Quality of Life among Patients with Chronic Diseases Receiving Integrated Care
Keywords:
Quality of Life, Chronic Patients, Integrated Care, Thai Traditional MedicineAbstract
This descriptive study aimed to examine the quality of life of patients with chronic diseases receiving integrated care, and to compare their quality of life according to age, income, health insurance entitlement, types of integrated care, and duration of integrated care utilization. The sample consisted of 175 patients with chronic diseases receiving integrated care in Thai traditional medicine and alternative medicine clinics. The sample size was calculated using the G*Power program and selected through simple random sampling. Research instruments included: 1) a general information questionnaire, 2) a questionnaire on the use of integrated healthcare, and 3) a quality of life questionnaire. Content validity was verified by three experts, yielding a CVI of .84, and reliability was tested using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (.86). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and one-way ANOVA, with Scheffe’s method for post hoc comparison. The results were as follows.
1. The overall quality of life of patients with chronic diseases receiving integrated care was at a moderate level (M = 3.30, SD = 0.42).
2. Patients with different types of integrated care had significantly different levels of quality of life (F = 4.477, p-value = .013). Specifically, patients receiving biologically-based therapies (M = 3.45, SD = 0.45) reported significantly higher quality of life than those receiving mind-body system therapies (M = 3.22, SD = 0.42, p-value <.05). Age, income, health insurance entitlement, and duration of care showed no significant differences.
Therefore, alternative medicine service units should provide patients with information and consultation to enable them to choose from various forms of integrated healthcare services.
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1. บทความหรือข้อคิดเห็นใด ๆ ที่ปรากฏในวารสารเครือข่าย วิทยาลัยพยาบาลและการสาธารณสุขภาคใต้ ที่เป็นวรรณกรรมของผู้เขียน บรรณาธิการหรือเครือข่ายวิทยาลัยพยาบาลและวิทยาลัยการสาธารณสุขภาคใต้ ไม่จำเป็นต้องเห็นด้วย
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