A practical illustration of spatial smoothing methods for disconnected regions with INLA: spatial survey on overweight and obesity in Malaysia.

Background: National prevalence could mask subnational heterogeneity in disease occurrence, and disease mapping is an important tool to illustrate the spatial pattern of disease. However, there is limited information on techniques for the specification of conditional autoregressive models in disease mapping involving disconnected regions. This study explores available techniques for producing district-level prevalence estimates for disconnected regions, using as an example childhood overweight in Malaysia, which consists of the Peninsular and Borneo regions separated by the South China Sea.

Relationships of Local Food and Physical Activity Environments With Overweight in 5- to 17-Year-Old Malaysian Children.

Evidence on the associations between built environment and overweight in children outside developed countries is scarce. We examined associations between access to local food and physical activity environments and overweight in 5- to 17-year-old Malaysians in two states with differing overweight levels. Information on children was measured in the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2015 and combined with Geographic Information System-derived data on local food and physical activity environments.

Thinness, overweight and obesity among 6- to 17-year-old Malaysians: secular trends and sociodemographic determinants from 2006 to 2015.

Objective: To examine secular trends and sociodemographic determinants of thinness, overweight and obesity among Malaysian children and adolescents from 2006 to 2015.

Design: We used cross-sectional data from the National Health and Morbidity Surveys 2006, 2011 and 2015. Individuals were classified into pre- (6-9 years), early (10-13 years) and mid- (14-17 years) adolescence.

Association between long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and prevalence of diabetes mellitus among Malaysian adults.

Background: Malaysia has the highest rate of diabetes mellitus (DM) in the Southeast Asian region, and has ongoing air pollution and periodic haze exposure.

Methods: Diabetes data were derived from the Malaysian National Health and Morbidity Surveys conducted in 2006, 2011 and 2015. The air pollution data (NO, NO, SO, O and PM) were obtained from the Department of Environment Malaysia.

The Prevalence of E-Cigarette Use Among Adults in Malaysia.

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are a new method for the consumption of nicotine. A nationwide survey among 4288 Malaysian adults was conducted in 2016 to measure the prevalence and to describe the population characteristics of e-cigarette users. A complex sampling design was used, and data were collected using a face-to-face questionnaire.

Factors associated with the severity of hypertension among Malaysian adults.

High blood pressure is a worldwide problem and major global health burden. Whether alone or combined with other metabolic diseases, high blood pressure increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. This study is a secondary data analysis from the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2015, a population-based study that was conducted nationwide in Malaysia using a multi-stage stratified cluster sampling design.