Khamisah Awang Lukman

Background: Suicidal ideation is a critical precursor to suicide and an important focus for early prevention. Police officers are frequently exposed to sustained operational and organisational stressors that may increase vulnerability to suicidal ideation. Although police suicide has attracted growing attention in Malaysia, empirical data on high-risk suicidal ideation and associated factors among Malaysian police personnel remain limited. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of high-risk suicidal ideation and its associated factors among police officers in a district in Sabah. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 528 active-duty police officers from a district police headquarters and affiliated units in Sabah. Participants completed validated self-administered questionnaires assessing suicidal ideation (RSIS), depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), perceived stress (PSS-10), burnout (Copenhagen Burnout Inventory), police stress (Police Stress Questionnaire), resilience (Brief Resilience Scale), relationship quality (Relationship Dynamics Scale), substance use risk (ASSIST-Lite), and financial well-being (FWS), together with sociodemographic information. High-risk suicidal ideation was defined using the RSIS high-risk category. Descriptive statistics were used to estimate prevalence, and multiple logistic regression was used to examine associated factors. Results: The prevalence of high-risk suicidal ideation was 10.8% (57/528; 95% CI: 8.4–13.7). Sedative use risk (AOR = 5.00; 95% CI: 1.90–13.05) and depression severity (AOR = 1.18; 95% CI: 1.11–1.25) were associated with higher odds of high-risk suicidal ideation. Higher financial well-being (AOR = 0.97; 95% CI: 0.96–0.99) and greater resilience (AOR = 0.36; 95% CI: 0.15–0.86) were associated with lower odds of high-risk suicidal ideation. Conclusions: Approximately one in ten police officers in this district met the threshold for high-risk suicidal ideation. These findings highlight the importance of early identification and targeted support in policing settings, particularly addressing depressive symptoms, sedative use risk, financial well-being, and resilience. Longitudinal research is needed to clarify temporal relationships.

Workplace mental health is a growing concern in Malaysia’s healthcare sector, yet comprehensive psychosocial risk assessments across all staff remain limited. This cross-sectional study examined the prevalence and predictors of depression, anxiety, and stress among employees in four government tertiary hospitals in Kota Kinabalu, namely Hospital Queen Elizabeth, Hospital Queen Elizabeth II, Hospital Wanita dan Kanak-Kanak Sabah, and Hospital Mesra Bukit Padang. From 21 ^st March 2025–20 ^th April 2025, 233 staff members were selected via stratified random sampling. Data were collected using validated self-administered online questionnaires, including the 21-item Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale and the Likelihood of Environment & Occupational Exposure Scale towards Psychosocial Risk in the Workplace. Analyses involved descriptive statistics, bivariate comparisons, and multivariate logistic regression using SPSS version 29. Results revealed high prevalence rates of anxiety (43.8%), depression (37.8%), and stress (27.0%). Bivariate analysis revealed elevated odds of depression among Chinese ethnicity, diploma educated, high-income staff, HQE employees, medical and clinical roles, doctors, and shift workers. Anxiety was linked to medical departments and shift work, while stress was prevalent in younger staff with shorter tenure. High job demand, low control, and inadequate support increased depression, anxiety, and stress risk. Multivariate analysis identified high psychosocial risks related to job demand (OR 3.94), control (OR 3.72), and support (OR 2.87) as significant predictors of depression. High psychosocial risk in job demand (OR 3.01), control (OR 2.29), and support (OR 2.59) also predicted anxiety. Stress was closely linked to staff aged 20–39 years (OR 3.14), high psychosocial risk in job control (OR 4.45), and support (OR 2.68). Although the cross-sectional design and reliance on self-report limit causal interpretation, these findings highlight the value of regular psychosocial risk assessments and targeted interventions. Strengthening workplace support systems is crucial to improving mental well-being among Malaysia’s hospital workforce.

The shift in the national health focus from curative towards prevention and wellness has sustained the importance of health-promoting activities to be conducted. In dealing with various occupational health risk factors and hazards, and frontlines occupational factors, seemed likely the security personnel needed to be provided with occupational health-related information. Thus, three series of health empowerment program among security personnel in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah was conducted. The scores obtained by every participant before and after each series were compared. The three series of health empowerment program were conducted in three consecutive weeks which involved pre and post evaluation of the knowledge, attitude and practice elements of three domains of topics, which were Occupational Safety and Health awareness, noncommunicable and communicable diseases. Data analysis was conducted by using SPSS version 29 and a paired T-test was conducted to determine the mean score outcomes and its significant differences. There were significant differences in the pre and post mean score outcomes of knowledge and attitude elements in the series of noncommunicable diseases and practice elements in the series of communicable diseases. These findings highlighted the still ongoing trend of noncommunicable diseases as the main killer diseases, and the correlation of ongoing epidemic trends of communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis, AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, worldwide. Therefore, it was hoped that health risks could be minimized and working performances could be alleviated through the implementation of health empowerment program.

Introduction: The noncommunicable disease has emerged as a major epidemic for decades and hypertension has been reported as a disease that has a high association with the occupational factors of security personnel. The duty routines of security personnel such as doing patrols, post-guards and the need to stay alert have made them vulnerable to occupational health and safety hazards. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the factors influencing occupational health practices and hypertension among security personnel in a public university in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the security personnel of a public university in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, using a convenient sampling technique. Questionnaires adapted from NHMS 2019 have been distributed among the security personnel of the selected public university. Data analysis was conducted by using the SPSS version 28. Descriptive analysis and cross-tabulations were conducted. Pearson Chi-square/Fisher exact test was used to find the association. Statistical significance was considered at p<.05. Results: Of the total respondents, 77.7% were male and 22.3% of them were female. The mean age of the respondents was 35.5 years with a standard deviation of 8.5. The proportion of annual cardiovascular screenings was 68%, and type of residence (p=.013) and previous employment factors (p=.013) were found to be statistically significant. Alternately, the proportion of recent cancer screenings was 16.5%, and gender (p=<.001), marital status (p=.004) and year of services (p=.034) were found to be statistically significant. The prevalence of hypertension was 21.4%, and age (p=.001) and year of services (p=.010), were found to be statistically significant. Conclusion: Early detection of underlying disease will contribute to the prevention of cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Subsequently, annual health screening activities are essential in guaranteeing the quality of health and a life sustenance fundamental practice among security personnel.

Contact investigation and TB preventive treatment of children under five years of age who are close contacts of a TB case is a key component of TB prevention. However, the uptake of TB preventive treatment is low in many high-TB burden settings. This study explores factors affecting the implementation of TB contact investigation and preventive treatment among children in Malaysia’s city of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah State. This study was conducted in three primary health clinics between 2019 and 2020. We purposively sampled 34 parents and guardians of child contacts eligible for TB preventive treatment, and 25 healthcare providers involved in the management of child contacts. We conducted thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions to illicit factors affecting implementation and uptake of TB contact investigation and TB preventive therapy. Six main themes emerged from the analyses–four of these relating to contact investigation and two relating to TB preventive therapy. Factors affecting TB contact investigation were addressed under system related factors (external factors, stakeholder collaboration, healthcare workers’ and clients’ concerns), clinic related factors (perceived performance, clinic schedule, and space), healthcare worker related factors (cooperation, commitment, knowledge, misconception, counselling and communication) and patient and contact related factors (cooperation and commitment). Factors affecting TB preventive treatment delivery were addressed under guardian related factors (cooperation, commitment, knowledge and misconception) and treatment related factors (child-friendly form and adverse effects). To address gaps and barriers identified in our study, we recommend developing system capacity to maintain routine contact investigation and preventive treatment in the context of external program risks, providing training to healthcare workers to address misconceptions, safeguarding vulnerable clients against the risk of detention and deportation while accessing care, ensuring public and private services are provided regardless of migration status, and improving processes and resources for contact investigation and preventive treatment.

Concerns about the health and safety of working populations as well as preventive actions to reduce heat-related illnesses and fatalities have intensified as global warming and heatwaves continue to rise as a result of climate change. This study aimed to translate and culturally-adapted the translated Malay version of the Heat Strain Score Index (HSSI) questionnaire so that it can be utilized as a screening tool for heat stress among the Malay-speaking outdoor workers. The original English version of HSSI underwent forward-backward translation and was cross-culturally adapted into the Malay language by bilingual translators based on established guidelines. The content validation was reviewed by a six-member expert committee including the representative of outdoor workers. Face validation was carried out among 10 outdoor workers involved with various work tasks. Psychometric analysis was conducted based on a cross-sectional study among 188 workers who were eligible. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was used for construct validity while internal consistency reliability was performed using Cronbach’s alpha. The interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to calculate the test-retest reliability. Both content and face validity were acceptable with the overall content validity index being 1.00, while the universal face validity index was 0.83. The factor analysis using varimax rotation extracted four factors which explained 56.32% of the cumulative percentage of variance and factor loading ranging from 0.415 to 0.804. The internal consistency reliability was acceptable with Cronbach’s alpha ranging from 0.705 to 0.758 for all the factors. The overall ICC value was 0.792 (95% CI; 0.764–0.801) which signifies good reliability. The findings from this study indicate that the Malay version of HSSI is a reliable and culturally-adapted instrument. Further validation is needed so that it can be used extensively assess the heat stress among susceptible Malay-speaking outdoor workers in Malaysia who are exposed to hot humid environments.

Background: The double burden of malnutrition among children is an emerging public health problem, especially in developing countries. Eating behaviours have been hypothesised to contribute to both being underweight and overweight in children and adults. The objective of this study was to examine the association between the Child Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) subscale scores and body mass index (BMI) z-scores among Malaysian children under-5 years. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in 2020 by recruiting a sample of 500 children aged 24– 59 months old from clinics located in the interior districts of Sabah, Malaysia. The CEBQ was completed by the mothers on behalf of the child to assess their eating behaviour traits. The height and weight of the child were measured using standardised instrument. The BMI-for-age percentile, z-scores for BMI-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-age were determined and classified using World Health Organization AnthroPlus software. The relationship between the CEBQ subscale scores and BMI z-scores were evaluated using multiple linear regression models adjusting for potential confounders. Results: The prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting were 20.2%, 29.2% and 5.6%, respectively, whereas the prevalence of overweight and obese was 5.0%. There were significant positive association between Food responsiveness, Emotional overeating, Enjoyment of food with BMI z-scores (p< 0.05; unstandardised regression coefficient: 0.17 to 0.38). In contrast, there were significant negative association between Satiety responsiveness, Slowness of eating, Food fussiness with BMI z-scores (p< 0.01; unstandardised regression coefficient: − 0.35 to − 0.36). Conclusion: These findings show that specific eating behaviours can influence the growth of children under-5 years. Therefore, policymakers should formulate a nutrition policy that incorporates behavioural assessment and behavioural intervention in the prevention and management of malnutrition among children in Malaysia.

Janitorial workers are considered a high-risk group to develop WRMSDs based on their numerous hazardous job tasks and frequent non-fatal injuries being reported. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of upper limb musculoskeletal disorders (ULMSDs) and its associated risk factors among janitorial workers. This cross-sectional study involved janitorial workers in a university in Sabah, Malaysia. The participants, who included supervisors, cleaners, and landscape workers, were recruited via universal sampling. Those with at least 12-months of experience in their present employment were included, while those with prior musculoskeletal injuries were excluded. Data were collected through interviews using the Malay version of Standardized Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (SNMQ), and Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ), followed by Ergonomic Risk Assessment (ERA). Data were analyzed and produced using SPSSv.26, encompassing descriptive statistics, Pearson's Chi-Square, and Multiple Logistic Regression analysis. Ethical approval and respondents' informed consents were obtained prior to the study. Among 142 respondents, ULMSDs were found to be prevalent in 76.8% of janitorial workers, with the highest prevalence (71.6%) reported in the shoulder regions. None was at negligible risk, with 95.1% in the medium or high-risk categories for RULA assessment. The significant associated factors were landscape workers [aOR = 3.07,95% CI = 1.04, 9.91], more than three years of employment [aOR = 2.47,95% CI = 1.06, 5.79], and low job control [aOR = 2.69,95% CI = 1.16, 6.23]. Given the high prevalence of ULMSDs, risky awkward postures, and low job control, amendments in working apparatuses and improvements in administrative procedures, are highly recommended to prevent the occurrence of ULMSDs.

Background: In the Malaysian state of Sabah, P. knowlesi notifications increased from 2% (59/2,741) of total malaria notifications in 2004 to 98% (2030/2,078) in 2017. There was a gap regarding P. knowlesi acquisition risk factors related to practice specifically in working age group. The main objective of this study was to identify the risk factors for acquiring P. knowlesi infection in Sabah among the working age group. Methods and methods: This retrospective population-based case-control study was conducted in Ranau district to assess sociodemographic, behavioural and medical history risk factors using a pretested questionnaire. The data were entered and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 23. Bivariate analysis was conducted using binary logistic regression whereas multivariate analysis was conducted using multivariable logistic regression. We set a statistical significance at p-value less than or equal to 0.05. Results: A total of 266 cases and 532 controls were included in the study. Male gender (AOR = 2.71; 95% CI: 1.63–4.50), spending overnight in forest (AOR = 1.92; 95% CI: 1.20–3.06), not using mosquito repellent (AOR = 2.49; 95% CI: 1.36–4.56) and history of previous malaria infection (AOR = 49.34; 95% CI: 39.09–78.32) were found to be independent predictors of P. knowlesi infection. Conclusions: This study showed the need to strengthen the strategies in preventing and controlling P. knowlesi infection specifically in changing the practice of spending overnight in forest and increasing the usage of personal mosquito repellent.