An assessment of the prescribing skills of undergraduate dental students in malaysia.

Most dental schools lack a module on prescription writing in pharmacology. This study assessed the prescription writing skills of a group of Malaysian dental students at the end of their undergraduate training program. A quantitative study of a two-group posttest experiment was designed, and thirty-seven fifth-year (final-year) dental students were divided into two groups (A [n=18] and B [n=19]).

Schizophrenia in Malaysian families: A study on factors associated with quality of life of primary family caregivers.

Background: Schizophrenia is a chronic illness which brings detrimental effects in the caregivers' health. This study was aimed at highlighting the socio-demographic, clinical and psychosocial factors associated with the subjective Quality of Life (QOL) of Malaysian of primary family caregivers of subjects with schizophrenia attending an urban tertiary care outpatient clinic in Malaysia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed to study patient, caregiver and illness factors associated with the QOL among 117 individuals involved with caregiving for schizophrenia patients.

Clinical and cognitive correlates of employment among patients with schizophrenia: a cross-sectional study in Malaysia.

Background: Gainful employment is one major area of functioning which is becoming an important goal in psychiatric rehabilitation of patients with schizophrenia. Studies in western countries are pointing to evidence that certain sociodemographic and clinical factors may contribute to employment outcomes in this group of people. However, the area is still largely unexplored in Malaysia.

Attitudes of Malaysian general hospital staff towards patients with mental illness and diabetes.

Background: The context of the study is the increased assessment and treatment of persons with mental illness in general hospital settings by general health staff, as the move away from mental hospitals gathers pace in low and middle income countries. The purpose of the study was to examine whether general attitudes of hospital staff towards persons with mental illness, and extent of mental health training and clinical experience, are associated with different attitudes and behaviours towards a patient with mental illness than towards a patients with a general health problem - diabetes.

Methods: General hospital health professionals in Malaysia were randomly allocated one of two vignettes, one describing a patient with mental illness and the other a patient with diabetes, and invited to complete a questionnaire examining attitudes and health care practices in relation to the case.

Psychiatric morbidity among adult patients in a semi-urban primary care setting in Malaysia.

Background: Screening for psychiatric disorders in primary care can improve the detection rate and helps in preventing grave consequences of unrecognised and untreated psychiatric morbidity. This is relevant to the Malaysian setting where mental health care is now also being provided at primary care level. The aim of this paper is to report the prevalence of psychiatric illness in a semi-urban primary care setting in Malaysia using the screening tool Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ).