Promoting Health Literacy to Prevent Depression Among Workers in Industrial Factories in the Eastern Economic Corridor of Thailand

PURPOSE: This study aimed to identify the factors associated with depression among workers in industrial factories in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) of Thailand. Additionally, a guidebook was created to evaluate the suitability and appropriateness of the health literacy of the workers to prevent depression. METHODS: This study applied a mixed method from May 2019 to May 2020. Two-stage sampling was used to recruit samples. A total of 416 workers were surveyed using a self-administered questionnaire. Moreover, 20 stakeholders enrolled in two focus group discussions (FGDs) using a semi-structured interview questionnaire to explore situations and develop a guidebook. Descriptive statistical, multivariable logistic regression, and content analysis were applied to analyze the data. Both quantitative and qualitative data were used in the development of the guidebook, which were further tested and evaluated by interviewing the 20 stakeholders. RESULTS: Depression was found in 17.1% of the workers. Job position (adjusted odds ratio [OR(adj)] = 7.14), hours of online media use (OR(adj) = 1.87), moody/anxious (OR(adj) = 5.35), avoiding people (OR(adj) = 9.12), and self-behavior modification to prevent depression (OR(adj) = 2.41) were associated with significant depression. The FGDs revealed that stakeholders had blurred perceptions of stress and depression. The sample of industrial factory workers was subjected to workload time constraints but had low level of screening for depression. Online media was used only for working in industries. The guidebook was very interesting and useful for stakeholders and contained definitions and symptoms of depression, self-screening and self-care strategies, consultation and hotline contacts, and health literacy improvement guidelines for factory and health personnel to prevent depression. CONCLUSION: This study confirmed that online media and health literacy were imperative factors to address depression among workers in industrial factories. The guidebook was developed based on health literacy and help prevent depression among workers in industrial settings.