Association of Financial Distress and Monthly Income with Smoking During the COVID-19 Pandemic Recession in Thailand: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study.

(1) Background: Psychological distress causes increased smoking frequency. Thus, financial distress (FD), a type of psychological distress, during the COVID-19 pandemic recession is possibly associated with increased smoking frequency. We studied the association between disrupted employment or earnings-associated FD and the number of cigarettes smoked daily, as well as the effects of pre-pandemic regular monthly incomes on the association.

Air Pollution inside Vehicles: Making a Bad Situation Worse.

Thailand has successfully forwarded Article 8, Protection from Exposure to Tobacco Smoke, of the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). It achieved its 100% smoke-free goals in public places in 2010, next pursuing other bans in outdoor places to lower particulate matter air pollution (PM). Our aim was to expose the secondhand smoke levels in vehicles since SHS is a danger to everyone, but especially to children and youth.

Electronic Cigarette Harms: Aggregate Evidence Shows Damage to Biological Systems.

Evidence of the harms of e-cigarettes has been unfolding slowly and has been documented in many reviews and reports worldwide. A narrative review of new evidence is presented since, as research has continued, newly aggregated evidence of the dangers of electronic cigarettes on the brain, heart, and lungs is vital to inform decisions on restricting the use of e-cigarettes. Several biomedical research databases were searched for electronic cigarette health effects, emphasizing reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses.

Active Aging in ASEAN Countries: Influences from Age-Friendly Environments, Lifestyles, and Socio-Demographic Factors.

Active aging is a challenging issue to promote older population health; still, there is little clarity on research investigating the determinants of active aging in developing countries. Therefore, this research aimed to examine the factors associated with the active aging of the older populations in ASEAN's low and middle-income countries by focusing on Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand. The study is a cross-sectional quantitative research study using multi-stage cluster sampling to randomize the sample.

Factors Influencing the Willingness of Palliative Care Utilization among the Older Population with Active Cancers: A Case Study in Mandalay, Myanmar.

Palliative care is an effective, multidisciplinary healthcare service to alleviate severe illness patients from physical, psychological, and spiritual pain. However, global palliative care has been underutilized, especially in developing countries. This cross-sectional survey aimed to examine the factors associated with older cancer patients' willingness to utilize palliative care services in Myanmar.

Tropical Oil Consumption and Cardiovascular Disease: An Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews and Meta Analyses.

The health effects of saturated fat, particularly tropical oil, on cardiovascular disease are unclear. We investigated the effect of tropical oil (palm and coconut oils), lard, and other common vegetable oils (soybean and rice bran oils) that are widely used in tropical and Asian countries on lipid profiles. We performed an umbrella review of meta-analyses and systematic reviews.

Double burden of malnutrition and its association with infant and young child feeding practices among children under-five in Thailand.

Objective: This study examined the prevalence of stunting-overweight and socio-demographic determinants among children under-five years of age, as well as associations with infant and young child feeding (IYCF) among children aged 6-23 months.

Design: Secondary data analysis based on the Thailand Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2015-2016.

Setting: Cross-national study.

Reorienting Health Services to People with Chronic Health Conditions: Diabetes and Stroke Services in Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

This paper explores whether middle-income Asian countries are reorienting their health services in response to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand were selected as case studies of Asian societies experiencing rapid increases both in NCDs and an aging population. While NCD programs, especially those related to diabetes and stroke, are well-established in Thailand, health services struggle to respond to increasing numbers of people with chronic health problems.

PD First Policy: Thailand's Response to the Challenge of Meeting the Needs of Patients With End-Stage Renal Disease.

Providing dialysis for end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients nationwide in a developing country such as Thailand is challenging. Even after roll-out of the Thai Universal Coverage Scheme in 2002, treatment for ESKD was not covered and patients struggled to afford dialysis. There was an urgent need to improve financial risk protection for patients with ESKD.

Health utility measured with EQ-5D in Thai patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis.

Objectives: To measure health utility by using the EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire (EQ-5D) in Thai patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) and to examine the relationship between the EQ-5D and patient characteristics including sociodemographic and clinical data and end-stage renal disease symptoms.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. About 10 to 12 patients undergoing PD were randomly selected from each of the 10 hospitals located in every part of Thailand.

A cost-utility and budget impact analysis of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for severe thalassemic patients in Thailand.

Background: Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the only curative treatment available to severe thalassemic patients. The treatment, however, is very costly, particularly in the context of low and middle income countries, and no studies have been carried out to explore its economic justifiability. This study aimed to estimate the cost-utility of HSCT compared with blood transfusions combined with iron chelating therapy (BT-ICT) for severe thalassemia in Thailand, and to investigate the affordability of HSCT using a budget impact analysis.

Citizen's preferences regarding principles to guide health-care allocation decisions in Thailand.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the extent to which five principles of rationing (lottery, rule of rescue, health maximization, fair innings, and choicism) were preferred by a sample of Thai citizens for selecting patients to receive high-cost therapies.

Methods: A self-administered survey was used for collecting data from a sample of 1000 individuals living in Thailand. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and multinomial logistic regression analysis were used for describing and validating the data.

Cost-effectiveness of exercise training to improve claudication symptoms in patients with peripheral arterial disease.

Exercise rehabilitation is a proven, yet poorly available, treatment for intermittent claudication, the primary symptom of peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Exercise rehabilitation is effective, non-invasive, and associated with minimal cardiovascular risk in appropriate patients. Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA), especially of the iliac segment, is an alternative effective treatment for claudication.