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Cited by 32Gender, Health, and Social InequalityPublic Health and Social InequalitiesMigration, Identity, and Health

Mot Luuk problems in northeast Thailand: why women's own health concerns matter as much as disease rates

Boonmongkon, Pimpawun, Nichter, Mark, Pylypa, Jen·2001·Social Science & Medicine
DOI 10.1016/s0277-9536(00)00404-4
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Abstract

In this paper, we consider women's illness experiences, above and beyond the presence of clinically identifiable disease. In Northeast Thailand, epidemiological data suggest that the prevalence of major women's reproductive tract infections is relatively low and not a cause for significant public health attention. Conversely, we found that self-reported rates of gynecological complaints are high and a significant women's health concern in rural Northeast villages. Women's embodied experiences and interpretations of these complaints affect their lives dramatically. Moreover, women's responses to gynecological problems (regardless of diagnosed morbidity) constitute an important health issue in their own right. In this regard, we document the dangers of women's self-treatment practices that rely largely on small doses of medically inappropriate antibiotics, the manner in which family life and sexual relations are disrupted by fears that gynecological problems will progress to cervical cancer, health care seeking patterns and expectations from health staff, and most importantly, how women's concerns about the seriousness of recurrent ailments result in substantial suffering. This study demonstrates why attention to women's own health concerns is as important to address in health programs as rates of disease, and why common gynecological problems and work-related complaints are important to take seriously rather than dismiss as psychological or routine and expected. We argue that there is a strong need to conduct ethnographic research on women's health problems as a complement to, and not merely a support for, epidemiological research. An evidence-based approach to health policy needs to be accompanied by a more humanistic approach to understanding health care needs.

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  • Healthcare-seeking strategies are influenced by many factors including perception and experience of illness, seasonal variations, past experiences with healthcare services, family support and socioeconomic status.

    “As social science scholarship has aptly shown, healthcare-seeking strategies are influenced by many factors that include the perception and experience of illness, seasonal variations, past experiences with healthcare services, family support and socioeconomic status [72–74].”

    From Situating mobile health: a qualitative study of mHealth expectations in the rural health district of Nouna, Burkina Faso (2017) · cites this paper as [72]

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Authors
Boonmongkon, P., Nichter, M., & Pylypa, J.
Affiliations
  • Mahidol University (TH)
  • University of Arizona (US)
Corresponding author
Nichter, Mark
ORCID
Venue
Social Science & Medicine
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2001-10
Volume
53
Issue
8
Pages
1095-1112
ISSN
0277-9536 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/s0277-9536(00)00404-4
OpenAlex
W2016023265
Cited by
32
References
64
Citations by year
2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2012: 2
FWCI
6.86
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Social Science & Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Gender, Health, and Social Inequality
  • Social Sciences › Health › Public Health and Social Inequalities
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Migration, Identity, and Health
Keywords
women's health, gynecological complaints, self-medication, antibiotic misuse, health-seeking behavior, health policy
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Attitude to Health, Female, Genital Diseases, Female, Humans, Infections, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Middle Aged, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Professional-Patient Relations, Risk Factors, Rural Population, Self Care, Thailand, Prevalence, Women's Health, Evidence-Based Medicine, Needs Assessment

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