Abstract Introduction: Second hand smoke exposure to cigarette smoke leads to many medical conditions including asthma and lung cancer. Women are the most vulnerable adults of passive smoking at home. Even though Malaysia had its own smoke- free policy, the smoke- free home is voluntary in nature. Thus, this study was aimed to explore the practice of voluntary smoke- free- home among women in Alor Gajah and its determinants. Methods: A cross-sectional study based on multistage sampling was conducted among 180 non- smoking women in areas implemented Community Intervention Program (KOSPEN), which emphasized on healthy lifestyle, in Alor Gajah, Melaka from April 2018 to May 2018. Data on sociodemographic characteristic, characteristic of second hand smoke (SHS) exposure at home, knowledge, attitude and avoidance behaviour from SHS were collected using questionnaires. The data were then analysed using IBM Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 24.0 involving descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Majority of the respondents practised smoke- free home (72.8%). The predictors of smoke- free home were those who attained higher education (AOR= 11.939, 95% CI 1.175- 121.277), did not live with any children (AOR= 3.546, 95% CI 0.985- 12.765) and lived with smokers other than their husband (AOR= 3.793, 95% CI 1.192- 12.076). Conclusion: Education level and household factors were significant predictors of smoke- free home. Thus, few measures were suggested to increase tobacco bans at home among women including periodic health programs, community empowerment programs and creating smoke- free housing.

Introduction: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is known as contributing to high morbidity and mortality globally. Major liver complications such as liver failure and liver cancer which can lead to fatality have been associated with persistent HCV infection. Globally, it is estimated that 5.6 million chronically infected HCV are among people who inject drugs (PWID). Malaysia has estimated that 59% HCV infections were among PWID. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of HCV infection and its predictors among PWID in Negeri Sembilan. Methods: A cross-sectional study based on random proportion to size sampling was conducted among 212 out of 1414 registered Methadone Maintenance Therapy (MMT) clients with PWID attending health clinics in Negeri Sembilan from February 2018 to July 2018. Data were collected using questionnaires administered through face-to-face interviews. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package of IBM SPSS Statistics Version 23 and p-value of <0.05 is considered significant. Independent T test and Chi-square test(χ2) were used to determine the associations between the variables, and multiple logistic regressions for the predictors. Results: Majority of the respondents were infected with HCV infection (89%). HCV infection were associated with their age(p<0.001), low education level(p=0.022), HIV infection(p=0.001), and higher frequency(p=0.001) with longer duration(p=0.026) of drug injections and needle sharing(p=0.001). The predictors of HCV were older age [AOR 1.07, 95% CI(1.032, 1.110)] and higher frequency of injections[AOR 5.98, 95% CI(3.110,11.476)]. Conclusion: HCV infection is prevalent among PWIDs. Hence, effective and efficient preventive measures should be targeted to the identified predictors.

Introduction: To determine the prevalence and predictors of burnout (personal, work-related and client-related) among pharmacists in government hospitals in Selangor. Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted among 376 pharmacists working in five government hospitals in Selangor. The data was collected via email using Google form containing self-administered questionnaires. Frequency and percentage of variables were obtained using descriptive statistics. Chi square was utilized to identify the relationship between factors. The significant predictors were determined using multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: Prevalence of burnout among pharmacist was reported as 52.9% (Personal), 66.0% (Work-related) and 47.1% (Client-related). The significant predictors of personal burnout were gender (AOR 2.24, 95% CI 1.29 to 3.89), working hours per week (AOR 2.92, 95% CI 1.60 to 5.32), job satisfaction (AOR 13.00, 95% CI 3.37 to 50.16) and depression (AOR 3.33, 95% CI 1.98 to 5.61). The significant predictors of work-related burnout for male was from work stress (AOR 9.10, 95% CI 3.12 to 26.60) and anxiety (AOR 5.91, 95% CI 2.03 to 17.25) while for female was from anxiety (AOR 5.91, 95% CI 2.86 to 12.23) and self-esteem (AOR 5.88, 95% CI 1.68 to 20.56). For client-related burnout, working hours per week (AOR 2.44, 95% CI 1.39 to 4.28), job satisfaction (AOR 3.91, 95 % CI 1.49 to 10.27) and anxiety (AOR 2.61, 95% CI 1.57 to 4.32) were the significant predictors. Conclusion: Burnout among pharmacists is crucial to be brought to highlight and it is necessary to perform appropriate interventions for managing the burnout.