Displaying all 11 publications

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  1. Wahab S, Shah NE, Sivachandran S, Shahruddin I, Ismail NNS, Mohan LD, et al.
    Acad Psychiatry, 2021 Dec;45(6):672-680.
    PMID: 34342844 DOI: 10.1007/s40596-021-01513-z
    OBJECTIVE: The attitude of medical personnel towards suicide may influence the outcome of suicidal-patients management. This study aimed to determine the attitudes of medical undergraduates towards suicide and its association with their help-seeking behavior.

    METHODS: A cross-sectional study involving 290 medical undergraduates was conducted in a Malaysian university. The questionnaires on the attitude towards suicide and general help-seeking behavior were used as research instruments.

    RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 22.4 years. Participants who did psychiatry posting indicated a greater tendency to agree on suicide as a way of communication (p = 0.008) than those who did not. Participants previously diagnosed with a psychiatric illness indicated a greater ability to understand and accept suicide (p < 0.001) as well as a greater tendency to agree on the normality of suicide (p = 0.019) than those without a previous diagnosis. Those who attended a suicide prevention program also indicated a greater tendency to agree that loneliness and avoidance could be triggers to suicide (p = 0.037) than those who did not. No correlation was found between the "attitude towards suicide" and "general help-seeking behavior" variable.

    CONCLUSION: Education programs in suicide prevention and management need to be incorporated early into the undergraduate medical curriculum to cultivate a more positive attitude towards suicide and help-seeking behavior.

    Matched MeSH terms: Help-Seeking Behavior*
  2. Waller BY, Joyce PA, Quinn CR, Hassan Shaari AA, Boyd DT
    J Interpers Violence, 2023 Jan;38(1-2):NP288-NP310.
    PMID: 35350920 DOI: 10.1177/08862605221084340
    African American women survivors of intimate partner violence disproportionately experience homicide due, in part, to the racism and racial discrimination they experience during their help-seeking process. Yet, existing scholarship neglects to examine how this multiply-marginalized population of women navigate sociocultural barriers to obtain crisis services and supports from the domestic violence service provision system. Fundamental to developing culturally-salient interventions is more fully understanding their help-seeking behavior. We conducted 30 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with women who self-identified as African American. Constructivist grounded theory methodology was employed. Sensitizing concepts from the Transtheoretical Model of Change and Intersectionality theories, along with Agency framework were conceptually bound. The Theory of Help-Seeking Behavior emerged from the data. This nascent theory provides practitioners and researchers with a theoretical model to examine African American women's nuanced help-seeking efforts.
    Matched MeSH terms: Help-Seeking Behavior*
  3. Razak AA
    Malays J Med Sci, 2017 Mar;24(2):1-5.
    PMID: 28894398 DOI: 10.21315/mjms2017.24.2.1
    The concept of the cultural construction of illness is important in terms of understanding people's behaviour. In this article, this idea is applied to psychiatric illness in Malaysia to explore how it is informed by sociocultural elements, a process that will help us understand the psychiatric expression and help-seeking behaviour of the country's population.
    Matched MeSH terms: Help-Seeking Behavior
  4. Rajaram N, Jaganathan M, Muniandy K, Rajoo Y, Zainal H, Rahim N, et al.
    BMC Health Serv Res, 2023 Mar 01;23(1):206.
    PMID: 36859265 DOI: 10.1186/s12913-023-09046-x
    BACKGROUND: Improving help-seeking behaviour is a key component of down-staging breast cancer and improving survival, but the specific challenges faced by low-income women in an Asian setting remain poorly characterized. Here, we determined the extent of help-seeking delay among Malaysian breast cancer patients who presented at late stages and explored sub-groups of women who may face specific barriers.

    METHODS: Time to help-seeking was assessed in 303 women diagnosed with advanced breast cancer between January 2015 and March 2020 at a suburban tertiary hospital in Malaysia. Two-step cluster analysis was conducted to identify subgroups of women who share similar characteristics and barriers. Barriers to help-seeking were identified from nurse interviews and were analyzed using behavioural frameworks.

    RESULTS: The average time to help-seeking was 65 days (IQR = 250 days), and up to 44.5% of women delayed by at least 3 months. Three equal-sized clusters emerged with good separation by time to help-seeking (p help-seeking behaviour (p = 0.931). Unexpectedly, women with no delay (9 days average) and great delay (259 days average) were more similar to each other than to women with mild delays (58 days average), but, women who experienced great delay reported poor motivation due to fear and embarrassment (p = 0.066) and a lack of social support (p = 0.374) to seek help.

    CONCLUSIONS: Down-staging of breast cancer in Malaysia will require a multi-pronged approach aimed at modifying culturally specific social and emotional barriers, eliminating misinformation, and instilling motivation to seek help for breast health for the women most vulnerable to help-seeking delays.

    Matched MeSH terms: Help-Seeking Behavior*
  5. Roslani AC, Ramakrishnan R, Azmi S
    Med J Malaysia, 2017 12;72(6):333-337.
    PMID: 29308769 MyJurnal
    BACKGROUND: Faecal incontinence (FI) is not a common presenting complaint in Malaysia, and little has been published on this topic. Since it is a treatable condition, a greater understanding of factors contributing to healthseeking behaviour is needed in order to plan effective provision of services.

    METHODS: A survey of 1000 patients and accompanying relatives, visiting general surgical and obstetrics and gynaecology clinics for matters unrelated to FI, was conducted at University Malaya Medical Centre between January 2009 and February 2010. A follow-up regression analysis of the 83 patients who had FI, to identify factors associated with health-seeking behaviour, was performed. Variables identified through univariate analysis were subjected to multivariate analysis to determine independence. Reasons for not seeking treatment were also analysed.

    RESULTS: Only eight patients (9.6%) had sought medical treatment. On univariate analysis, the likelihood of seeking treatment was significantly higher among patients who had more severe symptoms (OR 30.0, p=0.002), had incontinence to liquid stool (OR 3.83, p=0.002) or when there was an alteration to lifestyle (OR: 17.34; p<0.001). Nevertheless, the only independently-associated variable was alteration in lifestyle. Common reasons given for not seeking treatment was that the condition did not affect patients' daily activities (88.0%), "social taboo" (5.3%) and "other" reasons (6.7%).

    CONCLUSIONS: Lifestyle alteration is the main driver of healthseeking behaviour in FI. However, the majority do not seek treatment. Greater public and physician-awareness on FI and available treatment options is needed.

    Matched MeSH terms: Help-Seeking Behavior*
  6. Mohamad Ishak NN, Jamani NA, Mohd Arifin SR, Abdul Hadi A, Abd Aziz KH
    Malays Fam Physician, 2021 Mar 25;16(1):84-92.
    PMID: 33948146 DOI: 10.51866/oa1098
    Background: Menopause signifies the beginning of a non-reproductive phase from the reproductive period. Although it is considered a natural life transition, recent studies have indicated that a woman's menopausal experience may impact her quality of life. While studies have examined Malaysian women's knowledge and awareness of menopause, they have focused on the prevalence of menopausal symptoms and sociocultural aspects. These investigations also used a quantitative design that may have limited the information regarding the nature and experience of menopause. Objectives: This study explores women's perceptions and understanding of their menopausal experience.

    Methods: A total of 20 menopausal women were recruited using purposive sampling through social media in the state of Pahang, Malaysia. In-depth semi-structured interviews were used to explore how they perceived their menopausal experience. The data were then analyzed using thematic analysis.

    Results: Three themes that emerged from the findings included perceptions of menopause, biopsychosocial changes and help-seeking behavior. For many Muslim women, menopause was perceived as a time for them to engage in religious commitment more than they had before.

    Conclusion: The study findings uncovered a knowledge gap and a lack of support for women impacted by menopause. Muslim women regarded their menopause phase as a time for them to engage in religious duty fully. These results indicate the need for a psychosocial intervention and educational program to ensure women a better transition throughout their menopausal phase.

    Matched MeSH terms: Help-Seeking Behavior
  7. Low LL, Tong SF, Low WY
    Asia Pac J Public Health, 2016 Jan;28(1 Suppl):17S-25S.
    PMID: 26219560 DOI: 10.1177/1010539515596807
    This qualitative study aimed to explore the influence of social networks such as family members, friends, peers, and health care providers toward the help-seeking behaviour (HSB) of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in the public and private primary care settings. In-depth interviews of 12 patients, 9 family members, and 5 health care providers, as well as 3 focus groups among 13 health care providers were conducted. All interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim for qualitative analysis. Social influences play a significant role in the help-seeking process; once diagnosed, patients source information from people around them to make decisions. This significant influence depends on the relationship between patients and social networks or the level of trust, support, and comforting feeling. Thus, the impacts on patients' help-seeking behavior are varied. However, the help-seeking process is not solely an individual's concern but a dynamic process interacting with the social networks within the health care system.
    Matched MeSH terms: Help-Seeking Behavior*
  8. Singh S, Zaki RA, Farid NDN
    J Adolesc, 2019 07;74:154-172.
    PMID: 31216495 DOI: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2019.06.004
    INTRODUCTION: Depression is a common mental health disorder and affects many adolescents worldwide. Depression literacy can improve mental health outcomes. The aim of this study was to collate and analyse the extant evidence on depression literacy among adolescents, with particular focus on tools used to examine depression literacy and the findings on components of depression literacy.

    METHODS: Nine electronic databases and 1 grey literature source were searched for studies published in English between January 2006 and December 2018 and involving adolescents aged 10-19 years. We included studies that reported on components of depression literacy such as knowledge, help-seeking and stigmatising attitudes. We excluded qualitative studies. Two independent reviewers verified that the studies met the inclusion criteria, assessed the quality of the studies and extracted their characteristics. The data were descriptively analysed and appraised using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS), Cochrane Collaboration's tool and the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies (QATSQ).

    RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Fifty of the 14,626 references identified met the inclusion criteria. Depression literacy was most commonly (58%) assessed using tools that utilize a vignette-based methodology. A lack of uniformity in reporting of depression literacy was noted. Adolescents were poor at recognising depression, likely to seek help from informal sources and tended to attach stigma to depression. The implications of the findings are discussed and suggestions made for future research.

    Matched MeSH terms: Help-Seeking Behavior
  9. Syahrizal Abdul Halim, Rosalia Saimon, Parveen Kaur Sarjeet Singh, Razitasham Safii
    Borneo Epidemiology Journal, 2020;1(1):67-78.
    MyJurnal
    Introduction: Rabies is a highly fatal disease that is mostly caused by a dog bite. The Dog Bite Prevention KAP scale is a 30-item scale that is designed to measure children’s level of safety knowledge on dog’s behaviour, precautionary behaviour around dogs, perceived vulnerability towards dogs and help-seeking behaviour following a dog bite. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the test-retest reliability and validity of outcome measures
    Methods: This questionnaire was administered to samples of school student aged from 13 years to 14 years at a secondary school located in Bau District, Sarawak. They were purposively selected for a baseline interview (Time 1) anda ten-day follow-up (Time 2). This study was conducted within four months, which were from 10 April to 31 August 2018. Descriptive analysis, content analysis, Cronbach’s alpha, intra-class correlation and exploratory factor analysis were performed in thisstudy.Results: A total of 64 boys and 114 girls were involved in the study, whereby 79.2%, 10.1%, 7.9%, 2.2% and 0.6% of them were of Bidayuh ethnic, Chinese, Iban, Malays and other ethnic, respectively. The Cronbach's alpha was 0.796. The test-retest intra-class correlation was adequate, with 0.84 for perceived vulnerability towards dogs and 0.81 for precautionary behaviour around dogs. Principal components analysis with varimax rotation resulted in two factors, which explained 39% of the variance (perceived vulnerability towards dogs) and 49% of the variance (precautionary behaviour around dogs)
    Conclusion: The questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool for a dog-bite prevention survey
    Matched MeSH terms: Help-Seeking Behavior
  10. Arifin SRBM, Cheyne H, Maxwell M, Yousuf A
    PMID: 34040649 DOI: 10.2174/1745017902117010010
    Objectives: Early detection and intervention for Maternal Postnatal Depression (PND) are imperative to prevent devastating consequences for mothers, babies, and families. However, there are no guidelines that explicitly focus on the management of PND in Malaysia. Consequently, it is unclear whether women with PND are receiving proper care and treatment. Therefore, this study aimed to explore Malaysian Women's experience in managing PND symptoms.

    Methods: A qualitative study was conducted among 33 women attending Maternal and Child Health (MCH) clinics in Kuala Lumpur. Data were obtained through a face-to-face semi-structured interview and analysed using framework analysis.

    Results: The women considered PND as a personal and temporary issue. Therefore, professional care was deemed unnecessary for them. Additionally, all Malay women considered religious approach as their primary coping strategy for PND. However, this was not the case for most Indian and Chinese women.

    Conclusion: The findings of this study indicated that women did not acknowledge the roles of Healthcare Practitioners (HCPs) in alleviating their emotional distress.Also, they perceived PND as a personal problem and less serious emotional condition. It is due to this perception that the women adopted self-help care as their primary coping strategy for PND. However, the coping strategy varied between different cultures. These findings underscore the importance of HCPs' proactive action to detect and alleviate PND symptoms as their attitude towards PND may influence Women's help-seeking behaviour.

    Matched MeSH terms: Help-Seeking Behavior
  11. Aida, J., Hizlinda, T., Siti Fatimah, S., Mohd Muhaimin, A., Chai, S.Y., Sahrina, W., et al.
    Medicine & Health, 2014;9(2):114-123.
    MyJurnal
    The present study is to determine the level of depression, anxiety and stress among Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) clinical year medical students and their help seeking behaviour in relation to their psychological aspect. A cross-sectional study was conducted in UKM Medical Centre for three months duration. The study population was the third, fourth and fifth year medical students via proportional sampling. They were given questionnaires consisting of socio-demographic items, Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale 21 – Bahasa Malaysia version BM-DASS21 and questions regarding help-seeking behaviors. Psychometric assessment (BMDASS21) estimated the level of depression, anxiety and stress among medical students. Help-seeking behavior questions assessed the use of medical facilities and other help-seeking sources. Regarding questions on the barriers towards seeking help from the primary health-care, three parts were evaluated: structural barriers, barriers towards perceptions on mental-health disorder and barriers towards use of primary health-care services. There were 380 medical students who were involved in this research. It was found that some students experienced depression (1.3%), anxiety (2.4%) and stress (2.4%). Majority of them preferred to seek help from friends (283; 74.5%) followed by parents (275; 72.4%). There was a significant association between students who were anxious and help seeking behaviour from formal sources: counselor (p=0.001) and religious personnel (p=0.03). Hence, it is essential to increase their awareness on psychological disorders and more efficient screening programme should be used to recognize medical students with possible emotional disorders.
    Matched MeSH terms: Help-Seeking Behavior
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