BACKGROUND: Little is known about how primary care physicians (PCPs) in Asia diagnose and manage prostatitis-like symptoms. This study investigated the clinical diagnosis of and care provided for prostatitis-like symptoms by PCPs in a Malaysian population, and compared these findings to reports from other areas.
METHODS: All members of the Penang Private Medical Practitioners' Society were asked to complete a self-administered survey. Nonresponders were contacted after 3 weeks and received a telephone request after 6 weeks.
RESULTS: Of the 786 practitioners contacted, 669 considered themselves to be PCPs, including 279 (42%) who responded to the survey. Adult males with prostatitis-like symptoms typically constitute <1% of the patients seen by PCPs. Most PCPs (72%) believe that prostatitis-like symptoms are caused by bacterial infection. 61% of PCPs base their diagnosis of prostatitis-like symptoms on clinical history, a physical examination and dipstick urinalysis. Standard management was to prescribe 1 or 2 courses of antimicrobials.
CONCLUSIONS: Despite the 8.7% prevalence found in a previous survey in this population, prostatitis remains underdiagnosed in Malaysia. In contrast to many other clinical settings, urologists in Malaysia see a large proportion of newly diagnosed and treatment-naive prostatitis patients, providing an opportunity for clinical diagnostic and treatment studies.
Dengue fever and dengue haemorrhagic fever are diseases caused by dengue virus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. Dengue fever has caused a high rate of mortalities among Malaysians every year. Even though many campaigns had been conducted by the government to reduce dengue cases, the number of infected people in this country is still high. We conducted this survey to determine the status of dengue fever awareness among residents in Kuala Terengganu. For data collection, face-to-face interviews were conducted, and a questionnaire was administered. There were three categories of respondents, namely urban area residents, rural area residents and university students. Results showed that respondents across the three groups were knowledgeable regarding dengue fever issues and there was no significant difference between the three categories of respondents in the number of residents who had been involved in dengue awareness programmes. However, most of the respondents regarded the dengue awareness programmes as moderately effective and could be overcome if prevention efforts and approaches were being carried out on a continuous basis.
This research explores the issue of local management system governing the heritage preservation in UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) Stadthuys, Melaka. Thus far, there is no clearly defined value of cultural heritage that justifies the benefits of preserving cultural heritage as a tourism product and as a sustainable heritage site. Most studies have proven that visitors in general are less interested in visiting cultural heritage sites due to the lack of information available there. Another issue identified in the recent research on cultural heritage assessment is the lack of empirical references on the economic valuation of cultural heritage preservation. This study used contingent valuation method (CVM) and questionnaire for data collection. Four sets of questionnaires were designed and distributed to a total of 100 respondents consisting of local community and domestic tourists. On average, respondents are willing to pay RM8.82, in which this value is higher than the current fee, RM5.00, showing that visitors have the awareness to value cultural heritage through preservation in Stadthuys, Melaka, WHS. Finally, this research has established a framework to be considered by the management regarding the WTP value of the cultural heritage in order to create a more sustainable Melaka Historical City.
Food insecurity is normally associated with lower socioeconomic status and improper feeding practices which may consequently affect growth and development of young children. This study aims to assess household food security status and its association with child feeding practices and children’s weight status among low income mothers in Terengganu. A cross-sectional study using convenience sampling was conducted at four public maternal and child health clinics (MCH) located in Terengganu. A total of 107 of low-income mothers between ages of 18 to 45 years with net household income less than RM 3000 who has at least one child aged two years and above were recruited. The instruments used were Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ) and weight-for-age child growth chart for children’ weight status at aged one year. Descriptive statistic and non-parametric tests were employed (SPSS 20). Majority of the households were food secure (85.0%). Yet, it is also important to note that about 15% of the household had experienced some degree of food insecurity. There was no significant correlation between household food security and all child feeding practice domains. Most of the mothers had children with normal weight (mean Z-score =-0.72+0.99). There was statistically significant association between household food security status and weight of children at one year of age (p=0.01). In conclusion, majority of the households experienced food secure. Household food security were associated with children’s weight status at early age but not correlated with parent’s child feeding practice.
The main purpose of this research is to understand the experiences and psychological wellbeing of nurses working in palliative ward. There were two research questions driving this research throughout the process of data collection and data analysis. Four nurses from the palliative ward participated in this research to provide details on their psychological wellbeing. Semi-structured interview questions together with observation and simple survey questions were used to gather the data. Thematic analysis was used to identify the meaningful themes for each research question. Six main themes were identified: autonomy, environmental mastery, positive relation, personal growth, self-acceptance and purpose in life. The findings are highly relevant with the theory and literature. The findings indicate that the participants have good psychological wellbeing due to their huge experiences in palliative ward.
Millions of Muslims from all over the world perform Umrah and Hajj every year. There were 250,000 pilgrims from Malaysia in 2017, and the number is expected to grow by 20 percent in 2018. This projected increase will create a huge demand for Umrah and Hajj travel agencies’ services in Malaysia. At present, there are 328 Umrah and Hajj travel agencies registered under Malaysia’s Ministry of Tourism and Culture (MOTAC). However, the supposedly bright outlook maybe marred by undesirable consequences. Along with the increase in the number of Umrah and Hajj travel agencies, there also tends to be an increase in fraud Umrah packages offered by fake agents in Malaysia. Such incidents will cause sadness and anger in the victims and other involved parties. Umrah package fraud involving fake agents in Malaysia has attracted the attention of many including the public, the government, the private sector, even the media. Nevertheless, studies on correlation between Muslim travellers’ perception of the quality of service by Umrah travel agencies and their decision to purchase the Umrah package are scarce in Malaysia. Hence, this study investigated Muslim travellers’ perception of Umrah and Hajj travel agencies’ service quality and its influence on their decision to purchase the Umrah package, in an attempt to discover why some Muslim travellers fell into fake agents’ trap in Malaysia. A total of 319 Muslim respondents completed the questionnaire on service quality perception, specifically service quality elements and loyalty. The data obtained was examined using SPSS version 25 for descriptive and regression analysis. Umrah and Hajj travel agencies as well as relevant government agencies could use the findings of the study to assist with formulating plans and policies to improve the quality of service by Umrah and Hajj industry players and awareness among Muslim travellers on the importance of being able to identify bogus agencies. The limitations, implications andsuggestions for future research are also discussed.
Shopee online has become increasingly popular among consumers for purchasing purposes as compared to brick-and-mortar retail due to the benefits and enjoyment that come with it. However, Shopee has facing intense competitive challenges with other competitors in Malaysia. In addition, it is also difficult for Shopee to compete with major leader of online shopping portal although this platform offers the same function and usage as its contender. Hence, it is important to understand consumer perceptions on the benefit and intention of using Shopee. This study examines consumer perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived price, perceived convenience and perceived trust adapted from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). 208 respondents who have experience online purchasing in East Cost of Malaysia were invited to participate in this study using online survey. Data were analyzed using descriptive, correlation and multiple regression analyses. The findings show that perceived convenience and perceived trust have strong influence towards consumer intention to use Shopee as platform to do online purchase. It is suggested that this study will help practitioners to understand consumer online shopping perception and intention in order to induce visitation and usage of Shopee.
There is sufficient evidence regarding the potential risk of mobile phone use on anxiety. Therefore, the aim of research was to examine the relationship between mobile phone use and anxiety among students from two faculties in University TeknologI Mara (UiTM) Seremban. This cross-sectional study included 317 students of both genders. The sampling method was measured using proportionate stratified sampling. Level of mobile phone use was measured using Problem Use Mobile Phone (PUMP) Scale and level of an anxiety was measured using Beck Anxiety Inventory (BEI) Scale. In Malaysia, there are very small amount who made this research. The finding of this study showed that majority respondents are at normal level for mobile phone use. Pearson correlation result shows there was significant correlation between mobile phone use with an anxiety among students. This study indicates the important mobile phone use toward an anxiety among university students.
Investing in natural cosmetics contributes to the sustainability of natural resources in two ways – the emission of less harmful by-products, and the conservation of ecosystems through sustainable harvesting of resources. Therefore, studying students’ (millennials’) behaviour and attitude towards these products may help improve awareness-raising approaches on their benefits for local market acceptance. A study was conducted in Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), Malaysia with the aim to understand the current perception and habits of UMT students towards natural cosmetics and their readiness to convert to natural cosmetics. 521 responses were collected through an online survey that focused on three themes: Stage of Change, Decisional Balance Inventory, and Product Knowledge and Perception. The study found that most of the respondents (79%) claim to be using natural cosmetics, while only nine percent are not considering at all. Eighty-six percent of those users practice label reading habits although most respondents could not distinguish natural cosmetics from synthetic ones if solely based on personal knowledge and appearance of product. This proves that product design does influence customers’ purchasing behaviours. Moreover, results indicate that existing natural cosmetic users are quite likely to maintain the habit, while others are still indecisive. Meanwhile, label reading habits are quite likely to be maintained by many respondents. Hence, based on results, businesses should acknowledge that there is a demand in natural cosmetics among Malaysian millennials, and should increase their promotional activities, improve product design and affordability in order to grab consumers’ attention to switch from synthetic to natural cosmetics.
The advancement of technology in digital revolution such as Internet of Things has gained attention in all over the world. This myriad of technology innovations affects all aspects of the human lives today. The generation who has grown up during this era, knownastheiGens,mostlyreliesonthetechnologyineveryaspectoftheirlives,including education. Thus, technology also gives profound impact in educational transformation nowadays to convey innovative education. However, lack of innovation in education becomes a challenge to meet this demand. Therefore, this study was carried out with the aim to discover factors which may affect academic performance of the iGen students in the university. A total of 250 self-administered questionnaires were distributed to the accountingstudentsatUMTwitharesponserateof93.6%(234).Usingmultipleregression analysis, the findings showed that parental involvement and student’s attitude contribute more towards academic performance of iGen students rather than the technology itself. This finding showed that human factor such as support fromtheir parents and individual factor are vital towards their academic performance regardless of from technology savvy generation or not.
This paper examines the determinants of pro-environmental behaviour among university students. It uses the theory of planned behaviour in determining the factors that lead to such behaviour. The determinants consist of environmental awareness, psychological factors (motivation, moral norms, perceived behavioural control and attitude), environmental knowledge and personality traits (agreeableness, extroversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience). Data was collected using convenience sampling through self-administered surveys and online forms distributed to 400 students in a public university in Malaysia. Data was subjected to construct validity and reliability analysis. The findings highlighted that motivation, agreeableness and perceived behavioural control were positively related to the practice of pro-environmental behaviour, whereas environmental awareness, moral norms, attitude and environmental knowledge were negatively related. Some personality traits, namely neuroticism, openness to experience, conscientiousness and extraversion, did not show any significant relationship with the practice of pro-environmental behaviour. This study provides a scope to improvise and incorporate environmental practices into the habits of students by aligning their goals with the universities’ dimensions, including curriculum, campus operation, research and outreach activities. The results could make an important contribution in establishing a sustained green culture through a new university paradigm.
Malaysia is a member of Developing-8 (D-8), which facilitated the formation of bilateral trade relations among member countries. This study focuses on Malaysia’s foreign direct investments (FDIs) within D-8. The purpose of this study is to strengthen the FDI ties with D-8 member states, where Malaysia must focus on cooperating for long-term investments and examining the existing FDI policies under Malaysia and its D-8 counterparts, as well as studying the opportunity of interdependence between Malaysia’s FDIs with D-8 member states. The main issue is the imbalance of Malaysia’s FDI preference with D-8 member states, which is followed by the weakness of Malaysia’s FDI outwards policy, specialised among the D-8 counterparts. Thus, Malaysia’s FFDI lacks penetration with D-8 member states. The qualitative research method, data collection, interviews, and content analysis method are used for this study. The respondents’ agencies for interviews are experts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), The Bilateral Economic and Trade Relations Division of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI and the Foreign Investment Promotion Division of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA). Coding techniques are applied for the coding process of the content analysis. This study also uses the theories of interdependence and political economy with SWOT analysis to examine the implementation of Malaysia’s FDI with D-8 counterparts. The findings of the study show that Malaysia is looking for quality investments without choosing where the investments come from, and FDIs with D-8 counterparts in several sectors can still be implemented if the D-8 counterparts are offering quality investments for Malaysia.
This study examined the predictive effect of self – esteem and perfectionism on eating disorders among university students. A total of 327 respondents (15.4% male and 84.6% female) participated in this research, recruited using simple random sampling method. Self – esteem was measured using Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, perfectionism was measured using Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale and eating disorder was measured using Eating Attitudes Test. There was a significant gender difference in eating disorders, t(376) = -2.909, p
Tourism is associated with leisure and travelling, and is considered one of the fastest growing sectors that contribute significantly to the country’s economy, as well as bringing benefits directly to local communities. The Rural Tourism Master Plan was established in 2001, which defines rural tourism as an attraction that offers visitors the opportunity to experience Malaysia’s traditional culture and heritage away from urban areas. This study focuses on such tourism in the Gunung Mulu National Park, a famous natural park comprising underground caves, virgin rainforests and highlands. This research uses a quantitative approach with a random sampling technique because the procedure to select a unit for inclusion in a sample is much easier, quicker and cheaper. A questionnaire is distributed via Google Form to 500 local tourists who visited the park. The results of this research may be useful in marketing the Gunung Mulu National Park worldwide, besides fine-tuning programmes to attract tourists to the national park.
This study was conducted to assess how entrepreneurship experience, family background, and societal factors influence university students in Terengganu to embark on entrepreneurial activities. It cannot be denied that entrepreneurship exposure on campus may drive university students to engage in activities which may enhance their academic achievements in, boost confidence, and instill relevant qualities and skills to be successful graduates in the future. Such valuable experiences may be value added to the graduates. To see the impact of such an experience together with other relevant factors, this study has tested the relationship between entrepreneurship experience, family background, social factors and the subsequent effects among students of Universiti Malaysia Terengganu after graduation. The data were collected from 370 targeted respondents and were analysed using the multiple regression analysis. It was found that entrepreneurship experience and family background have significant relationships with entrepreneurship intention while societal factor was found to be insignificant.
Learning preferences among undergraduate accounting students might vary considerably and are still largely unexplored although their findings might be useful for lecturers to improve learning and teaching strategies. Students’ preferences in selecting the appropriate learning strategies can help improve their understanding and lead to improved competency for better academic achievement. This study examined students’ preferences towards learning strategies and the differences in learning strategies among accounting students in Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, between genders. The data were collected using online survey completed by accounting undergraduate students from Year 1 until Year 3 for the academic session 2018/2019. 150 students responded to the online survey, with 32% response rate. Using a revised two-factor version of the Study Process Questionnaire, the survey assessed deep and surface approaches in learning preferred by the students. The results showed that deep learning approach scored a higher mean of 3.36 compared to surface learning and gender was found insignificantly related to the preferred learning approach. This finding suggests that the use of deep approach (for example, active learning or student-centered learning) is to encourage better learning process that would contribute to better academic performance and teaching strategy practices among accounting students.
Recreation centre become one of the centres for a family to bring their children for recreation and leisure activity. Moreover, the recreation centre is the place for education, research, and awareness to the public. The main objective of this study is to investigate factors that relate to tourist perception in their reference to their interest, expectations, satisfaction, and a general understanding of the recreation centre. The antecedent factors are awareness of the surrounding environment, visitor experiences, and destination image. This research using a quantitative method via a survey questionnaire and a domestic tourist as a sample. A sample is consist of 384 respondent of domestic tourists who visited the recreation centre in Malaysia. This survey has been done in Zoo Negara, Aquaria KLCC, and FRIM, Kepong. The results show the majority of respondents are female, age below 26 years old, single, obtained higher education, working, and had an income below RM1000. The respondents are mostly from Selangor and their purpose of visit to the recreation centre is for leisure and recreation. The major source of information to visit the recreation centre was from the internet. There were have a significant relationship between an antecedent factor with tourist perception towards the recreation centre in Malaysia. The result of this study will help marketers and management of recreation centres to understand the perceptions of their future visitors. Based on the study, it is should be used as an initial benchmark for the future study, however, they may execute a depth analysis on the tourism that related to the recreation centre in Malaysia.
DNA Barcoding, primarily focusing on cytochrome coxidase subunit I (COI) gene has been appraised as an effective tool for species identification. Nonetheless, species identification based on molecular approach is essential for discrimination of look-alike species. In this study, we focused on the marine fishes Family Nemipteridae, one of the commercially important group distributed within the surrounding seas of Malaysia. Some of the samples were collected during the National Demersal Trawl Survey in the Exclusive Economic Zone of East Coast Peninsular Malaysia by the Department of Fishery Malaysia. A 652bp region of COI was sequenced for 74 individuals from nine putative species. Additional 34 COIsequences from GenBank were also included in this study making the total number of samples analysed to 108 individuals. The averageKimura 2-parameter (K2P) nucleotide divergence was 0.34% among individuals within species and 6.97% within genera. All putative species formed monophyletic clades in both Neighbour-joining (NJ) and Maximum-likelihood (ML) trees. However, there was a potential misidentification in specimen identified as Nemipterus tambuloides,as the specimen did not group with their own taxa. It was genetically grouped in Nemipterus thosaporni clade. This study supports the effectiveness of COIgene in species discrimination of Family Nemipteridae.
This study was carried out in Marang, Terengganu. The objective of this study is to analyse the socio-economicprofileof fishermen and their monthly income. The Slovin’s formula was used to calculate thenumber ofrespondentsin Marang and the data was collected through a survey involving 50 respondents consisting of Malay fishermen. The results of the study showedthat the dominant types of fishing gear used were hooks and lines, gillnets and purse seines. The socio-economic profile showedthat a majority of the fishermen (35%) were aged between 40-49years, 36% of the fishermen had between 10-19 yearsof experience, and 55% of the fishermen hadbetween 2-5 children. The average monthly income of the fishermen was MYR1853.49 for those using hooks and lines, MYR2105.09 for gillnets and MYR2595.39 for purse seines. It appears that the use of purse seinesgenerated the highest income for the fishermen. Generally, the income was not fixed as it depended on the amount of catch for each fisherman’s trip, which was also affected by the season.
owadays the increasing prevalence of dietary disease has raised consumers’ awareness of healthy diet and lifestyle. The rise in the use of nutrition and health claims to promote health benefits in food products help consumers make effective food choices. There is very limited research regarding nutrition and health claims in Malaysia. This research focused on consumers’ knowledge, perception (i.e. perceived quality, perceived healthiness, perceived value, perceived importance, trust and perceived familiarity), and attitude towards nutrition and health claims on dairy products as well as their purchase intention towards the products, and examinethe relationship between these variables in Johor Bahru, Johor. All responses were collected by distributing questionnaire to convenience and quota sample (n=200). Data was analysed to obtain descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. The results showed that most of the consumers (46%) had moderate knowledge of nutrition and health claims on dairy products. Consumers generally had almost positive perception and attitude towards nutrition and health claims on dairy products and positive purchase intention towards dairy products. Almost all independent variables correlated with purchase intention towards dairy products. Consumer attitude had the strongest positive relationship with purchase intention (r=0.722), followed by moderate positive correlation between consumer perception and purchase intention (r=0.671), while consumer knowledge only had low relationship with purchase intention (r=0.299). This study added new knowledge regarding public purchasing behaviour towards dairy products with nutrition and health claims. This research also provided valuable information for both food manufacturers and companies to help them make effective decisions to improve the presentation of nutrition and health claims for better expression of information as well as the goodness of food products in order to attract the attention of health-conscious consumers.