The application of artificial intelligence (AI) is on the rise in the healthcare industry. However, the study on the physicians’ perspectives is still lacking.  The study aimed to examine physicians’ attitudes, expectations, and concerns regarding the application of AI in medicine. A cross-sectional study was conducted in October 2019 among physicians in a tertiary teaching hospital in Malaysia. The survey used a validated questionnaire from the literature, which covered: (1) socio-demographic profile; (2) attitude towards the application of AI; (3) expected application in medicine; and (4) possible risks of using AI. Comparison of the mean score between the groups using a t-test or one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). A total of 112 physicians participated in the study: 64.3% from the clinical departments; 35.7% from the non-clinical specialties. The physicians from non-clinical departments had significantly higher mean attitude score (mean = 14.94 ± 3.12) compared to the clinical (person-oriented) departments (mean = 14.13 ± 3.10) and clinical (technique-oriented) departments (mean = 13.06 ± 2.88) (p = 0.033). The tech-savvy participants had a significantly higher mean attitude score (mean = 14.72 ± 3.55) than the non–tech-savvy participants (mean = 13.21 ± 2.46) (p = 0.01). There are differences in the expectations among the respondents and some concerns exist especially on the legal aspect of AI application in medicine. Proper training and orientation should precede its implementation and must be appropriate to the physicians’ needs for its utilization and sustainability.

Introduction Globally, stroke continues to become a significant public health issue contributing to one of the significant causes of morbidity and mortality. The study aimed to describe the characteristics of patients with stroke who were admitted to a teaching hospital in Malaysia and to determine the factors associated with length of stay (LOS). Methods This is a single-center, cross-sectional study using in-patient data maintained by the Case-Mix Unit of a teaching hospital in Malaysia from 2016 to 2017. The study included all patients with International Classification of Disease (ICD) code 164 (stroke, not specified as hemorrhage or infarct). The significance of association was determined using nonparametric tests in the form of the Mann-Whitney U test and the Kruskal-Wallis test. Results A total of 162 stroke patients from 2016 to 2017 from Case-Mix database were included in the study. The age ranged from 31 to 97 years old. The minimum and maximum LOS for patients with stroke ranged from 1 to 17 days. The severity of illness was found to be significantly associated with longer LOS (p < 0.001); however, age, sex, and presence of co-morbidities did not show any significant association. Conclusion Despite its limitations, this study is an essential first step to examine the characteristics of patients with stroke and to determine the factors associated with LOS.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 has become a global pandemic with an increasing burden on healthcare. Early recognition of the trend and pattern of the chain of transmission is necessary to slow down the spread. AIM: Therefore, the study aimed to describe the epidemiology of COVID-19 at a local setting. METHODS: A retrospective cross-sectional study was done to all COVID-19 cases registered in Seremban Health District. Statistical analysis, using Chi-square test, was employed to compare the sociodemographic characteristic of COVID-19 patients between the red zone area and the non-red zone area in Seremban. RESULTS: As of April, a total of 214 number of COVID-19 cases reported in Seremban district alone. The trend of cases registered has changed as more asymptomatic infection outnumbered patients with clinical symptoms from the aggressive active case detection (ACD) activity. Majority of the cases affecting Malay ethnicity were due to a large religious gathering event held 1 month earlier than subsequently spread the infection within the community. CONCLUSION: The first wave of COVID-19 cases in Seremban was sudden and unexpected, with a skewed distribution affecting a particular race group regardless red zone area and non-red zone area. Therefore, identifying the pattern of infection in the local community is important for a focused intervention strategy. ACD strategy, isolation of patients, quarantine the exposed, tracking down the close contact, and continuous health promotion and education will ultimately break the chain of transmission.

IntroductionFamily Doctor Concept (FDC) was a program introduced at selected public primary care clinics to strengthen family practice in Malaysia. It is a healthcare delivery system approach that strives to achieve “One Family, One Doctor” concept so that the physicians can provide the population with comprehensive, continuous, collaborative, personal, family- and community-oriented services.Methods and materials We collected qualitative data collection via semi-structured interviews with stakeholders (Policymakers, healthcare providers, state- and clinic-level implementers). The data were analyzed using thematic analysis according to the Consolidated criteria for Reporting Qualitative Studies (COREQ) guideline for reporting the findings.ResultsThe 16 stakeholders who participated in this research agreed that the FDC is an approach to deliver integrated, personalized, family-centered, and comprehensive care to clients. However, there were other macro-level and longer-term objectives, such as mapping diseases and improving accessibility. FDC components were related to the objectives, and variation in the implementation was expected to suit different settings. Generally, the stakeholders disagreed on the input requirement, but all cited human resources as a significant limiting factor. There were numerous expected outcomes, which could be divided into short-, intermediate-, and long-term.ConclusionFDC consists of several change initiatives in a complex health care system whereby the capacity building of human resources is critical in achieving the desired outcomes. Thus, there is an urgent need for multiple stakeholders to reach common understanding and building a workable roadmap for successful implementation.

Introduction: The Family Doctor Concept (FDC) programme was introduced to public primary care clinics in late 2013 as part of the reform agenda in the primary healthcare delivery system. The study aimed to develop a validated and reliable instrument to evaluate the FDC implementation fidelity in primary care clinics. Methods: The instrument, which adapted the concept of patient-centred care (PCC), resulted from a series of expert discussions, a literature search, an FDC guideline, and a review of meeting minutes. A 2-step process was conducted with experts to achieve content and face validity. Consequently, the instrument was piloted in 5 public primary care clinics in Selangor involving 8 trained raters. Inter-rater reliability was estimated using intraclass correlation (ICC), while internal consistency was measured using Kuder–Richardson Formula 20 (KR-20). Results: The final instrument comprises 3 sections (instructions, clinic’s characteristics and assessment items), with Section 3 containing 15 items divided into four components – population registration, formation of a primary care team, integrated treatment, and monitoring and evaluation. The ICC for total score was excellent, 0.981, while the ICCs of the individual component scores were good to excellent (population registration: 0.937, formation of primary care team: 0.742, integrated treatment: 0.996, and monitoring and evaluation: 0.996). The value of KR-20 was 0.615, which was considered adequate. Conclusion: The instrument developed was found to be valid in terms of face and content validity and reliable in measuring the fidelity of FDC implementation with excellent inter-rater reliability.