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Health Seeking Behaviour towards Communicable Diseases among Foreign Workers in Industrial Agriculture Sectors of Selected Districts in Perak, Malaysia
Table 2. Socio-demographic characteristics of foreign workers Characteristic
Frequency n Percentage
Sector Agriculture
338 47.6
Industrial 327
52.4
Nationality Thai
120 16.9
Indonesian 197
27.7 Bangladeshi
216 30.4
Nepali 100
14.1 Vietnamese
77 10.8
Gender Male
527 74.2
Age group 30 years
495 72.3
31 – 40 years 148
20.8 40 years
49 6.9
Education level No formal education
66 9.3
Primary 275
38.7 Secondary
345 48.6
Tertiary 24
3.4
Able to communicate in Malay or English Yes
552 77.9
No 158
22.3
Monthly income mean = RM 729.44; median = RM 650.00 RM 500
264 38
RM 500 - RM 1,000 374
53.8 RM 1,000
57 8.2
Length of stay in Malaysia mean = 30 months; median = 20 months 12 months
184 25.9
13 - 24 months 249
35.1 25 - 60 months
208 29.3
60 months 69
9.7
Distance to nearest health service mean = 15 km; median = 10 km 2 km
104 14.6
2 - 5 km 165
23.2 6 - 10 km
139 19.6
11 - 20 km 103
14.5 20 km
199 28.5
Legal status Legal
641 90.3
Illegal 69
9.7
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Health Seeking Behaviour towards Communicable Diseases among Foreign Workers in Industrial Agriculture Sectors of Selected Districts in Perak, Malaysia
At the end of interview process, the researches took the opportunity to distribute information pamphlets to the respondents on symptoms suggestive of tuberculosis,
malaria, typhoid, and cholera Appendix B. The respondents were also informed on how treatment can be accessed from the nearest biomedical health services.
3.8 Data analysis and interpretation
Data collected was summarised and analysed in SPSS using univariate analysis.
4.0 RESULTS
4.1 Socio-demographic characteristics of respondents
A total of 710 foreign workers participated in this study. The socio-demographic characteristics of these workers are shown in Table 2. There were 338 47.6 agriculture
and 372 52.4 industrial workers. Most were Bangladeshis 30.4 and Indonesians 27.7. Majority were below 30 years of age 72.3. Most had secondary 48.6
and primary 38.7 education. Majority were able to communicate verbally in Malay or English 77.9. Their mean and median monthly income was RM729.44 and RM
650.00 respectively. A small percentage entered the country illegally 9.7. Those who had valid working permits were considered legal, and those without working
permits i.e. tourist visa, student visa, no traveling document were considered illegal. The workers reported a mean and median length of stay in Malaysia of 30 and 20
months respectively. The mean and median distance to the nearest health service was 15 km and 10 km respectively.
4.2 Health seeking behaviour for reported illness
Of the total 710 respondents, 70 9.85 experienced serious illness and 209 29.4 experienced mild illness during their stay in Malaysia Table 3. The remaining 431
60.7 did not have any illness during their stay in Malaysia. Therefore, health seeking behaviour for reported illness was assessed in a total of 279 respondents.
Table 3. Health seeking behaviour of foreign workers who reported illness by illness severity
Serious illness Mild illness
No illness Total
Seek treatment 68 9.6
172 24.2 0 0.0
240 33.8 Did not seek
treatment 2 0.3
37 5.2 431 60.7
470 66.2
Total
70 9.9 209 29.4
431 60.7 710 100
Data are presented as number percentage.
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Health Seeking Behaviour towards Communicable Diseases among Foreign Workers in Industrial Agriculture Sectors of Selected Districts in Perak, Malaysia
Table 4. Health seeking behaviour for reported mild illness by socio-demographics Characteristics
Sought Treatment for Mild Illness
n Lower limit of 95 CI
Upper limit of 95 CI
Sector Agricultural
103 74
65 82
Industrial 106
91 85
96
Nationality Thai
30 67
49 85
Indonesian 58
72 61
84 Bangladeshi
56 88
79 96
Nepali 40
93 84
100 Vietnamese
25 96
88 100
Gender Male
162 81
75 87
Female 47
87 77
97
Age group 30 years
129 81
74 88
31 – 40 years 67
84 74
93 40 years
13 92
76 100
Education level No education
20 80
61 99
Primary 76
82 73
90 Secondary
105 82
74 89
Able to communicate in Malay or English Yes
179 80
74 86
No 30
97 90
100
Monthly income RM 500
44 98
93 100
RM 500 - RM 1,000 145
79 73
86 RM 1,000
18 67
43 91
Length of stay in Malaysia 1 year
21 76
56 96
1 - 2 years 88
77 68
86 2 - 5 years
74 91
84 97
5 years 26
81 65
97
Legal status Legal
189 84
78 99
Illegal 20
70 48
92
