Udomsak Saengow

Walailak University · Center of Excellence in Health System and Medical Research (CE-HSMR)

Introduction Alcohol's harm to others (AHTO) in workplaces has received little attention. A few studies from high‐income countries have estimated the cost of AHTO in workplaces, while data from the low‐ and middle‐income countries are lacking. This study aimed to estimate the cost of AHTO in workplaces and to explore factors associated with the cos...

Performing medico-legal work requires skilled personnel. Because of an insufficient number of forensic doctors in Thailand, general practitioners playing a major role in medico-legal work and have become the main group of doctors to provide medico-legal work for the public. The Medical Council of Thailand introduced the Standard for Practice in the...

Introduction Despite comprehensive tobacco control policies being in place since 1992, smoking prevalence in Thailand has not declined since 2009, indicating a potential need for individual-level measures. This study examined factors influencing successful smoking cessation attempts in Thailand. Methods With a case-control design, smoking cessatio...

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) is relatively recently introduced to the market. Its long-term effects are still unclear and require years of research. On the other hand, knowledge about the short-term effects of e-cigarettes is emerging. The purpose of this review was to examine the current literature on the acute health consequences associat...

Background and aims There are evidence about effects of kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) use on parameters related to metabolic syndrome (MetS). The present study aimed to determine the association between kratom use and MetS. Methods This study is a cross-sectional study of 581 subjects (kratom users and non-users) aged 18 and over from the Nam Phu su...

Background Many knowledge gaps exist in the area of alcohol-related harms in children research such as the potential impact of other’s drinking and their social demography. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the effects of characteristics of household members and others’ alcohol drinking on harms to children in Thailand. Data and methods This study...

Human arsenic (As) exposure was first identified in the Ron Phibun subdistrict, southern Thailand, three decades ago. Since then, the government and other organizations have worked to minimize the problem by providing households with safer sources of water for consumption. According to the most recent study conducted between 2000 and 2002, a tiny p...

According to evidence from developed countries, age at first alcohol use has been identified as a determinant of heavy episodic drinking (HED). This study aimed to investigate the association between age at first alcohol use and HED using data from the Smoking and Drinking Behavior Survey 2017, a Thai nationally representative survey. Binary logist...

Introduction Information on unrecorded alcohol consumption in Southeast Asia and Thailand is lacking. The primary objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of unrecorded alcohol (including illegally produced alcohol and untaxed cross-border alcohol) consumption among past-year drinkers in Thailand. The secondary objectives were to exam...

The relationship between alcohol advertising and drinking has been demonstrated in many studies. Most studies were conducted on adolescents or young adults. Thailand has strict regulations on alcohol advertisements. This study aimed to examine associations between exposure to alcohol advertisements and drinking behaviors, i.e., past-year drinking a...

Background & Objective: Cesarean section (CS) rates have increased continuously worldwide in the past decades while not being associated with significant benefits for mothers and newborns. According to Robson's classification, the present research aimed to analyze the associating factor to cesarean section to set the practice system and decrease th...

The purposes of this study were to determine the prevalence of osteoporosis after 15 years of reduced cadmium exposure and to determine the association between urinary cadmium (U-Cd) and osteoporosis. The study was conducted with 937 participants (109 males, 828 females) living in a cadmium-contaminated area in northwestern Thailand. All participan...

Objective The present study aims to examine the association between Kratom use and serum lipid level. Method This study compared the serum lipid profile of Kratom users and non-users living in Nam Phu Subdistrict, a special area that allows the traditional use of Kratom. The study subjects consisted of 581 individuals aged 18 and above. Binary log...

Objectives Globally, the burden of disease caused by alcohol use has been steadily increasing, including in Thailand. In this study, we aim to test the effectiveness of Anderson et al.’s suggested three approaches to change the collective social norms, which comprise of: (1) providing information and an understanding about alcohol use behaviour, it...

Objectives: To examine ready-to-drink beverage (RTD) consumption and to investigate the effects of gender and age on RTD consumption by using data 2011 and 2014 waves of a national alcohol survey. Design: Analysis of data from Smoking and Drinking Behavior Survey (SADBeS) 2011 and 2014, a nationally representative survey. Setting: Thailand Particip...

This review identified 4 distinct decision rules used in the cost-utility analysis of health technologies: threshold incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), league table, decision making (DM) plane, and linear programming. The threshold ICER is currently the most widely-used approach. However, it comes with certain disadvantages: unrealistic a...

Three decades ago, human arsenic (As) contamination has been recognized in Ron Phibun, a sub-district with tin mining activity in southern Thailand. Since then different government bodies have attempted to mitigate the As-contamination problem by providing safe water in households. The most recent study conducted during 2000-2002 reported only a sm...

To estimate the prevalence of dementia among Thai elderly in the upper Southern region of Thailand, we performed a cross-sectional screening of all Thai older people from 2 areas of Nakhon Si Thammarat province: Tambon Baan Thungchon, Tha Sala district, and Moo 6 and 7 from Sichon district, from December 2016 to November 2017. Trained health volunt...

Background: Temporary drinking abstinence campaigns have emerged globally in recent years. In Western countries, campaigns usually challenge drinkers to abstain for one month. In Thailand, the campaign called the Buddhist Lent Abstinence Campaign has been organized annually since 2003. The campaign encourages Thai people to abstain from drinking f...

Background Data systems for surveillance and monitoring are essential to develop understanding of the levels of physical activity (PA) occurring at the population levels. To comprehensively understand PA in medical schools, a suitable surveillance tool might be useful to present and monitor key PA-related metrics. This study investigated PA-related...

Background A universal health coverage policy was implemented in Thailand in 2002 and led to an increase in accessibility to, and equity of, healthcare services. The Thai government and academics have focused on the large-scale aspects, including effectiveness and impacts, of universal health coverage over one decade. Here, we aimed to identify pat...

Alcohol causes more than 200 diseases and entails negative social consequences. According to the 2014 burden of disease report, addiction to alcohol resulted in the highest losses due to disability in Thai males. A recent attempt from Thai government to reduce harm from alcohol is to decrease outlet densities in areas around universities. This stud...

Pokémon GO becomes the most rapidly downloaded mobile application in history. This study aimed to determine the physical activity of medical students, who played Pokémon GO, and the change in their use of Pokémon GO and physical activity over time. An observational study was conducted. Physical activity was measured by using self-administered quest...

Background: The incidence rate of colorectal cancer in Thailand is increasing. Hence, the nationwide screening programme with copayment is being considered. There are two proposed screening alternatives: annual fecal immunochemical test (FIT) and once-in-10-year colonoscopy. A copayment for FIT is 60 Thai baht (THB) per test (≈ 1.7 USD); a copaymen...

Background Herbal medicine have been endorsed by policymaker as the first line treatment for common conditions. This study was aimed to comparatively assess the prescription practice of herbal and non-herbal medicine for dyspepsia in Thailand. Methods Prescription data of 15 hospitals Surat Thani province during 2014–2016 was extracted from the el...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess to what extent the Smoking and Alcohol Drinking Behavior Survey (SADBeS), the national alcohol survey, could be used in monitoring goals and cost-effective measures suggested by the National Alcohol Strategy (NAS) issued by public health authorities in 2010. Design/methodology/approach The NAS was rev...

Introduction Physical activity (PA) is important in promoting health, as well as in the treatment and prevention of diseases. However, insufficient PA is still a global health problem and it is also a problem in medical schools. PA training in medical curricula is still sparse or non-existent. There is a need for a comprehensive understanding of th...

อุปสรรคสำาคัญของการพัฒนา แอลกอฮอล์ และเปาหมายของการพัฒนาอย่างยั่งยืน

[English abstract] Thailand 4.0 is a new development model for the country introduced by the General Prayut Chan-o-cha’s government. Under this concept, the present-day Thailand is called Thailand 3.0—characterized by heavy industry and export-oriented economy. Unfortunately, Thailand 3.0 has been caught in three traps—namely, middle income trap, i...

Objectives The study aimed to investigate the prevalence of physical activity (PA) and factors influencing PA behaviours among medical students in Southern Thailand. Design The study implemented a mixed methods approach. The sequential design consisted of 2 phases: a survey followed by in-depth interviews. Setting The study was conducted in the 3...

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is now common in Thailand with an increase in incidence over time. Health authorities are planning to implement a nationwide CRC screening program using fecal immunochemical test (FIT) as a primary screening tool. This study aimed to estimate preferences and acceptance of FIT and colonoscopy, explore factors influencing the...