The aim of this study was to investigate the illness perception and self-management among Thai women and Thai men with type 2 diabetes (T2D)and to investigate the psychometric properties of the translated instruments used. The study was conducted in a suburban province of Thailand, 220 women and men with type 2 diabetes participated in a cross-sectional descriptive study. The participants were selected using a multistage sampling method. Results showed that women and men with type 2 diabetes demonstrated very similar experiences regarding their illness perception and no differences in self-management. Women perceived more negative consequences of the disease and more fluctuation in the symptoms than men, whereas men felt more confident about the treatment effectiveness than women. Furthermore, the translated instruments used in this study showed acceptable validity and reliability. It is concluded that The Thai sociocultural context may influence people’s perceptions and affect the self-care activities of Thai individuals, both women and men, with type 2 diabetes, causing differences from those found in the Western environment.

Studiens utgångspunkt är att hälsoproblematik utifrån Thailandsbygdens kultur och levnadsvillkor. I studiens population ingår låginkomsttagare och svagt bemedlade kvinnor med diagnosen Diabetes Mellitus Typ 2. Resultaten visade olika handlingsstrategier, anhörigas roll samt hur dessa sociala nätverk påverkar i vardagens egen vård.

The purpose of this study was to examine the life experiences of nineteen Thai women of low socioeconomic status who were living with type 2 diabetes. A qualitative research design was conducted, and the women were identified by the snowball technique. The study find that despite the vulnerable situations caused by diabetes and low socioeconomic status, the women remained calm, with a consciousness to continue their lives with the disease. The Buddhist views on life, specifically natural law, assisted them to consider life with diabetes as simply a natural course. Buddhism served as a spiritual refuge and helped the women to cope with their psychological burden from diabetes.

Flertalet skador som drabbar små barn sker i hemmet. Därför syftade denna studie till att undersöka om utvidgad individuell information till mödrar avseende skador bland barn i hemmet och möjliga preventiva åtgärder har någon effekt på deras medvetenhet kring problemet och om känslan av sammanhang har någon inverkan. Denna studie var designad som en kvasi-experimentell interventionsstudien med en jämförelsegrupp. Utvidgad individuell information med empowerment som förhållningssätt användes. Nittionio mödrar med barn under 7 månader deltog. Ett frågeformulär med sociodemografiska data och frågor angående medvetenhet om prevention användes. Mödrar som deltog i interventionen ökade signifikant sin medvetenhet kring att skador bland barn händer i hemmet jämfört med mödrar i jämförelsegruppen [OR 2.3, CI 1.3-4.3]. Å andra sidan fann studien ingen signifikant förbättring avseende medvetenhet kring prevention, ej heller någon association till mödrarnas känsla av sammanhang. Denna studie visade att interventionen hade en positiv effekt på mödrarnas medvetenhet angående att skador bland barn sker i hemmet, men ökade inte mödrarnas medvetenhet angående att förebygga skador.

Most injuries to young children happen in the home. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate if extended individual information to mothers´ related to injury to children in the home and possible preventative actions has any effect on their awareness of the problem and if Sense of Coherence has any influence. This was a quasi-experimental designed intervention study with a comparison group. Extended individual information with empowerment as the approach was used. Ninety-nine mothers of children under the age of 7 months participated. A questionnaire with sociodemographic data and questions regarding awareness towards prevention was used. Mothers who took part in the intervention significantly increased their awareness of the fact that child injuries take place at home when compared with the mothers in the comparison group, [OR 2.3, CI 1.3-4.3]. However, no significant improvement of awareness towards prevention was noted, neither any association to the mothers SOC-scores. This study showed that the intervention had a positive effect on the mothers´ awareness towards the fact that child injuries are taking place at home, but it did not increase the mothers´ awareness towards prevention of child injury.

En studie som undersöker socio-ekonomiska faktorers betydelse för människors hantering av diabetes

Illness perception and self-management might be of importance in proactive care for patients with type 2 diabetes.

Objective: The aim of the study was to examine the influences of socioeconomic status on the illness perception and self-management of Thai people with diabetes.

Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive method was used to study 220 people with type 2 diabetes in a suburban area in Thailand. The participants were selected using a multistage sampling method. Data were collected through the structured interviews using the revised versions of the Diabetes Illness Perception scale and Diabetes Self-Management scale. Independent sample t test or Mann-Whitney U test was used for income and education subgroups comparisons as well as multiple logistic regression was analyzed the predictors of illness perception and self-management.

Results: The results indicated that socioeconomic status, defined by income and educational level, showed the effects on some aspects of illness perception and self-management strategies in a type 2 diabetes population. Educational level demonstrated more effects on many subscales of illness perception and self-management than on income and was also shown to be a predictor of self-management (OR 2.047, 95% CI 1.014-4.131, p-value 0.046). 

Conclusion: The study found that socioeconomic status had an impact on the illness perception and self-management of people with type 2 diabetes. Educational level demonstrated a significant influence on the perceptions and management of Thai people with diabetes, which was also true concerning income level, although to a lesser extent. Illuminating socioeconomic status in the context of religious beliefs may increase health care professionals’ understanding of patients’ experiences and management of their diabetes. This is especially important when designing appropriate interventions for patients of low education.

Studiens syfte var att undersöka livsvillkor för svagt bemedlade kvinnor i ett fattigt område i Thailand.

The objective of this study was to explore how Thai woman of low socioeconomic status handle their type 2 diabetes. The finding showed that becoming adeptr at handling diabetes required significant Changes in woman's behaviours and required taking advantagrs of influences from social environment.

AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate to what extent individual-based extended information given to mothers from city parts of low education can improve precautions taken by them to prevent burn and scald injuries involving young children in the home and further to compare the results with a group of mothers who had not received extended information. METHODS: This intervention study, with a comparison group, has a quasi-experimental design. Individual-based information, with an empowerment approach, was given to a group of mothers living in two separate areas of a city in southern Sweden with a low level of education. In total, 99 mothers of children under the age of 7 months participated. The mothers were selected through the local child healthcare authorities. Observations were made and bivariate analyses were established. RESULTS: The results showed that the intervention had a significant impact on improving the precautions the participating mothers introduced to protect their children against burn and scald injuries in the home and further, in relation to a comparison group. CONCLUSIONS: Through empowerment, workshops, and home visits aimed to increase their consciousness and knowledge, the participating mothers' precautions taken against child injuries in the home improved. It is of great importance that a framework for considering the problem of burn and scald injuries to children is presented from a preventive perspective which, in combination with evidence-based interventions, may enable the creation of injury prevention programmes for implementation by the community health care.

The aim of this study was to describe characteristics in burn injuries in children (zero to six years old), consulting primary care and hospital-based care in Malmö, Sweden. Burn-injured children consulting the University Hospital or the 21 Health Centres, during year 1998 and year 2002, were included. Background. Epidemiological studies of burns in children have mostly been hospital-based and the cases that never reached the hospital have been excluded. Design. The study had a retroperspective design with data collected from medical records. Methods. Chi-squared test was used to analyse differences in nominal data and cross tables were used to analyse the proportions between the characteristics of the injuries and sex, age and nationality. Results. The burn-injured children were 148 and 80% of those were scalds, caused by hot liquid (71%) or hot food (29%). The greatest number was boys between one and two years old. Children to foreign born parents were more frequently affected and the extent of the injuries often larger. Almost all the accidents (96%) occurred in home environment, while a family member was next to the child. The Health Centres received more often children affected on hand/arm and by causes like hot food than the University Hospital. Conclusions. Our data demonstrate the importance of developing a programme for the prevention of paediatric scalds with education of family members to be aware of the danger. With present study the knowledge about the occurrence of injuries in scald accidents in children has become deeper. This knowledge may contribute to more individual adept child accident prevention programme, to use in the child health care.

The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which parents follow advice from child health nurses about child accident prevention. The study was performed in one of the 10 districts in the city of Malmö, Sweden. Parents to 90, 10-month old children in southern Sweden participated. These parents completed a questionnaire that prompted responses related to parents' background and socio-economic factors as well as questions about any precautions they have taken to decrease hazards to children in their home. Odds ratios, confidence intervals and multiple logistic regression analysis was performed. The results indicated that lower educated parents (i.e. those with 12 years' education or less) and foreign-born parents complied with a significantly lower level. These results support the need to increase efforts in child accident prevention work. It is important for child health nurses to concentrate their efforts on foreign parents and on less educated parents. Information should be relayed regularly to these parents in a motivational way, in order to decrease risks of child accidents at home.