Knowledge, attitude and practice. Of guardians and adult patients towards upper respiratory tract infection at klinik perubatan masy araka t (kpm), husm

Aim: The study was to detennine the basic knowledge, attitude and practice of adult patients and guardians who came to Klinik Perubatan Masyarakat for treatment of Upper respiratory tract infections. Method: This was a cross sectional study involving 369 respondents with 190 guardians and 179 adults who came to KPM within the period of 4 months between 1 st August and 31st, December, 2000 for treatment of URTI. Once diagnosed to have URTI the respondents were given self-administered questionnaires. The respondents will answer the questionnaires if they were 18 years old or above and for the children who were below 18 years old, their guardians or caretakers will answer the questionnaires. Results: The results showed, significant difference between the two groups with respect to the age of the respondents, marital status, educational status and income and their state of employment. Mean age for the guardians was 35 ± 7.53 years and 29.5 ± 10.36 years for adult patients. Sixty-four percent of children who were brought to KPM for URTI were aged less than 5 years old. The average income of the guardians was RM 1242 ± 732 and RM 957.57 ± 639.26 for the adult patients. Two thirds of the respondents had completed education up to secondary level

Prevalence and factors associated with internet addiction among adolescents in Malaysia: a cross-sectional study

Introduction: Internet is important to university students, especially for medical students who use it to search for literature and relevant information. However, some of the users are experiencing a gradual loss of the ability to reduce the duration and frequency of their internet activities, despite the negative consequences. The literature on internet usage among Malaysian medical students is limited. This study aims to determine the prevalence and factors associated with internet usage among medical students in a public university in Malaysia. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed among all the medical students (Year 1-5). Students were assessed on their internet activities using the internet addiction questionnaires (IAT). A Multiple Logistic Regression was used for data analysis. Results: The study was conducted among 426 students. The study population consisted of 156 males (36.6%) and 270 females (63.4%). The mean age was 21.6 ±1.5 years. Ethnicity distribution among the students was: Malays (55.6%), Chinese (34.7%), Indians (7.3%) and others (2.3%). According to the IAT, 36.9% of the study sample was addicted to the internet. Using the multivariate logistic regression analysis, we have found that the use of internet access for entertainment purposes (odds ratio [OR] 3.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05-12.00), male students (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.01-3.21) and increasing frequency of internet usage were associated with internet addiction (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.09- 1.67). Conclusion: Internet addiction is a relatively frequent phenomenon among medical students. The predictors of internet addiction were male students using it for surfing and entertainment purposes

Prevalence and Factors Associated with Smartphone Addiction among Adolescents–A Nationwide Study in Malaysia

Smartphone ownership among adolescents is getting common in this decade especially in Malaysia; Adolescent are strongly devoted to their smartphone and this may lead to smartphone addiction. Studies have reported that smartphone addiction has become an emerging social and health problem especially among the youth in many countries however there is lack of study among adolescents in Malaysia. This study aimed to examine the prevalence and factors associated with smartphone addiction among adolescents in Malaysia. This was a cross-sectional study involving adolescents from 15 primary care clinics throughout the country. Respondents were assessed on their smartphone activities using the Malaysian short version of the Smartphone addiction scale (SAS-M-SV). Multiple logistic regression was used to determine the predictors of smartphone addiction among adolescents. The study was conducted among 921 adolescents with 49.6% male (n = 457). The mean age of adolescents was 16.4 ± 2.4 years. The ethnicity distribution were 74.6% Malay, 7.3% Chinese, 4.7% Indian and 13.4% other ethnicities. The prevalence of smartphone addiction was 37.1% (342/921); 37.4% in male and 36.9% in female. Based on multiple logistic regression analysis, longer duration of smartphone use per week was associated with higher odds of smartphone addiction among adolescent (odd ratio = 1.005%, 95% confidence interval = 1.000–1.009, p-value = 0.039). Smartphone addiction is present in nearly four in ten adolescents in Malaysia. Adolescents who spend longer duration in smartphone usage per week were associated with higher odds of having smartphone addiction. Parents should be more alert and vigilant about this finding. Hence, parents should limit their children from spending too much of time with smartphone in order to prevent their children from getting smartphone addiction

Visual privacy and family intimacy: a case study of Malay inhabitants living in two-storey low-cost terrace housing

The authors report on a study of visual privacy, family intimacy, and building elements of two-storey low-cost terrace housing in an urban area in Malaysia. They examine behavioural and physical regulating mechanisms used to achieve privacy among Malay Muslim inhabitants of the housing units studied. They also look at the consequences of the lack of privacy on the inhabitants over a period of time. Their findings support the premise that cultural values influence housing and that religious understanding influences mechanisms used to regulate visual privacy and intimacy.