Disease Burden Among Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia: A Systematic Review

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-1433111/v1

Download PDF

Research Article

Disease Burden Among Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia: A Systematic Review

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1433111/v1

This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License

You are reading this latest preprint version

Orang Asli, the indigenous people of Peninsular Malaysia, is a minority population and placed behind in terms of socioeconomy, education and health. Malaysian government has been supporting Orang Asli since the second Malaysia Plan in 1970s, resulting in their demographic changes. Hence, this review aims to assess the recent disease burden among Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia. This systematic review was guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) review protocol. The formulation of the research question was based on Population, Interest, Comparison and Outcome (PICO). The selected databases include Web of Science, Scopus, Ovid and EBSCOhost. The process of identification, screening and inclusion identified 33 articles. The mixed methods appraisal tool (MMAT) was then used to rank the quality of the articles. Selangor is the most frequent state involved in this review (12 studies), followed by Perak (10 studies), Pahang (10 studies) and Kedah (one study). The thematic analysis identified four categories of diseases namely neglected tropical disease (n = 20), non-communicable disease (n = 6), nutritional status (n = 5), and hepatic disease (n = 2). The prevalence of diseases among Orang Asli is higher compared to the general population especially for soil-transmitted helminth (STH) and malnutrition. There is increasing research on non-communicable diseases due to the shifting of socioeconomic and lifestyle of the Orang Asli. Government agencies and private organisations must work together to educate Orang Asli about healthy lifestyle, uplifting socioeconomic status, and enhancing food security, all of which will improve Orang Asli’s health and reduce the prevalence of diseases.

Disease burden

Orang Asli

Peninsular Malaysia

malnutrition

soil-transmitted helminth

Globally, indigenous peoples are a small group of the population residing scattered worldwide, making up around 5% of the world population. Indigenous peoples occupy and become legal owners of an estimated 20 to 25% of the Earth's land surface. In Malaysia, a combination of public data from the Department of Orang Asli Development (JAKOA) and data from the Malaysia Statistics Department estimated that the Indigenous Peoples of Malaysia made up 13.7 percent of the 32,382,300 million national population in 2018, including Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia and Natives from Sabah and Sarawak. ^{[1, 2]}

Indigenous peoples in Peninsular Malaysia are known as Orang Asli. According to the Malaysian Law, Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954 (Act 134), Orang Asli can be defined as: ^[3] any person whose male parent is or was, a member of an aboriginal ethnic group, who speaks an aboriginal language and habitually follows an aboriginal way of life and aboriginal customs and beliefs, and includes a descendant through males of such persons.

In Peninsular Malaysia, there are three major tribal groups of Orang Asli: Negrito, Senoi, and Proto-Malay, each with its own culture, lifestyle, and language. ^[4]. The three major tribal groups are further subdivided into 18 smaller sub-ethnic groups, which account for 1.1 percent of the peninsular population. ^{[1, 2]} Table 1 depicts the various tribes of Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia.

Table 1

Sub-ethnic group of three main Orang Asli tribal groups
Negrito	Senoi	Proto-Malay
Kensiu	Temiar	Temuan
Kintaq	Semai	Jakun
Jahai	Jah Hut	Semelai
Mendriq	Che Wong	Orang Kuala
Bateq	Semoq Beri	Orang Seletar
Lanoh	Mah Meri	Orang Kanaq
Source: The Department of Orang Asli Development ^[4]

Table 1

According to the Department of Orang Asli Development (JAKOA) (2021), there were 178,197 Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia. Senoi is the largest tribe accounted for 97,856 (54.9%), followed by Proto Malay 75,332 (42.3%) and the least is Negrito at 5,009 (2.8%). Majority of Orang Asli resides in Pahang (37.9%) and followed by Perak (29.9%). ^[2] There is no Orang Asli recorded living in Perlis, Penang, and Wilayah Persekutuan. ^[2]

Orang Asli is a minority population in Malaysia and placed behind in terms of socioeconomy, education, and health. The Malaysian government has been supporting Orang Asli community since the second Malaysia Plan in 1970s by increasing their educational standard, upgrading their basic facilities, improving their medical facilities and health status, as well as involving them in resettlement programme for Orang Asli. ^[5] Despite the Malaysian government's resettlement programme, only a few (0.7 percent) Orang Asli were willing to move and live in the urban or semi-urban community, while the majority of them (62.0 percent) continue to live in rural and remote areas (37.0%). ^{[5, 6]} Nevertheless, there are demographic changes among Orang Asli community resulting from their daily environmental and socioeconomic changes. To our knowledge, even though Orang Asli are almost always excluded in the government national level survey, there are a lot of Orang Asli studies carried out for the past few years by university researchers investigating the effects of Orang Asli’s epidemiological transition. Hence, this review is aimed to assess the disease burden among Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia.

2.1 The review protocol

This systematic review was guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) review protocol.^[7] The authors started this review by formulating research questions divided into three stages: identification, screening, and inclusion.

2.2 Formulation of research questions

The research question for this study was developed using PICO. PICO is a tool that assists authors in developing a research question for the review. It is founded on the following fundamental ideas: The population or problem, the interest or intervention, the context or comparison, and the outcome. ^[8] Based on this, four main aspects were included in this review namely Orang Asli (population), prevalence (interest) and diseases (outcome) which led the authors to the main objective of this review.

2.3 Systematic searching strategies

The three main processes in systematic searching strategies are identification, screening, and inclusion (Fig. 1).

Figure 1

2.3.1 Identification

The identification process included looking for synonyms, Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms, related terms, and variations of the main keywords which are Orang Asli, prevalence and diseases (Table 2). This step provides wider analysis in findings of the related articles from the selected databases (Web of Science, Scopus, Ovid and EBSCOhost) for literature search. There were 1649 articles obtained from all the databases searched. A total of 272 duplicate articles were found and removed, leaving 1377 articles to be screened in the subsequent process.

Table 2

Keywords used for systematic searching
Population	Interest	Outcome
Orang Asli	prevalence	diseases
indigenous	incidence	communicable disease
aboriginal	burden	acute
native	frequence	health
innate	chronic	nutrition
original	occurence	malnutrition
homegrown	epidemiology	infection
primitive	serological	parasitic
local	seroprevalence	infestation
ethnic		infectious
asal		gastroenteritis

Table 2

2.3.2 Screening

The screening process of the 1377 articles was carried out with the sorting function from each database. All articles fulfilled our criteria of original journal articles published in English between 2017 and 2021, observational, interventional studies with qualitative or quantitative data, outcome in terms of prevalence, and conducted among Orang Asli. We do not accept systematic reviews, comments or letters to the editor, abstract conferences, animal studies, or in vivo or in vitro studies. The titles and abstracts were screened for inclusion by two authors independently. If the articles answered the research questions, the studies will proceed to full-text reviews. This screening process resulted in the exclusion of 1247 articles due to irrelevant population, animal study, or outcome.

2.3.3 Eligibility

Following the screening process, 50 articles were selected for full-text reviews to determine eligibility. The full texts were reviewed by two reviewers, and any disagreement was resolved by consensus from both reviewers. Only 33 articles were chosen in the final eligibility process. Two articles were excluded as both were using the non-general Orang Asli population, another two were excluded due to the studies did not focus on Orang Asli population, while other 10 articles were excluded due to the outcome was not in the form of prevalence (Fig. 1).

2.4 Data Extraction and Analysis

In this systematic review, thematic analysis was used to synthesise and integrate mixed research designs. ^[9] The selected 33 articles were thoroughly read, paying special attention to the abstract, method, results, and discussion. Then, the data were extracted from each article which include author, year of publication, study period, study type, study population, city and state, diseases studied, and prevalence results as tabulated in Appendix A. After carefully identifying patterns in extracted data, themes were generated. The developed themes were presented to a panel of expert of public health professionals who agreed that the themes were accurate and appropriate.

2.5 Quality Appraisal

Two authors assessed the quality of the 33 articles. The mixed methods appraisal tool (MMAT) was used to evaluate the articles. ^[10] This appraisal tool was chosen for this review because it has been shown to be suitable in evaluating the quality of a mixed-method review. Any disagreements were settled through discussion to reach a consensus. Finally, 33 articles were chosen for inclusion in the review. The final appraisal using MMAT is presented in Appendix B.

This review included 33 articles in total. Majority of the studies were published in 2020 (n = 13), followed by eight studies published in 2019, five studies published in both year 2021 and 2018 each, while only two articles were published in 2017. Selangor is the most frequently mentioned state in this review, with 12 studies conducted in the state, followed by 10 studies in Perak and 10 studies in Pahang. The least is one study in Kedah while three studies did not specify which state they were carried out. The sample size ranged from 58 to 1490 Orang Asli in the studies. Three studies were done by comparing Orang Asli community with rural Malay, ^{[11, 12, 13]} one study used secondary data from the Malaysian Malaria Registry comparing malaria cases among all ethnicities in Malaysia, ^[14] while the rest of the studies were exclusively carried out among Orang Asli community. Interestingly, two studies compared Orang Asli communities living in resettlement areas to those living in remote forest areas. ^{[15, 16]} Cross sectional study design has been utilised in all articles. The thematic analysis identified four categories of diseases in this review, namely neglected tropical disease (n = 20), non-communicable disease (n = 6), nutritional status (n = 5) as well as hepatic disease (n = 3). Table 3 shows the qualitative evidence of synthesis framework for the four themes of the disease classification among Orang Asli.

Table 3

Details of the four themes of the disease classification among Orang Asli.
	Articles ID
Disease Classification	3	6	8	11	12	13	15	16	21	24	25	27	29	30	32	38	43	44	50	53	5	9	28	31	37	39	20	22	36	41	19	34	10	Total
Neglected Tropical Disease
STH				/		/	/		/		/	/	/	/	/	/		/	/															12
Blastocystosis		/			/												/																	3
Giardiasis			/							/																								2
Amoebiasis								/												/														2
Malaria	/																																	1
Non-communicable Disease
Hypertension																					/	/	/	/	/	/								6
Diabetes																					/	/	/	/	/	/								6
High triglyceridemia																					/	/		/										3
Hyper-cholesterolemia																					/		/			/								3
Low HDL																					/	/		/										3
Nutritional Status
Underweight						/																			/			/		/				4
Stunting						/																												1
Wasting						/																												1
Overweight																					/				/			/	/	/				5
Obese																					/	/	/	/	/	/		/	/	/				9
Body fat analysis																														/				1
Vitamin D																											/							1
Hepatic Disease
Hepatitis E virus																															/			1
Hepatitis B virus																																/		1
NAFLD																																	/	1

3.1 Neglected tropical disease

Neglected tropical disease is the most frequent study found in this review which is 20 studies. Majority of the studies involving soil-transmitted helminth (STH) amounted 12 studies, ^{[15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27]} followed by protozoan type of parasite which are blastocystosis involving three studies, ^{[28, 29, 30]} giardiasis involving two studies ^{[31, 32]} and amoebiasis involving two studies. ^{[33, 34]} Lastly is one study involving malaria infection. ^[14]

The reported prevalence for STH ranged from 14.1–98.4%. The highest prevalence recorded in this review was 98.4% in a study done among 122 Orang Asli from seven tribes in the states of Perak, Selangor, Johor and Pahang where they used real time PCR method to diagnose STH compared to microscopy technique that can only detected 63.1% STH infection. ^[26] The lowest prevalence of STH infection was 14.1% in which the study involved 71 Orang Asli schoolchildren in Pos Lenjang, Pahang. ^[17] Majority of STH studies recorded prevalence of more than 70% of STH infestation. ^{[15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26]}

For blastocystosis, the prevalence ranged from 18.5–40.7%. The lowest prevalence came from a study done among relocated 58 Temiar Orang Asli in Gua Musang,^[29] while the highest prevalence came from a study done in Sungai Lembing, Pahang. ^[30] For amoebiasis, the highest recorded prevalence was 51.1% in a study done among schoolchildren in Kuala Kubu, Selangor ^[33] while another study recorded 26.3% prevalence among 411 Orang Asli in Selangor. ^[34] For malaria, Orang Asli recorded 550 cases (3.3%) from a total of 16,500 cases for the period 2013–2017. ^[14]

3.2 Nutritional status

Five studies reported the nutritional status among Orang Asli. ^{[16, 35, 36, 37, 38]} The reported prevalence of underweight among Orang Asli children and adolescents was 59.1%, stunting was 45.8%, which was more prevalent among children in resettlement area, while wasting reported prevalence was 42.3%. ^[16] The reported prevalence of anaemia among children and adolescents was 68.4%. ^[16] Among Orang Asli adult women, the prevalence of malnutrition was reported as 3.7%, obesity was prevalent in 26.2% of the population, while overweight was prevalent in 32.4 percent. ^[35] A study among Temiar Orang Asli adults showed that the prevalence of underweight was 9.0%, overweight was 28.0% and obese was 23.0%. ^[36] In the same study, it was shown that 98.0% of adults had a normal nutritional status according to the measurement of mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC), while 69.0% of Orang Asli adults had a high and very high body fat analysis (BFA). ^[36] The only study looking into vitamin D level among Orang Asli of Jah Hut tribe showed that 26.3% had a suboptimal serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level where 24.9% were insufficient and 1.4% were deficient. ^[38]

3.3 Metabolic syndrome

Six studies were conducted to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among the Orang Asli population. ^{[11, 12, 13, 39, 40, 41]} For abdominal obesity, the reported prevalence ranged from 15.9–72.6%, while the prevalence of hypertension ranged from 10.9–73.8%. Meanwhile, the prevalence of high triglyceride level ranged from 5.2–64.7%, while the prevalence of low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol ranged from 46.6–59.7%. The prevalence of high fasting blood glucose and high HbA1C was 2.8–68.0% and 21.3–47.8%, respectively. The weighted mean prevalence for hypertension was found to be 42.9%, high triglyceride 71.4%, low HDL 56.1% and diabetes mellitus 45.8%.

3.4 Hepatic system

Only two studies investigated the prevalence of hepatitis E and B virus among Orang Asli. In a study among 207 participants from Temuan, Jah Hut and Mah Meri tribes, the prevalence of hepatitis E virus was 2.9%, ^[42] whereas the prevalence of hepatitis B virus was 8.7 percent among 150 Negrito tribe participants. ^[43] Only one study looked at the prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in the Orang Asli community, and it discovered that the prevalence was 19.6 percent, with the age group 36–53 years old being the most affected. ^[44]

Table 3

This systematic review gives a view of the current disease burden among Orang Asli. The findings showed that half of the disease burden research among Orang Asli focused on parasitic infection, 11 studies focused on nutritional status, while only six studies focused on non-communicable disease. The possible explanation for this imbalance study weightage was mainly due to the reason where Orang Asli are known for their poverty and still live in rural remote area far from public facilities which are more vulnerable for parasitic infestation (Hotez 2014). More than half of the studies were conducted in Selangor (n = 12), Perak (n = 11) and Pahang (n = 10) due to majority of Orang Asli communities (77.7%) live in these three states which are located around central and west Peninsular Malaysia. ^[1]

Although the prevalence range for STH infection was wide (14.1–98.4%), eight out of 12 studies recorded STH infection more than 70.0% in prevalence. Interestingly, the remaining studies recorded STH prevalence range 14.1–48.0%, all involving studies among schoolchildren, mainly the primary school children. ^{[17, 18, 19, 25]} In comparison to the general Malaysian population, the prevalence remains significantly higher. ^[27] The lower prevalence among the schoolchildren can be associated with better sanitation and hand washing facilities at school and integration of health education and promotion in school. ^{[19, 45]}

Stunting is prevalent in up to 45.8 percent of Orang Asli children. ^[16] This prevalence was even higher than in a 2019 study, which found that 19.2 percent of Orang Asli children aged 6 to 19 years were stunted. ^[46] The difference in prevalence may be contributed by the location of the studied area in which Muslim et al. study ^[16] was carried out in a remote area while Partap et al. study ^[46] was carried out in Segamat which is considered a rural area. It is known that stunting is associated with untreated water supply and lack of sanitation facility. ^[46] The high prevalence of STH among Orang Asli also contributed significantly to the higher prevalence of stunting in this review. ^{[16, 27]} A good food security as well as sufficient nutritional intake among Orang Asli children should be made an important agenda to improve undernourished problems among Orang Asli. ^[47] In term of overweight, Orang Asli have a lower prevalence compared to the national level at 30.4%. ^[48] For vitamin D level, Orang Asli adults showed 24.9% insufficiency and 1.4% deficiency which is much lower compared to the general Malaysian population. ^[49] This could be due to the fact that Orang Asli socioeconomic status forced them to be more exposed to sun light. ^{[5, 50]}

Non-communicable disease prevalence among Orang Asli was comparable to that of the Malaysian general population. ^[48] Non-communicable diseases have recently increased in prevalence in the Orang Asli population as a result of changes in nutrition and lifestyle habits. ^[51] Adapting to a modern lifestyle has changed dietary practices, social and lifestyle behaviours, leading to a more prevalent metabolic syndrome. ^[52] Continuous education and promotion regarding healthy lifestyle should be given to Orang Asli community to ensure they have good knowledge regarding risk factors of non-communicable diseases, hence, translated into a better attitude and practice. ^[53]

The first limitation of this review is that articles written in Malay are not included. The second limitation is that the retrieved studies were limited to those indexed in Web of Science, Scopus, Ovid and EBSCOhost. However, we believed our methodology follows the standard with quality assessment, focusing on the Orang Asli population from multiple locations involving various indigenous tribes.

To the best of our knowledge, this is Malaysia's first systematic review of disease burden among the Orang Asli population. Many studies have been conducted to determine the prevalence of various diseases among Orang Asli which still focus on neglected tropical disease and nutritional status with increasing non-communicable disease research due to the Orang Asli socioeconomic and lifestyle changes. In general, prevalence of diseases among Orang Asli is higher compared to the general population especially for STH and malnutrition across various tribes and age groups. Our data also showed that there is a need for focal research on Orang Asli of specific locations and tribes as their epidemiological risk factors vary accordingly. Knowledge of diseases may be useful in the monitoring of disease burden among Orang Asli; hence, it can be used in planning and prevention strategies to combat these diseases. Government agencies and private organisations must work together in a systematic manner to educate Orang Asli about healthy lifestyle, uplifting socioeconomic status, and enhancing food security, all of which will improve Orang Asli’s health and reduce the prevalence of diseases.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable

Consent for publication

Not applicable

Availability of data and materials

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Funding

There was no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors for this research.

Authors’ Contributions

MHM wrote the main manuscript text. All authors contributed to the research design, implementation, and data analysis. UMB and ZMI reviewed the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Acknowledgements

The Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) supported this study. This publication only represents the authors' opinions, and UKM accepts no responsibility for the use of the information contained therein.

JAKOA. 2021. DEMOGRAFI ORANG ASLI 2017 - Set Data - MAMPU.
Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia. 2021. Population Quick Info.
The Commissioner Of Law Revision. 2006. LAWS OF MALAYSIA. Report No..
JAKOA. 2020. Suku Kaum - Laman Web Rasmi Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli.
Pah, T., Syed, R., Krishnasamy, D.S., Ali, A. & Hassan, G. 2017. Resettlement of the Orang Asli and Development. Journal of Techno Social, 9(1) 9(1): 32–43.
Mohd Shah, N., Che, R., Mustapha, R., Azlan Mohammad Hussain, M. & Abdul Wahab, N. 2018. The Orang Asli Profile in Peninsular Malaysia: Background & Challenges. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences 8(7): 1157–1164.
Page, M.J., McKenzie, J.E., Bossuyt, P.M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T.C., Mulrow, C.D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J.M., Akl, E.A., Brennan, S.E., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J.M., Hróbjartsson, A., Lalu, M.M., Li, T., Loder, E.W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., McGuinness, L.A., Stewart, L.A., Thomas, J., Tricco, A.C., Welch, V.A., Whiting, P. & Moher, D. 2021. The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. PLoS Medicine 18(3).
Pollock, A. & Berge, E. 2018. How to do a systematic review. International Journal of Stroke 13(2): 138–156.
Flemming, K., Booth, A., Garside, R., Tunçalp, Ö. & Noyes, J. 2019. Qualitative evidence synthesis for complex interventions and guideline development: clarification of the purpose, designs and relevant methods. BMJ Global Health 4(Suppl 1): e000882.
Hong, Q., Pluye, P., Fàbregues, S., Bartlett, G., Boardman, F., Cargo, M., Dagenais, P., Gagnon, M.-P., Griffiths, F., Nicolau, B., Rousseau, M.-C. & Vedel, I. 2018. Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT), Version 2018. User guide. McGill 1–11.
Ahmad, W., Sugathan, S., Ismail, S., Soe, M.M. & Ali, O. 2018. Cardiovascular risk factors in rural Malays and Aborigines in Perak, Malaysia; an alarming situation. Medical Forum Monthly 29(12): 24–28.
Ithnin, M., Juliana, N., Umaisara Mohamad Nor, N.A., Effendy, N.M. & Mohd Rani, M.D. 2020. Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Non-Communicable Diseases: Comparison Between Orang Asli and Malay From Rural Area in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia: a Comparative Study. Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine 20(2): 131–140.
Sugathan, S., Ali, O., Myint Soe, M., Ismail, S. & Ahmad, W. 2021. Socio demographic and lifestyle factors of metabolic syndrome among adult rural indigenous Malaysian population from Perak State, Malaysia. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences 28(8): 4818–4824.
Hussin, N., Lim, Y.A.L., Goh, P.P., William, T., Jelip, J. & Mudin, R.N. 2020. Updates on malaria incidence and profile in Malaysia from 2013 to 2017. Malaria Journal 19(1): 1–15.
Muslim, A., Sofian, S.M., Shaari, S.A., Hoh, B.P. & Lim, Y.A.L. 2019. Prevalence, intensity and associated risk factors of soil transmitted helminth infections: A comparison between Negritos (indigenous) in inland jungle and those in resettlement at town peripheries. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 13(4): 1–22.
Muslim, A., Lim, Y.A.L., Sofian, S.M., Shaari, S.A. & Zain, Z.M. 2021. Nutritional status, hemoglobin level and their associations with soil-transmitted helminth infections between Negritos (indigenous) from the inland jungle village and resettlement at town peripheries. PLoS ONE 16(1 January): 1–21.
Adli, M.N., Ghani, M.K.A. & Yusof, H. 2019. Hookworm infestation amongst the orang asli (Aboriginal) children at pos lenjang, Pahang, Malaysia. International Medical Journal 26(6): 491–493.
Al-Mekhlafi, H.M., Nasr, N.A., Lim, Y.A.L., Elyana, F.N., Sady, H., Atroosh, W.M., Dawaki, S., Anuar, T.S., Noordin, R. & Mahmud, R. 2019. Prevalence and risk factors of Strongyloides stercoralis infection among Orang Asli schoolchildren: New insights into the epidemiology, transmission and diagnosis of strongyloidiasis in Malaysia. Parasitology 146(12): 1602–1614.
Aminuddin, A., Jahubar Sathik, H.B., Mohd Hashim, H.S., Rashid Khan, A. & Kader Maideen, S.F. 2020. Boarding School: A Simple Approach to Reduce Soil Transmitted Helminth Infections in Orang Asli Children of Sungai Siput, Perak, 2017. Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine 20(3): 195–204.
Brandon-Mong, G.J., Abdullah, N.A., Shukor, N., Jaturas, N., Richard, R.L., Choo, J.C., Majid, M.A.A., Mahboob, T., Tan, T.C., Sawangjaroen, N. & Nissapatorn, V. 2017. Soil-transmitted helminths in Malaysia landscape: An aborigines study. Tropical Biomedicine 34(2): 363–374.
Mohd-Shaharuddin, N., Lim, Y.A.L., Hassan, N.A., Nathan, S. & Ngui, R. 2018. Soil-transmitted helminthiasis among indigenous communities in Malaysia: Is this the endless malady with no solution? Tropical Biomedicine 35(1): 168–180.
Nasr, N.A., Al-Mekhlafi, H.M., Lim, Y.A.L., Elyana, F.N., Sady, H., Atroosh, W.M., Dawaki, S., Al-Delaimy, A.K., Al-Areeqi, M.A., Wehaish, A.A., Anuar, T.S. & Mahmud, R. 2020. A holistic approach is needed to control the perpetual burden of soil-transmitted helminth infections among indigenous schoolchildren in Malaysia. Pathogens and Global Health 114(3): 145–159.
Nisha, M., Aiman, M., Asyhira, N., Syafiq, H., Atiqah, N., Kumarasamy, V., Tan, M.P. & Davamani, F. 2020. Risk factors associated with soil transmitted helminth (STH) infection in two indigenous communities in Malaysia. Tropical Biomedicine 37(2): 379–388.
Nisha, Mehru & Davamani, F. 2021. Efficacy of single dose albendazole treatment of soil- research note efficacy of single dose albendazole treatment of soil-transmitted helminths (January).
Omran, J.I. & Mohamed Kamel, A.G. 2020. Soil-transmitted helminthiases amongst the orang asli (Aboriginal) school children at a semi urban setting, dengkil, malaysia. International Medical Journal 27(5): 566–568.
Othman, N., Miswan, N., Wong, W.K., Lim, B.H. & Noordin, R. 2020. Multiplex real-time PCR revealed very high prevalence of soil-transmitted helminth infections among aborigines in Peninsular Malaysia. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine 13(12): 550–556.
Wong, L.W., Ong, K.S., Goh, C.B.S., Dwiyanto, J., Reidpath, D.D., Lee, S.W.H., Ayub, Q., Rahman, S. & Lee, S.M. 2021. Extremely low prevalence in soil-transmitted helminth infections among a multi-ethnic community in Segamat, Malaysia. Journal of Parasitic Diseases 45(2): 313–318.
Mohamed Kamel, A.G. & Najah, F. 2021. Blastocystosis amongst the orang asli (Aborigine) schoolchildren at pos senderut, kuala lipis, malaysia. International Medical Journal 28(2): 217–219.
Mohammad, N. A., Al-Mekhlafi, H.M. & Anuar, T.S. 2018. Subtype distribution of Blastocystis isolated from humans and associated animals in an indigenous community with poor hygiene in Peninsular Malaysia. Tropical Biomedicine 35(4): 849–860.
Mohammad, Nabilah Amelia, Al-Mekhlafi, H.M., Moktar, N. & Anuar, T.S. 2017. Prevalence and risk factors of Blastocystis infection among underprivileged communities in rural Malaysia. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine 10(5): 491–497.
Adli, M.N. & Ghani, M.K.A. 2020b. Giardiasis amongst the orang asli (Aborigine) school children at pos senderut, Pahang, Malaysia. International Medical Journal 27(1): 28–30.
Jeyaprakasam, N.K. & Ghani, M.K.A. 2019. Giardiasis amongst the aboriginal school children at sungai raba village Gerik, Perak, Malaysia. International Medical Journal 26(5): 399–401.
Adli, M.N. & Ghani, M.K.A. 2020a. Amoebiasis amongst the Orang Asli (aborigine) School Children at Kuala Kubu Bharu, Selangor, Malaysia. International Medical Journal 27(2): 141–143.
Ngui, R., Hassan, N.A., Nordin, N.M.S., Mohd-Shaharuddin, N., Chang, L.Y., Teh, C.S.J., Chua, K.H., Kee, B.P., Hoe, S.Z. & Lim, Y.A.L. 2020. Copro-molecular study of Entamoeba infection among the indigenous community in Malaysia: A first report on the species-specific prevalence of Entamoeba in dogs. Acta Tropica 204(December 2019): 1–6.
Law, L.S., Sulaiman, N., Gan, W.Y., Adznam, S.N. & Taib, M.N.M. 2020. Predictors of overweight and obesity and its consequences among senoi orang asli (Indigenous people) women in Perak, Malaysia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17(7).
Rohin, M.A.K., Ab Rahim, A.F.W.J., Zahary, M.N., Aziz, A.A., Nik Him, N.A.S., Yahaya, R., Ridzwan, N., Jumli, M.N. & Harun, S. 2018. Nutritional status of the temiar orang asli community in Kuala Betis, Gua Musang, Kelantan. Pakistan Journal of Nutrition 17(7): 311–318.
Yin, C.E., Shariff, Z.M., Sulaiman, N. & Appannah, G. 2019. Overweight and obesity among Orang Asli adults in Krau Wildlife Reserve, Pahang: A four-year follow-up study. Malaysian Journal of Nutrition 25(2): 199–207.
Yin Chua, E., Mohd Shariff, Z., Sulaiman, N., Appannah, G. & Yaw Yong, H. 2020. Associations of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin d with adiposity and at-risk lipid profile differ for indigenous (Orang asli) male and female adults of peninsular Malaysia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17(8): 1–16.
Aghakhanian, F., Wong, C., Tan, J.S.Y., Yeo, L.F., Ramadas, A., Edo, J., Hoh, B.P., Khalid, B.A.K. & Phipps, M.E. 2019. Metabolic syndrome and cardiometabolic risk factors among indigenous Malaysians. Public Health 176: 106–113.
Wong, C.M., Daud, F., Diana Safraa, S., Raja Mohd Azim, R.H. & Siti Zubaidah, A.R. 2018. Prevalence and modifiable risk factors of non-communicable diseases among Jakun orang asli at Tasik Chini, Pekan, Pahang. International Medical Journal Malaysia 17(3): 3–16.
Yeo, L.F., Aghakhanian, F.F., Tan, J.S.Y., Gan, H.M. & Phipps, M.E. 2019. Health and saliva microbiomes of a semi-urbanized indigenous tribe in peninsular Malaysia. F1000Research 8.
Wong, L.P., Alias, H., Choy, S.H., Goh, X.T., Lee, S.C., Lim, Y.A.L., Kee, B.P., Chua, K.H., Kamaruzaman, A., Zheng, Z., Zhao, Q. & Wu, T. 2020. The study of seroprevalence of hepatitis E virus and an investigation into the lifestyle behaviours of the aborigines in Malaysia. Zoonoses and Public Health 67(3): 263–270.
Sahlan, N., Nor, F.M., Muslim, A., Shaari, S.A., Rahman, T.H.A. & Peng, H.B. 2019. Hepatitis B virus infection: Epidemiology and seroprevalence rate amongst negrito tribe in Malaysia. Medical Journal of Malaysia 74(4): 320–325.
Abdul, S.A.K., Suppiah, S., Ibrahim, R.M., Nasir, N.N.M., Bahari, N., Hassan, H.A., Saini, S.M., Ibrahim, I., Zakaria, M.H. & Mahmud, R. 2021. Prevalence of ultrasound-diagnosed non alcoholic fatty liver disease among rural indigenous population in malaysian and its association with biochemical and anthropometric measures. Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences 17(3): 88–97.
Malaysian Ministry of Education. 2022. Program Kesihatan Di Sekolah.
Partap, U., Young, E.H., Allotey, P., Sandhu, M.S. & Reidpath, D.D. 2019. Characterisation and correlates of stunting among Malaysian children and adolescents aged 6–19 years. Global Health, Epidemiology and Genomics 4.
Zalilah, M.S. & Tham, B.L. 2002. Food security and child nutritional status among Orang Asli (Temuan) households in Hulu Langat, Selangor. The Medical Journal of Malaysia 57(1): 36–50.
Institute for Public Health. 2020. Non-Communicable Diseases: Risk Factors and other Health Problems. Report No..
Isa, Z.M., Nordin, N.R.M., Mahmud, M.H. & Hashim, S. 2022. An Update on Vitamin D Deficiency Status in Malaysia. Nutrients 2022, Vol. 14, Page 567 14(3): 567.
Abdullah, J., Al-Aiman Borhan, M. & Bon Ahmad, C. 2015. Orang Asli Resettlement in Urban Environment at Bukit Lanjan, Selangor, Malaysia. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 201: 71–79.
Saibul, N., Mohd Shariff, Z., Geok Lin, K., Kandiah, M., Abdul Ghani, N. & Abdul Rahman, H. 2009. Food variety score is associated with dual burden of malnutrition in Orang Asli (Malaysian indigenous peoples) households: implications for health promotion. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr 18(3): 412–422.
Noriah Othman, C., Azinur, R., Lamin, C., Farooqui, M., Sihab, N., Sa’adiah, & & Said, M. 2012. Lifestyle Related Diseases amongst Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia-Case Study-review under responsibility of Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies (cE-Bs), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 36: 15–17.
Ithnin, M., Naum, N., Juliana, N., Effendy, N.M., Sahar, M.A., KHA, A., MSM, A. & MDM, R. 2020. Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Towards Lifestyle - Related Non - Communicable Diseases (NCDs): A Cross - Sectional Study among Indigenous Orang Asli Adults in Negeri Sembilan 19(2): 75–82.

No competing interests reported.

Download PDF

Reviewers agreed at journal
24 Mar, 2022
Reviewers invited by journal
23 Mar, 2022
Editor assigned by journal
18 Mar, 2022
Editor invited by journal
17 Mar, 2022
Submission checks completed at journal
17 Mar, 2022
First submitted to journal
08 Mar, 2022

You are reading this latest preprint version

Disease Burden Among Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia: A Systematic Review

Status:

Version 1

Abstract

Figures

1.0 Introduction

2.0 Methodology

2.1 The review protocol

2.2 Formulation of research questions

2.3 Systematic searching strategies

2.3.1 Identification

2.3.2 Screening

2.3.3 Eligibility

2.4 Data Extraction and Analysis

2.5 Quality Appraisal

3.0 Results

3.1 Neglected tropical disease

3.2 Nutritional status

3.3 Metabolic syndrome

3.4 Hepatic system

4.0 Discussion

5.0 Conclusion

Declarations

References

Additional Declarations

Supplementary Files

Status:

Version 1