Suchergebnisse

Background: There is a need to develop instruments to measure mental disorders in developing countries because mental disorders are increasingly being recognised as a major public health problem. There has been no previous study in Vietnam validating screening instruments for mental health problems. Aim: To adapt and to validate the Self Reporting Questionnaire-20 (SRQ-20) in the Vietnamese community. Methods: A Vietnamese version of the SRQ-20 was developed and tested in 52 persons in a district hospital sample and 485 persons in a community sample. The psychiatrists' diagnoses were taken as the validity criterion. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to identify the optimal cut-off value. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was calculated to assess the performance of SRQ in different sociodemographic groups. Results: In the district hospital sample, the optimal cut-off score was 5/6 with a sensitivity of 85%, a specificity of 46% and an AUC of 0.74 (95% CI: 0.59–0.89). In the community sample, it was 6/7 with a sensitivity of 85%, a specificity of 61% and AUC of 0.86 (95% CI: 0.81–0.93). In terms of AUC, SRQ performed significantly better in the age group 18–24 years as compared with other ages and with single persons as compared with widowed or divorced people. Conclusion: The SRQ-20 was found feasible to use and adapt to the Vietnamese setting. We confirmed the value of this instrument for use in developing countries, but the optimal cut-off limit has to be assessed and determined according to local conditions.

Having a good understanding of cancer patients' health literacy in the early stage of diagnosis can help to implement strategies to improve the management process and overall health outcomes. The study aims to describe health literacy and its association with socio-demographic characteristics among newly admitted cancer patients. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 262 newly admitted patients of a cancer hospital in Vietnam using the Vietnamese version of the HLS-SF12 questionnaire. Descriptive analytics and regression analysis were used to describe health literacy and examine associated factors. Older age, lower level of education, and living in rural areas were associated with lower health literacy while there was no significant relationship between gender and health literacy among newly admitted cancer patients. Many newly admitted patients, especially the older patients have difficulties understanding the different treatment options (54%) and evaluating the reliability of health information on the internet (43%). During the early stage of treatment, strategies should be implemented with regards to patients' health literacy, to properly educate patients and their caregivers to improve communication, adherence to medication, lifestyle, and overall better quality of life and treatment outcome.