Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is an essential measure that is used to assess the effect of chronic disease management on the health status of an individual. Previous studies have identified various instruments used in the measuring of diabetes-specific health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The aim of this paper is to provide a systematic review of the various instruments used for the diabetes-specific measure of HRQOL, and place emphasis on its content and measurement properties. Methods Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta analyses (PRISMA) guidelines was used. A systematic search strategy was used to identify publications reporting diabetes HRQOL measures. The search terms used were: “diabetes quality of life”, “measurements”, and “instruments”. The database that was searched includes PubMed, Science Direct, CINAHL, and Medline. Articles written in the English language and published from January 1990 to December 2020 were included. Those articles that did not measure HRQOL for diabetic patients were excluded. Results: A total of seventeen instruments met the inclusion criteria and included in the review. The appraisal of diabetes scale (ADS), Audit of Diabetes-Dependent QOL measure (ADDQOL), Diabetes Health Profile (DHP), and Problem Areas in Diabetes (PAID) are more suitable for single-scale questionnaires when investigating one or more specific aspects of diabetes-specific quality of life (QOL). The ADDQOL, ADS, Diabetes Impact Measurement Scales (DIMS), Diabetes Quality of Life Clinical Trial Questionnaire (DQLCTQ-R), Malay Version of Diabetes Quality of Life (DQOL), Iranian Diabetes Quality of Life (IRDQOL), Brief Clinical Inventory, and PAID are relevant measures of HRQOL for insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) patients. The Asian Diabetes Quality of Life AsianDQOL, The Chinese Short Version of DQOL, Elderly Diabetes Burden Scale (EDBS), Malay Version of Diabetes Quality of Life (DQOL), are relevant measures of HRQOL for NIDDM patients. Only two instruments assess for responsiveness, namely PAID and DQLCTQ-R. In PAID, the effect sizes ranged from 0.32 to 0.65 for interventions. The DQLCTQ-R four domains were responsive to clinical change in metabolic control. Based on this review ADDQOL, DSQOLS, and EDBS psychometric properties are sufficient. Conclusion: Most studies did not check for responsiveness, and future studies should prioritize responsiveness to change, which was not included in the psychometric finding of the reviewed instruments.

There have been various systematic reviews on the significance of educational interventions as necessary components to encourage breast cancer screening (BCS) and reduce the burden of breast cancer (BC). However, only a few studies have attempted to examine these educational interventions comprehensively. This review paper aimed to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of various educational interventions in improving BCS uptake, knowledge, and beliefs among women in different parts of the world. Following the PRISMA guidelines, a comprehensive literature search on four electronic databases, specifically PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect, was performed in May 2019. A total of 22 interventional studies were reviewed. Theory- and language-based multiple intervention strategies, which were mainly performed in community and healthcare settings, were the commonly shared characteristics of the educational interventions. Most of these studies on the effectiveness of interventions showed favorable outcomes in terms of the BCS uptake, knowledge, and beliefs among women. Educational interventions potentially increase BCS among women. The interpretation of the reported findings should be treated with caution due to the heterogeneity of the studies in terms of the characteristics of the participants, research designs, intervention strategies, and outcome measures.

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is any behaviour within an intimate relationship that causes physical, psychological or sexual harm to those in the relationship. IPV is an important public health problem with substantial consequences on physical, mental, sexual, and reproductive health. Data on the systematic review of IPV are vital as basis for policy and program recommendations. The purpose of this systematic review was to ascertain the prevalence of IPV and its associated factors in Malaysia. Materials and methods: A systematic review was conducted on published research studies from four databases which included Scopus, Medline, Sage and Google Scholar using keywords of intimate partner violence OR IPV AND associated factors OR risk factors OR protective factors AND Malaysia. Articles included were either cross-sectional, cohort or case-control studies which were published between the year 2005 till present. Excluded articles were the non-Malaysian origin, irrelevant topics being studied and articles not written in English. Results and discussion: Out of 1983 records identified and screened, five were included for the analysis and interpretation of the data. All of the included studies were of cross-sectional design in which one of the studies was secondary data. IPV prevalence in Malaysia has a wide range between 4.94 and 35.9%. Two studies reported emotional or psychological abuse as the most common form of IPV (13% out of 22%) and (29.8%; CI = [0.27, 0.32]). Significant factors associated with IPV were lower education background, lower socio-economic status, history/ current substance abuse, exposure to prior abuse or violence, violence-condoning attitude; husbands or partners controlling behaviour, substance abuse and involvement in fights and lack of social support. Conclusion: Specific IPV intervention should focus on lower socio-economic groups, high-risk institutionalised groups, the involvement of partners or husband and addressing issues of substance abuse.

Background: Synergistic integration of predictors and elements that determine the success of total quality management (TQM) implementations in hospitals has been the bane of theoretical development in the TQM research area. Thus, this paper aims to offer a systematic literature review to provide a foundation on which research on TQM can be built and to identify the predictors of successful TQM in the health-care context. Materials and methods: A systematic literature survey was adopted in this paper, involving the review of 25 relevant researched articles found in the databases Science Direct, EBSCO, MEDLINE, CINAHL and PubMed. Result: The systematic literature survey reveals five variables to be core predictors of TQM, signifying how important these variables are in the successful implementation of TQM in the health-care context. Also, it is revealed that the identified core predictors have positive effects on an improved health-care system. However, the systematic survey of the literature reveals a dearth of studies on TQM in the health-care context. Conclusion: As TQM has become an important management approach for advancing effectiveness in the health-care sector, this kind of research is of value to researchers and managers. Stakeholders in the health sectors should introduce and implement TQM in hospitals and clinics. Nevertheless, this study has limitations, including that the databases and search engines adopted for the literature search are not exhaustive.

Knowledge and awareness concerning sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) has become the burning issue of the day. Although STDs pose serious risks to health security, there is very little literature quantifying the knowledge and awareness of these diseases and their principal socioeconomic determinants. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of different socio-economic and demographic factors on knowledge and awareness about STDs among women in Bangladesh. This is a cross-sectional study using data from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2011. It involves 10,996 women in six divisions of Bangladesh – Dhaka, Rajshahi, Chittagong, Barisal, Khulna and Sylhet. In this study, the percentage distribution and logistic regression model are used to identify which factors are associated with knowledge and awareness among women in Bangladesh about STDs. There is a significant association between geographic division (Dhaka: OR = 1.669, 95% CI = 0.89-2.10, Khulna: OR = 2.234, 95% CI = 1.2-3.2); places of residence (Rural: OR = 0.363, 95% CI = 0.20-1.08), respondent’s age (20-29 years: OR = 1.331; 95% CI = 0.98-2.31); education (Primary: OR = 2.366, 95% CI = 1.98-3.1, secondary: OR = 10.089, 95% CI = 8.98-12.77, higher: OR = 20.241, 95% CI = 18.33-22.65); listening to radio (OR = 1.189, 95% CI = 1.29-3.12) and watching TV (OR = 2.498, 95% CI = 2.22-4.09) with knowledge and awareness among women in Bangladesh about STDs. There is a need to improve the education in Bangladesh about STDs particularly among those in the rural areas and older ages of women (30-49 years). Formal, informal and special educational knowledge and awareness programmes may be implemented to educate people concerning STDs in Rajshahi, Sylhet and Chittangong division. Campaigns and mass media can be used to increase the knowledge and awareness among the community, especially among women. Policies concerning the issue of STDs need to be improved and can be emphasized in collaboration with government agencies to ensure the success of these campaigns.