Displaying publications 81 - 100 of 442 in total

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  1. Fulltext Gender differences in the attitude and strategy towards weight control among government employees in Penang, Malaysia
    Aina Mardiah B, Hazizi A, Nasir MM, Zaitun Y, Jan JH
    Iran J Public Health, 2012;41(1):28-36.
    PMID: 23113119
    Background: This was a cross-sectional study on the gender differences in weight-control behavior. The strategies used, weight status, weight satisfaction, and proportion of individuals attempting to lose weight among 233 government employees (104 men and 129 women) working in the Federal Government Building in Penang, Malaysia, were assessed.
    Methods: Anthropometric indicators such as body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, and body fat percentage were measured to determine the subjects’ body weight status. A questionnaire covering the following items was used to assess weight-control behavior: social support, self-monitoring, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, planning, preparation/buying, portion control, social interactions, and cognitive behavioral strategies.
    Results: About 50% of the subjects were classified as overweight. Based on percent body fat percentage, 70% of them were classified as having unhealthy levels of body fat. Women were found to be more dissatisfied with their current weight, and were more likely to attempt weight reduction compared to men. Women reported higher levels of social support for dieting and had better expectations for diet and exercise (P < 0.05). They also reported higher use of weight control strategies. For self-monitoring, although no gender-dependent differences (P > 0.05) were observed, women reported more frequent self-monitoring of diet, whereas men reported more frequent self-monitoring of exercise.
    Conclusion: Health care professionals and researchers should be aware of the different strategies used by men and women in order to plan and/or implement community-wide weight management programmes.
    Keywords: Weight Control, Body Weight Status, Diet, Exercise, Gender Differences
    Matched MeSH terms: Motivation
  2. Structured student-generated videos for first-year students at a dental school in Malaysia
    Omar H, Khan SA, Toh CG
    J Dent Educ, 2013 May;77(5):640-7.
    PMID: 23658411
    Student-generated videos provide an authentic learning experience for students, enhance motivation and engagement, improve communication skills, and improve collaborative learning skills. This article describes the development and implementation of a student-generated video activity as part of a knowledge, observation, simulation, and experience (KOSE) program at the School of Dentistry, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It also reports the students' perceptions of an activity that introduced first-year dental students (n=44) to clinical scenarios involving patients and dental team aiming to improve professional behavior and communication skills. The learning activity was divided into three phases: preparatory phase, video production phase, and video-watching. Students were organized into five groups and were instructed to generate videos addressing given clinical scenarios. Following the activity, students' perceptions were assessed with a questionnaire. The results showed that 86 percent and 88 percent, respectively, of the students agreed that preparation of the activity enhanced their understanding of the role of dentists in provision of health care and the role of enhanced teamwork. In addition, 86 percent and 75 percent, respectively, agreed that the activity improved their communication and project management skills. Overall, the dental students perceived that the student-generated video activity was a positive experience and enabled them to play the major role in driving their learning process.
    Matched MeSH terms: Motivation
  3. Fulltext Barriers to participation in physical activity and exercise among middle-aged and elderly individuals
    Justine M, Azizan A, Hassan V, Salleh Z, Manaf H
    Singapore Med J, 2013 Oct;54(10):581-6.
    PMID: 24154584
    INTRODUCTION Although the benefits of physical activity and exercise are widely acknowledged, many middle-aged and elderly individuals remain sedentary. This cross-sectional study aimed to identify the external and internal barriers to physical activity and exercise participation among middle-aged and elderly individuals, as well as identify any differences in these barriers between the two groups. METHODS Recruited individuals were categorised into either the middle-aged (age 45-59 years, n = 60) or elderly (age ≥ 60 years, n = 60) group. Data on demographics, anthropometry, as well as external and internal barriers to participation in physical activity and exercise were collected. RESULTS Analysis showed no significant differences in the total scores of all internal barriers between the two groups (p > 0.05). The total scores for most external barriers between the two groups also showed no significant differences (p > 0.05); only 'cost' (p = 0.045) and 'exercise interferes with social/family activities' (p = 0.011) showed significant differences. The most common external barriers among the middle-aged and elderly respondents were 'not enough time' (46.7% vs. 48.4%), 'no one to exercise with' (40.0% vs. 28.3%) and 'lack of facilities' (33.4% vs. 35.0%). The most common internal barriers for middle-aged respondents were 'too tired' (48.3%), 'already active enough' (38.3%), 'do not know how to do it' (36.7%) and 'too lazy' (36.7%), while those for elderly respondents were 'too tired' (51.7%), 'lack of motivation' (38.4%) and 'already active enough' (38.4%). CONCLUSION Middle-aged and elderly respondents presented with similar external and internal barriers to physical activity and exercise participation. These factors should be taken into account when healthcare policies are being designed and when interventions such as the provision of facilities to promote physical activity and exercise among older people are being considered.
    Matched MeSH terms: Motivation*
  4. Social support and work engagement: a study of Malaysian nurses
    Othman N, Nasurdin AM
    J Nurs Manag, 2013 Nov;21(8):1083-90.
    PMID: 23409702 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2834.2012.01448.x
    This study addressed the question of whether social support (supervisor support and co-worker support) could contribute to the variance in work engagement.
    Matched MeSH terms: Motivation
  5. Disaster preparedness: an investigation on motivation and barriers
    Dorasamy M, Raman M, Marimuthu M, Kaliannan M
    J Emerg Manag, 2013 Nov-Dec;11(6):433-46.
    PMID: 24623112 DOI: 10.5055/jem.2013.0156
    This article presents a preliminary investigation on the motivations for and the barriers that hinder preparedness toward disasters in a community. Survey questionnaires were distributed to local individuals in the nine districts of Selangor state in Malaysia. A total of 402 usable questionnaires were analyzed. The initial findings revealed that community members are motivated for disaster preparedness mainly for family safety reason. However, generally they do not know how to be prepared. This article concludes by highlighting the importance of knowledge and information in community preparedness. This research is limited to one state in Malaysia. However, the chosen state has a large effect on the Malaysian gross domestic product; hence, lack of preparedness poses a critical risk to its large population. This study on motivation and barriers for disaster preparedness is intended to increase the effectiveness of community readiness as a whole toward major disasters such as landslide and flood. The result of this study is valuable to the scientific community within the disaster management domain, the government agencies for policy and strategy formulations, and the local community to preempt, deal with, and ultimately survive disasters. This research aims to ensure that the community is continuously prepared and able to meet the evolving needs of the individual citizen as the nation strives toward promoting a knowledgeable society.
    Matched MeSH terms: Motivation*
  6. Fulltext Organ donation in Muslim countries: the case of Malaysia
    Tumin M, Noh A, Mohd Satar N, Chin-Sieng C, Soo-Kun L, Abdullah N, et al.
    Ann. Transplant., 2013;18:671-6.
    PMID: 24316733 DOI: 10.12659/AOT.889194
    The aim of this paper is to look into the factors influencing Malaysian Muslims' decision to become deceased organ donors in Malaysia.
    Matched MeSH terms: Motivation
  7. Fulltext Breast cancer awareness of rural women in Malaysia: is it the same as in the cities?
    Norlaili AA, Fatihah MA, Daliana NF, Maznah D
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2013;14(12):7161-4.
    PMID: 24460269
    Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women globally. This study was conducted to compare the awareness of breast cancer and the practice of breast self-examination (BSE), clinical breast examination (CBE) and mammography screening among rural females in Pahang and Perak. A cross-sectional study was carried out in five selected rural districts of Pahang and Perak. Two hundred and fifty households were randomly selected and interviewed face to face using a semi-structured questionnaire. The majority of residents from both states were Malay, aged between 50 and 60 years and had a secondary level of education. Malay women aged 40-49 years and women with a higher level of education were significantly more aware of breast cancer (p<0.05). About half of these women practiced BSE (60.7%) and CBE (56.1%), and 7% had underwent mammography screening. The results of this study suggest that women in Pahang and Perak have good awareness of breast cancer and that more than half practice BSE and CBE. The women's level of education appears to contribute to their level of knowledge and health behaviour. However, more effort is needed to encourage all women in rural areas to acquire further knowledge on breast cancer.
    Matched MeSH terms: Motivation
  8. Fulltext Individual skills based volunteerism and life satisfaction among healthcare volunteers in Malaysia: role of employer encouragement, self-esteem and job performance, a cross-sectional study
    Veerasamy C, Sambasivan M, Kumar N
    PLoS One, 2013;8(10):e77698.
    PMID: 24194894 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0077698
    The purpose of this paper is to analyze two important outcomes of individual skills-based volunteerism (ISB-V) among healthcare volunteers in Malaysia. The outcomes are: job performance and life satisfaction. This study has empirically tested the impact of individual dimensions of ISB-V along with their inter-relationships in explaining the life satisfaction and job performance. Besides, the effects of employer encouragement to the volunteers, demographic characteristics of volunteers, and self-esteem of volunteers on job performance and life satisfaction have been studied. The data were collected through a questionnaire distributed to 1000 volunteers of St. John Ambulance in Malaysia. Three hundred and sixty six volunteers responded by giving their feedback. The model was tested using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The main results of this study are: (1) Volunteer duration and nature of contact affects life satisfaction, (2) volunteer frequency has impact on volunteer duration, (3) self-esteem of volunteers has significant relationships with volunteer frequency, job performance and life satisfaction, (4) job performance of volunteers affect their life satisfaction and (5) current employment level has significant relationships with duration of volunteering, self esteem, employer encouragement and job performance of volunteers. The model in this study has been able to explain 39% of the variance in life satisfaction and 45% of the variance in job performance. The current study adds significantly to the body of knowledge on healthcare volunteerism.
    Matched MeSH terms: Motivation
  9. Fulltext The ability of analysts' recommendations to predict optimistic and pessimistic forecasts
    Biglari V, Alfan EB, Ahmad RB, Hajian N
    PLoS One, 2013;8(10):e73853.
    PMID: 24146741 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0073853
    Previous researches show that buy (growth) companies conduct income increasing earnings management in order to meet forecasts and generate positive forecast Errors (FEs). This behavior however, is not inherent in sell (non-growth) companies. Using the aforementioned background, this research hypothesizes that since sell companies are pressured to avoid income increasing earnings management, they are capable, and in fact more inclined, to pursue income decreasing Forecast Management (FM) with the purpose of generating positive FEs. Using a sample of 6553 firm-years of companies that are listed in the NYSE between the years 2005-2010, the study determines that sell companies conduct income decreasing FM to generate positive FEs. However, the frequency of positive FEs of sell companies does not exceed that of buy companies. Using the efficiency perspective, the study suggests that even though buy and sell companies have immense motivation in avoiding negative FEs, they exploit different but efficient strategies, respectively, in order to meet forecasts. Furthermore, the findings illuminated the complexities behind informative and opportunistic forecasts that falls under the efficiency versus opportunistic theories in literature.
    Matched MeSH terms: Motivation
  10. Nurses compliance to hand hygiene practice and knowledge at Klang Valley hospital
    Ho SE, Ho CC, Hng SH, Liu CY, Jaafar MZ, Lim B
    Clin Ter, 2013;164(5):407-11.
    PMID: 24217826 DOI: 10.7417/CT.2013.1604
    Hand hygiene is the most important measure in the prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HCAI). Adherence to hand hygiene protocols in hospital by nurses enables in prevention and control the HCAI. The main aim of the present study was to assess nurses' compliance to hand hygiene practice and knowledge in a hospital.
    Matched MeSH terms: Motivation
  11. Application of health behavior theories to breast cancer screening among Asian women
    Ahmadian M, Samah AA
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2013;14(7):4005-13.
    PMID: 23991945
    BACKGROUND: Although breast cancer is a major public health worry among Asian women, adherence to screening for the disease remains an obstacle to its prevention. A variety of psycho-social and cultural factors predispose women to delay or avoidance of screening for breast cancer symptoms at the early stages when cure is most likely to be successful. Yet few interventions implemented to date to address this condition in this region have drawn on health behavior theory.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: This paper reviews the existing literature on several cognitive theories and models associated with breast cancer screening, with an emphasis on the work that has been done in relation to Asian women. To conduct this review, a number of electronic databases were searched with context-appropriate inclusion criteria.

    RESULTS: Little empirical work was found that specifically addressed the applicability of health theories in promoting adherence to the current breast cancer prevention programs Among Asian women. However, a few studies were found that addressed individual cognitive factors that are likely to encourage women's motivation to protect themselves against breast cancer in this region of the world. The findings suggest that multi-level, socio-cultural interventions that focus on cognitive factors have much promise with this issue.

    CONCLUSIONS: Interventions are needed that effectively and efficiently target the personal motivation of at-risk Asian women to seek out and engage in breast cancer prevention. Concerning implications, personal motivation to seek out and engage in individual preventive actions for breast cancer prevention among Asian women is a timely, high priority target with practical implications for community development and health promotion. Further studies using qualitative, anthropologic approaches shaped for implementation in multi-ethnic Asian settings are needed to inform and guide these interventions.

    Matched MeSH terms: Motivation
  12. Strategies targeted at motivating unrelated living kidney donation
    Tumin M, Noh A, Chong CS, Mohd Satar N, Lim SK, Abdullah N, et al.
    Ann. Transplant., 2013;18:314-9.
    PMID: 23792535 DOI: 10.12659/AOT.883957
    This paper aimed to assess the willingness of Malaysians with post-secondary education to be living kidney donors.
    Matched MeSH terms: Motivation
  13. Intrinsic motivation: how can it play a pivotal role in changing clinician behaviour?
    Nantha YS
    J Health Organ Manag, 2013;27(2):266-72.
    PMID: 23802402
    In the light of an increasing healthcare burden, this paper seeks to offer insight about how intrinsic motivation could play a pivotal role in improving the pre-existing healthcare service delivery systems by altering clinician behaviour. The paper argues the case for four salient dimensions worth exploring through the lens of intrinsic motivation--non-financial incentives, positive affective states, organizational culture and prescribing quality.
    Matched MeSH terms: Motivation
  14. Testing the transtheoretical model in predicting smoking relapse among Malaysian adult smokers receiving assistance in quitting
    Yasin SM, Retneswari M, Moy FM, Taib KM, Isahak M, Koh D
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2013;14(4):2317-23.
    PMID: 23725134
    The role of The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) in predicting relapse is limited. We aimed to assess whether this model can be utilised to predict relapse during the action stage. The participants included 120 smokers who had abstained from smoking for at least 24 hours following two Malaysian universities' smoking cessation programme. The smokers who relapsed perceived significantly greater advantages related to smoking and increasing doubt in their ability to quit. In contrast, former smokers with greater self-liberation and determination to abstain were less likely to relapse. The findings suggest that TTM can be used to predict relapse among quitting smokers.
    Matched MeSH terms: Motivation
  15. Fulltext Beliefs and behavior of Malaysia undergraduate female students in a public university toward breast self-examination practice
    Akhtari-Zavare M, Juni MH, Said SM, Ismail IZ
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2013;14(1):57-61.
    PMID: 23534796
    BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the second principal cause of cancer deaths among women worldwide, including Malaysia.

    METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 262 female undergraduate students in University Putra Malaysia using a validated questionnaire which was developed for this study.

    RESULTS: The mean age of respondents was 22∓2.3 years. Most of them were single (83.1%), Malay (42.3%) and 20.7% reported having a family history of breast cancer. Eighty-seven (36.7%) claimed they had practiced BSE. Motivation and self-efficacy of the respondents who performed BSE were significantly higher compared with women who did not (p<0.05).There was no association between BSE practice and demographic details (p<0.05). Logistic regression analysis indicated that women who perceived greater motivation (OR=1.089, 95%CI: 1.016-1.168) and had higher confidence of BSE (OR=1.076, 95%CI: 1.028-1.126) were more likely to perform the screening.

    CONCLUSIONS: The findings show that Malaysian young female's perception regarding breast cancer and the practice of BSE is low. Targeted education should be implemented to improve early detection of breast cancer.
    Matched MeSH terms: Motivation
  16. Fulltext Telepointer technology in telemedicine: a review
    Abdul Karim R, Zakaria NF, Zulkifley MA, Mustafa MM, Sagap I, Md Latar NH
    Biomed Eng Online, 2013;12:21.
    PMID: 23496940 DOI: 10.1186/1475-925X-12-21
    Telepointer is a powerful tool in the telemedicine system that enhances the effectiveness of long-distance communication. Telepointer has been tested in telemedicine, and has potential to a big influence in improving quality of health care, especially in the rural area. A telepointer system works by sending additional information in the form of gesture that can convey more accurate instruction or information. It leads to more effective communication, precise diagnosis, and better decision by means of discussion and consultation between the expert and the junior clinicians. However, there is no review paper yet on the state of the art of the telepointer in telemedicine. This paper is intended to give the readers an overview of recent advancement of telepointer technology as a support tool in telemedicine. There are four most popular modes of telepointer system, namely cursor, hand, laser and sketching pointer. The result shows that telepointer technology has a huge potential for wider acceptance in real life applications, there are needs for more improvement in the real time positioning accuracy. More results from actual test (real patient) need to be reported. We believe that by addressing these two issues, telepointer technology will be embraced widely by researchers and practitioners.
    Matched MeSH terms: Motivation/physiology
  17. A qualitative exploration of the reasons for the discontinuation of smoking cessation treatment among Quit Smoking Clinics' defaulters and health care providers in Malaysia
    Lee ML, Hassali MA, Shafie AA
    Res Social Adm Pharm, 2013 Jul-Aug;9(4):405-18.
    PMID: 22835711 DOI: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2012.05.010
    BACKGROUND: Treatment default among the smokers hinders the effectiveness of the delivery of cessation services. While many studies have predicted the defaulters' characteristics, the reasons why these smokers dropped out and continued smoking are seldom explored.
    OBJECTIVES: This study examined the barriers encountered by such smokers and their respective health care providers (HCPs) in relation to the discontinuation of cessation treatment.
    METHODS: From May 2010 to March 2011, 15 current adult smokers and 9 HCPs from 2 Quit Smoking Clinics (QSCs) in the Melaka Tengah District, Malacca, Malaysia were interviewed on smoking, cessation, and the QSC. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. The transcripts were subsequently translated into English and analyzed using thematic analysis.
    RESULTS: The barriers encountered were categorized as Individual- and Clinic-level. Both smokers and HCPs acknowledged that the smokers' low intrinsic motivation was the individual-level barrier. The clinic-level barriers were the mismatched perceptions of smokers and HCPs regarding the HCPs' roles, skills, and attitudes, as well as the availability and efficacy of smoking cessation aids (SCAs). While the smokers viewed the program as not helpful, the HCPs cited the lack of organizational support as their main barrier.
    CONCLUSIONS: The reasons for treatment default centered on the overall dissatisfaction with the treatment (due to the program, HCP, and SCA factors) combined with the smokers' low intrinsic motivation. Optimizing the interplay of the extrinsic motivational cues, such as the HCP and SCA factors, would complement the smoker's low intrinsic motivation and thus encourage treatment retention. However, it is necessary to strike a balance between the individual smoker's needs and the availability of organizational support.
    KEYWORDS: Qualitative; Smoking cessation; Treatment discontinuation
    Study site: Quite smoking clinics, Klinik Kesihatan Ayer Keroh, Hospital Melaka, Melaka, Malaysia
    Matched MeSH terms: Motivation
  18. Non-organ donors' attitudes toward incentives
    Tumin M, Noh A, Chong CS, Lim SK, Abdullah N, Ng KP
    Clin Transplant, 2013 May-Jun;27(3):E316-9.
    PMID: 23600843 DOI: 10.1111/ctr.12132
    Malaysians indicating that they did not intend to become organ donors upon their death were surveyed regarding interest in non-fungible financial incentives to be granted to surviving family members. Among the 730 (56% of the total sample of 1311) indicating unwillingness to be donors, 29.6% (216/730) subsequently indicated that they would be willing donors if the government introduced policies that, upon their death, "rewarded your (their) family with incentives for your (their) deeds." Among the 69% (504/730) who insisted that they would not become organ donor even with incentive, nearly 80% (404/501) of them were able to identify relevant incentives they thought should be provided by the state to those who make organ donations upon death. The majority of both groups preferred the state provide medical benefits to a surviving family member, suggesting this may be an attractive policy option for the state to raise the deceased organ donation pool.
    Matched MeSH terms: Motivation*
  19. The dynamic value creation of profit-loss sharing arrangement in Islamic banking industry
    Ruhaini Muda, Abdul Ghafar Ismail, Shahida Shahimi, Saiful Hafizah Jamaan
    CREAM : Current Research in Malaysia (Penyelidikan Terkini di Malaysia), 2013;2(1):25-64.
    MyJurnal
    The adoption of Profit-Loss Sharing arrangement in Islamic banking models can create value for their shareholders. Previous studies discuss Profit-Loss Sharing arrangement in the context of financial intermediation theory, but fail to link the adoption of Profit-Loss Sharing arrangement with value creation and to produce empirical evidence. The aim of this study is to address optimal conditions of the Profit-Loss Sharing contracts in Islamic banking models to minimize the problems of asymmetric information and transaction costs. Three propositions are presented to achieve the optimal conditions of Profit-Loss Sharing contracts in Islamic banking models that can create positive values, given that: First, for mudharaba contract, Islamic banks as rabbul maal give incentives of (0* (RP') to entrepreneurs if the positive value of the Islamic bank's expected net profit is obtained. Next, if an Islamic bank, as mudharib is appointed as wakeel, the depositors of mudharaba investment account are imposed 6*(m) for cost of processing information. Third, for musyaraka contract, the Islamic bank is proposed to incur monitoring cost of c* (y). In addition, this study also produces empirical evidence to determine to what extent the adoption of Profit-Loss Sharing arrangement in Islamic banks creates value for their shareholders. This study utilizes the Malaysian Islamic banks panel data from 2005-2009 and employs Economic Value Added (EVA) as a technique of value creation measurement of Islamic banks. The empirical findings reveal that there is no indication that the adoption of Profit-Loss Sharing arrangement on the deposits structure (MDIA) significantly creates positive value to Islamic banks. This result is consistent for both measurement of value creation against shorter and longer terms opportunity costs of capital employed. This suggests that Islamic banks utilize a lower cost of capital, as Non-mudharaba deposits accounts constitute a large amount of current and saving accounts. On the other hand, for asset structure, this study finds that funds allocated in Financing (FPLS) based on Profit-Loss Sharing arrangement results in a reduction in the value of Islamic banks. However, funds allocated in Securities Investment (FIM) using Profit-Loss Sharing arrangement are significant and create positive value. Collectively, the findings reveal that theoretically, Profit-Loss Sharing arrangement can create value for the shareholders of Islamic banks, and it is evident that Islamic banks need to extensively utilize Profit-Loss Sharing arrangement in Islamic banking operation.
    Matched MeSH terms: Motivation
  20. Fulltext Issues on trust management in wireless environment
    Sirageldin, Abubakr, Baharum Baharudin, Low, Tang Jung
    Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2013;21(1):183-192.
    MyJurnal
    Developing a trust management scheme in mobile computing environment is increasingly important,
    and the effective trust management model is a challenging task. Business, education, military, and
    entertainment have motivated the growth of ubiquitous and pervasive computing environments, which are always available due to the widespread of portable and embedded devices. Wireless and mobile computing are good example of ubiquitous and pervasive computing environments. Due to the uncertainty and mobility in such environments, the issue of trust has been regarded as an important security problem. Malicious nodes are a major threat to these networks; the trust system can monitor the behaviour of nodes and accordingly rewards well-behaved nodes and punishes misbehaving ones. At present, there are a lot of endeavours on the trust model of the pervasive computing environment. In this paper, a trust management framework for mobile computing is presented. The hybrid framework is based on a fusion of the support vector machine (SVM) and fuzzy logic system. From the results, it can be stated that the framework is effective, dynamic, lightweight, and applicable.
    Matched MeSH terms: Motivation
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