Treatment-Seeking Behavior Among Male Civil Servants in Northeastern Malaysia: A Mixed-Methods Study

Experiences and Expectations of the Characteristics of Friendly Primary Health Services from the Perspective of Men: A Phenomenological Qualitative Study

Inadequate men's engagement with health services may be influenced by unmet needs and demands of the local men's community. This study aimed to explore men's experiences with primary health services and their expectations of the characteristics of friendly primary health services, from the perspective of men in Kelantan, Malaysia. A qualitative study using in-depth interviews was conducted with 15 men from six primary health facilities in Kelantan, Malaysia, who were selected based on maximum variation sampling. The data were transcribed and analyzed using the thematic analysis method. The study found that experiences with the existing primary health services were categorized into four subthemes: provision of health services, health promotion delivery, attributes of healthcare providers, and the physical environment of the health facilities. Meanwhile, the expectations of the characteristics of friendly primary health services were categorized into four subthemes: meeting the needs of men in primary health services, approaching men through effective health promotion strategies, standards of a healthcare provider from the viewpoint of men, and a comfortable physical environment for men. Prior experiences hugely influenced men's expectations of friendly primary health services. Men want these health service characteristics customized to meet their needs, allowing them to use health services with confidence and comfort. Thus, to strengthen primary health services for men, it is essential to comprehend their prior experiences with and expectations of the services.

Qualitative Analyses of the Reasons Why Patients Do Not Attend Scheduled Inpatient Appointments in a Hospital in Guangzhou, China

Purpose

Exploration of the reasons why people miss scheduled inpatient appointments from the perspectives of patients.

Methods

Semi-structured interviews via telephone were conducted with patients who missed their inpatient appointments. Data were analyzed based on Colaizzi’s seven-step method.

Results

Twenty-five patients and five dependents were enrolled. Three themes were identified: practical barriers, lack of knowledge about the disease, and negative emotional responses. Personal social obligations, state of illness, financial issues and long waiting times were the main practical barriers preventing patients from attending their inpatient appointment. Patients’ perceptions of feasible self-solving symptoms, readily believing people around them, and a blindly optimistic attitude towards disease contributed to their insufficient knowledge about the disease. Negative emotional responses (eg, sense of fear and lack of trust in physicians) had a detrimental effect on inpatient attendance.

Conclusion

Three main factors contributed to non-attendance of inpatient appointments: practical barriers, lack of knowledge about disease, and negative emotional response. Our study provides new, valuable evidence on non-attendance of inpatient appointments in China. Our findings could offer meaningful insights into developing effective strategies to reduce non-attendance of inpatient appointments in other countries.