Health related quality of life among Iraqi immigrants settled in Malaysia.

BACKGROUND: Migrants everywhere face several demands for health and maintaining good health and quality of life could be challenging. Iraqis are the second largest refugee group that has sought refuge in the recent years, yet little is known about their health related quality of life (HRQOL). The study aims at assessing the HRQOL among Iraqis living in Malaysia. METHODS: A self-administered Arabic version of Sf-36 questionnaire was distributed among 300 Iraqi migrants in Malaysia. The questionnaire taps eight concepts of physical and mental health to assess the HRQOL. Univariate analysis was performed for group analysis (t test, ANOVA) and Multiple Linear Regression was used to control for confounding effects. RESULTS: Two hundred and fifty three participants ranging in age from 18 to 67 years (Mean = 33.6) returned the completed questionnaire. The majority was males (60.1%) and more than half of the respondents (59.5%) were married. Less than half (45.4%) and about a quarter (25.9%) reported bachelor degree and secondary school education respectively and the remaining 28.7% had either a master or a PhD degree.Univariate analysis showed that the HRQOL scores among male immigrants were found to be higher than those of females in physical function (80.0 vs. 73.5), general health (72.5 vs. 60.7) and bodily pain (87.9 vs. 72.5) subscales. The youngest age group had significantly higher physical function (79.32) and lower mental health scores (57.62).The mean score of physical component summary was higher than the mental component summary mean score (70.22 vs. 63.34).Stepwise multiple linear regression, revealed that gender was significantly associated with physical component summary (ß = - 6.06, p = 0.007) and marital status was associated with mental component summary (ß = 7.08, p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: From the data it appears that Iraqi immigrants living in Malaysia have HRQOL scores that might be considered to indicate a relatively moderate HRQOL. The HRQOL is significantly affected by gender and marital status. Further studies are needed to explore determinants of HRQOL consequent to immigration. The findings could be worthy of further exploration.

The Malaysia DREEM: perceptions of medical students about the learning environment in a medical school in Malaysia.

BACKGROUND: Students' perceptions of their learning environment, by defining its strengths and weaknesses, are important for continuous improvement of the educational environments and curriculum. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore students' perceptions of their learning environment, among medical students in Malaysia. Various aspects of the education environment were compared between year levels and sex. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Management and Science University, Shah Alam, Malaysia in 2012. A total number of 438 medical students participated in this study, and the response rate was 87.6%. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Comparisons of the mean scores of Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) subscales were calculated. The t-test was used to determine statistically significant differences. RESULTS: The majority of the study participants were female, Malay, and from year 3 (68.7%, 65.3%, and 55.7%; respectively). Analysis of each of the 50 items of the DREEM inventory showed that 47 items scored ranged between 2.00 and 3.00, and three items scored below 2.00. These were identified as problem areas in this medical school that are required to be critically addressed. The overall score showed that the medical students' perceptions were positive. The students' perception toward educational environment was positive for all five DREEM subscales. CONCLUSION: The study found that, in general, the perceptions of the participants about the learning environment were positive. Nevertheless, the study also found there is a need for curriculum improvement in this school and identified priority areas for such improvement.