The Preparation of Health among Pilgrims to Visit the Holy Buddhist Places in India: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

            This research was a cross-sectional study aimed to examine the preparation of health and factors associated with the preparation of health, as well as investigate the factors that predicted the preparation of health among pilgrims to visit the holy Buddhist places in India. The participants consisted of 243 Thai people who visited the holy Buddhist places in India in March 2023. The participants consisted of 243 Thai people who visited the holy Buddhist places in India in March 2023. The subjects were recruited with purposive random sampling based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data were collected by using the questionnaire with Google Forms via QR code and consisted of 5 parts, including the general questionnaire, travel factors questionnaire, family relationship assessment form, social support assessment form, and health preparation evaluation form. The validity was measured by the peers of three experts, who reported IOC values greater than 0.67 in every part, and the reliability was tested using the Alpha Coefficient of Cronbach, which were greater than 0.90. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Chi-square test, and multiple regression analysis. The results indicated that the majority of the samples had a moderate level of preparation for health to visit the holy Buddhist places (51.4%), followed by high and low levels (31.7% and 16.9%, respectively). Factors that remained significantly associated with the preparation of health were gender (x^2= 10.61, df= 2, p=0.005), age (x^2=9.89, df= 2, p=0.007), education level (x^2=17.94, df= 2, p<0.001), monthly income (x^2=10.84, df= 2, p=0.004), family characteristic (x^2= 7.27, df= 2, p=0.027), number of pilgrimage visits (x^2= 13.03, df= 4, p=0.011), health insurance (x^2= 11.85, df= 2, p=0.002), and characteristics of pilgrimage (x^2=9.38 df= 2, p=0.009). In addition, factors that predicted preparation of health among pilgrims (p<0.05) were the number of pilgrimage visits, graduates with less than a bachelor's degree, and self-pay for medical care by being able to predict health preparedness at 33.5%. The findings demonstrated that health preparedness will be very useful for developing guidelines to prepare for health, especially the crucial factors and plans to provide healthcare services for physicians in the Buddha Hospital of Thai temples in India.