Substance abuse among migrant workers of Thai-Laos border, Thailand.

OBJECTIVE

Study the impact of substance abuse among migrant workers along the Thai-Laos border region in Nakhon Phanom Province.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: The target population included migrant workers aged 15 years and over and were selected using the snowball technique. Data were collected from 300 migrant workers and in-depth interviews and focus group discussion were carried out. Data analysis used content analysis, descriptive statistics, and multivariate logistic regression.

RESULTS

Fifty-five point seven percent of migrant workers used stimulants namely tobacco, energy drinks, coffee, and methamphetamine. Males were at greater risk for substance abuse than females (AOR 16.03; 95% CI 8.43-30.45) and those who received news and information from community radios and news broadcasting towers were at more risk than other media (AOR 5.38; 95% CI 2.88-10.05). The impact of substance abuse were found to be chronic cough, moodiness, lack of interest in food, headache, wakefulness, sleeplessness, tremor heart palpitation, and accidents.

CONCLUSION

Health promotion strategy must be implemented to minimize the harm. Motivating behavioral modification while keeping in mind the lifestyle, work, and environment of these people could help.