Predicting Blood Glucose Level in Malaysian Women Based on Glutathione and Anthropometric Parameters

Blood glucose is conventionally determined by the level of sugar present in our blood. Lesser known to the public that antioxidants in our body are also said to influence the level of blood glucose. Glutathione (GSH) as the main antioxidant parameter in our body helps in reducing the production of oxidative stress caused by a high blood glucose level. Particularly in women, high antioxidant activities are reported due to the presence of oestrogen hormone. However, in Malaysia limited study was done on the significance of GSH in influencing the blood glucose level. Thus, this study focuses on finding the significance of GSH and some other health predictors in affecting the blood glucose level of women volunteers. This study was carried out on 118 Malaysian women volunteers and blood samples were collected for GSH analysis and blood glucose. All data were trained and tested for the development of prediction models in classifying the blood glucose into normal and abnormal levels. The model construction is using three different classifiers: namely logistic regression, k-nearest neighbour classifier and decision tree. Five predictors that were used are GSH, weight, body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio (WHR) and groups (oral supplementation dosage). Results showed all predictors are significantly correlated with the blood glucose level at p < 0.10. The model with a combination of GSH, BMI, WHR, weight and supplementation dosage (groups) as predictors gave the best performance. The k-nearest neighbour classifier model displays the best accuracy (84.7%) in predicting the normal and abnormal level of blood glucose. This finding shows that by altering the amount of GSH via oral supplementation and other significant predictors in women, there are chances to modify the blood glucose level from abnormal to normal

Healthy Management of Menopause: Exploring Issues and User Requirements for Mobile Intervention

Designing and developing a mobile health intervention that focuses on menopausal symptom management and emotional support for women should be grounded by some knowledge about their problems and needs. Therefore, to gather information about the issues surrounding women in their menopausal phase, review of literatures pertaining to the topic was conducted, followed by a brief preliminary investigation (PI) using online survey method which was administered to Malaysian women for two weeks. The purpose of PI was to examine their awareness about menopause, namely its phases and symptoms management, as well as methods of information searching on menopause. Respondents were also inquired about their requirements from mobile app to support management of menopause. A total of 30 respondents answered the survey, with majority of them were between the ages of 40 and 59 years old. It was discovered that menopausal women had experienced variety of symptoms, some could be intense more often than the others, and they use diary or book to record these symptoms, which is deemed ineffective. It is imperative to help Malaysian women to manage this unavoidable phase of their lives in a more convenient approach. Therefore, a mobile app that supports symptoms management, and provides educational and motivational tips in Malay language is proposed.

HEALTH BELIEFS ON THE BEHAVIORAL ADOPTION OF MAMMOGRAPHY SCREENING MODERATED BY KNOWLEDGE AND MARITAL STATUS: A PATH ANALYTIC MODEL

Despite the effectiveness of mammography for early breast cancer detection, its’ utilization among Malaysian women remains low. Health beliefs are closely related to health screening behavior. Hence, it is important that health beliefs are employed when exploring mammography screening behavior. Thus, the study utilized HBM constructs in predicting the variance in adoptive behavior of mammography. A multi-stage, stratified random sampling method was utilized to select the polyclinics in Kuantan, Pahang. Using sample size calculation at 5% type 1 error, p < 0.05 and absolute error at 2%, 520 Malaysian women aged 35 to 70 years were randomly selected. Sets of copyrighted, validated questionnaire were used to obtain the data. Structural equation modeling using Mplus was used to test the model. All health beliefs were found to significantly influence the behavioral adoption of mammography screening. Socio-demographic factors (married women) were found to moderate significantly the relationship between perceived susceptibility and behavioral adoption of mammography. Further, knowledge and married women were found to significantly affect self-efficacy. Additionally, perceived severity, motivator factors and perceived benefits were found to significantly influence self-efficacy and that self-efficacy significantly influences the behavioral adoption of mammography screening. However, a negative correlation was found between perceived severity and perceived barriers on the behavioral adoption of mammography. The model can be used as an interventional tool in designing promotional and educational programs to encourage women to adopt mammography screening.

Running their own show: Malaysian women entrepreneurs’ kaleidoscope careers

PurposeConsiderable research has been conducted to highlight women's career decisions to opt-out of corporate positions, but little is said about those who leave to become entrepreneurs. The purpose of this paper is to theorize kaleidoscope career parameters in relation to entrepreneurship stages and demonstrate the role of macro-national context (i.e. government initiatives and cultural practices) in women entrepreneurs' career choices.Design/methodology/approachThe authors interviewed 34 Malaysian women entrepreneurs (MWEs) who were established in their careers and explored the following two research questions: (1) what career parameters are prioritized at different entrepreneurship stages? and (2) how does macro-national context influence women entrepreneurs' careers?FindingsAdopting a kaleidoscope career lens, the authors show that authenticity was prioritized during the initial entrepreneurship stage, while balance and challenge were prioritized during the establishment and business advancement stages, respectively. The authors demonstrate that government support was conducive to women's decision to opt-in and stay in the entrepreneurship path. The findings also denote that cultural practices facilitated women's pursuit of entrepreneurship by encouraging family members to support women entrepreneurs in their career choices and actions.Originality/valueThe qualitative approach enabled us to specify the context-specific meaning women entrepreneurs in our study associated with authenticity, balance, and challenge. In doing so, this research extends the kaleidoscope career model to better understand women's career patterns at different entrepreneurship stages.

Body Dissatisfaction, Weight-Related Behaviours, and Health Behaviours: A Comparison Between Australian and Malaysian in Female Emerging Adults

The presence of body dissatisfaction (BD) in non-Western countries is an important area of empirical enquiry. The results reflect collectivistic and individualistic cultures of Malaysians and Australians, respectively, whereby social approval, social acceptance, and cultural values are of high importance to Malaysians compared with the more liberal attitudes of Australians with respect to health behaviours. This study sought to compare: (1) Australian and Malaysian women on BD, thin ideal internalisation, sociocultural influences, problematic weight-related behaviours, and health behaviours; and (2) the degree to which BD is associated with health behaviours (smoking, alcohol consumption, drug use, and sexual behaviours) across the two cultures. Participants were 428 Australian females and 402 Malaysian females aged 18–25 years old. Australians had higher BD, thin ideal internalisation, family and media influences, restrained eating, and poorer health behaviours, while Malaysians had higher peer influence. There was no difference for bulimic behaviours across the two countries. BD was found to have an association with use of drugs, smoking, and sexual behaviours among Malaysian women, but not for Australian participants. The permeation of Western standards of the thin ideal due to increased industrialisation, Westernisation, and modernisation has brought about bulimic behaviours in Malaysian women, similar to that of Australian women.

EQUALITY AND CITIZENSHIP FOR WOMEN IN MALAYSIA: WHERE AND WHEN?

Malaysia has agreed that all men and women are accorded equal right to citizenship under the Federal Constitution. Article 14 (1) (b) and Part II of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution provide for citizenship by operation of law for every person born outside Malaysia whose father is at the time of the birth a citizen of Malaysia. However, a Malaysian woman can apply for her child to be registered as a citizen under Article 15(2) of the Federal Constitution. In this regard, the Government has enhanced the implementation of Article 15(2) by way of an interim administrative procedure that was implemented on 1 June 2010 and applies to children born overseas after 1 January 2010 to Malaysian women who are married to foreigners. The core analysis in this article is to examine whether Malaysian laws on women and their children’s rights to citizenship is harmonious with the Women’s Convention. We analyse whether Malaysia has taken all appropriate measures, including laws, policies, administrative decisions and programmes, to eliminate women’s disadvantages based on the principal areas of concern and recommendations of the CEDAW in the concluding comments made against Malaysia following the list of issues and questions in relation to the combined third to fifth periodic reports of Malaysia following the Sixty-Ninth Session in Geneva from 19 February to 9 March 2018 and the application of equality informed by the Women’s Convention.