Quality of life and risk factors that affect the quality of life of Thai female physicians.
OBJECTIVE
To study the quality of life (QOL) and risk factors that affect QOL of Thai female physicians.


METHODS
The Thai version of the briefform of WHO quality of life assessment instrument (WHOQOL-BREF-THAI) and risk assessment questionnaires were mailed to 1700 randomly selected female physicians.


RESULTS
The authors obtained a response rate of 41.9%. Most physicians were married (57.3%), they worked 57.3 hours/week, and had a mean income of 64,622 baht/month. The prevalence of obesity was 12.6%. Most (99.3%) did not drink alcohol, 69.6% avoided high cholesterol and afat diet, 65.8% consumed a balanced diet, and 55.9% included vegetables and fruit in half of their meals. The majority (62.2%) exercised for less than 30 min/day. They used a safety belt (92.1%) or crash helmet (87.5%) when driving a motor vehicle. Regarding their current health, 8.9% had hearing problems, 6.1% had diabetes, 3.3% had glaucoma, and 1.8% had hypertension.


CONCLUSIONS
Most female physicians had fair to good QOL scores. They were health and safety conscious. These aspects can be used in a campaign to promote a healthier life-style for Thai women.
Vutyavanich
Teraporn
T
Royal Thai College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, The Royal Golden Jubilee Building, Bangkok. tvutyava@mail.med.cmu.ac.th
Sreshthaputra
Rungaroon
R
Thitadilok
Wiboolphan
W
Sukcharoen
Nares
N
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010822:Physicians, Women / Q000523:psychology*; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013785:Thailand