Don't Look Up! Individual Income Comparisons and Subjective Well-Being of Students in Thailand.

Empirical evidence supports the hypothesis that an individual's position in an income stratum-more than the absolute income level-determines subjective well-being. However, studies on subjective well-being suffer from a critical methodological weakness: they use exogenously defined reference groups. Our study addresses this point by applying an innovative new survey instrument.

Practices and values regarding milk consumption among pre-schoolers in Bangkok.

Purpose: Thai government agencies and the business sector have been promoting milk consumption. Considering the robust and continual movements by those actors to promote milk consumption among children in Thailand at the national level, this study aims to investigate milk-consumption practices and values towards milk consumption at pre-school, family and individual levels.

Methods: This cross-sectional qualitative study employs observation and interview methods, along with the Ecological System Theory as a framework.

A good quality of life under the influence of methadone: a qualitative study among opiate-dependent individuals.

Background: Attention from researchers and health care workers to the quality of life (QoL) of opiate users is growing, but most studies are quantitative, giving limited attention to the consumer's perspective. No information is available on how opiate-dependent individuals themselves perceive QoL and what they see as the important components that contribute to a good QoL.

Objectives: This qualitative study aims to expand our knowledge concerning opiate-dependent individuals' perceptions of a good QoL and the impact of methadone on components of a good QoL.

On subjective well-being and quality of life.

We integrate the multi-disciplinary fields of quality of life (QoL) and well-being (WB) and appraise the impacts of health factors. Theoretical and methodological limitations are discussed and new conceptual and technical advances identified, These are informed by cross-cultural and community perspectives. Following a definitional review, social inequalities, and links with happiness are examined.

'Translation is not enough': using the Global Person Generated Index (GPGI) to assess individual quality of life in Bangladesh, Thailand, and Ethiopia.

Currently few subjective measures of Quality of Life (QoL) are available for use in developing countries, which limits their theoretical, methodological, and practical contribution (for example, exploring the relationship between economic development and QoL, and ensuring effective and equitable service provision). One reason for this is the difficulty of ensuring that translated measures preserve conceptual, item, semantic, operational, measurement; and functional equivalence (Herdman, M., Fox-Rushby, J.

Twelve years' experience with the Patient Generated Index (PGI) of quality of life: a graded structured review.

The Patient Generated Index (PGI) is an individualised quality of life (QoL) measure that has been in use since 1994. Various adaptations have been made to suit a variety of client groups. The PGI's psychometric properties have been studied but their review is necessary to inform instrument choice.

The meanings of pain: A qualitative study of the perspectives of children living with pain in north-eastern Thailand.

This qualitative paper explores the perception of pain among north-eastern Thai children experiencing illness, aged from 4-18 years. Data was obtained from 17 children living in the community and 32 children admitted to two major hospitals in Isan, totaling 49 children. The qualitative data collection techniques used were observation, drawing, role-playing, story-telling, and "day conferences" (relaxed and informal group discussions).

Impact of cervical dystonia on quality of life.

We studied the effect of cervical dystonia on quality of life in a cohort of 289 patients by using a generic health status measurement scale (SF36). Cervical dystonia had a significant negative impact on quality of life compared with age-matched general population data. This negative impact was comparable to that seen in multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and stroke.