Traditional Health Behaviour of Elderly Population: Comparative Study of Northeast Thailand / 国際保健医療

ABSTRACT

<B>Introduction and Purpose</B><br> Ratio of elderly people has rapidly increased not only in developed countries but also in developing countries. Especially, the number of elderly people over 60 years old will be three times more than at present in the next 45 years in Asian countries. The 9th five year plan in Thailand focused on strengthening health promotion activities in remote areas. Especially, Thai traditional and alternative medicine has been promoted to develop the quality of elderly people's lives. This study was conducted to compare the traditional health behavior of elderly people in a suburban area and a remote area in northeast Thailand.<br><B>Methods</B><br> Forty three elderly people were interviewed in two villages and semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect data from the year 2006 to the year 2007.<br> Participatory observation was also conducted to obtain information on village atmosphere and national & social environment. <br><B>Results</B><br> People in the remote area practiced traditional health behavior i.e. growing herbs in their home gardens, believing in the concept of 'heat food' and 'cold food' more than the suburban areas. Meanwhile, people in the suburban used herbal soup more than people in the remote area. People in the remote area consumed many kinds of food and believed certain foods as harmful for health more than people in the suburban area did. Approximately 50% of people in the remote area used to get Thai traditional massage compared to only 30% of people in the suburban area.<br><B>Conclusion</B><br> There was a variety of disparities in the consumption of herbs and foods between remote and suburban areas even though they existed only 20 km's apart. <br> People who practiced more traditional health activities suffered from less chronic illnesses than people who did not.