We report associations between social capital and health among 82,482 adults in a national cohort of Open University students residing throughout Thailand.After adjusting for covariates, poor self-assessed health was positively associated with low social trust (OR = 1.88; 95% CI 1.76—2.01) and low social support (OR = 1.79; 95% CI 1.63—1.95). In addition, poor psychological health was also associated with low social trust (OR = 2.52; 95% CI 2.41—2.64) and low social support (OR = 1.80; 95% CI 1.69—1.92). Females, elderly, unpartnered, low income, and urban residents were associated with poor health. Findings suggest ways to improve social capital and heath in Thailand and other middle-income countries.
Abbott S. and Freeth D. ( 2008) Social capital and health: Starting to make sense of the role of generalized trust and reciprocity. Journal of Health Psychology13(7): 874-883.
2.
Almedom AM ( 2005) Social capital and mental health: An interdisciplinary review of primary evidence. Social Science and Medicine61(5): 943-964.
3.
Almgren G., Magarati M., and Mogford L. ( 2009) Examining the influences of gender, race, ethnicity, and social capital on the subjective health of adolescents. Journal of Adolescence32(1): 109-133.
4.
Berry HL and Welsh JA(2010) Social capital and health in Australia: An overview from the household, income and labour dynamics in Australia survey. Social Science and Medicine70(4): 588-596.
5.
De Silva MJ, McKenzie K., Harpham T., and Huttly SR ( 2005) Social capital and mental illness: A systematic review . Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health59(8): 619-627.
6.
De Souza EM and Grundy E. ( 2007) Intergenerational interaction, social capital and health: Results from a randomised controlled trial in Brazil. Social Science and Medicine65(7): 1397-1409.
7.
Fujisawa Y., Hamano T., and Takegawa S. ( 2009) Social capital and perceived health in Japan: An ecological and multilevel analysis. Social Science and Medicine69(4): 500-505.
8.
Giordano GN and Lindstrom M.(2010) The impact of changes in different aspects of social capital and material conditions on self-rated health over time: A longitudinal cohort study. Social Science and Medicine70(5): 700-710.
9.
Hawe P. and Shiell A. ( 2000) Social capital and health promotion: A review. Social Science and Medicine51(6): 871-885.
10.
Kawachi I., Kennedy BP, and Glass R. ( 1999) Social capital and self-rated health: A contextual analysis . American Journal of Public Health89(8): 1187-1193.
11.
Kawachi I., Subramanian SV, and Kim D. ( 2008) Social Capital and Health. New York : Springer.
12.
Khamman S. ( 2008) Social capital and human capital development. Paper prepared for the 2008 Year-end Conference on Sustaining Long-term Growth, November 29-30, Chonburi, Thailand (in Thai).
13.
Lindstrom M. ( 2008) Social capital, anticipated ethnic discrimination and self-reported psychological health: A population-based study. Social Science and Medicine66(1): 1-13.
14.
Lindstrom M. and Mohseni M.(2009) Social capital, political trust and self-reported psychological health: A population-based study. Social Science and Medicine68(3): 436-443.
15.
Liukkonen V., Virtanen P., Kivimaki M., Pentti J., and Vahtera J. ( 2004) Social capital in working life and the health of employees . Social Science and Medicine59(12): 2447-2458.
16.
Mansyur C., Amick BC, Harrist RB, and Franzini L. ( 2008) Social capital, income inequality, and self-rated health in 45 countries. Social Science and Medicine66(1): 43-56.
17.
McKenzie K., Whitley R., and Weich S. ( 2002) Social capital and mental health. British Journal of Psychiatry181: 280-283.
18.
Mohseni M., and Lindstrom M. ( 2007) Social capital, trust in the health-care system and self-rated health: The role of access to health care in a population-based study. Social Science and Medicine64(7): 1373-1383.
19.
Mohseni M. and Lindstrom M. ( 2008) Social capital, political trust and self rated-health: A population-based study in southern Sweden. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health36(1): 28-34.
20.
Morgan A. and Haglund BJ(2009) Social capital does matter for adolescent health: Evidence from the English HBSC study. Health Promotion International24(4): 363-372.
21.
Nieminen T., Martelin T., Koskinen S., Aro H., Alanen E., and Hyyppa MT ( 2010) Social capital as a determinant of self-rated health and psychological well-being. International Journal for Public Health, doi 10.1007/s00038-010-0138-3.
22.
Nummela O., Sulander T., Rahkonen O., Karisto A., and Uutela A. ( 2008) Social participation, trust and self-rated health: A study among ageing people in urban, semi-urban and rural settings. Health and Place14(2): 243-253.
23.
Oksanen T., Kouvonen A., Kivimaki M., Pentti J., Virtanen M., Linna A., and Vahtera J. ( 2008) Social capital at work as a predictor of employee health: Multilevel evidence from work units in Finland. Social Science and Medicine66(3): 637-649.
24.
Perry M., Williams RL, Wallerstein N., and Waitzkin, H. ( 2008). Social capital and health care experiences among low-income individuals. American Journal of Public Health98(2): 330-336.
25.
Petrou S. and Kupek E. ( 2008) Social capital and its relationship with measures of health status: Evidence from the Health Survey for England 2003. Health Economics17(1): 127-143.
26.
Phongsavan P., Chey T., Bauman A., Brooks R., and Silove D. ( 2006) Social capital, socio-economic status and psychological distress amongAustralian adults. Social Science and Medicine63(10): 2546-2561.
27.
Pitkin Derose K. and Varda DM ( 2009) Social capital and health care access: A systematic review . Medical Care Research and Review66(3): 272-306.
28.
Sleigh AC, Seubsman S., and Bain C. ( 2008) Cohort profile: The Thai Cohort of 87,134 Open University students. International Journal of Epidemiology37(2): 266-272.
29.
Tsunoda H., Yoshino R., and Yokoyama K. ( 2008) Components of social capital and socio-psychological factors that worsen the perceived health of Japanese males and females. The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine216(2): 173-185.
30.
von dem Knesebeck O., Dragano N., and Siegrist J. ( 2005) Social capital and self-rated health in 21 European countries . Psycho-social Medicine, 2: Doc02.
31.
Wang H., Schlesinger M., Wang H., and Hsiao WC ( 2009) The flip-side of social capital: The distinctive influences of trust and mistrust on health in rural China. Social Science and Medicine68(1): 133-142.
32.
World Bank (2000) Thailand Social Monitor: Social Capital and Crisis. Bangkok: The World Bank.
33.
Yamaoka K. ( 2008) Social capital and health and wellbeing in East Asia: A population-based study. Social Science and Medicine66(4): 885-899.
34.
Yiengprugsawan V., Seubsman S., Khamman S., Lim Ll-Y, and Sleigh AC ( 2009) Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI) in a national cohort of 87,134 Thai adults. Social Indicators Research, doi: 10.1007/ s11205-009-9542-6.
35.
Yip W., Subramanian SV, Mitchell AD, Lee DT, Wang J., and Kawachi I. ( 2007) Does social capital enhance health and well-being? Evidence from rural China. Social Science and Medicine64(1): 35-49.
36.
Yun EH, Kang YH, Lim MK, Oh JK, and Son JM ( 2010) The role of social support and social networks in smoking behavior among middle and older aged people in rural areas of South Korea: A cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health10: 78.
37.
Ziersch AM, Baum F., Darmawan IG, Kavanagh AM, and Bentley RJ ( 2009) Social capital and health in rural and urban communities in South Australia. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health33(1): 7-16.
