Introduction: Refractive error is the most common cause of visual impairment among the school children. The visual acuity screening has long been administered through the school health service in Malaysia. The objective of this study was to examine the status of refractive error in the school health screening from year 1990 to 2017. Methods: Every year an average of 1.2 million students were screened for refractive errors through school health service. Stu-dents with visual acuity reading of 6/9 or worst based on 6-meter Snellen chart ware referred for confirmation of refractive error. Secondary data on school visual acuity screening from the Health Informatics for the period of 1990 to 2017 were used to describe the changing pattern of refractive errors. Results: It was observed that the prevalent of suspected refractive errors amongst the Standard 1 student increased from 7 per 1,000 students examined in 1990 to 44.4 per 1,000 students in the 2000 and further increased to 74 per 1,000 students before slow decline to 55 per 1,000 students from year 2015 to 2017. A higher level of detection was observed for students in standard 6 and form 3 between the period of 1990 to 2009 (78/1,000 and 65/1,000 respectively) and further decline thereafter to lowest level in 2017 (33/1,000 to 21.5/1,000 respectively). Conclusion: The Standard 1 students in the 21st century have higher rate of suspected refractive errors compared to their counterpart that lived in the 20th century. Community awareness program need to be introduce for early detection of visual acuity problem.
Introduction: Learning disability (LD) is a neurologically related processing problem which can interfere with basic and higher learning skill. The prevalence of learning disability was estimated to be ranging from 5 and 9 percent in general population. The aim of this study was to describe the trend of LD among lower primary school children particularly among Year 3 school children from 2013 to 2018. Methods: Data were taken from the Ministry of Health database on LD among lower primary school children particularly among Year 3 school children in Malaysia from 2013 until 2018. These data were collected from the assessment of LD school children who were referred from schools nationwide to the government medical practitioners. Results: There were approximately 2.6 million Year 3 school children in Malaysia from 2013 until 2018. Of these, a total of 9,063 school children were diagnosed to have LD. There was an increase trend in the incidence of LD from 13 per 10,000 school children in 2013 to 77 per 10,000 school children in 2016. From 2017 onwards there was a reduction in the incidence which consistently remained at 35 per 10,000 school children. Of these, the highest incidence was seen in school children with Intellectual Disabil-ity (ranging from 18 to 36 per 10,000 school children) followed by those with Specific Learning Disability (ranging from 1 to 23 per 10,000 school children) from 2013 until 2018. Conclusion: Learning disability although not as common as other disabilities in general population is still an important issue that need to be tackled to improve the well-being of those affected.
Introduction: Thalassaemia is an autosomal recessive disorder affecting 5 percent of the Malaysian population. The state of Sabah has the highest number of transfusion dependent thalassaemia and β-thalassaemia carrier in Malay-sia. For Malaysia to be successful in the prevention of thalassaemia, Sabah needs to be focused on the preventive activities in areas with high prevalence of β-thalassaemia carriers. Thus, identifying the mapping of β-thalassaemia is crucial for planning for prevention activities. The objective of this study was to identify the prevalence of β-thalas-saemia by districts and ethnic groups in Sabah. Methods: This study used data from Form 4 Thalassaemia Screening Records in 2017. The data were cleaned and analysed using Excel spreadsheet to calculate for the national and state specific prevalence of β-thalassaemia carrier. Subsequently, the data was used for mapping of high-risk districts and ethnic groups in Sabah. Results: A total of 31,655 Form 4 students from 242 secondary schools were screened in Sa-bah in 2017 and 1150 (3.6%) were diagnosed as β-thalassemia carrier. The prevalence of β thalassaemia carrier was higher in the West Coast of Sabah which include Kota Marudi District (11.1%), Nabawan (9.0%), Tambunan (8%), Tongod (7.5%), Ranau (7.0%), Kota Belud (5.0%), Kudat (4.6%), Tenom (4.1%) and Tuaran (4.0%). In the East Coast of Sabah, there was only the Beluran District (5.0%) had prevalence that higher than the state average. β-thalassae-mia carriers were more likely to be of Dusun, Kadazan Dusun followed by Bajau, Murut and Rungus ethnic group. Conclusion: The distribution of β-thalassaemia carrier in Sabah was concentrated in the West Coast of Sabah and more common among the Dusun, Kadazan Dusun followed by Bajau, Murut and Rungus ethnic group. Thus, the thalassaemia prevention activities should be focuses in these areas and ethnic groups.
The evolution in lifestyle and dietary habits of the Malaysian people that have taken place over the last few decades can be largely attributed to both family and social environment. These factors are known to affect the nutritional status of the community, in both children and adults. Reduced physical activity and changes in their diet have been one of the contributing factors to the rising prevalence of overweight and obesity. However, in Malaysia, in which nutrition transition has been a norm, it is worrying when the trends of overweight and obesity have been rising steadily over the years especially among children. Although numerous strategies to control obesity in Malaysia have been taking place, many had shown little effect. Analysing strategies implemented at national level is thus crucial in order to ascertain reasons for the shortfalls of these strategies especially among children. Obesity most commonly begins as early as the ages of 5 and 6 years, or during adolescence. Obesity is indeed a major public health concern due to its huge negative impact on the society at large which is well supported by evidence-based literatures. Managing this issue is complex and holistic approach is thus crucial in reducing its incidence and prevalence.