With advances in medicine, more and more premature infants who require round-the-clock nursing care due to one or more complex medical conditions are able to survive after receiving intensive treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The increased survival rate has resulted in a higher incidence of morbidity that may impose emotional and financial burdens on families, society and the healthcare system. This paper explores the experiences of mothers with premature babies who were admitted to a NICU. A generic qualitative approach was used to gain insights into the effects of the premature baby admission to a NICU through tape recorded semi structured open-ended questions interviews with 17 mothers whose premature babies were admitted to a NICU. Inductive thematic analysis was used to identify, analyse, and report themes and patterns within the data. Qualitative analysis of the descriptive data obtained from 17 mothers identified four major themes and 13 sub themes relating to avoidance, effects of the separation, ceremonies and inadequate preparation. The findings have several implications for practice by care professionals. It can help nurses to develop interventions to prepare mothers to cope with new situations, decreasing stress and psychological problems regarding the admission of their infants to the NICU.
Introduction: The numbers of male lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and sexual dysfunction (SD) are increasing worldwide including Malaysia. Both disorders caused significant effects on quality of life. Most men assume both disorders as age-related problem and opt to go untreated. Exploring the prevalence of both disorders and their effects on males’ quality of life in Sarawak by nurses is highly relevant. There has to be a significant change in the way these two health problems are assessed and managed by the nurses often with little or no medical participation. This study was aimed to determine the occurrence of LUTS and SD in men, and their effects on quality of life in Sarawak. Methods: A cross-sectional, survey-based study was used involving 162 male outpatients of age 40 years, recruited at outpatient clinics in Sarawak General Hospital. Questionnaires on International Prostate Symptoms Score; Danish Prostatic Symptoms Score-Sex and International Index for Erectile Function; and quality of life - Short Form-36 were given to eligible participants. Results: Results revealed that the occurrence of moderate to severe LUTS among male respondents attending non-urological clinics were14.8% and most common in 60-69 years old males. 84.6% of them experienced nocturia. 47.83% had severe erectile dysfunction and most common in 70-79 years old males. LUTS were also positively associated with erectile dysfunction. However, the findings on quality of life showed that both diseases were negatively associated with physical and mental composite summaries in Short Form-36. Con- clusions: The results implied that prevalence of both disorders and their effects on men’s quality of life is significant and have impacts on clinical practice. Contributing factors to male LUTS and SD were identified and need to be addressed accordingly to minimise the occurrence and complications of both disorders to men.
Introduction: Illness perceptions involve personal beliefs that patients have about their illness and may influence health behaviour considerably. This preliminary study evaluates the understanding of illness perception among cardiac patients’ and correlations of each of the items. Methods: A preliminary study was conducted using the on Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ) in a tertiary hospital among 40 cardiac patients. Ethical approval was obtained from the institution ethical committee. There are 9 items in the BIPQ with 0-10 response scale measuring causal factors and an open-ended item. Items 1 to 5 assesses on the cognitive illness perception which comprises of consequences, timeline, personal control, treatment control and identity. Item 6 and 8 are on emotional response and item 7 is on coherence. Results: The overall mean score of the 8 items of BIPQ was 7.04 (1.07) with the highest mean for item 4 on treatment control and item 6 on personal control at 8.02 (0.92) and 7.03 (1.77) respectively while the lowest mean was item 7 on understanding at 6.63 (1.83). The causal factor for the open-ended question was mostly on consumption of fatty food intake, sedentary lifestyle and stress at work. Perceiving personal control was significantly being affected by perceiving treatment control for the cardiac disease (r=0.50) and being concerned about their cardiac symptoms was significantly related to perceiving consequences of the disease (r =0.54), perceiv- ing identity (r=0.75) and perceiving emotional control (r=0.67). Perceiving emotional control on their symptoms was significantly related to perceived consequences on cardiac disease (r=0.51), perceived identity (r=0.53) and perceived concern on cardiac disease (r=0.67). Conclusion: The results shown significant correlations with relevant outcomes measures. It is useful in clinical practice to assess and potentially modify patient’s perceptions on under- standing, emotional control, personal control, consequences and perceived concerned over their cardiac disease.
Introduction: Determination of learning needs is central for holistic patient education, to sustain behavior changes and to control patient’s risk factor. However, patients often sense that their learning needs are unmet and informa- tion provided was too general. Thus, this study aimed to determine the perceived learning needs and their level of importance among Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) patients. Methods: The current investigation is a descriptive, cross-sectional study for which all CAD patients were selected using the cencus method. The data was collected us- ing Cardiac Patients Learning Needs Inventory. The questionnaire was delivered to 140 CAD patients who had their follow-up in a cardiology clinic. The instrument is reliable with a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.96. The study design followed STROBE cross-sectional design process guideline. Results: Participants’ mean age was 58.96 ± 9.42 years. More than half of the participants were males (62.9%), employed (52.0%) and had attained secondary level education (69.3%). Around two-thirds (60.7%) of the patients perceived to have high learning needs. Gender and highest educational achievement were significantly associated with perceived learning needs. The most significant perceived learning needs were medication information, risk factors for CAD, information on diet, physical activity, anatomy and physiology, and other related information. Conclusion: This study has identified the important domains of learning needs among CAD patients. Findings from the present study will provide important input for future cardi- ac educational strategies to reduce the rate of hospital readmission and death.
Family planning is a method of controlling fertility which helps to prevent unwanted pregnancies among couples. Unwanted pregnancy has negative effects for mothers and children. The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of family planning practices among women in Serdang area and associated factors with their family planning practices. A cross sectional study was conducted with a systematic random sampling of 349 women of reproductive age, who attended Sri Kembangan Polyclinic. Descriptive analysis with chi-square and multiple regression analysis were conducted to identify factors associated with the family planning practice. The prevalence of family planning practice was 38.4%. Family planning was significantly associated with age (p=0.001), marital status (p=0.001), mode of delivery of the last pregnancy (p=0.001), number of children (p=0.001), source of information (p=0.004), level of knowledge (p=0.001), and the attitude (p=0.004). Using multiple logistic regression, four factors contributed to family planning practice, were identified as statistically significant: marital status (married OR=40, 95% CI: 9.45, 169.8), religion (Muslim OR=1.9, 95% CI: 1.14, 3.4), number of children (children>4 OR=2.98, 95% CI:1. 74, 5.09) and attitude (positive attitude OR=1.88, 95% CI:1.11, 3.18). The prevalence of family planning practice in Serdang was low even though knowledge was sufficient. The use of pamphlets and booklets are still needed to enhance efforts in health education. Currently, practice on family planning will determine the future structure of the community and the economic wellbeing of a country. Future study should focus on family planning practice among teenager and types of methods for women.
Introduction: There are limited studies conducted on the needs of cancer survivors in developing countries like Malaysia. This qualitative study aimed at exploring the post-treatment impact and needs of prostate cancer survivors.
Methods: A qualitative study design was used. One in-depth interview and four focus group discussions were conducted with 24 prostate cancer survivors (age range: 58-79 years) from government and private hospitals in Malaysia in 2013. Trained researchers used a topic guide to guide the interviews, which were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, checked and managed with Nvivo 10 software. A thematic approach was used to analyse the data.
Results: Three main themes emerged from the analysis: (a) impact of prostate cancer on the survivors, (b) support needed for coping and (c) information needs. Prostate cancer has an important impact on the survivors' lifestyle after treatment. Some of them have to live with the post-treatment side effects. They were anxious about the possibility of relapse. In addition to family and peer support, there were participants who felt that spiritual support was important in helping them cope with the possibility of relapse. The survivors felt that they did not receive enough information about post-treatment care, dietary measures and supplements for relapse prevention, treatment and prognosis.
Conclusion: Prostate cancer has a significant impact on the survivor's lifestyle, emotional and physical health. They need information and emotional support from the healthcare professionals, family and peers. Therefore, it is important for healthcare providers to explore the needs of prostate cancer survivors and provide the necessary support.