Screening tools for metabolic syndrome based on anthropometric cut-off values among Thai working adults: a community-based study.

BACKGROUND: The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a universal disease of increasing prevalence, but the prevalence varies depending on ethnicity. There is a crucial need to assess the validity of anthropometric indicators and determine appropriate cut-off values for MetS screening. OBJECTIVE: Determine cut-off anthropometric indicators values for screening of MetS. DESIGN: Cross-sectional SETTING: Rural and urban areas of provinces with a high prevalence of MetS in the central region of Thailand. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The subjects were recruited based on the International Diabetes Federation definition of MetS, which includes four anthropometric indicators. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity for different cut-off values of all novel indicators. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The cut-off values for screening of MetS, which included neck circumference (NC), body roundness index (BRI), conicity index (C-index), and body shape index (BSI). SAMPLE SIZE: 2520 participants RESULTS: The BRI and NC were the indices with higher areas under the curve, followed by the C-index and BSI. The optimal cut-off values for BRI and NC were 4.1 and 36.5 cm for males and 4.0 and 34.5 cm for females. CONCLUSIONS: This study defined the specific cut-off values for Thai working adults. LIMITATIONS: The participants might not be representative of all Thai adults and we may have overestimated MetS for Thai working adults because our research focus was on the highest prevalence of MetS in the central region of Thailand.

The Effects of Health Behavior Changing Program for Systolic Blood Pressure Reduction Among Thai Buddhist Monks, Thailand.

Thai Buddhist monks' lifestyle has made them likely to get non-communicable diseases. Therefore, the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand has conducted a health behavior-changing program for non-communicable diseases prevention among Thai Buddhist monks. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of the health behavior-changing Program for Non- communicable diseases prevention among 4,786 Thai Buddhist monks who were risk group. They were on the program for 6 months. from January 1st, 2021 to June 30th, 2021. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the characteristics of the subjects and Paired t-test was used to compare the mean difference. The results showed that the health behavior-changing program can reduce Fasting Blood Sugar, Body Mass Index, Risk score, Hypertension, and Smoking scores. Therefore, this program should be used for reducing risk factors of non-communicable diseases among Thai monks in the Upper Northeast region of Thailand.

The Clinical and Biochemical Parameter Data: Effect of High Blood Glucose on Diabetic Nephropathy Among Non-Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (NIDDM), Thailand.

BACKGROUND: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is one of the long-term complications of patients with type 2 diabetes. The leading causes of DN are high blood glucose and hyper systolic blood pressure. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed to explore the effects of high blood sugar and hyper systolic blood pressure on DN among 660 non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Data was collected from the HosXP program and medical records from 2016 to 2020. The Forest plot was used to examine the effect of hypertriglyceridemia and hyper systolic blood pressure with DN. RESULTS: The results confirmed that the factors associated with DN were male, age ≥ 60years, diabetic duration ≥ 10 years, systolic BP ≥ 130 mmHg, and HbA1c ≥ 6%. CONCLUSION: The health promotion program should be comprised of the control of blood glucose and systolic blood pressure procedure especially male patients with age ≥ 60 years and diabetic duration ≥ 10 years.

Impact of knowledge, attitude, and practices of Type 2 diabetic patients: A study in the locality in Vietnam.

BACKGROUND: Disease knowledge, appropriate attitude, and proper practices play an important role in disease control and reduction of diabetes-related complications and deaths. This study aims to investigate the impact of knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAPs) of Type 2 diabetic patients' outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional research was conducted on a group of 102 Type 2 diabetic participants in 17 communities in Tam Binh District, Vinh Long Province, Vietnam. The research tool employed the KAP questionnaire using IBM SPSS 22 to analyze the data. RESULTS: The participants' average age was 57.02 ± 6.323 years. The proportion of women was 76.5% (three times higher than men). The knowledge score of the participants was low (30.04 ± 12.823), the attitude toward score of diabetics was moderate (61.544 ± 29.99), and the practice of self-care score was low (50.59 ± 14.881). There were also some significant relationships between KAPs with ethnicity, marital status, diabetic duration, location, employment status, and treatment method. In addition, there were only significant differences between the self-care practice groups and patients' attitude toward Type 2 diabetes. CONCLUSION: There is a significant relationship between KAP with some participants' characteristics. The KAPs of the diabetic patients in Tam Binh district are still low. This result showed that although the patient's attitude towards disease was good, it was not enough for them to practice good self-control due to poor knowledge.

The Information from Medical Data Based: Prevalence and Expected Median Survival Time of Drug-Induced Hepatotoxicity Among Thai Patients with TB.

BACKGROUND: Hepatotoxicity is very frequent and is a dangerously adverse effect of anti-TB medications. This effect can reduce the effectiveness of the treatment by compromising treatment regimens. Among these first-line quadruple therapy drugs (INH, RMP, PZA, and EMB), INH, RMP, and PZA are metabolized mostly by the liver, and due to this, are likely hepatotoxic. However, the survival times of hepatotoxicity among patients with TB in Thailand are currently not available. The aims of the present study were to assess the prevalence and survival time of drug-induced hepatotoxicity in patients with TB. METHODS: A cross-sectional retrospective study was performed to explore the survival time of the development of drug-induced hepatotoxicity among 327 patients with TB who received standard drug treatment at the TB clinic in Phichit Hospital. Data was collected from the HOSxP program and medical records from 2016 to 2018. Kaplan-Meier and Cox's regressions were used for data analysis. RESULTS: The results showed that prevalence of drug-induced hepatotoxicity was 6.42% and confirmed that patients with TB who were <50 years of age will be a median survival time on drug-induced hepatotoxicity is 17 days and 30 days for those who age group ≥50 years. CONCLUSION: The median survival time of drug-induced hepatotoxicity among patients with TB who were <50 years of age is 17 days. So, patients with TB whose ages are less than 50 years should receive liver function tests such as AST and ALT and investigate risk behavior before receiving the anti- TB treatment.

Bats and belief: A sequential qualitative study in Thailand.

Bats are wildlife and distribute globally. In Thailand, there are hundreds of bat species in different locations within four regions. However, few motivations and influences for having contact with bats have been documented. This sequential qualitative study was conducted in ten provinces representing the four regions of Thailand from September 2016 to June 2017. The study was designed to obtain information on villagers' attitudes, perceptions, beliefs and cultural contexts in relation to bats. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with 305 respondents. Of these respondents, 142 (46.6%) reported coming into contact with bats through various activities, such as hunting, eating, cooking, collecting bat guano, cleaning bat feces, and finding carcasses in houses and communities. Villagers called bats by different names in different regions. They reported having been in contact with bats in different ways based on occupations, bat species, bat habitats, attitudes, perceptions, beliefs toward bats, and cultural contexts. Villagers in the northern and northeastern regions reported having regularly eaten bats. In contrast, the respondents in the central region did not eat bats due to local norms, religious beliefs, and regulations. By ethnicity, the Blu and Thai Dum groups reported coming into contact with and eating bats more often than the Thais. Our results provide evidence-based information on the human-bat interface in different regions in Thailand. The results of this qualitative study could be useful for strategic planning of proper education and interventions for bat conservation, bat contact behavior, and risk of bat-borne diseases among villagers in the future.

Statistical Analysis of Air Pollutants Concentration and Health Information Related to Respiratory Disease Patients in Bangkok, Thailand.

Air pollution can lead to exposure to foreign particles, air that can be inhaled deep into the lungs and cardiovascular system, causing diseases such as stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, and respiratory infections. The Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient (r) was used to determine the strength of association between a pair of variables, to test the relationship between these variables and to test whether the association is greater than could be expected by chance. The linear regression between respiratory disease patients, PM10, and other air pollutants were used in this study. Among PM10 together with CO, O3, and NOx was statistically significant with P-value of <0.01 (r = .031, .307, .561; 95% CI = -.570-1.437, .275-.445, and .223-.289 respectively).

Google Maps: Prevalence and Distribution of Uncontrolled Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Kalasin Province, Thailand.

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a major public health problem worldwide. Most of the problems are caused by uncontrolled blood sugar level, resulting in complications and possible death. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and distribution of uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A cross-sectional of 385 patients between September 2019 and December 2019, using the google maps, a questionnaire and laboratory examination. The results revealed that the prevalence of uncontrolled T2DM was 79.74% and densely distributed in the municipality. This data indicates that the prevalence and distribution of uncontrolled T2DM need to be concern and solve problems to decrease complications and death rates from diabetes.

Numerical Analysis of Conventional Air Pollutants and PM10 Concentration Affected to Respiratory Disease Patients in Bangkok, Thailand.

Ambient air pollution is a major cause of death and disease globally. The linear regression between respiratory disease patients, PM10 and other criteria pollutants were used in this study. Among respiratory disease patients and CO was statistically significant with P-value of <0.01 (r=0.198, 95% CI=48.74-288.16). As for respiratory disease patients and NOx was statistically significant with P-value of <0.01 (r=0.190, 95% CI=1379.74-9241.43).

Risk factors for bat contact and consumption behaviors in Thailand; a quantitative study.

BACKGROUND: Bats serve as an important reservoir for emerging infectious diseases. Bat contact and consumption, which persists in Asia, poses risks for the transmission of bat-borne infections. METHODS: An analytical cross-sectional survey for risk factors associated with bat contact and consumption behaviors was conducted in ten provinces of Thailand from May 2016 to December 2017. A standardized questionnaire administered through face-to-face interviews was used to collect information from 626 villagers who lived in or nearby areas of high bat density. The questionnaire contained 23 independent variables related to sociodemographic, knowledge, attitudes, practices, and perceptions. RESULTS: The respondents (n = 626) were 285 females and 341 males, mean age of respondents was 47.58 years-old and lived in rural setting. Our results showed that 36.42% of respondents (n1 = 228) in 10 provinces reported bat contact during the past 6 months. Furthermore, 15.34% of respondents (n2 = 96) in 9 out of 10 provinces reported of having consumed bat meat in the past 6 months. Risk factors for bat contact included sex (male) (OR = 1.56, 95% CI 1.09-2.28), educational attainment (lower than secondary school) (OR = 1.45, 95% CI 1.02-2.18), and the consideration of bats as being economically beneficial to the community (OR = 3.18, 95% CI 2.03-4.97), while agriculture-related occupation (OR = 0.54, 95% CI 0.37-0.79), knowledge that it is safe to eat bats (OR = 0.58, 95% CI 0.37-0.93), practice of allowing children to play with bats (OR = 0.65, 95% CI 0.44-0.96), and attitude of feeling safe in areas where bats live (OR = 0.56, 95% CI 0.38-0.86) were statistically significant protective factors against bat contact. Risk factors for bat consumption included sex (male) (OR = 2.48, 95% CI 1.49-4.11) and educational attainment (lower than secondary school) (OR = 2.21, 95% CI 1.27-3.85), while knowledge of whether bats are safe to eat (OR = 0.04, 95% CI 0.01-0.25), knowledge of whether there are laws pertaining to hunting bats for consumption (OR = 0.35, 95% CI 0.18-0.71), and the practice of allowing children to play with bats (OR = 0.51, 95% CI 0.31-0.81) were statistically significant protective factors against bat consumption. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a better understanding of the sociodemographic factors, knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and practices that might influence bat contact and bat consumption behaviors. Information on risk factors can be used for the development of appropriate education and communication interventions to promote proper knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding bats and bat-borne zoonotic diseases in Thailand and other areas in the Southeast Asia region with similar environmental and cultural characteristics.

Effectiveness of aromatherapy with light thai massage for cellular immunity improvement in colorectal cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Patients with colorectal cancer are usually treated with chemotherapy, which reduces the number of blood cells, especially white blood cells, and consequently increases the risk of infections. Some research studies have reported that aromatherapy massage affects the immune system and improves immune function by, for example, increasing the numbers of natural killer cells and peripheral blood lymphocytes. However, there has been no report of any study which provided good evidence as to whether aromatherapy with Thai massage could improve the immune system in patients with colorectal cancer. The objectives of this study were to determine whether the use of aromatherapy with light Thai massage in patients with colorectal cancer, who have received chemotherapy, can result in improvement of the cellular immunity and reduce the severity of the common symptoms of side effects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-six patients with colorectal cancer in Phichit Hospital, Thailand, were enrolled in a single-blind, randomised-controlled trial. The intervention consisted of three massage sessions with ginger and coconut oil over a 1-week period. The control group received standard supportive care only. Assessments were conducted at pre-assessment and at the end of one week of massage or standard care. Changes from pre-assessment to the end of treatment were measured in terms of white blood cells, neutrophils, lymphocytes, CD4 and CD8 cells and the CD4/CD8 ratio and also the severity of self-rated symptom scores. RESULTS: The main finding was that after adjusting for pre-assessment values the mean lymphocyte count at the post-assessment was significantly higher (P=0.04) in the treatment group than in the controls. The size of this difference suggested that aromatherapy with Thai massage could boost lymphocyte numbers by 11%. The secondary outcomes were that at the post assessment the symptom severity scores for fatigue, presenting symptom, pain and stress were significantly lower in the massage group than in the standard care controls. CONCLUSIONS: Aromatherapy with light Thai massage can be beneficial for the immune systems of cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy by increasing the number of lymphocytes and can help to reduce the severity of common symptoms.