Displaying publications 61 - 80 of 265 in total

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  1. Chow CK, Nguyen TN, Marschner S, Diaz R, Rahman O, Avezum A, et al.
    BMJ Glob Health, 2020 11;5(11).
    PMID: 33148540 DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-002640
    OBJECTIVES: We aimed to examine the relationship between access to medicine for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) among people at high risk of CVD in high-income countries (HICs), upper and lower middle-income countries (UMICs, LMICs) and low-income countries (LICs) participating in the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study.

    METHODS: We defined high CVD risk as the presence of any of the following: hypertension, coronary artery disease, stroke, smoker, diabetes or age >55 years. Availability and affordability of blood pressure lowering drugs, antiplatelets and statins were obtained from pharmacies. Participants were categorised: group 1-all three drug types were available and affordable, group 2-all three drugs were available but not affordable and group 3-all three drugs were not available. We used multivariable Cox proportional hazard models with nested clustering at country and community levels, adjusting for comorbidities, sociodemographic and economic factors.

    RESULTS: Of 163 466 participants, there were 93 200 with high CVD risk from 21 countries (mean age 54.7, 49% female). Of these, 44.9% were from group 1, 29.4% from group 2 and 25.7% from group 3. Compared with participants from group 1, the risk of MACEs was higher among participants in group 2 (HR 1.19, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.31), and among participants from group 3 (HR 1.25, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.50).

    CONCLUSION: Lower availability and affordability of essential CVD medicines were associated with higher risk of MACEs and mortality. Improving access to CVD medicines should be a key part of the strategy to lower CVD globally.

    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty
  2. Foong HF, Haron SA, Koris R, Hamid TA, Ibrahim R
    Psychogeriatrics, 2021 Jul;21(4):586-595.
    PMID: 33969594 DOI: 10.1111/psyg.12709
    BACKGROUND: Low financial well-being is a common predicament among older adults living in poverty. The existing literature suggests a correlation between financial well-being and mental health in old age. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the relationships among financial well-being, life satisfaction, and cognitive function among low-income older adults and to examine the moderating effect of sex on these relationships.

    METHODS: This study involved 2004 nationally representative community-dwelling older Malaysians from the bottom 40% household income group. Financial well-being was assessed by the four-item financial satisfaction scale, while life satisfaction was measured by the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Cognitive function was measured by using the Malay version of the Mini-Mental State Examination. Hierarchical multiple regression was used as the prime method for statistical analysis.

    RESULTS: Financial well-being was positively associated with life satisfaction and cognitive function. Sex moderated the relationship between financial well-being and life satisfaction but not between financial well-being and cognitive function.

    CONCLUSIONS: Financial well-being and life satisfaction were strongly correlated among older women, although no gender difference was found for the relationship between financial well-being and cognitive function. It appears financial well-being strongly predicts mental health. As such, poverty eradication initiatives targeting low-income older adults should be implemented to sustain life satisfaction and cognitive function.

    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty
  3. Jaafar, N., Jallaludin, R.L., Razak, I.A., Esa, R.
    Ann Dent, 1995;2(1):2462-2060.
    MyJurnal
    The aim of the article is to report on the perception of utilizers of government dental services towards the preservation of natural teeth for life and relate it to their past utilization pattern and the associated demographic factors. All patients aged 15 years and over attending ten randomly selected government dental clinics in Selangor, Wilayah Persekutuan and Negri Sembilan during the study period of thirty non consecutive outpatients days were interviewed and examined clinically. Five-hundred and fifty subjects were included in the survey. It was found that the majority of respondents (63%)have a.rather pessimistic perception of their ability to preserve natural teeth for life and most have a very poor past utilization behaviour (90%).The most pessimistic and worst utilization behaviour was reported by the Malay ethnic group, the least formally educated and the lowest income group (p O.O1).It is postulated that one of the main reason for this trend among Malay respondents could be due to their lower educational and income status, rather than cultural influences. Further research into the influence of culture on the utilization pattern of the Malays is therefore recommended.
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty
  4. Berry C, Michelson D, Othman E, Tan JC, Gee B, Hodgekins J, et al.
    Early intervention in psychiatry, 2020 02;14(1):115-123.
    PMID: 31111672 DOI: 10.1111/eip.12832
    AIM: Mental health problems are prevalent among young people in Malaysia yet access to specialist mental health care is extremely limited. More context-specific research is needed to understand the factors affecting help-seeking in youth, when mental health problems typically have first onset. We aimed to explore the attitudes of vulnerable young Malaysians regarding mental health problems including unusual psychological experiences, help-seeking and mental health treatment.

    METHODS: In the present study, nine young people (aged 16-23 years) from low-income backgrounds participated in a semi-structured interview about their perspectives on mental health problems, unusual psychological experiences and help-seeking.

    RESULTS: Four themes were developed using thematic analysis. "Is it that they [have] family problems?" reflected participants' explanatory models of mental health problems. "Maybe in Malaysia" was concerned with perceptions of Malaysian culture as both encouraging of open sharing of problems and experiences, but also potentially stigmatizing. "You have to ask for help" emphasized the importance of mental health help-seeking despite potential stigma. "It depends on the person" addressed the challenges of engaging with psychological therapy.

    CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that young people in Malaysia may hold compassionate, non-stigmatizing views towards people experiencing mental health problems and a desire to increase their knowledge and understandings. Yet societal stigma is a perceived reputational risk that may affect mental health problem disclosure and help-seeking. We suggest that efforts to improve mental health literacy would be valued by young Malaysians and could support reduced stigma and earlier help-seeking.

    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty
  5. Hamid TA, Dzaher A, Ching SM
    Med J Malaysia, 2019 Jun;74(3):198-204.
    PMID: 31256173
    BACKGROUND: Research has found that social network, social support and religiosity are associated with depression in elderly people. However, these predictors of depression have not been fully explored among the high risk elderly population. This study aims to examine the prevalence and factors associated with depression among Malaysian elderly subjects who had experienced major life events.

    METHODS: This is a cross-section study of a subsample of 594 participants from the original sample of 2322 Malaysian elderly respondents, who had experienced major life events. Information on socio-demographic, social network, social support, religiosity and depression were collected through an interviewer-administered questionnaire. A multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine the factors associated with depression among elderly who experienced major life events.

    RESULTS: Overall prevalence of depression among subsample of Malaysian elderly facing major life events was 9.4%. The results showed that age (p≤0.01), income (p≤0.001) and social network (p≤0.05) were significant associated with depression. In other words, with increasing age, low income as well as small social network associated with high risk of developing depression among elderly who had experienced major life events CONCLUSION: Other than age and income, social network were also associated with depression among elderly respondents who had experienced major life events. Therefore, professionals who are working with elderly with major life events should seek ways to enhance elderly networking as one of the strategies to prevent depression.

    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty
  6. Vijayasingham L, Rhule E, Asgari-Jirhandeh N, Allotey P
    Lancet Glob Health, 2019 07;7(7):e843-e844.
    PMID: 31200884 DOI: 10.1016/S2214-109X(19)30196-2
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty
  7. Pérez-Escamilla R, Tomori C, Hernández-Cordero S, Baker P, Barros AJD, Bégin F, et al.
    Lancet, 2023 Feb 11;401(10375):472-485.
    PMID: 36764313 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)01932-8
    In this Series paper, we examine how mother and baby attributes at the individual level interact with breastfeeding determinants at other levels, how these interactions drive breastfeeding outcomes, and what policies and interventions are necessary to achieve optimal breastfeeding. About one in three neonates in low-income and middle-income countries receive prelacteal feeds, and only one in two neonates are put to the breast within the first hour of life. Prelacteal feeds are strongly associated with delayed initiation of breastfeeding. Self-reported insufficient milk continues to be one of the most common reasons for introducing commercial milk formula (CMF) and stopping breastfeeding. Parents and health professionals frequently misinterpret typical, unsettled baby behaviours as signs of milk insufficiency or inadequacy. In our market-driven world and in violation of the WHO International Code for Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, the CMF industry exploits concerns of parents about these behaviours with unfounded product claims and advertising messages. A synthesis of reviews between 2016 and 2021 and country-based case studies indicate that breastfeeding practices at a population level can be improved rapidly through multilevel and multicomponent interventions across the socioecological model and settings. Breastfeeding is not the sole responsibility of women and requires collective societal approaches that take gender inequities into consideration.
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty
  8. Azam M, Khan AQ
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2017 Jul;24(19):16407-16417.
    PMID: 28550635 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-017-9299-4
    This study examines the impact of economic growth, corruption, health, and poverty on environmental degradation for three countries from ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand using annual data over the period of 1994-2014. The relationship between environmental degradation (pollution) by carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and economic growth is examined along with some other variables, namely health expenditure, poverty, agriculture value added growth, industrial value added growth, and corruption. The ordinary least squares (OLS) method is applied as an analytical technique for parameter estimation. The empirical results reveal that almost all variables are statistically significant at the 5% level of significance, whereby test rejects the null hypotheses of non-cointegration, indicating that all variables play an important role in affecting the environment across countries. Empirical results also indicate that economic growth has significant positive impact, while health expenditures show significantly negative impact on the environment. Corruption has significant positive effect on environment in the case of Malaysia; while in the case of Indonesia and Thailand, it has insignificant results. However, for the individual analysis across countries, the regression estimate suggests that economic growth has a significant positive relationship with environment for Indonesia, while it is found insignificantly negative and positive in the case of Malaysia and Thailand, respectively, during the period under the study. Empirical findings of the study suggest that policy-makers require to make technological-friendly environment sequentially to surmount unregulated pollution, steady population transfers from rural areas to urban areas are also important, and poverty alleviation and better health provision can also help to improve the environment.
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty
  9. Yasin RM, Tan MP, Said MA, Rasul MS, Thangiah N, Rizal H, et al.
    Front Public Health, 2024;12:1164056.
    PMID: 38504686 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1164056
    INTRODUCTION: Education improves the economy and quality of life. The availability of skilled education in Malaysia is not restricted to the younger generation but is available to people of all ages, including those with low incomes.

    METHODS: This study used the EuroQol 5-Dimension 5-Level (EQ- 5D-5L) tool during the COVID-19 pandemic to examine relationships between socio-demographics, knowledge, and attitudes towards education and outcomes of health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Between September and October 2020 and January and February 2021, a cross-sectional study using a multi-stage sampling technique was carried out.

    RESULTS: A total of 1,997 adults participated, with a mean age of 45.17 (SD 14.113). In total, 74.9% had good knowledge, while 59.8% had a positive attitude towards skill education. In univariate analyses, the EQ-5D-5L score was related to age, income, education level, marital status, employment status, financial strain level, and knowledge and attitude towards skilled education. Generalised linear model analyses demonstrated that lower EQ-5D-5L scores were associated with older age, financial constraints, and a negative attitude towards skills education. However, additional adjustments for knowledge and attitude towards skills education show only an increase in age and financial strain was significant.

    CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that appropriate strategies be implemented to increase low-income populations' knowledge and attitude towards skill education. Improving education may improve the quality of life for this vulnerable group. Additionally, a qualitative study can be conducted to determine the barriers to low-income households participating in skilled education to fill in the knowledge gap.

    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty
  10. Parra-Mujica F, Roope LS, Abdul-Aziz A, Mustapha F, Ng CW, Rampal S, et al.
    Soc Sci Med, 2024 Jan;340:116426.
    PMID: 38016309 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116426
    In the context of the escalating burden of diabetes in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), there is a pressing concern about the widening disparities in care and outcomes across socioeconomic groups. This paper estimates health poverty measures among individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Malaysia. Using data from the National Diabetes Registry between 2009 and 2018, the study linked 932,855 people with T2DM aged 40-75 to death records. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the 5-year survival probabilities for each patient, stratified by age and sex, while controlling for comorbidities and area-based indicators of socio-economic status (SES), such as district-level asset-based indices and night-time luminosity. Measures of health poverty, based on the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) measures, were employed to capture excessive risk of premature mortality. Two poverty line thresholds were used, namely a 5% and 10% reduction in survival probability compared to age and sex-adjusted survival probability of the general population. Counterfactual simulations estimated the extent to which comorbidities contribute to health poverty. 43.5% of the sample experienced health poverty using the 5% threshold, and 8.9% were health poor using the 10% threshold. Comorbidities contribute 2.9% for males and 5.4% for females, at the 5% threshold. At the 10% threshold, they contribute 7.4% for males and 3.4% for females. If all patients lived in areas of highest night-light intensity, poverty would fall by 5.8% for males and 4.6% for females at the 5% threshold, and 4.1% for males and 0.8% for females at the 10% threshold. In Malaysia, there is a high incidence of health poverty among people with diabetes, and it is strongly associated with comorbidities and area-based measures of SES. Expanding the application of health poverty measurement, through a combination of clinical registries and open spatial data, can facilitate simulations for health poverty alleviation.
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty
  11. Pengpid S, Peltzer K, Sathirapanya C, Thitichai P, Faria de Moura Villela E, Rodrigues Zanuzzi T, et al.
    Int J Public Health, 2022;67:1604398.
    PMID: 35645703 DOI: 10.3389/ijph.2022.1604398
    Objectives: To investigate psychosocial factors associated with adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods: This online cross-sectional survey included 10,183 adults (median age 45 years) from nine LMICs. Participants were asked about adhering to four COVID-19 preventive measures (physical distancing, wearing a face mask, hand, and cough hygiene); a composite adherence score was calculated, ranging from 0-4 positive responses. Psychosocial measures included worry, anxiety, depression, social and demographic, and COVID-19 related factors. Results: Factors associated with adherence to more preventive measures included being a participant from Malaysia or Bangladesh, older age, higher education, belonging to the healthcare sector (either as or worker), having health personnel as a trusted source of COVID-19 information/advice, possessing correct COVID-19 knowledge, worry or fear about being (re)infected with COVID-19, and screening negative for general anxiety symptoms. Conclusion: Moderate to high adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures was found, with significant variations across countries. Psychosocial factors (worry, anxiety, knowledge, education, age, and country) seemed determinant in predicting the number of measures to which participants adhered.
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty
  12. Osabohien RA, Jaaffar AH, Ibrahim J, Usman O, Igharo AE, Oyekanmi AA
    PLoS One, 2024;19(1):e0293563.
    PMID: 38252674 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0293563
    Africa has been known to experience series of problems among which are poverty, food insecurity, lack of access to energy, lack of infrastructure among others. These problems were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a severe impact on the socioeconomic status of households in Africa. This paper examines the relationship between socioeconomic shocks, social protection, and household food security during the pandemic in Nigeria, the Africa's largest economy. Using the World Bank's COVID-19 national longitudinal baseline phone survey (2020) for the analysis and applied the multinomial logit regression, the study finds that socioeconomic shocks resulting from the pandemic have led to an increased level of food insecurity. Social protection programmes have played a crucial role in mitigating the impact of these shocks on households. However, the study also highlights the need for more targeted and effective social protection policies to ensure that vulnerable households are adequately protected from the adverse effects of the pandemic. The findings of this study have important implications for policymakers and stakeholders in Africa's largest economy, as they seek to address the challenges posed by the pandemic and promote household food security for the actualisation the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of food and nutrition security (SDG2). The study, therefore, recommends that efforts be made to preserve food supply chains by mitigating the pandemic's effect on food systems, increasing food production, and looking forward beyond the pandemic by building resilient food systems with the use of social protection interventions.
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty
  13. Sohail MT, Din NM
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2024 Jan;31(2):2869-2882.
    PMID: 38066276 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-31342-6
    To tackle the growing menace of environmental degradation, the idea of green entrepreneurship has gained popularity, which is the process of creating new goods and technologies to solve environmental problems. Like traditional entrepreneurs, green entrepreneurs also need financial backing from financial institutions. However, no empirical evidence was found regarding the relationship between formal credit and green entrepreneurship. This analysis is an effort to plug this vacuum into the literature by analyzing the impact of formal credit on green entrepreneurship in high, middle, and low-income economies from 2011 to 2021. The study has employed various econometric techniques such as fixed-effects, random-effects, 2SLS, and GMM. The results show that formal credit substantially develops green entrepreneurship in high, middle, low-income, and full samples. Besides formal credit, GDP, environmental pressure, trade openness, technological development, and human capital are crucial in green entrepreneurship development in all samples. Policymakers may collaborate with financial institutions to create and provide specialized financial products and services catering to green entrepreneurs.
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty
  14. Reidpath DD, Ling ML, Yasin S, Rajagobal K, Allotey P
    Glob Health Action, 2012;5:14876.
    PMID: 22761601 DOI: 10.3402/gha.v5i0.14876
    INTRODUCTION: Population monitoring and screening of blood pressure is an important part of any population health strategy. Qualified health workers are expensive and often unavailable for screening. Non-health workers with electronic blood pressure monitors are increasingly used in community-based research. This approach is unvalidated. In a poor, urban community we compared blood pressure measurements taken by non-health workers using electronic devices against qualified health workers using mercury sphygmomanometers.
    METHOD: Fifty-six adult volunteers participated in the research. Data were collected by five qualified health workers, and six non-health workers. Participants were randomly allocated to have their blood pressure measured on four consecutive occasions by alternating a qualified health worker with a non-health worker. Descriptive statistics and graphs, and mixed effects linear models to account for the repeated measurement were used in the analysis.
    RESULTS: Blood pressure readings by non-health workers were more reliable than those taken by qualified health workers. There was no significant difference between the readings taken by qualified health workers and those taken by non-health workers for systolic blood pressure. Non-health workers were, on average, 5-7 mmHg lower in their measures of blood pressure than the qualified health workers (95%HPD: -2.9 to -10.0) for diastolic blood pressure.
    CONCLUSION: The results provide empirical evidence that supports the practice of non-health workers using electronic devices for BP measurement in community-based research and screening. Non-health workers recorded blood pressures that differed from qualified health workers by no more than 10 mmHg. The approach is promising, but more research is needed to establish the generalisability of the results.
    KEYWORDS: Malaysia; blood pressure; community workers; hypertension; measurement; screening
    Study site: urban, low-income community, of the Klang Valley near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
    Device: Mercury sphygmomanometers (Spirit brand, model number CK-101C), electronic, automatic blood pressure monitors (Omron brand model HEM-7203)
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty*
  15. Wright SJ, Sanchez-Azofeifa GA, Portillo-Quintero C, Davies D
    Ecol Appl, 2007 Jul;17(5):1259-66.
    PMID: 17708206
    We used the global fire detection record provided by the satellite-based Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to determine the number of fires detected inside 823 tropical and subtropical moist forest reserves and for contiguous buffer areas 5, 10, and 15 km wide. The ratio of fire detection densities (detections per square kilometer) inside reserves to their contiguous buffer areas provided an index of reserve effectiveness. Fire detection density was significantly lower inside reserves than in paired, contiguous buffer areas but varied by five orders of magnitude among reserves. The buffer: reserve detection ratio varied by up to four orders of magnitude among reserves within a single country, and median values varied by three orders of magnitude among countries. Reserves tended to be least effective at reducing fire frequency in many poorer countries and in countries beset by corruption. Countries with the most successful reserves include Costa Rica, Jamaica, Malaysia, and Taiwan and the Indonesian island of Java. Countries with the most problematic reserves include Cambodia, Guatemala, Paraguay, and Sierra Leone and the Indonesian portion of Borneo. We provide fire detection density for 3964 tropical and subtropical reserves and their buffer areas in the hope that these data will expedite further analyses that might lead to improved management of tropical reserves.
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty*
  16. Masood M, Sheiham A, Bernabé E
    PLoS One, 2015;10(4):e0123075.
    PMID: 25923691 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0123075
    This study assessed the extent of household catastrophic expenditure in dental health care and its possible determinants in 41 low and middle income countries. Data from 182,007 respondents aged 18 years and over (69,315 in 18 low income countries, 59,645 in 15 lower middle income countries and 53,047 in 8 upper middle income countries) who participated in the WHO World Health Survey (WHS) were analyzed. Expenditure in dental health care was defined as catastrophic if it was equal to or higher than 40% of the household capacity to pay. A number of individual and country-level factors were assessed as potential determinants of catastrophic dental health expenditure (CDHE) in multilevel logistic regression with individuals nested within countries. Up to 7% of households in low and middle income countries faced CDHE in the last 4 weeks. This proportion rose up to 35% among households that incurred some dental health expenditure within the same period. The multilevel model showed that wealthier, urban and larger households and more economically developed countries had higher odds of facing CDHE. The results of this study show that payments for dental health care can be a considerable burden on households, to the extent of preventing expenditure on basic necessities. They also help characterize households more likely to incur catastrophic expenditure on dental health care. Alternative health care financing strategies and policies targeted to improve fairness in financial contribution are urgently required in low and middle income countries.
    Study name: World Health Survey (Malaysia is a study site)
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty/economics
  17. Chee HL
    Med J Malaysia, 1992 Sep;47(3):170-81.
    PMID: 1491642
    In a study of mild to significant malnutrition in an urban squatter settlement, the weights for age of 297 children between birth and ten years, and the heights for age and weights for height of 197 children between two to ten years were analysed. Using NCHS standards, the overall prevalence of underweight was found to be 18.9%, stunting 15.2%, and wasting 11.2%. Age and ethnicity were significantly associated with the prevalence of underweight and stunting. The growth achievement of children below the age of two years were significantly better off than the older children, and Chinese children significantly better off than Malay and Indian children.
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty*
  18. Agus MR
    Warasan Prachakon Lae Sangkhom, 1990 Jan;2(2):205-21, 242-3.
    PMID: 12283536
    The focus of this study is on urbanization in Malaysia. "This paper is divided into three parts. The first part examines the trend of uneven urban development in West Malaysia. The second part discusses the change [in] ethnic composition of urban population between 1970 and 1980 intercensal period. The third part analyses the impact of the urbanization process on the Malays in the context of housing problems of the lower income groups." (SUMMARY IN THA)
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty*
  19. Serva V, Karim H, Ebrahim GJ
    J Trop Pediatr, 1986 06;32(3):127-9.
    PMID: 3747002 DOI: 10.1093/tropej/32.3.127
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty*
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