Health Threats among Thai Pilgrims during Pilgrimage to Holy Buddhist Places in India: A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study

Objective: The pilgrimage to make merit by visiting and paying respect to four sacred Buddhist places in India is a popular tradition among Thai pilgrims. However, health threats are common occurrences during such pilgrimages. This study aimed to investigate health threats and associated factors among Thai pilgrims during the pilgrimage to sacred Buddhist places in India. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study surveyed 404 Thai pilgrims who visited sacred Buddhist places from December 2023 to February 2024, using cluster sampling. The data was collected in India during their pilgrimage to sacred Buddhist places through a questionnaire. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression.Results: The majority of pilgrims in India experienced health threats (61.4%) during pilgrimage to sacred Buddhist places; including fever (45.8%), cough/sore throat (20.3%), headache/migraine (11.1%), constipation (10.4%), muscle pain/back pain (6.7%), phlegm (6.7%), knee/leg pain (6.4%) and diarrhea/food poisoning (5.4%). After adjusting for the effects of all other variables, factors significantly associated with health threats during the pilgrimage at the Holy Buddhist places were: age (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=1.26, 95% confidence Interval (CI)=1.17-2.22, p-value=0.014), duration of pilgrimage (AOR=1.63, 95% CI=1.01-2.82, p-value=0.042), expenses for pilgrimage (AOR=1.94, 95% CI=1.16-3.16, p-value=0.011), health conditions (AOR=3.29, 95% CI=2.03-5.38, p-value<0.001) and health preparation (AOR=1.63, 95% CI=1.01-2.63, p-value=0.044). Conclusion: The findings demonstrated that factors related to health threats need to be addressed. Health preparation is a crucial factor for developing guidelines and planning to provide healthcare services for pilgrims.