• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.73-82
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• 2024

Objectives: The unsafe use of pesticides in agriculture represents a major hazard to human health. This study was conducted to investigate the association between pesticide exposure and health symptoms among chili farmers in northeast Thailand. Methods: This cross-sectional analytic study included 141 chili farmers in Sakon Nakhon Province, in northeast Thailand. Data regarding health symptoms were gathered using a self-report questionnaire. A medical technician tested blood cholinesterase activity using an erythrocyte method, and an occupational medicine specialist at Ramathibodi Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand reviewed the results. Associations between personal characteristics, pesticide exposure factors, and health symptoms were analyzed using multiple logistic regression. Results: Of the 141 chili farmers studied, 66.7% experienced pesticide poisoning, as indicated by below-normal cholinesterase levels. Fatigue was the most frequently reported symptom associated with pesticide exposure, affecting 37.6% of participants. This was followed by nausea and vomiting (31.9%), dizziness (14.9%), and dry throat (14.9%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that several factors were significantly associated with adverse symptoms: amount of work experience, volume of pesticides used, use of chemical pesticides, use of leaking containers during spraying, direct pesticide exposure while working, contact with pesticide-soaked clothing, consumption of food and drinks in the fields, and blood cholinesterase level indicating risk. Conclusions: This study suggests potential health risks for chili farmers stemming from exposure to and contamination by pesticides used in agricultural practices. To mitigate these risks, it is essential to supply personal protective equipment and to implement educational programs aimed at improving protective behaviors among farmers.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.791-794
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• 2012

A retrospective cohort study was carried out with 340 female breast cancer at a teaching university in northeast of Thailand recruited and followed-up until the end of 2006. Survival probabilities were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. 161 cases were alive after five years and 58 patients were lost to follow-up. The overall observed survival rates at 1, 3 and 5 years were 83.3%, 59.9% and 42.9%, respectively. When analysis was conducted for stage combined into 2 groups, early (stage I, II and unknown) and late (stage III and IV), the 5-year survival rate for early stage (60%; 95%CI: 0.51-0.67), was higher than for late stage (27%; 95%CI: 0.19-0.34) with high statistical significance (p<0.001). The hazard ratio of patients with stage IV was 11.6 times greater than for stage I (p=0.03). The findings indicate that the different stages of breast cancer markedly effect the overall survival rate.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.814-816
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• 2003

Remote sensing allows automatic and continual spatial data acquisition. However, it is powerless to accumulate spatial data from the past. On the other hand, social and human scientists have already created rich academic descriptions of the past with fragmentary images, but without accurate geo-references. Such a legacy of information will eventually become useless, regardless of its importance or the researcher's passion. There is thus an urgent need to help assemble the lifetime research results of social scientists, so that future generations can easily access them.

• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.105-131
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• 2015

This article is based on a research conducted from 2009 to 2012, on the political disputes in Thailand. During the data collections periods, it was common to hear the frustration, bitterness and anger, expressed by the Redshirts, especially those who lived in the northeast and northern regions. Coming from the said research, this paper will examine the relationship between emotions and rights. According to the sociology of emotions, there are connections between macrolevel social processes and the arousal of emotions. Emotions arising from macrostructural processes may affect individuals at the microlevel, prompting them into actions collectively. In addition, expressions of resentment and articulation for vengeance can be interpreted as the emotions related to the awareness of rights, which may include the rights to one's needs and the access to resources that fulfill such needs. It will demonstrate how emotions, political demonstrations and the increasing awareness of rights, are related.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.17
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• pp.7803-7807
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• 2015

Opisthorchis viverrini infection is a serious public health problem in Southeast Asia especially in the northeast and north of Thailand. Therefore, a cross-sectional survey using multistage sampling was conducted from the rural communities of Surin province, Thailand, during September 2013 to July 2014. O. viverrini infection was determined using Kato's thick smear technique. Socio-demographic, information resources, and history data were collected using predesigned semi-structured questionnaires. A total of 510 participants completed interviews and had stools collected. Some 32 (6.47%) participants were infected with O. viverrini. The rate was slightly higehr in males (6.61%) than females (6.32%). High frequencies were found in the age groups 61-70 (19.4%) and 71-80 years (19.4%), those involved in agriculture (10.5%), and in primary school (10.3%). The distribution of high infection was found in Tha Tum (16.7%) and Sankha district (16.7%), followed by Samrong Thap (13.3%), Si Narong (13.33%), and Buachet district (13.33%). Chi-square testing indicated that age (61-70 and 71-80 year old), education (primary school) and occupation (agriculture), were significantly associated with O. viverrini infection (p-value<0.05). Of 72.6% participants who had past histories with stool examination, 17.0% of them had been infected with O. viverrini and 43.2% treated with praziquantel. This finding confirmed that O. viverrini is still a problem in Surin province, Thailand, and therefore, interventions are urgently required for mass treatment and health education implementation.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.2973-2977
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• 2016

Opisthorchis viverrini is still a serious problem in Northeastern and Northern Thailand. Active surveillance is required to determine updated data for further prevention and control planning. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the prevalence and risk factors for O. viverrini in three provinces, Northeastern Thailand. A cross-sectional survey was conducted during October 2015 to March 2016 at Kaeng Sanam Nang district of Nakhon Ratchasima province, Waeng Noi district of Khon Kaen province, and Khon Sawan district of Chaiyaphum province, Thailand. Stool samples were examined by using a modified Kato-Katz Thick smear technique. From a total of 978 participants screened, O. viverrini infection was found in 1.74%, the majority opf positive cases being male (6.62%), age group 51-60 years old (4.21%), educated at primary school (8.43%), occupied with agriculture (9.62%),having an income <4,000 baht per month (4.82%), and living in Khon Sawan district (8.43%). Participants had a high knowledge level (42.43%), good attitude level (34.76%), and fair level (38.04%). The present study indicates the O. viverrini infection rate is low, but elderly males with primary school education involved in agriculture are still frequently effected particularly in Khon Sawan district. Therefore, this risk group requires behavior modification and continued monitoring.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.18
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• pp.8281-8285
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• 2016

Background: Helicobacter pylori is a cause of chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, and gastric malignancy, infection being a serious health problem in Thailand. Recently, clarithromycin resistant H. pylori strains represent the main cause of treatment failure. Therefore this study aimed to determine the prevalence and pattern of H. pylori resistance to clarithromycin in Suranaree University of Technology Hospital, Suranree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, Northeastern Thailand, Nakhon Ratchasima province, northeast of Thailand. Materials and Methods: This hospital-based cross-sectional study was carried out between June 2014 and February 2015 with 300 infected patients interviewed and from whom gastric mucosa specimens were collected and proven positive by histology. The gastric mucosa specimens were tested for H. pylori and clarithromycin resistance by 23S ribosomal RNA point mutations analysis using real-time polymerase chain reactions. Correlation of eradication rates with patterns of mutation were analyzed by chi-square test. Results: Of 300 infected patients, the majority were aged between 47-61 years (31.6%), female (52.3%), with monthly income between 10,000-15,000 Baht (57%), and had a history of alcohol drinking (59.3%). Patient symptoms were abdominal pain (48.6%), followed by iron deficiency anemia (35.3%). Papaya salad consumption (40.3%) was a possible risk factor for H. pylori infection. The prevalence of H. pylori strains resistant to clarithromycin was 76.2%. Among clarithromycin-resistant strains tested, all were due to the A2144G point mutation in the 23S rRNA gene. Among mutations group, wild type genotype, mutant strain mixed wild type and mutant genotype were 23.8%, 35.7% and 40.5% respectively. With the clarithromycin-based triple therapy regimen, the efficacy decreased by 70% for H. pylori eradication (P<0.01). Conclusions: Recent results indicate a high rate of H. pylori resistance to clarithromycin. Mixed of wild type and mutant genotype is the most common mutant genotype in Nakhon Ratchasima province, therefore the use of clarithromycin-based triple therapy an not advisable as an empiric first-line regimen for H. pylori eradication in northeast region of Thailand.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.5489-5495
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• 2012

Cervical cancer is a serious public health problem in Thailand. We investigated possible risk factors for cervical cancer including HPV infection, p53 polymorphism, smoking and reproductive history among women in Northeast Thailand using a case control study with 177 cases and age-matched controls. Among the HPV carriers, a significantly increased risk for cervical cancer with an OR of 36.97(p<0.001) and an adjusted OR of 38.07(p<0.001) were observed. Early age at first sexual exposure, and multiple sexual partners increased the risk of cervical cancer with ORs ranging between 1.73-2.78(p<0.05). The interval between menarche and first sexual intercourse <6 years resulted in a significant increase in the risk for cervical cancer with ORs ranging between 3.32-4.09 and the respective adjusted OR range for the 4-5 and 2-3 year-old groups were 4.09 and 2.92. A higher risk was observed among subjects whose partner had smoking habits, whether currently or formerly; with respective ORs of 3.36(P<0.001) and 2.17(p<0.05); and respective adjusted ORs of 2.90(p<0.05) and 3.55(p<0.05). Other smoking characteristics of the partners including smoking duration ${\geq}20$ years, number of cigarettes smokes ${\geq}20$ pack-years and exposure time of the subject to passive smoking ${\geq}5$ hrs per day were found to be statistically significant risks for cervical cancer with adjusted ORs of 3.75, 4.04 and 11.8, respectively. Our data suggest that the risk of cervical cancer in Thai women is substantially associated with smoking characteristics of the partner(s), the interval between menarche and first sexual intercourse as well as some other aspects of sexual behavior.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.5245-5249
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• 2012

Background: Opisthorchis viverrini infection is a serious public-health problem in Southeast Asia especially in Lao PDR and Thailand. It is associated with a number of hepatobiliary diseases and the evidence strongly indicates that liver fluke infection is the major etiology of cholangiocarcinoma. Objectives: This study aimed to determine actual levels of Opisthorchis viverrini infection in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Northeast Thailand. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted during a one year period from October 2010 to September 2011. O. viverrini infection was determined using a modified Kato's thick smear technique and socio-demographic data were collected using predesigned semi-structured questionnaires. Results: A total of 1,168 stool samples were obtained from 516 males and 652 females, aged 5-90 years. Stool examination showed that 2.48% were infected with O. viverrini. Males were slightly more likely to be infected than females, but the different was not statistically significant. O. viverrini infection was most frequent in the 51-60 year age group and was found to be positively associated with education and occupation. Positive results were evident in 16 of 32 districts, the highest prevalence being found in Non Daeng with 16.7%, followed by Pra Thai with 11.1%, Kaeng Sanam Nang with 8.33%, and Lam Ta Men Chai (8.33%) districts. Conclusion: This study indicates that O viverrini is still a problem in some areas of Nakhon Ratchasima, the patients in this study bing suitable for the purpose of monitoring projects.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.663-667
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• 2013

Free-grazing ducks play a major role in the rural economy of Eastern Asia in the form of egg and meat production. In Thailand, the geographical location, tropical climate conditions and wetland areas of the country are suitable for their husbandry. These environmental factors also favor growth, multiplication, development, survival, and spread of duck parasites. In this study, a total of 90 free-grazing ducks from northern, central, and northeastern regions of Thailand were examined for intestinal helminth parasites, with special emphasis on zoonotic echinostomes. Of these, 51 (56.7%) were infected by one or more species of zoonotic echinostomes, Echinostoma revolutum, Echinoparyphium recurvatum, and Hypoderaeum conoideum. Echinostomes found were identified using morphological criteria when possible. ITS2 sequences were used to identify juvenile and incomplete worms. The prevalence of infection was relatively high in each region, namely, north, central, and northeast region was 63.2%, 54.5%, and 55.3%, respectively. The intensity of infection ranged up to 49 worms/infected duck. Free-grazing ducks clearly play an important role in the life cycle maintenance, spread, and transmission of these medically important echinostomes in Thailand.