Objective: The rapid expansion of the aged population in Malaysia is expected to greatly increase the number of persons with dementia in the country. However, data on dementia prevalence at the national level is lacking, and little is known about the sociodemographic risk factors and correlates of dementia. This paper describes a nationwide study of dementia prevalence and its sociodemographic risk factors and health correlates among older Malaysians. Methods: In the nationwide study, the Mental Health and Quality of Life of Older Malaysians, AGECAT-GMS was used to diagnose dementia in a nationally representative sample of 2,980 persons aged 60 and above. Results: The prevalence rate of dementia was 14.3%. Higher dementia prevalences were found in oldest age (26.3%), women (19.7%), no formal education (24.1%), Bumiputeras (32.2%), unmarried (19.4%), unemployed (31.3%) and very poor on self-rated health (33.3%). Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that older age, female gender, no formal education, ethnicity and very poor self-rated health were independent risk factors and correlates of dementia. Conclusions: Relatively higher prevalence rates of dementia in older Malaysians were accounted for by greater proportions without education, Malay and Bumiputera ethnicity, and other unknown factors which should be further investigated.

Factors leading to the under utilisation of health care services need to be further studied and needs in certain groups in the population should be addressed. Healthcare providers must be prepared to fulfil these needs.

Introduction: Mental disorders are emerging as serious health threats in both developed and developing nations and contribute to greater Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY) than infectious disease and unintentional injuries. This study aims to determine the prevalence and factors associated with the presence of common mental disorders in the Malaysian population. Methods: Multistage cluster sampling method was used to obtain samples, with racial proportion as the main sampling criteria. Required sample size was calculated to be 4300 at 90% confidence level. Trained enumerators carried out the interview, with the Clinical Interview Scheduled-Revised (CIS-R). Results: A total of 3666 respondents were interviewed (85% response rate). The one-week prevalence of Common Mental Disorders was 5.3% (95% CI of 4.57-6.03%). Findings from multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that associated factors were female gender (adjusted OR = 1.91, P < 0.01), being divorced (adjusted OR = 3.95, P < 0.05), difficulties at workplaces (adjusted OR = 3.58, P < 0.01) experiencing life events, such as divorce/marital separation (adjusted OR = 2.58,P < 0.01), unsolvable financial problems (adjusted OR = 3.87, P < 0.01), and serious problems with friends and neighbours (adjusted OR = 4.35, P < 0.01) in the year prior to data collection. Chinese ethnicity was least likely to be associated with CMD (adjusted OR = 0.27). Discussion: There is a 5% prevalence of Common Mental Disorders in the Malaysian population. Socio-demographic factors and experience of certain life events, particularly divorce, problems with neighbours and friends and severe financial problems in the previous year were found to be significantly associated with the prevalence of common mental disorders.bs_bs_banner Offi cial journal of the Pacifi c Rim College of Psychiatrists

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Objective: This study aims to investigate the psychometric properties of the Malay version of the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEBQ) among Malaysian adults.Method: The Malay version of the DEBQ instrument was administered to 398 outpatients (269 women and 129 men) at the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted to study the construct validity of the instrument. Composite reliability coefficient, Raykov's rho, was used to determine the internal consistency.Results: The proposed three-factor structure for the DEBQ instrument was appropriate, although three items (Items 21, 14 and 27) showed problematic loadings with inappropriate model fit and were removed. The modified version had an appropriate model fit χ 2 /df = 2.129, TLI = 0.908, CFI = 0.918, RMSEA = 0.053 (90%CI = 0.048-0.058), close-fit P-value = 0.136 and satisfactory internal consistency of 0.914 for emotional eating scale, 0.819 for external eating scale and 0.856 for restrained eating scale.Discussion: The Malay version of the DEBQ is a valid instrument to study eating behaviour traits among Malaysian adults. Further research is warranted to determine if Items 14 and 27 are appropriate for the Malaysian population.

This is the first epidemiological survey of mental disorders among children in a Malaysian village. The WHO Research Questionnaire for Children (RQC) was used for initial screening followed by a semistructured interview, the Follow-up Interview for Children (FIC) at its second stage. Diagnosis was obtained by using Rutter's multi-axial classification. The prevalence rates obtained for the diagnostic categories were described in 3 age groups, in accordance with the age of attending school in Malaysia. Of 507 children screened aged 1-15, 6.1% were classified as having a mental disorder.

Progenies of fathers under 20 and over 50 had higher risk for mental disorders. Factors such as immaturity in sperm of teenage fathers, mutation in germ line of older fathers, environmental and psychosocial factors could have contributed to increased prevalence of common mental disorders in the progeny.

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