The impact of heavy drinkers on others’ health and well-being in Lao PDR and Thailand

Defining the hidden burden of disease in rural communities in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Thailand: a cross-sectional household health survey protocol

INTRODUCTION

In low-income and middle-income countries in Southeast Asia, the burden of diseases among rural population remains poorly understood, posing a challenge for effective healthcare prioritisation and resource allocation. Addressing this knowledge gap, the South and Southeast Asia Community-based Trials Network (SEACTN) will undertake a survey that aims to determine the prevalence of a wide range of non-communicable and communicable diseases, as one of the key initiatives of its first project-the Rural Febrile Illness project (RFI). This survey, alongside other RFI studies that explore fever aetiology, leading causes of mortality, and establishing village and health facility maps and profiles, will provide an updated epidemiological background of the rural areas where the network is operational.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

During 2022-2023, a cross-sectional household survey will be conducted across three SEACTN sites in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Thailand. Using a two-stage cluster-sampling approach, we will employ a probability-proportional-to-size sample method for village, and a simple random sample for household, selection, enrolling all members from the selected households. Approximately 1500 participants will be enrolled per country. Participants will undergo questionnaire interview, physical examination and haemoglobin point-of-care testing. Blood samples will be collected and sent to central laboratories to test for chronic and acute infections, and biomarkers associated with cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Prevalences will be presented as an overall estimate by country, and stratified and compared across sites and participants' sociodemographic characteristics. Associations between disease status, risk factors and other characteristics will be explored.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

This study protocol has been approved by the Oxford Tropical Research Ethics Committee, National Research Ethics Committee of Bangladesh Medical Research Council, the Cambodian National Ethics Committee for Health Research, the Chiang Rai Provincial Public Health Research Ethical Committee. The results will be disseminated via the local health authorities and partners, peer-reviewed journals and conference presentations.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

NCT05389540.

New Dimension on Quality of Life Differences among Older Adults: A Comparative Analysis of Digital Consumption in Urban and Rural Areas of China

The purpose of this study was to compare the variability in quality of life in the area of digital consumption among older adults in urban and rural China during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study proposed a low-cost mixed research method, and the methodology used a quantitative study of a large regional sample combined with a qualitative study of a small regional sample. Data for the large-scale area sample were obtained from the China family panel study (CFPS) dataset, and data for the small-scale regional sample were obtained from Nanjing, China. The quantitative analysis of the large-scale regional sample used the least squares regression analysis (OSL) and propensity score matching (PSM). The qualitative analysis of the small-scale regional sample used the selection optimization and compensation (SOC) model. The findings show that economic income is a direct driver of digital consumption. Digital consumption had a significant positive relationship with the quality of life for urban and rural older adults. In addition, the study established the semantic network relationships of the coping strategies of digital consumption of older adults and their drivers. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed in the context of other related studies.

Alcohol's harm to others and subjective well-being: Cross-sectional studies in Lao People's Democratic Republic and Thailand

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS

Previous studies have confirmed that the number of heavy drinkers in a household negatively correlates with the subjective well-being of individuals in the household. However, limited studies have investigated the experiences of alcohol's harm to others (HTO) and subjective well-being, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between experiences of HTO and subjective well-being in two selected low- and middle-income countries.

DESIGN AND METHODS

We analysed population survey data on 1205 and 1491 individuals aged 18-64 years from Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) and Thailand, respectively. The respondents' experiences of HTO and their subjective well-being were measured using face-to-face interviews. The association between experiencing HTO and subjective well-being was investigated using Tobit regression models.

RESULTS

A significant association between experiencing HTO and subjective well-being was found in Thailand, but not in Lao PDR. Those who had ever experienced HTO had a 2.77-point lower score of subjective well-being than those who had never experienced HTO (95% confidence interval -4.67, -0.88; P-value <0.05) in Thailand. In Lao PDR, the physical harm dimension showed the strongest association with subjective well-being compared to other types of harm, while in Thailand, financial harm was the dimension most strongly associated with the outcome.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

There was a significant association between HTO and subjective well-being, particularly physical harm in Lao PDR and financial harm in Thailand. The study suggests that services to mitigate the impacts of HTO on well-being should focus on physical harm in Lao PDR and financial harm in Thailand.

Quality of life assessment instruments for adults: a systematic review of population-based studies

BACKGROUND

Against a backdrop of population aging and improving survival rates for chronic noncommunicable diseases (CNCD), researchers are placing growing emphasis on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The aim of this study was to identify the QoL assessment instruments used in population-based studies with adults conducted around the world.

METHODS

A systematic review of original research published in all languages between 2008 and 2018 was conducted. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses were excluded.

RESULTS

Sixty-three articles (38.1% conducted in the Americas) fitted the eligibility criteria. Based on the AHRQ checklist for cross-sectional studies and the Newcastle-Ottawa scale for cohort studies, methodological quality was shown to be fair in the majority of studies (55.6%) and good in 44.4%. The country with the highest number of publications was Brazil (20.6%). Twelve types of generic instruments and 11 specific instruments were identified. The generic instrument SF-36 was the most frequently used measure (33.3% of studies). In-home interviewing was exclusively used by 47.6% of the studies, while 39 studies (61.9%) reported the use of self-administered questionnaires. Over two-thirds of the studies (34.9%) used questionnaires to investigate the association between chronic diseases and/or associated factors.

CONCLUSIONS

It was concluded that the wide range of instruments and modes of questionnaire administration used by the studies may hinder comparisons between population groups with the same characteristics or needs. There is a lack of research on QoL and the factors affecting productive capacity. Studies of QoL in older persons should focus not only on the effects of disease and treatment, but also on the determinants of active aging and actions designed to promote it. Further research is recommended to determine which QoL instruments are best suited for population-based studies.