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Objectives Ageing is often associated with deteriorating mental and physical health and the need for long-term care, creating a fear of ageing. We investigated what people fear most in terms of disabling chronic diseases and their concerns regarding having long-term illnesses. Methods Data were obtained from an online survey of 518 respondents aged 40 years and older residing in Malaysia, which was based on a convenience sample collected in May 2015 to January 2016. Data were analyzed using chi-squared tests and multinomial logistic regression. Results Of the most dreaded diseases, heart disease and cancer are life-threatening; however, dementia, diabetes, and hypertension persist and have a disabling effect for a long time. While there were variations in the diseases feared most across sex, ethnicity, and place of residence, the biggest worry for all respondents with regard to having a long-term illness was that they would become a burden to their family, a concern that superseded fear of dying. Conclusions We found our survey respondents had a fear of chronic diseases and placing a burden on others. Thus, there is a need to provide motivation for people to adopt a healthy lifestyle, to remain healthy.

The Teacher Reporting Attitude Scale (TRAS) is a newly developed tool to assess teachers' attitudes toward reporting child abuse and neglect. This article reports on an investigation of the factor structure and psychometric properties of the short form Malay version of the TRAS. A self-report cross-sectional survey was conducted with 667 teachers in 14 randomly selected schools in Selangor state, Malaysia. Analyses were conducted in a 3-stage process using both confirmatory (stages 1 and 3) and exploratory factor analyses (stage 2) to test, modify, and confirm the underlying factor structure of the TRAS in a non-Western teacher sample. Confirmatory factor analysis did not support a 3-factor model previously reported in the original TRAS study. Exploratory factor analysis revealed an 8-item, 4-factor structure. Further confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated appropriateness of the 4-factor structure. Reliability estimates for the four factors--commitment, value, concern, and confidence--were moderate. The modified short form TRAS (Malay version) has potential to be used as a simple tool for relatively quick assessment of teachers' attitudes toward reporting child abuse and neglect. Cross-cultural differences in attitudes toward reporting may exist and the transferability of newly developed instruments to other populations should be evaluated.

Midwives play an important role in maternal and child health in developing countries, but they are rarely involved in providing family planning services, except in Indonesia. This article underscores midwives' crucial role in supplying modern contraceptive methods in Indonesia. Data for this analysis came from eight waves of the Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey (IDHS). The main analysis was confined to 17 216 current users of modern methods from the 2017 IDHS. Midwives delivered contraceptives to 53% of the modern-method users in Indonesia. Multinomial logistic regression showed that the odds of users obtaining their contraceptive supplies from midwives was significantly associated with age, parity, urban-rural location, region, education, wealth, exposure to family planning, and method type. Midwives help to reduce doctors' workload for them to focus on specialized services. Developing countries can learn from the Indonesian experience to ensure equitable access to family planning services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to examine the correlates of age at first marriage and the consequences of late marriage. Data for this paper were drawn from the 2014 Malaysian Population and Family Survey. Simple cross-tabulation and multiple classification analysis were used for the analysis. Age at marriage of women varied across socio-economic groups. Among the ethnic groups, the Other Bumiputera entered marriage earliest, followed by the Malays, Indians and Chinese. Age at marriage was positively associated with urbanisation, educational level, and women’s autonomy in marriage. The assumption of modern norms and ideas, and escalating cost of marriage are important determinants of marriage postponement. Late marriage has a direct impact on demographic outcomes, resulting in ultra-low fertility for some groups of the population. Marriage postponement has positive socio-economic outcomes for individuals. However, postponing marriage beyond the prime reproductive age may result in some reproductive health problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The private sector is playing an increasingly important role in family planning services globally. The active participation of private providers is associated with a higher contraceptive prevalence rate. Objectives: To examine the differentials and determinants of the utilization of private providers for family planning services. Method: This study used the 2014 Malaysian Population and Family Survey data. Cross-tabulations and logistic regression were performed on 1,817 current users of modern methods. Results: Overall, 26% of modern method users obtained their supplies from private clinics/pharmacies and 15.2% from other sources, such as drug stores and sundry shops. The odds of utilizing the private sector for family planning services differ significantly across regions and socio-economic groups. The odds of obtaining supply from the private clinics/pharmacies were higher among the Chinese and urban women (AOR > 1), and it was lower among those from the eastern region (AOR = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.30–0.73). Non-Bumiputera, urban, higher educated, and working women, and those whose husbands decided on family planning had higher odds of obtaining the supply from the other sources (AOR > 1). Conclusion: The private sector complements and supplements the public sector in providing family planning services to the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine job satisfaction and its contributing factors among nurses in a Malaysian private hospital. A survey was carried out on 209 nurses in a Malaysian private hospital. The Index of Work Satisfaction (IWS) developed by Stamps was adopted to measure the level of job satisfaction among nurses. The overall IWS was 11.7. Nurses below 30 years old had lower IWS than those aged 30 and over. The low level of job satisfaction among nurses was reflected by the lowest scores on pay, task requirements, and organizational policies, all in the second quartile of satisfaction level. This survey shows low job satisfaction among nurses from a private hospital, especially with the low pay. Nurses are more concerned with aspects that affect their personal well-being directly. Hence, hospital management should consider a more attractive remuneration, as well as other incentives to increase job satisfaction among the nurses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Cambodia, the growth of family planning services and socio-economic development have resulted in a spectacular rise in contraceptive prevalence rate and an equally remarkable reduction in contraceptive use differentials. With rising educational levels and increased participation in the modern labour market, Cambodian women are playing an increasingly pivotal role in household decision-making. This study used data from three rounds of Cambodia Demographic and Health Surveys to elucidate trends and patterns of contraceptive use. It then examined the determinants of contraceptive use through the use of logistic regression. The central hypothesis to be tested was whether or not women's involvement in household decision-making affected contraceptive use. Multivariate analysis showed that apart from the number of living children, women's work status and education of both men and women had a more significant impact on contraceptive use, as compared to women's power in household decision-making. More effort is needed to empower women in all aspects in order to reduce the socio-economic differentials in contraceptive use and improve their reproductive health, in line with the goal of the global agenda of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) to leave no one behind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigated the interregional migration patterns and the effects of spatial mobility on the earnings of new graduates from Malaysian universities, utilising the 2013 Tracer Study data obtained from the Ministry of Higher Education. Several local studies using the same data source mainly dealt with issues of employability, but none have studied the effects of migration on their earnings. Some graduates pursued tertiary education away from their state of birth and settled to work in the state where they studied or relocated to work in another state. This study examined graduate migration between Klang Valley (KV) and the rest of Malaysia, which differs very much in terms of economic activities and development. The estimations of the wage equation using ordinal logit models show that migration from all other states towards Klang Valley was associated with higher starting salaries for the graduates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]