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Transgender refers to individuals who perceive their gender differently from their original gender assigned at birth. Transgender women are those who were assigned male gender at birth but expressed themselves as female later on in their life. The numbers of transgender women in Malaysia have been increasing rapidly. Along with this increment, health problems related to this population has grown. Despite this, there is no specific local guideline about the health issues and its management related to this population. Many health professions out there did not know what to expect when dealing with transgender women. Unlike the original male or female, transgender women have their own unique needs as well as health problems related to their lifestyle. Furthermore, some of their health problems are related to the general population, such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection and sexually transmitted disease (STD). Failure to identify and manage the problems among transgender women will eventually contribute to an increase in cumulative HIV and STD cases in our country. Hence, the aimed of this article was to review current knowledge on transgender women’s health issues and challenges, especially in the context of the local population. This review also emphasizes that healthcare professionals in Malaysia need to have at least a basic knowledge of transgender women’s health issues.

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is an insidious sleep breathing disorder, with cardinal manifestations of snoring, witnessed breathing pause during sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness. The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of OSA and its associated factors among adult population in Taman Dato’ Rashid Salleh, Kuantan. Materials and method: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 157 participants who lived in Taman Dato’ Rashid Salleh from May 2018 to June 2018. Obstructive sleep apnea was quantified using the self-administered Malaynvalidated Berlin questionnaire which apart from the demographic data included three categories (10 questions) designed to elicit information regarding snoring (category 1), daytime somnolence (category 2) and the presence of obesity and/or hypertension (category 3). The respondents were considered as high risk of OSA if two or more categories were positive. Weight, height and neck circumference were measured by using Secca© weight scales, Secca© stadiometer and non-elastic plastic tape, respectively. Descriptive statistics was used to measure the prevalence, while chi-square test was used to explore the association of OSA and its background variables. Results: Out of 157 respondents, female and Malay were dominant with the 56.7% and 91.0 %, respectively. The mean age of the respondents was 36.7 (12.2) years old. The prevalence of high risk of OSA in was 18.5%. There was no association between gender, age, race, smoking and neck circumference with risk of OSA while Body Mass Index (BMI) and hypertension were significantly related to an increased risk for developing OSA (p-value < 0.001 and p=0.001, respectively). Conclusions: Two in every 10 adults in Taman Dato’ Rashid Salleh, Kuantan were at high risk of OSA. It is recommended that appropriate health promotion should be targeted to this community to instill awareness and increase the level of understanding of the public on OSA.