TY - JOUR
T1 - Knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) towards anaemia among female university students in Malaysia
T2 - A cross-sectional survey
AU - Huong, Cheryl
AU - Chua, Jing Lin
AU - Ng, Rui Yi
AU - Panse, Dhanashri Kshitij
AU - Misra, Snigdha
AU - Sumera, Afshan
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors show sincere appreciation to the subjects and staffs of the International Medical University, Malaysia for their cooperation during the duration of the study
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022. Malaysian Journal of Nutrition.All Rights Reserved.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Introduction: Anaemia is a common health problem in Malaysia, most common being iron deficiency anaemia (IDA). This study aimed to assess knowledge, attitude, practices (KAP), and health-seeking behaviour (HSB) towards anaemia among undergraduate female students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 180 female university students from a medical university in Malaysia. Data were collected using an online questionnaire comprising KAP and HSB. SPSS version 25.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results: Most participants (60%) had an appropriate level of knowledge about anaemia. A positive attitude was shown with adequate awareness of anaemia. A total of 55.5% of participants reported having good health practices. However, 52.9% of the participants consumed less iron-rich foods and 81.7% reported skipping meals. The overall observed healthseeking behaviour was good. A statistically significant relationship was found between knowledge with attitude (p=0.003) and practice (p=0.005). This study observed that the study population had poor nutritional status, long menstrual duration, and vegetarianism. Moreover, infrequent consumption of vitamin C-rich fruits and low iron-folate supplementation were also observed. Conclusion: A good level of knowledge on IDA among students was noted. However, most of the students showed a lack of positive attitude and good practices towards preventing anaemia. University students are prone to IDA due to a lack of KAP, which can significantly affect health-seeking behaviour.
AB - Introduction: Anaemia is a common health problem in Malaysia, most common being iron deficiency anaemia (IDA). This study aimed to assess knowledge, attitude, practices (KAP), and health-seeking behaviour (HSB) towards anaemia among undergraduate female students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 180 female university students from a medical university in Malaysia. Data were collected using an online questionnaire comprising KAP and HSB. SPSS version 25.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results: Most participants (60%) had an appropriate level of knowledge about anaemia. A positive attitude was shown with adequate awareness of anaemia. A total of 55.5% of participants reported having good health practices. However, 52.9% of the participants consumed less iron-rich foods and 81.7% reported skipping meals. The overall observed healthseeking behaviour was good. A statistically significant relationship was found between knowledge with attitude (p=0.003) and practice (p=0.005). This study observed that the study population had poor nutritional status, long menstrual duration, and vegetarianism. Moreover, infrequent consumption of vitamin C-rich fruits and low iron-folate supplementation were also observed. Conclusion: A good level of knowledge on IDA among students was noted. However, most of the students showed a lack of positive attitude and good practices towards preventing anaemia. University students are prone to IDA due to a lack of KAP, which can significantly affect health-seeking behaviour.
KW - Anaemia
KW - Health-seeking behaviour
KW - Knowledge attitude practice
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85134496782&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.31246/mjn-2021-0067
DO - 10.31246/mjn-2021-0067
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85134496782
SN - 1394-035X
VL - 28
SP - 203
EP - 215
JO - Malaysian Journal of Nutrition
JF - Malaysian Journal of Nutrition
IS - 2
ER -