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Fulltext The Prevalence and Risk Factors of Hypertension among the Urban Population in Southeast Asian Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Mohammed Nawi A, Mohammad Z, Jetly K, Abd Razak MA, Ramli NS, Wan Ibadullah WAH, et al.

Int J Hypertens, 2021;2021:6657003.
PMID: 33628485 DOI: 10.1155/2021/6657003

The trend of global prevalence for hypertension has been dramatically increasing for the past two decades in Southeast Asian countries. A systematic review aiming to assess the prevalence of hypertension and its risk factors among the urban population in Southeast Asian countries was conducted. We performed database searches of PubMed and Web of Science and performed meta-analysis to determine the pooled prevalence estimate. The overall pooled prevalence estimate of hypertension for Southeast Asian urban population was 33.82%. Among this, 33.98% of hypertension was reported in the community and 32.45% among adolescents in school. The common risk factors that we found were male, ethnicity, education and socioeconomic level, body mass index, waist circumference, smoking, and dyslipidaemia. The review indicates an urgent need for primary and secondary prevention activities. Therefore, a multisectoral and intersectoral approach and collaboration should be undertaken to improve the overall health outcomes of all populations in all Southeast Asian countries.
Fulltext Factors Associated with Happiness among Malaysian Elderly

Shah SA, Safian N, Ahmad S, Wan Ibadullah WAH, Mohammad ZB, Nurumal SR, et al.

Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2021 04 06;18(7).
PMID: 33917528 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18073831

Happiness is an essential component to experience healthy ageing. Hence, understanding the factors that contribute to happiness is important. This study aimed to determine the factors associated with happiness among the elderly population in Malaysia. In this study, 1204 respondents were recruited from urban and rural areas in Selangor. A face-to-face interview was conducted using the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study questionnaire. The inclusion criteria include Malaysians who are 60-years old and above and can converse in the Malaysian language. Those who encounter less than seven scores for the Abbreviated Mental Test were excluded from the study. Among the 1204 respondents, 953 (79.2%) were happy. Sociodemographic characteristics showed that being a men, age of 60 to 74 years, and living in urban areas were significantly associated with happiness. A logistic regression model showed that locality (aOR 1.61), income category (Bottom 40% aOR 0.49; Middle-class group 40% aOR 1.40), social engagement (active aOR 1.77; less active aOR 1.25), receiving emotional support (aOR 2.11) and handgrip strength (aOR 1.02) were significantly associated with happiness. Thus, ensuring the elderly population in receiving emotional support and active social engagement among them can enhance their happiness level.
Fulltext Unmet Healthcare Needs Among Elderly Malaysians

Shah SA, Safian N, Ahmad S, Nurumal SR, Mohammad Z, Mansor J, et al.

J Multidiscip Healthc, 2021;14:2931-2940.
PMID: 34703245 DOI: 10.2147/JMDH.S326209

Purpose: Older people often have chronic diseases which require a continuity of care over the long term. Countries undergoing population aging need to ensure that older people are receiving the care they need. This study assesses the prevalence of, reasons for, and factors associated with unmet healthcare needs among older people individuals in Malaysia.
Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study used data collected during 2018-2020 from 1204 older adults aged 60 and older selected from Selangor state, Malaysia. A comprehensive face-to-face interview based on the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES-BM) questionnaire was administered to gain information on unmet healthcare needs, socioeconomic factors, health-related factors, and measures of function (activities of daily living, depression, visual impairment, hearing impairment, memory impairment, and walking impairment). Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze factors associated with their unmet healthcare needs.
Results: Overall, the percentage of older people respondents with unmet healthcare needs is 6.6%. The most reported reasons for forgoing or delaying healthcare were lack of knowledge about healthcare and financial barriers to care. The inability to travel alone (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.51), being overweight (aOR 1.88), and having self-reported depression (aOR 2.23) were each associated with a higher likelihood of having unmet healthcare needs in their daily life.
Conclusion: The prevalence of unmet healthcare needs among older people in this part of Malaysia is lower than that reported in some other countries. However, it is possible to further reduce unmet healthcare needs by improving people's knowledge and attitudes about appropriate healthcare utilization, strengthening financial protection measures and providing support to people at high risk of having unmet healthcare needs.
Fulltext Seroprevalence of diphtheria toxoid IgG antibodies in the Malaysian population

Yusoff AF, Mohd Sharani ZZ, Kee CC, Md Iderus NH, Md Zamri ASS, Nagalingam T, et al.

BMC Infect Dis, 2021 Jun 16;21(1):581.
PMID: 34134646 DOI: 10.1186/s12879-021-06285-3

BACKGROUND: Despite high childhood immunization coverage, sporadic cases of diphtheria have been reported in Malaysia in recent years. This study aims to evaluate the seroprevalence of diphtheria among the Malaysian population.
METHODS: A total of 3317 respondents age 2 years old to 60 years old were recruited in this study from August to November 2017. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure the level of IgG antibody against the toxoid of C. diphtheriae in the blood samples of respondents. We classified respondent antibody levels based on WHO definition, as protective (≥0.1 IU/mL) and susceptible (