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Dataset on the influence TPB predictors on environmental responsive behaviour amongst head teachers in the northern region of malaysia

Uthamaputhran L, Ahmad F, Hassan H, Jaganathan M

Data Brief, 2021 Apr;35:106815.
PMID: 33604431 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2021.106815

The study examined the relationship between environmental attitude, environmental subjective norm, environmental perceived behavioural control, and school headteachers' environmental responsive behaviour. The population of the study consists of primary school headteachers in the northern region of Malaysia who are attached to the Ministry of Education (MoE), Malaysia. An online survey was used to collect the data of the study from 167 sampled respondents. While Theory of planned behaviour underpinned the study, the researcher employed explanatory, descriptive, and hypothesis testing quantitative strategies to explain the relationship. Smart PLS 3.0 and SPSS 21 were equally used to analyse the data. The result of the data analysis revealed that environmental attitude, environmental subjective norm, and environmental perceived behavioural control significantly influence school headteachers' environmental responsive behaviour.
Fulltext The dark side of leadership: How ineffective training and poor ethics education trigger unethical behavior?

Benlahcene A, Saoula O, Jaganathan M, Ramdani A, AlQershi NA

Front Psychol, 2022;13:1063735.
PMID: 36533016 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1063735

INTRODUCTION: The challenge of restricting unethical behavior requires public companies to reinforce ethical practices among leaders through various instruments. Previous research suggests that the (un)ethical behavior of leaders can be influenced by many situational factors. This study aimed to investigate the influence of ethics training and education on unethical leadership behavior in the Algerian public companies.
METHODS: Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 leaders from public companies in Algeria. Data analysis was facilitated using ATLAS. ti 8 qualitative analysis software.
RESULTS: The findings show that public companies in Algeria suffer from several issues related to leaders' ethics training and education. The findings also indicate that some of these unethical leadership behaviors are the result of ineffective training programs and poor ethics education within public companies.
DISCUSSION: The absence or ineffectiveness of ethics training and education within and outside organizational settings has a detrimental impact on leaders' ethical character. This study is the first to explore how public companies in Algeria engage in ethical training and leadership education. The different sectors of the Algerian business can use the findings as a point of reference to embed the appropriate ethical climate in their respective organizations.
Survey of campylobacter, salmonella and mycoplasmas in house crows (Corvus splendens) in Malaysia

Ganapathy K, Saleha AA, Jaganathan M, Tan CG, Chong CT, Tang SC, et al.

Vet Rec, 2007 May 05;160(18):622-4.
PMID: 17483380

House crows (Corvus splendens) in Selangor, Malaysia were examined for the presence of Campylobacter species, Salmonella species, Mycoplasma gallisepticum and Mycoplasma synoviae by serology, culture and pcr. For the detection of Campylobacter and Salmonella species swabs were taken either from the intestine or cloaca. For the detection of mycoplasmas, swabs were taken either from the choanal cleft or trachea for culture and pcr and serum samples were tested by the rapid serum agglutination (rsa) and monoclonal antibody-blocking elisa (mbelisa) for antibodies to M gallisepticum and M synoviae. For campylobacter, 25.3 per cent of the crows were positive by culture, and the species identified were Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli. No Salmonella species were isolated. Four of 24 swabs were positive for M gallisepticum dna but none gave positive results for M synoviae dna. No M gallisepticum or M synoviae antibodies were detected by rsa but 60 per cent of the sera gave positive reactions for M gallisepticum and 13 per cent gave positive reactions for M synoviae by mbelisa.
Fulltext Feasibility of Patient Navigation to Improve Breast Cancer Care in Malaysia

Yeoh ZY, Jaganathan M, Rajaram N, Rawat S, Tajudeen NA, Rahim N, et al.

J Glob Oncol, 2018 11;4:1-13.
PMID: 30398950 DOI: 10.1200/JGO.17.00229

PURPOSE: Late stage at presentation and poor adherence to treatment remain major contributors to poor survival in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Patient navigation (PN) programs in the United States have led to improvement in diagnostic or treatment timeliness, particularly for women in lower socioeconomic classes or minority groups. To date, studies of PN in Asia have been limited. We aimed to assess the feasibility of PN in a state-run hospital in an LMIC and to report the impact on diagnostic and treatment timeliness for patients in its first year of implementation.
METHODS: We established PN in a dedicated breast clinic of a Malaysian state-run hospital. We compared diagnostic and treatment timeliness between navigated patients (n = 135) and patients diagnosed in the prior year (n = 148), and described factors associated with timeliness.
RESULTS: Women with PN received timely mammography compared with patients in the prior year (96.4% v 74.4%; P < .001), biopsy (92.5% v 76.1%; P = .003), and communication of news (80.0% v 58.5%; P < .001). PN reduced treatment default rates (4.4% v 11.5%; P = .048). Among navigated patients, late stage at presentation was independently associated with having emotional and language barriers ( P = .01). Finally, the main reason reported for delay, default, or refusal of treatment was the preference for alternative therapy.
CONCLUSION: PN is feasible for addressing barriers to cancer care when integrated with a state-run breast clinic of an LMIC. Its implementation resulted in improved diagnostic timeliness and reduced treatment default. Wider adoption of PN could be a key element of cancer control in LMICs.
Fulltext Barriers of and strategies for shared decision-making implementation in the care of metastatic breast cancer: A qualitative study among patients and healthcare professionals in an Asian country

Lee PY, Cheong AT, Ghazali SS, Rashid AA, Ong SC, Ong SY, et al.

Health Expect, 2022 Dec;25(6):2837-2850.
PMID: 36098241 DOI: 10.1111/hex.13590

BACKGROUND: Shared decision-making has been shown to improve the quality of life in metastatic breast cancer patients in high-literacy and high-resource settings. However, limited studies have examined the cultural preferences of metastatic breast cancer patients with shared decision-making implementation and the barriers encountered in an Asian setting where societal norms predominate and physician decision-making is at the forefront. This paper aims to identify (1) barriers to practising shared decision-making faced by healthcare professionals and patients and (2) strategies for implementing shared decision-making in the context of metastatic breast cancer management in Malaysia.
METHODS: We conducted a qualitative study involving 12 patients diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, 16 healthcare professionals and 5 policymakers from surgical and oncology departments at public healthcare centres in Malaysia. Semi-structured in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using the thematic approach. Nvivo software was used to manage and analyse the data.
RESULTS: Five main themes emerged from the study: healthcare provider-patient communication, workforce availability, cultural and belief systems, goals of care and paternalism versus autonomy. Other strategies proposed to overcome barriers to implementing shared decision-making were training of healthcare professionals and empowering nurses to manage patients' psychosocial issues.
CONCLUSION: This study found that practising shared decision-making in the public health sector remains challenging when managing patients with metastatic breast cancer. The utilization of decision-making tools, patient empowerment and healthcare provider training may help address the system and healthcare provider-patient barriers identified in this study.
PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Patients were involved in the study design, recruitment and analysis.
Barriers to help-seeking for Malaysian women with symptoms of breast cancer: a mixed-methods, two-step cluster analysis

Rajaram N, Jaganathan M, Muniandy K, Rajoo Y, Zainal H, Rahim N, et al.

BMC Health Serv Res, 2023 Mar 01;23(1):206.
PMID: 36859265 DOI: 10.1186/s12913-023-09046-x

BACKGROUND: Improving help-seeking behaviour is a key component of down-staging breast cancer and improving survival, but the specific challenges faced by low-income women in an Asian setting remain poorly characterized. Here, we determined the extent of help-seeking delay among Malaysian breast cancer patients who presented at late stages and explored sub-groups of women who may face specific barriers.
METHODS: Time to help-seeking was assessed in 303 women diagnosed with advanced breast cancer between January 2015 and March 2020 at a suburban tertiary hospital in Malaysia. Two-step cluster analysis was conducted to identify subgroups of women who share similar characteristics and barriers. Barriers to help-seeking were identified from nurse interviews and were analyzed using behavioural frameworks.
RESULTS: The average time to help-seeking was 65 days (IQR = 250 days), and up to 44.5% of women delayed by at least 3 months. Three equal-sized clusters emerged with good separation by time to help-seeking (p
Fulltext A case-control study of breast cancer risk factors in 7,663 women in Malaysia

Tan MM, Ho WK, Yoon SY, Mariapun S, Hasan SN, Lee DS, et al.

PLoS One, 2018;13(9):e0203469.
PMID: 30216346 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0203469

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer risk factors have been examined extensively in Western setting and more developed Asian cities/countries. However, there are limited data on developing Asian countries. The purpose of this study was to examine breast cancer risk factors and the change of selected risk factors across birth cohorts in Malaysian women.
METHODS: An unmatched hospital based case-control study was conducted from October 2002 to December 2016 in Selangor, Malaysia. A total of 3,683 cases and 3,980 controls were included in this study. Unconditional logistic regressions, adjusted for potential confounding factors, were conducted. The breast cancer risk factors were compared across four birth cohorts by ethnicity.
RESULTS: Ever breastfed, longer breastfeeding duration, a higher soymilk and soy product intake, and a higher level of physical activity were associated with lower risk of breast cancer. Chinese had the lowest breastfeeding rate, shortest breastfeeding duration, lowest parity and highest age of first full term pregnancy.
CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that breastfeeding, soy intake and physical activity are modifiable risk factors for breast cancer. With the increasing incidence of breast cancer there is an urgent need to educate the women about lifestyle intervention they can take to reduce their breast cancer risk.
Fulltext Presentation of Breast Cancer and Impact of Patient Navigation on Timeliness of Diagnosis and Treatment and on Adherence to Treatment Recommendations in a Multicenter Network in Malaysia

Jaganathan M, Ang BH, Ali A, Sharif SZ, Mohamad M, Mohd Khairy A, et al.

JCO Glob Oncol, 2024 Mar;10:e2300297.
PMID: 38484197 DOI: 10.1200/GO.23.00297

PURPOSE: Breast cancer deaths disproportionately affect women living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Patient navigation has emerged as a cost-effective and impactful approach to enable women with symptoms or suspicious mammogram findings to access timely diagnosis and patients with breast cancer to access timely and appropriate multimodality treatment. However, few studies have systematically evaluated the impact of patient navigation on timeliness of diagnosis and treatment in LMICs.
METHODS: We established a nurse- and community-navigator-led navigation program in breast clinics of four public hospitals located in Peninsular and East Malaysia and evaluated the impact of navigation on timeliness of diagnosis and treatment.
RESULTS: Patients with breast cancer treated at public hospitals reported facing barriers to accessing care, including having a poor recognition of breast cancer symptoms and low awareness of screening methods, and facing financial and logistics challenges. Compared with patients diagnosed in the previous year, patients receiving navigation experienced timely ultrasound (84.0% v 65.0%; P < .001), biopsy (84.0% v 78.0%; P = .012), communication of news (63.0% v 40.0%; P < .001), surgery (46% v 36%; P = .008), and neoadjuvant therapy (59% v 42%, P = .030). Treatment adherence improved significantly (98.0% v 87.0%, P < .001), and this was consistent across the network of four breast clinics.
CONCLUSION: Patient navigation improves access to timely diagnosis and treatment for women presenting at secondary and tertiary hospitals in Malaysia.