1.Evaluation of training programme for non-health professionals as oral health educators
Kamariah Seman ; Habibah Yaacob ; Abd. Manaf Hj. Hamid ; Abdul Rashid Ismail ; Azizah Yusoff
Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences 2008;15(2):33-36
Involvement of oral health educators among non-health professionals in oral health
promotion is important in the prevention of oral diseases. This study was carried
out to compare the level of oral health knowledge among pre-school teachers before
and after oral health seminar. Pre-test data was collected by distributing
questionnaire to pre-school teachers in Pasir Mas, who attended the seminar on
“Oral Health” (n=33) and they were required to fill anonymously before the seminar
started. The questions consisted of information on general background, perceived
oral health status, oral health knowledge and the environment where they work.
After two weeks, post-test data was collected using the same structured
questionnaire and identification code was used to match the pre and post data.
SPSS 11.5 was use for statistical analysis. Two out of 33 eligible preschool teachers
were considered non-respondents due to absenteeism during the post-test data
collection. The response rate was 94.0% (n = 31). The study shows a significant
improvement in oral health knowledge among pre-school teachers in Pasir Mas,
after seminar (p < 0.001) as compared to controls. Thus, we can conclude that the
oral health programme (seminar) appeared effective at influencing oral health
educator’s knowledge towards oral health.
2.Article knowledge, Attitude And Perception Of Contraception Among Medical Students In Universiti Putra Malaysia
Ma Saung Oo ; Nursyahira Binti Mohd Ismail ; Wei Rou Ean ; Habibah Abdul Hamid ; Nik Rafiza Affendi
Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine 2019;19(2):11-19
The incidence of unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortion are significantly high due to the lack of knowledge and negative attitude towards contraception and it can be prevented by effective and appropriate contraceptive knowledge and usage. Considering the future role of medical students as family planning educator as well as counsellors, it is not only important to determine their knowledge, attitude and perception towards contraception but also should be updated for improvement on the quality of future healthcare professionals on contraceptive knowledge which may lead to the reduction in the number of unintended pregnancy with improving maternal morbidity and mortality. This was a cross sectional study using self-reported questionnaires survey that consists of four sections as socio-demographic characteristics information, knowledge towards contraception, attitude towards contraception, and perception of education and training in sexual and reproductive health among medical student. Questions were, distributed among medical students in Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and analyzed. The response rate was 100%. and most of the respondents in this study were Malay (64·4%), female (68·3%), single (98·6%) and live in urban area (69·1%). Most of their parents had tertiary education level (father educational level, 63·3%; mother educational level, 50·0%). 56·1% of the respondents had poor level of knowledge and 59.2% of them had negative attitude towards contraception. Regarding the perception on contraception, most of the respondents thought that they did not have sufficient clinical practice (50·4%) though adequate training (57·6%) in counselling the patients for family planning service during their clinical posting. There was a significant association between gender, place of birth, ethnicity, marital status, father educational status and level of knowledge. There were a higher percentage of respondents who had poor knowledge and negative attitude towards contraception. Assessing the knowledge and attitude of medical students on contraception and their relationship with socio-demographic characteristics and socio-economic factors plays a leading role in public health projects which are aimed to combat maternal mortality through reducing unintended pregnancies. To change the attitude towards contraception and further increase the level of knowledge of contraception among medical students, collaborated health education and similar studies among health workers are highly recommended.