Characterizing Employees with Primary and Secondary Caregiving Responsibilities: Informal Care Provision in Malaysia.

There is a need to determine the extent to which Malaysian employees reconcile both paid employment and informal care provision. We examined data from the Malaysia's Healthiest Workplace via AIA Vitality Online Survey 2019 (N = 17,286). A multivariate multinomial regression was conducted to examine characteristics for the following groups: primary caregiver of a child or disabled child, primary caregiver of a disabled adult or elderly individual, primary caregiver for both children and elderly, as well as secondary caregivers. Respondent mean age ± SD was 34.76 ± 9.31, with 49.6% (n = 8573), identifying as either a primary or secondary caregiver to at least one child under 18 years, an elderly individual, or both. Males (n = 6957; 40.2%) had higher odds of being primary caregivers to children (OR 2.06; 95% CI 1.85-2.30), elderly (OR 1.24; 95% CI 1.09-1.41) and both children and elderly (OR 1.87; 95% CI 1.57-2.22). However, males were less likely to be secondary caregivers than females (OR 0.61; 95% CI 0.53-0.71). Our results highlight the differences in characteristics of employees engaged in informal care provision, and to a lesser degree, the extent to which mid-life individual employees are sandwiched into caring for children and/or the elderly.

Validation and reliability of the Bahasa Malaysia language version of the Acceptance of Illness Scale among Malaysian patients with cancer.

Cancer is a life-threatening disease, and the challenges in accepting the diagnosis can bring a devastating emotional impact on the patient's mental and psychological wellbeing. Issues related to illness acceptance among cancer patients are not well studied in Malaysia. To date, the Acceptance of Illness Scale has not been translated to the Malay language (Bahasa Malaysia) nor validated for use in the oncology setting. The objective of the study is to translate, validate and determine the reliability of the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Acceptance of Illness Scale among Malaysian patients with cancer. A total of 129 patients newly diagnosed with cancer were consecutively sampled and the scale was administered via face-to-face interviews. A pilot test (n = 30) was conducted and test-retest reliability was determined. The Bartlett Test of Sphericity was statistically significantly (p<0.001), while the Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy was adequate at 0.84. Scale item mean scores ranged between 3.02 and 4.33, while the item-total correlation ranged between 0.50 to 0.66 (p<0.05). The internal reliability coefficient was 0.84. The test-retest reliability indicated a high correlation, r = 0.94 with p = 0.001. The Bahasa Malaysia version of the Acceptance of Illness Scale is a valid and reliable instrument that is appropriate for use in Malaysian patients with cancer. Use of this scale to assess illness acceptance among the Malay-speaking patients with cancer can act as a guide for delivery of psycho-oncological services to help patients have a better mental wellbeing and life adjustment in living with cancer.

How many roads must a Malaysian walk down? Mapping the accessibility of radiotherapy facilities in Malaysia.

BACKGROUND: The accessibility to radiotherapy facilities may affect the willingness to undergo treatment. We sought to quantify the distance and travel time of Malaysian population to the closest radiotherapy centre and to estimate the megavoltage unit (MV)/million population based on the regions. MATERIALS & METHODS: Data for subdistricts in Malaysia and radiotherapy services were extracted from Department of Statistics Malaysia and Directory of Radiotherapy Centres (DIRAC). Data from DIRAC were validated by direct communication with centres. Locations of radiotherapy centres, distance and travel time to the nearest radiotherapy were estimated using web mapping service, Google Map. RESULTS: The average distance and travel time from Malaysian population to the closest radiotherapy centre were 82.5km and 83.4mins, respectively. The average distance and travel were not homogenous; East Malaysia (228.1km, 236.1mins), Central (14.4km, 20.1mins), East Coast (124.2km, 108.8mins), Northern (42.9km, 42.8mins) and Southern (36.0km, 39.8mins). The MV/million population for the country is 2.47, East Malaysia (1.76), Central (4.19), East Coast (0.54), Northern (2.40), Southern (2.36). About 25% of the population needs to travel >100 km to get to the closest radiotherapy facility. CONCLUSION: On average, Malaysians need to travel far and long to reach radiotherapy facilities. The accessibility to radiotherapy facilities is not equitable. The disparity may be reduced by adding centres in East Malaysia and the East Coast.