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Introduction: Understanding the patterns and reasons why children’s primary teeth are extracted is crucial to improve oral health outcomes among children. Objective: This retrospective study aimed to determine the patterns and reasons for primary teeth extraction in children attending a dental teaching clinic in Malaysia. Materials and methods: Between 2009 and 2019, dental records were screened by undergraduate students for patients aged under 16 years who had undergone primary tooth extraction. Data were collected on age, gender, indications and year of tooth extraction, as well as type of tooth extracted. Descriptive statistics and bivariate association analysis were performed. A p value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: 1,785 teeth were extracted. Females had more tooth extractions than males. Tooth extraction was common among the 7–9 years old group (47.2%). The most frequently extracted primary tooth was the first molar (29.1%), whereas the lateral incisor was the least (11.7%). Extraction due to dental caries was the main reason among all age groups (57.5%), followed by shedding time (38.1%). Statistical differences were found between patterns and reasons for tooth extraction and age groups (p< 0.05). However, no significant differences were observed in terms of the age and year of extraction (p> 0.05). Conclusions: First molars were the most frequently extracted teeth. Dental caries and its sequelae remain the foremost cause of dental extraction among this sample of Malaysian children. The development of appropriate oral health education programs on the importance of primary teeth, alongside early dental examination, are recommended to prevent tooth extraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aimed to identify the prevalence of medication non-adherence (MNA) and to explore the reasons that influenced MNA among diabetes patients. Design: This study used the explanatory mixed-method design. Phase one comprised of a cross-sectional study followed by phase two of a qualitative study. Setting: This study took place at two public hospitals in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. Participants: About 427 diabetes patients were recruited and 399 of them completed the study. The inclusion criteria were those with age more than 18 years and above, Malaysian citizen, able to understand Malay or English, and were diagnosed with diabetes mellitus for more than one year. The exclusion criteria were those with an intellectual disability and pregnant women. Phase two involved 12 participants recruited from non-adherent patients in phase one of the study. Results: About 46.6% of the patients failed to adhere to the medication. Malays (OR: 1.66, 95%CI: 1.09 to 2.51, p = 0.017), single/widow or divorced (OR: 1.79, 95%CI: 1.05 to 3.05, p = 0.031) and poor HbA1c (OR: 2.57, 95% CI: 1.61 to 4.10, p = < 0.01) were associated with medication non-adherence. Five main categories emerged as the reasons for medication non-adherence, including perceived benefit of Complementary and Alternative medicine, attitude towards drawback of western medication, poor healthcare providers and patients' relationship, undesirable emotional response towards medication intake, as well as restraints in daily routine and cognitive function. Conclusions: There are many reasons for patients' non-adherence to their anti-diabetes medication. These findings are important in identifying the factors that influenced non-adherence to recommend reliable patient-centred care strategies in improving medication non-adherence among patients with diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the challenges faced by the Malaysian Islamic Banks in implementing Musharakah Mutanaqisah (MM) Home Financing. Even though the study is specifically on the Malaysian Islamic banks, but the issues and recommendations addressed in this study are also pertinent to other Islamic banks across the world since they are also offering it. Drawing upon in-depth semi-structured interviews with the senior officers in two leading Islamic banks in Malaysia, one is the bank which terminated its MM Home Financing products however the other one continues to offer it. Knowing the contradicting perspectives of both banks gives insight of the real challenges faced by them in offering MM for home financing which are advance rental and the system's incapability to capture the unique nature of MM, and at the same time to know the motivation of offering it i.e. product diversification and comprehensive risk mitigation. This paper concludes by making recommendations that may be adopted by Islamic banks and the regulators to facilitate the promotion of MM Home Financing. Notably, this paper offers empirical findings which are different from the previous literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Choosing a course to pursue is an important decision for students to make. A suitable career should correspond to the students' personalitiy for future work satisfaction and success. The objectives of this study were to determine the students' reasons for choosing medicine, their personality traits and aptitude (suitability). This was a cross-sectional study involving all third-year medical students at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia. A self-administered questionnaire was used, which included questions on demographic data, Sidek Career Interest Inventory and reasons for choosing medicine. The inventory was used to measure the students' personality traits and career suitability. A total of 80 students participated in the study. Majority of them were females (n=56, 70.0%). The findings showed that 45.7% (n=44) of the repondents chose medicine because of 'passion and interest', while 24.7% (n=20) and 19.8% (n=16) because of 'parental influence' and 'to help the society', respectively. For medicine, two personality traits are essential which are investigative and social personality traits. Approximately, 47.5% (n=38) of the respondents had high scores in investigative personality trait. However, only 13.8% (n=11) of them had high scores in social personality trait. Only 12.5% (n=10) of the students had high scores when combining both of the traits. Majority of the students chose medicine for altruistic reasons. However, only a few of them had suitable aptitude for this course namely investigative and social skill. Therefore, the students and the teachers need to be aware of these issues and cultivate the required skills in the students for better career outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the popularity of complementary indigenous Malay therapies (CIMT) in general healthcare is undeniable in the Malaysian context today, their usage within the palliative care scenarios remains unexplored. Our study was specifically embarked to determine CIMT's usage pattern, reasons, attitudes, beliefs, perceptions and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) differences (users vs. non-users) in a sample of hospice-based palliative patients in Selangor, Malaysia. From the 39 consenting patients (mean age = 56 years; female = 56.4 percent; Malay = 53.8 percent), 38.5 percent were users of CIMT. Dried medicinal roots, herbs and sea cucumber products were the most preferred types of CIMT (53.3 percent). The most common reason cited for usage was because these were "easier and simpler to be administered" (46.7 percent). Although users' attitudes, beliefs and perceptions were more favourable than the non-users, between 30.0-73.3 percent of users remained unsure or had no knowledge regarding CIMT. They also exhibited significantly poorer Physical Symptoms than the non-users (p=0.006), a probable motive for seeking CIMT in the first place. Despite the small sample size, the findings provided some insight into the role of CIMT especially with regard to usage trends and overall well-being among the terminally-ill, of which healthcare professionals should constantly be vigilant of amidst their routine care responsibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the reasons for permanent teeth extractions performed between June 1999 and June 2001 at the Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Method: 180 patients' folders were reviewed. Data associated with age, gender, race, reasons for extractions and types of teeth removed were analyzed. Results: More female patients (65%) came for dental extractions than males (35%). Patients in the age group of 46-60 years old were the largest group (40%) who came for extractions. Molars (49%) and premolars (24%) were the most frequently extracted teeth in this centre. The most common reasons for dental extraction were caries and retained roots (67.1%) and periodontal disease (14.1%). Conclusions: Caries and periodontal disease remained the primary reasons for loss of teeth in this centre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although extensively collected, data on people's reasons for their behaviour provided retrospectively have been met with some scepticism on the grounds that they may be subject to biases and errors that jeopardize their usefulness. This study investigates, for a sample of 1,327 births, the reliability with which women in Peninsular Malaysia recalled, at intervals 12 years apart, reasons for not initiating or for stopping breastfeeding less than 3 months after a birth. Overall, we find low to moderate reliability of recall. Levels of reliability are relatively high for some reasons (the child died and no or insufficient milk) but low for some others (child ill, breastfeeding inconvenient). Results from selection models show that reliability does not vary with the length of time since the child's birth but is inversely related to socio-economic status (proxied by education and employment). Social status, social norms, and health-related factors appear to be significant influences on women's consistency of reporting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]