Over the past two decades, the population of Malaysia has grown rapidly and the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in Malaysia has dramatically increased, along with the frequency of obesity, hyperlipidaemia and hypertension. Early-life influences play an important role in the development of non-communicable diseases. Indeed, maternal lifestyle and conditions such as gestational diabetes mellitus or obesity can affect the risk of diabetes in the next generation. Lifestyle changes can help to prevent the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus. This is a protocol for an unblinded, community-based, randomised controlled trial in two arms to evaluate the efficacy of a complex behavioural change intervention, combining motivational interviewing provided by a community health promoter and access to a habit formation mobile application, among young Malaysian women and their spouses prior to pregnancy.

Background: In Malaysia, injury is one of the leading causes of death and disability. The aims of this study are to determine the prevalence of home injury and its associated factors among elderly population in Malaysia. Methods: This study is a cross sectional population-based survey design using two-stage stratified random sampling of households. Data was collected using a validated questionnaire by face to face interview and analysed using SPSS version 19.0. Results: The overall prevalence of home injuries among elderly population aged 60 and above was 5.3% (9% (95% CI:4.3-6.5), out of an estimated population of 107,035. The prevalence was higher among females, rural dwellers, those 80 years old and above, 'other' ethnicity and elderly from medium family income. Kitchen was the most common 'place of injury (20.4% [95% CI: 12.4-31.5}). The most common cause of injury was falls (42.2% [95% CI: 32.0-53.2]) and self-neglect was the main contributing factor (47.0% [955 CI: 36.6-57.6}). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that women (aOR=1.801, p<0.001), elderly aged 70-79 years old (aOR: 2.049, p<0.001) and elderly aged 80 years and above (aOR: 2.485, p<0.001) were more likely t to o sustain a home injury. Conclusion: Home injuries among elderly are indeed a growing health problem which deserves more attention than being currently given. There is a n need for educational and intervention programmes to increase the awareness and understanding of elderly safety and injury prevention in Malaysia.

Introduction: This study on workplace injuries and risk reduction practices was part of the Malaysia National Health Morbidity Survey III (NHMS III) conducted in 2006. Methods: This cross-sectional population-based survey was conducted to determine the incidence of workplaces injuries and assess the magnitude of some important risk reduction practices among workers. Data were gathered through face-to-face household interviews using a pre-coded questionnaire. Results: Of the 22 880 eligible respondents, 88.2% (20 180) responded. The incidence rate for injuries at the workplace was 4.9 per 100 (95% CI: 4.6–5.2). The overall proportion of workers who had received occupational safety and health (OSH) training before or within 1 month of starting work was 33.6%. Among respondents who perceived that personal protective equipment (PPE) was required at their workplace, only 38.9% (95% CI: 37.8–39.4) were provided with it by their employers. Discussion: Further studies are urgently needed to identify reasons for and management of the low uptake of risk reduction practices. This issue needs to be addressed to ensure the safety and health of our working population.