Comparative health survey of Luangpraot-Tanlium and Marialai communities Lat Krabang district, Bangkok.

The objective of the present descriptive study was to investigate the demographic and health status of Thai people in Luangpraot-Tanlium (LPT) and Marialai community (MRL) of Lat Krabang district in Bangkok. These two communities are the pilot project of the "Healthy Community" of Lat Krabang BMA hospital. The total number of households of LPT and MRL are 263 and 240, the population is 957 and 1057, males to female ratio was 1:1.2. The median household income of the residents in both communities is 9,000 baht/month/family. About 49 per cent of people have no health insurance and 22 per cent have social welfare (for underserved population). Both communities are comparable in terms of sex, age, marital status, contraceptive use, history of physical examination, chronic diseases and environmental sanitation. MRL has more trade certificate educational attainment, history of Pap smears and voluntary health insurance than LPT. LPT seemed to be prominent to have more governmental employees and governmental subsidised reimbursement for health care access. People of LPT required health and dental care more often from hospital health teams than MRL. They needed annual health check ups, care for chronic diseases and mosquito eradication. LPT also reported more garbage disposal using the burning method, greater use of rain and tap water and significant poorer sewerage and toilet facility systems when compared with MRL. The reported prevalence of chronic diseases are 1.7 fold higher in MRL than in LPT. Percentage of vaccination coverage (BCG, OPV&DPTI-II-III, HBVI-II-III, Measles vaccine) among children aged less than 1 year was 100 per cent and 1-5 years was 90 per cent (OPV & DPTIV-V).