Development and validation of the Menopause-specific Quality of Life Scale for menopausal Thai women.

OBJECTIVES: To develop a new instrument, the Menopause-specific Quality of Life Scale (MS-QoLS), for Thai women and to study the experience of menopausal aspects in peri- and postmenopausal Thai women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Item generation was developed from a focus group discussion and in-depth interview, and the content validity index (CVI) was computed, using item relevance ratings by content experts. Items with CVI values higher than 0.7 were selected. The draft questionnaire was tested for language, format and content. The final questionnaire was administered and the construct validity and reliability were then assessed. RESULTS: Fifty-seven peri- and postmenopausal women participated in the focus group discussion and in-depth interview. Sixty-eight items across eight dimensions were generated based on content analysis result. The dimensions included Physical health, Psychological health, Sexual health, Daily activity, Family, Social, Treatment, and Economics. A total of 280 menopausal women were recruited from four collaborative hospitals for psychometric validation. After factor analysis, 22 items remained with six dimensions identified, that is, well-being, emotionality, anxiety/fear, family, social and sexual health. Cronbach's coefficient α of each domain was between 0.61 and 0.83. CONCLUSION: The Thai MS-QoLS was systematically developed and validated for peri- or postmenopausal women. The initial assessment of the questionnaire showed an acceptable level of validity and reliability.

Working and living conditions of construction workers: comparison between large and small construction sites in northeastern Thailand.

This study examined differences in working and living conditions of construction workers in large and small construction sites in Northeastern Thailand. Data were collected by questionnaires, through observation and interviewing. A total of 812 construction workers from 20 large sites and 24 small sites were studied. Working and living conditions among the construction workers were generally poor. However, they were better at the large sites than the small ones. The data suggest an urgent need to improve sanitation and safety conditions on the construction sites and camp sites, including personal protective devices and improved welfare for the workers and their families.

Perceptions of menopause in northeast Thailand: contested meaning and practice.

This paper draws on data collected from village-based ethnographic research conducted in northeast Thailand in 1990-1991 and highlights the polarities and contradictions of perceptions of menopause that exist between village women and health personnel with whom these women interact. For village women until recently, the menopause has been regarded as a simple and natural biological event; for health professionals, it is consistently represented as a 'medical problem' indicating treatment. The paper highlights women's construction of menopause, and their recognition and management of its physical symptoms. It draws attention too to differences among women and to the dynamic nature of their understandings and consequent health-seeking behaviour. The paper also describes the way in which health providers, through their own training and reading of professional and popular journals, increasingly represent the menopause as a pathological process and treatable condition. Through the exploration of conflicting perceptions of the menopause among contemporary Thai women, the paper draws attention to the heterogeneity and fluidity in understandings of biological processes that are related to and reflect the wider social and economic changes to which they are subject.