Comparison of Mean Knowledge on Age, Location and Education Level towards Dengue Fever Prevention

The World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) recommends extensive community educational campaigns that emphasize reducing vector breeding sites as an effective way of dengue prevention. Several studies suggest that better knowledge of dengue and dengue vector prevention practices among people was one of the predictors of better practices of dengue prevention. The purpose of this study was to find the comparison of mean knowledge on age, location and education level towards dengue fever prevention. The study design was a cross sectional study with concerning the knowledge, attitude and practices of the dengue fever prevention among the people in Perak Tengah district, Perak. ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) was engaged in this study to find the difference on mean knowledge between education, age and location. We found that all variables (age, location and education) were statistically significant difference on mean knowledge since the p-value was less than 0.05. For age, the mean knowledge shows that there were significant difference on age 41 until 50 years old and age below 20 years old using post-hoc test Bonferroni’s procedures. Other than that, for mean knowledge there was statistically significant difference on variable location [F-statistic (df): 6.643 (5,194)] with the p-value less than 0.001. Finally, there were statistically significant difference on mean knowledge between education levels [F-statistic (df): 3.677 (6,193)] with the p-value equal to 0.002. As a conclusion strengthening the public health measures at local place would protect the people as well as providing them an adequate knowledge about infectious disease control and develop the correct behaviour on health and prevention of disease. Keywords: Knowledge, Dengue, Aedes, Prevention Ethical Approval – Ethical approval was obtained from UiTM Research Ethics Committee, Ref. No. (600-RMI(5/1/6/01)

Embedding Green Environmemt to Increase Indoor Air Quality in Academic Library / Wan Nor Azimah Wan Azib ... [et al.]

Every one of us spends greater amount of time and prefer to stay indoor instead of outdoor because lack of knowledge in indoor air pollution and how it can potentially harm human health. We spend on average 85% to 90% of our time indoors at home, in school, at work, or during leisure time. Reductions in ventilation rates to limit and conserve energy as well as extensive use of new building materials are releasing chemical substances with unknown toxic properties into our dwellings. The result: allergies, asthma, mucous irritation, headaches and fatigue. Special attention to the environment, tools and equipment used in task performance are necessary in ensuring employees works match to their physical needs and requirements. Complaints among building occupants related to poor indoor air quality and discomfort with unhealthy environment but usually being referred as “sick building syndrome” to describe such symptoms. Building related illnesses complaints by office and commercial building of health symptoms, discomfort, and odors called “sick building syndrome” have been documented for almost 30 years ago. Inadequacy of oxygen was common problem addressed in closed areas such as library and classroom in higher learning institutions. Possible causes of this problem due to poor layout design, and inadequate of ventilation. The amount of fresh air intake and out-take should be properly maintained. This research aims to propose a prototype layout using eleven species of indoor plants as suggested by NASA to be placed in appropriate location inside the academic library. The process started with several steps. Initial measurement of current level of indoor air quality is measured using an IAQ meter device (IAQ Meter) performed by registered IAQ Assessor. The level of current IAQ indicated excessive reading of acceptable relative humidity (RH) regulated by Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH). Alternatively, a quick remedy aligned with management budget is proposed under this research. The ideas of putting selected indoor plants species was taken as a natural solution. The period of this assessment was carried out within appropriate durations in accordance with others previous studies. The physical environment plays an important role in identifying employees’ health level and well-being. This proposed layout was also regarded as a useful guide for a newly designed library as well as other confined areas that proven to improve indoor air quality and increase the health level, mental capacity of the building occupants

The Relationship between Physical Workplace Environment and Employees' Performance / Nur Najihah Erani Hamidi ...[et al.]

In today’s dynamic and competitive business world, a healthy workplace environment makes good business sense. Managers should not just focus on the employees’ salary to enhance employees’ performance as there are many other factors that need to be considered. Organization which is perceived as a positive place to work will relatively yield a competitive edge. In this study, the researchers focused on the relationship between physical workplace environment and employees’ performance. Several factors of physical workplace environment have been identified by the researchers, namely the office layout, lighting, furniture and equipment of the workplace. Physical office environments may influence the office employees’ well beings where they spend long hours inside the office building. Employees who are well-equipped with workplace environmental support will be highly satisfied and show high level of commitment towards their organization. Better physical workplace environment will boost employees’ performance. Employees are the backbone of any organizations. Employees are influenced to deliver their best performance depending on how well their work environment is. Committed employees who are highly motivated by conducive work environment synergise their time and energy in the pursuit of achieving organizational goals. Therefore, this paper will determine the relationship between physical workplace environment and employees’ performance at government agency in Kedah. Questionnaires was distributed to 100 respondents as the sample size for this study from the total population of 140 employees of different departments and units. The finding of this paper revealed that the lightings is the most leading factor of physical workplace environment that affect the performance of employees. Therefore, the recommendation for this study focused most on the factors of lighting options that can be used by the organizatio

Knowledge, attitude and practice on dengue fever prevention in Perak Tengah district / Mohammad Nasir Abdullah …[et al.]

Dengue is a mosquito-borne infection that had become a major public health concern. It is a disease found in most tropical and subtropical areas of the world and had become the most common arboviral disease of human. Dengue fever is an acute febrile disease due to a viral infection and presents with severe headache, pain in the eyes, high fever, backache, vomiting, muscle and joint pain as well as rash. It also known as Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever. Based on the report from Ministry of Health Malaysia, the dengue fever cases was shown an increasing trend from 1996 until 2007. The incidence rate also shows an upward trend from 44.3 cases per 100,000 populations in 1999 to 181 cases per 100,000 populations in 2007. This exceeds the national target for the incidence rate of Dengue Fever which is less than 50 cases per 100,000 populations. Furthermore, most of the dengue cases reported from urban areas where there is a high density of its population and rapid development activities factors which favour dengue transmission. The objective was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of the people regarding dengue fever in Perak Tengah district, Perak. The study design was cross sectional study with concerning the knowledge, attitude and practices of the dengue fever prevention among the people in Perak Tengah district, Perak. The inclusion criteria were all residents who living Perak Tengah district for at least one year and age between 18 and 60 years old. The sample size after considered 10% of missing data are for case group it will be 199 respondents. The type I error probability associated with this test of the null hypothesis is 0.05 with the 80% power of the study. The result for this study can be used as guideline in planning for more effective and reliable solution to health problems in relation to dengue fever