Complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) adversely influence patients’ health-related quality of life (HRQOL). This study is aimed at examining HRQOL of T2DM patients, as well as the effects of diabetic complications and comorbidities on HRQOL in this population. This was a hospital-based cross-sectional study on 214 T2DM patients in Hanoi, Vietnam. Short-form 12 version 2 (SF-12v2) and EuroQOL-5 Dimensions-5 Levels (EQ-5D-5L) were employed to measure the HRQOL. The median physical component summary score (PCS), mental component summary score (MCS), and EQ-5D index were 45.6, 56.3, and 0.94, respectively. Having at least one diabetic complication was associated with the reduction of SF-12 scores in social functioning (Diff.=−5.69,95%CI=−9.24; -2.13), role emotional (Diff.=−1.81,95%CI=−3.12; -0.51), and MCS (Diff.=−2.55,95%CI=−5.01; -0.1). Significant decrement of physical functioning, role physical, social functioning, role emotional, and MCS was found in patients having diabetic heart diseases compared to those without diabetic complications. The study revealed that HRQOL of Vietnamese patients with diabetic complications was moderately low, especially in social and mental health perspectives. Strategies to prevent the onset of diabetic complications should be developed as a priority in diabetes management.

This study assessed the diagnostic value of interleukin‐ (IL‐) 6, high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein (hs‐CRP), and procalcitonin (PCT) in differentiating severe pneumonia caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) alone and RSV with bacterial coinfections among Vietnamese children under 5 years old. A cross‐sectional study on 70 children with severe RSV pneumonia was conducted. IL‐6, hs‐CRP, and PCT tests were performed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was employed to measure the diagnostic values of PCT, IL‐6, and hs‐CRP. Of 70 children, 11 children were confirmed to have bacterial coinfections. The most common bacterial coinfection was Haemophilus influenzae. This study underlined that inflammatory biomarkers such as PCT had a moderate‐to‐high capability of disseminating severe pneumonia children with RSV alone or RSV and bacterial coinfections. This may support clinicians in administrating appropriate antibiotics to children suffering from severe RSV pneumonia.

We developed a patient satisfaction (PS) scale to measure PS and determined associated factors with PS in several hospitals in Vietnam. In this cross-sectional survey, study on 108 patients in three hospitals in Hanoi, Vietnam was conducted. A PS instrument covering four domains: 1) Transparency of information and procedure; 2) Facilities and equipment; 3) Attitude and capacities of health professionals, and 4) Outcomes of service was used. Multivariate linear regression was performed to detect factors associated with patient satisfaction scores. The internal consistency reliability was excellent at 0.9400. The highest percentage of people having complete satisfaction was 64.8% in the item “Doctors have good attitudes and communication with patients,” while the lowest percentage was in “the level of satisfaction with the price of medical services of the hospital” (13.0%). Overall, 23.2% of patients rated complete satisfaction with health services. There were 54.6%, 44.4%, 40.7%, and 26.9% patients having satisfaction/complete satisfaction with Outcomes of service, Facilities and Equipment, Attitude and capacities of health professionals and Transparency of information and procedure, respectively. Patients who were outpatients, living in other provinces, using on-demand services, and unable to pay service fees had lower levels of satisfaction compared to others. To conclude, the satisfaction with health service in our sample was moderately low, particularly transparency in information and procedure. Improving the quality of administrative procedures and the application of information technology are priority issues in improving the quality of hospitals and assure equality in health care delivery among different patient groups.

Objective: This study aimed to measure the exposure of residents to health education messages about non-communicable diseases (NCD)-related risk factors, and activities of village health workers (VHWs) in NCDs prevention and control in the mountainous setting of Vietnam.Method: A cross-sectional study was performed in Dap Thanh commune (Ba Che, Quang Ninh province, Vietnam), a mountainous area. There were 151 residents aged 18 years or above recruited for this study. Information regarding exposure to messages about risk factors of NCDs, and activities of VHWs was collected via face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression was employed to identify associated factors with exposing messages about NCD-related risk factors.Results: The majority of participants heard about messages related to risk factors of NCDs in the last 30 days, from 56.3% (physical inactivity message), 59.6% (diet message), 75.5% (alcohol use message) to 79.5% (smoking message). Radio/television was the most common source of the messages (from 91.8% to 95.8%) and the majority of participants heard these messages from one source (from 77.1% to 80.9%). Most of sample reported the unavailability of VHWs in their locals (53.6%). Among locals having VHWs, health communication and education was the most common service provided (54.3%); however, only 30% received NCD management services. Participants who had other jobs were less likely to hear about diet-related messages (OR = 0.32; 95%CI = 0.11–0.92), and those ever smoking were more likely to hear these messages in the last 30 days (OR = 6.86; 95%CI = 1.06–44.51). People who had diabetes mellitus were more likely to hear physical activity-related messages in the last 30 days (OR = 2.55; 95%CI = 1.20–5.41).Conclusion: Our findings indicated that health communication regarding risk factors of NCDs in mountainous areas in Vietnam was insufficient, and the role of health workers as formal information source was not recognized. Efforts should be made to increase the capacity and involvement of VHWs in health education and NCD prevention in mountainous regions.

Young adults are susceptible to overweight and obesity and their adverse outcomes. However, limited studies have been conducted to understand this health problem in Vietnamese youths. This study was conducted to examine the rate of overweight and obesity, as well as the relationship between this condition on body perception, physical activity, and respiratory function among young adults in Hanoi, Vietnam. We performed a cross-sectional survey with 367 students aged 18-25 years at the Hanoi University of Pharmacy from June 2017 to June 2018. The result showed that the rate of overweight and obesity in our sample was 16.6%. There were 55.7% of overweight/obese students having the misperception of their body image. Results of multivariate regression analysis showed that overweight/obesity increased nearly three times ( , 95% CI: 1.5-5.0) the ability to be active. Overweight/obese students with physical activity had a better respiratory function. To conclude, this study underlined the associations between overweight and obesity with physical activity, body image, and respiratory function in our young sample. Further longitudinal studies should be warranted to examine their causal relationships.

Objectives: Frailty and diabetes are on the rise due to the aging population. This study was conducted to examine frailty conditions among patients with Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in Hanoi, Vietnam, as well as determine its associated factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study on T2DM patients at an urban hospital. This study assessed the frailty status using the FRAIL questionnaire. Socio-demographic, clinical, and paraclinical characteristics were obtained. Multivariate regression models were performed to detect factors associated with frailty. Results: Of 379 patients, the FRAIL scale results showed that 8/379 patients were at the frailty level (2.1%), and 33/379 patients were at the pre-frailty level (8.7%). Patients who had above high school education and were retired were at lower risk of pre-frailty/frailty than those with high school education or below, and self-employed, respectively. Conversely, patients with a higher number of comorbidities were more likely to develop pre-frailty and frailty. Conclusion: This study showed a low prevalence of pre-frailty and frailty among T2DM patients. It is necessary to manage diabetes carefully and strictly control the comorbidities in this population. Interventions should focus on higher risk populations, such as those with low education levels and self-employment.