Objectives: To evaluate the validity and reliability of the Thai version of the job content questionnaire (TJCQ) both 22-item and 45-item versions. Materials and Methods: The study encompassed 10,450 employees in Songkhla province, Thailand. A 45-item job content questionnaire (JCQ) was translated and back translated complying with the JCQ usage policy. TJCQ covers seven scales as follows: psychological demand, decision latitude, supervisor support, coworker support, physical demand, job security and hazard at work. Internal consistency was examined using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Factor validation was tested using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Results: Both 22-item and 45-item versions of TJCQ demonstrated acceptable internal consistency in nearly all scales except for psychological demand. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis result gave support to 5-factor model in 22-item version and 8-factor model in 45-item version of TJCQ. The psychological demand scale tended to split into two subscales. Other scales were consistent with the expected dimensions though some items extracted differently along the theoretical dimensions. Conclusions: Our study provided evidence for the reliability and validity of the TJCQ among Thai employees and supported the ongoing debate on multifaceted psychological demand and its complexity, making it feasible to extend the TJCQ beyond its original structure.

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Our results emphasize the need for identification of substance use and mental health problems, with the help of questionnaires and biological markers, followed by early intervention.

HIV-disease in southern Thailand has reached epidemic proportions. The declining Thai economy, coupled with social discrimination among people with the disease, has adversely affected individual, family and community krengjai. Among Thai's, krengjai is used to describe social order, avoid personal conflict, and maintain harmony in relationships. Using the framework of story, this narrative study explores the experiences of five individuals with HIV-disease and their tenuous relationship with krengjai.

The objective of this study was to identify the prevalence and characteristics of hazardous-harmful drinkers in a Thai community population using a cross-sectional survey in two urban and five rural areas in Southern Thailand. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 1,005 subjects, aged > or = 35, at the community centres to collect data on demographic characteristics and smoking and drinking patterns. The Alcohol Use Identification Test (AUDIT) was used to classify the subjects into three groups: hazardous-harmful drinkers (AUDIT > or = 8), non-problem drinkers (AUDIT=1 - 7) and non-drinkers (AUDIT=0). Blood samples were drawn from 200 randomly selected subjects to determine the gamma glutamyltransferease (GGT) level. The analysis was performed on 898 respondents, 325 males and 573 females. Age-adjusted prevalence of hazardous-harmful drinkers was 10% (27% in males and 1% in females). Adjusted for other variables, men were seven times (95% CI=4.2 - 11.5) more likely to be non-problem drinkers and 42 times (95% CI=18.1 - 99.0) more likely to be hazardous-harmful drinkers than women. Median intensity of drinking was 43 g and 25 g per drinking day in the hazardous-harmful and non-problem drinkers, respectively. Of all the subjects, 48%, 25% and 15% of the hazardous-harmful, non-problem and non-drinkers had abnormal GGT. Hazardous-harmful drinking is a prevalent problem in male general population in Thailand.