METHODS: The Khadijah Rohani's Readability Formula (KRRF) and Suitability Assessment of Materials (SAM) instrument were used to assess the readability and suitability of the pamphlets respectively. All 23 Bahasa Malaysia pamphlets retrieved from the official portal of OHP on the 31st January 2019 were assessed for suitability. However, only five pamphlets were found to be eligible for readability assessment because the KRRF, the single formula available for Bahasa Malaysia text is applicable only for materials with 300 words or more. The readability is interpreted based on the level of formal education in Malaysia.
RESULTS: All pamphlets achieved superior suitability rating with a minimum and maximum score of 75% and 95% respectively. However, a few pamphlets did not fulfil SAM superior and adequate criteria for the following factors and were rated not suitable: did not include summary (73.9%), have few or no headers (4.3%), did not use captions to explain graphics (17.4%), and did not provide interactive learning (21.7%). Readability of the pamphlets eligible for assessment ranged from primary six to secondary three.
CONCLUSIONS: OHE pamphlets produced by the MOH are readable by most Malaysians. Most pamphlets are generally suitable for the intended audience although a few performed poorly in several areas.
Methods: A community-based participatory research method was utilized. Two focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted in Malaysian sign language (BIM) with a total of 10 DHH individuals. Respondents were recruited using purposive sampling. Video-recordings were transcribed and analyzed using a thematic approach.
Results: Two themes emerged: (I) challenges and scepticism of the healthcare system; and (II) features of the mHealth app. Respondents expressed fears and concerns about accessing healthcare services, and stressed on the need for sign language interpreters. There were also concerns about data privacy and security. With regard to app features, the majority preferred videos instead of text to convey information about their disease and medication, due to their lower literacy levels.
Conclusions: For an mHealth app to be effective, app designers must ensure the app is individualised according to the cultural and linguistic diversity of the target audience. Pharmacists should also educate patients on the potential benefits of the app in terms of assisting patients with their medicine-taking.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 282 stroke patients who provided informed consent and were in follow-up at the Neurology Outpatient Department of Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The study employed a data-collection form that gathered information on sociodemographics, clinical treatment, outcome measures on MUSE, and medication-nonadherence reasons.
Results: The prevalence of poor medication understanding and use self-efficacy among stroke patients was 46.5%, of which 29.1% had poor "learning about medication" self-efficacy, while 36.2% lacked self-efficacy in taking medication. Beliefs about medicine (74.02%) was the commonest reason for medication nonadherence, followed by medication-management issues (44.8%). In the multivariate model, independent variables significantly associated with MUSE were health literacy (AOR 0.2, 95% CI 0.069-0.581; P=0.003), medication-management issues (AOR 0.073, 95% CI 0.020-0.266; P<0.001), multiple-medication issues (AOR 0.28, 95% CI 0.085-0.925; P=0.037), beliefs about medicine (AOR 0.131, 95% CI 0.032-0.542; P=0.005), and forgetfulness/convenience issues (AOR 0.173, 95% CI 0.050-0.600; P=0.006).
Conclusion: The relatively poor learning about medication and medication-taking self-efficacy in this study was highly associated with health literacy and modifiable behavioral issues related to nonadherence, such as medication management, beliefs about medicine, and forgetfulness/convenience. Further research ought to explore these underlying reasons using vigorous techniques to enhance medication understanding and use self-efficacy among stroke survivors to determine cause-effect relationships.
DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The authors adopted a quantitative and qualitative approach, i.e., a self-administered questionnaire, unstructured and a semi-structured interview, which were used to collect the data. A questionnaire was distributed to Bahraini residents selected randomly. The framework was based on the technology acceptance model (TAM) and theory of reasoned action (TRA). Important variables from both the TAM model and TRA theory were extracted and jointly used to build the research model.
FINDINGS: The findings indicated that the most factors affecting e-health adoption are trust, health literacy and attitude. Additionally, people in the private and government sectors understand e-health benefits.
PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: If healthcare professionals understand the factors affecting e-health system adoption from an individual and organisational perspective, then nurses, pharmacists and others will be more conscious about e-health and its adoption status.
ORIGINALITY/VALUE: E-health system adoption has become increasingly important to governments, individuals, and researchers in recent years. A novel research framework, based on TAM and TRA, was used to produce a new integrated model.