School of Postgraduate Studies, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur; Division of Community Medicine, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Division of Community Medicine, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Division of Community Medicine, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Indigenous people often have poor health due to a lack of access to health care. We studied healthcare-seeking behaviors and associated factors of Orang Asli populations living in remote hilly areas of Peninsular Malaysia. A house-to-house survey was done in 11 of 28 randomly selected villages. A sample of 225 Adults aged 18 years and above were interviewed about healthcare-seeking behavior for an episode of illness 30 days before the survey date. Factors associated with appropriate healthcare-seeking behavior as determined by binary logistic regression analyses. More than a third of the Orang Asli adults (88/225) did not consult any healthcare provider (39%) for which ‘illness does not need treatment’ or ‘not sick enough’ (22%) and no transportation (12%) were the main reasons. Being of older age (aOR 0.95, 95%CI 0.9, 0.98), income higher than 500 Malaysian Ringgits per month (aOR 2.35, 95%CI 1.04, 5.39), perception of illness as ‘severe’(aOR 54.79 95% CI 12.61, 239.9), and closer distance of health facility (aOR 0.86 95% CI 0.81, 0.93) were associated with appropriate healthcare-seeking behavior. Health promotion campaigns are needed to improve awareness about common illnesses and improve care-seeking behavior.

Baldoni NR, Aquino JA, Alves GCS, et al. Prevalence of overweight and obesity in the adult indigenous population in Brazil: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Diabetes Metab Syndr 2019;13:1705–15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsx.2019.03.024 Prince SA, McDonnell LA, Turek MA, et al. The state of affairs for cardiovascular health research in Indigenous women in Canada: a scoping review. Can J Cardiol 2018;34:437–49. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cjca.2017.11.019 Khor GL, Shariff ZM. Do not neglect the indigenous peoples when reporting health and nutrition issues of the socio-economically disadvantaged populations in Malaysia. BMC Public Health 2019;19:1-5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-8055-8

Institute for Public Health. National health and Morbidity Survey 2015 vol III: healthcare demand. Kuala Lumpur: Ministry of Health Malaysia, 2015.

Rosnon MR, Gill SS, Badari SAZ, et al. Petunjuk pembangunan komuniti orang Asli: Suatu analisis penggunaan barangan dan perkhidmatan. Geografia Malays J Soc Space 2019;15:132–46. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17576/geo-2019-1501-10 Ithnin M, Juliana N, Effendy NM, Rani MD. Health Seeking Behaviour Among Adult Orang Asli (Indigenous Peoples) From Rural Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia: A Mixed-Methods Study. Malaysian J Public Health Med 2021;28:348-58. DOI: https://doi.org/10.37268/mjphm/vol.21/no.2/art.1045 Cheng YX, Chong CP, Kiew CF, Bahari MB. An assessment of health and social-economic status among Lanoh ethnic sub-group of Orang Asli (Indigenous peoples) in Air Bah I Village, State of Perak, Malaysia. J Appl Pharmaceut Sci 2014;30:032-7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7324/JAPS.2014.401006

MacKian S. A review of health seeking behaviour: problems and prospects. Health Systems Development Programme. 2003.

Yew VW, Sia MK, Lam KC, et al. Education and awareness of modern health care amongst aboriginal people: The case of the Jakuns of Peninsular Malaysia. GMJSS 2015;11:79-85. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/mre.11.2.42629148 Gandhi S, Verma VR, Dash U. Health seeking behaviour among particularly vulnerable tribal groups: A case study of Nilgiris. J Public Health Epidemiol 2017;30:74-83. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5897/JPHE2017.0911 Podder D, Dasgupta A, Dobe M, et al. Health care seeking behavior in a scheduled tribe community in India: A mixed methods research using the Framework of Andersen’s behavioral model. Asia Pac J Public Health 2021;33:369-77. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1010539521993695 Bussalleu A, Pizango P, King N, et al. Kaniuwatewara (when we get sick): understanding health-seeking behaviours among the Shawi of the Peruvian Amazon. BMC Public Health 2021;21:1-3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11574-2

Shaikh BT. Understanding social determinants of health seeking behaviours, providing a rational framework for health policy and systems development. J Pak Med Assoc 2008;58:33.