Women and Non-Communicable Diseases during Covid-19 Pandemic

Sirinya Phulkerd, Mahidol University
NATJERA THONGCHAROENCHUPONG, Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, Thailand

Introduction: This study investigated the prevalence of NCDs in women and examined association between potential factors and NCDs in Thailand during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The study used data on 2,665 women age 15 years or older from a nationally-representative sample survey of Thai households, conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The respondents were asked about NCDs, socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle beahviours, and food provision. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the association between the variables and NCDs. Results: Of the total sample, 40.8% had NCDs. The highest probability of having NCDs insecurity was observed in women age 60 years or older (p=0.001) and being unemployed (p=0.01). Respondent who bought less medication than prescribed, had insufficient physical activity and had insufficient fruit intake was 1.4 (p=0.05), 1.2 (p=0.05) and 1.3 (p=0.01)times, respectively, as likely to have NCDs as reference groups. Conclusion: This suggests that government attention is required in developing gender-sensitive prevention policies and strategies for NCDs through addressing the socio-economic determinants, and food and health-related beahviours among women. Investment to empower women by promoting their ownership and access to resources and services for health promotion is needed.

Keywords: Health and Morbidity, Gender Dynamics

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