Effectiveness of Asthma Home Management Manual and Low-Cost Air Filter on Quality of Life Among Asthma Adults: A 3-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Asthma affects the quality of life (QoL) of millions of people worldwide. Effective control is paramount to a decline in prevalence and severity. To address this, we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of an asthma home management manual and low-cost air filter in improving resource-limited settings.

Discrimination and violence against women migrant workers in Thailand during the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods study.

Background: Women migrant workers are vulnerable to discrimination and violence, which are significant public health problems. These situations may have been intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to investigate discrimination against women migrant workers in Thailand during the COVID-19 pandemic and its intersection with their experiences of violence and associated factors.

Relationship Between Pesticide Exposure Factors and Health Symptoms Among Chili Farmers in Northeast Thailand.

Objectives: The unsafe use of pesticides in agriculture represents a major hazard to human health. This study was conducted to investigate the association between pesticide exposure and health symptoms among chili farmers in northeast Thailand.

Methods: This cross-sectional analytic study included 141 chili farmers in Sakon Nakhon Province, in northeast Thailand.

Estimation of premature death attributed to short- and long-term PM2.5 exposure in Thailand.

Particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5) has been identified as a global health concern in recent decades.

Residential environment in relation to self-report of respiratory and asthma symptoms among primary school children in a high-polluted urban area.

Respiratory disease and its complication are the cause of children deaths worldwide every year. Several epidemiological studies pointed out an association between quality of residential in inner city and risk of children health. However, few studies had been focused in high-polluted urban area in low to middle income countries.

Associations between welding fume exposure and blood hemostatic parameters among workers exposed to welding fumes in confined space in Chonburi, Thailand.

Background: Occupational welding fumes contain varieties of toxic metal particles and may affect cardiovascular system like the Particulate Matters (PM). Few studies have focused on the effects of toxic metals on the hemodynamic balance; however, the reporting results were not consistent. This study aimed to investigate the association between toxic metals exposure (Chromium (Cr), Manganese (Mn) and Lead (Pb)) and blood hemostatic parameters status after a 3-week exposure cessation among workers exposed to welding fumes.

Effect of residential proximity to the lignite-fired power plant on depression, sleep quality, and morning salivary cortisol in the elderly.

Exposures to air pollution of by-products emission from the lignite-fired power plant elevated risks of carcinogenic effects, endocrine disruptors, central nervous system structural and functional changes. Residence in the proximity of the lignite-fired power plant appeared to have more chance to have higher risks of health problems. This study aimed to assess associations of residential proximity to the lignite-fired power plant on depression, sleep quality, and morning salivary cortisol among the elderly.

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Depression and Subjective Sleep Quality in the First Trimester of Pregnancy Among Migrant Workers in Thailand.

Introduction: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) influences neurodevelopment during pregnancy. Maternal sleep quality and depression are suggested to influence BDNF levels. The objective of this study was to assess the association between depression, sleep quality, and BDNF levels among Myanmar migrant pregnancies.

Respiratory symptoms and their association with exposure to respiratory dust among indigo-dyed cotton workers.

Indigo-dyed cotton weavers are exposed to various dust particles that may contain chemical contaminants from indigo fermentation process and can be related to respiratory symptoms. This cross-sectional study thus investigates the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and their association with respiratory dust (RD) exposure among workers in northeastern Thailand. It recruited 146 indigo-dyed cotton weavers.

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on physical and mental health of Asians: A study of seven middle-income countries in Asia.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted the economy, livelihood, and physical and mental well-being of people worldwide. This study aimed to compare the mental health status during the pandemic in the general population of seven middle income countries (MICs) in Asia (China, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam). All the countries used the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) to measure mental health.

Effectiveness of a Health Talk Education Program on Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Knowledge, Attitudes, and Intentions to Vaccinate Children Among Mothers of Secondary School Boys in Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam.

Background: The incidence of cancer related to human papillomavirus (HPV) that affects males is rising throughout the world. Currently, Vietnamese boys are typically not vaccinated against HPV while girls are. There are only a few studies pertaining to HPV vaccination among boys in Asian countries where parents play the most important role in deciding on such vaccination.

Cooking fuels use and carotid intima-media thickness during early pregnancy of women in Myanmar.

Background: Fuels burned in households for cooking cause indoor air pollution, exposing those who are cooking. Despite the mounting evidence of the effects of fuels use on health, few studies focus on the effect of cooking fuels have on carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), a surrogate atherosclerosis biomarker in the early stages of pregnancy. This study aimed to examine the association between the use of cooking fuels and CIMT during early trimester of pregnancy among cooking women in Myanmar.

Posttraumatic stress disorder and sleep quality among urban firefighters in Thailand.

Background: Urban firefighters are at risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because of their occupational exposure to trauma events. Little is known, however, about the effects of exposure to trauma events on sleep quality among firefighters in Thailand.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to find an assocaition between PTSD and sleep quality among firefighters.

Blood heavy metals and brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the first trimester of pregnancy among migrant workers.

Background: Lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic are the priority heavy metals of major public health concern in industrialized countries. Exposure to them can cause cognitive impairment and depressive disorders through an effect on Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) which is an important biomarker of pregnancy. Despite a number of prior studies on heavy metals pollution, there is few of studies on the effect of heavy metals on BDNF during early pregnancy.

Effects of Bedroom Environmental Conditions on the Severity of Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Study Objectives: Epidemiological associations have demonstrated the effects of long-term air pollution to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) through a physiological mechanism linking particulate matter exposure to OSA. This study aimed to determine the relationship between bedroom environmental conditions, OSA severity, and sleep quality.

Methods: Sixty-three participants were enrolled for an overnight polysomnography; OSA was diagnosed between May to August 2016.

Incense Smoke and Increasing Carotid Intima Media Thickness: A Cross-Sectional Study of the Thai-Vietnamese Community.

Incense burning, a source of household indoor air pollution, is possible to effect on cardiovascular system. Our study sought to examine the association of long-term exposure to household incense smoke with increased carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT). A cross-sectional study was conducted 132 adults aged ≥35 years.

Organophosphate pesticide exposure and dialkyl phosphate urinary metabolites among chili farmers in northeastern Thailand.

Background: Chlorpyrifos and profenofos are organophosphate pesticides (OPPs), we studied exposure and urinary metabolites in an agricultural area in the northeastern of Thailand during the chili-growing season (March - April) in 2012.

Objective: This study was designed to assess pesticide exposure concentration through dermal and inhalation pathways and to find and depict a relationship between urinary metabolites and means of exposure.

Materials And Methods: To estimate the pesticides exposure concentration, dermal wipes (hand, face, and feet), dermal patches and air samples were collected from 38 chili farmers.

Health risk assessment related to dermal exposure of chlorpyrifos: a case study of rice growing farmers in Nakhon Nayok Province, Central Thailand.

To date, pesticides, especially organophosphate pesticide such as chlorpyrifos, have been frequently applied to paddy fields over time to maintain product quality, protect agricultural crops from various pests, and increase yield. This study evaluates dermal exposure to chlorpyrifos in rice farmers along with providing a health risk assessment. Thirty-five rice farmers participated and completed an in-person interview, and patch technique was used to evaluate dermal exposure to chlorpyrifos.