This study explored the perceptions of 18 people diagnosed with schizophrenia from 1-10 years to uncover how they perceived themselves and their illness. It also involved 12 family members who added their perceptions. The data were collected using in-depth interviews, reflective journaling, and observations. The data were analyzed through the lens of Heidegger's hermeneutic phenomenology. Four themes emerged: perceptions of mental illness, perceptions of the causes of illness, perceptions of discrimination, and attempting to live with schizophrenia. The findings included strong underlying cultural and spiritual beliefs, and attitudes unique to the Thai participants, including the causation of schizophrenia by supernatural powers, black magic, and bad karma stemming from past deeds. Understanding the perceptions of the participants might help health-care providers to be more sensitive to those living with schizophrenia in Thailand and elsewhere. In particular, the findings could be useful in informing psychiatric careproviders about developing better caring systems for clients diagnosed with schizophrenia. This should help the sufferers of schizophrenia to live their lives to their own satisfaction and as normally as possible.

PurposeThe aim of this study was to examine the impact of resiliency and associated factors on the mental health and quality of life among older adults in Thailand.Design/methodology/approachThis cross-sectional study was conducted with 1,800 older adults (M = 69.3, SD = 7.2) from nine provinces across all regions of Thailand. Each participant completed an anonymous paper-based survey that included demographic data, work activities, health behaviors, social support, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DASS) and World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment for Older Adults (WHOQOL-OLD).FindingsThrough hierarchical multiple regression, resiliency, social support, exercise and work hours per week were found to be significant predictors of mental health: depression (F (6, 520) = 19.38, p < 0.001, adjusted R2 = 0.17); anxiety (F (6, 520) = 18.64, p < 0.001, adjusted R2 = 0.17); stress (F (6, 521) = 12.91, p < .001, adjusted R2 = 0.12). Five predictors of quality of life were identified through hierarchical multiple regression: resiliency, social support, exercise, age and family economic status. These predictors explained 35% of the variance, F (5, 1655) = 178.44, p < 0.001, adjusted R2 = 0.35.Originality/valueBased on the results of this study, a comprehensive Wellness Program was designed to improve the mental health and quality of life of older adults in Thailand. This Wellness Program included five components: Volunteer Program, Resiliency Building Program, Social Support Program, Exercise Program, and Financial Education Program.

54 996 eligible individuals, 52 029 (95%) responded. In 2006, we delivered another questionnaire to all community-dwelling individuals aged over 40 years in Ohsaki City. Of 77 325 eligible individuals, 49 603 (64.2%) responded. The 9206 participants who answered both questionnaires were classified by self-reported sleep duration: #5 h (short sleep), 6 h, 7 h (reference), 8 h, and $9 h (long sleep). The main outcome measure was a weight gain of $10 kg or a body mass index (BMI) of $25 kg/m 2 (obesity) calculated from selfreported height and weight. We used logistic regression analyses to derive ORs and 95% CIs adjusted for sex, age, BMI, education, smoking, alcohol drinking, occupation, marital status, menopausal status, and caffeine beverage consumption. Results We observed no association between sleep duration and risk of weight gain and obesity. Multivariate ORs for weight gain were 1.14 (95% CI 0.70 to 1.87) for short sleep and 1. Introduction Rotavirus-attributed diarrhoea is a major cause of death in young children. The WHO-Eastern Mediterranean Region, with a population over 590 millions, is a diverse area in terms of socioeconomic status and health indicators. This study aimed to evaluate the burden of rotavirus-associated mortality in order to encourage implementation of rotavirus vaccine. Methods Based on rotavirus-associated mortality in the pre-vaccination period, the effect of rotavirus vaccine to avert children deaths was calculated. Results In the Eastern Mediterranean Region more than 61 000 children aged <5 years died of rotavirus in 2004. Pakistan and Afghanistan, each with more than 15 000 deaths per year, were the countries with the highest rates of rotavirus-associated mortality; follow by Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Egypt and Morocco. Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar with less than 10 deaths per year were the countries with the lowest rates of rotavirus-associated mortality. When the coverage of currently used vaccines was applied to a rotavirus vaccine, a minimum of 24 100 and maximum of 43 300 deaths would be averted with vaccine efficacy of 50% to 90%, respectively. Conclusion Rotavirus-associated mortality and morbidity varies considerably in the region. While in some countries reducing rotavirus-associated mortality is a great concern, in others reducing rotavirus-attributed morbidity is the main benefit of rotavirus immunisation. Implementing comprehensive strategies to facilitate usage of rotavirus vaccine in the region is encouraged. Introduction Tuberculosis (TB) is highly prevalent in Mongolia, where approximately 4000 TB cases reported each year. The goal of this study is to determine the incidence of tuberculosis particularly MDR-TB cases registered in Mongolia. Methods A descriptive method was used to study the incidence of MDR-TB reported in Mongolia. The information including age, gender, date of diagnosis, type of drug resistance, treatment outcomes were taken from national report. Results Since the first diagnosis of MDR-TB in Mongolia, a total of 419 MDR-TB cases or 1.6 per cases...