Objective: To assess general health status of Thai Monks living in the temples in Bangkok Metropolitan and its influencing factors.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional survey study was conducted from September 2017 to November 2017. The monks who lived in temples in in Dusit and Nong Chok districts of Bangkok were invited into the study. The monks who consented to participate in the study filled up the questionnaire queried about personal and health data before undergoing physical examination and basic laboratory investigation. Data of general health and factors which may affect health were collected and analyzed.

Results: A total of 214 monks consented to participate in this study. The mean age was 43.7 ± 18.29 years (51.9% aged 40 years and over). Good habit of food consumption was found in 56.7% whereas the overall daily physical activity was 75 minutes (range, 33-300 minutes). Concerning the negative influence, 51.9% reported alcohol/ liquor drinking before entering into the monkhood whereas 50.9% had ever been smoking with a median of 5 pack-years (range, 0.05-64.0 pack-years) lifetime tobacco exposure. Approximately 93% reported one or more medical illnesses or symptoms of their concern.Physical examination revealed slightly 51.2% were overweight or obese. Systolic and diastolic pressure ≥130 mmHg and ≥ 85 mmHg were found in 43.5% and 30.9% respectively. Among the basic laboratory investigations, dyslipidemia was most frequently found (79.5%) followed by elevated fasting blood sugar (31.9%). High to severe degree of stress was demonstrated in 29.3%.

Conclusions: The monks living in Bangkok Metropolitan had suboptimal health status, with 93% reported personal illnesses or had symptoms complained about their health. Factors which may affect their health were history of drinking, ever smoking, low physical activity, overweight or obesity, dyslipidemia, high fasting blood sugar, and stress. The monks and the related health sectors should have awareness to prevent or to reduce the negative habit and abnormal health conditions.