MATERIALS AND METHODS
This study was conducted in 16 villages within a catchment area of the primary health care post of Thasongyang District, Tak Province, from June to August 2012. The study population consisted of 394 people in the catchment area of the primary health care post, divided by the proportion of people in the catchment area of the primary health care post. The respondents were 15 years old or older and had lived in the village for more than 6 months. Data were collected by face-to-face structured interviews by sixteen primary health care post staff. In many cases, the questionnaire needed to be translated into the Karen language or some local language. The cluster sampling technique and purposive sampling method were applied. The response rate was 100%. The questionnaire was developed by research team members based on existing literature and knowledge of the health situation in the study location, and was validated for its contents.
The collected data were double-checked and entered into SPSS program for analysis and Chi-square test was also applied. Before data collection, verbal informed consent was obtained from all the respondents after explaining the study to them in detail. This research was also approved by the Ethical Committee of Tak Health Office, Ministry of Public Health of Thailand.