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Background: The impact of stigma on individuals with HIV remains a significant challenge, causing feelings of worthlessness, shame, and emotional distress. This study aimed to examine the relationship between HIV-related stigma and quality of life (QOL) among HIV-infected outpatients initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Vietnam. Design and methods: This was a cross-sectional study which conducted at Vinh General Hospital, Nghe An Province, involved 323 HIV-infected outpatients. Participants were surveyed between October 2020 and October 2021. The study collected data through structured interviews, assessing socio-demographic factors, HIV stigma, and QOL. Results: The result showed that HIV-infected outpatients experiencing higher stigma showed poorer QOL across various domains. The negative impact of stigma was particularly evident in domains related to physical health, psychological well-being, and spirituality. Participants who were married, had children, consumed alcohol, had comorbidities (particularly hepatitis B/C), and lacked a history of drug use reported varying levels of correlation with QOL domains and stigma. Conclusions: By identifying the intricate connections between stigma and QOL, the study provides valuable insights for designing comprehensive interventions that prioritize the well-being of HIV infected outpatients.
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To develop an appropriate programmatic response to the concentrated HIV epidemic, program managers require reliable estimates of the sizes of the key populations. This study attempts to estimate the population size of people who inject drugs (PWID) in Thai Nguyen-a province in the northern part of Vietnam. Two source capture-recapture population size estimates were calculated using data from two respondent driven sampling survey rounds conducted in 5 selected districts from May to August 2019. The population size of the PWID was calculated based on the number of PWID recruited in each survey and 'recaptured' during the first and the second survey. Additionally, personal network size data collected in the RDS was used to measure the population of PWID using the Successive Sampling Population Size Estimate (SS-PSE) method. The population of PWID estimated in five selected districts using the two capture-recapture method (CRC) (median = 5,396, 95% CI: 4,011-9,100) was slightly lower than estimated using SS-PSE with RDS survey 1 (median = 5,580, 95% CI: 3,024-9,272) and higher than when using SS-PSE with RDS survey 2 (median = 4,793; 95% CI: 2,310-8,618). The provincial PWID population estimates based on various approaches (e.g. extrapolation based on the prevalence of PWID in the districts) ranged from 6,498 (95% CI: 4,829-10,957) to around 6,807 (95% CI: 5,341-10,527). A provincial estimate of 6,782 PWID, with a confidence interval ranging from 5,312 to 10,527, will help guide planning and resource allocation to support appropriate levels of HIV prevention, care, and treatment services in the Thai Nguyen province.
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INTRODUCTION: A study was conducted in three districts in Hai Phong province, Vietnam to estimate the population size of the Female Sex Workers (FSW) in June-July 2019. METHODS: The procedures included selection of three districts, compilation of a list of accessible venues where FSW congregate, distribution of first unique objects (first capture) and second unique objects (second capture) to FSW in randomly selected venues and implementation of a Mini-Respondent Driven Sampling (mRDS) Survey (third capture). Population size of the FSW was calculated based on the number of FSW in each round, number of FSW 'recaptured' during the second and the third captures. Additionally, personal network size data captured in the mRDS was used to measure the population of FSW within the three districts using Successive Sampling Population Size Estimates (SS-PSE). RESULTS: The total estimated FSWs in the three selected districts, using Three Source Capture-Recapture (3S-CRC) was 958, which is slightly lower than that estimated using SS-PSE - 1192. The 3S-CRC method yielded a provincial estimate of 1911 while the SS-PSE method resulted in a total of 2379 FSW for the province. CONCLUSION: Two techniques produced different PSE at both the district and the province levels and resulted in estimates lower than ones produced using programmatic data. For planning HIV prevention and care service needs among all FSWs, additional studies are needed to estimate the number of sex workers who are not venue-based and use social media platforms to sell services.
