Introduction: Early diagnosis of tuberculosis and prompt treatment are essentials components in controlling tuberculosis effectively. Delay in diagnosis will lead to delay in treatment and this may increase the infectivity in the community, worsen the disease state and increase the risk of mortality. Objectives:The aim of this study is to determine the proportion of treatment delay and its predictors among PTB patients in Melaka. Methodology:A cross-sectional study was conducted among PTB patients in Melaka from April until May 2018. A total of 184 eligible respondents were included in this study. They were interviewed by using a pre-tested and validated questionnaire adopted from World Health Organization (WHO). Data were analyzed by using SPSS version 23. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis was used to assess the significant contributing factors, and a multivariate logistic regression analysis to assess the relative impact of predictors of treatment delay. P-values of <0.05 were considered statistically significant.Results: Total of 122 (66.3%) out of 184 PTB patients had treatment delay. The median duration of treatment delay was 30 days. In multivariable analysis, co-morbidities (AOR 3.66, 95% CI: 1.702, 7.872), more than two health visits (AOR 5.938, 95% CI: 2.602, 13.552) and time to reach health facility of more than 15 minutes (AOR 3.352, 95% CI: 1.491, 7.537) were significant predictors of treatment delay. Conclusion:Based on the results, the proportion of treatment delay among PTB patients in Melaka was higher than found in other studies in Malaysia. The predictors were comorbidities, more health visits, and longer time taken to reach health facility.

Background: Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB) is an infectious disease and still a global public health issue. PTB affects not only the patients' physical health, but also on their mental and social wellbeing. The health program in TB management routinely focuses on bacteriological markers of response and on outcomes such as cure, mortality and treatment failure. However, there are various aspects that may lead to a poor HRQoL. Thus, an evaluation of Healthrelated Quality of Life (HRQoL) and its determinants has become an important health outcome and an area of concern for policy makers, health care professionals and researchers. The objective of this systematic review is to determine how PTB affects patients' HRQoL and to identify the determinants of affected HRQoL. Materials and Methods: Systematic review of the published literature was conducted. Original studies providing information on PTB affecting the HRQoL were identified. The search terms used were "Health-related Quality of Life", "Determinants", "Pulmonary Tuberculosis" and "Patients". The articles selected were rated using items extracted from the STROBE Statement checklist. Result: After screening, 21 articles were used for the systematic review; findings were discussed in terms of the study design, participants, results, remarks and the quality of the article (Table 1). Conclusion: Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB) does impair the Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) among the patients; namely the physical, mental and social components.

Background: Southeast Asia consists of eleven countries

 Background: COVID-19 is an emerging new disease, recognized in late 2019, has since caused public health pandemic worldwide. Since the establishment of the COVID-19 Assessment Centre (CAC), cases were staged in terms of the severity. The mild cases were allowed for home quarantine and the severe cases were hospitalized. This study will assist healthcare providers to identify the high-risk patients and anticipate proactively, reducing morbidity and mortality. The study aimed to determine the incidence rate of hospitalization among home quarantined patients and its associated factors.  Methods: A case-control study design was conducted from 16th August until 30th September 2021 involving newly diagnosed COVID-19 patients under the CAC Melaka Tengah monitoring. A case was defined as home quarantined patient whom later required hospitalization, while a control was defined as home quarantined patient throughout the period. Analysis using Chi-square and Multiple Logistic Regression were done to determine the significant associated factors.  Results: There were 13,748 COVID-19 patients; with 8,237 were home quarantined and 82 required hospitalization later (1.0%). A total of 164 patients were included (82 cases and 82 controls). Among the hospitalized, 30.5% were aged 60 and above, 39.0% with comorbidity, 70.7% were symptomatic, and 40.2% were fully vaccinated. From the analysis, the only significant factor associated with hospitalization was age > 60 years old (p<0.05).  Conclusion: There were home quarantined patients that required hospitalization later, especially the elderly patients. Thus, the CAC team should give priority for hospital admission to these cases instead of home quarantine order.