Vaikunthan Rajaratnam

ABSTRACT Leprosy, though curable, continues to present physical and psychosocial challenges for those affected. This study explored how individuals affected by leprosy in Malaysia navigated daily life, societal expectations, and personal challenges through the walk-and-talk technique, a participant-led qualitative approach that fostered spontaneous storytelling and reflexivity.

As a consultant in orthopaedic surgery at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Singapore, I’ve seen first-hand how cultural differences can be overlooked by large language models (LLMs). Back in 2005, Singapore’s Health Promotion Board introduced categories of body mass index (BMI) tailored specifically for the local population. It highlighted a crucial issue — Asian people face a higher risk of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases at lower BMI scores compared with European and North American populations.

2.1 Search strategy The search strategy aimed to locate the peer-reviewed publications for inclusion in the review. It was carried out with the guidance of GLB, a Medical Information Specialist, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. An initial limited search of PubMed was undertaken on April 19, 2021, to identify articles on the topic, which yielded 164 articles.