TY - JOUR
T1 - Noncommunicable diseases and social determinants of health in Buddhist monks
T2 - An integrative review
AU - Jeamjitvibool, Thanakrit
AU - Tankumpuan, Thitipong
AU - Lukkahatai, Nada
AU - Davidson, Patricia M.
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) received no funding for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC
PY - 2022/4
Y1 - 2022/4
N2 - The prevalence of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) is increasing worldwide. Buddhist monks in Thailand play a critical role in health as community leaders accounting for 0.3% of the population. However, some monks require treatment and hospitalization to alleviate the burden of NCDs due to religious beliefs and practices during ordainment. Risk factors for NCDs among Buddhist monks, and the relationship to social determinants of health (SDH) remain unclear. This integrative review examined the prevalence of NCDs and explored the relationship between SDH and health outcomes among Buddhist monks. Cohort, descriptive, and correlational studies published in both English and Thai languages were identified from the PubMed, Science Direct, CINAHL, and Thai journal databases. Keywords included “Thai Buddhist monks,” “non-communicable diseases,” and “prevalence”. Twenty-two studies were selected. Obesity and hypertension were the most prevalent NCDs. Religious beliefs and practices influence SDH domains and play an important role in the lifestyle and health behaviors among Buddhist monks. Further understanding of the impact of the religious lifestyle is needed, particularly given the role and influence of monks in society.
AB - The prevalence of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) is increasing worldwide. Buddhist monks in Thailand play a critical role in health as community leaders accounting for 0.3% of the population. However, some monks require treatment and hospitalization to alleviate the burden of NCDs due to religious beliefs and practices during ordainment. Risk factors for NCDs among Buddhist monks, and the relationship to social determinants of health (SDH) remain unclear. This integrative review examined the prevalence of NCDs and explored the relationship between SDH and health outcomes among Buddhist monks. Cohort, descriptive, and correlational studies published in both English and Thai languages were identified from the PubMed, Science Direct, CINAHL, and Thai journal databases. Keywords included “Thai Buddhist monks,” “non-communicable diseases,” and “prevalence”. Twenty-two studies were selected. Obesity and hypertension were the most prevalent NCDs. Religious beliefs and practices influence SDH domains and play an important role in the lifestyle and health behaviors among Buddhist monks. Further understanding of the impact of the religious lifestyle is needed, particularly given the role and influence of monks in society.
KW - Buddhist monks
KW - Thailand
KW - noncommunicable diseases
KW - social determinants of health
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U2 - 10.1002/nur.22215
DO - 10.1002/nur.22215
M3 - Article
C2 - 35124814
AN - SCOPUS:85124482163
SN - 0160-6891
VL - 45
SP - 249
EP - 260
JO - Research in Nursing and Health
JF - Research in Nursing and Health
IS - 2
ER -