Health care of villagers in northeast Thailand--a health diary study.

A one-month health diary was used as a research instrument for measuring health care in the northeastern rural area of Thailand during the month of November, 1992. Three hundred forty-five respondents, which represents 22.2% of the total households in 12 villages from 2 districts in the Khon Kaen province of northeast Thailand, completed the health diaries. Self-medication was most practiced for health care (37.5% of ill persons) followed by health service utilization at local health center (19.4%), at community hospital (11.4%), at private clinic (11.4%), and by "wait and see" (9.0%). Analgesics were the most frequently used drugs for relief of fever, headache, common cold and abdominal pain. The use of a combination of drug (eg. a cocktail) was common as self-medication for relief of back and leg pain. Traditional or herbal drugs were a frequently chosen alternative for self-medication, both in adult and children. The authors suggest that the villagers should be educated concerning drug hazards in order to increase their background knowledge on drug use.