Demographics and psychosocial impact on disabled soldiers and family members from southernmost Thailand's insurgency: a mixed method study.

OBJECTIVE

To find the incidence, demographics, socioeconomics and their association with mental health of disabled soldiers from antiterrorists operations in the southernmost part of Thailand between 2004 and 2008.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: Investigators gathered the lists of disabled soldiers from four different database then performed physical examination and semistructured interviews. Mental health of the disabled Royal Thai Army (RTA) officers and close family members was assessed by General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12).

RESULTS

Of the 1,078 traumatic cases, 940 were nonfatal with 33 disabled. Fifteen point sixty-three percent required assistance for activities of daily living (ADL). A positive score of 37.50% in the GHQ-12 was associated with difficulties in ADL and dept repayment (p = 0.004 and 0.029, respectively). In close family members, a score of 17.5% in the GHQ-12 was associated with low family income, ADL, and walking difficulty (p = 0.019, 0.001 and 0.008, respectively). The qualitative results supported the importance of physical and financial problems plus a significant role of the affiliations and family members.

CONCLUSION

Disabled RTA officers appeared 6.6 cases/year. The most important problems were physical and financial difficulties. The medical-environmental-financial model is proposed as an effective rehabilitation for the disabled RTA officers from the southernmost Thailand.