METHODS: An analytic cross-sectional study using cluster random sampling method was carried out in Hulu Langat District, Malaysia. Self-administered pretested questionnaires were used to collect the data. Hair and scalp examination was also carried out. Multivariate logistic regression was used to control for potential confounding and determine the predictors.
RESULTS: The overall mean age of the 1,336 respondents was 9.3 years. Majority were males (52.8%), Malays (79.5%) and 81.3% of the fathers had secondary or tertiary education as compared to 77.3% for the mothers. The overall prevalence of pediculosis capitis was 15.3%. The prevalence of pediculosis was significantly higher among females (28.4%) than males (3.7%, p=0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age 10 years or more (Odds Ratio (OR) = 2.34, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 1.673 to 3.272), female gender (OR = 10.26, 95% CI = 6.620 to 15.903), history of contact with an infested person (OR = 2.11, 95% CI = 1.506 to 2.960), Indian compared to Chinese (OR = 3.55, 95% CI = 1.282 to 9.860), Malay to Chinese (OR = 2.59, 95% CI = .994 to 6.774) were associated with pediculosis capitis.
CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of pediculosis capitis among children aged 7 - 12 years in Hulu Langat District was high. There is a need for screening and treatment of pediculosis capitis in primary schools.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Klinik Kesihatan Seremban in Seremban district, Negeri Sembilan. Data were collected using the Malay version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI-M) with a cut-off point of >5 as poor sleep quality. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) was used to measure level of psychological distress. Data were collected between July 2022 until January 2023.
RESULTS: A total of 319 patients with T2DM participated. Their mean age was 63 (11) years, 58% were women and 42.9% were of Indian ethnicity. The mean total score of PSQI was 4.04 (2.21) and 23% of the participants had poor sleep quality. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that poor sleep quality was significantly associated with Indian ethnicity (Adj. OR = 2.25; 95%CI: 1.05, 4.82; p = 0.037), separated or widowed (Adj. OR = 2.16; 95%CI = 1.15, 4.05; p = 0.016), having nocturia (Adj. OR = 2.13; 95%CI = 1.18, 3.84; p = 0.012) and depressive symptoms (Adj. OR = 3.41; 95%CI: 1.01, 11.48; p = 0.048).
CONCLUSION: Poor sleep quality was prevalent in almost a quarter of T2DM patients studied. Indian ethnicity, separated or widowed, having nocturia, and depressive symptoms were independently associated with poor sleep quality. Despite lower prevalence of poor sleep quality compared to other studies, identification of those at higher risk warrants further exploration in lifestyle management of patients with T2DM.
METHODS: An exploratory qualitative study was conducted on patients who had been visited during the 2012/2013 academic session. Purposive sampling was done to select adult participants from varying ethnicities and ages from the list of patients. In-depth interviews were conducted at the participants' homes and were audio recorded. The transcripts of these interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis.
RESULTS: A total of nine in-depth interviews were conducted. Four main themes were identified from thematic analysis: 1) Perceived meaning of the visit; 2) Perceived benefits and risks; 3) Past healthcare experiences; 4) Availability for visits. The home visits meant different things to different participants, including a teaching-learning encounter, a social visit, a charitable deed or a healthcare check-up. The benefits and risks of accepting unknown students to their homes and sharing their health issues with them had been weighed prior to participation. Prior experience with healthcare services such as gratitude to healthcare providers or having a relative in the healthcare profession increased their receptivity for involvement. Lastly, enabling factors such as availability of time would determine their acceptance for home visits.
DISCUSSION: Patients agree to participate in medical education activities on a voluntary basis for various reasons. Providing good healthcare service and sufficient preparation are crucial to increase patient receptivity for such activities.
METHODOLOGY: We conducted a cross-sectional study using a validated self-administered questionnaire among tuberculosis patients attending primary care clinics in Johor Bahru district. A total of 208 tuberculosis patients were enrolled in this study through convenience sampling. We assessed the general knowledge, transmission, causes, and prevention of tuberculosis, where higher scores indicated better knowledge. For the perception of treatment, a higher mean score indicated a more negative perception.
RESULTS: The mean score for knowledge on tuberculosis was 54.33 ± 12.78, ranging from 25 to 88.9%. The mean score for perception was 2.75±0.52, ranging from 2.15-3.39. We found that although 88.9% of respondents knew a person could be infected with TB through inhalation of tuberculosis bacilli, a majority believed that smoking (68.2%), sharing food (69.2%), and eating from the same plate (66.8%) are causes of tuberculosis. Moreover, there was still a negative perception regarding the treatment of tuberculosis with the highest mean score for the statement 'I am afraid if I am told I am tuberculosis positive'.
CONCLUSIONS: We found that there were gaps in knowledge among tuberculosis patients. Intermittent counseling during the treatment re-enforces the knowledge of tuberculosis. An updated standardized counseling sheet of tuberculosis Health Education should be included along with staff training to update their knowledge as part of their important role in health education in tuberculosis prevention.
METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Arksey and O'Malley's scoping review methodology framework will guide the conduct of this scoping review. The search strategy will involve electronic databases including PubMed, Excerpta Medica Database, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar and ScienceDirect, in addition to grey literature sources and hand-searching of reference lists. Two reviewers will independently screen all abstracts and full-text studies for inclusion. Data will be charted and sorted through an iterative process by the research team. The extracted data will undergo a descriptive analysis and simple quantitative analysis will be conducted using descriptive statistics. Engagement with relevant stakeholders will be carried out to gain more insights into our data from different perspectives.
ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Since the data used are from publicly available sources, this study does not require ethical approval. Results will be disseminated through academic journals, conferences and seminars. We anticipate that our findings will aid technology developers and health professionals working in the area of ageing and rehabilitation.
DESIGN: A population-based cross-sectional study.
SETTING: 13 states and 3 Federal Territories in Malaysia.
PARTICIPANTS: A total of 3966 adults aged 60 years and above were extracted from the nationwide National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2018 data set.
PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Multimorbidity was defined as co-occurrence of at least two known chronic non-communicable diseases in the same individual. The chronic diseases included hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidaemia and cancer.
RESULTS: The prevalence of multimorbidity among Malaysian older adults was 40.6% (95% CI: 37.9 to 43.3). The factors associated with multimorbidity were those aged 70-79 years (adjusted OR (AOR)=1.30; 95% CI=1.04 to 1.63; p=0.019), of Indian (AOR=1.69; 95% CI=1.14 to 2.52; p=0.010) and Bumiputera Sarawak ethnicities (AOR=1.81; 95% CI=1.14 to 2.89; p=0.013), unemployed (AOR=1.53; 95% CI=1.20 to 1.95; p=0.001), with functional limitation from activities of daily livings (AOR=1.66; 95% CI=1.17 to 2.37; p=0.005), physically inactive (AOR=1.28; 95% CI=1.03 to 1.60; p=0.026), being overweight (AOR=1.62; 95% CI=1.11 to 2.36; p=0.014), obese (AOR=1.88; 95% CI=1.27 to 2.77; p=0.002) and with abdominal obesity (AOR=1.52; 95% CI=1.11 to 2.07; p=0.009).
CONCLUSION: This study highlighted that multimorbidity was prevalent among older adults in the community. Thus, there is a need for future studies to evaluate preventive strategies to prevent or delay multimorbidity among older adults in order to promote healthy and productive ageing.
METHODS: Data were obtained from the National Health and Morbidity (NHMS) 2018 survey on the health of older Malaysian adults and analyzed. This cross-sectional population-based study used a two-stage stratified random sampling design. Sociodemographic characteristics, smoking status, and social support data were collected from respondents aged 60 years and more. A validated Malay language interviewer-administered questionnaire of 11-items, the Duke Social Support Index, was utilized to assess the social support status. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association of social support and smoking status among the respondents.
RESULTS: The prevalence of good social support was significantly higher among the 60-69 years old (73.1%) compared to the ≥80 years old respondents (50%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that respondents aged ≥80 years old were 1.7 times more likely to have poor social support compared to those aged 60-69 years. Respondents with no formal education were 1.93 times more likely to have poor social support compared to respondents who had tertiary education. Respondents with an income of MYR 3000. Former smokers had good social support compared to current smokers (73.6% vs. 78.7%). For current smokers, they had poor social support, which is almost 1.42 times higher than that for non-smokers.
CONCLUSION: There was poor social support among older people who were current smokers, had an increased age, had no formal education and had a low income. The findings obtained from this study could assist policymakers to develop relevant strategies at the national level to enhance the social support status among older smokers and aid in their smoking cessation efforts.