Abstract
Objectives: A questionnaire survey was conducted to determine the health status, health behavior and medical care in evacuation centers during flood situations in three villages in the suburb of Khon Kaen City.
Methods: A total of 393 respondents was randomly selected proportional to size to respond to the questionnaire.
Results and discussion: As for the health status, villagers were generally covered or insured for medical care and have good health promoting practices. Athlete's foot, tinea pedis, low prevalence of diarrhea and only 2 cases of leptospirosis were reported during flood situations. No serious illnesses were reported. Although the villagers have the tendency to use traditional treatments, there were doctors and nurses in evacuation centers and medicines were provided. Possibly because of this, serious diseases were not observed in a significant manner. In terms of health behaviors including knowledge, attitudes and practices, villagers generally have high knowledge on sanitation, but had incorrect knowledge on some sanitation aspects such as disposal of dead animals, diarrhea prevention and eye care. Villagers need to acquire knowledge on matters they did not understand correctly. Drinking water while in evacuation centers consisted of bottled water, rain water and piped water. Especially, piped water had high total coliform bacteria (TCB) and fecal coliform bacteria (FCB) content and no residual chlorine detected. Detection of TCB and FCB means possible contamination with enteric pathogens. Therefore, villagers need to be warned of the problem with water source purity. Moreover, flood water was used for washing tableware and cleaning of clothes, therefore the hygienic conditions among them were poor. The questionnaire survey revealed that the villagers' health status during floods was generally good with only common ailments associated with flood situations seen. But certain hygienic and sanitation knowledge and practices needed improvement, together with the condition of the water supply system.
