Prevalence of depressive disorders in a primary care setting in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: A cross-sectional epidemiological study.

OBJECTIVE: This research was conducted to identify the prevalence and associated factors of depressive disorders, as well as evaluate the recognition rate of general practitioners in detecting these mental health issues in primary care. METHOD: Five hundred and twelve participants (55.3% female, mean age = 46.35 years) were assessed by psychiatrists based on the DSM-5 clinical procedures over a two-month survey in a primary care facility in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. RESULTS: There were 15.8% (95% confidence interval [CI] 12.9-19.2) of the population having depressive disorders, with major depressive disorder being the most prevalent subtype at 8% (95% CI 5.9-10.6). General practitioners could detect depressive disorders in 2.5% of all cases (95% CI .5-7.7). Significantly linked with depressive disorders in multivariable analysis were Chinese ethnic or other minority races (adjusted odds ratios [aOR] = 4.10, 95% CI 1.04-16.12), and low economic status (aOR = 5.41, 95% CI 1.29-22.59). CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence of depressive disorders in outpatients of primary care clinics may raise the awareness of the practitioners about screening and other appropriate actions to tackle the issue.

H2 S Dosimetry by CuO: Towards Stable Sensors by Unravelling the Underlying Solid-State Chemistry.

The precise detection of the toxic gas H2 S requires reliable sensitivity and specificity of sensors even at minute concentrations of as low as 10 ppm, the value corresponding to typical exposure limits. CuO can be used for H2 S dosimetry, based on the formation of conductive CuS and the concomitant significant increase in conductance. In theory, at elevated temperature the reaction is reversed and CuO is formed, ideally enabling repeated and long-term use of one sensor. Yet, the performance of CuO tends to drop upon cycling. Utilizing defined CuO nanorods we thoroughly elucidated the associated detrimental chemical changes directly on the sensors, by Raman and electron microscopy analysis of each step during sensing (CuO→CuS) and regeneration (CuS→CuO) cycles. We find the decrease in the sensing performance is mainly caused by the irreversible formation of CuSO4 during regeneration. The findings allowed us to develop strategies to reduce CuSO4 formation and thus to substantially maintain the sensing stability even for repeated cycles. We achieved CuO-based dosimeters possessing a response time of a few minutes only, even for 10 ppm H2 S, and prolonged life-time.