Health motivations and perceived barriers are determinants of self-care behaviour for the prevention of hypertension in a Malaysian community.

INTRODUCTION: Self-care behaviour is fundamental in preventing hypertension in the general population. According to the Health Belief Model, health beliefs and perceptions influence the success in adopting disease prevention strategies. While factors influencing hypertension self-care behaviour have been examined previously in patient populations, they have not been assessed in the general community. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted between 12 June 2020 to 26 July 2021. An online survey was administered via email and social media to Malaysians in the Selangor and Kuala Lumpur communities. Respondents were over 18 years old, without a formal diagnosis of hypertension. The survey evaluated hypertension knowledge, Health Belief Model constructs, self-care behaviour frequency, and motivators and barriers to self-care behaviour. Multiple linear regression was performed to determine the main predictors of self-care behaviour, and descriptive statistics were used to characterise motivators and barriers of each self-care behaviour. RESULTS: Only health motivations (ß = 0.217, p < 0.001) and perceived barriers (ß = 0.571, p < 0.001) significantly influenced self-care behaviour. Maintaining a healthy diet, regular physical activity and blood pressure checks need to be improved in the community, particularly in reducing salt and calorie intake. Lack of time, limited choices and laziness are the biggest challenges that need to be tackled in adopting a healthy diet and an active lifestyle in the community. Many are ignorant towards their health status, therefore, do not prioritize blood pressure screenings, suggesting a need to enhance community blood pressure checks for early diagnosis of hypertension. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Motivations and barriers were the main determinants of self-care behaviour in the Selangor and Kuala Lumpur community. Targeting these aspects of self-care behaviour should be considered when developing interventions and education programmes tailored to local cultural, environmental and personal factors, to more effectively reduce the hypertension prevalence and burden.

Behavioral Impact on Clinical Specialist Payment Method: A Systematic Review.

Background: With growing healthcare (HC) expenditures and limited funding, policymakers need to find new ways to provide healthcare that is affordable and fair. There are many methods for paying specialists, and the three basic payment methods include fee-for-service (FFS), capitation, and salary. This review focuses on identifying published articles related to the different methods used for paying specialists for their service and further highlights their advantages and disadvantages. Methods: The research was designed and carried out in line with the "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis" (PRISMA) checklist. Five databases were used in the literature search ie: Scopus, Web of Science, Ovid Medline, EBSCOhost, and PubMed in 2020. The search term used revolved around physician, payment method and specialist behavior. Results: Databases were searched electronically using EndNote X9.2, wherein 588 related studies of literature were included. Meanwhile, it went down to 546 related studies after the title and abstract screening was conducted in order to eliminate duplicates. In total, 24 studies were then left to be reviewed in full text; finally, 12 studies were integrated into this analysis after a description of the entire text of the studies. Conclusion: Payment methods can affect physician practice behaviors and the quality of healthcare. The combination of payment methods may, however, combine the benefits of simple payment methods. Where there is not adequate mixing of methods, bonus-for-performance programs may encourage the provision of targeted services. Thus, before a new medical policy is implemented, policymakers must define and empirically examine the positive and negative impacts.

Knowledge of chronic kidney disease among undergraduate and postgraduate students in a public university in Klang Valley, Malaysia: A cross sectional study.

The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) risk factors such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and obesity among the young Malaysians are increasing. Understanding the factors associated with CKD knowledge could assists healthcare providers to design health education programmes. There are scarce local studies on CKD knowledge and its associated factors among university students. This subpopulation comprises of young people with diverse background and characteristics. This study was aimed to assess the CKD knowledge and its associated factors among university students. A cross-sectional study was conducted among Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia students from July 2020 to August 2020. A convenience sampling method was applied. All students were invited to complete an online survey using Google Forms that were sent to their email. The survey consisted of questions related to their sociodemographic, socioeconomics, university programme enrolled, medical history, lifestyle characteristics and CKD knowledge. The data were analysed using SPSS Statistics 26.0. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the final associated factors after controlling for confounders. A total of 3074 students participated and 32.6% of them had below average CKD knowledge. Students of male gender, enrolment in undergraduate programmes and non-health-related faculties/institutes were more likely to have below average CKD knowledge. Students who are Chinese, from high monthly household income family and with family history of CKD were less likely to have below average CKD knowledge. Almost one-third of the students had below average CKD knowledge. The six associated factors with CKD knowledge were non-modifiable. Of the six factors, three were associated with students being more likely to have below average CKD knowledge; another three were associated with students being less likely to have below average CKD knowledge. Future health education programmes to enhance CKD knowledge should be designed focusing on students who are more likely to have below average CKD knowledge.

Susceptibility to e-cigarette initiation among tobacco product naïve adolescents in Malaysia: Findings from the tobacco and e-cigarette survey among Malaysian adolescents (TECMA).

INTRODUCTION: Predicting susceptibility to e-cigarette (EC) initiation among adolescents is crucial to optimize preventive measures before the health risk behavior persists through adulthood. The identification of susceptible groups is needed in response to the surge of EC use. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and determinants associated with EC susceptibility among tobacco product naïve (never users of any single tobacco product) school-going adolescents in Malaysia. METHODS: Data were derived from the Tobacco and EC Survey among Malaysians (TECMA), which recruited a total of 13162 school-going adolescents aged 10- 19 years from 138 randomly selected schools via a two-stage stratified cluster sampling design. A validated self-administered questionnaire adapted from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey was utilized as the study instrument. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 22.0 descriptively and with multivariable logistic regression to determine the associated factors of EC susceptibility. RESULTS: About 15.7% of the tobacco naïve adolescents were susceptible to EC initiation, with the proportion of susceptibility significantly higher among males, mid-adolescents, rural adolescents, those reporting exposure to tobacco advertisement and those not taught in school about the danger of tobacco use. Multivariable logistic regression revealed that the male students (AOR=2.20; 95% CI: 1.86-2.59) from a rural locality (AOR=1.45; 95% CI: 1.23-1.71), those reporting no lessons on the danger of tobacco use at school (AOR=1.66; 95% CI: 1.39-1.99) and those exposed to tobacco advertisement (AOR=1.67; 95% CI: 1.07-2.61), were more susceptible to EC initiation, while no significant association was found between secondhand smoke exposure and EC susceptibility. CONCLUSIONS: Comprehensive EC preventive strategies are critically needed together with the implementation of targeted, gender, and culturally impressionable interventions. In addition, future studies should focus on the evaluation of the impacts of the preventive and control efforts to ensure their effectiveness in preventing EC initiation among Malaysian adolescents.

Clinical Characteristics of Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a Teaching Hospital in Malaysia.

INTRODUCTION: Information on the clinical characteristics of local patients with confirmed COVID-19 is limited. This study aims to report the clinical characteristics of 147 patients admitted and receiving treatment at a teaching hospital. METHODOLOGY: Patients' socio-demographic and epidemiological data, clinical features, laboratory findings and clinical outcomes were extracted using a data sheet. RESULTS: The median patient age was 25 [interquartile range (IQR)] 20-44) years, and most of patients were male (68.7%) and of Malaysian nationality (88.4%). Almost half of the patients were from a case cluster related to a religious event (48.3%) and 12.9% had a history of overseas travel. A total of 33.3% of patients were not related to any case cluster, i.e. sporadic cases. Radiological investigation showed that 13.6% of the patients had chest X-ray changes and all laboratory parameters were within the normal ranges. Sixty-six patients (44.9%) experienced symptoms. The most common symptoms were rhinitis (66.7%), followed by fever (19.7%) and cough (15.2%). Age, gender, case cluster, comorbidity status, haemoglobin, albumin, total protein, bilirubin total and alkaline phosphatase level were associated with symptomatic status. CONCLUSIONS: In this single-centre study, COVID-19 infection led not only to case clusters, but also to sporadic infections, with patients being either symptomatic or asymptomatic. These sporadic cases and asymptomatic patients may hamper effective contact tracing, leading to rapid human-to-human transmission in our population. Future studies on the prevalence and clinical significance of asymptomatic and presymptomatic COVID-19 patients would pre-emptively address issues on further containment of the pandemic.

The Covid Impact to Public Healthcare Utilization Among Urban Low-Income Subsidized Community in Klang Valley Malaysia.

BACKGROUND: Appropriate level of healthcare utilization is one of the aims in translating health system inputs into improving the outcome of population health. Healthcare utilization services in Malaysia remains relatively low as compared to the rate in most high-income countries and some gaps exist across socioeconomic status. After the financial handouts deemed Household Living Aid (HLA) to low-income earners, Malaysia has recently implemented a financial health protection scheme toward for low-income group known as PeKa B40 to improve their access for healthcare services. This study aims to determine the healthcare utilization among the low-income population living in urban Klang Valley, and to explore the relationship between healthcare utilization with the demographic characteristics of this population. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study using face to face structured questionnaire. All 447 respondents included were low-income earners enrolled in the HLA. Chi-square analysis and multiple logistic regression were used to examine association between the risk factors and healthcare utilization. RESULTS: The response rate was 93.5%. The healthcare utilization among the respondents during the partial lockdown period was 19.5% and 33.1% during the recovery lockdown period. Enrollment in the PeKa B40 scheme among the 7.6% respondents was not associated with healthcare utilization. After controlling for the variables, those aged 60 years and above [AOR: 1.87; 95% (CI): (1.07; 3.27)], self-rated poor health status [AOR: 2.16; 95% (CI): (1.07; 4.34)], having NCDs [AOR: 4.21; 95% (CI): (2.23; 7.94)], and being hospitalized in the past 12 months [AOR: 3.54; 95% (CI): (1.46; 8.62)], were more likely to utilize healthcare services as compared to their counterparts. CONCLUSION: The results from this study is valuable for policy recommendations to improve on the coverage of the PeKa B40 scheme and healthcare access for the low-income population especially during the pandemic.

Validation of Occupational Zoonotic Disease Questionnaire Using Fuzzy Delphi Method.

Objective: The Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) is one of the phases in Design and Development Research (DDR). It is a systematic method for tool development and validation. This article aims to validate an occupational zoonotic disease questionnaire using this technique. DDR is applied going through phase 1 (needs analysis), phase 2 (development and design), and phase 3 (usability).Method: In phase 1, information about safe work practices and occupational zoonotic exposure was obtained from discussions to verify predetermined domains as stated in The National Park Service survey on zoonotic disease exposure and risk. In phase 2, agreement from 14 experts about the domains was obtained using the FDM. In phase 3, a cognitive debriefing was performed to determine its usability for future studies. A total of five superior domains were verified, and their items were adapted. All domains and their items were submitted to experts to obtain consensus agreement.Results: A total of 31 (96.9%) passed the Triangle of Fuzzy Numbers and Defuzzification process with acceptable consensus agreement (78.8-91.9%) and threshold d value (0.07-0.14). Only four veterinarians were needed for cognitive debriefing to achieve the point of saturation.Conclusion: FDM in DDR is suitable to be applied by various professions for tool validation, as it is doable and cost and time effective. The Occupational Zoonotic Disease Questionnaire is now ready to be used for future studies in Malaysia.

Understanding Myths in Pregnancy and Childbirth and the Potential Adverse Consequences: A Systematic Review.

The trend of choosing natural birth at home without proper supervision is gaining more attention and popularity in Malaysia. This is partly due to wrong beliefs of modern medical care. It prompts the need to explore further into other myths and wrong beliefs present in communities around the world surrounding pregnancy and childbirth that may lead to harmful consequences. A total of 25 literatures were selected and reviewed. The most reported wrong belief is the eating behaviour such as avoiding certain nutritious fruits besides eating saffron to produce fairer skinned babies which in fact contains high doses of saffron that may lead to miscarriage. The most worrying myth however, is that unregulated birth attendants such as doulas have the necessary knowledge and skills to manage complications in labour which may well end up in perinatal or even maternal death. Other myths suggested that modern medical care such as vaginal examinations and baby's heart monitoring in labour as unnecessary. A well-enforced health education programme by well-trained healthcare personnel besides sufficient number of antenatal care visits are needed to overcome these myths, wrong beliefs and practices. In conclusion, potential harmful beliefs and practices in pregnancy and childbirth are still abound in today's communities, not just in least developed and developing countries but also in developed countries. Women and children are two very vulnerable groups, therefore debunking myths and eliminating harmful practices should be one of a healthcare provider priority especially those in the primary care settings as they are the closest to the community.

Risk Factors and Prediction of Leptospiral Seropositivity Among Dogs and Dog Handlers in Malaysia.

This study determined the potential risk factors that may contribute to seropositivity among dogs and dog handlers from working dog and dog shelter institutions. Data was collected from dogs (n = 266) and dog handlers (n = 161) using a standardised guided questionnaire. Serum obtained from the dogs and dog handlers was tested using the microscopic agglutination test (MAT). A logistic regression analysis was used to predict leptospiral seropositivity of dogs and dog handlers based on potential risk factors. A total of 22.2% of dogs and 21.7% of dog handlers were seropositive. The significant predictors for the dogs' seropositivity were presence of rats (OR = 4.61 (95% CI: 1.05, 20.33), p = 0.043) and shared common area (OR = 5.12 (95% CI: 1.94, 13.46), p = 0.001) within the organisation. Significant predictor for dog handler seropositivity was contact time with the dogs of more than six hours/day (OR = 3.28 (95% CI: 1.28, 8.40), p = 0.013) after controlling for the effect of other risk factors such as small mammal contact, rat infestation at home, flooding at housing area (within three months) and urban locality. The exposure to various disease sources identified poses risk to dogs and dog handlers. Risk could be reduced with adequate application of protection at work while handling dogs and thus limiting contact with these sources and reducing exposure to infection.

Glycaemic control and associated factors among patients with diabetes at public health clinics in Johor, Malaysia.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of glycaemic control and factors associated with poor glycaemic control [glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) ≥6.5%] among patients with type 2 diabetes treated in public health clinics in Johor, Malaysia. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: A review of all patients aged over 18 years and with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes for >1 year. The National Diabetic Registry was used as the database for attendees at public health clinics in Johor Bahru between January and December 2013. A required sample of 660 was calculated, and a random sampling method was applied to acquire patient information across the 13 public health clinics in Johor Bahru. All relevant information (e.g. HbA1c, type of treatment and other parameters for glycaemic control) were abstracted from the registry. RESULTS: Sixty-eight percent of 706 patients had HbA1c >6.5%, and mean HbA1c was 7.8%. Younger patients (72.3%) had poorer glycaemic control than older patients (63.0%), and most patients with poor glycaemic control were obese (79.2%). Approximately 31.7% of patients did not achieve the target blood pressure <130/80 mmHg, and 58.5% did not achieve the target lipid profile. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that age (<60 years), sex (male), duration of diabetes (>5 years), body mass index (obese), type of treatment (diet therapy vs combination therapy) and abnormal lipid profile were significantly associated with increased odds of HbA1C >6.5%. CONCLUSIONS: More than half (68%) of the patients with diabetes had HbA1c >6.5%. This highlights the importance of providing organized care to manage patients with diabetes in the primary care setting, such as weight reduction programmes, proper prescribing treatment, and age- and gender-specific groups to ensure good glycaemic control.