Impact of health care on the population health has been measured in terms of morbidity and mortality but this measurement doesn’t distinguish between children, adults and the elderly. It does not also take into account the losses that occur because of handicap, pain, or other disability. Therefore, measures of population health which combine information on mortality and non-fatal healthboutcomes to represent the health of a particular population as a single number was introduced. QALYs and DALYs are both common outcome measures in economic evaluations of health interventions. QALYs is the comprehensive measure of health outcome because it can simultaneously capture gains from reduced morbidity (quality gains) and reduced mortality (quantity gains) and combine these into a single measure. DALYs is primarily a measure of disease burden where it combines losses from premature death and loss of healthy life resulting from disability. Although QALYs and DALYs are almost similar in their basic concept but there are few distinct differences which must be paid attention to in order to correctly utilize these measures.
Food borne diseases like cholera, typhoid fever, hepatitis A, dysentery and food poisoning occur as the results of ingestion of foodstuffs contaminated with microorganisms or chemical. The true incidence of food borne disease in Malaysia is unknown, however the incidence is low ranging from 1.56 to 0.14 cases per 100,000 population and the food poisoning cases is on the rise as the evident by the incident rate of 62.47 cases per 100,000 population in 2008 and 36.17 in 2009. The rapid population growth and demographic shift toward ageing population, changing eating habit such as consumption of raw or lightly cooked food, long storage of such food, lack of education on basic rules of hygienic food preparation and food trading without appropriate microbiological safety procedure become contributing factors for food borne diseases. Food borne disease in Malaysia is in the rise and the direct and indirect cost management of FBD will become one of the most common issues to face by the government. The world is spending millions and millions in cost of treatment due to food borne diseases. The information on this paper was collected via findings of previous journals, data and statistics from the MOH of Malaysia and WHO websites. As a result, authors found that the prevention and management of the food borne disease outbreak needs to be addressed seriously.
Customer satisfaction is one of the main priority to any service provider. It indicates process and quality involved in delivering of services. However, satisfaction level varies from one service to another. In Indonesia, satisfaction study is seldom done on Posyandu activity. This study tries to understanding this issue. A cross sectional study was conducted on Posyandu services located in urban and rural areas of South Sumatera, Indonesia from November 2005 until January 2006 with 125 respondents in urban area and 123 respondents in rural area using multi stages random sampling. Data was collected via structured questionnaires using SERVQUAL score method based on five dimensions : tangible, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. The results showed that the proportion of satisfied customers was higher at 74% particularly in the rural area. Satisfied respondents were significantly associated with age, education, income and distance to Posyandu services. The most satisfying dimension were tangible and reliability especially in the urban area, but not for responsive and empathy dimension. Overall, the mean SERVQUAL score of all dimension was higher for the urban as compared to the rural area, implying that customer perceptions are much better from what was expected.
Responsive and empathy dimension were the main barrier affecting customer satisfaction. Staff development efforts such as training, refreshing and others form of organizational development strategies, therefore, need to be incorporated into its current managerial practice in order to improve the health services delivery and increase customers' satisfaction.
Satu kajian keratan rentas telah dijalankan ke atas 285 orang penduduk yang berumur 18 tahun dan ke atas di Kg. Bangi Daerah Hulu langat, Selangor D.E. dari 6-12 Mac 2006. Objektif kajian ini adalah untuk melihat prevalens senaman dan faktor yang mempunyai hubungan dengannya. Kaedah persampelan universal telah digunakan dan pengumpulan data melalui borang soalselidik berpandu. Alatan yang digunakan termasuk penimbang berat Seca dan sfigmomanometer yang telah di kalibrasi, stateskop dan pita pengukur ketinggian. Hasil kajian menunjukkan hanya 13.7% daripada responden yang di kaji di dalam kategori cukup bersenam mengikut definisi kajian. Antara faktor-faktor yang mempunyai hubungan yang signifikan dengan prevalens cukup bersenam adalah jantina (p=0.004), tahap pendidikan (p=0.02) dan status perkahwinan (p
Introduction : Quality is an important aspect in health care delivery not only because it is one of the most important factors in individual and community health, but it also influences lives in improving lifespan, health status and also reduction in disease and the burden of diseases.
Methodology : This is a systematic review on various papers, studies and articles based on studies and researches done by a few scholars, experts and organizations involved in quality, quality assessment and monitoring.
Results : Quality in health care delivery involves six main aspects including access to services, suitability to the needs, effectiveness, equity, social acceptance and efficiency. Quality is taken from the perspective of the consumers and the providers. Some of the issues surrounding quality assessment are identifying and balancing between the difference perspective among the stakeholders, producing accountable framework of assessment and also finding suitable criteria for outcome assessment. Health care services in Malaysia are provided both by the government and the private sector with each sector has its own advantages, disadvantages and challenges.
Conclusion : The challenges in improving and maintaining quality include balancing advances in science and technology with the available brainpower and human resources. Therefore all agencies should work together in order to provide the best health care delivery and to keep improving the quality in health care services.
This study examines the level of quality initiatives commitment among public hospital managers and its determinants in view of limited study :0 date and a decline in self-initiated quality initiatives activities in Sarawak, Malaysia. This is a cross-sectional study with universal sampling method conducted in all the Z1 public iwspimls in Sarawak. The study population were the senior, middle and lower level managers. The research wal was self-administered structured questionnaire. A total of 382 managers responded, corresponding ta a response irate of 8 7. 2%. As a complement, four focus group discussions were conducted, consisting 31 participants. It was found that the level of quality initiatives commitment 0f managers was generally high (mecm= 4.23, SD=O.45). The regression analysis indicated that empowerment, communication and procedural justice (promotion) accounted for 38.9%, 346% and 1.2% respectively of the variation in commitment level. Dissatisfaction with resources, top management commitment and peer influence are among others being identified by participants of focus groups as important determinants of quality initiatives commitment. It is strongly recommended that there should be greater empowerment of hospital managers, more structured and effective communication, greater transparency in procedure for promotion and commitment of resources to quality efforts.
Background : The worldwide prevalence of diabetes is increasing, as is the demand for and cost of medical care. Diabetic Mellitus (DM) prevalence in Malaysia rose from 6.3% of the population in 1986 to 8.3% in 1996 and costs need to be managed more effectively.
Objective : To estimate the financial burden of diabetic care, including providers’ and patients’ costs in government facilities in Selangor and to determine factors influencing cost of diabetic care.
Methodology : A cross-sectional study was conducted from September to November 2005 among Hospitals with and without Specialist and Health Clinics. Total sample of 361 subjects with type 2 diabetes representing both inpatient and outpatient were chosen randomly. Results were analyzed using SPSS version 13.0.
Results : The average cost for a diabetic patients’ admission in a Hospital with Specialist was RM1951 and RM1974 for patient admitted in a Hospital without Specialist and these cost difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Providers’ mean cost for outpatient care was RM772.69 and RM761.07 respectively for Hospital with Specialist and Hospital without Specialist per year. As for the health clinics the average providers’ cost for a patient was RM385.92 per year. The cost difference was statistically significant (p0.05). The mean total costs of outpatient care were RM841.46, RM832.80 and RM458.01 per year for Hospital with Specialist, Hospital without Specialist and Health Clinics respectively. Level of care and length of stay were the influencing factors for inpatient provider’s cost. The overall provider’s cost for outpatient diabetic care was influenced by level of care, number of visits and complications. Cost of treating diabetes mellitus year 2004, was estimated at RM18,956,021.51 which was equivalent to 3.3% of total state health expenditure.
Conclusion : As much as 60.2 % was spent on management of outpatient diabetic care and 39.8% for management of inpatient diabetic care. Financial burden of diabetic care is predominantly for outpatient care. Therefore, effective and efficient management of outpatient care is needed to improve allocate efficiency, equity, accessibility and appropriateness of the health care system so that the health care services delivered to the nation are of good quality.
Health services are considered to be of good quality if customers’ expectations and perceptions are well balanced. Determinants confirming customers’ expectations will lead to satisfaction, while factors disconfirming it will result in customers’ dissatisfaction, reduced compliance to physicians’ treatment and deterioration in overall disease management. A cross-sectional comparative study was carried out from September till October 2008 to determine population satisfaction with health services provided by the public health clinics in Selangor. A total of 3840 respondents from the urban Health Clinics (HCs) and 4768 respondents from rural HCs were selected applying multi-stage random sampling from 54 HCs in nine districts from Selangor. Self-administrated questionnaires formulated by adopting SERVQUAL method based on modified five dimensions plus four dimensions of Clinics Corporation were used . Results showed the proportion of satisfaction among the population towards services provided by the public HCs was high at 86.1%. From X2 bivariate analysis; satisfied respondents were significantly from Indian and Chinese ethnic community more than the Malays, more among the less educated, the older age category (more than 33 years old) and males’ were slightly more satisfied than females. Patients who visited HCs more than three times were more satisfied than one time visitors. Occupation, marital status and HCs urban-rural locality were not significantly associated with customers’ satisfaction level. All dimensions showed high satisfaction level especially on treatment outcome, except on health care workers (HCWs) caring and professionalism domains. Working as a team was slightly higher in the urban areas compared to rural area. Overall, the SERVQUAL score of all dimensions were higher among the urban respondents albeit not significant. Clients’ perceptions were generally higher than expectations reflecting the high satisfactions among clients at 86.1%. Much improvement needs to be put into training HCWs to be more caring and adapting a professional attitude towards clients. Clients’ satisfactions in the urban and rural HCs were almost equal and did not reflect a decrease of health services priority in the rural areas.
Radiation retinopathy (RR) is a known complication after radiotherapy for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC). This study aims to relate the relationship of RR and radiation dose in patients with NPC through assessment with clinical
funduscopy and fundus fluorescein angiogram (FFA). A cross sectional study was conducted on patients with NPC who had completed radiotherapy treatment in the Oncology Clinic, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC). Eighty two eyes of 42 patients were examined and the prevalence of RR was found to be 35.4%. The severity of RR is strongly associated with the dose of radiation to the retina (Spearman correlation value=0.48; p<0.001). The common features of RR assessed by FFA were telangiectatic vessels (26.2%) and capillary non-perfusion (14.3%). Retinal neovasularization occurred in 10.7% of eyes. The level of visual deterioration correlated with the severity of RR with 26% of eyes experiencing a visual acuity of 6/18 or worse. More than one third of patients developed RR, with radiation maculopathy being the commonest cause for significant visual loss. FFA is a useful tool in detecting early signs of radiation retinopathy and maculopathy.
Keywords: nasopharyngeal carcinoma, fluorescein fundus angiography, retinopathy, radiotherapy
Study site: Oncology Clinic, Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Pregnant women are at higher risk of transmitting the infections to their foetus. This prompted the “Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) Program” in Malaysia since 1998. The objective of this cross sectional study was to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of pregnant mothers in the west of Sabah towards HIV/AIDS and its influencing factors. Data were obtained through self administered questionnaires. Results showed that only 32.2% of the
respondents have good knowledge compared to 67.8% who had poor knowledge (p
Background: The resultant dysphonia and aspiration in unilateral vocal cord palsy can be overcome with
medialisation thyroplasty. With this background, we aim to determine the aetiology of the unilateral vocal
cord palsy and effectiveness of the phonosurgical procedure with Gore-Tex as a sole treatment. Methods:
Within a seven year period, 37 Gore-Tex medialisation thyroplasty were performed for unilateral vocal cord
palsy at our institution and medical records were retrospectively reviewed. Results: There were 18
males and 19 females with mean age of 48.7 years (range 19–81 years). The predominant aetiology was
thyroidectomy (43.2%) with benign thyroid disease predominates (n=13) over thyroid malignancy (n=3). Voice
outcome was evaluated subjectively using visual analogue scoring system, results indicating that Gore-Tex
medialisation thyroplasty was effective in addressing dysphonia in 62.5% (n=15) patients. However it alone
cannot address aspiration seen in those with high vagal nerve lesion. Airway compromise occurred in two
cases postoperatively (5.4%) presenting as acute stridor. Conclusion: In unilateral vocal cord palsy, Gore-Tex
medialisation thyroplasty can effectively improve the resultant dysphonia and often accompanying aspiration
which would otherwise be disabling for the patients.
A cross sectional study was done to determine the prevalence and distribution of human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes in pre-invasive (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, grade 3 or CIN 3) and invasive cervical cancer (ICC), in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC). A total of 80 paraffin-embedded tumour tissue blocks (20 CIN 3, 60 invasive cancers) between 1999 to 2007 were retrieved from the archives of the Department of Pathology. Patient’s medical records were obtained from the Medical Records Office. Among invasive cancers (n=60), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) account for 75% and adenocarcinoma 25%. The mean age of cases studied was 52.0 ± 12.2 years and Chinese was the predominant ethnicity (66.3%). Twelve HPV genotypes were identified, namely, HPV 16, 33, 18, 39,52, 45, 58, 59, 31, 35, 6 and 11. The prevalence of HPV was 92.5% with types 16 being the most common (73.8%), followed by types 33 (30%) and 18 (22.5%). A total of 31 cases (38.8%) showed single HPV genotype, while 43 (53.8%) had multiple HPV (two genotypes or more) genotypes. In ICC, HPV 16, followed by types 33, 18, 52 and 39 were the top five common HPV genotypes detected. High prevalence of HPV and multiple HPV infections were major findings among patients with pre-invasive and invasive cervical cancer.
The quality of the health care services has been always a big responsibility and sensitive issue. Health care delivery is complex and critical for many reasons related to management and organizational planning and development. Health system reorganization is one of the approaches that health care managers adopt to overcome dysfunction. Clinical Microsystems (CM) is believed to be a one of vital steps in providing a high quality of patient care through system reorganization. CM has the potential to drive the health care to greater success through proper understanding, process and resource planning and health outcomes continuous assessment and improvements. CM integrate patients, providers and family needs and roles to form a vision of community system that cooperate for better outcomes .The components of an effective CM are produce quality, patient safety, and cost outcomes at the front line of care. This article aims to explore the concept, characteristics models and components of these Clinical Microsystems. It also highlights the steps to initiate, plan and sustain this innovation in hospitals in a systematic manner.
Hypertension is one of the commonest health problems in Malaysia and its cases are on a rise. In conjunction with the above statement, it is predictable that the cost of healthcare services will further increase in the future. Therefore, cost study is necessary to estimate the health related economic burden of hypertension in Malaysia. A cross sectional study was carried out to quantify the direct treatment cost of hypertension. Three hundred and ninety one hypertensive patients’ data from Bandar Tasik Selatan Primary Medical Centre in year 2010 were collected and analysed. The direct treatment costs were calculated. The result showed that out of 391 hypertensive patients, 12.5% was diagnosed hypertensive without any co-morbidity, 25.3% with 1 co-morbidity dyslipidemia only; 4.3% with diabetes mellitus type 2 only; 0.5% with chronic kidney disease only and none with ischaemic heart disease. Patients with 2 co-morbidities (dyslipidemia and diabetes mellitus type 2) were 42.2%; with 3 co-morbidities (diabetes mellitus type 2, dyslipidemia and chronic kidney disease) was 4.3%. The mean cost of direct treatment of hypertension per visit/ year was RM289.42 ±196.71 with the breakdown costs for each component were medicines 72.2%, salary 14.6%, laboratory tests 5.0%, administration 4.4% and radiology tests 3.8%. Dyslipidemia is by far the commonest co-morbidity among hypertensive patients. Direct costs of treating hypertension are mostly dependent on present of co-morbidity and numbers of drugs used. Thus, the annual budget could be calculated precisely in the future especially for drugs.