Background: Artificial intelligence (AI)-based computational models that analyze breast cancer have been developed for decades. The present study was implemented to investigate the accuracy and efficiency of combined mammography images and clinical records for breast cancer detection using machine learning and deep learning classifiers. Methods: This study was verified using 731 images from 357 women who underwent at least one mammogram and had clinical records for at least six months before mammography. The model was trained on mammograms and clinical variables to discriminate benign and malignant lesions. Multiple pre-trained deep CNN models to detect cancer in mammograms, including X-ception, VGG16, ResNet-v2, ResNet50, and CNN3 were employed. Machine learning models were constructed using k-nearest neighbor (KNN), support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), Artificial Neural Network (ANN), and gradient boosting machine (GBM) in the clinical dataset. Results: The detection performance obtained an accuracy of 84.5% with a specificity of 78.1% at a sensitivity of 89.7% and an AUC of 0.88. When trained on mammography image data alone, the result achieved a slightly lower score than the combined model (accuracy, 72.5% vs. 84.5%, respectively). Conclusions: A breast cancer-detection model combining machine learning and deep learning models was performed in this study with a satisfactory result, and this model has potential clinical applications.
Background: Healthcare students are a force that will aid healthcare workers in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and preventive practices (KAP) towards COVID-19 for this population in Vietnam. Methods: An online-based cross-sectional survey was considered with all students at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City (UMP), Vietnam, between June and August 2020. A structured questionnaire was used to assess KAP towards COVID-19 with response having considerable data missing in the areas of KAP being excluded from the analysis. All data were analysed by using STATA 14 software, to determine the factors associated with preventive practices, and a multivariable regression analysis was performed, along with odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Results: A total of 2351 eligible participants completed the survey, 65.6% of whom were female, and their mean age was 21.9 years old (SD = 2.7). Almost all had sufficient knowledge (86.6%) and good preventive practice (92.8%) towards COVID-19; however, there was also a rather low level of positive attitude recorded, at 68.8%. The multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that the female participants, and the receiving of information from the official websites, reported a significantly higher level of good practice. Besides, students who had a high level of sufficient knowledge and positive attitude towards COVID-19 were more likely to have good preventive practices (All p< 0.001). Conclusion: The findings demonstrated good preventive practice towards COVID-19; however, sufficient knowledge and positive attitude were lower. Therefore, it is an identified requirement to continue with additional education and training strategies to offer a better understanding and positive viewpoint of the pandemic for all students, including healthcare students.
1 February 2021 in Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity
Background: Diabetes-related distress (DRD) refers to the condition of negative emotion as a result of living with diabetes and the burden of self-care. This study aims to evaluate the prevalence and associated factors of DRD among people with type 2 diabetes. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out on people with Type 2 Diabetes at three hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City, between April and November 2020. The study used the Vietnamese version of the Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS) which includes 17 items. The mean total distress score was calculated on the average of the 17 items. A mean score of equal to 2.0 or higher was classified as moderate to severe distress. Descriptive statistics were performed by frequency and percentage, and the multivariate Logistic Regression Analysis was used to assess information where p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 517 participants, who were mainly over 60 years old (56.8%) with females being 65.0%, participated in the study. Results showed that 23.6% and 5.8% of them, respectively, were found as being moderately or highly distressed. Some factors that correlated with the total distress results included age, timescale of diabetes, and glycemic control level (HbA1c). The rate of total distress in those who were over 60 years old and had a HbA1c < 7 were less prevalent than those who were under 60, and had a HbA1c ≥ 7 (OR 0.5 95% CI 0.3– 0.7; OR 0.5 95% CI: 0.3– 0.9, respectively, all p< 0.05), whilst the timescale of diabetes between 5 and 10 years was significantly more prevalent than those who had a timescale less 5 years (OR 1.8 95% CI 1.1– 2.9, p< 0.05). Conclusion: A high rate of distress exists in people with diabetes. Therefore, combining the evaluation of distress as part of the regular diagnostic procedures of diabetes care, and recommending physicians apply a comprehensive approach to diabetes management, is necessary.
5 April 2022 in Environmental Science and Pollution Research
The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness and acceptability of locally tailored implementation of improved cookstoves/heaters in low- and middle-income countries. This interventional implementation study among 649 adults and children living in rural communities in Uganda, Vietnam and Kyrgyzstan, was performed after situational analyses and awareness programmes. Outcomes included household air pollution (PM2.5 and CO), self-reported respiratory symptoms (with CCQ and MRC-breathlessness scale), chest infections, school absence and intervention acceptability. Measurements were conducted at baseline, 2 and 6–12 months after implementing improved cookstoves/heaters. Mean PM2.5 values decrease by 31% (to 95.1 µg/m3) in Uganda (95%CI 71.5–126.6), by 32% (to 31.1 µg/m3) in Vietnam (95%CI 24.5–39.5) and by 65% (to 32.4 µg/m3) in Kyrgyzstan (95%CI 25.7–40.8), but all remain above the WHO guidelines. CO-levels remain below the WHO guidelines. After intervention, symptoms and infections diminish significantly in Uganda and Kyrgyzstan, and to a smaller extent in Vietnam. Quantitative assessment indicates high acceptance of the new cookstoves/heaters. In conclusion, locally tailored implementation of improved cookstoves/heaters is acceptable and has considerable effects on respiratory symptoms and indoor pollution, yet mean PM2.5 levels remain above WHO recommendations.
COVID-19 vaccines are critical tools to manage the current pandemic. The objective of this study is to assess determinants of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among parents in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.A...