The University of Malaya is the birthplace of Geriatric Medicine in Malaysia. The division started with two Geriatricians one and a half decades ago, and has now expanded to three full professors, one associate professor, two senior lecturers and one lecturer, and remains the largest academic geriatric unit in the country. In this time, the unit has also trained many Geriatricians who now serve the public through the Ministry of Health hospitals and our private hospitals. The Geriatrics team is striving to ensure that our nation is well positioned to not only meet the healthcare needs of our rapidly ageing nation, but also to embrace population ageing positively by promoting health and productivity well into old age. In line with this vision, our unit continues to expand aggressively in the directions of service delivery, training and research through clear strategic planning.
Our commitment is to quality service delivery through multidisciplinary working to address the needs of our nation builders. We are passionately involved with educating our future doctors, postgraduate doctors at all levels and allied health professionals in caring for older patients. Our research activities have achieved international recognition while generating vital information to inform national policy through MELoR, MyFAIT, PISA and other interdisciplinary research initiatives.
Our inpatient service is delivered fully integrated multidisciplinary teams comprising of specialist occupational therapy, Physiotherapy, speech therapy, social worker and nursing team members. This is achieved through 41 dedicated geriatric beds, inpatient consults and an orthogeriatric liaison service.
Our ambulatory care services now include one general geriatric clinic and two specialist clinics per week :
General Geriatric Outpatient Clinic - Klinik Perubatan 3, Friday pm
Memory Clinic - Klinik Perubatan 3, Monday pm
Falls and Tilt-table Clinic - Cardiorespiratory Services, Menara Selatan (level 7), Tuesday am
*Our clinics are available through referrals, and by appointments only.
Areas of interest: frailty, falls, dementia, hip fractures, hypotensive disorders, stroke in the elderly
Ageing and Age-Associated Disorders Research Group
The Ageing and Age-Associated Disorders Research Group (also called the Ageing group), was formed in 2012, in order to promote interdisciplinary research. While members of the geriatric team are integral to this group, our research is conducted in collaboration with emergency medicine, dentistry, nursing studies, orthopaedics, cardiology, urology, rehabilitation medicine, paediatrics, pharmacy, pharmacology, public health, endocrinology, biomedical imaging, ophthalmology, gynaecology, computer science, languages, education, economics, law and biomedical engineering.
External & International linkages
Institute of Gerontology, UPM
Community Rehabilitation & Ageing Research Centre (H-CARE), UKM
Collaborative Drug Discovery Research (CDDR) Group, UiTM
Perdana University/Royal College of Surgeons Ireland
Curtin University, Australia
University of Sydney, Australia
Newcastle University, UK
University of Aberdeen, UK
University of Liverpool, UK
North Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust, UK
Research Projects
Malaysian Elders Longitudinal Research (MELoR), Principal Investigator: Shahrul B Kamaruzzaman, HIR-MOHE 2012-present
Promoting Independence in our Seniors with Arthritis (PISA), Principal Investigator: Tan Maw Pin, UM Grand Challenge 2014-present
Hip Fractures in the Elderly, Principal Investigator: Khor Hui Min, BKP 2016-2018
A Visual Based Cognitive Assessment Tool (VCAT) for theEarly Diagnosis of Dementia in Multilingual Asian Population: Nor’izzati Saedon, BKP 2016-2018
Death and Disability: the Vulnerability of Older Malaysians to Climate Change and Urbanization. British Council Newton-Ungku Omar Institutional Links 2015-2016
Malaysian Falls Assessment and Intervention Trial (MyFAIT), Principal Investigator: Tan Maw Pin, MOSTE Sciencefund 2013-2015
Falls and Frailty in Older People, Principal Investigator: Tan Maw Pin, UMRG Programme 2012-2015
TUA- Neuroprotective model for healthy longevity among Malaysian elderly, Co-Investigator: Chin Ai-Vyrn, LRGS 2013-2017
Biomarkers of Frailty, Principal Investigator: Chin Ai-Vyrn, UMRG 2012-2015
Characteristics And Outcomes Of Patients With Acute Stroke Aged 65 And Above Admitted To The Geriatric Medicine Ward, Principal Investigator, BKP 2014-2016
Recent Selected Publications
Saedon NI, Zainal-Abidin I, Chee KH, Khor HM, Tan KM, Kamaruzzaman SK, et al. Postural blood pressure electrocardiographic changes are associated with falls in older people. Clin Auton Res. 2016;26(1):41-8.
Hannon N, Arsava EM, Audebert HJ, Ay H, Crowe M, N Chr in n D, Furie K, McGorrian C, Molshatzki N, Murphy S, Noone I, O Donnell M, Schenkel J, Tan KM, Tanne D, Kelly PJ. Antithrombotic treatment at onset of stroke with atrial fibrillation, functional outcome, and fatality a systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Stroke. 2015 Aug;10(6):808-14.
Mohamad MS, Shamsuddin N, Tan KM 2014. Appropriateness of Stress Ulcer Prophylaxis Among Older Adults Admitted to General Medical Wards in a University Hospital. European Geriatric Medicine. 2015 April;6(2):119-123.
Jaafar MH, Mahadeva S, Tan KM, Tan MP 2014. Attitudes of Healthcare Professionals Towards Gastrostomy Feeding in Older Adults in Malaysia. International Journal of Gerontology, 2015;9(1);40-45.
Hasmukharay K, Saedon N, Pang YK, Liam CK, Tan KM. What did you do for a living? The importance of a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment. European Geriatric Medicine. 2015 October;6(5):462-464.
Ngu SS, Tan MP, Subramaniam P, Abdul Rahman R, Kamaruzzaman S, Chin AV, Tan KM, PJH Poi. Pain Assessment Using Self-reported and Observational Pain Assessment Tools among Older Individuals with Cognitive Impairment. Pain Management Nursing: Official Journal of the American Society of Pain Manag Nurs. 2015 Aug;16(4):595-601.
Ng RX, Khor HM, Tan KM. 2015. Iatrogenesis - the biggest geriatric giant of all? - Hypocalcaemia with stridor and vocal cord paralysis in an older adult. European Geriatric Medicine. 2015 October;6(5):474-475.