This study aims to examine the influence of individual differences on the small-scale fishermen’s climate change adaptation practices toward climate change. This is a descriptive correlational study on 400 small-scale fishermen living in four climate change–affected areas in Malaysia, which were selected based on a multistage cluster sampling. In conclusion, it was found that age, income, and fishing experience recorded a significant relationship with climate change adaptation practices, whereas their household size did not yield any relationship with the adaptation practices. Furthermore, a number of small-scale fishermen who use fisheries technologies, have alternative jobs, and possess higher education have recorded better climate change adaptation practices compared with nonusers, full-timers, and less educated fishermen. Several recommendations were made to assist the concerned parties in developing better adaptation strategies that are fitted to the fishermen’s needs, interests, and abilities.
11 April 2016 in Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
Psychosocial Predictors of Breast Self-Examination among Female Students in Malaysia: A Study to Assess the Roles of Body Image, Self-efficacy and Perceived Barriers Background: Early detection is a critical part of reducing the burden of breast cancer and breast self-examination (BSE) has been found to be an especially important early detection strategy in low and middle income countries such as Malaysia. Although reports indicate that Malaysian women report an increase in BSE activity in recent years, additional research is needed to explore factors that may help to increase this behavior among Southeastern Asian women. Objective: This study is the first of its kind to explore how the predicting variables of self-efficacy, perceived barriers, and body image factors correlate with self-reports of past BSE, and intention to conduct future breast self-exams among female students in Malaysia. Materials and Methods: Through the analysis of data collected from a prior study of female students from nine Malaysian universities (n=842), this study found that self-efficacy, perceived barriers and specific body image sub-constructs (MBSRQ-Appearance Scales) were correlated with, and at times predicted, both the likelihood of past BSE and the intention to conduct breast self-exams in the future. Results: Self-efficacy (SE) positively predicted the likelihood of past self-exam behavior, and intention to conduct future breast self-exams. Perceived barriers (BR) negatively predicted past behavior and future intention of breast self-exams. The body image sub-constructs of appearance evaluation (AE) and overweight preoccupation (OWP) predicted the likelihood of past behavior but did not predict intention for future behavior. Appearance orientation (AO) had a somewhat opposite effect: AO did not correlate with or predict past behavior but did correlate with intention to conduct breast self-exams in the future. The body image sub-constructs of body area satisfaction (BASS) and self-classified weight (SCW) showed no correlation with the subjects' past breast self-exam behavior nor with their intention to conduct breast self-exams in the future. Conclusions: Findings from this study indicate that both self-efficacy and perceived barriers to BSE are significant psychosocial factors that influence BSE behavior. These results suggest that health promotion interventions that help enhance self-efficacy and reduce perceived barriers have the potential to increase the intentions of Malaysian women to perform breast self-exams, which can promote early detection of breast cancers. Future research should evaluate targeted communication interventions for addressing self-efficacy and perceived barriers to breast self-exams with at-risk Malaysian women. and further explore the relationship between BSE and body image.
The impact of climate change is one of the many challenges faced by aquaculture communities nowadays. Only a limited number of articles have attempted to systematically review available literature in this field, which has led to the current study, aiming to develop a systematic review related to the practice of adapting to climate change among aquaculture communities. This systematic review was guided by the PRISMA Statement (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) in its systematic searching strategy on Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, resulting in the selection of 20 related studies. All selected articles were assessed using the Mixed Method Appraisal Tool (MMAT). Employing thematic analysis, five main themes resulted, namely Governmental (five subthemes), Community (three subthemes), Facilities (five subthemes), Temperature (two subthemes) and Financial (three subthemes), along with 18 subthemes. Based on the pattern of previous studies, the review presented several recommendations for scholars, agencies, and communities to consider in future.
BACKGROUND: Despite continuous argument about the efficacy of breast self-examination; it still could be a life-saving technique through inspiring and empowering women to take better control over their body/breast and health. This study investigated Malaysian female university students’ knowledge about breast cancer risk factors, signs, and symptoms and assessed breast self-examination frequency among students. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2013 in nine public and private universities in the Klang Valley and Selangor. 842 female students were respondents for the self-administered survey technique. Simple descriptive and inferential statistics were employed for data analysis. RESULTS: The uptake of breast self-examination (BSE) was less than 50% among the students. Most of students had insufficient knowledge on several breast cancer risk factors. CONCLUSION: Actions and efforts should be done to increase knowledge of breast cancer through the development of ethnically and traditionally sensitive educational training on BSE and breast cancer literacy.