The purpose of the present study is to provide a critical review on the revolution of the "compliance" concepts from compliance to adherence, and adherence to concordance for both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies. A comprehensive literature search was performed using online databases from Library of University Putra Malaysia, and Pub Med based on the keywords. The present study showed that both quantitative and qualitative studies cannot be neglected in assessing adherence and its related problems. One of major findings from the present review is that "compliance" was no longer suitable for current treatments and it is important to define concepts of the terms used (adherence or concordance) correctly and clearly. The findings reflected that researchers placed greater value on medication adherence than non-pharmacological adherence. There were three general factors related to treatments adherence, namely socio-economic factor, treatments-related factor and disease-related factor. The findings showed that both qualitative and quantitative studies found consistent results for most of the factors, except for the experience of diseases symptoms. Both study design contribute important values to the adherence studies and future studies should incorporate both quantitative and qualitative studies to understand adherence in both pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments.
Introduction: The home environment plays an influential role in affecting dietary and physical activity practices of children. This study aimed to determine the association between the home environment, dietary practice and physical activity among primary school children in Selangor. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in five primary schools selected using multistage stratified sampling. A total of 293 children (32.8% males and 67.2% females) (mean age of 11.0±0.9 years) and their parents (10.7% fathers and 89.3% mothers) completed the study. Dietary practice of the children was assessed using a two-day dietary recall. Energy expenditure and physical activity of the children were assessed using a two-day physical activity recall. Parents of the children completed the Home Environment Survey (HES). Results: The mean energy intake of the children was 1765±416 kcal/day with 75.0% not achieving the Malaysian Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI) for energy. Almost all children (96.5%) were physically inactive, with a mean energy expenditure of 1269±342 kcal/day. High availability of fruit/vegetable at home was associated with high vegetable intake (r=0.128, p