Objective: To study the quality of life (QOL) and the factors impacting QOL of physicians who worked in the three southern border provinces of Thailand between July-August 2005, a time of crisis in those provinces.
Material and Methods: One hundred and sixteen (50%) of 234 physicians returned a WHO quality of life-brief Thai questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF-THAI). Multiple linear regression was used to determine the significant predictors of the study outcomes.
Results: Most of the 116 physicians worked in a rural hospital. The QOL score were found to be at a moderate level for 69.8% and high for 30.2%. The physical health aspect of QOL was at the highest level (54.3%), followed by mental health (50%) and social relationships (35.3%). The poorest QOL score was from the environmental aspect (7.8%). Time working in the area, income satisfaction, job satisfaction, conflicts with co-workers, and insecurity from the conflicts predicted 33% of the variance of QOL of physicians (adjusted R2=0.33). Factors related to a high QOL score were high job satisfaction, longer time working in the area and high income satisfaction. Factors related to low QOL scores were conflicts with co-workers and insecurity from the conflicts. The environmental aspect was related to dissatisfaction with income, lack of opportunity to continue education, poor job satisfaction and insecurity from conflicts, which complained 47% of the a variance of QOL of physicians (adjusted R2=0.473).
Conclusion: The QOL of the physicians who worked in the 3 southern border provinces of Thailand experiencing a crisis was not good enough, especially the environmental aspect of their QOL. Because physicians are a key group in ensuring the wellfunctioning health care system for the people, it is important to resolve the conflicts in this area in order to promote a "Healthy Thailand" in 2015. The QOL evaluation of the physicians should be further monitored.