Theses (Master of Science Acupuncture)

Background: Since ancient times, Acupuncture was used to treat painful conditions in patient. Currently there is limited research evidence as to whether pregnant women are supportive of acupuncture treatment in maternity services for labour pain management in Malaysia. Objective: To evaluate the perception and acceptance of acupuncture as an alternative, non - pharmacological labour pain management (NPLPM) among antenatal women in a district region, Sandakan, state of Sabah in Malaysia. Method: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted using a convenient and voluntary sampling method. A total of 201 antenatal women were recruited in the antenatal clinic in a private hospital in Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia. Data collection tool was a validated, self-administered bilingual questionnaire form consisting of Malay and English language version. All antenatal women regardless of their gestational age, who were attending the antenatal clinic, were included during the study period. The collected data were analysed using SPSS software. Results: 201(100%) respondents had completed and returned the questionnaire form. The study population generally have positive perceptions towards acupuncture. 51.7% of the responders are willing to accept acupuncture as an alternative NPLPM method if available. 35.8% of the responders are in the neutral group and 12 .5% of the responders are not willing to accept acupuncture as an option for their labour pain management. There was a statistically significant difference in acceptance of acupuncture as an alternative NPLPM method among those with and without acupuncture knowledge. Conclusion: About half of the study population are willing to accept acupuncture as a NPLPM method. Introduction of acupuncture for labour pain management can be beneficial and considered especially for woman who refused pharmacological treatment, who has contraindication for labour epidural and in rural region with limited resources. Patients' knowledge, awareness and past experience of acupuncture had a significant effect on acceptance of acupuncture for labour pain management. Keywords Perception, attitudes, knowledge, acupuncture, labour pain, Sabah

Background Traditional and Complementary Medicine (T&CM) services have already started since the year of 2007 in Malaysia. Despite this, the services offered are very limit ed to select ed Ministry of Health (MOH) hospitals and there are no T&CM services provided in Selangor stat e. Therefore, Selayang Hospital (HSEL) has taken the initiative to propose and start the first T&CM service in Selangor state, namely Acupuncture and Traditional Massage. However, prior to starting T&CM service, a survey study is needed to see the knowledge and acceptance of this service among patients (post stroke and chronic pain) treated at HSEL. Objective To determine the level of knowledge and acceptance of Acupuncture and Traditional Massage by post stroke and chronic pain patients who can benefit from Acupuncture and/ or Traditional Massage services in HSEL. Methodology This is a prospective cross sectional study of questionnaires distributed via QR code to access a Google Form. Once the study has been approved by the IMU Joint Committee, MREC and the hospital director, a pilot study was conducted by having 30 participants answer the questionnaires for validation. After the questionnaires have been validated by using content validity and Cronbach's Alpha test, the questionnaires were distributed to a total of 376 numbers of patients. Explanation regarding the study was given to the target population prior to consent. Subsequently, the questions were given to the consented participants to answer. About 20 minutes was required to complete the survey. The data was analyzed using SPSS software. Results There are only 46.5% of the respondents that achieved good general knowledge of T&CM, while 49.2% achieved good specific knowledge on T&CM service in MOH hospitals. 92 % of the respondents have a good attitude towards T&CM service to be set up at HSEL. A total of 81.9% of the respondents are willing to accept T&CM service if it is established at HSEL. Age, employment status, annual income, and treatment modality have a significant difference in general knowledge (p<0.05). There is no significant difference between demographic and specific knowledge (p>0.05). Only age group and treatment modality have significant difference with attitude (p<0.05). Duration of illness and treatment modality with acceptance toward T&CM service have significant difference (p<0.05). Distance from home to HSEL, annual income, duration of illness and treatment modality have significant difference (p<0.05) when compared with experience of respondents to T&CM service. Conclusion Post stroke and chronic pain patients in Selayang Hospital have a fair but limited knowledge on the MOH and modern medicine's standpoint towards T&CM and have limit ed awareness that there are T&CM services offered under MOH hospitals. However, they have good acceptance towards T&CM services being offered by MOH. Efforts to promote knowledge and awareness in this aspect would greatly benefit the establishment and expansion of T&CM services in Selayang Hospital. Keywords Knowledge and acceptance, acupuncture, traditional massage, post stroke, chronic pain

Background: Hand hygiene is an important step to control and prevent infection in healthcare settings which includes acupuncture practices. Internationally and in Malaysia, hand hygiene behaviour and practices have been studied among both healthcare workers as well as the public. These studies have revealed varying levels of adherence and understanding of hand hygiene practice. Up to the current date, there has never been a study on hand hygiene practices among acupuncturists. Objective: The study aimed to assess the knowledge, application and practices (KAP) of hand hygiene among acupuncturists across Malaysia while identifying demographic factors that plays a role in the behaviour and compliance. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted using hand hygiene questionnaire that was adopted and adapted from the World Health Organization (WHO) and distributed to acupuncturists across Malaysia. The questionnaire consisted of 4 sections – demographics, knowledge, application and practice. Data collection was over a period of 3 months in 2024. Demographic data such as age, education level, years of practice, and employment status were collected. Data was analysed using SPSS v29 with Pearson Chi-Square test to assess for relationship between demographics factors and KAP domains. Results: A total of 350 participants were recruited in the study revealed significant gaps in the KAP of hand hygiene among acupuncturists in Malaysia. In the knowledge domain, only 14.6% of participants scored well, while 59.7% demonstrated poor knowledge. Application and practice scores were comparably low, with 78.9% of respondents demonstrating poor hand hygiene practices. Key demographic factors, such as education level, age, and years of practice, were significantly notably associated with KAP scores. Participants with higher education, younger practitioners, and those with shorter years of practice had better compliance with hand hygiene protocols. Conclusion: The study identified a serious gap of knowledge, application and practice of hand hygiene practices among acupuncturists across Malaysia. Besides knowledge, other factors like workplace policies, institutional support and resources play crucial role in ensuring consistent application and practice of hand hygiene. Targeted training, education, and policy enforcement are what needs to be addressed in future interventions together with interventions of practical barriers that obstructs hand hygiene practices in acupuncture clinics. Keywords: Hand hygiene, Acupuncturists, Acupuncture, Handwash, Handrub, Malaysia

Introduction With the growing interest and increasing use of acupuncture in the treatment of various health conditions including pain relief, acupuncture has been integrated within many hospitals around the world. Objective To assess people's perception toward acupuncture as a treatment modality for pain, with the aim of providing meaningful information as an impetus toward future development of acupuncture in pain management. Methodology This research study was carried out via cross-sectional survey using a convenient sampling method. A sample of 373 members of a private healthcare centre was recruited. IBM SPSS Statistics 20 was used to carry out quantitative analysis of the data collected. Descriptive statistics such as percentages and frequencies were used to analyze the data collected. Results The mean knowledge score of the respondents was 3.38 ± 1.52; and the mean attitude score of the respondents was 6.11 ± I .4 I. There was statistically significant difference in the mean knowledge score and mean attitude score between Users and Non-users (p<0.05). Gender, age group, ethnicity, religion, education level and monthly income were found to be statistically insignificant variables in the mean knowledge score and mean attitude score (p>0.05). Close to half the respondents (49.6%) had received acupuncture treatment ("Users"). 60% of the Users were suffered from chronic pain. The most commonly treated pain condition among the Users was back pain (58.9%), followed by joint pain (42.2%) and neck pain (41 .1%). Among the User s, 93.5% of them felt that acupuncture has no side-effect, and 91 .8% of them felt that their pain conditions had been relieved after receiving acupuncture treatment Conclusion A majority of the respondents had an average level of knowledge and demonstrated a positive attitude toward acupuncture. Most of the Users perceived acupuncture as effective in the treatment of pain and without side-effect. Musculoskeletal pain was found to be the most commonly treated pain condition among the Users. Acupuncturists' experience was the top ranked criteria considered by respondents in their decision to use acupuncture. Keywords Pain Management, Acupuncture, Knowledge, Attitude, Survey