OBJECTIVE: This was the first research performed at a public hospital's pediatric clinic, which was the first hospital to adopt the public-private-partnership model under the MoH, with the aim of discovering the prevalence and factors affecting the satisfaction of caregivers at the national referral center.
METHODS: Cross-sectional research using the standard self-administered SERVQUAL questionnaire was conducted among caregivers accompanying their children to the clinic. The questionnaire consists of 16 paired statements to evaluate their expectations and experiences with the clinic services.
RESULTS: A total of 459 caregivers were involved in this study with a majority aged between 30 and 39 years (n=254, 55.4%). Caregivers from the Indian community (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 2.91, 95% CI 1.37-6.18) and lower income groups (AOR 2.94, 95% CI 1.87-4.64), and those with lower educational backgrounds (AOR 3.58, 95% CI 1.19-10.72) were more likely to be satisfied with the quality of pediatric clinic services. Housewives/househusbands (AOR 0.48, 95% CI 0.25-0.90), on the other hand, appeared less likely to be satisfied with the services provided during their visit to the clinic. Looking at overall patient satisfaction, 50.5% (n=232) of caregivers demonstrated satisfaction with the quality of services, compared to 49.5% (n=227) of dissatisfied respondents.
CONCLUSIONS: This paper suggests that, although most caregivers are satisfied with the services, greater emphasis must be placed on delivering reliable service in response to the MoH's mission to provide quality and integrated people-centered health services in Malaysia.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A study was conducted to analyze data on the utilization of T&CM services within public hospitals. Secondary data on 822 patients' satisfaction with services offered at 15 T&CM units was analyzed to examine the overall levels of satisfaction with T&CM services in public hospitals in Malaysia.
RESULTS: Overall, 99.4% of patients were satisfied with T&CM services and most patients (91.8%) felt that T&CM treatment positively impacted their health. Overall satisfaction was not affected by lower levels of satisfaction with subcategories of service, such as the number of treatment sessions received (90.7% satisfied), date to the next appointment (90.7% satisfied), and the absence of adverse effects of treatment received (87.1% satisfied). There were no significant associations between the socioeconomic status of the respondents and the level of satisfaction reported; however, respondents with a monthly salary of Ringgit Malaysia (RM) 1000 to RM 3000 were more than twice as likely to be strongly satisfied with services received (adjusted odds ratios [AOR]: 2.12, 95% CI: 1.19-3.78).
CONCLUSION: This study revealed a high level of satisfaction among patients who had received T&CM treatment at public hospitals in Malaysia. High satisfaction with T&CM treatment validates the integrative management approach adopted in patient care within the public hospitals in Malaysia.
METHODS: This paper used data from the 2007 Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey. The analyses were based on the responses of 3374 ever-married men. Exposure to IPV was determined by men's self-reports of witnessing inter-parental violence in childhood. We used adjusted binary logistic regression models to assess the influence of exposure on husbands' perpetration of IPV and their endorsement of attitudes justifying wife beating.
RESULTS: Nearly 60% of men reported violent behaviour towards an intimate partner and 35.7% endorsed attitudes justifying spousal abuse. Men who witnessed father-to-mother violence had higher odds of reporting any physical or sexual IPV (adjusted OR [AOR] = 3.26; 95% CI = 2.61, 4.06). Men who had witnessed father-to-mother violence were also 1.34 times (95% CI = 1.08, 1.65) more likely endorse attitudes justifying spousal abuse.
CONCLUSIONS: Committing violence against an intimate partner is an all too frequent practice among men in Bangladesh. The study indicated that men who had witnessed father-to-mother violence were more likley to perpetrate IPV, suggesting an intergenerational transmission of violence. This transmission of violence may operate through the learning and modelling of attitudes favourable to spousal abuse. In support of this, witnnessing inter-parental violence was also associated with the endorsement of attitudes justifying spousal abuse. Our findings indicate the continued importance of efforts to identify and assist boys who have witnessed domestic violence and suggest such efforts should aim to change not just behaviours but also attitudes that facilitate such violence.
DESIGN: The 2011 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, conducted from 8 July to 27 December 2011.
SETTING: Selected urban and rural areas of Bangladesh.
SUBJECTS: A total of 2197 ever-married women living with at least one child younger than 5 years. Exposure was determined from maternal reports of high-risk fertility behaviours. We considered three parameters, maternal age at the time of delivery, birth order and birth interval, to define the high-risk fertility behaviours. Chronic undernutrition, anaemia and the coexistence of anaemia and undernutrition among women were the outcome variables.
RESULTS: A substantial percentage of women were exposed to have a high-risk fertility pattern (41·8 %); 33·0 % were at single high-risk and 8·8 % were at multiple high-risk. After adjusting for relevant covariates, high-risk fertility behaviours were associated with increased likelihood of chronic undernutrition (adjusted relative risk; 95 % CI: 1·22; 1·03, 1·44), anaemia (1·12; 1·00, 1·25) and the coexistence of anaemia and undernutrition (1·52; 1·17, 1·98). Furthermore, multiple high-risk fertility behaviours appeared to have more profound consequences on the outcome measured.
CONCLUSIONS: Maternal high-risk fertility behaviours are shockingly frequent practices among women in Bangladesh. High-risk fertility behaviours are important predictors of the increased likelihood of women's chronic undernutrition, anaemia and the coexistence of anaemia and undernutrition.