METHOD: This cross-sectional study was conducted between April to June 2020 in Malaysia. Patients who have recovered from COVID-19 for at least 1 month and their family members who were tested with negative results, Malaysian and aged 18-65 years old were purposively sampled. Cold call method was employed to recruit patients while their family members were recruited by their recommendations. Telephone interviews were conducted with the participants after obtaining their verbal consent.
RESULTS: A total of 18 participants took part in this study. Three themes emerged from the interviews: (Ι) experience of stigmatization, (ΙΙ) perspective on disease disclosure, and (ΙΙΙ) suggestion on coping and reducing stigma. The participants expressed their experiences of being isolated, labelled, and blamed by the people surrounding them including the health care providers, neighbours, and staff at the service counters. Some respondents expressed their willingness to share their experience with others by emphasizing the importance of taking preventive measure in order to stop the chain of virus transmission and some of them chose to disclose this medical history for official purpose because of fear and lack of understanding among the public. As suggested by the respondents, the approaches in addressing social stigma require the involvement of the government, the public, health care provider, and religious leader.
CONCLUSION: Individuals recovered from COVID-19 and their families experienced social stigma. Fear and lack of public understanding of the COVID-19 disease were the key factors for non-disclosure. Some expressed their willingness to share their experience as they perceived it as method to increase public awareness and thereby reducing social stigma. Multifaceted approaches with the involvement of multiple parties including the government, non-governmental organization as well as the general public were recommended as important measures to address the issues of social stigma.
METHODS: The English version of OARS-IADL was translated to BM. The psychometric properties of the BM version of OARS-IADL were tested among older persons attending a health-care facility.
RESULTS: Two hundred and seventy-one older persons participated in the study. The mean age of participants was 67.7 ± 6.1 years. Internal consistency of the items was good (Cronbach's alpha, >0.7). Exploratory factor analysis revealed a single dimension with item factor loadings of >0.5. Confirmatory factor analysis results confirmed a single-factor model (AVE > 50%, CR > 0.7 and CR > AVE).
CONCLUSION: The BM version of the OARS-IADL questionnaire is a valid and reliable instrument that can be used to assess the IADL among older persons in Malaysia.
METHODS: This qualitative study was conducted using a face-to-face interview method with HCPs from two tertiary hospitals in North East Malaysia. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and transferred to NVivo ® for data management. The transcriptions were analyzed using thematic analysis.
RESULTS: Three key barriers were identified through the thematic analysis: a scarcity of related knowledge; the influence of socio-cultural ideas about sex; and the specialty-centric nature of the healthcare system. Most HCPs interviewed had a very narrow understanding of sexuality, were unfamiliar with the meaning of FSD, and felt their training on sexual health issues to be very limited. They viewed talking about sex to be embarrassing to both parties that are both to HCPs and patients and was therefore not a priority. They focused more on their specialty hence limited the time to discuss sexual health and FSD with their patients.
CONCLUSION: Therefore, interventions to empower the knowledge, break the socio-cultural barriers, and improve the clinic settings are crucial for HCPs in managing FSD confidently.