A Narrative Review of Health-Seeking Behaviour in Malaysia: Factors and Emerging Themes

Dayang Hajyrayati Binti Awg Kassim, Siti Zaleha Raduan and Rasidah Abdul Wahab
Additional contact information
Dayang Hajyrayati Binti Awg Kassim: Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, University Malaysia Sarawak
Siti Zaleha Raduan: Department of Paraclinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
Rasidah Abdul Wahab: Corporate & Publication Unit, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 2023, vol. 7, issue 7, 2109-2124

Abstract: This article provides a critical assessment of research on health-seeking behaviour in Malaysia. As the topic is both medically and anthropologically relevant, this narrative review aims to collate and synthesise anthropological and medical studies conducted in Malaysia on health-seeking behaviour among different populations in the country. The specific goal of this narrative review is to identify the methodology employed in such studies, compile a list of medical conditions for which health-seeking behaviour has been researched, identify health-seeking barriers or determinants across studies, and highlight emerging trends in related research. Multiple databases were used to search for published materials on this topic by Malaysian researchers, such as PubMed, Scopus, and My Jurnal. A total of 39 studies were included in this review. 29 studies utilised quantitative designs, while the remaining studies utilised mixed-method and qualitative designs. Non-communicable diseases were studied more frequently than communicable diseases. The majority of reviewed studies were conducted in Peninsular Malaysia, with very few studies focusing on the populations of Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia. While all of the studies highlight the multidimensional factors that influence health-seeking behaviour in the context of Malaysia, the utilisation of technology for accessing health-related information and COVID-19-related studies has been identified as an emerging trend in the literature on health-seeking behaviour in this country.

Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/ ... ssue-7/2109-2124.pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/ ... and-emerging-themes/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bcp:journl:v:7:y:2023:i:7:p:2109-2124

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science is currently edited by Dr. Nidhi Malhan

More articles in International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science from International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Dr. Pawan Verma ().