IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i8p2713-d345665.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Treatment-Seeking Behavior Among Male Civil Servants in Northeastern Malaysia: A Mixed-Methods Study

Author

Listed:
  • Pathman Arumugam

    (School of Medical Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia)

  • Tengku Alina Tengku Ismail

    (School of Medical Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia)

  • Aziah Daud

    (School of Medical Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia)

  • Kamarul Imran Musa

    (School of Medical Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia)

  • Noor Aman A. Hamid

    (School of Medical Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia)

  • Shaiful Bahari Ismail

    (School of Medical Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia)

  • Zakiah Mohd Said

    (Family Health Development Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Putrajaya 62590, Malaysia)

Abstract

Background : Men’s health in Malaysia is slowly gaining more attention, but minimal research has examined how Malaysian men behave and seek treatment. While few studies have investigated men’s treatment-seeking behavior (TSB), those that have been conducted seem to be inconclusive and tend to yield contradictory findings. Objectives: This paper aims to determine the proportion of inappropriate TSB and to explore in-depth treatment-seeking behavior among male civil servants in northeastern Malaysia. Methods : This paper adopted a mixed-methods approach, specifically a concurrent parallel study design. A quantitative study using a self-administered questionnaire was performed to identify the proportion of appropriate and inappropriate TSB among male civil servants in northeastern Malaysia. Concurrently, a qualitative study was conducted involving six focus group discussion sessions, and the results of both parts were integrated to provide a detailed explanation of TSB among the participants. Results : A total of 381 participants were involved in the quantitative study, yielding a response rate of 94.8%; 246 (64.6%) engaged in inappropriate TSB. Some of the reported morbidities among the participants were hypertension (26.5%) and diabetes mellitus (26.2%). From the qualitative study, a main theme related to TSB emerged with several sub-themes, which were health literacy, stage of seeking treatment, preference for alternative treatment, perceived threat of illness, self-treatment, and the influence of family members and others. Conclusions : TSB among male civil servants in northeastern Malaysia is poor, and the factors contributing to it are multidimensional. This study has provided new valuable evidence on men’s TSB in northeastern Malaysia. The findings can be used to facilitate and improve current policies and the implementation of men’s health services throughout the country.

Suggested Citation

  • Pathman Arumugam & Tengku Alina Tengku Ismail & Aziah Daud & Kamarul Imran Musa & Noor Aman A. Hamid & Shaiful Bahari Ismail & Zakiah Mohd Said, 2020. "Treatment-Seeking Behavior Among Male Civil Servants in Northeastern Malaysia: A Mixed-Methods Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-15, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:8:p:2713-:d:345665
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/8/2713/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/8/2713/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stekelenburg, Jelle & Jager, Bastiaan E. & Kolk, Pascal R. & Westen, Esther H. M. N. & Kwaak, Anke van der & Wolffers, Ivan N., 2005. "Health care seeking behaviour and utilisation of traditional healers in Kalabo, Zambia," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 67-81, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dayang Hajyrayati Binti Awg Kassim & Siti Zaleha Raduan & Rasidah Abdul Wahab, 2023. "A Narrative Review of Health-Seeking Behaviour in Malaysia: Factors and Emerging Themes," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(7), pages 2109-2124, July.
    2. Muhammad Zikri Ab Aziz & Tengku Alina Tengku Ismail & Mohd Ismail Ibrahim & Najib Majdi Yaacob & Zakiah Mohd Said, 2022. "Experiences and Expectations of the Characteristics of Friendly Primary Health Services from the Perspective of Men: A Phenomenological Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-27, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sato, Azusa, 2012. "Does socio-economic status explain use of modern and traditional health care services?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(8), pages 1450-1459.
    2. John W Stanifer & Uptal D Patel & Francis Karia & Nathan Thielman & Venance Maro & Dionis Shimbi & Humphrey Kilaweh & Matayo Lazaro & Oliver Matemu & Justin Omolo & David Boyd & Comprehensive Kidney D, 2015. "The Determinants of Traditional Medicine Use in Northern Tanzania: A Mixed-Methods Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(4), pages 1-17, April.
    3. Azusa Sato & Joan Costa-Font, 2014. "The Hedonic Procedural Effect of Traditional Medicines," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(5), pages 1061-1084, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:8:p:2713-:d:345665. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.