Women with an abnormal Pap smear results are susceptible to distress. The objective of this study was to measure the reliability and validity of the Malay version of Psychosocial Effects with an Abnormal Pap Smear Questionnaire 14 Items (PEAPS-Q-14). A cross sectional study was conducted among 70 women with abnormal Pap smear results who were referred to three tertiary hospitals in East Coast Malaysia and completed colposcopy investigation. The self-administered PEAPS-Q-14 comprises of four domains and a total of 14 items. Descriptive analyses, Chronbach’s alpha and exploratory factor analysis were performed to measure the reliability and validity of the Malay version of PEAPS-Q-14. The final model of exploratory factor analysis on the Malay version of PEAPS-Q-14 indicated Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity was significant (Chi-square = 404.640, p value < 0.001) and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) was 0.561. The items were reduced to four factors based on Eigenvalue exceeding 1 after removing an item. The retained 13 items fit the original PEAPS-Q-14 subdomains well. The model with full items demonstrated acceptable overall internal consistency of 0.724 respectively. The Chronbach’s alpha of each domain in PEAPS-Q-14 range from 0.666 to 0.917 and only an item (Item 7) under the second factor revealed corrected total item correlation of 0.183. Removal of Item 7 has resulted in better reliability of Factor 2 in which its Chronbach’s alpha increased to 0.752. Therefore, the problematic item (Item 7) will be revised and replaced before further confirmatory factor analysis.This study showed the Malay version for PEAPS-Q-14 were reliable and valid to assess the psychosocial burden among women with abnormal Pap smear results based on exploratory factor analysis.

Family planning is an important practice for women as it can help to improve financial and social status. Unwanted pregnancy has negative effects for husband and financial. However, couples married at a late age may not practice family planning because they want to have kids. The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence, factors associated with husband’s socio demography and decision making in family planning practices among women in reproductive age who attended a polyclinic in Serdang, Malaysia. A cross sectional study was conducted on 245 women with a systematic random sampling. Descriptive analysis, Fisher exact and Chi-square tests were conducted to identify the influence of husband’s socio demographic factors and decision making in family planning practices. The prevalence of family planning practices among married women was moderate (53.9%). Family planning practices among women showed significant relationship with the husband’s socio demography which were husband’s race (p = 0.018), religion (p = 0.008) and making decision in family planning (p = 0.002). The husband’s socio demography showed a significant relationship with the prevalence of the wife practicing family planning. This clearly indicates that the husband is the individual that influence the wife to use contraceptive method. Decision making in family planning by both the husband and wife is important in choosing to use contraceptive method. Health promotion in the concept of health education for male contraceptive method such as pamphlet and booklet is important to promote husband involvement in family planning.
Family Planning Services ; Contraception

The identification of psychosocial burden and general health among women with abnormal Pap smear results was fundamentally important because women play the significant role in the family and community. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of psychosocial burden, level of general health and relationship between psychosocial burden with general health among women with abnormal Pap smear after colposcopy. This crosssectional study was done towards 218 women with abnormal Pap smear after colposcopy. Universal sampling at gynecology clinic from three tertiary hospitals in the East Coast of Malaysia was conducted. Respondents selfanswered the validated Malay version of Psychosocial Effect of Abnormal Pap smear Questionnaire and General Health Questionnaire-12 in Malay version. Data were analyzed by using statistical software IBM-SPSS version 22, descriptive statistical method, Pearson and Spearman Correlation coefficient analysis were used. The results revealed that 43.1% and 16.5% of women with psychosocial burden were having distress due to abnormal Pap smear after colposcopy. The correlation coefficient showed a significant moderate correlation between psychosocial burden and general health (r = 0.41 and p=0.000). The women are facing psychosocial burden and distress in life after being diagnosed with abnormal Pap smear, because it is related to physical and psychological aspects. This shown that psychological aspect is important in health, therefore health care needs to perform the assessment of the psychosocial burden and general health among women with abnormal Pap smear in Malaysia.
women&rsquo ; s health ; psychosocial burden ; abnormal Pap smear ; general health ; distress

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the level of psychosocial burden and its associated risk factors among women with abnormal Pap smear and post colposcopy. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted employing universal sampling of 218 respondents with abnormal Pap smear and post colposcopy. They fulfilled the specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. Three tertiary hospitals in the East Coast of Malaysia were participated. Self-administration of validated Malay-version Psychosocial Effect of Abnormal Pap smear Questionnaire was used to assess the psychosocial burden. The General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) was applied to assess the general health factor. Data was analyzed using IBM-SPSS of version 22. Results: The results showed that respondents with an abnormal Pap smear and post-colposcopy women (43.1%) demonstrated a high level of psychosocial burden. The significant risk factor of psychosocial burden was living in an urban and semi-urban area of residence (p = <0.001) and distress condition (p = <0.001) respectively. Conclusions: A substantial number of women with abnormal Pap smear results were experiencing psychosocial burden. Women with an abnormal Pap-smear who were living in the urban and semi-urban and distressed were more likely to experience a higher psychosocial burden.

Family planning is a method of controlling fertility which helps to prevent unwanted pregnancies among couples. Unwanted pregnancy has negative effects for mothers and children. The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of family planning practices among women in Serdang area and associated factors with their family planning practices. A cross sectional study was conducted with a systematic random sampling of 349 women of reproductive age, who attended Sri Kembangan Polyclinic. Descriptive analysis with chi-square and multiple regression analysis were conducted to identify factors associated with the family planning practice. The prevalence of family planning practice was 38.4%. Family planning was significantly associated with age (p=0.001), marital status (p=0.001), mode of delivery of the last pregnancy (p=0.001), number of children (p=0.001), source of information (p=0.004), level of knowledge (p=0.001), and the attitude (p=0.004). Using multiple logistic regression, four factors contributed to family planning practice, were identified as statistically significant: marital status (married OR=40, 95% CI: 9.45, 169.8), religion (Muslim OR=1.9, 95% CI: 1.14, 3.4), number of children (children>4 OR=2.98, 95% CI:1. 74, 5.09) and attitude (positive attitude OR=1.88, 95% CI:1.11, 3.18). The prevalence of family planning practice in Serdang was low even though knowledge was sufficient. The use of pamphlets and booklets are still needed to enhance efforts in health education. Currently, practice on family planning will determine the future structure of the community and the economic wellbeing of a country. Future study should focus on family planning practice among teenager and types of methods for women.

Obesity and overweight problems are serious global health issues today and despite many efforts, the prevalence has continued to rise for decades. Interestingly, hypnotherapy has been gaining recognition as an effective treatment for obesity and overweight problems. This review compiles contemporary scientific research on the effectiveness of hypnotherapy for weight reduction. Scopus, PubMed and EBSCO Host databases were applied in the study. The search identified 119 articles, of which seven met the inclusion criteria. A total of 539 respondents (82.7% women and 17.3% men) between the ages of 17 and 67 years were represented in the seven studies. Most studies incorporated lifestyle changes, such as changes of dietary habit and behavioral recommendations in the hypnotic procedure. Their results suggested that the use of hypnotherapy not only promoted weight reduction during the treatment period but also after treatment cessation, and in some cases, one to ten kilograms were lost during follow-up periods. In addition, one study even showed increased physical activity among the hypnotised individuals. This use of hypnotherapy also improved respondents' eating behavior and quality of life. However, a definitive conclusion could not be drawn due to several methodological flaws and the limited number of published studies in this area. Therefore, further well-designed studies are needed to substantiate the effectiveness of hypnotherapy for this modern-day health problem.