This was a cross-sectional study to determine the prevalence and characteristics of mother-infant bed-sharing practice in Klang district, Malaysia. Data was collected by face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire for a four month period in 2006. A total of 682 mother-infant pairs attending government health clinics were included in the study. Data regarding socio-demographic characteristics of the mothers, information on the infants, bed-sharing and breastfeeding practices were collected. The mean maternal age was 28.4 +/- 5.1 years while the mean infant gestational age was 38.8 +/- 1.8 weeks. The study showed the prevalence of bed-sharing was 73.5% (95% CI: 70.0, 76.7). In multivariate analysis; area of interview, maternal occupation, family income, breastfeeding and infant birth weight were associated with bed-sharing after adjusted for maternal ethnicity, age, marital status, educational level, parity, infant gender and infant gestational age. In conclusion, bed-sharing is a common practice in Klang district, Malaysia, not specific to ethnicity, but strongly associated with low family income and breastfeeding.
This is a retrospective case control study conducted between 1 January 2005 and 30 June 2006 at the Hospital Tuanku Jaafar, Seremban, Malaysia. The objective was to study the maternal sociodemographics and foetal characteristics associated with premature delivery. There were 387 cases selected universally and 387 controls selected by using systematic random sampling involving every 13 cases. The patients were women who had delivered their babies before 37 completed weeks, while the control were women who had term deliveries during the same period. Data were collected using structured questionnaire through secondary data. Results showed that having multiple pregnancies (OR=8.33, 95% CI: 2.91, 23.84), congenital abnormality (OR=4.6, 95% CI: 0.98, 21.84) and intrauterine growth retardation (OR=15.59, 95% CI: 3.69, 65.82) were the risk factors of premature delivery. Being an ethnic Indian also raised the odds (OR=1.67, 95% CI: 1.14, 2.43) but this was not significant in the multivariate analysis. Other sociodemographic characteristics did not contribute significantly to the risk factors for premature delivery in this sample. In conclusion, foetal characteristics were found to be significantly associated with premature delivery after adjustment for other confounding factors.
Study site: Hospital Tuanku Jaafar, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted in all states of Malaysia with the aim to determine the prevalence of obesity among Malaysians aged fifteen years and above and factors associated. A stratified two-stage cluster sampling design with proportional allocation was used. Trained interviewers using a standardized protocol obtained the weight and height measurements and other relevant information. Subjects with a body mass index >= 30 kg/m2 were labelled as obese. The results show that the overall national prevalence of obesity among Malaysians aged 15 years old and above was 11.7% (95% CI = 11.1 - 12.4%). The prevalence of obesity was significantly higher in females (13.8%) as compared to 9.6% in males (p< 0.0001). Prevalence of obesity was highest amongst the Malays (13.6%) and Indians (13.5%) followed by the indigenous group of "Sarawak Bumiputra" (10.8%) and the Chinese (8.5%). The indigenous group of "Sabah Bumiputra" had the lowest prevalence of 7.3%. These differences are statistically significant (p< 0.0001). Logistic regression analysis results show that there was a significant association between obesity and age, gender, ethnicity urban/rural status and smoking status. The prevalence of obesity amongst those aged >= 18 years old has markedly increased by 280% since the last National Health and Morbidity Survey in 1996.
Study name: National study on Cardio-Vascular Disease Risk Factors 2004