Objectives: Lowering the prevalence of mental health illness is one of the main public health concerns. The objective of the present study was to examine factors associated with depression and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) among adults in Malaysia. Methods: Data were extracted from the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2011 (NHMS 2011), which is a nationally representative sample collected using a 2-stage stratified sampling method. A bivariate probit model was utilized to examine the influences of sociodemographic, lifestyle, and health factors on the likelihood of suffering from depression and GAD. Results: Age, gender, ethnicity, education, marital status, and self-rated health were significantly associated with depression and GAD. In particular, there were positive relationships between depression and GAD, and younger adults, females, Indian ethnic group, lower level of education, being unmarried, and self-rated poor health. Conclusions: Sociodemographic and health factors were associated with determining the risks of depression and GAD in Malaysia. With this information, future policies (eg, screening and treatment) could be targeted at those at most risk to develop depression and GAD.

Self-reported weight and height are commonly used in lieu of direct measurements of weight and height in large epidemiological surveys due to inevitable constraints such as budget and human resource. However, the validity of self-reported weight and height, particularly among adolescents, needs to be verified as misreporting could lead to misclassification of body mass index and therefore overestimation or underestimation of the burden of BMI-related diseases. The objective of this study was to determine the validity of self-reported weight and height among Malaysian secondary school children. Both self-reported and directly measured weight and height of a subgroup of 663 apparently healthy schoolchildren from the Malaysian Adolescent Health Risk Behaviour (MyAHRB) survey 2013/2014 were analysed. Respondents were required to report their current body weight and height via a self-administrative questionnaire before they were measured by investigators. The validity of self-reported against directly measured weight and height was examined using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), the Bland-Altman plot and weighted Kappa statistics. There was very good intraclass correlation between self-reported and directly measured weight [r = 0.96, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.93, 0.97] and height (r = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.90, 0.96). In addition the Bland-Altman plots indicated that the mean difference between self-reported and direct measurement was relatively small. The mean difference (self-reported minus direct measurements) was, for boys: weight, −2.1 kg; height, −1.6 cm; BMI, −0.44 kg/m2 and girls: weight, −1.2 kg; height, −0.9 cm; BMI, −0.3 kg/m2. However, 95% limits of agreement were wide which indicated substantial discrepancies between self-reported and direct measurements method at the individual level. Nonetheless, the weighted Kappa statistics demonstrated a substantial agreement between BMI status categorised based on self-reported weight and height and the direct measurements (kappa = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.67, 0.84). Our results show that the self-reported weight and height were consistent with direct measurements and therefore can be used in assessing the nutritional status of Malaysian school children from the age of 13 to 17 years old in epidemiological studies and for surveillance purposes when direct measurements are not feasible, but not for assessing nutritional status at the individual level.

In light of the importance of physical activity, the aim of the present study is to examine the factors affecting participation in physical activity among adults in Malaysia. A logistic regression model and the Third National Health and Morbidity Survey consisting of 30,992 respondents were used. Age, income, gender, education, marital status, region, house locality, job characteristics, and medical conditions are significantly associated with participation in physical activity. In particular, old individuals, high income earners, females, the well-educated, widowed or divorced individuals, East Malaysians, urban dwellers, the unemployed, and individuals who are not diagnosed with hypercholesterolemia are less likely to be physically active than others. Because sociodemographic and health factors play an important role in determining physical activity, the government should take them into account when formulating policy.

Objectives This study is aimed at determining the association between metabolic syndrome and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality and all-cause mortality among Malaysian adults. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting The Malaysian Non-Communicable Disease Surveillance (MyNCDS-1) 2005/2006. Participants A total of 2525 adults (1013 men and 1512 women), aged 24–64 years, who participated in the MyNCDS-1 2005/2006. Methods Participants’ anthropometric indices, blood pressure, fasting lipid profile and fasting blood glucose levels were evaluated to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome by the Harmonized criteria. Participants’ mortality status were followed up for 13 years from 2006 to 2018. Mortality data were obtained via record linkage with the Malaysian National Registration Department. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was applied to determine association between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and risk of CVD mortality and all-cause mortality with adjustment for selected sociodemographic and lifestyle behavioural factors. Results The overall point prevalence of MetS was 30.6% (95% CI: 28.0 to 33.3). Total follow-up time was 31 668 person-years with 213 deaths (111 (11.3%) in MetS subjects and 102 (6.1%) in non-MetS subjects) from all-causes, and 50 deaths (33 (2.9%) in MetS group and 17 (1.2%) in non-MetS group) from CVD. Metabolic syndrome was associated with a significantly increased hazard of CVD mortality (adjusted HR: 2.18 (95% CI: 1.03 to 4.61), p=0.041) and all-cause mortality (adjusted HR: 1.47 (95% CI: 1.00 to 2.14), p=0.048). These associations remained significant after excluding mortalities in the first 2 years. Conclusions Our study shows that individuals with MetS have a higher hazard of death from all-causes and CVD compared with those without MetS. It is thus imperative to prescribe individuals with MetS, a lifestyle intervention along with pharmacological intervention to improve the individual components of MetS and reduce this risk.

Exploring Factors Influencing Smoking Behaviour in Malaysia Cigarette smoking behaviour;determinants;tobacco policy;Malaysia; Objective: The objective of present study is to investigate the determinants of smoking behaviour among adults in Malaysia. Method: Findings of the Third National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS-3) by the Ministry of Health, Malaysia, were used. The sample consisted of 34,539 observations. A logistic regression model was thus applied to estimate the probability to participate in smoking. Results: Age, income, gender, marital status, ethnicity, employment status, residential area, education, lifestyle and health status were statistically significant in affecting the likelihood of smoking. Specifically, youngsters, low income earners, males, unmarried individuals, Malays, employed individuals, rural residents and primary educated individuals were more likely to smoke. Conclusion: In conclusion, socio-demographic, lifestyle and health factors have significant impacts on smoking participation in Malaysia. Based on these empirical findings, several policy implications are suggested.