Abstract:
This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the health status and quality of life of forest fire volunteers in Chiang Mai Province, as well as to compare their health status and quality of life during the forest fire season while on duty with those during normal periods. The sample consisted of 349 forest fire volunteers in Chiang Mai Province affiliated with the Office of Conservation Area Administration 16 (Chiang Mai), the Forest Resource Management Office 1, local administrative organizations, military units, and civilians. The sample was selected using multi-stage random sampling. The research instrument was a questionnaire comprising general information about the forest fire volunteers, information related to their forest fire-fighting duties, assessments of health status during fire-fighting periods, assessments of quality of life while on duty, and assessments of health status and quality of life during normal periods. The questionnaire was developed based on a literature review and included standardized tools such as the Thai General Health Questionnaire (Thai GHQ-12) from the Department of Mental Health and the abbreviated Thai version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF-THAI). Data were collected from November to December 2024. The comparisons were analyzed using Paired-Sample T-Test and McNemars Test, with the statistical significance level set at 0.05 The study found that the top five health issues experienced by forest fire volunteers during fire-fighting operations were primarily musculoskeletal pain, such as back, shoulder, arm, leg, and foot pain (52.5%), followed by inhalation of smoke or toxic gases (50.4%), eye irritation or redness (47.9%), respiratory tract irritation such as runny nose, cough, sore throat, throat inflammation, or pneumonia (45.3%), and skin rashes or irritation (27.5%). Most of these symptoms were mild and did not interfere with daily life. Regarding overall health status, the average health score of the forest fire volunteers during the fire-fighting period was 69.26 ± 14.63, while the average score during the normal period was 83.94 ± 14.36. A comparison between the two periods revealed a statistically significant difference in overall health scores (P-value > 0.001). According to the general health assessment using the Thai GHQ-12, 83.7% of the volunteers were classified as normal and 16.3% as abnormal during the fire-fighting period, compared to 92.8% normal and 7.2% abnormal during the normal period. The difference in health status proportions between the two periods was statistically significant (P-value < ; 0.001). Regarding quality of life, the majority of forest fire volunteers during the fire-fighting period reported a moderate level of quality of life (61.0%), while during the normal period, most also reported a moderate level (52.7%). A comparison of the average quality of life scores between the fire-fighting and normal periods showed a statistically significant difference ; (P-value > 0.001). The findings suggest that firefighting duties significantly impact both the physical and mental health, as well as the quality of life, of forest fire volunteers. Relevant agencies can utilize these findings to establish effective health surveillance measures, improve planning for fire season operations, and implement health care initiatives before, during, and after deployment. This will help reduce the psychological impact and promote better overall quality of life for these volunteers in Chiang Mai Province.