Follow-up study on urban men’s health

Star: KUALA LUMPUR: After the successful Subang Jaya Men’s Health Research 2006 study on the state of urban men’s health, a follow-up study will begin in December.
Consultant urologist Datuk Prof Dr Tan Hui Meng, who also co-ordinated the first study, said the follow-up cross-sectional community study would be divided into two phases.
The first phase, a qualitative study on men’s perceptions of health, family and social well-being and the impact of disease on their families, will be followed by a quantitative study on men’s quality of life and their health perceptions, health-seeking behaviour and lifestyle.
All the men in the earlier study – from both Subang Jaya and Kelana Jaya – will be involved in the follow-up study and their spouses will be included in the second phase.
“The men and women will be divided into five groups to share their perspectives on men’s health. We want to find out men’s role in the family and how women can influence men to improve their health,” Dr Tan told a press conference yesterday.
The follow-up study is initiated by the Malaysian Society of Andrology and the Study of the Ageing Male and University Malaya Medical Centre, and funded by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry.