Impact evaluation of guidelines on antibiotic utilisation & appropriateness in Malaysian public primary care: an interrupted time series analysis.

Background: The National Antimicrobial Guidelines (NAG) 2014 and NAG2019 in Malaysia targeted rational and judicious use of antimicrobials. In this study, we assessed the change in antibiotic utilisation and appropriateness due to the guidelines that were implemented from 2011 to 2019. Methods: Interrupted time series analyses on rates of antibiotic appropriateness and utilisation were performed using prescription data from public primary care clinics in Malaysia between January 2011 and December 2019. Rates of antibiotic utilisation, reported as Defined Daily Dose (DDD) per 1000 patients per day, were stratified by antibiotic classes. Results: Of the 16,081,492 prescriptions recorded during the study period, 4.98% (n = 800,899) contained antibiotics. NAG2014 resulted in a significant increase in antibiotic utilisation trend by 0.029 (p < 0.0001) while NAG2019 had a substantial impact on antibiotic utilisation, decreasing DDD by 1778 and increasing appropriateness by 54.6% (p < 0.0001). Variation in the number of antibiotic molecules being prescribed also decreased after NAG2019. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that the introduction of NAG2019 led to a substantial improvement in antibiotic appropriateness. At the same time, antibiotic utilisation decreased. Further research is needed to ascertain and ensure the sustainability of these changes and to establish targeted improvement strategies focusing on reducing inappropriate and unnecessary prescribing.

Treatment intensification and therapeutic inertia of antihypertensive therapy among patients with type 2 diabetes and hypertension with uncontrolled blood pressure.

Treatment intensification is essential to ensure guideline targets are attained in diabetes patients. The failure to intensify treatment when the targets are not achieved is therapeutic inertia. This study aimed to determine the proportions and factors associated with treatment intensification and therapeutic inertia of antihypertensive therapy in type 2 diabetes patients with uncontrolled hypertension in Malaysia. A retrospective cohort analysis was conducted utilising registry data. Diabetes hypertensive patients with uncontrolled baseline systolic or diastolic blood pressure were included. Treatment intensification was the increase in the number of antihypertensive agents from the index treatment. Therapeutic inertia was the absence of treatment intensification when the second blood pressure reading was still uncontrolled. About 6956 patients were followed up over 2.5 ± 1.1 person-years. Treatment intensification was observed in 29.8% of patients, while 38.6% had therapeutic inertia. Chinese, Indian, and 'others' ethnic groups, retinopathy, more antihypertensive agents, and higher systolic blood pressure were associated with therapeutic inertia. Underweight, overweight patients and those with dyslipidaemia had lower risks for therapeutic inertia. The results indicate suboptimal quality of care in public health clinics in Malaysia. Further studies are needed to determine the underlying causes to formulate precise interventions to tackle the problem in Malaysia.

Economic Evaluation of Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir Among Adults Against Hospitalization During the Omicron Dominated Period in Malaysia: A Real-World Evidence Perspective.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Nirmatrelvir/ritonavir was administered orally to manage mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19 in adult patients. The objectives of this study were to (i) evaluate the cost-effectiveness of prescribing nirmatrelvir/ritonavir within 5 days of a COVID-19 illness in order to avert hospitalization within a 30-day period in the Malaysia setting; (ii) determine how variations in pricing and hospitalization rates will affect the cost-effectiveness of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir. METHODS: The 30-day hospitalization related to COVID-19 was determined using 1 to 1 propensity score-matched real-world data in Malaysia from 14 July 2022 to 14 November 2022. To determine the total per-person costs related to COVID-19, we added the cost of drug (nirmatrelvir/ritonavir or control), clinic visits and inpatient care. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) per hospitalization averted was calculated. RESULTS: Our cohort included 31,487 patients. The rate of hospitalization within 30 days was found to be 0.35% for the group treated with nirmatrelvir/ritonavir, and 0.52% for the control group. The nirmatrelvir/ritonavir group cost an additional MYR 1,625.72 (USD 358.88) per patient. This treatment also resulted in a reduction of 0.17% risk for hospitalization, which corresponded to an ICER of MYR 946,801.26 (USD 209,006.90) per hospitalization averted. CONCLUSION: In Malaysia, where vaccination rates were high, nirmatrelvir/ritonavir has been shown to be beneficial in the outpatient treatment of adults with COVID-19 who have risk factors; however, it was only marginally cost effective against hospitalization for healthy adults during the Omicron period.

Prevalence of diabetic kidney disease and the associated factors among patients with type 2 diabetes in a multi-ethnic Asian country.

The actual prevalence of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Malaysia is unknown. We aimed to determine the prevalence of DKD and its associated risk factors among T2D patients in Malaysia. An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted using the year 2022 clinical audit dataset from the National Diabetes Registry. DKD was defined as albuminuria, a decreased glomerular filtration rate, or both. Among 80,360 patients, 62.2% were female, 68.4% were Malay, and the mean age was 61.4 years. A total of 56.7% (95% CI 56.4-57.1%) of patients were found to have DKD. Increasing age, male sex, Malay ethnicity, longer duration of diabetes, overweight, obesity, hypertension, diabetic retinopathy, diabetic foot ulcer, nontraumatic lower-extremity amputation, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, insulin, higher numbers of antihypertensive agents, antiplatelet agents, poorer HbA1c control, higher systolic blood pressure, non-achievement of triglyceride target, and non-attainment of HDL-cholesterol goal were independent risk factors associated with DKD. Clinicians, program managers, and health policymakers should target modifiable factors to manage DKD and prevent its progression to end-stage kidney disease in Malaysia.

Real-world nirmatrelvir-ritonavir outpatient treatment in reducing hospitalization for high-risk patients with COVID-19 during Omicron BA.4, BA.5 and XBB subvariants dominance in Malaysia: A retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if nirmatrelvir-ritonavir 300mg/100mg treatment for 5 days in high-risk outpatients with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms was associated with a reduction in hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and death. METHODS: This 1:1 propensity score matched cohort study from 647 public health clinics in Malaysia included all patients with COVID-19 with positive tests aged 18 years and older, who were eligible for nirmatrelvir-ritonavir treatment within 5 days of illness from July 14, 2022, to November 14, 2022. The exposed group was patients with COVID-19 initiated with nirmatrelvir-ritonavir treatment, whereas those not initiated with the drug served as the control group. Data was analyzed from July 14, 2022 to December 31, 2022. RESULTS: A total of 20,966 COVID-19 high-risk outpatients (n = 10,483 for nirmatrelvir-ritonavir group and n = 10,483 for control group) were included in the study. Nirmatrelvir-ritonavir treatment was associated with a 36% reduction (adjusted hazard ratio 0.64 [95% CI 0.43, 0.94]) in hospitalization compared with those not given the drug. There was a single ICU admission for the control group and one death each was reported in the nirmatrelvir-ritonavir and control group, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Nirmatrelvir-ritonavir treatment was associated with reduced hospitalization in high-risk patients with COVID-19 even in highly vaccinated populations.

Labisia pumila standardized extract (SKF7®) reduces percentage of waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio in individuals with obesity.

AIM: Evidence from the literature points towards a viable choice of utilizing Labisia pumila to improve the metabolic profile in animal studies. To that end, this prospective study was designed to assess the health impact of the consumption of L. pumila standardized extract (SKF7®) on key parameters of obesity in humans such as body weight (BW), body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A dose-ranging analysis using SKF7® was conducted through a randomized, double-blind, multicentre, placebo-controlled, phase 2 clinical trial involving individuals with obesity (N = 133) between January 2020 and April 2021. The potential percentage of change was assessed in relation to BW, BMI, WC and WHtR. RESULTS: Average treatment effect estimates (treatment group vs. placebo) show a statistically significant reduction in the percentage of change for BW (mean = -2.915; CI: -4.546, -1.285), BMI (-2.921; CI: -4.551, -1.291), WC (mean = -2.187; CI: -3.784, -0.589) and WHtR (mean = -2.294, CI: -3.908, -0.681) in the group with a total of 750 mg of SKF7® (p < .01). An incremental reduction in WC and WHtR was consistent with the gradual increase in the total daily concentration of SKF7® from 375 to 750 mg. WC and WHtR had higher effect size (f 2 = 0.11 and f 2 = 0.13 respectively) in comparison with BW and BMI. CONCLUSIONS: SKF7® is potentially a novel therapeutic treatment for obesity, reflected by reductions in BW, BMI, WC and WHtR. The use of SKF7® suggests a dose-dependent reduction in abdominal obesity, exemplified by a decline in WC and WHtR.

Five-year LDL-cholesterol trend and its predictors among type 2 diabetes patients in an upper-middle-income country: a retrospective open cohort study.

Background: Patients with diabetes have increased risks of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), and their LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) has to be treated to target to prevent complications. We aim to determine the LDL-C trend and its predictors among patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Malaysia. Methods: This was a retrospective open cohort study from 2013 to 2017 among T2D patients in public primary health care clinics in Negeri Sembilan state, Malaysia. Linear mixed-effects modelling was conducted to determine the LDL-C trend and its predictors. The LDL-C target for patients without CVD was <2.6 mmol/L, whereas <1.8 mmol/L was targeted for those with CVD. Results: Among 18,312 patients, there were more females (55.9%), adults ≥60 years (49.4%), Malays (64.7%), non-smokers (93.6%), and 45.3% had diabetes for <5 years. The overall LDL-C trend reduced by 6.8% from 2.96 to 2.76 mmol/L. In 2017, 16.8% (95% CI: 13.2-21.0) of patients without CVD and 45.8% (95% CI: 44.8-46.8) of patients with CVD achieved their respective LDL-C targets. The predictors for a higher LDL-C trend were younger adults, Malay and Indian ethnicities, females, dyslipidemia, and diabetes treatment with lifestyle modification and insulin. Longer diabetes duration, obesity, hypertension, retinopathy, statin therapy, achievement of HbA1c target and achievement of BP target were independent predictors for a lower LDL-C trend. Conclusions: The LDL-C trend has improved, but there are still gaps between actual results and clinical targets. Interventions should be planned and targeted at the high-risk populations to control their LDL-C.

Changes in body mass index, glycosylated hemoglobin A1C, blood pressure, and LDL-cholesterol among type 2 diabetes patients in Malaysia: A population-based longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to describe changes in body mass index, glycosylated hemoglobin A1C, blood pressure, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol among type 2 diabetes patients in Malaysia. METHODS: A five-year retrospective cohort study was conducted using data from the National Diabetes Registry. Type 2 diabetes patients aged ≥18 years and had ≥2 clinical audits between 2013 and 2017 were included in the analysis. The first audit information formed the baseline characteristics, and the last audit information was used for comparison. Individualized A1C, blood pressure, and LDL-cholesterol goals were adapted from Malaysian Clinical Practice Guidelines on Type 2 Diabetes Management 2020, American Diabetes Association 2020, and European Association for the Study of Diabetes 2019. RESULTS: Of the 18 341 patients, 55.8% were female and 64.9% Malay ethnicity. The baseline mean age was 59.3 ± 10.6 years. During an average of 2.5 person-years of follow-up, the mean body mass index dropped by 0.16 kg/m2 to 27.9 kg/m2 , A1C increased by 0.16% to 8.0%, systolic blood pressure increased by 1.4 mm Hg to 136.2 mm Hg, diastolic blood pressure decreased by 1.0 mm Hg to 77.3 mm Hg and LDL-cholesterol reduced by 0.12 mmol/L to 2.79 mmol/L, P < 0.001 for all. Out of eight categories of individualized goals, most patients achieved the A1C goal of ≤8.0%. The new LDL-cholesterol goal of <1.4 mmol/L was least likely to be achieved. CONCLUSIONS: The body mass index, A1C, blood pressure, and LDL-cholesterol performance remained suboptimal. Standards of care for these clinical parameters remain to be achieved by the majority of diabetes patients.

The effectiveness of an emotion-focused educational programme in reducing diabetes distress in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus at 12-month follow-up: a cluster randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes distress (DD) is an increasingly important part of clinical medicine, diabetes self-management and research topic in people with diabetes mellitus. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a value-based emotion-focused educational program in Malay adults with type 2 diabetes (VEMOFIT) at 12-month follow-up compared with a program with systematic attention to participants' emotions (attention-control). METHODS: VEMOFIT consisted of four biweekly group sessions and a booster session after 3 months; the attention-control program consisted of three sessions over the same period. Intention-to-treat analysis with multilevel mixed modelling was done to estimate the intervention effect. RESULTS: Participants (n = 124) randomized to VEMOFIT (n = 53) or attention-control (n = 71). Mean (SD) age 55.7 (9.7) years, median diabetes duration 7.0 (8.0) years and mean HbA1c level 9.7% (82 mmol/mol). The mean DD (DDS-17 scale) level decreased in both groups (from 3.4 to 3.3 versus 3.1-2.5, respectively), significantly more in the attention-control group [adjusted difference -0.6, 95% confidence interval (CI) -1.1, -0.2]. The VEMOFIT group had a significant improvement in self-efficacy (DMSES, range 0-200; adjusted difference 16.4, 99.4% CI 1.9, 30.9). Other outcomes did not differ. CONCLUSIONS: Because the attention-control program resulted in a decreased DD 1 year later, its implementation on a larger scale seems justified. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02730078; NMRR-15-1144-24803.

A Revised Version of Diabetes Quality of Life Instrument Maintaining Domains for Satisfaction, Impact, and Worry.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes quality of life (DQoL) instrument has been widely used to measure quality of life among diabetes patients. This study aimed to develop a revised version of DQoL instrument that incorporated issues of redundancies in the items and strengthen the basis of validity of the instrument. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study where diabetes patients were recruited from December 1, 2014, until end of March 2015 at a public health clinic in Peninsular Malaysia. A questionnaire that included patients' information and DQoL instrument was distributed to patients. Item selection of DQoL instrument was conducted to screen and finalize the items based on issues of missing values and redundancy. Validity testing was conducted for the revised DQoL instrument based on exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and Rasch analysis. RESULTS: The pattern structure matrix yielded three domains similar to the original version with 18 items. The minimum factor loading from the structure matrix was 0.358. The item's and person's reliability was excellent with 0.92 and 0.84 for "satisfaction" domain, 0.98 and 0.60 for "impact" domain, and 0.99 and 0.57 for "worry" domain, respectively. Confirmatory factor analysis has dropped 5 items and the revised version of DQoL contained 13 items. Composite reliability of the revised version was computed for "satisfaction" domain (0.922; 95% CI: 0.909-0.936), "impact" domain (0.781; 95% CI: 0.745-0.818), and "worry" domain (0.794; 95% CI: 0.755-0.832). CONCLUSION: A revised version of DQoL that maintains the conceptualization of "satisfaction," "impact," and "worry" with 13 items was successfully developed.

The All-Cause Mortality and a Screening Tool to Determine High-Risk Patients among Prevalent Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients.

AIMS: This study aims to determine the all-cause mortality and the associated risk factors for all-cause mortality among the prevalent type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients within five years' period and to develop a screening tool to determine high-risk patients. METHODS: This is a cohort study of T2DM patients in the national diabetes registry, Malaysia. Patients' particulars were derived from the database between 1st January 2009 and 31st December 2009. Their records were matched with the national death record at the end of year 2013 to determine the status after five years. The factors associated with mortality were investigated, and a prognostic model was developed based on logistic regression model. RESULTS: There were 69,555 records analyzed. The mortality rate was 1.4 persons per 100 person-years. The major cause of death were diseases of the circulatory system (28.4%), infectious and parasitic diseases (19.7%), and respiratory system (16.0%). The risk factors of mortality within five years were age group (p < 0.001), body mass index category (p < 0.001), duration of diabetes (p < 0.001), retinopathy (p = 0.001), ischaemic heart disease (p < 0.001), cerebrovascular (p = 0.007), nephropathy (p = 0.001), and foot problem (p = 0.001). The sensitivity and specificity of the proposed model was fairly strong with 70.2% and 61.3%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The elderly and underweight T2DM patients with complications have higher risk for mortality within five years. The model has moderate accuracy; the prognostic model can be used as a screening tool to classify T2DM patients who are at higher risk for mortality within five years.

Decision making process and factors contributing to research participation among general practitioners: A grounded theory study.

INTRODUCTION: The participation of general practitioners (GPs) in primary care research is variable and often poor. We aimed to develop a substantive and empirical theoretical framework to explain GPs' decision-making process to participate in research. METHODS: We used the grounded theory approach to construct a substantive theory to explain the decision-making process of GPs to participate in research activities. Five in-depth interviews and four focus group discussions were conducted among 21 GPs. Purposeful sampling followed by theoretical sampling were used to attempt saturation of the core category. Data were collected using semi-structured open-ended questions. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and checked prior to analysis. Open line-by-line coding followed by focus coding were used to arrive at a substantive theory. Memoing was used to help bring concepts to higher abstract levels. RESULTS: The GPs' decision to participate in research was attributed to their inner drive and appreciation for primary care research and their confidence in managing their social and research environments. The drive and appreciation for research motivated the GPs to undergo research training to enhance their research knowledge, skills and confidence. However, the critical step in the GPs' decision to participate in research was their ability to align their research agenda with priorities in their social environment, which included personal life goals, clinical practice and organisational culture. Perceived support for research, such as funding and technical expertise, facilitated the GPs' participation in research. In addition, prior experiences participating in research also influenced the GPs' confidence in taking part in future research. CONCLUSIONS: The key to GPs deciding to participate in research is whether the research agenda aligns with the priorities in their social environment. Therefore, research training is important, but should be included in further measures and should comply with GPs' social environments and research support.

Validation of the Malay version of Diabetes Quality of Life (DQOL) Questionnaire for Adult Population with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to validate the Malay version of Diabetes Quality of Life (DQOL) questionnaire for Malaysian adult population with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study to validate Malay version of DQOL among the adult diabetic patients. DQOL questionnaire has 46 items consist of three domains, namely Satisfaction Domain, Impact Domain and Worry Domain. Both forward and backward translations from the English version of DQOL into Malay version were performed. After the face validity of the Malay version was established, it was then pilot-tested. Finally, the validity and reliability of the final Malay version of DQOL questionnaire were evaluated. RESULTS: There were 290 patients participated in this study with a mean (SD) age of 53.1 (10.0) years. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients of the overall items and the main domains were between 0.846 and 0.941. The Pearson's correlation coefficients for the three domains were between 0.228 and 0.451. HbA1C was found to be positively correlated with Impact Domain (P = 0.006). The Worry Domain was associated with diabetic retinopathy (P = 0.014) and nephropathy (P = 0.033). CONCLUSION: The Malay version of diabetes quality of life (DQOL) questionnaire was found to be a valid and reliable survey instrument to be used for Malaysian adult patients with diabetes mellitus.

The effectiveness of a value-based EMOtion-cognition-Focused educatIonal programme to reduce diabetes-related distress in Malay adults with Type 2 diabetes (VEMOFIT): study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients experience many psychosocial problems related to their diabetes. These often lead to emotional disorders such as distress, stress, anxiety and depression, resulting in decreased self-care, quality of life and disease control. The purpose of the current study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief value-based emotion-focused educational programme in adults with T2DM on diabetes-related distress (DRD), depressive symptoms, illness perceptions, quality of life, diabetes self-efficacy, self-care and clinical outcomes. METHODS: A cluster randomised controlled trial will be conducted in 10 public health clinics in Malaysia, all providing diabetes care according to national clinical practice guidelines. Patients' inclusion criteria: Malay, ≥ 18 years with T2DM for at least 2 years, on regular follow-up with one of three biomarkers HbA1c, systolic blood pressure and LDL-cholesterol sub-optimally controlled, and with a mean 17-item Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS-17) score ≥ 3. The intervention consists of four sessions and one booster over a period of 4 months that provide information and skills to assist patients in having proper perceptions of their T2DM including an understanding of the treatment targets, understanding and managing their emotions and goal-setting. The comparator is an attention-control group with three meetings over a similar period. With an estimated intra-cluster correlation coefficient ρ of 0.015, a cluster size of 20 and 20% non-completion, the trial will need to enroll 198 patients. PRIMARY OUTCOME: the between groups difference in proportion of patients achieving a mean DDS-17 score < 3 (non-significant distress) at 6 months post-intervention. Secondary outcomes will be the differences in the above mentioned variables between groups. DISCUSSION: We hypothesize that primary and secondary outcomes will improve significantly after the intervention compared to the comparator group. The results of this study can contribute to better care for T2DM patients with DRD. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02730078 . Registered on 29 March 2016, last updated on 4 January 2017.

Effectiveness of the EMPOWER-PAR Intervention in Improving Clinical Outcomes of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Primary Care: A Pragmatic Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: The chronic care model was proven effective in improving clinical outcomes of diabetes in developed countries. However, evidence in developing countries is scarce. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of EMPOWER-PAR intervention (based on the chronic care model) in improving clinical outcomes for type 2 diabetes mellitus using readily available resources in the Malaysian public primary care setting. METHODS: This was a pragmatic, cluster-randomised, parallel, matched pair, controlled trial using participatory action research approach, conducted in 10 public primary care clinics in Malaysia. Five clinics were randomly selected to provide the EMPOWER-PAR intervention for 1 year and another five clinics continued with usual care. Patients who fulfilled the criteria were recruited over a 2-week period by each clinic. The obligatory intervention components were designed based on four elements of the chronic care model i.e. healthcare organisation, delivery system design, self-management support and decision support. The primary outcome was the change in the proportion of patients achieving HbA1c < 6.5%. Secondary outcomes were the change in proportion of patients achieving targets for blood pressure, lipid profile, body mass index and waist circumference. Intention to treat analysis was performed for all outcome measures. A generalised estimating equation method was used to account for baseline differences and clustering effect. RESULTS: A total of 888 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients were recruited at baseline (intervention: 471 vs. CONTROL: 417). At 1-year, 96.6 and 97.8% of patients in the intervention and control groups completed the study, respectively. The baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of both groups were comparable. The change in the proportion of patients achieving HbA1c target was significantly higher in the intervention compared to the control group (intervention: 3.0% vs. CONTROL: -4.1%, P < 0.002). Patients who received the EMPOWER-PAR intervention were twice more likely to achieve HbA1c target compared to those in the control group (adjusted OR 2.16, 95% CI 1.34-3.50, P < 0.002). However, there was no significant improvement found in the secondary outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that the EMPOWER-PAR intervention was effective in improving the primary outcome for type 2 diabetes in the Malaysian public primary care setting. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registered with: ClinicalTrials.gov.: NCT01545401 . Date of registration: 1st March 2012.

Messages from the Malaysian Diabetes Registries on Diabetes Care in Malaysian public healthcare facilities.

A persistent and increasing prevalence of diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes mellitus has recently been reported in the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2015. This commentary recapitulates the relevant and valuable lessons in the Malaysian national diabetes registries to inform the healthcare stakeholders and policy makers on potential areas of clinical practice improvement and future researches. Under performance of the process measures and sub-optimal control of HbA1c, blood pressure and lipids profile were prevalent (<40% achieved treatment targets). Although these had improved slightly from 2009 to 2012, diabetes co-morbidities (hypertension and dyslipidaemia) and complications had also increased. Prevalence of insulin use had doubled, and lipid lowering agent use had increased about 50% in 2012 compared to 2009. We identified six clinical areas for urgent attention and improvement, and three potential areas for future research.

A nationwide survey of public healthcare providers' impressions of family medicine specialists in Malaysia: a qualitative analysis of written comments.

OBJECTIVE: To examine impressions of public healthcare providers/professionals (PHCPs) who are working closely with family medicine specialists (FMSs) at public health clinics. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: This study is part of a larger national study on the perception of Malaysian public healthcare professionals on FMSs (PERMFAMS). PARTICIPANTS: PHCPs from three categories of health facility: hospitals, health clinics and health offices. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Qualitative analyses of written comments of respondents' general impression of FMSs. RESULTS: The participants' response rate was 58.0% (780/1345), with almost equal proportions from each public healthcare facility. A total of 23 categories for each of the 648 impression comments were identified. The six emerging themes were: (1) importance of FMSs; (2) roles of FMSs; (3) clinical performance of FMSs; (4) attributes of FMSs; (5) FMS practice challenges; (6) misconception of FMS roles. Overall, FMS practice was perceived to be safe and able to provide effective treatments in a challenging medical discipline that was in line with the current standards of medical care and ethical and professional values. The areas of concern were in clinical performance expressed by PHCPs from some hospitals and the lack of personal attributes and professionalism among FMSs mentioned by PHCPs from health clinics and offices. CONCLUSIONS: FMSs were perceived to be capable of providing effective treatment and were considered to be important primary care physicians. There were a few negative impressions in some areas of FMS practice, which demanded attention by the FMSs themselves and the relevant authorities in order to improve efficiency and safeguard the fraternity's reputation.

A nationwide postal survey on the perception of Malaysian public healthcare providers on family medicine specialists' (PERMFAMS) clinical performance, professional attitudes and research visibility.

Perception of healthcare providers who worked with family medicine specialists (FMSs) could translate into the effectiveness of primary healthcare delivery in daily practices. This study examined perceptions of public healthcare providers/professionals (PHCPs) on FMSs at public health clinics throughout Malaysia. This was a cross-sectional study in 2012-2013 using postal method targeting PHCPs from three categories of health facilities, namely health clinics, health offices and hospitals. A structured questionnaire was developed to assess PHCP's perception of FMS's clinical competency, safety practice, ethical and professional values, and research involvement. It consists of 37 items with Likert scale of strongly disagree (a score of 1) to strongly agree (a score of 5). Interaction and independent effect of the independent variables were tested and adjusted means score were reported. The participants' response rate was 58.0% (780/1345) with almost equal proportion from each of the three public healthcare facilities. There were more positive perceptions than negative among the PHCPs. FMSs were perceived to provide effective and safe treatment to their patients equally disregards of patient's social background. However, there were some concerns of FMSs not doing home visits, not seeing walk-in patients, had long appointment time, not active in scientific research, writing and publication. There were significant differences in perception based on a respondent's health care facility (p < 0.0001) and frequency of encounter (p < 0.0001). PHCPs had overall positive perceptions on FMSs across all the domains investigated. PHCPs from different health care facilities and frequency of encounter with FMSs had different perception. Practicing FMSs could improve on the critical service areas that were perceived to be important but lacking. FMSs might need further support in conducting research and writing for publication.

Predictive factors of follow-up non-attendance and mortality among adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus- an analysis of the Malaysian diabetes registry 2009.

This study examined the factors associated with follow-up non-attendance (FUNA) and mortality among the adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Data on 57780 T2DM patients from the 2009 diabetes registry were analyzed using multinomial logistic mixed model. Out of 57780 patients, 3140 (5.4%) were lost to follow-up and 203 (0.4%) patients had died. Compared with patients who were under active follow-up, men (OR 1.37), neither on insulin (OR 1.72), nor on antiplatelet agents (OR 1.47), having higher HbA1c (OR 1.15), higher LDL-C (OR 1.18) and complications (OR 1.33) were associated with FUNA. Older age (OR 1.09) and higher LDL-C (OR 2.27) have higher mortality. Across the four different health facilities, medication use (insulin and anti-platelet agents) to achieve better disease control in the younger age when diabetes complication is absent would not cause FUNA and might reduce mortality.

Predictors of poor glycaemic control in older patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>We assessed the predictors of poor glycaemic control among older patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Malaysia.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>This cross-sectional study used the data of 21,336 patients aged ≥ 60 years with T2DM from the Adult Diabetes Control and Management Registry 2008-2009.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Predictors of poor glycaemic control were: age groups 60-69 years (odds ratio [OR] 1.96, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.66-2.33) and 70-79 years (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.20-1.71); Malay (OR 1.53, 95% CI 1.41-1.66) and Indian (OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.19-1.46) ethnicities; T2DM durations of 5-10 years (OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.35-1.58) and > 10 years (OR 1.75, 95% CI 1.59-1.91); the use of oral antidiabetic agents only (OR 5.86, 95% CI 3.32-10.34), insulin only (OR 17.93, 95% CI 9.91-32.43), and oral antidiabetic agents and insulin (OR 29.42, 95% CI 16.47-52.53); and elevated blood pressure (OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.01-1.20), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.38-1.59) and triglycerides (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.51-1.73). Hypertension (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.64-0.80), hypertension and dyslipidaemia (OR 0.68, 95% CI 0.61-0.75), pre-obesity (OR 0.89, 95% CI 0.82-0.98) and obesity (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.70-0.84) were less likely to be associated with poor glycaemic control.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Young-old and middle-old age groups (i.e. < 80 years), Malay and Indian ethnicities, longer T2DM duration, the use of pharmacological agents, and elevated blood pressure and lipid levels were associated with poor glycaemic control. The presence of comorbidities, pre-obesity and obesity were less likely to be associated with poor glycaemic control.</p>