Psychological and work-related factors predicting work engagement in Malaysian employees

BACKGROUND

Past research on work engagement has focused almost exclusively on either psychological or work-related factors in almost wholly separate literature. There is therefore a need to examine how these factors collectively influence work engagement.

AIMS

To determine levels of work engagement and to identify psychological and work-related characteristics predicting work engagement in employees in Malaysia.

METHODS

We recruited 5235 employees from 47 public and private organizations in Malaysia who responded to an online health survey. We assessed work engagement with the 9-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9) and psychological distress using the 6-item Kessler scale. We performed multiple linear regression to determine predictors of work engagement.

RESULTS

Employee mean age was 33.8 years (standard deviation [SD] ± 8.8). The mean work engagement score on the UWES-9 was 3.53 (SD ± 0.94). Eleven of 18 variables on multiple regression predicted work engagement, F(18, 4925) = 69.02, P < 0.001, R2 = 0.201. Factors that predicted higher work engagement were age, marital status, education level, job type, job permanency, longer sleep duration, lower psychological distress and no history of workplace bullying.

CONCLUSIONS

Key factors associated with poorer work engagement in Malaysian employees include inadequate sleep, psychological distress and a history of workplace bullying. These are modifiable factors that individuals and employers can target to improve work engagement, ideally tailored according to occupational type.

A Review of Smoking Research In Malaysia

Two hundred and seventy one original published materials related to tobacco use were found in a search through a database dedicated to indexing all original data relevant to Medicine and Health in Malaysia from 1996 - 2015. A total of 147 papers were selected and reviewed on the basis of their relevance and implications for future research. Findings were summarised, categorised and presented according to epidemiology, behaviour, clinical features and management of smoking. Most studies are cross-sectional with small sample sizes. Studies on smoking initiation and prevalence showed mixed findings with many small scale studies within the sub-groups. The majority of the studies were related to factors that contribute to initiation in adolescents. Nonetheless, there are limited studies on intervention strategies to curb smoking among this group. There is a lack of clinical studies to analyse tobacco use and major health problems in Malaysia. In addition, studies on the best treatment modalities on the use of pharmacotherapy and behavioural counselling have also remained unexplored. Reasons why smokers do not seek clinic help to quit smoking need further exploration. A finding on the extent of effort carried out by healthcare providers in assisting smokers to make quit attempts is not known. Studies on economic and government initiatives on policies and tobacco use focus mainly on the effects of cigarette bans, increased cigarettes taxes and the influence of the tobacco industry. Recommendations are given for the government to increase efforts in implementing smoke-free legislation, early and tailored interventions. Clinical studies in this area are lacking, as are opportunities to research on ways to reduce smoking initiation age and the most effective quit smoking strategies.

Prevalence and characteristics associated with default of treatment and follow-up in patients with cancer

Defaulting is an important issue across all medical specialties, but much more so in cancer as delayed or incomplete treatment has been shown to result in worse clinical outcomes such as treatment resistance, disease progression as well as lower survival. Our objective was to identify psychosocial variables and characteristics associated with default among cancer patients. A total of 467 consecutive adult cancer patients attending the oncology clinic at a single academic medical centre completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and reported their preference for psychological support at baseline, 4-6 weeks and 12-18 months follow-up. Default was defined as refusal, delay or discontinuation of treatment or visit, despite the ability to do so. A total of 159 of 467 (34.0%) cancer patients were defaulters. Of these 159 defaulters, 89 (56.0%) desired psychological support, compared to only 13 (4.2%) of 308 non-defaulters. Using a logistic regression, patients who were defaulters had 52 times higher odds (P = 0.001; 95% confidence interval 20.61-134.47) of desiring psychological support than non-defaulters after adjusting for covariates. These findings suggest that defaulters should be offered psychological support which may increase cancer treatment acceptance rates and improve survival.

Attitudes and role orientations on doctor-patient fit and patient satisfaction in cancer care

INTRODUCTION

Findings in the area of patient-physician relationship are riddled with inconsistencies. Although patient-centredness has been found to have special relevance in chronic illnesses, no study in the Southeast Asian region has so far examined role orientation and its implication for patient-centred outcomes in the cancer context. This study aimed to examine role orientation in cancer patients and their physicians, doctor-patient fit and how this congruence relates to patient satisfaction.

METHODS

The participants were 80 cancer patients and 12 physicians from a single academic medical centre. All participants completed the Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale, while only the patient participants completed the self-administered Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire.

RESULTS

The cancer patients and their oncologists were found to be patient-centred and thus showed a high doctor-patient fit. Our findings also support the hypothesis that patient-centredness (overall mean = 4.66 ± 0.585) and patient-physician congruence (overall mean = 4.95 ± 0.088) are significantly associated (t(90) = -1.75, p = 0.084) with patient satisfaction (r = 0.56, p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

To our knowledge, this study is the first in the Southeast Asian context to examine congruence using role orientations of cancer patients and their oncologists as well as the resultant patient satisfaction in an actual clinical setting. The finding that strong doctor-patient fit is linked to higher patient satisfaction is unexpected and differs from the results of other studies from the USA. Further studies are required in order to examine how this may be influenced by differences in socio-cultural norms and expectations.

Differences in physician attitudes towards patient-centredness: across four medical specialties

AIMS

There is limited study on patient-centred attitudes with regards to the patient-physician relationship in physicians. The objective of this study was to examine and compare physician attitudes toward patient-centredness in four different medical settings.

METHODS

The present study utilised a cross-sectional survey design and purposive sampling to recruit physicians from a single academic medical centre via face-to-face interviews. Patient-centred attitudes of physicians specialising in surgery, oncology, obstetrics and gynaecology and primary care (N = 78) were compared on the Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS) using an independent one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The four medical specialties comprised the four levels, with role orientation (patient-centred orientation vs. doctor-centred orientation) as the dependent measure.

RESULTS

A significant level of difference (p < 0.001) was found between the four specialisations: oncologists were found to have the highest level of patient-centeredness, followed by obstetricians & gynaecologists and primary care physicians, with surgeons being the least patient-centred among specialisations sampled.

CONCLUSION

These data are the first from the South-East Asian region to demonstrate differences in physician attitudes between medical specialties. Our findings prompt further investigation and confirmation as to whether physicians with particular attitudinal traits are attracted to any particular specialties of medicine, or if physician attitudes are acquired through professional experience and training. In addition, this study offers better insight into the attitudinal differences of physician between medical specialities.