Methodology of National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS): adolescent health, Malaysia 2022

In Malaysia, the adolescent health surveys conducted in 2012 and 2017 revealed an increasing trend of adolescent health risk behaviours and protective factors. This current article aims to describe the methodology of the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2022: Adolescent Health in Malaysia. The current nationwide cross-sectional survey of Malaysian secondary school students used multistage stratified sampling to select 240 nationally representative schools. This survey is conducted from June to July 2022 among the students in forms 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 in all Malaysian states by 34 data collection teams. A validated self-administered questionnaire is used, similar to those used in the NHMS 2012 and NHMS 2017. The quality control is done twice, once at the field level and once at the central level. Sample weighting and analysis are conducted using SPSS statistical software version 28.0. A total of 239 out of 240 randomly selected schools with 33,523 adolescents are involved in this study (overall response rate is 89.0%). The distribution of state, sex, and form among adolescents is almost equal. Compared to both previous adolescent health surveys using the same methodology and approaches, the overall response rates for NHMS 2017 and NHMS 2012 are 89.2% and 88.8%, respectively. The implementation of NHMS 2022 has employed an acceptable methodology for a survey of the adolescent population. This reliable data provides national estimates for adolescent health risk behaviours and protective factors. The survey allows the relevant authorities to carried out further improve the health status of adolescents in Malaysia

Factors Associated with COVID-19 among Healthcare Workers in Kedah in 2021: A Cross-Sectional Study

This study aimed to examine the characteristics of HCWs infected with COVID-19 and factors associated with healthcare-associated infection. A cross-sectional study, using secondary data of COVID-19 HCW cases from a registry developed by the Occupational and Environmental Health Unit (OEHU) in Kedah State Health Department, Malaysia, was analysed using Excel and STATA version 14.0. Descriptive analysis and multiple logistic regression were conducted to identify the factors for healthcare-associated COVID-19 infection. A total of 1679 HCWs tested positive for COVID-19 between 1 January 2021 and 19 September 2021. The infection was mainly non-healthcare-associated (67.0%), with healthcare-associated cases contributing to only 33% of the cases. The significant factors associated with healthcare-associated transmission were the following: doctor (aOR = 1.433; 95% CI = 1.044, 1.968), hospital setting (aOR = 1.439; 95% CI = 1.080, 1.917), asymptomatic (aOR = 1.848; 95% CI = 1.604, 2.130), incompletely or not vaccinated (aOR = 1.400; 95% CI = 1.050, 1.866) and CT-value ≥ 30 (aOR = 2.494; 95% CI = 1.927, 3.226). Identifying factors of healthcare-associated infection would help in planning control measures preventing healthcare-associated transmission in the workplace. However, more than half of COVID-19 cases among HCWs involved non-healthcare-associated COVID-19 infection, and, thus, requires further study to identify high-risk behaviours