Background: Incidences of unassisted home birthing practices have been increasing in Malaysia despite the accessibility to safe and affordable child birthing facilities. We aimed to explore the reasons for women to make such decisions. Methods: Twelve women participated in in-depth interviews. They were recruited using a snowballing approach. The interviews were supported by a topic guide which was developed based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour and previous literature. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Women in this study described a range of birthing experiences and personal beliefs as to why they chose unassisted home birth. Four themes emerged from the interviews; i) preferred birthing experience, ii) birth is a natural process, iii) expressing autonomy and iv) faith. Such decision to birth at home unassisted was firm and steadfast despite the possible risks and complications that can occur. Giving birth is perceived to occur naturally regardless of assistance, and unassisted home birth provides the preferred environment which health facilities in Malaysia may lack. They believed that they were in control of the birth processes apart from fulfilling the spiritual beliefs. Conclusions: Women may choose unassisted home birth to express their personal views and values, at the expense of the health risks. Apart from increasing mothers' awareness of the possible complications arising from unassisted home births, urgent efforts are needed to provide better birth experiences in healthcare facilities that resonate with the mothers' beliefs and values.
IntroductionThe concepts of health, illness, and disability as well as the perceptions of autism and quality of life (QoL) vary greatly across cultures and across time. This study sought to explore the interplay of culture on QoL and impact on parents caring for autistic children.MethodsWe used a transcultural dataset from seven countries (Australia, Hungary, Malaysia, Romania, Singapore, Spain, and the United Kingdom) with participating parents/carers reporting on the Quality of Life in Autism (QoLA) questionnaire. The QoLA questionnaire is a validated measure of QoL for parents of autistic children, with Part A subscale measuring parental QoL and part B subscale assessing the parental impact of the child’s autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms or features. We used the Quade’s ranked analysis of covariance to determine significant differences between the countries in relation to QoLA Part A and Part B scores while adjusting for baseline differences using covariates such as parents’ gender, child’s age, and gender. Additionally, a post-hoc analysis with Bonferroni correction was also conducted to examine multiple pairwise comparisons.Results and conclusionWe found that while the effect of features of ASD (Part B subscale) stayed strongly comparable between cultures, the self-reported parental QoL was most likely determined by different aspects of culture in different countries. It is concluded that while the ASD symptoms or features appear to affect parents in the same way across different countries, the parental QoL may be a culturally informed construct.
Caring for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) negatively impacts quality of life (QoL). This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the factors associated with perceived QoL and how problematic a child’s autism-specific difficulties are among the main caregivers of children with ASD who attend specialized preschool programs at the National Autism Society of Malaysia and IDEAS Autism Centre located in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. Utilizing the questions from Parts A and B of the Quality of Life in Autism Questionnaire (QoLA), the data from 116 responders were analyzed using univariate and multivariate linear regression. The mean scores of Part A and Part B were 88.55 ± 17.25 and 56.55 ± 12.35, respectively. The QoL was significantly associated with staying in an apartment/flat −11.37 (95%CI: −19.52, −1.17, p = 0.008), main caregivers attending two training sessions 10.35 (95%CI: 1.17, 19.52, p = 0.028), and more than three training sessions 13.36 (95%CI: 2.01, 24.70, p = 0.022). Main caregiver perceptions of their child’s autistic-specific difficulties were significantly associated with not receiving additional help for childcare: no maid −13.54 (95%CI: −24.17, −12.91, p = 0.013); no grandparent −8.65 (95%: −14.33, −2.96, p = 0.003); and main caregivers not having asthma 8.44 (95%CI: 0.02, 16.86, p = 0.049). These identified factors can be considered to inform main caregivers and health care providers on targeted ways to improve the QoL of main caregivers.
Background: Addressing individuals’ motivation to lose weight among patients with morbid obesity is an essential entity in weight reduction. Failures to shift motivation into weight loss actions are common. These could be contributed by the inadequacy to identify and subsequently address the key reasons, that are of particular concern to the patient' individual needs. We aimed to understand the motivations better and identify the reasons why morbidly obese patients attending hospital-based weight management programmes (WMP) wanted to lose weight. Methods: The study used a qualitative approach to analyze part of a quantitative questionnaire of a more extensive study to understand factors influencing weight loss among morbidly obese patients. We used thematic content analysis to analyze responses from a self-administered open-ended question "What is the main factor why you want to lose your weight?”. A total of 225 new patients attending obesity clinics in two tertiary hospitals responded to the questionnaire. Results: Patients’ mean BMI was 45.6±8.05 kg/m2. Four themes emerged for the reasons why morbidly obese patients wanted to lose weight. Health was the most commonly inferred theme (84%). Patients were concerned about the impact obesity had on their health. Overcoming obesity was seen as a reward not just for physical health, but also for their psychological wellbeing. Patients regard being functional to care for themselves, their family members, as well as their religious and career needs as the next most crucial theme (25.8%). Patients raised the theme appearance (12.9%), especially with regards to wanting to look and feel beautiful. The last theme was perceived stigmatization for being morbidly obese as they were mocked and laughed at for their appearance (3.1%).Conclusion: Patients with morbid obesity in this study had expressed their main personal motivational reasons to lose weight. Concerns about the impact of morbid obesity on health, physical, social and obligatory function, appearance and perceived stigma warrant detailed exploration by the managing health professionals. Identifying and addressing these unique personal motivations in a focused approach is vital at the beginning and throughout a weight reduction program in this unique group.
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