Quality of life measurement alteration among Vietnamese: Impact and treatment benefit related to eczema.

OBJECTIVE: Health-related quality of life is an important factor when assessing the impairment of a disease and the benefit of treatment, especially eczema-a chronic dermatologic condition. The objective of this study is to express the distinction between quality of life and clinical characteristics of Vietnamese eczema patients pre- and posttreatment by using repeated measurement. METHODS: A before-and-after, prevalence-based study was conducted with a minimum sample size of 132 patients in a dermatology hospital in southern Vietnam. Two domains of SCORAD were applied to demonstrate clinical characteristics while DLQI and EQ-5D-5L were used to identify the impact on patients' quality of life. The difference and correlation between variables were used to express the benefit of treatment through the bootstrapping method, the Spearman test, and multivariable regression. RESULTS: A total of 136 respondents were eligible for this study design, with an average age of 36.9}15.9. The effect of eczema on participants' quality of life was demonstrated through a DLQI mean score of 7.0 (6.2-7.8). There was a correlation between clinical factors, DLQI, and EQ-5D results (p-value < 0.01). After the post-treatment evaluation, the DLQI score decreased by 3.7 points, and a multivariable model reflected the effect levels of symptoms on patient improvement. CONCLUSIONS: Eczema led to a negative effect on patients in many aspects of their lives. Reducing subjective symptoms significantly enhances the quality of life of eczema patients.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices among university students in relation to dengue fever: A multi-center study across Vietnamese regions.

OBJECTIVE: Dengue fever (DF) is a serious illness worldwide that can spread rapidly and become a dangerous epidemic. Vietnam is an endemic country affected by the health and economic burden of dengue. This study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to DF among university students across Vietnam. METHODS: A student-based cross-sectional study was performed with a structured questionnaire in Vietnam between July and September 2018. A Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were used to compare different issues between two student groups, including medical and non-medical student, and P-values of <0.05 were considered significant. RESULTS: A total of 1,542 students from universities in Vietnam responded to the survey, which was reflective of 315 medical students learning in public schools, 689 medical students learning in private schools, and 538 non-medical students. The majority of participants had good knowledge on the transmission of DF, good attitudes toward DF, and good practices to prevent the disease. Medical students had better knowledge of the signs and symptoms than non-medical students. However, both student groups' knowledge of signs and symptoms was low. CONCLUSIONS: Quality of education is a key determinant of the knowledge of the disease, as well as of attitudes and practices. This study supported the government's implementation of intervention projects and DF prevention campaigns and its positive participation in the community.

Quality of Work Life in Healthcare: A Comparison of Medical Representatives and Hospital Pharmacists.

This study aims to access the quality of work-life and characteristics between medical representatives and hospital pharmacists to understand the current QWL status among these health workers. This research was led with a cross-sectional design conducted with a survey using the work-related quality of life scale-2. There were 296 medical representatives and 344 hospital pharmacists participating in this study. The results showed that medical representatives had better QWL scores than hospital pharmacists. This study suggests that governments and the international community should invest in workplace programs for pharmacists that improve their QWL.

Detection and genotyping of bovine leukemia virus (BLV) in Vietnamese cattle.

Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) belongs to the genus, Deltaretrovirus of the family, Retroviridae and it is the causative agent of enzootic bovine leukosis. The prevalence of BLV in three provinces in the Red River Delta Region in the North of Vietnam, Hanoi, Vinhphuc and Bacninh was studied from April 2017 to June 2018. A total of 275 blood samples collected from cattle were used for serum isolation and DNA extraction. Of these samples, 266 sera were subjected to ELISA test for detecting antibody against BLV gp51 protein and 152 DNA samples were used to detect the 444 bp fragment corresponding to a part of the gp51 region of the env by nested PCR. The results showed that 16.5% (n=44) and 21.1% (n=32) of samples were positive for BLV gp51 antibody and BLV proviral DNA, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of the partial (423 bp) and complete (913 bp) BLV env-gp51 gene indicated that Vietnamese strains were clustered into genotypes 1, 6 and 10 (G1, G6 and G10). Of those genotypes, G1 genotype was dominant; G6 strains were designated as G6e and G6f subgenotypes; the existence of genotype 10 was confirmed for the first time in Vietnam. The present study provides important information regarding the prevalence of BLV infection and genetic characteristics of BLV strains identified in Vietnam, contributing to promote the establishment of disease control and eradication strategies in Vietnam.