Theses (Master of Science Acupuncture)

Acupuncture is the practice of stimulating specific points on the body according to the Chinese medicine meridian theory, usually by inserting very fine needles through the skin. In 2003, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a review of clinical trials where it recognised 28 diseases, symptoms, or conditions that acupuncture has been proven to be an effective form of treatment (10). Hence, there was high rate of acupuncture utilization in countries such as the United States of America, Australia, Japan, and Taiwan (4-7). Studies have shown that acupuncture users were also from high education attainment (14-18). However, the rate of acupuncture utilization in Malaysia is still low. According to the National Health and Morbidity survey 2015, only 2.13% of the Malaysian population are using acupuncture and moxibustion according to the National Health and Morbidity survey 2015 (19). This same phenomenon can be observed at the Chinese Medicine clinic located within International Medical University (IMU) as well, where the utilisation rate of the clinic by IMU staff is only at 1% in 2019, despite the provision of discounts as well as medical expenses covered under staff benefits. Hence, we attempt to study the factors that affect the intention to utilize acupuncture in Malaysia, using questionnaires targeted at IMU staff which mainly comprise of the high educational attainment group, by applying the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). The 3 main constructs of TPB are Attitude, Subjective Norms and Perceived Behaviour Control. This study is a designed to be cross-sectional and questionnaires were distributed through email. A total of 156 samples were collected at the end of the survey for analysis. The findings show that subjective norms and perceived behaviour control had a positive relationship on intention, while attitude appeared to have no effect on intention. Variables of ethnicity, marital status, education level and designation had no significant relationship with intention to utilize acupuncture. Gender and household income have shown to have positive influence on intention. Female respondents with a monthly household income of less than RM5,000 show a higher intention to choose acupuncture as their treatment choice.

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: Members seek for traditional & complimentary treatments for a variety of symptoms. No previous studies have reviewed the data available in medical records from Golden Horses Health Sanctuary (GHHS) healthcare. This study aims to identify the characteristics of members who visited (GHHS) Healthcare Traditional Chinese Medicine Center. Objective: I. To identify the socio-demo graphic characteristics and diseases classification of members who seek for Chinese medicine treatments at Golden Horses Health Sanctuary (GHHS) Healthcare Traditional Chinese Medicine Center. 2. To identify the diseases classification of members who undergo multi modal treatments. 3. To determine the types of Chinese medicine treatments that members received. Method: Primary data from April 2022 to May 2022 were collected from members who visited GHHS healthcare traditional Chinese medicine center. Member data, including demo graphics, primary symptom, clinical history, western medicine treatment and Chinese medicine treatment were analysed with descriptive statistics using SPSS version 20.0 Results: From 176 members with their primary symptoms, the mean age of the members was 50.70 and the majority were female (61.4%). The members mostly visited GHHS healthcare are Chinese (78.4%). Majority members were employed and self-employed (69.3%), well educated (69.3%) and monthly income between RM4851 - RMI0970 is (42.0%). Majority members do not have medical conditions and the most primary symptoms were having chronic low back pain. Most of the members did not consult medical doctor regards to their primary symptom (60.8%). Most of the members were seeking for traditional & complimentary medicine (99.4%), the most common integrated modalities were Chinese medicine with physiotherapy and Chinese medicine with chiropractic. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the systematic data collection of sociodemographic characteristics and member self-reported primary symptoms implemented in a private traditional Chinese medicine center. This type of information can be used for service provision, future study planning, and marketing. The following are several of the important lessons learned: 1. Most members at Gf-Il-IS healthcare who seek for T&CM treatments are female, high educated, high income, conscious of general wellbeing. They mostly seek for pain management of chronic musculoskeletal disease. So, practitioners should make sure well prepared to treat those patients manage their symptoms. 2. Future research could explore how confidence and effectiveness in combinations of different CAM modalities such as physiotherapy and chiropractic could affects the disease outcomes, and whether it means further treatments would be welcome and more effective. 3. Future work will have to include a larger, and standardized data collection to look at sociodemographic characteristics and member self-reported primary symptoms.