Perception of Thai People on the Information of Diseases and Health Risks in 2007

Abstract

The purpose of this survey research was to assess the perception of Thai people towards the information of diseases and health risks. The survey had been conducted by using standardized questionnaire to collect data from 5,498 people , sampling from the residents of Bangkok and 8 other provinces namely, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Nakhon Pathom, Mae Hong Son, Sukhothai, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nong Khai, Chumphon, and Phang-Nga during April to July, 2007. The complied data had been analyzed by the Questionnaire Processing System, descriptive statistics and Chi-square test. The results of the study revealed that 93.71 percent of the sample group had ever received the information of diseases and health risks. The top 5 popular diseases of which they had got the information were Dengue hemorrhagic fever (85.1%), Aids (77.9%), Avian influenza (66.3%), Cigarette smoking related diseases (57.4%) and Traffic accidents (53.2%). The top 5 popular channels by which the diseases information had been delivered to them were television (85.8%), radio (54.7%), health personnel (44.9%), poster and bill-boards (43.7%) and newspaper and magazines (40.1%). The satisfaction scales of diseases information and health risks among the study group were moderate (average 3.91 from 5 points). The high satisfaction sub-group was 18.2% while high moderate satisfaction, moderate satisfaction, un-satisfaction and very un-satisfaction sub-groups were 52.9%, 24%, 0.8% 0.3% respectively. The study group have good knowledge in 7 diseases, namely, Dengue hemorrhagic fever, Aids, Avian influenza, Alcoholic beverage, Cigarette, Vascular brain disease and Diarrhea (average 23.57 from 28 points) while high, moderate and low knowledge sub-groups were 85.3%, 9.0%, and 5.6% respectively. Furthermore, the study group had possessed 11 health promotion and disease prevention related behaviors of which 8 were positive and 3 were negative behaviors. The average behaviors score was low (average 3.77 from 8 points), while high, moderate and low score sub-groups were 15.1%, 32.3%, and 52.6% accordingly. The results conclude that even though the rate of receiving the information of diseases and health risks of the Thai people among the studied provinces was rather high, indicated by the knowledge of diseases and health risks which were good in average but the health behaviors were on the contrary, low. Hence, it is suggested that the public relation operation should be improved to increase the efficiency such as increase the communication channels, disease and health advice content and communication techniques and tactics.