Early diagnosis of kala-azar in Bangladesh: Findings from a population based mixed methods research informing the post-elimination era.

Background: Global annual reports of visceral leishmaniasis or kala-azar ("black fever") reduced from 200,000 cases in 2012 to 23,804 in 2015. India, Bangladesh and Nepal reported 80% of the global cases in 2012, but 39% in 2015. We sought to identify major amenable barriers to early diagnosis of kala-azar in peripheral areas of Mymensingh district, an area of Bangladesh that was highly endemic for kala-azar.

Dietary patterns associated with hypertension risk among adults in Thailand: 8-year findings from the Thai Cohort Study.

Objective: Dietary intake is a leading risk factor for hypertension. We aimed to assess longitudinal associations between overall dietary patterns and incident hypertension among adults in Thailand.

Design: Prospective large Thai Cohort Study (TCS) conducted nationwide from 2005 to 2013.

Relationship between 8-year weight change, body size, and health in a large cohort of adults in Thailand.

Background: Overweight and obesity have been shown to be risk factors for a range of non-communicable diseases, especially cardio-metabolic conditions, worldwide. But less is known about the effects of weight change on adults' overall health and wellbeing, particularly in transitional low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to assess the relationship between 8-year weight change and measures of self-assessed health among Thai adults.

Low back pain and limitations of daily living in Asia: longitudinal findings in the Thai cohort study.

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is a major cause of disability throughout the world. However, longitudinal evidence to relate low back pain and functional limitations is mostly confined to Western countries. In this study, we investigate the associations between low back pain and functional limitations in a prospective cohort of Thai adults.

Caregiving and mental health among workers: Longitudinal evidence from a large cohort of adults in Thailand.

Background: As people in middle and lower income countries live longer, more people become sick, disabled, and frail and the demand for family caregiving grows. Thailand faces such challenges. This study investigates the relationship between caregiving and mental health among workers drawn from a large longitudinal cohort of Thai adults.

Psychosocial job characteristics, wealth, and culture: differential effects on mental health in the UK and Thailand.

Background: Most research on the influence of psychosocial job characteristics on health status has been conducted within affluent Western economies. This research addresses the same topic in a middle-income Southeast Asian country, enabling comparison with a Western benchmark.

Methods: We analysed and compared the Health Survey for England conducted in 2010 and the Thai Cohort Study data at 2005 baseline for workers aged 35-45 years.

Health, happiness and eating together: what can a large Thai cohort study tell us?

Our research investigates the significance of frequent solo consumption of main meals and the association with a holistic wellbeing measure of happiness using data from 39820 Thai Cohort Study members who completed 8-year follow-up in 2013. This nationwide cohort has been under study since 2005 to analyse the dynamics and determinants of the health-risk transition from infectious to chronic diseases. Here we analyse data from the 2009 and 2013 follow-ups.

Performance of kala-azar surveillance in Gaffargaon subdistrict of Mymensingh, Bangladesh.

Introduction: Elimination of kala-azar is planned for South Asia requiring good surveillance along with other strategies. We assessed surveillance in Gaffargaon upazila (a subdistrict of 13 unions) of Mymensingh district, Bangladesh highly endemic for kala-azar.

Methods: In 4703 randomly sampled households, within nine randomly sampled villages, drawn from three randomly sampled unions, we actively searched for kala-azar cases that had occurred between January 2010 and December 2011.

Relationship between body mass index reference and all-cause mortality: evidence from a large cohort of Thai adults.

We investigate variation in body mass index (BMI) reference and 5-year all-cause mortality using data from 87151 adult Open University students nationwide. Analyses focused on BMI reference bands: "normal" (≥18.5 to <23), "lower normal" (≥18.

Unhappiness and mortality: evidence from a middle-income Southeast Asian setting.

Background: A relationship between happiness and mortality might seem obvious, but outside of affluent settings in developed countries there is almost no actual evidence that this is so.

Findings: We report our findings on happiness and mortality in Buddhist Southeast Asia. Our data are derived from a prospective nationwide cohort study of 60,569 Thai adults reporting in 2009 and followed up for all-cause mortality over the next four years (296 deaths).

Predictors of injury mortality: findings from a large national cohort in Thailand.

Objective: To present predictors of injury mortality by types of injury and by pre-existing attributes or other individual exposures identified at baseline.

Design: 5-year prospective longitudinal study.

Setting: Contemporary Thailand (2005-2010), a country undergoing epidemiological transition.

The associations between unhealthy behaviours, mental stress, and low socio-economic status in an international comparison of representative samples from Thailand and England.

Background: Socioeconomic status is a recognised determinant of health status, and the association may be mediated by unhealthy behaviours and psychosocial adversities, which, in developed countries, both aggregate in low socioeconomic sectors of the population. We explored the hypothesis that unhealthy behavioural choices and psychological distress do not both aggregate in low socioeconomic status groups in developing countries.

Methods: Our study is based on a cross-sectional comparison between national population samples of adults in England and Thailand.

The effect of injuries on health measured by short form 8 among a large cohort of Thai adults.

Introduction: We investigate the links between health and injury in Thailand. This is important because of the high burden of injury in transitional countries and limited information for public health.

Methods: We analyse 2005 baseline and 2009, 4-year follow-up data from distance learning students of Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University residing nationwide (n = 60569).

Physically and psychologically hazardous jobs and mental health in Thailand.

This paper investigates associations between hazardous jobs, mental health and wellbeing among Thai adults. In 2005, 87 134 distance-learning students from Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University completed a self-administered questionnaire; at the 2009 follow-up 60 569 again participated. Job characteristics were reported in 2005, psychological distress and life satisfaction were reported in both 2005 and 2009.

Inequalities in Risks and Outcomes in a Health Transitioning Country: A Review of a Large National Cohort of Thai Adults.

This article reviews inequalities in health risks and outcomes based on a large longitudinal cohort study of distance-learning adult students enrolled at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University ( = 87,134). The study began in 2005 and the first follow-up was completed in 2009. Risks analyzed for health inequalities were divided into demographic, socioeconomic, geographical, behavioral, and environmental groups.

Longitudinal associations between oral health impacts and quality of life among a national cohort of Thai adults.

Background: There is limited evidence on the association between oral health and general health in middle-income countries. This study analysed data from 60,569 adult students enrolled at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University and residing throughout Thailand who reported oral health impacts at the 2005 baseline and 2009 health status based on Short Form (SF-8) survey.

Findings: In 2005, 16.

Land-use change and emerging infectious disease on an island continent.

A more rigorous and nuanced understanding of land-use change (LUC) as a driver of emerging infectious disease (EID) is required. Here we examine post hunter-gatherer LUC as a driver of infectious disease in one biogeographical region with a compressed and documented history--continental Australia. We do this by examining land-use and native vegetation change (LUCC) associations with infectious disease emergence identified through a systematic (1973-2010) and historical (1788-1973) review of infectious disease literature of humans and animals.

Health risk factors and the incidence of hypertension: 4-year prospective findings from a national cohort of 60 569 Thai Open University students.

Objective: This study evaluates the impact of a number of demographic, biological, behavioural and lifestyle health risk factors on the incidence of hypertension in Thailand over a 4-year period.

Design: A 4-year prospective study of health risk factors and their effects on the incidence of hypertension in a national Thai Cohort Study from 2005 to 2009.

Setting: As Thailand is transitioning from a developing to a middle-income developed country, chronic diseases (particularly cardiovascular disease) have emerged as major health issues.

A large national Thai Cohort Study of the Health-Risk Transition based on Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University students.

Thailand 's dynamic economic development has been accompanied by great changes in cultural, social, environmental and other forces that shape population health in ways that are poorly understood. To study Thailand's health-risk transition we began to follow a large cohort of students enrolled at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU) - an accessible transitional group. STOU students are not affluent but are aspiring to modernize.

Psychological distress and mental health of Thai caregivers.

BACKGROUND: As the proportion of elderly people within a population increases there is an accompanying increase in the role of informal caregivers. Many studies on caregivers report negative health outcomes but very few have addressed positive aspects of caregiving. This study examines characteristics of Thai caregivers, the distribution of psychological distress and mental health among caregivers, and the association between caregiver status and psychological distress.

Happiness, Mental Health, and Socio-Demographic Associations Among a National Cohort of Thai Adults.

Research on happiness has been of interest in many parts of the world. Here we provide evidence from developing countries; this is the first analysis of happiness among a cohort of Thai distance learning adults residing throughout the country (n = 60,569 in 2009). To measure happiness, we tested use of the short format Thai Mental Health Indicators (TMHI), correlating each domain with two direct measures of happiness and life satisfaction.

Physical and mental health among caregivers: findings from a cross-sectional study of Open University students in Thailand.

Background: Caregivers constitute an important informal workforce, often undervalued, facing challenges to maintain their caring role, health and wellbeing. Little is known about caregivers in middle-income countries like Thailand. This study investigates the physical and mental health of Thai adult caregivers.