Health literacy is an indicator of a society’s ability to make better health judgements for themselves and the people around them. This study investigated the prevalence of health literacy among Malaysian adults and provided an overall picture of the society’s current health literacy status, which has not been previously assessed. The study also highlighted socio-demographic markers of communities with limited health literacy that may warrant future intervention. A population-based self-administered survey using the Health Literacy Survey Malaysian Questionnaire18 (HLS-M-Q18) instrument was conducted as part of the National Health Morbidity Survey 2019 in Malaysia. The nationwide survey utilized a two-staged stratified random sampling method. A sample of 9478 individuals aged 18 and above, drawn from the living quarter list, participated in the study. The health literacy score was divided into three levels; limited, sufficient, and excellent. Findings showed a majority of the Malaysian population had a sufficient health literacy level in all three domains—healthcare, diseases prevention and health promotion (49.1%, 44.2%, and 47.5%, respectively)—albeit leaning towards the lower end of the category with an average score of 35.5. The limited health literacy groups were prevalent among respondents with older age (68%), lower education level (64.8%), and lower household income (49.5%). The overall health literacy status for Malaysia was categorized at a lower sufficiency level. Future health literacy improvements should focus on communities with a limited health literacy level to improve the overall score.
INTRODUCTION Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are new smoking devices that have gained popularity recently. However, there is limited evidence on e-cigarette consumption in Malaysia. This study aims to determine the prevalence, risk factors and perception associated with e-cigarette use among those attending government hospitals and health clinics in Malaysia. METHODS A cross-sectional hospital-based study was conducted in seven public hospitals and health clinics in Malaysia, which were selected through a two-stage cluster sampling. A validated questionnaire was used to obtain data from the selected participants. Multivariable logistic regression was employed to determine the association between sociodemographics and perceptions of e-cigarette use. RESULTS Almost three-quarters (73.6%; n=923/1254) of participants were aware of e-cigarettes and 13.2% (n=122/923) reported having ever used e-cigarettes. The prevalence was significantly higher among males (18.1%), smokers (21.4%), and younger age group 18–34 years (30.2%). Ever users showed favourable perceptions towards e-cigarettes compared to non-users (23.3% vs 30.14%, p<0.001). Multivariable logistic regression revealed that current smokers, younger age group and those possessing a positive perception towards e-cigarettes were likely to be ever users of e-cigarettes. CONCLUSIONS The study showed that the awareness level of e-cigarettes was high amongst the population but the prevalence of ever e-cigarette user was moderate. Most of the ever e-cigarette users were male, current smokers, young adults and those with favourable perceptions towards e-cigarettes. Therefore, effective health educational activities regarding safe usage of e-cigarettes targeting those group identified in this study are warranted to reduce the negative outcomes from the use of this product.
It is presumed that the level of physical activity (PA) declines during a person’s lifespan, particularly during adolescence. The main objective of this scoping review is to summarize and identify the current literature that addresses contributing factors related to adolescent physical inactivity. This scoping review was carried out using the framework suggested by Arskey and O'Malley. The literature review was undertaken using the reference period between 2008 and 2014, based primarily on the PubMed, Cochrane and Embase databases. Additional studies have been identified by a manual bibliography search. Search term included adolescent / youth / teenage, factors / determinants /correlations, and physical inactivity/decline exercise. A total of 23 studies met the inclusion criteria. This scoping review found some evidence of the association between physical inactivity and the following variables: Age, sex, socio-economic status, lack of social support from parents, family and friends have had an impact on their motivation to perform PA on a continuous basis. Also, the lack of awareness, attitudes, and practices of individuals themselves for not doing PA has affected their interest in maintaining PA. It is noted that the environment also plays an important role, such as inadequate facilities and facilities, as well as an unsuitable place or setting that is unconducive and a neighbourhood that does not take care of or is aware of a healthy lifestyle, is also a contributing factor to physical inactivity. The decline in PA during adolescence is a consistent finding in the literature. However, PA interventions should be developed through education, family programs, behavioural or environmental and policy changes.
Background Home is a vulnerable place for accidental child injuries. Unintentional injuries are a leading cause of death, hospitalization, and disabilities. These injuries are considered preventable and if not tackled, they will continue to be a persisting problem. Smartphones have become increasingly important in our everyday life and is an important tool not only for communication but also for other purposes—they have apps that can be used for various purposes. Therefore, an app-based intervention (ChildSafe) was developed to assess and reduce child injury at home. Objective This study aimed to evaluate the acceptance of the ChildSafe smartphone app intervention by parents/guardians. Methods This study was conducted using a qualitative exploratory approach on selected participants of the ChildSafe intervention app study. A total of 27 semistructured in-depth interviews were carried out among parents or guardians who have at least one child between the age of 0 and 59 months in the area of Sungai Buloh, Selangor, between November 2017 and March 2018. Interview questions were developed from the consolidated framework for implementation research (CFIR). Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and data were thematically analyzed guided by CFIR. Results The study revealed users’ perception on usability, feasibility, and acceptability toward the ChildSafe app. Three CFIR domains were identified: intervention characteristics, inner setting, and characteristics of individuals. A total of 5 constructs were revealed under intervention characteristics: evidence strength and quality, relative advantage, adaptability, trialability, and design quality and packaging; 2 under inner setting: implementation climate and readiness for implementation; and 4 under characteristics of individuals: knowledge and beliefs about the intervention, self-efficacy, individual stage of change, and other personal attributes. In general, participants felt the app is extremely useful and effective, easy to use, and purposeful in achieving home safety assessment via reminders. The app replaces the need for participants to search for information on home safety and dangers, as the app itself was designed as a tool to assess for this specific purpose. Even at the nascent stage and despite its limitations, the app has prompted users to consider and make changes around their own home. However, future versions of the app should be expanded to make it more attractive to users as it lacks interactive feedback and additional features. Conclusions Parents/guardians are accepting the use of the ChildSafe app to prevent child injury at home. However, further expansion and improvements are needed to increase the acceptability of this app by parents/guardians.
Background Zoonoses among household pets are recognized as disease and infections transmitted between animals and humans. World Health Organization‐estimated zoonotic diseases have contributed about one billion cases of illness and millions of mortalities every year. Despite the emerging and re‐emerging zoonotic disease, most pet owners are unaware of the risks posed by their pets. As there are a lack of studies assessing infections at home, this study aimed to develop and validate a cognitive, affective and behaviour questionnaire (CAB‐ZDQ) to assess household pets’ zoonotic diseases. Methods This paper covers detailed explanation on the various developmental and validation process stages of the CAB zoonotic disease questionnaire development. The development phase comprised thorough literature search, focus group discussion, expert panel assessment and review. The validation process included pre‐test and pilot testing, data analysis of results, analysis of internal consistency and the development of the final version of the questionnaire. Participants selected represented main ethnicities, gender, levels of education and population type (urban/rural) in the Klang Valley area. Results The items in the questionnaire has undergone various changes in structurally and linguistically. The final refined CAB questionnaire consists of 14 items cognitive (no items removed at pilot phase), nine items affective (one item removed at pilot phase) and five items behaviour (no items removed from pre‐test phase), respectively. Reliability analysis revealed Cronbach's alpha values were 0.700 (cognitive) and 0.606 (affective) which indicated good internal consistency after item reduction. Conclusions The developed questionnaire has proved its feasibility in assessing the Malaysian general population cognitive, affective and behavior regarding the household pets’ zoonotic diseases.
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