METHODS: We estimated the Population Attributable Fraction (PAF) of the modifiable risk factors to cancers incidences in Malaysia. The two parameters used for the estimation were exposure prevalence from national representative surveys and the relative risk of getting the cancers from worldwide literature review.
RESULTS: Among 38,426 cancer incidences in 2018 from Globocan data, we estimated that 22.2% (95% confidence interval (CI):14.9 to 29.6%) of the cancer incidences included in this study were attributable to the investigated modifiable risk factors. 39.1% (95% CI:27.2 to 49.7%) and 10.5% (95% CI:5.8 to 15.7%) of cancers in male and female respectively, were attributable to the studied modifiable risk factors. The top main cancers attributed by the risk factors were lung cancer (65.1%; 95% CI:56.4 to 72.9%), laryngeal cancer (63.6%; 95% CI:39.9 to 80.5%), and oesophageal cancer (51.5%; 95% CI:39.9 to 62.0%). For each risk factor studied across genders, tobacco smoking contributed the most (14.3%; 95% CI:9.9 to 17.3%), followed by excess weight (7.0%; 95% CI:4.1 to 10.2%), physical inactivity (1.0%; 95% CI:0.4 to 1.7%) and alcohol intake (0.6%; 95% CI:0.2 to 1.0%).
CONCLUSION: Findings from this study suggests that tobacco smoking and excess weight are the two predominant factors out of the four studied risk factors for cancer cases in Malaysia. Nationwide public health prevention campaigns tailored to these risk factors are recommended. However, the other risk factors such as physical inactivity and alcohol intake shall not be neglected. PAFs are estimated based on the best available data that we have currently. Regular collection of other risk factor exposure prevalence data is vital for future analyses.
METHODS: A cross-sectional anonymous web-based survey was disseminated to Malaysian adults aged ≥18 years old via social media platforms between July 10, 2020 and August 31, 2020.
RESULTS: In the analysis of 4,164 complete responses, 93.2% of participants indicated that they would accept the COVID-19 vaccine if it was offered for free by the Malaysian government. The median out-of-pocket cost that participants were willing to pay for a COVID-19 vaccine was Malaysian ringgit (MYR) 100 (interquartile range [IQR], 100) if it was readily available and MYR 150 (IQR, 200) if the supply was limited. Respondents with a low likelihood of vaccine hesitancy had 13 times higher odds of accepting the COVID-19 vaccine (95% confidence interval [CI], 8.69 to 19.13). High perceived risk and severity were also associated with willingness to be vaccinated, with adjusted odds ratios of 2.22 (95% CI, 1.44 to 3.41) and 2.76 (95% CI, 1.87 to 4.09), respectively. Age and ethnicity were the only independent demographic characteristics that predicted vaccine uptake.
CONCLUSION: Public health strategies targeting perceived risk, perceived susceptibility and vaccine hesitancy could be effective in enhancing vaccine uptake.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study using an available secondary data source - the Malaysian national dengue passive surveillance system, e-Dengue registry. A total of 61 455 serologically confirmed dengue cases from the Klang Valley, registered in year 2014, were included. We retrospectively examined the relationship between demographic factors and the choice of health-care sector by logistic regression.
Results: The median age of the cohort was 26 (interquartile range: 17 to 37) years. More private facilities (54.4%) were used for inpatient care; more public facilities (68.2%) were used for outpatient care. The Chinese and urban populations showed significantly higher use of the private health-care sector with an adjusted odds ratio of 4.8 [95% confidence interval (CI): 4.6-5.1] and 2.3 (95% CI: 2.2-2.4), respectively.
Conclusion: Both public and private health facilities bear significant responsibilities in delivering health-care services to dengue patients. The workload of both sectors should be included in future health policy planning by public agencies.
METHODS: This is a population-based secondary data analysis using the national mortality registry from 2004 to 2014. Past trend estimation was conducted using Murtagh's minimum and maximum methods and Gómez-Batiste's method. The estimated palliative care needs were stratified by age groups, gender and administrative states in Malaysia. With this, the projection of palliative care needs up to 2030 was conducted under the assumption that annual change remains constant.
RESULTS: The palliative care needs in Malaysia followed an apparent upward trend over the years regardless of the estimation methods. Murtagh's minimum estimation method showed that palliative care needs grew 40% from 71 675 cases in 2004 to 100 034 cases in 2014. The proportion of palliative care needs in relation to deaths hovered at 71% in the observed years. In 2030, Malaysia should anticipate the population needs to be at least 239 713 cases (240% growth from 2014), with the highest needs among age group ≥80-year-old in both genders. Sarawak, Perak, Johor, Selangor and Kedah will become the top five Malaysian states with the highest number of needs in 2030.
CONCLUSION: The need for palliative care in Malaysia will continue to rise and surpass its service provision. This trend demands a stepped-up provision from the national health system with advanced integration of palliative care services to narrow the gap between needs and supply.
METHODS: This validation study involves retrospective review of available hospital discharge records and hand-search medical records for years 2010 and 2013. We randomly selected 3219 hospital discharge records coded with dengue and non-dengue infections as their discharge diagnoses from the national hospital discharge database. We then randomly sampled 216 and 144 records for patients with and without codes for dengue respectively, in keeping with their relative frequency in the MOH database, for chart review. The ICD codes for dengue were validated against lab-based diagnostic standard (NS1 or IgM).
RESULTS: The ICD-10-CM codes for dengue had a sensitivity of 94%, modest specificity of 83%, positive predictive value of 87% and negative predictive value 92%. These results were stable between 2010 and 2013. However, its specificity decreased substantially when patients manifested with bleeding or low platelet count.
CONCLUSION: The diagnostic performance of the ICD codes for dengue in the MOH's hospital discharge database is adequate for use in health services research on dengue.
METHODS: A cross-sectional anonymous web-based survey was conducted between 10th September 2020 and 30th November 2020. The survey was open to Malaysian aged 18 years and older via various social media platforms. The questionnaire consists of sociodemographic, experience of utilising healthcare facilities, and views on clinic appointment structure.
RESULTS: A total of 1,144 complete responses were received. The mean age was 41.4 ± 12.4 years and more than half of the respondents had a preference for public healthcare. Among them, 77.1% reported to have a clinical appointment scheduled in the past. Less than a quarter experienced off-office hour appointments, mostly given by private healthcare. 70.2% answered they would arrive earlier if they were given a specific appointment slot at a public healthcare facility, as parking availability was the utmost concern. Majority hold positive views for after office hour clinical appointments, with 68.9% and 63.2% agreed for weekend and weekday evening appointment, respectively. The top reason of agreement was working commitment during office hours, while family commitment and personal resting time were the main reasons for disagreeing with off-office hour appointments.
CONCLUSION: We found that majority of our respondents chose to come early instead of arriving on time which disrupts the staggered appointment system and causes over crowdedness. Our findings also show that the majority of our respondents accept off-office hour appointments. This positive response suggests that off-office hour appointments may have a high uptake amongst the public and thus be a possible solution to distribute the patient load. Therefore, this information may help policy makers to initiate future plans to resolve congestions within public health care facilities which in turn eases physical distancing during the pandemic.
METHODS: This was an observational study reviewing all confirmed ZIKV cases detected in Malaysia through the ZIKV clinical surveillance and Flavivirus laboratory surveillance between June 2015 and December 2017. All basic demographic characteristics, co-morbidities, clinical, laboratory and outcome data of the confirmed ZIKV cases were collected from the source documents.
RESULTS: Only eight out of 4043 cases tested positive for ZIKV infection during that period. The median age of infected patients was 48.6 years and majority was Chinese. Two of the subjects were pregnant. The median interval between the onset of disease and the first detection of ZIKV Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) in body fluid was 3 days. Six cases had ZIKV RNA detected in both serum and urine samples. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that isolates from the 7 cases of ZIKV infection came from two clusters, both of which were local circulating strains.
CONCLUSION: Despite similar ecological background characteristics, Malaysia was not as affected by the recent ZIKV outbreak compared to Brazil and Singapore. This could be related to pre-existing immunity against ZIKV in this population, which developed after the first introduction of the ZIKV in Malaysia decades ago. A serosurvey to determine the seroprevalence of ZIKV in Malaysia was carried out in 2017. The differences in circulating ZIKV strains could be another reason as to why Malaysia seemed to be protected from an outbreak.
METHODS: One million T2D people aged 40-79 registered in the National Diabetes Registry (2009-2018) were linked to death records (censored on 31 December 2019). Standardized absolute mortality rates and standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were estimated relative to the Malaysian general population, and standardized to the 2019 registry population with respect to sex, age group, and disease duration.
RESULTS: Overall all-cause standardized mortality rates were unchanged in both sexes. Rates increased in males aged 40-49 (annual average percent change [AAPC]: 2.46 % [95 % CI 0.42 %, 4.55 %]) and 50-59 (AAPC: 1.91 % [95 % CI 0.73 %, 3.10 %]), and females aged 40-49 (AAPC: 3.39 % [95 % CI 1.32 %, 5.50 %]). In both sexes, rates increased among those with 1) > 15 years disease duration, 2) prior cardiovascular disease, and 3) Bumiputera (Malay/native) ethnicity. The overall SMR was 1.83 (95 % CI 1.80, 1.86) for males and 1.85 (95 % CI 1.82, 1.89) for females, being higher in younger age groups and showed an increasing trend in those with either > 15 years disease duration or prior cardiovascular disease.
CONCLUSIONS: Mortality trends worsened in certain T2D population in Malaysia.
Methods: We prospectively recruited 400 HCW from the National Public Health Laboratory and two COVID-19 designated public hospitals in Klang Valley, Malaysia between 13/4/2020 and 12/5/2020. Quota sampling was used to ensure representativeness of HCW involved in direct and indirect patient care. All participants answered a self-administered questionnaire and blood samples were taken to test for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies by surrogate virus neutralization test.
Findings: The study population comprised 154 (38.5%) nurses, 103 (25.8%) medical doctors, 47 (11.8%) laboratory technologists and others (23.9%). A majority (68.9%) reported exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in the past month within their respective workplaces. Adherence to personal protection equipment (PPE) guidelines and hand hygiene were good, ranging from 91-100% compliance. None (95% CI: 0, 0.0095) of the participants had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies detected, despite 182 (45.5%) reporting some symptoms one month prior to study recruitment. One hundred and fifteen (29%) of participants claimed to have had contact with known COVID-19 persons outside of their workplace.
Interpretation: Zero seroprevalence among HCW suggests a low incidence of undiagnosed COVID-19 infection in our healthcare setting during the first local wave of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The occupational risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission within healthcare facilities can be prevented by adherence to infection control measures and appropriate use of PPE.
METHODS: We undertook analysis on 11,821 subjects from six seroprevalence surveys conducted in Malaysia between 2001 and 2013, which composed of five urban and two rural series.
RESULTS: Prevalence of dengue increased with age in both urban and rural locations in Malaysia, which exceeded 90 % among those aged 70 years or beyond. The age-specific rates of the 5 urban surveys overlapped without clear separation among them, while prevalence was lower in younger subjects in rural series than in urban series, the trend reversed in older subjects. There were no differences in the seroprevalence by gender, ethnicity or region. Poisson regression model confirmed the prevalence have not changed in urban areas since 2001 but in rural areas, there was a significant positive time trend such that by year 2008, rural prevalence was as high as in urban areas.
CONCLUSION: Dengue seroprevalence has stabilized but persisted at a high level in urban areas since 2001, and is fast stabilizing in rural areas at the same high urban levels by 2008. The cumulative seroprevalence of dengue exceeds 90 % by the age of 70 years, which translates into 16.5 million people or 55 % of the total population in Malaysia, being infected by dengue by 2013.
METHODS: This study is based entirely on the available secondary data sources on dengue in Malaysia. The age-specific incidence of dengue between 2001 and 2013 was estimated using the prevalence and mortality estimates in an incidence-prevalence-mortality (IPM) model. Data on dengue prevalence were extracted from six sero-surveys conducted in Malaysia between 2001 and 2013; while statistics on dengue notification and Case Fatality Rate were derived from National Dengue Surveillance System. Dengue hospitalization data for the years 2009 to 2013 were extracted from the Health Informatics Centre and the volumes of dengue hospitalization for hospitals with missing data were estimated with Poisson models.
RESULTS: The dengue incidence in Malaysia varied from 69.9 to 93.4 per 1000 population (pkp) between 2001 and 2013.The temporal trend in incidence rate was decreasing since 2001. It has been reducing at an average rate of 2.57 pkp per year from 2001 to 2013 (p = 0.011). The age-specific incidence of dengue decreased steadily with dengue incidence reaching zero by age > 70 years. Dengue notification rate has remained stable since 2001 and the number of notified cases each year was only a small fraction of the incident cases (0.7 to 2.3%). Similarly, the dengue hospitalization was larger but still a small fraction of the incident cases (3.0 to 5.6%).
CONCLUSION: Dengue incidence can be estimated with the use of sero-prevalence surveys and mortality data. This study highlights a reducing trend of dengue incidence in Malaysia and demonstrates the discrepancy between true dengue disease burden and cases reported by national surveillance system. Sero-prevalence studies with representative samples should be conducted regularly to allow better estimation of dengue burden in Malaysia.