Introduction: Family planning allows couples to have their desired number of children and optimum birth spacing. While the contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) in Malaysia was reported as 52.2% in 2014, little is known regard- ing the practice of family planning among marginalised groups such as the Orang Asli women. This study aims to determine family planning practice among married Orang Asli women in Sepang district and its associated factors. Methods: A cross sectional study using a pretested questionnaire was conducted in five Orang Asli settlements in Sepang using cluster sampling. Chi-square test and simple logistic regression were used in bivariate analysis, where- as binary logistic regression was used to determine the predictors of family planning practice. Results: 212 (58.4%) participants were current users of family planning, with 68.3% of the users reported using oral contraceptive pills. In the logistic regression models, family planning practice was significantly more common among women who had children (AOR= 43.659, 95% CI: 5.788, 329.323), being housewives (AOR=1.973, 95% CI: 1.205, 3.230) and had higher attitude score (AOR=1.113, 95% CI: 1.006, 1.232). Conclusion: The CPR of current study was about the same as the national CPR in 2014. The predictors of family planning practice among Orang Asli women were having chil- dren, being a housewife and having a better attitude towards family planning. Future intervention to increase the CPR should focus on improving women’s attitude regarding family planning.
Introduction: This article aims to describe the effect of an intervention to promote the practice of voluntary Islamic fasting and its barriers among a group of overweight and obese Muslim women working in the public sector in Malaysia. Materials and methods: In this quasi-experimental study, an intervention to encourage voluntary fasting was delivered in a half day seminar, supported by relevant booklets prepared. A self-administered questionnaire was used to capture data on voluntary fasting practices and its perceived barriers before and four months after the intervention. Data was analysed using Mc Nemar test to compare the proportion before and after the intervention. Significant level was set at p
Introduction: One of the known factors that hindered smoking cessation is nicotine dependence. Measurement of the nicotine dependence is important to better understand cigarette smoking addiction dependence and ways to overcome it. Among methods of nicotine dependence measurement are self-reported Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) and biochemical assessment such as saliva cotinine. Biochemical assessment can be used to measure the accuracy of the self-reported measurement of nicotine dependence. Objective: To explore the correlation between the FTND and the saliva cotinine of the smokers in three different timeline. Methods: A total of 61 male smokers who currently smoke cigarette on daily basis were recruited. The study used the one-group pretest-posttest study design and the data were collected three times. The self-reported measurement were measured by using FTND and the biochemical assessment measured by using saliva cotinine from Saliva Bio oral swab (SOS) with the sensitivity of 0.15ng/ml. Data analysis was conducted by using Pearson correlation. Results: There was a significant association between the FTND score and saliva cotinine level of the smokers at baseline, second and third data collection (p=0.014, p=0.003, p
Introduction: The practice of Pap smear has long been an issue worldwide especially in the developing countries. Malaysia National Health and Morbidity Survey IV reported an uptake of 12.8% in 2011. It was found that Malay women has the lowest prevalence of uptake compared to other major ethnicities in the country. The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of Pap smear practice and its predictors among staff in a public university with majority of Malay ethnicity. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among female staff in a public university in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan using a self-administered and validated questionnaire. All female staff from the seven faculties and the library were invited to participate. Data were analysed using SPSS version 22 for descriptive and inferential statistics, whereby Multiple Logistic Regression were performed to identify the predictors. Results: One-hundred-and eighty-seven respondents participated this study. The prevalence of Pap smear practice was 65.2%, of which, two-thirds (65.6%) had done it within the past three years. Predictors of the practice were higher parity, attending annual medical check-up, husband’s support and positive attitude towards the test. Conclusion: The prevalence of Pap smear uptake among this population is higher than other studies in Malaysia, however, not all of them have done it regularly within 3 yearly interval as suggested by the World Health Organisation.
The role of caregivers is very important in the management of person with dementia, where it is not uncommon for them to experience psychological distress. However, the level of distress can be managed and reduced through stra- tegic educational intervention. A systematic review has been conducted through searching Medline, Science direct, Cochrane library and EMBASE databases to provide a narrative synthesis that elaborate on methods and outcomes of the educational intervention among informal caregiver of person with dementia. From a total of 5125 records, eight studies were selected and included in this review, where the results show that educational intervention can be implemented either as individual or group intervention. Group intervention methods mainly focus on training pro- grams such as workshops and lectures, and also group-based discussions. While for individual intervention, most of the activities were implemented through self-learning using technology or computer-based systems. In conclusion, based on the outcome of the studies, both methods of implementations are found to be useful in reducing psycho- logical distress of the informal caregiver.
Introduction: Pap smear screening may increase the quality of women’s health through early detection of cervical cancer thus providing a better prognosis for women with cervical cancer. While the benefit of Pap smear screening is well documented, the screening uptake among Malaysian women in general was unsatisfactory with only 47.3% being screened. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of Pap smear uptake and its associated factors among Orang Asli women who lives in rural areas in Selangor. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in Hulu Langat and Kuala Langat districts from April to July 2017. Through cluster sampling, five Orang Asli settlements in the two districts were chosen. All women in the selected village aged between 18 to 65 years were invited to participate and interviewed using a structured, pretested questionnaire. Data were analysed using SPSS Version 22. Univariate and bivariate analysis were conducted to identify factors associated with Pap smear uptake among the participants. All hypotheses tests were two-sided and level of significance was set at 0.05. Results: Out of the 147 respondents, 114 (77.6%) had undergone Pap smear for at least once in the past. Women aged more than 35 years (p=0.013) were shown to be significantly more likely to take Pap smear compared to women who were 35 years old and less. There were significant associations between marital status (p
Introduction: Many Malaysians does not engage in regular physical activity. The objective of this study was to determine the factors associated with the level of physical activity among non-academics staff in the Faculty of Medicine
and Health Sciences (FMHS), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). Methods: This was a cross-sectional study using a
self-administered questionnaire consisting socio-demographic, International Physical Activity Questionnaires (short
form) and Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) scales to measure the level of physical activity and association
with psychosocial and environmental factors. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee for Research
Involving Human Subjects (JKEUPM). Data was analysed using the SPSS 20.0. A p value of ≤ 0.05 was considered as
statistically significant. Results: The response rate was 84% or 120 respondents. 68 (56.7%) respondents was found
to have a good level of physical activity. Majority of them were women (70 [58.3%]), aged of < 33 years old (72
[60.0 %]), Malays (113 [94.2%]), and had tertiary education (81[67.5%]). There are significant associations between
socio-demographic factors [gender (p=0.013), age (p=0.025) and level of education (p=0.020)] and environmental
factor (performing physical activity at gymnasium (p=0.021)) with the level of physical activity on univariate analysis.
On multivariate logistic regression, lower educational level (OR 2.96, p=0.016) and performing physical activity at
gymnasium/sport centres (OR 4.66, p= 0.026) were associated with engaging with physical activity. Conclusion: Majority of the respondents have a good level of physical activity. Interventions should be planned for staffs otherwise
identified as not having a good level of physical activity.
Background: Lack of awareness, poor knowledge and attitude regarding cancer have been identified as possible reasons accounting for the late presentation which lead to the poor survival of cancer patients in Malaysia. Method: A cross sectional study was conducted in three traditional Malay villages in Negeri Sembilan among adult males. Those who were already diagnosed with prostate cancer or Non malaysians were excluded from the study. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires which consist of several sections namely socio-demographic, awareness about prostate cancer, sources of information, family history of prostate cancer, lifestyle associated with risk of cancer, knowledge and attitude towards prostate cancer. Data was analysed using SPSS version 22.0. Chisquare test was used to determine associations. Level of significance was set at p
Flood is a natural disaster cause by heavy rainfall and high tide phenomenon. In the event of flood, substantial amount of wastes tend to be moved away and washed with mud that cause the task of waste recovering extremely challenging. The objective of the study was to assess flood victims participation, duration and major problem arise during post flood waste clean-up activity together with respondent’s knowledge and psychological importance in the recovery process. Methods: A cross sectional survey using interview and self-administered questionnaire was conducted involving 150 flood victims in Kuala Krai, Kelantan, who were heavily affected by the recent flood. Results: Respondents participation in the clean-up process was high (N = 126, 84%). Average 1 to 3 months were taken for the clean-up activity. Majority of the respondents had low and moderate satisfaction on the cleaning service provided by the authority (N = 84, 56%). Major problem arises from the past flood waste clean up activity was the biased waste removal process (N = 124, 83%), victims have to find alternative ways for disposal (N = 108, 72%) and the temporary disposal site were located near to the housing area that creates discomfort (N = 105, 70%). The correlation test obtained significant relationship between knowledge and education level (X2 = 0.203, p=0.013). But no significant relationship was obtained between knowledge with gender, age, monthly income, duration of clean-up process, respondents participation and satisfaction. Conclusion: Disaster debris management and disposal is critically important to support the victims in their recovery process.