Explore the vast range of titles available.

Smartphone addiction is a growing social problem with adverse health outcomes. There are few comparative studies in Asia that examine factors associated with smartphone addiction. The current study aimed to address this research gap by presenting a comparative analysis of factors associated with smartphone addiction in Japan and Thailand, two countries heterogeneous in both their level of economic development and culture. Participant data were collected using two population-based surveys. Participants were high school students in grade 11, aged 16-17 years old, and were selected using quota sampling in Japan in 2014 and random sampling in Thailand in 2016. The outcome of interest was smartphone addiction, measured using a modified version of the Young Diagnostic Questionnaire for Internet Addiction. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to determine factors associated with smartphone addiction (gender; nationality; family connectedness; and average time spent on smartphone per day). This study included a total of 7694 students, 6585 students from Japan and 1109 students from Thailand. The prevalence of smartphone addiction was 35.9% among Thai students and 12% among Japanese students. Thai students were more likely to have smartphone addiction than Japanese students (AOR 2.76; 95% CI: 2.37-3.30). Being female was associated with increased odds of smartphone addiction in both Japanese (AOR 1.53; 95% CI: 1.32-1.78) and Thai students (AOR 1.34; 95% CI: 1.01-1.78). The parental connectedness variables \"my parents noticed when I was unhappy\" (AOR 0.77; 95% CI: 0.62-0.96) and \"my parents noticed when I did something good\" (AOR 0.78, 95% CI: 0.61-0.99) were associated with lower odds of smartphone addiction among Japanese students. Smartphone addiction was more prevalent among Thai adolescents than Japanese adolescents, and more prevalent among females than males in both countries. Interventions for reducing smartphone addiction should take into account both context and gender, and should leverage the protective effect of parental connectedness.

Low health literacy is a barrier to public health efforts worldwide. Agricultural workers have an elevated risk for lower health literacy, with important health implications because of their potential exposure to harmful chemicals. The Asian Health Literacy Survey (AHLS) has been developed and translated for use in several different Asian countries and is standardized for easy comparisons across regions. However, it has not been translated for use in Thailand. The purpose of this study was to (1) to determine the health literacy of rural Thai farmers in Northern Thailand, and (2) identify correlates of health literacy within this group. Internal consistency of the Thai AHLS translation was “excellent” (alpha = 0.92). Descriptive results showed that health literacy was relatively high (M = 34.98/50, SD = 6.87). Education, income, working as a village health volunteer, age, length of time farming, no chemical use in farming, health, and pesticide screening were statistically significant correlates of health literacy (R2 = 0.19). Thai farmers had higher health literacy than reported for several other Asian countries. Results may be used to inform the design of future health promotion programs.

Background An extended duration of breastfeeding of up to two years is encouraged by many health authorities, but information regarding the composition of milk after one year postpartum is limited. The goal of this study was to determine the association between the duration of lactation and macronutrient contents, immunoglobulin A (IgA) levels and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in human milk (HM), from 1 to 24 months postpartum. Methods Cross-sectional milk samples were collected between January and April 2019 from mothers with healthy full-term children who had been lactating for 1 to 24 months. The HM was biochemically analyzed for protein and carbohydrate contents by colorimetric assays. The fat content was determined by capillary centrifugation, and the energy content was calculated from the results of centrifugation assays. IgA levels and TAC were determined by ELISA and a Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay, respectively. Pearson’s correlation coefficient and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient were used to determine associations between months of lactation and milk composition, and multiple regression analysis was used to assess associations between months of lactation and milk composition adjusted for relevant covariates. Differences were considered significant at p  < 0.05. Results One hundred eighty-four milk samples were analyzed. The month of lactation was positively associated with the fat concentration (B = 0.31, SE = 0.09, p =  0.001), energy content (B = 3.11, SE = 0.92, p  =  0.001), and IgA (B = 4.17, SE = 1.08, p <  0.001) but negatively associated with the carbohydrate concentration (B = − 0.22, SE = 0.01, p =  0.04). No association was observed between the month of lactation and the protein concentration or TAC after adjustment for maternal age, maternal BMI, birth order, and breastfeeding frequency. Conclusion The duration of lactation was found to be positively associated with the fat, energy, and IgA content in HM for up to two years postpartum, and negatively associated with carbohydrate concentration. More prospective cohort studies are needed to obtain evidence-based knowledge regarding the changes in HM composition throughout the course of lactation.

PurposeChildcare is an essential part of early life environment that has a significant influence on lifelong physical and mental health. This study aimed to examine the relationship between development, growth and frequency of illness in different types of care.Design/methodology/approachThis cross-sectional study recruited 177 children aged 30–36 months and their caregivers. Of these 66 were being cared for at home and 111 were attending out-of-home day-care facilities. An interview form, growth measurement and the Denver Developmental Screening Test II were collected. The association between child developmental, growth and illness variables was analyzed with Chi-square, Fisher's exact and Mann–Whitney U tests.FindingsThis study found that the development and growth results did not show statistically significant differences between the home-care and day-care groups. The number of minor illnesses was significantly lower in home-care children than in day-care children (OR = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.15-0.72).Research limitations/implicationsThis study indicated that the risk of infection is increased in the children attending day care. Provision of a healthy and safe childcare environment needs to be an essential health promotion strategy to improve family and child well-being.Originality/valueAs the number of women's participation in the labor market has increased rapidly over the past decades, so did the number of children in nonparental care. The study findings reflect that the development of a day-care center for children was unclear, whereas the risk of infection was increased. Therefore, provision of a healthy and safe childcare environment needs to be an essential health promotion strategy to improve family and child well-being.

Introduction: Thailand has a rapidly aging population; assessing frailty earlier with biochemical markers could identify many adverse outcomes such as disability, hospitalization, and death. We aimed to examine the correlation between Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and telomere length and frailty for elderly people in Northern Thailand. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed between May 2017 and March 2018 with a total of 350 elderly aged 60 and older for frailty phenotype assessment by five frailty criteria including unintentional weight loss, exhaustion, slowness, low physical activities, and grip strength weakness. Twenty-eight subjects in both the frailty and non-frailty groups were analyzed for basic clinical parameters, including plasma TEAC, TBARS, and telomere length. Results: Alanine aminotransferase activity, albumin concentration, cholesterol level, and telomere length were significantly low in the frailty group. The albumin level, TEAC, and telomere length were significantly higher between the ages of 60 and 75 years compared to those with non-frailty over 75 years of age. Likewise, albumin and cholesterol levels were significantly higher in the frailty group aged 60–75 years. Albumin concentration, cholesterol level, TEAC, and telomere length were significantly higher in the non-frailty group when compared to the frailty group aged 60–75 years, but no significant difference was found among these biochemical parameters of frailty and non-frailty whose age was above 75 years. Conclusion: The reduction of albumin concentration, cholesterol level, TEAC, and telomere length supports the underlying mechanism of frailty screened by the frailty phenotype tool in a specific age range. However, further analyses with multi-parameters must be validated before the application in clinical diagnosis for frailty.

Thailand has officially reached the status of an “aged society” and become the developing country with the 2nd largest proportion of senior citizens in Southeast Asia. A cross-sectional study of 526 early-old community dwellers was conducted for the Fried frailty phenotype assessment, This included five indicators: Weakness, slowness, physical activity, exhaustion, and weight loss. C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), insulin-like growth factor-1, and CD4+:CD8+ Ratio which serve as blood-based biomarkers of frailty. The prevalence of frailty and pre-frail in this population was found to be 15% and 69.6% respectively and was higher among women than men. Frail (n = 58) and non-frail (n = 60) participants were evaluated for the associations between the frail indicators and the blood-based biomarkers. Serum levels of IL-6 and CRP from frail group were significantly elevated when compared with the non-frail counterparts (p = 0.044 and 0.033, respectively), and were significantly associated with the frailty status with an Odd RatioIL-6 [OR] of 1.554-fold (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.229–1.966) and an ORCRP of 1.011-fold (95 CI, 1.006–1.016). Decreased hand-grip strength was the only frailty indicator that was significantly associated with both inflammatory biomarkers, (ORIL-6 of 1.470-fold and ORCRP of 1.008-fold). Our study is the first to assess the frailty status among the early-old population in Thailand. These findings will encourage general practitioners to combine frailty indicators and serum biomarkers as early detection tools for at-risk older adults to achieve the goal of healthy aging.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus self-testing (HIVST) was recently introduced in Thailand, but little is known about receptivity among its residents. Because Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) testing is a critical component of HIV prevention, it is important to understand how HIVST is perceived among potential users. The purpose of this study was to examine awareness and attitudes toward HIVST among adults in Northern Thailand. A convenience sample of 403 adult residents of the Sanpatong district, Chiang Mai Province, was interviewed using a structured questionnaire in 2019. Awareness of HIVST was low (14%), as was the overall HIVST negative attitude score (6.44; possible range of 0–14). The odds of being aware of HIVST were more than twice as high for those with more education compared to those with less (AOR = 2.29, 95% CI: 1.22–4.30), and roughly half as high for those who expressed HIV stigma compared to those who did not (AOR = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.26–0.91). Holding negative attitudes towards HIVST also was associated with lower education and expressing HIV stigma, but these relationships disappeared in multivariate analysis. Findings may be used by local health organizations to tailor HIVST education efforts.

Aging is a time-dependent functional decline in muscle mass and strength, which is reflected in poor physical performances, hormonal imbalance, and development of chronic low-grade inflammation. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of black rice germ, bran supplement, and exercise program either alone or in combination for 24 weeks on the aging biomarkers (C-reactive protein, Interleukin-6, Insulin-like growth factor-1, and CD4:CD8 T cell ratio) physical performance, muscle strength parameters (walking speed, sit-to-stand time, grip strength) among Thai aging population. A total of 120 healthy volunteers aged 65–74 years were assigned to the exercise group (EX), black rice germ, and bran supplement (BR) group or the combination of BR and EX group (BR + EX). Over the course of the 24-week intervention, compared with baseline data (T0), the combined BR + EX intervention significantly decreased the inflammatory biomarkers (C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 levels, both p < 0.05 vs. T0) and significantly increased the insulin-like growth factor-1 levels (p < 0.001 vs. T0). Significant improvement in physical performance and muscle strength were also observed in the combined BR + EX group (decrease in sit-to-stand time and gait speed over the 24-week intervention, both p < 0.05 vs. T0, and trend toward grip strength improvement at p = 0.088 vs. T0). Overall, our results indicated a synergistic effect towards the combined intervention with the sustainable improvement in physical performances, lower-body muscle strength, and the modulation of both inflammatory and endocrine biomarkers. This study could encourage older adults to change their lifestyles to improve healthy aging and longevity.

Background Smartphone addiction is a growing social problem with adverse health outcomes. There are few comparative studies in Asia that examine factors associated with smartphone addiction. The current study aimed to address this research gap by presenting a comparative analysis of factors associated with smartphone addiction in Japan and Thailand, two countries heterogeneous in both their level of economic development and culture. Methods Participant data were collected using two population-based surveys. Participants were high school students in grade 11, aged 16–17 years old, and were selected using quota sampling in Japan in 2014 and random sampling in Thailand in 2016. The outcome of interest was smartphone addiction, measured using a modified version of the Young Diagnostic Questionnaire for Internet Addiction. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to determine factors associated with smartphone addiction (gender; nationality; family connectedness; and average time spent on smartphone per day). Results This study included a total of 7694 students, 6585 students from Japan and 1109 students from Thailand. The prevalence of smartphone addiction was 35.9% among Thai students and 12% among Japanese students. Thai students were more likely to have smartphone addiction than Japanese students (AOR 2.76; 95% CI: 2.37–3.30). Being female was associated with increased odds of smartphone addiction in both Japanese (AOR 1.53; 95% CI: 1.32–1.78) and Thai students (AOR 1.34; 95% CI: 1.01–1.78). The parental connectedness variables “my parents noticed when I was unhappy” (AOR 0.77; 95% CI: 0.62–0.96) and “my parents noticed when I did something good” (AOR 0.78, 95% CI: 0.61–0.99) were associated with lower odds of smartphone addiction among Japanese students. Conclusion Smartphone addiction was more prevalent among Thai adolescents than Japanese adolescents, and more prevalent among females than males in both countries. Interventions for reducing smartphone addiction should take into account both context and gender, and should leverage the protective effect of parental connectedness.