Health-Risk Behaviours and Injuries among Youth and Young Adults in Chiang Mai, Thailand: A Population-Based Survey

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 17; no. 10; p. 3696
• Main Authors: Wattanapisit, Apichai, Jiraporncharoen, Wichuda, Pinyopornpanish, Kanokporn, Jiraniramai, Surin, Thaikla, Kanittha, Angkurawaranon, Chaisiri
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 24.05.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Adults; Age groups; Alcohol use; Behavior; Domestic violence; Drug use; Females; Gambling; Gender; Health behavior; Health risks; Health surveys; Injuries; Injury analysis; Injury prevention; Males; Medicine; Mental health; Polls & surveys; Population studies; Questionnaires; Risk assessment; Risk behavior; Risk taking; Smoking; Sociodemographics; Studies; Tobacco; Tobacco smoking; Traffic; Young adults; Youth; Thailand; alcohol; injuries; young adults; smoking; gambling; health-risk behaviours; youth
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17103696

This study aimed to identify the prevalence of health-risk behaviours (alcohol use, tobacco smoking and gambling) and the associations between health-risk behaviours and injuries among youth (15-24 years) and young adults (25-39 years). A multi-stage cluster sampling survey was conducted in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The associations between health-risk behaviours and injuries were analysed using logistic regression and adjusted for potential confounders. Sample weights were applied in all analyses. Six-hundred-and-thirty participants were included. Fifty-three percent of males and 12.3% of females drank in the past three months. Smoking in the past three months was higher among males (38.5%) than females (0.7%). About a quarter of men and a fifth of the women had gambled in the past year. A total of 6.4% of males and 4.8% of females sought medical attention in the past year due to injuries. Compared to those without any of the three health-risk behaviours, the odds ratio for injuries requiring medical attention was 3.81 (95% CI: 1.33 to 10.90, = 0.013) for those with two health-risk behaviours and 13.8 (95% CI: 4.24 to 45.10, < 0.001) for those with all three health-risk behaviours. Injury prevention policies may need to incorporate interventions designed to assess multiple health-risk behaviours.