Prevalence and impact of physical disability on Malaysian school-aged children: a population-based survey.

PURPOSE: To determine the magnitude and impact of physical disability on Malaysian school-aged children between 7 and less than 18 years old. METHOD: Cross-sectional population-based household interview with two-stage stratified sampling design. SETTING: The Malaysian Third National Health of Morbidity Survey, 2006. RESULTS: Overall prevalence of physical disability was 2.8 per 1000 population among children aged between 7 and less than 18 years old. The commonest cause was congenital, in 61.5% of the affected children. Slightly more than a third of these children with physical disability were partially or totally dependent on their caregivers in the various areas of self care (37.4%) and mobility (34.9%). We also found that the more severe the physical disability, the more adverse impact it had on the functional independence and community participation of these children. Among these children, almost 40% of them had no verbal communication, 31.5% had not attended formal education and 21% were housebound. CONCLUSION: This population-based survey on physical disability among school-aged children highlighted the key areas where physical disability can greatly impact on the child's function. It has identified the areas of needs that require multisectoral involvement and commitment from the government, non-government and private agencies.

Estimates of the burden of rotavirus disease in Malaysia.

BACKGROUND: Accurate national estimates of the disease burden associated with rotavirus diarrhea are essential when considering implementation of a rotavirus vaccination program. We sought to estimate rotavirus disease-associated morbidity and mortality in Malaysia, using available sources of information. METHODS: We analyzed national data from the Ministry of Health (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) to derive rates of hospitalization, clinic visits, and deaths related to acute gastroenteritis (AG) among children <5 years of age. The number of events attributable to rotavirus infection was estimated by multiplying age-stratified rates of detection of rotavirus from 2 hospital surveillance sites by national data. RESULTS: In 1999 and 2000, an average of 13,936 children (1 in 187 children) were hospitalized annually for AG. Surveillance of visits to outpatient clinics for AG identified an average of 60,342 such visits/year between 1998 and 2000. The AG-associated mortality rate was 2.5 deaths/100,000 children. On the basis of the finding that 50% of children were hospitalized for rotavirus diarrhea, we estimated that 1 in 61 children will be hospitalized for rotavirus disease and that 1 in 37 children will seek treatment as an outpatient. CONCLUSIONS: Among Malaysian children, there is a significant burden associated with AG- and rotavirus disease-related hospitalizations and outpatient visits, and this burden potentially could be prevented by the use of rotavirus vaccines.