Health Status and Bio-indicators Among Elderly People
in Rural Areas, Thailand
Tawatchai Apidechkul DrPH (Epidemiology)*
Affiliation :
* School of Health Science, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand
Objective : This community based cross-sectional study design aimed to assess health status among people aged ≥ 60 years
living in rural areas of northern Thailand.
Material and Method: The questionnaires, physical examination, and 5 milliliters of blood specimen had been obtained.
The face-to-face interview was conducted by trained interviewers and physical examination made by physician. A Chi-square
test and multiple logistic regression were used to determine significant association at alpha = 0.05.
Results : Three hundred twenty eight subjects were recruited into the study: 60.7% had chronic diseases, 73.2% received
health care at health promoting hospitals, 32.1% received regular medication, 85.4% had abnormality of mobility, 30.5%
had cataract, and 11.6% had hearing loss. Females had smoked longer than males (p-value < 0.05), but males had drank
alcohol longer than females (p-value < 0.05). In this group, 12.2% had Cholesterol ≥ 251 mg/dl, 27.5% had Triglyceride
≥ 171 mg/dl, 10.5% had FBS ≥ 121 mg/dl, 15.4% had SGPT ≥ 31I U/L, and 21.5% had Uric acid ≥ 7.1 mg/dl.
Conclusion : Effective health promoting program is still necessary for improving elderly health in rural Thailand.
Keywords : Health status, Bio-markers, Elderly population, Rural area, Health promoting hospital
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