In the past decade, the population in Malaysia has been rapidly ageing. This poses new challenges and issues that threaten the ability of the elderly to independently age in place. A multistage cross-sectional study on 789 community-dwelling elderly individuals aged 60 years and above was conducted in an urban district in Malaysia to assess the geriatric syndrome of frailty. Using a multidimensional frailty index, we detected 67.7% prefrail and 5.7% frail elders. Cognitive status was a significant correlate for frailty status among the respondents as well as those who perceived their health status as very poor or quite poor; but self-rated health was no longer significant when controlled for sociodemographic variables. Lower-body weakness and history of falls were associated with increasing frailty levels, and this association persisted in the multivariate model. This study offers support that physical disability, falls, and cognition are important determinants for frailty. This initial work on frailty among urban elders in Malaysia provides important correlations and identifies potential risk factors that can form the basis of information for targeted preventive measures for this vulnerable group in their prefrail state.

Indoor air quality (IAQ) has recently gained substantial traction as the airborne transmission of infectious respiratory disease becomes an increasing public health concern. Hospital indoor environments are complex ecosystems and strategies to improve hospital IAQ require greater appreciation of its potentially modifiable determinants, evidence of which are currently limited. This mini-review updates and integrates findings of previous literature to outline the current scientific evidence on the relationship between hospital IAQ and building design, building operation, and occupant-related factors. Emerging evidence has linked aspects of building design (dimensional, ventilation, and building envelope designs, construction and finishing materials, furnishing), building operation (ventilation operation and maintenance, hygiene maintenance, access control for hospital users), and occupants' characteristics (occupant activities, medical activities, adaptive behavior) to hospital IAQ. Despite the growing pool of IAQ literature, some important areas within hospitals (outpatient departments) and several key IAQ elements (dimensional aspects, room configurations, building materials, ventilation practices, adaptive behavior) remain understudied. Ventilation for hospitals continues to be challenging, as elevated levels of carbon monoxide, bioaerosols, and chemical compounds persist in indoor air despite having mechanical ventilation systems in place. To curb this public health issue, policy makers should champion implementing hospital IAQ surveillance system for all areas of the hospital building, applying interdisciplinary knowledge during the hospital design, construction and operation phase, and training of hospital staff with regards to operation, maintenance, and building control manipulation. Multipronged strategies targeting these important determinants are believed to be a viable strategy for the future control and improvement of hospital IAQ.

Cognitive functioning is essential for handling both job and daily life. However, a cognitive failure characterised by self-perceived issues with focus, memory, decision-making, and clear thinking, is prevalent in both the general population and the working population and can be accompanied by both decreased well-being and job competence. Given the significance of people’s health, this study investigated the connection between sociodemographic factors and cognitive failures by conducting a cross-sectional study that involved 327 employees from the health department. Forgetfulness, Distractibility, and False Triggering were measured using a 25-item cognitive failure questionnaire. Information on sociodemographic and professional traits was obtained using the questionnaire. The association between cognitive failure and sociodemographic was established by descriptive analysis and a parametric test. The results of the cognitive questionnaire showed that most respondents (89%) had normal scores for cognitive function. A study using logistic regression found a link between Distractibility during sleeping, exercising, and residing with relatives. These findings may facilitate the development of effective strategies for preventing cognitive dysfunction and its negative effects on employees.

Job stress is the detrimental physical and emotional responses that might occur when there is conflict between the expectations of a job and an employee's ability to meet those needs. Workplace stress is a global primary risk factor for worker health and diminishes workers’ motivation and productivity. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 133 randomly selected laboratory staff from both private and government sectors in Johor, Malaysia. Descriptive analysis was conducted to establish the relationship between stress scores and the work burden of laboratory staff. The results indicate that 74% of the respondents have more than eighty percent stress scores. Cross tab demonstrates that there is an association between total staff and average patient daily and overall stress score (p-value <0.01). Pearson correlation shows a positive correlation between workplace environment and overall stress scores (p-value <0.01). The research indicates that work stress is a prevalent issue among laboratory staff. The well-being of laboratory staff is strongly connected to organisational success. Consequently, lab Staff, particularly those working in busy laboratories, should be highly prioritised.