Socioeconomic disparities and chronic respiratory diseases in Thailand: The National Socioeconomics Survey.

This study aimed to determine the association between socioeconomic determinants and Chronic Respiratory Diseases (CRDs) in Thailand. The data were used from the National Socioeconomics Survey (NSS), a cross-sectional study conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO), in 2010 and 2012. The survey used stratified two-stage sampling to select a nationally representative sample to respond to a structured questionnaire. A total of 17,040 and 16,905 individuals in 2010 and 2012, respectively, were included in this analysis. Multiple logistic regressions were used to identify the association between socioeconomic factors while controlling for other covariates. The prevalence of CRDs was 3.81% and 2.79% in 2010 and 2012, respectively. The bivariate analysis indicated that gender, family size, geographic location, fuels used for cooking and smoking were significantly associated with CRDs in 2010, whereas education, family size, occupation, region, geographic location, and smoking were significantly associated with CRDs in 2012. Both in 2010 and 2012, the multiple logistic regression indicated that the odds of having CRDs were significantly higher among those who lived in urban areas, females, those aged ≥41-50 or ≥61 yr old, and smokers when controlling for other covariates. However, fuels used for cooking, wood and gas, are associated with CRDs in 2010.

Association between Socioeconomic Status and Diabetes Mellitus: The National Socioeconomics Survey, 2010 and 2012.

INTRODUCTION: The prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is increasing, globally. However, studies on the association between Socioeconomic Status (SES) factors and DM have mostly been conducted in specific areas with rather small sample sizes or not with nationally representative samples. Their results have also been inconclusive regarding whether SES has any influence on DM or not. AIM: To determine the association between SES and DM in Thailand. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study utilized the data from the National socioeconomics survey, a cross-sectional study conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO) in 2010 and 2012. A total of 17,045 and 16,903 participants respectively who met the inclusion criteria were included in this study. The information was collected by face-to-face interview with structured questionnaires. Multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the potential socioeconomic factors associated with DM. RESULTS: The prevalence of DM was 3.70% (95% CI: 3.36 to 4.05) and 8.11% (95%CI: 6.25 to 9.74) in 2010 and 2012 respectively and the prevalence of DM in 2012 was 1.36 times (95% CI: 1.25 to 1.48) when compared with 2010. The multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression observed that odds of having DM were significantly higher among those who aged 55-64 years old in 2010 and 65 years old or greater in 2012 (ORadj = 18.13; 95%CI: 9.11 to 36.08, ORadj 31.69; 95%CI: 20.78 to 48.33, respectively), females (ORadj = 2.09; 95%CI: 1.66 to 2.62, ORadj = 1.77; 95%CI: 1.54 to 2.05, respectively), and had lower education attainment (ORadj = 5.87; 95%CI: 4.70 to 7.33, ORadj= 1.22; 95%CI: 1.04 to 1.45, respectively) were also found to be associated with DM . CONCLUSION: The study indicated that SES has been associated with DM. Those with female gender, old age and low educational attainment were vulnerable to DM.

Development of an assessment tool for motor praxis ability in children aged 5-8 years.

OBJECTIVES: To develop a Motor Praxis Ability Test (MPAT) and examine its psychometric properties. METHODS: The study consisted of two phases: items and scoring criteria of MPAT were developed in phase I. Content validity was clarified by the expert panel discussion method. The preliminary psychometric properties of the MPAT were examined in phase II. Data were collected with two samples consisting of typically-developing children and dyspraxic children. RESULTS: The results revealed high internal consistency reliability. The inter-rater and test-retest reliability for the total score of both sample groups were excellent. The results also revealed that the MPAT was able to discriminate between typical children and dyspraxic children. CONCLUSION: The current study concluded that the MPAT is a highly valid and reliable assessment tool. It can be also used as an appropriate assessment tool for screening and evaluating dyspraxia in children aged 5-8 years.