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Fulltext Hepatitis in Malaysia: Past, Present, and Future

Raihan R

Euroasian J Hepatogastroenterol, 2016 Jan-Jun;6(1):52-55.
PMID: 29201726 DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10018-1167

Malaysia is multiethnic, with a population of 31,127,247 comprising a mixture of Malays (50.1%), Chinese (22.6%), Indians (6.7%), Aborigines (11.8%), others (0.7%), and noncitizens (8.2%). Like other countries in the region, viral hepatitis is an important public health problem in Malaysia. The 3 most common causes for hepatitis in Malaysia are hepatitis A, B, and C. Hepatitis A has been a reportable disease in Malaysia since 1988. Due to the introduction of government control programs, the national incidence rate has dropped steadily. It is now estimated that 50% of Malaysians less than 30 years of age do not have antibodies to hepatitis A and are therefore susceptible to the disease, which can be prevented by reinforcing the hygiene status of the general population. Malaysia is a country of medium seroprevalence for the hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen (HBsAg) in the general population (1.5-9.8%). The major route of transmission is from infected mother to fetus. There are an estimated 1 million people chronically infected with hepatitis B in Malaysia. Approximately 75% of all viral hepatitis cases are due to hepatitis B infection, with a male-to-female ratio of 2:1. Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) accounts for more than 80% of the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cases seen in Malaysia and HCC is the 3rd most common malignant neoplasm and among the 10 leading causes of death. Most common genotypes are B and C. Incidence rates among Chinese, Malays, and Indians are 36, 26, and 15% respectively. The hepatitis B vaccination program for children was introduced in 1989, which successfully managed to reduce the seroprevalence of infection among Malaysians to 0.01% (graph 4, 2014). But the disease burden will still remain high for some time as the infected people are getting older and living longer. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a growing problem in Malaysia. An estimated 453,700 people were living with HCV infection in Malaysia in 2009 (2.5% of the population aged 15-64 years), of whom 59% acquired their infection through injection and the most common genotypes found are genotype 3 and 1. The HCV-related disease burden is already high and is forecast to rise steeply over the coming decades under current levels of antiviral treatment. Increased governmental resources to improve HCV screening and treatment rates and to reduce transmission are essential to address the high projected HCV disease burden in Malaysia.

How to cite this article: Raihan R. Hepatitis in Malaysia: Past, Present, and Future. Euroasian J Hepato-Gastroenterol 2016;6(1):52-55.

Matched MeSH terms: Mothers
Discordance in exclusive breastfeeding between maternal recall and deuterium dose-to-mother technique during the first 6 months of infants: A multi-country study in Asia

Winichagoon P, Pongcharoen T, Fadjarwati T, Winarno E, Karim NA, Purevsuren E, et al.

Eur J Clin Nutr, 2024 Feb;78(2):135-140.
PMID: 37838807 DOI: 10.1038/s41430-023-01353-0

PURPOSE: This study aimed to assess the agreement in EBF between maternal recall and the dose-to-mother (DTM) technique.
METHODS: Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam participated in the study. A total of 207 and 118 mother-infant pairs were assessed at 3 and 6 months of child's age. Using a standardized questionnaire, mothers were asked to recall child feeding during the previous 24 h, at 3 and 6 months. Those recalled to be EBF proceeded to be assessed using DTM technique. Non-milk oral intake (NMOI) cutoff of 86.6 g/d was used to classify EBF.
RESULTS: According to DTM, 66% of infants were EBF at 3 months, while only 22% were EBF at 6 months. At 3 months, the overall % agreement between maternal recall and DTM method was 68%, kappa 0.06 (95% CI: 0.07-0.20), and at 6 months, the % agreement was only 21%, kappa -0.031 (95% CI -0.168 to 0.107). Human milk intakes were similar at 3 months and 6 months when expressed as g/d, but decreased when expressed as g/kg/d, with a large variation within and between countries; Pakistan being the lowest.
CONCLUSION: This study showed there were declining levels of EBF from 3 to 6 months in the participating countries from Asia and the agreement between maternal recall and DTM technique to classify EBF was low. To ensure that the DTM technique can be more widely used in evaluating breastfeeding promotion programs, consensus on the appropriate NMOI cutoff and simplification of the DTM protocol is necessary.

Matched MeSH terms: Mothers*
Family planning behaviours among women with diabetes mellitus: a scoping review

Awang Dahlan S, Idris IB, Mohammed Nawi A, Abd Rahman R

Eur J Med Res, 2024 Jan 11;29(1):41.
PMID: 38212858 DOI: 10.1186/s40001-023-01626-1

INTRODUCTION: Diabetes mellitus in pregnancies is associated with adverse outcomes both for the mothers and babies. Postponing pregnancy in unoptimized conditions and stabilisation of glucose should be prioritized. This scoping review is aimed to determine the scope and at the same time map the types of evidence available that is related to family planning behaviours among women with diabetes mellitus, with a particular focus on their factors which influence family planning usage and subsequently enable the identification of knowledge gaps in preventing unintended pregnancies among this high-risk population.
METHODS: This scoping review is guided by the methodological framework by Arksey and O'Malley's and Prisma-ScR checklist. PubMed, EBSCO and OVID were searched for empirical studies between 2000 and February 2022 using the search terms "family planning", "contraceptive" and "diabetes mellitus". Data were summarized according to the study characteristics and levels of factors influencing family planning behaviours.
RESULTS: Thirty-five articles that met the eligibility criteria included 33 quantitative studies, one qualitative study and one mixed-methods study. The prevalence of family planning methods used by women with diabetes mellitus varied ranging from 4.8 to 89.8% among the studied population. Women with diabetes mellitus were reported to be less likely to utilise any family planning methods compared to women without diabetes mellitus.
CONCLUSIONS: Most of the evidence to date on family planning behaviours among women with diabetes mellitus focuses on the role of individual level sociodemographic factors. Few studies focused on exploring determinants at multiple levels. In this review we found that there is limited evidence on disease control and pregnancy intention in relation to their family planning practices. Future studies with more clinical and contextual factors are needed to guide the strengthening of family planning services for high-risk group women specifically for women with diabetes mellitus.

Matched MeSH terms: Mothers
Fulltext Clinical effects of thai herbal compress: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Dhippayom T, Kongkaew C, Chaiyakunapruk N, Dilokthornsakul P, Sruamsiri R, Saokaew S, et al.

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med, 2015;2015:942378.
PMID: 25861373 DOI: 10.1155/2015/942378

Objective. To determine the clinical effects of Thai herbal compress. Methods. International and Thai databases were searched from inception through September 2014. Comparative clinical studies investigating herbal compress for any indications were included. Outcomes of interest included level of pain, difficulties in performing activities, and time from delivery to milk secretion. Mean changes of the outcomes from baseline were compared between herbal compress and comparators by calculating mean difference. Results. A total of 13 studies which involved 778 patients were selected from 369 articles identified. The overall effects of Thai herbal compress on reducing osteoarthritis (OA) and muscle pain were not different from those of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, knee exercise, and hot compress. However, the reduction of OA pain in the herbal compress group tended to be higher than that of any comparators (weighted mean difference 0.419; 95% CI -0.004, 0.842) with moderate heterogeneity (I (2) = 58.3%, P = 0.048). When compared with usual care, herbal compress provided significantly less time from delivery to milk secretion in postpartum mothers (mean difference -394.425 minutes; 95% CI -620.084, -168.766). Conclusion. Thai herbal compress may be considered as an alternative for osteoarthritis and muscle pain and could also be used as a treatment of choice to induce lactation.

Matched MeSH terms: Mothers
Epilepsy in pregnancy - a primary care approach

Zainuddin Z, Tan CK

Family Physician, 2003;12:9-11.

Epilepsy is the most common neurological disorder in pregnancy. The effects of epilepsy include congenital abnormalities which are increased 2-3 fold. The babies born suffer from haemorrhagic disease of newborn. Preconception management and folic acid supplementation is important in optimizing outcome. With close monitoring and proper management, more than 90% of mothers have no complications throughout their pregnancy. Hormonal contraception dosage need to be increased due to the enzyme inducing nature of the anti epileptics drugs.

Matched MeSH terms: Mothers
Breast-feeding and work: problems employed mothers encounter

Khairani O

Family Physician, 2001;11:11-12.

Matched MeSH terms: Mothers
Knowledge and practice concerning the use of oral rehydration salts among mothers living in urban slum areas of Kuala Lumpur

Osman A

Family Physician, 1991;3:28-30.

A study was conducted in an urban slum area of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, to determine the health status of the children under 6 years old and the knowledge and practice associated with diarrhoeal diseases and use of oral rehydration salts (ORS) among mothers in the area. It was seen that the health status of the children was poor with one fifth of them born underweight, 33% experiencing more than 6 spells of illness per year and a high percentage of them suffering from diarrhoeal diseases (4.3%). Child care practice was associated with urban lifestyles with early weaning, short term breast-feeding and early introduction of solid and bottle feeding. Knowledge and practice of mothers concerning child care was inadequate to support healthy living. Knowledge of diarrhoeal diseases and the effectivenss of oral rehydration salts was poor. Only 47.7% of mothers knew about ORS and 27.8% ever used it when their chidlren suffered from diarrhoea. Health care system dependence was shown by the high percentage of mothers immediately bringing to a doctor's attention (75.6%).

Matched MeSH terms: Mothers
Asymtomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy - prevalence and treatment at Ipoh Hospital

Lim BK, Sivalingam N, Aza Mirandan AR

Family Physician, 1996;8:11-14.

A prospective case controlled study was conducted to determine the incidence of asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy (ASB), causative organisms and fetal outcome. Out of 510 antenatal mothers screened, 46 (9%) had ASB. The main organisms isolated were E. coli (16%), Staphylococcus aureus (15%) and Beta-Haemolytic Streptococcus (11%). Oral Nitrofurantoin and Cefuroxime axetil achieved sensitivity levels of 96%. There was no significant difference in period of gestation at birth and birthweight between the control and study groups. The reasons for routine antimicrobial therapy for ASB are discussed.

Matched MeSH terms: Mothers
Anaemia during pregnancy in rural Kelantan

Ahmad Z, Jaafar R, Md Hassan MH, Othman MS, Hashim A

Family Physician, 1995;7:11-15.

Anaemia still constitutes a public health problem in the world, especially in the developing countries (1). Nutritional deficiency remains a major causative factor (2). During pregnancy, growth of the foetus, placenta and the larger amount of circulating blood in the expectant mother will lead to an increase in the demand for nutrients, especially iron and folic acid. Many women start their lives with insufficient iron stores, but also, because of inadequate child spacing, they have little time to build up their iron levels between pregnancies. In pregnancy, anaemia has been shown to be associated with an increased risk of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality (3,4,5). Iron and folic acid supplementation is routinely given to pregnant mothers in Malaysia. It is anticipated that pregnant mothers who comply strictly with the prescribed iron supplement will maintain adequate iron stores at parturition. However, the compliance rate among rural mothers in Kelantan is often poor (6). Kelantan is also one of the most socio-economically underdeveloped

Matched MeSH terms: Mothers
Fulltext Antenatal profile and obstetric outcome of adolescent pregnancy in a Malaysian semi-rural clinic

Kwa SK, Lu AIC, Zairul Azwan MA, Aman Fuad Y, Siti Aishah A

Family Physician, 2001;11(3):7-10.

Adolescent pregnancy is associated with long term medical and sociological problems. For intervention, it is important to have information on their profile and obstetric outcome. A study was conducted in 1999 on teenage mothers compared to mothers in the 20-34 year age group. Antenatal records of all these mothers registered in a Malaysian semi-rural Health Clinic in 1998 were reviewed and the relevant information was analysed using descriptive statistics and chi-square for comparison in SPSS 7.5. Only 402 (80.9%) of the 497 antenatal records could be included. There were 40 (9.95%) adolescent pregnancies and 362 (90.05%) pregnancies in mothers aged 20-34 years. Pregnant adolescents were more likely to be Malays (85% versus 66%), unmarried (65% versus 5.5%) and less educated (32.5% versus 12.1%). They have a significantly lower rate of contraceptive usage (2.5% versus 20.2%) and tend to come late for their first antenatal visit (55% versus 18.5%). Their pregnancy complications of anaemia and pregnancy induced hypertension were no worse. But they had a significantly higher preterm delivery rate (37.5% versus 21.8%) and their babies were more likely to have low birth weight (32.5% versus 9.9%). Based on this preliminary finding, further investigations should be carried out and polices should include programmes targeted for this group.

Matched MeSH terms: Mothers
Perinatal transmission of hepatitis B virus - its significance

Kuppuvelumani P

Family Physician, 1991;3:39-41.

Mass vaccination of all newborns against hepatitis B virus infection has been implemented in Malaysia since January 1989. The significance of perinatal transmission of hepatitis B virus and the prevention of the disease are discussed. Routine screening of 6443 mothers in the University Hospital showed an overall carrier rate of 1.9%; whilst this was high amongst the Chinese (4.7%), a significant number of Malays were also infected (1.6%). The mechanism of perinatal transmission of hepatitis B and the important role of routine screening of antenatal mothers in eradicating the disease are discussed.

Matched MeSH terms: Mothers
Does an infant need a full-time mother?

Muhiudeen H

Family Practitioner, 1983;6:65-66.

Matched MeSH terms: Mothers
The hospital factor on breast feeding failure

Rajakumar MK

Family Practitioner, 1977;2:67-68.

Preliminary findings of a survey on the influences of institutional facilities on mothers in the post-partum period in hospital that affect breast-feeding were reported. It was observed that although advice on breast-feeding is now given, there is a conflict between advice and practice so that the advice has been ritualistic. There is a lack of follow-up on advice, and the mother is not helped and encouraged to breast-feed and to overcome her initial disappointment and difficulties. It was also pointed out that the artificial milk-food industry exercises a negative influence through maternity ward staff by provision of milk samples to maternity units and by visits of their sales staff to the mothers. It was emphasised that the hospital factor could be an important cause of failure of the mother to breast-feed.

Matched MeSH terms: Mothers
Modern influences on the breast feeding decision

Lee M

Family Practitioner, 1977;2:64-66.

Some of the factors that could contribute towards influencing a mother's decision on breast-feeding and its success were discussed. One of the most important of such factors is the information and encouragement a mother receives, or fails to receive, when she needs it most. Such information, which is mostly non-medical, includes the technique of breast-feeding. Some of the negative influences on breast-feeding discussed include old wives' tales about diet and elements secreted through the mother's milk, the fear of losing one's figure, the fear by working mothers that breast-feeding is impossible to manage, the hospital practice of separating the mother and new-born for the first 24 hours, the shyness of breast-feeding babies in front of others, the lack of confidence in their own efficiency in breast-feeding, and the belief that breast-feeding is inconvenient. Some of the positive influences which can help towards successful preast-feeding are assistance and support from Breast-feeding Associations, a supportive husband and family, and the physician who makes a point of spending a few minutes to encourage his patient to breast-feed her forthcoming infant. The author called for combined efforts towards the restoration of breast-feeding as every infant's basic right.

Matched MeSH terms: Mothers
A Randomized Clinical Trial Testing a Parenting Intervention Among Afghan and Rohingya Refugees in Malaysia

Shaw SA, Ward KP, Pillai V, Ali LM, Karim H

Fam Process, 2021 09;60(3):788-805.
PMID: 32981083 DOI: 10.1111/famp.12592

Refugee families experience uncertainty and stress when residing in countries of first asylum, such as Malaysia, and may benefit from supportive parenting interventions. In the greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia area we piloted an eight-week parenting program with 79 Rohingya and Afghan mothers in nine separate groups. Participants were randomized to an intervention group or a waitlist control group and those in each arm completed a 3-month follow-up assessment. Program content addressed positive discipline, strengthening family relationships, adapting to a new environment, and improving health and emotional well-being. Measures assessed included child intensity and parenting self-efficacy from the Child Adjustment and Parent Efficacy Scale; positive parenting, inconsistent discipline, and poor supervision from the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire-Short Form; family intimacy and family conflict from the Family Functioning Scale, and emotional well-being from the Refugee Health Screening-15. Participating in the intervention led to beneficial changes in child intensity, parenting self-efficacy, family intimacy, family conflict, and emotional distress for the treatment group, and all changes except for emotional distress were maintained over time. However, the intervention did not lead to changes in positive parenting, inconsistent discipline, or poor supervision in the treatment group. Findings point to the potential benefits of parenting programs for refugee communities in transitory settings and contribute to the limited body of literature examining such programs.

Matched MeSH terms: Mothers
Exposure and risk assessment of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs) for primiparous mothers and breastfed infants in Penang, Malaysia

Leong YH, Azmi NI, Majid MIA, Wen S

Food Addit Contam Part A Chem Anal Control Expo Risk Assess, 2021 Aug;38(8):1416-1426.
PMID: 34014804 DOI: 10.1080/19440049.2021.1922758

An average 50 ml breast milk samples were collected from 21 lactating primiparous mothers (range 25 to 45 years, mean 33 years), 4-8 weeks after delivery in Penang Island, Malaysia. The geometric mean concentration of the most toxic congeners, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD) was 0.14 pg WHO2005-TEQ g-1 zlipid. The most abundant congeners of PCDD/Fs were octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (OCDD) (5.9-75.4%), followed by 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-heptachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDD) (1.1-30.7%). The geometric mean level of total dioxins and dl-PCBs was 2.2 pg WHO2005-TEQ g-1 lipid, significantly lower than those in developed countries or highly contaminated areas. The total dioxins and dl-PCBs in pg WHO2005-TEQ levels in breast milk were significantly correlated with years of residence at potential contaminated site. The average daily intake of 11.8 pg WHO2005-TEQ kg-1 body weight was estimated for a breastfed infant at 6 months of age. This demonstrates the exposure risk to infants, especially from Penang region, to these pollutants from human milk intake are potentially high during the lactation period.

Matched MeSH terms: Mothers
Fulltext Food Security and Hygiene Practice among Adolescent Girls in Maiduguri Metropolitan Council, Borno State, Nigeria

Charles Shapu R, Ismail S, Ahmad N, Lim PY, Abubakar Njodi I

Foods, 2020 Sep 10;9(9).
PMID: 32927593 DOI: 10.3390/foods9091265

Inadequate food security contributes to poor health outcome for all, including adolescent girls. The study aims at determining the level of food security and hygiene among adolescent girls. A school-based cross-sectional study was carried out among adolescent girls aged 10 to 19 years old from six schools in Maiduguri Metropolitan Council, Borno State. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire using KoBoCollect Toolbox between June and July 2019. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify the predictors of food security and hygiene among respondents. A majority of the respondents (73.5%) were in a very low food security level. Three factors were significantly associated with food security level, these included schools (p = 0.007), age of mother (p = 0.004), and occupation of mother (p < 0.001). School (p = 0.003), age (father p = 0.017; mother; p = 0.012), hygiene (p = 0.005), and occupation of mother (p = 0.002) were predictors of food security. About (46.6%) of respondents had poor hygiene practice, school (p = 0.016) was significantly associated with hygiene practice. School (p = 0.019; and p = 0.005) and food security (p = 0.009) were predictors of hygiene practice. This study reveals a high prevalence of low food security among adolescent girls.

Matched MeSH terms: Mothers
Fulltext Parents' Experiences and Perspectives Toward Tuberculosis Treatment Success Among Children in Malaysia: A Qualitative Study

Awaluddin SM, Ismail N, Yasin SM, Zakaria Y, Mohamed Zainudin N, Kusnin F, et al.

Front Public Health, 2020;8:577407.
PMID: 33384977 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.577407

Introduction: The trends of tuberculosis (TB) treatment success rate among children in Malaysia plateaued at 90% from 2014 to 2017. Malaysia sets a higher treatment success target of 95% to be achieved in line with an affordable, accessible, and holistic approach in managing TB among children. Objective: This study aims to explore the parents' experiences and perspectives toward achieving treatment success among children who were diagnosed with TB in two districts in Selangor state, Malaysia. Methods: The study was conducted using phenomenology study design via an in-depth interview of 15 mothers who were purposively sampled from the list of pediatric TB cases in the MyTB version 2.1 database in Klang and Petaling Districts of Selangor state. The R-based qualitative data analysis package of R version 0.2-8 was used to perform the thematic analysis. Results: Two main themes were identified from this study. The first theme was trust toward the healthcare services with the subthemes of acceptance, self-efficacy, holistic care, and perceived benefits. The second theme was the motivation to take or continue medication. The subthemes were support from family, healthcare workers' (HCWs') support, the convenience of healthcare services, community support, personal strength, and child's character. Conclusion: TB treatment success for children can be achieved when parents develop trust in healthcare services and have strong motivational factors to remain steadfast in achieving a successful treatment goal. Psychosocial support should be provided to the primary caregiver who faced any difficulty, while good relationships between parents and HCWs should be maintained. These results will inform the TB program managers to strengthen the holistic approach and identify the motivational factors among parents of children with TB disease.

Matched MeSH terms: Mothers
Fulltext The trend in exclusive breastfeeding practice and its association with maternal employment in Bangladesh: A multilevel analysis

Ahmmed F, Hossain MJ, Sutopa TS, Al-Mamun M, Alam M, Islam MR, et al.

Front Public Health, 2022;10:988016.
PMID: 36504941 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.988016

Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is essential for infant and child health. This study aimed to explore the trend in the EBF over the last decade in Bangladesh and investigated if there was a significant association with maternal employment by analyzing the data extracted from three consecutive nationally representative surveys: Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys (BDHS) of 2011, 2014, and 2017-2018. Prevalence of EBF (95% confidence interval) with the Cochran-Armitage test was reported to see the trend in EBF. A chi-square (χ2) test was applied to find the potential factors associated with EBF. Finally, a three-level logistic regression was utilized to find the significant association between maternal employment and EBF while adjusting other covariates. We observed no increase in the practice of EBF over the last decade (P = 0.632). The prevalence of EBF was 64.9% (95% CI: 61.41, 68.18) in 2011, followed by 60.1% (95% CI: 56.25, 64) in 2014, and 64.9% (95% CI: 61.82, 67.91) in 2017. Regression results showed that employed mothers had 24% (p < 0.05) lower odds of EBF than unemployed mothers. Early initiation of breastfeeding was also found to be significantly associated [Adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 1.22, P < 0.05] with EBF. Government and policymakers must come forward with new interventions to increase the practice of EBF, providing basic education and campaigns on the topic of EBF. Maternity leave should be extended up to 6 months of the child's age to achieve an optimal level of EBF.

Matched MeSH terms: Mothers*
Fulltext Maternal COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among Malaysian pregnant women: A multicenter cross-sectional study

Kalok A, Razak Dali W, Sharip S, Abdullah B, Kamarudin M, Dasrilsyah RA, et al.

Front Public Health, 2023;11:1092724.
PMID: 36908400 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1092724

INTRODUCTION: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused a global pandemic that resulted in devastating health, economic and social disruption. Pregnant mothers are susceptible to COVID-19 complications due to physiological and immunity changes in pregnancy. We aimed to assess the maternal vaccine acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine.
METHODS: A multi-center study across four teaching hospitals in the Klang Valley, Malaysia was conducted between September 2021 and May 2022. A survey was conducted using a self-administered electronic questionnaire. The survey instruments included; (1) maternal perception and attitude toward COVID-19 vaccination, (2) COVID-19 pregnancy-related anxiety, and 3) generalized anxiety disorder.
RESULTS: The response rate was 96.6%, with a final number for analysis of 1,272. The majority of our women were Malays (89.5%), with a mean age (standard deviation, SD) of 32.2 (4.6). The maternal vaccine acceptance in our study was 77.1%. Household income (p < 0.001), employment status (p = 0.011), and health sector worker (p = 0.001) were independent predictors of maternal willingness to be vaccinated. COVID-19 infection to self or among social contact and greater COVID-19 pregnancy-related anxiety were associated with increased odds of accepting the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Women who rely on the internet and social media as a source of vaccine information were more likely to be receptive to vaccination (adjusted odd ratio, AOR 1.63; 95% CI 1.14-2.33). Strong correlations were observed between maternal vaccine acceptance and the positive perception of (1) vaccine information (p < 0.001), (2) protective effects of vaccine (p < 0.001), and (3) getting vaccinated as a societal responsibility (p < 0.001).
DISCUSSION: The high maternal vaccine acceptance rate among urban pregnant women in Malaysia is most likely related to their high socio-economic status. Responsible use of the internet and social media, alongside appropriate counseling by health professionals, is essential in reducing vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women.

Matched MeSH terms: Mothers

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