METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed by recruiting 973 undergraduate students at the health campus of a public university from December 2019 to June 2021. The World Health Organization (WHO) ACE-International Questionnaire and the Youth Risk Behaviour Surveillance System questionnaire were distributed using simple random sampling according to year of study and the selected batch of students. Descriptive statistics were used for demographic findings and logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the association between ACE and HRB.
RESULTS: The 973 participants (male [n = 245] and female [n = 728]) had a median age of 22 years old. The prevalence of child maltreatment among the study population was 30.2%, 29.2%, 28.7%, 9.1% and 6.1% for emotional abuse, emotional neglect, physical abuse, physical neglect and sexual abuse, respectively, among both sexes. The most commonly reported household dysfunctions were parental divorce/separation (5.5%). Community violence was 39.3% among the surveyed participants. The highest prevalence of HRBs among respondents was 54.5% from physical inactivity. The findings confirmed that those exposed to ACEs were at risk of HRBs and that a higher number of ACEs was associated with a higher number of HRBs.
CONCLUSION: ACEs were highly prevalent among participating university students, ranging from 2.6%-39.3%. Hence, child maltreatment is an important public health problem in Malaysia.
METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, the Malay version of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) was administered to 227 caregivers of children with ASD. The caregivers were recruited from ASD databases in four tertiary hospitals in Kelantan and a meeting was set up during the child's follow-up in the clinic. Multiple linear regression analyses were applied to determine the predictors of perceived stress.
RESULTS: The mean total perceived stress score was 20.84 (4.72). This was considered higher than average. Higher perceived stress was significantly predicted among caregivers who live far from the health institution, caregivers who do not own transportation to bring the child to the treatment center, and caregivers who have an ASD child with a learning disability.
CONCLUSION: Caregivers of an ASD child perceived significant stress while taking care of their children. Institutions should alleviate the factors that were predicted to increase the caregivers' perceived stress to improve the quality of the lives of children and ASD families as a whole.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 110 caregivers of children with ASD aged between 2 and 17 years old that received treatment at two tertiary care centres in Kelantan. Permission to use the original version of the PSS questionnaire was obtained. The original English version of the PSS was translated into a Malay version following the 10 steps proposed by an established guideline. Pre-testing of the PSS was carried out with 30 caregivers before confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was established using 110 caregivers. They were asked to assess their understanding of the questionnaire. The one-dimensional questionnaire consists of 11 items, including staff attitudes, availability of staff, supportiveness, and helpfulness. The 5-point Likert scale provided ratings from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Confirmatory factor analysis was performed using a robust maximum likelihood estimator.
RESULTS: The analysis showed model fit data with good reliability.
CONCLUSION: The PSS-M shows overall model fitness based on specific indices, with good construct validity and excellent absolute reliability to determine the satisfaction level of caregivers of children with ASD with respect to health care services.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the factors associated with caregivers' satisfaction with different levels of health care services in managing children with ASD in Kelantan. The satisfaction scores of 227 main caregivers of confirmed ASD children were assessed with a modified Parent Satisfaction Scale (PSS) questionnaire.
RESULTS: The analysis showed that caregivers who waited longer for a doctor's consultation in primary care had a reduced PSS score, whereas caregivers who were satisfied with the waiting time in primary care had higher PSS scores. At the secondary care level, caregivers who possessed at least a diploma had reduced PSS scores, whereas caregivers who were satisfied with both doctors' consultation times and occupational therapy appointments had higher PSS scores. At the tertiary care level, caregivers with an underlying medical problem and who had children undergoing occupational therapy for two months or more had reduced PSS scores. Nevertheless, the analysis showed that caregivers who were concerned with their children's sleeping problems, who had been informed about parental support, who were satisfied with speech and occupational therapy appointments, who were satisfied with waiting times at tertiary care clinics, and who were satisfied with their doctor's knowledge and experience had higher PSS scores.
CONCLUSIONS: This study elucidated the importance of understanding caregivers' satisfaction in attaining care for their ASD children and highlighted the need to promote factors that would increase caregivers' satisfaction with current ASD services.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving caregivers of children with special needs in Kelantan, a state of Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 383 caregivers completed questionnaires measuring sociodemographics, disability-related factors, psychosocial factors and QoL outcome. Structural equation modelling was performed to examine the relations of the variables in the conceptual model.
RESULTS: In the final model, childcare dependency, caregiver's age, financial support, negative perception of stress and maladaptive coping skills were significant predictors of QoL (R 2 = 0.65). Caregiver's age had a direct effect on QoL, while financial support had an indirect effect on QoL via negative perception of stress. Childcare dependency had direct and indirect effects on QoL via negative perception of stress. Higher perceived stress was associated with lower QoL directly and indirectly via maladaptive coping skills. The final model fitted the data well (root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = 0.046; CFI = 0.923; χ2/df = 1.798).
CONCLUSION: Intervention strategies to improve the QoL of caregivers should target the family unit and take into account the factors of child's disability, demographic and caregiver's psychosocial status.