Abstract
A long-term follow-up study of mortality and morbidity in normal subjects has not
yet been conducted in Thailand owing to the limited resources available and time constraints.
This was a long-term cohort study (5 years) carried out as part of an existing
research project of Thepa Hospital, namely the Prospective Cohort of Thai Children (PCTC)
in Thepa District. In this study, the parents of these children involved were taken for a
follow-up study in a co-research project in the period 2003-2007. Out of 2,000 parents,
1,325 volunteers (mean age 30.84 years) were interviewed and underwent several medical
examinations in 2003. Although the other 675 parents did not enter the program, they
were also taken for monitoring their status throughout the study period. In addition, 75 health worker couples from the hospital (mean age 36.5 years) were included in the study
as well. The mortality rate in this five-year study was 1.9 cases per 1,000 person-years (20
deaths). The incidence of disease, as observed from closely monitoring the subjects in the
last two and a half years of the study, was 9.7 cases per 1,000 person-years. The causes of
death and of diseases varied from road accidents and violence to infectious and cardiovascular
diseases. The incidence of hypertension and diabetes mellitus was five cases per
1,000 person-years and 1.6 cases per 1,000 person-years, respectively.
This study demonstrated that health personnel in community hospitals could develop
their research skills for conducting long-term studies through a strategy using a
“routine-to-research” philosophy.
