Perceived ill-health and health seeking behavior in two communities in the nam theun 2 hydroelectric project area in Lao People's Democratic Republic

摘要

Objective:To compare perceived ill-health and health seeking behavior between two communities affected by the large Nam Theun 2 hydroelectric project in central Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR).Methods:Two different affected areas:Nakai plateaubeing remote,sparcely populated and mountainous,and Xe Bang Fai lowland plains,more densely populated and comparatively affluent were included.Data were obtained from two cross-sectional household-based health and socio-economic surveys.Results:We found pronounced differ-ences in the frequency of self-reported fever,cough,headache and myalgia according to location.On the Na-kai plateau,45.1 % of the individuals with ill-health report (recall period:2 weeks)went to a local health volunteer compared to only 7.2 % in the Xe Bang Fai area (P <0.001).In Nakai,there were disproportion-ately more illiterates seeking help from local health volunteers when compared to those who attended at least primary schooling (49.2 % versus 17.5 %,P <0.01).Self-medication with antimalarials was more common in Xe Bang Fai than on Nakai (32.3 % versus 7.0 %,P <0.001).The mean amount of money spent per health consultation was US $1.7 in Nakai and US $7.2 in Xe Bang Fai.Conclusion:The observed differ-ences in self-reported ill-health and health seeking behavior among these two Lao communities need to be con-sidered when implementing setting-specific mitigation measures as part of the public health action plan of the Nam Theun 2 hydroelectric project.