title: Health situation analysis of Thai population 2010: implications for health education and health service reform.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Between 1990 and 2010, many national and international factors converged to both beneficially and antagonistically affect people's health and the Thai healthcare system. Moreover Thailand is moving to aged society and a low birth rates.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To analyze Thailand's health issues for baseline information for changing medical education, services and researches.
  
  
  METHODS
  Information on illness of in-patients, out-patients and casualties came from hospitals nationwide and from hospitals withdrawals from the three health insurance schemes in fiscal 2010. The data included 96% of the population. Research literature was also extensively reviewed. The data were analyzed by age groups and burdensome diseases.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out-patients were treated 326,230,155 times and in-patients 6,880,815 times at Community Hospitals (44%), Provincial Hospitals (22%), Central or University Hospitals (26%) and Private Hospitals (8%). Infants and elderly were the patients most commonly treated in hospital. Among pediatric patients, perinatal disease, intestinal infection, respiratory tract infection, injury and poisoning and teenage pregnancy predominated; while among adults, it was accident, non-communicable and chronic disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Thailand is faced with the dual burden of infection and non-communicable diseases. Risky behavior and changing social structure are underlined this epidemiological transition. Medical schools and health service systems need to be recalibrated to response proactively to these challenges.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand. sumitr@kku.ac.th
authors.forename: Sumitr
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sutra
authors.forename: Aroon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chirawatkul
authors.forename: Pichet
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Leelapanmetha
authors.forename: Somnuk
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sirisuwan
authors.forename: Yupa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Thavompitak
authors.forename: Kaewjai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Thepsuthammarat
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D018166:Health Care Reform; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000639:trends; D006291:Health Policy; D006304:Health Status; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009017:Morbidity / Q000639:trends; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology