural equation modeling (SEM) shows significant positive correlations among self-efficacy, PBL, TL, and SE, with PBL and self-efficacy as key mediators. Based on these findings, the researchers propose feasible suggestions for related issues and future research.

Matched MeSH terms: Employment
Fulltext Employee career decision making: the influence of salary and benefits, work environment and job security

Nur`ain Achim, Nur Idayu Badrolhisam, Nurfitriah Zulkipli

Journal of Academia Universiti Teknologi MARA Negeri Sembilan, 2019;7(101):41-50.
MyJurnal

Every individual at some point will make critical career decision making in life. Making a wrong career decision will affect a person’s fu ture including feeling unhappy, job stress and eventually job withdrawal. This study examined the factors affecting career decision making among government servants in Malaysia. The population and sample were taken from three departments. The population wa s 140 employees and 103 respondents were identified as the sample. Convenience sampling was employed to collect the primary data. The result from several statistical analysis found that all the independent variables; salary and benefits, working environmen t and job security were correlated with the dependent variable that is career decision making. Therefore, from the findings, employers, especially from the government agencies, were urged to increase recruiting permanent position instead of contract employ ment and offering better benefits to improve employees’ career decision making.

Matched MeSH terms: Employment
Fulltext Guidelines on Management of Health Care Workers (HCW) Infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV)

ISBN: 978-983-3433-48-3

Citation: Guidelines on Management of Health Care Workers (HCW) Infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV). Putralaya: Ministry of Health, Malaysia; 2007

Keywords: CPG

Matched MeSH terms: Employment
Fulltext Pengaruh kualiti perkhidmatan institusi, kepuasan latihan industri dan pembelajaran terarah kendiri terhadap kebolehgajian pelajar kolej vokasional di Sabah

Asrin Gili, Abdul Said Ambotang

Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2019;4(7):126-139.
MyJurnal

Isu pengangguran graduan kesan daripada kepesatan perubahan pasaran buruh yang disebabkan oleh ketidaktentuan sosioekonomi, perubahan organisasi serta kemajuan teknologi telah mendapat perhatian bukan sahaja di Malaysia, bahkan juga di peringkat global. Isu yang sangat sinonim dengan kebolehgajian ini perlu ditangani oleh semua pihak termasuklah institusi pendidikan tinggi, pihak industri yang menawarkan kolaborasi latihan serta individu pelajar sendiri. Justeru itu, kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti pengaruh pengalaman pembelajaran pelajar yang berkaitan dengan kualiti perkhidmatan institusi, kepuasan latihan industri, dan pembelajaran terarah kendiri (PTK) terhadap tanggapan kebolehgajian diri khususnya dalam kalangan pelajar kolej vokasional di Sabah, Malaysia. Antara teori dan model yang digunakan sebagai panduan kajian ialah Model SSPE (Students Self-Perceived Employability), Model HESQUAL, Model Kepuasan Internship dan Model PRO-SDL (Personal Responsibility Orientation of Self-Directed in Learning). Kajian kuantitatif yang mengaplikasikan kaedah tinjauan cross-sectional ini menggunakan satu set soal selidik berstruktur yang diadaptasi. Kajian rintis melibatkan 105 responden mendapati bahawa kesemua instrumen yang digunakan mempunyai kesahan dan kebolehpercayaan yang tinggi. Kajian ini diharap dapat membantu para pemegang taruh KV di semua peringkat khasnya di peringkat institusi, industri dan pelajar sendiri dalam menambah baik program pendidikan sekali gus memastikan matlamat serta objektif untuk meningkatkan kebolehgajian pelajar dapat dicapai dengan cemerlang melalui intervensi kualiti perkhidmatan, latihan industri dan gaya pembelajaran terarah kendiri.

Matched MeSH terms: Employment
Early retirement: are we heading there and why?

Sunita, S., Maesiwaran, M., Azahadi, O., Nor Filzatun, B., Norhajar, M., Sivaganasan, R.

Journal of Health Management, 2012;10(1):10-17.
MyJurnal

Purpose - The acceleration of early retirement tendency leading to a fall in labour force is a topic of concern among professionals working with the Ministry of Health, in Malaysia. This paper attempts to highlight the contributing factors to early retirement among these professionals.

Design/ methodology/approach- A study involving employees of the Ministry of Health conducted in 2007 using self-administered questionnaire was carried out.

Findings- The sample s to of this sub study is 3600 with a response rate of 76.2 percent. Of the total responders, 39.1 percent admitted to having intention of early retirement. It also appears that the main factor contributing to this school of thought is perceived job dissatisfaction as described by 64.2 percent of the respondents. Lack of support from immediate superiors and denied opportunities for career advancement are also contributing factors. The Ministry of Health has to strategize and intervene accordingly in order to retain the current man power so as to curb the shortage of health professionals in the public sector.

Matched MeSH terms: Employment
Breast cancer screening: How knowledgeable are female staff of a public university?

Nor Afiah, M.Z., Hejar, A.R., Looi, Y.K., Lim, S.J., Ng, C.Y., Tong, C.Y.

International Medical Journal Malaysia, 2011;10(1):23-29.
MyJurnal

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide and in Malaysia. It has better cure rate if detected early. However, the practice of breast cancer screening in Malaysia is still low. The objective of this study is to determine the knowledge and its associated factors as well as sources of information on breast cancer and breast cancer screening among female staff in a public university in Malaysia. Materials and Methods: This was a cross sectional study conducted in 2005 involving 394 female staff including academic and non-academic staff, which was selected by cluster sampling. A self-administered questionnaire on socioeconomic characteristics and family history of breast cancer was used for data collection. Chi-square Test and Fisher’s Exact Test was used for testing an association using SPSS 12.0. Results: The response rate was 84.3%. Only 50.9% had high knowledge on breast cancer and breast cancer screening and this was significantly associated with occupational status, monthly family income and educational level (p

Matched MeSH terms: Employment
Fulltext High Thermal Gradient in Thermo-electrochemical Cells by Insertion of a Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride) Membrane

Hasan SW, Said SM, Sabri MF, Bakar AS, Hashim NA, Hasnan MM, et al.

Sci Rep, 2016 07 06;6:29328.
PMID: 27381946 DOI: 10.1038/srep29328

Thermo-Electrochemical cells (Thermocells/TECs) transform thermal energy into electricity by means of electrochemical potential disequilibrium between electrodes induced by a temperature gradient (ΔT). Heat conduction across the terminals of the cell is one of the primary reasons for device inefficiency. Herein, we embed Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride) (PVDF) membrane in thermocells to mitigate the heat transfer effects - we refer to these membrane-thermocells as MTECs. At a ΔT of 12 K, an improvement in the open circuit voltage (Voc) of the TEC from 1.3 mV to 2.8 mV is obtained by employment of the membrane. The PVDF membrane is employed at three different locations between the electrodes i.e. x = 2 mm, 5 mm, and 8 mm where 'x' defines the distance between the cathode and PVDF membrane. We found that the membrane position at x = 5 mm achieves the closest internal ∆T (i.e. 8.8 K) to the externally applied ΔT of 10 K and corresponding power density is 254 nWcm(-2); 78% higher than the conventional TEC. Finally, a thermal resistivity model based on infrared thermography explains mass and heat transfer within the thermocells.

Matched MeSH terms: Employment
Fulltext Evaluation on the implementation of Bachelor of Education Program, Faculty of Sport Science and Coaching

Abdul Rahim Mohd Shariff, Norkhalid Salimin, Mohd Izwan Shahril, Normah Jusoh, Nelfianty Mohd Rasyid, Lee, Jeffrey Low Fook, et al.

Jurnal Sains Sukan & Pendidikan Jasmani, 2016;5(1):71-94.
MyJurnal

Journal of Sports Science and Physical Education 5(1): 77-94, 2016 - This study aimed to
examine the effectiveness of the Bachelor of Education (Honours) programmes offered by the
Faculty of Sports Science and Coaching in producing quality graduates and their
employability in the profession. Samples for this study comprised of 49 graduates from the B
Ed (Sports Science), 25 graduates from B Ed (Coaching Science) and nine B Ed (Physical
Education) who have graduated from 2010 to 2014 as well as their respective employers and
peers were selected as respondents. Six to ten samples from each programme together with
their employers were interviewed further using guided questionnaire. Data was analysed
descriptively as well as correlation and regression methods. The findings showed that the
graduates mastered very high levels of the knowledge and skills of the courses related to their
respective programmes. They also achieved excellent levels of knowledge and skills in the
implementation of their respective programmes during and after their completion of studies.
The graduates received very high scores from their employers and peers in terms of their
attributes and employability. Overall, analyses on the effectiveness of the faculty‟s education
programmes showed a positive and significant correlation between the mastery (input) and
the implementation (process) of the programmes. However, a moderately positive but not
significant correlation was found between the mastery (input) of the courses and the
graduates (product). Similar results were found between the implementation of the
programmes (process) and the graduates except for the BEd.(Sports Science) which showed a
moderate positive and significant correlation. Only 23% predicted mastery of the course
(input) and the implementation of the programme influenced the product (graduates) towards
the effective implementation of the BEd (Sports Science), compared to 20% for BEd
(Coaching Science) and 98% for BEd (Physical Education). This study concluded that
Bachelor of Education (Honours) programmes offered by the Faculty of Sports Science and
Coaching are capable of producing quality and employable graduates. The faculty has
developed its strategic plan in improving the employability of the graduates by streamlining
the offering of the BEd (Coaching Science) programme, reinforce the undergraduates soft
skills attributes, intensify the activities of the Kinesiology Centre of Excellence and advocate entrepreneurship education in order to produce graduates who are innovative and capable in the education profession.

Matched MeSH terms: Employment
Fulltext Hand injuries in the oil fields of Brunei Darussalam

Devkota, Pramod, Shiraz Ahmad

Malays Orthop J, 2013;7(1):49-51.
MyJurnal

Hands are essential organs and their agility and dexterity are vital to our daily lives. In the present study, we analysed 107 patients who presented at the local hospital with hand injuries sustained in the oil fields, oil industries and related employment sectors from the surrounding regions. All the patients were male and the mean age was 37.89 years (range, 21-61y). Forty-seven (43.93%) patients had simple cut injuries, 14 patients (13.08%) had tendon injuries, 13 patients (12.14%) had amputation of the digit (30.84%) had bone fractures (including 20 (66.66%) open fractures). Only 19 (17.75%) patients were admitted in hospital for further
treatment. Ninety-one (85.04%) patients injured within one year of employment and 57(53.27%) patients were not satisfied with instructions and orientation before starting their job. Hand injury is one of the most common injuries in the oil industry and overtime work further increases incidence of this injury.

Matched MeSH terms: Employment
Fulltext Heroin addiction: the past and future

Noor Zurani, M.H.R., Hussain, H., Rusdi, A.R., Muhammad Muhsin, A.Z.

Malaysian Journal of Psychiatry, 2008;17(2):1-6.
MyJurnal

Substance misuse, in particular heroin addiction contributes to health and social problems. Although effective medical treatment was available, earlier efforts confined the treatment of heroin addicts to in-house rehabilitation which required them to be estranged from the community and their families for 2 years. The in-house rehabilitative programme, implemented for at least three decades has produced low abstinence rates. On the other hand, being ‘away’ meant that many heroin addicts faced employment problems and family relationship difficulties upon completing the in-house rehabilitation. However, recently, the concerted efforts by various government and non-government organisations, and the acknowledgement that heroin addiction is a medical illness has resulted in a revamp to approaching treatment of heroin addiction. At present, methadone substitution programmes have been offered as part of treatment programme for heroin addicts in Malaysia. This new programme has been shown to be effective in treating heroin addiction and would need support and cooperation from all groups involved.

Matched MeSH terms: Employment
Fulltext The family burden and depression among caregivers of patients with schizophrenia

Osman Che Bakar, Alipah Baharom, Ainsah Omar

Medical Health Reviews, 2010;2010(1):77-90.
MyJurnal

The burden of caring patients with Schizophrenia was extensive and mental health professionals need to be more aware of the burden of mental illness on family members. There are four main sources of burden, namely restriction on the carer’s social and leisure activities, the strain placed on finances and employment, the emotional impact and the difficulty in dealing with dysfunctional and bizarre behaviors. Effective family intervention programs need to be done including to treat the depressive disorders among the carers.

Matched MeSH terms: Employment
Neurobehavioral performances among lead exposed workers in Malaysia: an early detection of lead toxicity

Mazrura Sahani, Noor Hassim Ismail

Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, 2005;2(1):1-9.
MyJurnal

The objectives of this study is to evaluate subjective symptoms and neurobehavioral performances among workers exposed to lead and its relation with blood lead levels. The methodology of this study was restricted to 141 Malaysian battery manufacturing factories male workers with mean (SD) age of 35.2 (9.6) years, years of employment 9.1 (7.1), current blood lead concentration 40.5 (16.8) μg/dl were given WHO neurobehavioral core test battery. Results showed that highly exposed group blood lead level (high ≥ 40 μg/dl) performed less well in 4 of 13 responses reported higher subjective symptoms of weakness of lower limbs and anorexia. Significant correlation was found between blood lead and Digit Symbol, Digit Forward, Digit Backward, Aiming Pursuit Test and Trail B. Regression analysis showed reduction in cognitive, memory and concentration functions at ≤ 30 μg/dl blood lead levels with maximum lead effect at Digit symbol’s score at 40 μg/dl. In conclusion, this study is consistent with the larger body of neurobehavioral tests in lead exposure and has proven the ability of these tests in detecting low level of lead toxicity.

Matched MeSH terms: Employment
Fulltext Latent profiles of elite Malaysian athletes' use of psychological skills and techniques and relations with mental toughness

Ponnusamy V, Lines RLJ, Zhang CQ, Gucciardi DF

PeerJ, 2018;6:e4778.
PMID: 29780672 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4778

Background: The majority of past work on athletes' use of psychological skills and techniques (PSTs) has adopted a variable-centered approach in which the statistical relations among study variables are averaged across a sample. However, variable-centered-analyses exclude the possibility that PSTs may be used in tandem or combined in different ways across practice and competition settings. With this empirical gap in mind, the purposes of this study were to identify the number and type of profiles of elite athletes' use of PSTs, and examine differences between these clusters in terms of their self-reported mental toughness.
Methods: In this cross-sectional survey study, 285 Malaysian elite athletes (170 males, 115 females) aged 15-44 years (M = 18.89, SD = 4.49) completed measures of various PSTs and mental toughness. Latent profile analysis was employed to determine the type and number of profiles that best represent athletes' reports of their use of PSTs in practice and competition settings, and examine differences between these classes in terms of self-reported mental toughness.
Results: Our results revealed three profiles (low, moderate, high use) in both practice and competition settings that were distinguished primarily according to quantitative differences in the absolute levels of reported use across most of the PSTs assessed in practice and competition settings, which in turn, were differentially related with mental toughness. Specifically, higher use of PSTs was associated with higher levels of mental toughness.
Conclusion: This study provides one of the first analyses of the different configurations of athletes' use of PSTs that typify unique subgroups of performers. An important next step is to examine the longitudinal (in) stability of such classes and therefore provide insight into the temporal dynamics of different configurations of athletes' use of PSTs.

Matched MeSH terms: Employment
Fulltext Challenges in the management of community pharmacies in Malaysia

Kho BP, Hassali MA, Lim CJ, Saleem F

Pharm Pract (Granada), 2017 Apr-Jun;15(2):933.
PMID: 28690697 DOI: 10.18549/PharmPract.2017.02.933

BACKGROUND: The provision of professional pharmacy services by community pharmacists continues to be limited, particularly in low and middle income countries. It was postulated that multiple management challenges faced by community pharmacists contribute to this situation.

OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of the research was to determine the challenges faced in the management of community pharmacies in Sarawak (the largest state in Malaysia), and practical strategies to cope and overcome the challenges.

METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were carried out with community pharmacists practising in Sarawak. Purposive and snowball sampling were employed to ensure a diverse group of informants. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim, with the resultant data analysed using thematic analysis. Data collection, coding, interpretation were carried out iteratively until theoretical saturation.

RESULTS: Twenty respondents from different demographic characteristics were recruited. Six major themes were identified. Management challenges faced by community pharmacists traverse five major domains: market competition, legislative issues, customers' knowledge and expectations, macroeconomic impacts and operational challenges. Most of these challenges require government intervention to be resolved. In the meantime, improving customer service and expanding the range of professional services were seen as the most viable strategies to cope with existing challenges. The main concern is that current legislative and economic landscape may hinder these strategies. Enactment of dispensing separation and more protective measures against market competition were suggested to alleviate the challenges faced.

CONCLUSION: Numerous management challenges faced by community pharmacists that distract them from delivering professional pharmacy services have been highlighted. Urgent affirmative actions by the government are warranted in supporting community pharmacists to realise and maximise their potentials.

Matched MeSH terms: Employment

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