Page 178 - MALAYSIA HEALTH SECTOR RESPONSE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC: PERSPECTIVES FROM THE FIELD

towards the practice of physical distancing. Besides, during the COVID-19
outbreak, social responsibilities were also explored in a study by IHSR . It
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adopted a grounded theory approach to develop an explanatory substantive
theory to illustrate how each individual in public responded to the outbreak
from the perspective of social responsibility.

Fitting respirator for Malaysian users

A respirator's effectiveness in protecting its users from airborne
contaminants depends on its facial fit, which in turn is influenced by the
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facial anthropometric dimensions. A facial anthropometric study to
develop a bivariate and principal component analysis facial panel through a
respirator fit test panel for Malaysia’s multi-ethnicity population has been
conducted by IMR. The study findings indicated statistically significant
differences in facial anthropometric dimensions between sex, ethnicities,
and age groups. These findings would be necessary for aiding respirator
manufacturing companies to ensure their respirators would fit Malaysian
users.

Other ongoing studies
Besides those studies mentioned above, NIH institutes are also currently
carrying out other ongoing COVID-19 related studies.

Table 8.1: Other researches by NIH institutes which are currently still
ongoing

Institute Study Title Study Objective
Analysis of secondary To analyse the types of bacteria
bacterial infections causing secondary infection in
IMR associated with the patients positive for novel SARS -
novel SARS COV-2 CoV-2 infections from the start of
-CoV-2
pandemic 54 the pandemic in January 2020.
Study of concerns, To evaluate the level of concern,
perceived impact, and perception, and psychological
HCWs
adequacy of preventive impact among HCWS in Malaysia's
IMR
measures for government healthcare facilities
Coronavirus Disease-19 during the COVID-19 outbreak.
(COVID-19) among HCWs

142 EVIDENCE-BASED RESPONSES TO THE THIRD COVID-19 WAVE IN MALAYSIA

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