Socioeconomic and lifestyle determinants of blood glucose screening in Malaysia

Background: The increase in prevalence of diabetes is a serious public health issue.It is well documented that use of blood glucose screening can help to reduce the risk of developing diabetes. Objectives: To examine the socioeconomic and lifestyle factors associated with use of blood glucose screening among Malaysian adults. Methods: Nationally representative data from 2,415 survey respondents was used. The survey was a cross sectional population-based study previously conducted by the Ministry of Health Malaysia. A logistic regression model was developed to estimate the likelihood of using blood glucose screening.Results: Age, marital status, ethnicity, income, smoking, and body mass index were significantly associated with use of blood glucose screening.In particular, older individuals, married individuals, Malays, higher income earners, non-smokers, and being obese, overweight or of normal weight were correlated with a higher likelihood of using blood glucose screening. Conclusions: It is important to acquire a better knowledge of the factors that can influence the decision of people to adopt preventive measures. Having better information regarding which groups of individuals use or do not use blood glucose screening can assist governments in developing appropriate intervention programs

Environmental knowledge and attitude among students in Sabah

Environmental awareness among students is highly influenced by their background, knowledge, attitude and sensitivity towards the environment. The objectives of this study are to identify level of knowledge on environmental literacy and attitude towards environmental issues that are occurring in Malaysia presently among students in Sabah, Malaysia. Multi-stage stratified sampling was used to select the samples. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaire which was developed by expert panel which consisted of lecturers and teachers through two sessions of focus group discussions (FGD). The items developed for the questionnaires took into consideration the environmental problems which have existed locally as well as cultural sensitivities of local community. Pilot test among 50 form four secondary school students show moderate level of internal l consistency of knowledge (Cronbach Alpha -0.68) and attitude (Cronbach alpha 0.72) domains. 1106 (95%) of 1200 sample responded the study. The result show that in general, students in Sabah particularly from Form 4 level have high level of environmental knowledge except for several items which measure the current environmental issues in Malaysia such as Carbon dioxide and climate change. Their attitudes are influenced by the level of knowledge that they have concerning the environment

Iodine Deficiency Disorder and Goitre among School Children in Sarawak -A Nationwide Study.

Iodine deficiency disorders (IDD), is one of the most important micronutrient deficiencies which has multiple adverse effects on growth and development. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of IDD among school children and to elucidate the distribution of iodized salt at household level in Sarawak, East Malaysia. This cross-sectional study was conducted among school children aged 8 to 10 years in 2008. A multi-stage probability proportionate to population size(PPS) cluster sampling method was used to obtain a representative state sample of 1200 school children. Spot urine samples were collected for the determination of urinary iodine concentration while the iodine content in salt was determined using field rapid test kits. The thyroid status was determined by palpation. Response rate was 92.0% (n=1104/1200). The prevalence of goitre among school children in Sarawak was 2.9% (5.2% in urban, 0.7% in rural). The median urinary iodine concentration (UIC) among the school children was 102.1 μg/L (IQR, 62.3-146.5 μg/L). Urban children had significantly higher median UIC of 109.3 μg/L (IQR, 72.4-159.0 μg/L) than their rural counterparts [91.9 μg/L (IQR, 55.7-140.2 μg/L)]. The salt samples tested by rapid test kit (RTK) showed only 46.0% of household salt contained iodine. The present study revealed that the population in Sarawak were of borderline iodine sufficient with mild IDD seen in rural areas. Hence, the state IDD control programmes need to encourage and advocate the consumption of iodized salt in order to eliminate IDD-related health problems in Sarawak

Awareness of behaviours that cause and alleviate global warming and intention to perform the behaviours among Malaysian educated laypeople

Reducing global warming is not simply the domain of government but should start at the individual level, by knowing the right behaviours for mitigating global warming. This study examines Malaysian educated layperson’s knowledge about global warming and their awareness of behaviours that both cause or alleviate global warming. In this study, a total of 300 participants were asked to list their behaviours which cause global warming and their behaviours they might think reduce global warming. They were then asked to rate their intention regarding these behaviours. Results showed that the respondents were well aware on the effects of air-conditioning and automobiles on global warming but underrated eating meat and using washing machines as causes of global warming, while also misjudging the impact of littering as a cause of global warming. Respondents did well in rating recycling and driving less as a relative impact in reducing global warming but underrated the impact of reducing meat consumption and reduce air travelling as a global warming mitigation. Even though knowledge about behaviours that reduce global warming was not strongly linked to intention to perform the behaviour, the belief in effectiveness that an action that reduces global warming, whether the behaviour is accurate or not, was strongly linked to intention to perform the behaviour

Awareness, knowledge and acceptance of community on a non-communicable disease intervention – findings from the “Healthy Community, Developed Nation” (KOSPEN) in the Southern Zone of Peninsular Malaysia

Introduction Community-based health promotion programme has been recognised to reduce modifiable lifestyle risk behaviours for non-communicable diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the proportion of the awareness, knowledge and acceptance of a community-based intervention programme, “Komuniti Sihat, Pembina Negara“ (KOSPEN) (Healthy Community, Developed Nation). Methods This cross-sectional study employed a two-stage proportionate sampling method to select a representative sample of communities in the Southern states of Peninsular Malaysia, Negeri Sembilan, Malacca, and Johor. Face-to-face interviews by trained research assistants using pre-validated questionnaires was the study tool applied. Results The study revealed that approximately two thirds of respondents were aware of the KOSPEN programme (65.5%) and almost half (45.4%) of them were involved in the health promotion activities, namely health screenings (84.8%), health talks (66.4%), and providing plain water in formal occasion (52.9%). About two thirds and one-quarter of them have a very good (73.4%) and good (24.1%) general view on this programme. Four out of ten respondents faced difficulties joining the activities. Lack of time (83.0%) was reported as the main barrier. Conclusions The KOSPEN programme in overall was moderately accepted by the community. However, the need for future improvement has to be highlighted in order to enhance the involvement and participation of the communities

Demographics, Knowledge and Smoking: An Instrumental Variable Approach

Smoking is one of the main factors that causes various diseases. The objective of the present study is to investigate factors determining smoking behaviour among adults. The present study used instrumental variable (IV) regressions to estimate the effects of demographic and knowledge factors on participation decision and amount decision of smoking. Nationally representative data of a developing country (Malaysia) was used. Contrary to popular belief, knowledge was found to be positively associated with the propensity to smoke, as well as the amount of smoking. Age, gender, wealth index, educational 2 Journal of Business Management and Accounting, Vol. 11, Number 2 (July) 2021, pp: 1–24 level, ethnicity, marital status and house locality were significantly associated with smoking. Males were more likely to smoke and smoked more than females. Educational level reduced the likelihood and amount of smoking. Malays and married individuals were less likely to smoke than non-Malays and unmarried individuals. Urban dwellers smoked more cigarette relative to rural dwellers. In terms of policy implication, it is suggested that intervention measures directed toward reducing the prevalence of smoking should not pay too much attention to improving the knowledge of health effects of smoking among Malaysian adults. Anti-smoking policies must be designed carefully by taking into account of the demographic factors which are correlated with the likelihood and amount of smoking. The present study is the first of its kind that includes knowledge as a separate variable for analyses and uses IV regressions to analyse participation decision and amount decision of smoking

Are green universities producing greener future leaders?

In recent years, studies on campus sustainability have been conducted to measure the impact that universities have on the environment and several mechanisms to measure and rank universities globally on how they perform in sustainability have been proposed. The UI Greenmetrics ranks universities based on sustainable performance ratings and focused more on the initiatives and opportunities provided to achieve sustainability but did not address the issue of environmental literacy among the university students. This study aims to understand how sustainable practices and policies adopted by Green Universities as well as demographic factors relate to the level of environmental attitude and responsible environmental behaviour of Malaysian student leaders. A census survey was carried out on student leaders of Malaysian public universities to assess their level of perception, attitude, personal responsible environmental behaviour (REB) and REB with regards to UI Greenmetrics Criteria. The Mann-Whitney U test conducted revealed that there was no significant difference in the level of the assessed components across all demographic factors between green and nongreen universities. Spearman rank order correlation showed that there was a significant positive correlation between perception and personal REB (rs(322) = .385, p < .05) as well student council REB (rs(322) = .542, p < .05). Attitude was found to have a significant negative correlation with student council REB (rs(322) = -.114, p < .05) while a high level of personal REB was significantly correlated with student council behaviour (rs(322) = .579, p < .05)

Exploring the effects of knowledge on smoking: An analysis of adults in Malaysia

In an effort to reduce the prevalence of smoking, the present study attempts to examine the factors that determine smoking. The present study uses two-tiered model to estimate the effects of demographic and knowledge factors on smoking participation and cigarette expenditure.As anticipated, knowledge is found to be negatively associated with an individual’s propensity to smoke.In addition, the findings suggest that age, gender, wealth index, education, ethnicity and house locality are significantly associated with smoking.In particular, males are more likely to smoke than females.Education reduces the likelihood of smoking.Urban dwellers tend to spend more on cigarette than rural dwellers.Policies directed toward reducing the prevalence of smoking may need to consider improving the knowledge of smoking among the adults.The policies must also be designed carefully to take into account of the demographic factors which are correlated with smoking