Incidence and determinants of low birth weight in Peninsular Malaysia: A multicentre prospective cohort study.

Background And Objective: Pregnant mothers are at risk of many adverse pregnancy outcomes, including infants with low birth weight (LBW). The World Health Organization aimed to achieve a 30% reduction in the number of LBW infants by the year 2025. In this study, we aimed to determine the incidence and determinants of LBW infants among pregnant mothers attending government health clinics in Peninsular Malaysia.

Health-seeking behaviour during times of illness among urban poor women: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Urban poor women face dual challenges regarding gender inequalities and urban poverty, which make them more likely to have health problems and affect their health-seeking behaviour. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of health-seeking behaviour during times of illness and predictors of sought care among urban poor women in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed among 340 randomly selected women residents from April to May 2023.

Systematic review on factors associated with depression among mothers of children with cancer.

Background: Despite evidence of depression among mothers of children with cancer, there appears to be a lack of studies or concern regarding factors associated with depression among these mothers.

Objective: To review the factors associated with depression among mothers of children with cancer.

Method: Pubmed, Medline, Cochrane, CINAHL, Psychology, and Behavioural Sciences Collection, and Academic Search Complete were searched according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to identify studies published between 2010 to 2022 on the associated risk factors of depression among mothers of children with cancer.

Determinants of non-adherence to home injury prevention practice among parents of under-five children in North Seberang Perai district, Penang: A mixed-methods study protocol.

Background: Unintentional injury is a global burden that occurs everywhere, including in our homes. Young children are most vulnerable to home injuries because they still develop their physical and psychological skills and spend most of their time at home. Despite being largely preventable, three consecutive national surveys show no reduction in the rate of injury among children under five.

Prevalence and factors associated with depression, anxiety and stress in Malaysia during COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had severe impacts on mental health status worldwide. Several studies have investigated the prevalence and factors associated with depression, anxiety, and stress in different countries, however, a systematic review on the research topic during COVID-19 is presently lacking in Malaysia's context. To fill this gap, electronic databases including PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Sagepub, CINAHL, Psychology, and Behavioral Sciences Collection were searched for relevant studies.

The Effectiveness of Early Food Introduction in Preventing Childhood Allergic Diseases: Protocol for a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Allergic diseases affect around 40% of the pediatric population worldwide. The coexistence of asthma, allergic rhinitis, eczema, and food allergy renders allergy treatment and prevention challenging. Infant feeding strategies recommend avoiding allergenic foods to prevent allergy development and anaphylaxis.

Aggressive behavior in adolescent: The importance of biopsychosocial predictors among secondary school students.

Introduction: Overt aggression is a common type of aggression observed among adolescents, which is apparent and outward confrontational acts manifested physically and verbally, such as fighting and shouting. It has become a major public health concern, as it results in detrimental health impacts like injury, mental health, and social problems.

Methods: An observational study was conducted among 16-year-old school students to determine their biopsychosocial predictors, using stratified proportionate population sampling.

Stop and Play Digital Health Education Intervention for Reducing Excessive Screen Time Among Preschoolers From Low Socioeconomic Families: Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: High prevalence of excessive screen time among preschool children is attributable to certain parental factors such as lack of knowledge, false perception about screen time, and inadequate skills. Lack of strategies to implement screen time guidelines, in addition to multiple commitments that may hinder parents from face-to-face interventions, demands the need to develop a technology-based parent-friendly screen time reduction intervention.

Objective: This study aims to develop, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of Stop and Play, a digital parental health education intervention to reduce excessive screen time among preschoolers from low socioeconomic families in Malaysia.

Current practice of family planning among teachers in public secondary school in Enugu East Senatorial District, Nigeria.

Background: The aim of this study is to determine the current practice level of family planning and the associated factors among public secondary school teachers in Enugu East Senatorial District.

Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out among public secondary school teachers, aged 18 - 60 years, in Enugu East Senatorial District, using probability proportional to size sampling and systematic random sampling to select 1000 participants. Binary and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to determine association.

The Effectiveness of an Empowerment Education Intervention for Substance Use Reduction among Inner-City Adolescents in Nigeria.

(1) Background: Substance use among inner-city adolescents is at an alarming rate in Nigeria. Despite their high exposure to this risk, limited experimental tests have been conducted on prevention programs. (2) Methods: This study investigates the effectiveness of an empowerment education intervention in reducing the risk of substance use in Abuja's inner-city adolescents.

Theory-based immunisation health education intervention in improving child immunisation uptake among antenatal mothers attending federal medical centre in Nigeria: A study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Childhood immunisation coverage is very low in Nigeria (31%) with Zamfara State being amongst the states with the poorest coverage (<10%). Lack of maternal knowledge, attitude, outcome expectations, self-efficacy, cultural beliefs and assumptions of religious regulations of antenatal mothers towards childhood immunisation are the contributory factors to poor childhood immunisation uptake. This study aims is to develop, implement and evaluate the effects of an immunisation health educational intervention with application of Social Cognitive Theory on pregnant women to improve knowledge, attitude, outcome expectations, self-efficacy, cultural beliefs and assumptions on religious regulations regarding childhood immunization uptake in Federal Medical Centre Gusau, Zamfara State, Nigeria.

Effect of Face-to-Face and WhatsApp Communication of a Theory-Based Health Education Intervention on Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy (SeBF Intervention): Cluster Randomized Controlled Field Trial.

Background: The exclusive breastfeeding rate in Malaysia is still not satisfactory. Previous studies have shown that breastfeeding self-efficacy is one of the determinants of exclusive breastfeeding, and it can be improved using social cognitive theory. WhatsApp, which is widely used among Malaysians, could be leveraged as a platform to deliver health education interventions.

Biopsychosocial approach to understanding determinants of depression among men who have sex with men living with HIV: A systematic review.

Introduction: Men who have sex with men (MSM) living with HIV are more likely to be depressed than MSM without HIV. The AIDS epidemic will not end if the needs of people living with HIV and the determinants of health are not being addressed. Compared to HIV individuals without depression, depressed HIV individuals have worse clinical outcomes and higher mortality risk.

A systematic review on risk factors for khat chewing among adolescents in the African continent and Arabian Peninsula.

Introduction: Khat is a flowering plant with stimulant effect on the nervous system and produce psychological dependence. Despite its harmful effects, the ingestion of khat has been part of cultural norms and the legality of khat varies by region.

Objective: This systematic review aimed at critically evaluating the available evidence on the risk factors of khat chewing among adolescents.

Risk factors for early TB treatment interruption among newly diagnosed patients in Malaysia.

TB treatment interruption has resulted in delayed sputum conversion, drug resistance, and a high mortality rate and a prolonged treatment course, hence leading to economic and psychosocial affliction. To date, there are limited studies investigating the physico-social risk factors for early treatment interruptions. This prospective multicenter cohort study aimed to investigate the risk factors for early treatment interruption among new pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) smear-positive patients in Selangor, Malaysia.

Measuring customer satisfaction on the cleanliness of food premises using fuzzy conjoint analysis: A pilot test.

Determining the level of customer satisfaction in cleanliness regarding a product or service is a significant aspect of businesses. However, the availability of feedback tools for consumers to evaluate the cleanliness of a restaurant is a crucial issue as several aspects of cleanliness need to be evaluated collectively. To overcome this issue, this study designed a survey instrument based on the standard form used for grading the food premises and transformed it into a seven Likert scale questionnaire and consists of seven questions.

Factors influencing childhood immunisation uptake in Africa: a systematic review.

Background: Vaccine preventable diseases are still the most common cause of childhood mortality, with an estimated 3 million deaths every year, mainly in Africa and Asia. An estimate of 29% deaths among children aged 1-59 months were due to vaccine preventable diseases. Despite the benefits of childhood immunisation, routine vaccination coverage for all recommended Expanded Programme on Immunization vaccines has remained poor in some African countries, such as Nigeria (31%), Ethiopia (43%), Uganda (55%) and Ghana (57%).

Predictors of Parental Barriers to Reduce Excessive Child Screen Time Among Parents of Under-Five Children in Selangor, Malaysia: Cross-sectional Study.

Background: Globally, there is an increasing prevalence of excessive screen time exposure among young children, including in Malaysia. Parents are advised to limit this exposure, but there are barriers for many of them to follow this recommendation. To date, there is a lack of research on the factors that cause these parental barriers.

Prevalence and factors associated with child health record book utilization among parents attending government health clinics in Putrajaya, Malaysia.

Background: Use of a child health record book has long been established in Malaysia. The objective of the study was to determine the proportion of optimum child health record book utilization and its associated factors among parents attending government child health clinics in Putrajaya, the administrative capital of Malaysia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among randomly selected group of 450 parents using a self-administered questionnaire.

Improving malaria preventive practices and pregnancy outcomes through a health education intervention: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: The prevalence of malaria in pregnancy and its complications, remain very high in Nigeria. This study aimed to determine the effects of a malaria health educational intervention based on the information-motivation-behavioural skills (IMB) model on malaria preventive practices and pregnancy outcomes.

Methods: The study was a randomized controlled parallel-group study, where 372 randomly selected antenatal care attendees were randomly assigned to one of either two groups after collecting baseline data.

Determinants of uptake of first dose of intermittent preventive treatment among pregnant women in a secondary health Centre in Maiduguri, Nigeria.

Background: Studies on uptake of first dose of intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) are lacking, despite it being a predictor of subsequent doses. This study aimed at assessing the determinants of uptake of first dose of IPTp among pregnant women at the State Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted, in which respondents were selected using a systematic random sampling method, and structured questionnaires were used to obtain information from them.

Prevalence of intimate partner violence in Malaysia and its associated factors: a systematic review.

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is any behaviour within an intimate relationship that causes physical, psychological or sexual harm to those in the relationship. IPV is an important public health problem with substantial consequences on physical, mental, sexual, and reproductive health. Data on the systematic review of IPV are vital as basis for policy and program recommendations.

The effect of electronic and printed module about drug abuse prevention on teachers' beliefs in Indonesia.

Drug abuse is a serious global health problem. Globally, million people drugs . Evidence shows that most drug addicts start using drugs in adolescence (<15-years-old).

Validity and reliability of a Hausa language questionnaire assessing information, motivation and Behavioural skills for malaria prevention during pregnancy.

Background: Many studies on malaria knowledge, attitude and practice among pregnant women have been conducted in Hausa speaking communities in Nigeria. Despite this, no standard and uniform instrument for assessing this important public health problem has been developed in the Hausa language, even though it is widely spoken. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a questionnaire in Hausa language assessing information, motivation, and behavioural skills for malaria prevention during pregnancy.

Sociodemographic and health care factors in determining immunization defaulters among preschool children in Petaling District, Selangor: a cross-sectional study in Malaysia.

Background: Immunization is an effective public health intervention to reduce morbidity and mortality among children and it will become more effective if the child can receive the full course of recommended immunization doses. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of childhood immunization defaulters and its associated factors among children below 5 years attending registered child care centers in Petaling District, Selangor.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey among mothers with children below 5 years from 60 registered child care centers in District of Petaling, Selangor.