Online channels being increasingly used
for complaints about hospital services.
STROKES AND dust were the two most-discussed topics among Thai netizens last year, a recent survey has revealed.
Conducted by the data company, Backyard Co Ltd, the survey found that
Thais were particularly interested in the quality of private hospital
services, strokes, chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) and facilities
for elderly care during their time online.
Net users often “talked” about hospitals in relation to their services
(54.94 per cent), Backyard’s co-founder Kittipong Kitithawornkul said.
This was followed by topics like complaints, scamming, lack of medical
ethics and hype (22.75 per cent), hospitals’ environment (11.80 per
cent), fees (7.30 per cent), location (1.72 per cent) and facilities
(1.50 per cent).
Interestingly, data also showed that people are turning to online
channels to submit complaints about hospitals, up from 16 per cent in
2017 to 22 per cent last year, reflecting the growing importance of
online comments, he said.
Data also pointed to Thai people’s growing interest in certain diseases.
Strokes, for example, ranked No 1, with people discussing the topic
111.42 per cent more than the year earlier, followed by CRDs (59.88 per
cent) and chronic kidney disease (34.91 per cent).
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Researchers believe the move to ban trans or unsaturated fat by the Thai
food agency may have inspired more discussions about strokes.
In terms of online conversations related to medical check-up packages,
data showed that Thai netizens “talked” more about packages for chronic
respiratory diseases, 233.33 per cent more from the year earlier,
chronic kidney disease (163.76 per cent) and strokes (89.32 per cent).
Interestingly, as Bangkok struggles to cope with smog and fine PM2.5
dust particles, conversations about smog-related diseases such as
allergy, heart disease, asthma and lung cancer are also on the rise.
In addition, online conversations regarding the wellness industry grew
75 per cent compared to the year earlier, though real estate topped the
list.
Meanwhile, online conversations about elderly care facilities rose as much as 180 per cent from the year earlier.
People seem to be less interested in yoga, with 58 per cent fewer
conversations about the subject compared to the year earlier. Now people
seem to be more interested in healthy diets, with 128 per cent more
discussions compared to 2017. This has been attributed to the popularity
of intermittent fasting and the keto diet.
Thai netizens also talked less about low-fat and low-calorie diets, and
showed more interest in gluten-free (179.02 per cent up from 2017) and
vegan diets (166.05 per cent). Unsurprisingly, there was also more
discussion about protein alternatives.
In order to combat office syndrome, researchers found that people were
most interested in manipulative and body-based methods, with acupuncture
and cupping therapy at the top of the list.
“Online data shows that the healthcare and wellness business is very
attractive, especially because online conversations related to this
business grew as much as 85 per cent from 2017 to 2018,” Kittipong said.
Sourse - TheNation
