Sathirakorn Pongpanich - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Sathirakorn Pongpanich

Ill ABSTRACT The high morbidity and mortality among children under 5 years of age in Nepal is mai... more Ill ABSTRACT The high morbidity and mortality among children under 5 years of age in Nepal is mainly due to the Acute Respiratory infection. The Government of Nepal has set a target in reducing child mortality from ne tozo by the year 2002 AD. Looking at the present ...

Journal of Public Health and Development, 2022

School may be the only place where oral health services are provided for high-risk children with ... more School may be the only place where oral health services are provided for high-risk children with limited access to dental care. We found this to be a common situation in many low-income countries, compounded by a lack of dental personnel. A school oral health prevention program is widely implemented in Thailand; however, the program's cost-effectiveness is under-investigated. This research project evaluated the cost-effectiveness of a comprehensive school oral health program implemented in the academic setting from the provider’s perspective. The retrospective study was conducted using profile data of primary school children in low socioeconomic areas during the academic years 2009–2018 from the Mahidol school oral health program database. The program's effectiveness was measured as DMFT increment scores from the first to the sixth grade between the intervention and control groups. To estimate unit costs for preventive dental services, cost data were collected according to t...

This research aims to study the perception and satisfaction of the elderly towards the implementa... more This research aims to study the perception and satisfaction of the elderly towards the implementation of the national elderly welfare policy at the Phra Samut Chedi District Samutprakan Province and investigate the relationship between perception and satisfaction of the elderly in social welfare services, available in the community in order to reverse a knowledge to be used as guidelines of the elderly social welfare in the district. The research had been done on 423 populations, 60 and more than 60 years old, living in the area study, cover 8 sub-districts, collect data by interview questionnaire to receive a personal information and evaluate the perception and satisfaction with the elderly social welfare and assessment of competence in everyday life and depression scale of the elderly.The results, the general information of the sample, the elderly women is more than the elderly men around 58.39 percent and most of the elderly living with spouses, represent 46.09 percent of the eld...

Laos has difficulties in accessing and obtaining proper health services compared to more develope... more Laos has difficulties in accessing and obtaining proper health services compared to more developed countries, due to the availability of health facilities and health financing programs. Hemodialysis (HD) is currently under the coverage of the National Health Insurance (NHI). However, there are several technical barriers related to health service utilization. This study aims to carefully analyze the role of Laos' National Health Insurance on issues of accessibility and the possibility of encountering catastrophic health expenditures for chronic kidney disease patients. In addition, this study is also willing to provide policy recommendations for policymakers in offering organ transplantation under NHI in the future. The Savannakhet Province is purposively selected as a study site, where 342 respondents participated in the study. Two logistic regression models have been used to assess the effectiveness of the NHI in terms of accessibility and financial protection against catastrop...

It is unclear whether the replacement of conventional dentures with mandibular two implant-retain... more It is unclear whether the replacement of conventional dentures with mandibular two implant-retained overdentures alters the diet selection and thus improves nutritional status and quality of life of elderly edentulous persons. In this randomized clinical trial, the objective was to explore the effectiveness of IODNEED programme. Population was Thai male and female, aged over 65years and edentulous for at least 1 year, n=33 in each group, living in Pathumthani Province, Thailand. Intervention was Mandibular two implant-retained Overdentures (IOD) plus NEED (Nutritional Empowerment in Edentulous people with Dentures). Comparison was among IODNEED, IOD only; Conventional dentures (CD) plus NEED and CD only. Outcome was post-treatment differences in satisfaction, oral heath related quality of life and nutritional status and anthropometric and blood parameters among the groups and measured pretest, post 1 month, post 3 months and post 6 months. The research results found that all general...

Journal of Health Research, 2013

The objective of this study was to examine occupational health risks and hazards including dust, ... more The objective of this study was to examine occupational health risks and hazards including dust, heat, noise, light and chemical hazards in the roofing fiber cement processing industry in the South of Thailand. A walk-through survey was conducted. Environmental and personal dust sampling was conducted in 2 homogenous exposure groups (HEG 1 and HEG 2 ) . The records of physical exams and previous environmental sampling were also reviewed. The concentration of the total dust exposure was higher for the workers in depalleting and skid (0.72 ± 0.30 mg/m 3 ) and painting and spraying (0.67 ± 0.35 mg/m 3 ). The respirable dust levels were higher for the workers in painting and spraying (1.18 ± 0.87 mg/m 3 ). Noise levels at mixing and pulping were higher than occupational exposure limit OELs. Temperatures were high at racking and curing department (32-34oC) and de-palleting and skid (32-33oC). Chemical hazards were detected, including HCl (0.051± 0.004 ppm) at racking and curing, Cr (I...

Rawal Medical Journal, 2018

Objective: To identify determinants of frequency of antenatal care (ANC) visits in pregnant women... more Objective: To identify determinants of frequency of antenatal care (ANC) visits in pregnant women in Pakistan. Methodology: This analysis included 7443 women from PDHS 2013. Linear mixed model was applied in multivariable analysis, accounting for sample weights and HH clustering in the data. Results: With reference to Punjab province, pregnant women from Sindh province [Coefficient (β)= 1.357; Confidence Interval 95%(CI) 1.00,1.71] and from capital city Islamabad (β=1.433; 95%CI 1.01,1.86) had more ANC visits and Balochistan province (β=-0.746; 95% CI -1.05,-0.44) had fewer visits. With reference to urban, mothers living in rural (β=-0.882; 95 % CI -0.73,-0.12) areas had fewer ANC visits. Pregnant women with increasing number of children five years old and under had (β=-0.116; 95 % CI -0.16,0.85) fewer ANC visits. Women with higher education (β=1.287; 95 % CI 0.71,1.86) had more ANC visits in comparison with any other level of education. Pregnant women in the richest (β=2.338; 95 % ...

Journal of Health Research, 2013

This study seeks to characterize the local food environment in selected barangays in Davao City, ... more This study seeks to characterize the local food environment in selected barangays in Davao City, Philippines. Specifically, it is designed to describe the availability of food stores as well as the in-store availability of basic diabetic-healthy food options in these areas. Store presence, location and store inventory were assessed by groundtruthing using an observation checklist and survey questionnaire in the 6 selected barangays in Davao City. Descriptive analysis was used to show the different types and number of food sources at the community level as well as the presence or absence of diabetic-healthy food options that should be available for purchase. A total of 2,315 food sources participated in the survey. Majority of the food sources (79%) were food retailers while the rest were categorized as food establishments (sold cooked food). Among food retailers, bread, eggs, brown sugar and coffee were the most available diabetic-healthy food options while the availability of fr...

Journal of Public Health, 2021

It is common for people in Laos to use health services in Thailand and other foreign countries. T... more It is common for people in Laos to use health services in Thailand and other foreign countries. This study analyzes and compares the probability of using health care services and the financial catastrophe occurring due to health service utilization in both local and Thai hospitals. This study includes 390 respondents from Savannakhet Province, Laos. Households’ income levels play an essential role in selected locations of hospital admission. The regression model proves that lower income quintiles were more likely to use local health services, whereas the higher income households preferred Thailand’s hospital services. There is a negative relationship between income level and the probability of experiencing catastrophic health expenditure. The National Health Insurance (NHI) is recommended to seek greater cooperation with foreign hospitals, to allow Lao patients to use NHI’s coverage as a co-payment system for specific health services not available in Lao hospitals. NHI should have t...

F1000Research, 2020

Background: Information on determinants of postpartum care is essential for public health action,... more Background: Information on determinants of postpartum care is essential for public health action, yet this information is scarce in Pakistan. Hence, the current study aimed to determine the factors of newborn postpartum care utilization from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Surveys conducted from 2006–2018. Methods: We analyzed data from three rounds of cross-sectional, nationally representative Pakistan Demographic and Health Surveys (PDHS) 2006–07, 2012–13, and 2017–18. Multivariable logistic regression models were applied to explore factors associated with utilization of newborn postpartum care within two months. Results: This study included 5724 women from the 2006–07 PDHS, 7461 from the 2012–13 survey, and 8287 from the 2017–18 survey. The proportion of women receiving newborn postnatal care within the first two months of delivery increased from 13% in 2006–07 to 43% in 2012–13 but dropped to 27% in 2017–18. Respondent’s occupation and prenatal care utilization of maternal h...

Journal of Aging Research, 2018

Background. Rural-urban inequality in long-term care (LTC) services has been increasing alongside... more Background. Rural-urban inequality in long-term care (LTC) services has been increasing alongside rapid socioeconomic development. This study estimates the average spending on LTC services and identifies the factors that influence the use and cost of LTC for the elderly living in urban and rural areas of Thailand. Methods. The sample comprised 837 elderly aged 60 years drawn from rural and urban areas in Phichit Province. Costs were assessed over a 1-month period. Direct costs of caregiving and indirect costs (opportunity cost method) were analyzed. Binary logistic regression was performed to determine which factors affected LTC costs. Results. The total annual LTC spending for rural and urban residents was on average USD 7,285 and USD 7,280.6, respectively. Formal care and informal care comprise the largest share of payments. There was a significant association between rural residents and costs for informal care, day/night care, and home renovation. Conclusions. Even though total L...

Health Research Policy and Systems, 2019

Introduction Many schemes have been implemented by the government of the Lao People’s Democratic ... more Introduction Many schemes have been implemented by the government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic to provide equity in health service utilisation. Initially, health service utilisations were fully supported by the government and were subsequently followed by the Revolving Drug Fund. In the 2000s, four health financing schemes, namely the Social Security Organization, the State Authority for Social Security, the Health Equity Fund and Community-Based Health Insurance (CBHI), were introduced with various target groups. However, as these voluntary schemes have suffered from a very low enrolment rate, the government decided to pilot the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme, which offers a flat, co-payment system for health service utilisation. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of the NHI in terms of its accessibility and in providing financial protection from catastrophic health expenditure. Methods The data collection process was implemented in hospitals of two dist...

Journal of Investigative and Clinical Dentistry, 2019

Aim: To validate the Thai version of the Health Literacy in Dentistry scale (HeLD-Th) among Thai ... more Aim: To validate the Thai version of the Health Literacy in Dentistry scale (HeLD-Th) among Thai adults with physical disabilities. Methods: The original Health Literacy in Dentistry (HeLD) was translated into Thai (HeLD-Th). The final version of the HeLD-Th was evaluated through a cross-sectional study of 160 participants in Thailand. Interview questionnaires and oral examination were performed. The reliability and validity of the HeLD-Th were determined. Results: The internal consistency was acceptable, with an overall Cronbach's alpha of 0.76. The face and content validity were confirmed. Sufficient construct validity was revealed by exploratory factor analysis. The convergent validity (P ≤ .013) and discriminant validity (P = .017) were estimated. The concurrent validity and predictive validity were confirmed by significantly higher HeLD-Th scores (P < .001). Multiple linear regression analyses indicated that approximately 60% of the variation in the HeLD-Th scores was explained by the final model. Conclusion: The HeLD-Th has sufficient psychometric properties to assess the oral health literacy of Thai adults with mild to moderate disabilities. There are some limitations of the study due to the small sample size, and the results are specific to Thai adults with disabilities. Future studies using the HeLD-Th scale are recommended.

Patient Preference and Adherence, 2018

Purpose: To explore the perspectives and experiences of Thai wheelchair users regarding barriers ... more Purpose: To explore the perspectives and experiences of Thai wheelchair users regarding barriers of access to dental services and report potential solutions in terms of customer satisfaction. Participants and methods: We conducted a 2-phase cross-sectional study with quantitative and qualitative components at a community club for individuals with disabilities in Pathum Thani province, Thailand, in February 2018. In quantitative phase, participants were interviewed using a structured questionnaire that consisted of 1) questions on demographic characteristics and 2) adapted questions that were based on the modified Penchansky and Thomas dimensions of access. Enter method of binary logistic regression analysis was used. Regarding qualitative phase, focus group discussions were conducted using the themes of a semi-structured discussion guide. Thematic analysis was used. Results: A total of 156 wheelchair users participated in the quantitative phase. Most study participants had not attended dental care services in the previous year (78.2%). Multivariate analysis found a statistically significant association that indicated that participants who had education level #primary education were 3.5 times more likely to had not attended a dental appointment in the previous year (P=0.003). In the qualitative phase, 33 participants were included in 3 focus groups (each comprising 11 participants), they were wheelchair users with education .primary, who did not go to see a dentist in the previous 12 months. Findings of the 3 focus groups suggest generally negative views about Thai dental services for all dimensions of access. Conclusion: This study reflects the unheard voices of wheelchair users and provides rigorous evidence in Thai context that difficulties of access to dental services persist. Policy makers and oral health professionals in oral health system should be alerted to the explicit barriers reported, such that equitable and equal dental services for disabled individuals can be developed.

Journal of Health Research, 2018

Purpose Out-of-pocket (OOP) payments continue to be a major method of financing healthcare in man... more Purpose Out-of-pocket (OOP) payments continue to be a major method of financing healthcare in many low- and middle-income countries including Malaysia. Although macro-level data show that this is a substantial percentage of national health expenditure, at the grassroots level, the amount spent on health by households remains unknown in Malaysia. The purpose of this paper is to assess the validity and reliability of an adapted-for-purpose questionnaire designed to capture urban household health expenditures (HHEs) among Malaysian households. Design/methodology/approach This two-part study assessed content validity of the questionnaire using three experts and the reliability of the questionnaire through a test-retest study among 50 OOP-paying patients followed up at one private primary care clinic in Kuala Lumpur. This study was approved by the Malaysian Research Ethics Committee (NMRR-16-172-29311-IIR). Findings The validity of the 83-item questionnaire was high, with an item content...

The International Journal of Health Planning and Management, 2018

Purpose: Community-based health insurance (CBHI) targets independent worker (self-employed) is cu... more Purpose: Community-based health insurance (CBHI) targets independent worker (self-employed) is currently struggling with inadequate size of risk pooling, low enrollment, and high dropout rate as well as financial sustainability. The objective of this study is to find out the factors that significantly affect the CBHI enrollment incentive. The study applied cross-sectional study design to perform situation analysis, in which the Andersen behavioral model was used as a guideline to identify preliminary characteristics that involved with enrolling incentive. Findings: The model found that existence of both outpatient department (OPD) and inpatient department (IPD) health service utilization had significant impact on the CBHI enrollment, this statement is strongly related to adverse selection issues. Households resides in Kaysone Phomvihane district had higher probability of joining the scheme in comparison with relatively less-developed Champhone district. Households with no CBHI knowledge were also more likely to enroll the scheme. Occupation

Global Journal of Health Science, 2019

Smoking is one of the major public health concerns and it is harmful to people’s health sta... more Smoking is one of the major public health concerns and it is harmful to people’s health status. This cross sectional survey was conducted to study the Nicotine dependence among industrial workers in Myanmar. Mandalay city was purposively selected where the second largest industrial zone is situated. A total of two hundred and ninety two industrial workers aged sixteen years old and above participated. Data collection was done by using an interviewer administered questionnaire. Data analysis was done by using SPSS version 23 and descriptive findings were interpreted as frequency and percentage, and the chi-squared test was used to find the association of nicotine dependence. The significance level of all statistical tests was determined with the p value < 0.05. All of the respondents were male (100%) and the mean age of the respondents was 30.7. About 75% of the industrial workers showed low and very low dependence from the nicotine while the rest 25% showed medium to very h...

Ill ABSTRACT The high morbidity and mortality among children under 5 years of age in Nepal is mai... more Ill ABSTRACT The high morbidity and mortality among children under 5 years of age in Nepal is mainly due to the Acute Respiratory infection. The Government of Nepal has set a target in reducing child mortality from ne tozo by the year 2002 AD. Looking at the present ...

Journal of Public Health and Development, 2022

School may be the only place where oral health services are provided for high-risk children with ... more School may be the only place where oral health services are provided for high-risk children with limited access to dental care. We found this to be a common situation in many low-income countries, compounded by a lack of dental personnel. A school oral health prevention program is widely implemented in Thailand; however, the program's cost-effectiveness is under-investigated. This research project evaluated the cost-effectiveness of a comprehensive school oral health program implemented in the academic setting from the provider’s perspective. The retrospective study was conducted using profile data of primary school children in low socioeconomic areas during the academic years 2009–2018 from the Mahidol school oral health program database. The program's effectiveness was measured as DMFT increment scores from the first to the sixth grade between the intervention and control groups. To estimate unit costs for preventive dental services, cost data were collected according to t...

This research aims to study the perception and satisfaction of the elderly towards the implementa... more This research aims to study the perception and satisfaction of the elderly towards the implementation of the national elderly welfare policy at the Phra Samut Chedi District Samutprakan Province and investigate the relationship between perception and satisfaction of the elderly in social welfare services, available in the community in order to reverse a knowledge to be used as guidelines of the elderly social welfare in the district. The research had been done on 423 populations, 60 and more than 60 years old, living in the area study, cover 8 sub-districts, collect data by interview questionnaire to receive a personal information and evaluate the perception and satisfaction with the elderly social welfare and assessment of competence in everyday life and depression scale of the elderly.The results, the general information of the sample, the elderly women is more than the elderly men around 58.39 percent and most of the elderly living with spouses, represent 46.09 percent of the eld...

Laos has difficulties in accessing and obtaining proper health services compared to more develope... more Laos has difficulties in accessing and obtaining proper health services compared to more developed countries, due to the availability of health facilities and health financing programs. Hemodialysis (HD) is currently under the coverage of the National Health Insurance (NHI). However, there are several technical barriers related to health service utilization. This study aims to carefully analyze the role of Laos' National Health Insurance on issues of accessibility and the possibility of encountering catastrophic health expenditures for chronic kidney disease patients. In addition, this study is also willing to provide policy recommendations for policymakers in offering organ transplantation under NHI in the future. The Savannakhet Province is purposively selected as a study site, where 342 respondents participated in the study. Two logistic regression models have been used to assess the effectiveness of the NHI in terms of accessibility and financial protection against catastrop...

It is unclear whether the replacement of conventional dentures with mandibular two implant-retain... more It is unclear whether the replacement of conventional dentures with mandibular two implant-retained overdentures alters the diet selection and thus improves nutritional status and quality of life of elderly edentulous persons. In this randomized clinical trial, the objective was to explore the effectiveness of IODNEED programme. Population was Thai male and female, aged over 65years and edentulous for at least 1 year, n=33 in each group, living in Pathumthani Province, Thailand. Intervention was Mandibular two implant-retained Overdentures (IOD) plus NEED (Nutritional Empowerment in Edentulous people with Dentures). Comparison was among IODNEED, IOD only; Conventional dentures (CD) plus NEED and CD only. Outcome was post-treatment differences in satisfaction, oral heath related quality of life and nutritional status and anthropometric and blood parameters among the groups and measured pretest, post 1 month, post 3 months and post 6 months. The research results found that all general...

Journal of Health Research, 2013

The objective of this study was to examine occupational health risks and hazards including dust, ... more The objective of this study was to examine occupational health risks and hazards including dust, heat, noise, light and chemical hazards in the roofing fiber cement processing industry in the South of Thailand. A walk-through survey was conducted. Environmental and personal dust sampling was conducted in 2 homogenous exposure groups (HEG 1 and HEG 2 ) . The records of physical exams and previous environmental sampling were also reviewed. The concentration of the total dust exposure was higher for the workers in depalleting and skid (0.72 ± 0.30 mg/m 3 ) and painting and spraying (0.67 ± 0.35 mg/m 3 ). The respirable dust levels were higher for the workers in painting and spraying (1.18 ± 0.87 mg/m 3 ). Noise levels at mixing and pulping were higher than occupational exposure limit OELs. Temperatures were high at racking and curing department (32-34oC) and de-palleting and skid (32-33oC). Chemical hazards were detected, including HCl (0.051± 0.004 ppm) at racking and curing, Cr (I...

Rawal Medical Journal, 2018

Objective: To identify determinants of frequency of antenatal care (ANC) visits in pregnant women... more Objective: To identify determinants of frequency of antenatal care (ANC) visits in pregnant women in Pakistan. Methodology: This analysis included 7443 women from PDHS 2013. Linear mixed model was applied in multivariable analysis, accounting for sample weights and HH clustering in the data. Results: With reference to Punjab province, pregnant women from Sindh province [Coefficient (β)= 1.357; Confidence Interval 95%(CI) 1.00,1.71] and from capital city Islamabad (β=1.433; 95%CI 1.01,1.86) had more ANC visits and Balochistan province (β=-0.746; 95% CI -1.05,-0.44) had fewer visits. With reference to urban, mothers living in rural (β=-0.882; 95 % CI -0.73,-0.12) areas had fewer ANC visits. Pregnant women with increasing number of children five years old and under had (β=-0.116; 95 % CI -0.16,0.85) fewer ANC visits. Women with higher education (β=1.287; 95 % CI 0.71,1.86) had more ANC visits in comparison with any other level of education. Pregnant women in the richest (β=2.338; 95 % ...

Journal of Health Research, 2013

This study seeks to characterize the local food environment in selected barangays in Davao City, ... more This study seeks to characterize the local food environment in selected barangays in Davao City, Philippines. Specifically, it is designed to describe the availability of food stores as well as the in-store availability of basic diabetic-healthy food options in these areas. Store presence, location and store inventory were assessed by groundtruthing using an observation checklist and survey questionnaire in the 6 selected barangays in Davao City. Descriptive analysis was used to show the different types and number of food sources at the community level as well as the presence or absence of diabetic-healthy food options that should be available for purchase. A total of 2,315 food sources participated in the survey. Majority of the food sources (79%) were food retailers while the rest were categorized as food establishments (sold cooked food). Among food retailers, bread, eggs, brown sugar and coffee were the most available diabetic-healthy food options while the availability of fr...

Journal of Public Health, 2021

It is common for people in Laos to use health services in Thailand and other foreign countries. T... more It is common for people in Laos to use health services in Thailand and other foreign countries. This study analyzes and compares the probability of using health care services and the financial catastrophe occurring due to health service utilization in both local and Thai hospitals. This study includes 390 respondents from Savannakhet Province, Laos. Households’ income levels play an essential role in selected locations of hospital admission. The regression model proves that lower income quintiles were more likely to use local health services, whereas the higher income households preferred Thailand’s hospital services. There is a negative relationship between income level and the probability of experiencing catastrophic health expenditure. The National Health Insurance (NHI) is recommended to seek greater cooperation with foreign hospitals, to allow Lao patients to use NHI’s coverage as a co-payment system for specific health services not available in Lao hospitals. NHI should have t...

F1000Research, 2020

Background: Information on determinants of postpartum care is essential for public health action,... more Background: Information on determinants of postpartum care is essential for public health action, yet this information is scarce in Pakistan. Hence, the current study aimed to determine the factors of newborn postpartum care utilization from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Surveys conducted from 2006–2018. Methods: We analyzed data from three rounds of cross-sectional, nationally representative Pakistan Demographic and Health Surveys (PDHS) 2006–07, 2012–13, and 2017–18. Multivariable logistic regression models were applied to explore factors associated with utilization of newborn postpartum care within two months. Results: This study included 5724 women from the 2006–07 PDHS, 7461 from the 2012–13 survey, and 8287 from the 2017–18 survey. The proportion of women receiving newborn postnatal care within the first two months of delivery increased from 13% in 2006–07 to 43% in 2012–13 but dropped to 27% in 2017–18. Respondent’s occupation and prenatal care utilization of maternal h...

Journal of Aging Research, 2018

Background. Rural-urban inequality in long-term care (LTC) services has been increasing alongside... more Background. Rural-urban inequality in long-term care (LTC) services has been increasing alongside rapid socioeconomic development. This study estimates the average spending on LTC services and identifies the factors that influence the use and cost of LTC for the elderly living in urban and rural areas of Thailand. Methods. The sample comprised 837 elderly aged 60 years drawn from rural and urban areas in Phichit Province. Costs were assessed over a 1-month period. Direct costs of caregiving and indirect costs (opportunity cost method) were analyzed. Binary logistic regression was performed to determine which factors affected LTC costs. Results. The total annual LTC spending for rural and urban residents was on average USD 7,285 and USD 7,280.6, respectively. Formal care and informal care comprise the largest share of payments. There was a significant association between rural residents and costs for informal care, day/night care, and home renovation. Conclusions. Even though total L...

Health Research Policy and Systems, 2019

Introduction Many schemes have been implemented by the government of the Lao People’s Democratic ... more Introduction Many schemes have been implemented by the government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic to provide equity in health service utilisation. Initially, health service utilisations were fully supported by the government and were subsequently followed by the Revolving Drug Fund. In the 2000s, four health financing schemes, namely the Social Security Organization, the State Authority for Social Security, the Health Equity Fund and Community-Based Health Insurance (CBHI), were introduced with various target groups. However, as these voluntary schemes have suffered from a very low enrolment rate, the government decided to pilot the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme, which offers a flat, co-payment system for health service utilisation. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of the NHI in terms of its accessibility and in providing financial protection from catastrophic health expenditure. Methods The data collection process was implemented in hospitals of two dist...

Journal of Investigative and Clinical Dentistry, 2019

Aim: To validate the Thai version of the Health Literacy in Dentistry scale (HeLD-Th) among Thai ... more Aim: To validate the Thai version of the Health Literacy in Dentistry scale (HeLD-Th) among Thai adults with physical disabilities. Methods: The original Health Literacy in Dentistry (HeLD) was translated into Thai (HeLD-Th). The final version of the HeLD-Th was evaluated through a cross-sectional study of 160 participants in Thailand. Interview questionnaires and oral examination were performed. The reliability and validity of the HeLD-Th were determined. Results: The internal consistency was acceptable, with an overall Cronbach's alpha of 0.76. The face and content validity were confirmed. Sufficient construct validity was revealed by exploratory factor analysis. The convergent validity (P ≤ .013) and discriminant validity (P = .017) were estimated. The concurrent validity and predictive validity were confirmed by significantly higher HeLD-Th scores (P < .001). Multiple linear regression analyses indicated that approximately 60% of the variation in the HeLD-Th scores was explained by the final model. Conclusion: The HeLD-Th has sufficient psychometric properties to assess the oral health literacy of Thai adults with mild to moderate disabilities. There are some limitations of the study due to the small sample size, and the results are specific to Thai adults with disabilities. Future studies using the HeLD-Th scale are recommended.

Patient Preference and Adherence, 2018

Purpose: To explore the perspectives and experiences of Thai wheelchair users regarding barriers ... more Purpose: To explore the perspectives and experiences of Thai wheelchair users regarding barriers of access to dental services and report potential solutions in terms of customer satisfaction. Participants and methods: We conducted a 2-phase cross-sectional study with quantitative and qualitative components at a community club for individuals with disabilities in Pathum Thani province, Thailand, in February 2018. In quantitative phase, participants were interviewed using a structured questionnaire that consisted of 1) questions on demographic characteristics and 2) adapted questions that were based on the modified Penchansky and Thomas dimensions of access. Enter method of binary logistic regression analysis was used. Regarding qualitative phase, focus group discussions were conducted using the themes of a semi-structured discussion guide. Thematic analysis was used. Results: A total of 156 wheelchair users participated in the quantitative phase. Most study participants had not attended dental care services in the previous year (78.2%). Multivariate analysis found a statistically significant association that indicated that participants who had education level #primary education were 3.5 times more likely to had not attended a dental appointment in the previous year (P=0.003). In the qualitative phase, 33 participants were included in 3 focus groups (each comprising 11 participants), they were wheelchair users with education .primary, who did not go to see a dentist in the previous 12 months. Findings of the 3 focus groups suggest generally negative views about Thai dental services for all dimensions of access. Conclusion: This study reflects the unheard voices of wheelchair users and provides rigorous evidence in Thai context that difficulties of access to dental services persist. Policy makers and oral health professionals in oral health system should be alerted to the explicit barriers reported, such that equitable and equal dental services for disabled individuals can be developed.

Journal of Health Research, 2018

Purpose Out-of-pocket (OOP) payments continue to be a major method of financing healthcare in man... more Purpose Out-of-pocket (OOP) payments continue to be a major method of financing healthcare in many low- and middle-income countries including Malaysia. Although macro-level data show that this is a substantial percentage of national health expenditure, at the grassroots level, the amount spent on health by households remains unknown in Malaysia. The purpose of this paper is to assess the validity and reliability of an adapted-for-purpose questionnaire designed to capture urban household health expenditures (HHEs) among Malaysian households. Design/methodology/approach This two-part study assessed content validity of the questionnaire using three experts and the reliability of the questionnaire through a test-retest study among 50 OOP-paying patients followed up at one private primary care clinic in Kuala Lumpur. This study was approved by the Malaysian Research Ethics Committee (NMRR-16-172-29311-IIR). Findings The validity of the 83-item questionnaire was high, with an item content...

The International Journal of Health Planning and Management, 2018

Purpose: Community-based health insurance (CBHI) targets independent worker (self-employed) is cu... more Purpose: Community-based health insurance (CBHI) targets independent worker (self-employed) is currently struggling with inadequate size of risk pooling, low enrollment, and high dropout rate as well as financial sustainability. The objective of this study is to find out the factors that significantly affect the CBHI enrollment incentive. The study applied cross-sectional study design to perform situation analysis, in which the Andersen behavioral model was used as a guideline to identify preliminary characteristics that involved with enrolling incentive. Findings: The model found that existence of both outpatient department (OPD) and inpatient department (IPD) health service utilization had significant impact on the CBHI enrollment, this statement is strongly related to adverse selection issues. Households resides in Kaysone Phomvihane district had higher probability of joining the scheme in comparison with relatively less-developed Champhone district. Households with no CBHI knowledge were also more likely to enroll the scheme. Occupation

Global Journal of Health Science, 2019

Smoking is one of the major public health concerns and it is harmful to people’s health sta... more Smoking is one of the major public health concerns and it is harmful to people’s health status. This cross sectional survey was conducted to study the Nicotine dependence among industrial workers in Myanmar. Mandalay city was purposively selected where the second largest industrial zone is situated. A total of two hundred and ninety two industrial workers aged sixteen years old and above participated. Data collection was done by using an interviewer administered questionnaire. Data analysis was done by using SPSS version 23 and descriptive findings were interpreted as frequency and percentage, and the chi-squared test was used to find the association of nicotine dependence. The significance level of all statistical tests was determined with the p value < 0.05. All of the respondents were male (100%) and the mean age of the respondents was 30.7. About 75% of the industrial workers showed low and very low dependence from the nicotine while the rest 25% showed medium to very h...