'I do want to ask, but I can't speak': a qualitative study of ethnic minority women's experiences of communicating with primary health care professionals in remote, rural Vietnam.

BACKGROUND: Ethnic minority groups in Vietnam experience economic, social and health inequalities. There are significant disparities in health service utilisation, and cultural, interpersonal and communication barriers impact on quality of care. Eighty per cent of the population of Dien Bien Province belongs to an ethnic minority group, and poor communication between health professionals and ethnic minority women in the maternal health context is a concern for health officials and community leaders. This study explores how ethnic minority women experience communication with primary care health professionals in the maternal and child health setting, with an overall aim to develop strategies to improve health professionals' communication with ethnic minority communities. METHODS: We used a qualitative focused ethnographic approach and conducted focus group discussions with 37 Thai and Hmong ethnic minority women (currently pregnant or mothers of children under five) in Dien Bien Province. We conducted a thematic analysis. RESULTS: Ethnic minority women generally reported that health professionals delivered health information in a didactic, one-way style, and there was a reliance on written information (Maternal and Child Health handbook) in place of interpersonal communication. The health information they receive (both verbal and written) was often non-specific, and not context-adjusted for their personal circumstances. Women were therefore required to take a more active role in interpersonal interactions in order to meet their own specific information needs, but they are then faced with other challenges including language and gender differences with health professionals, time constraints, and a reluctance to ask questions. These factors resulted in women interpreting health information in diverse ways, which in turn appeared to impact their health behaviours. CONCLUSIONS: Fostering two-way communication and patient-centred attitudes among health professionals could help to improve their communication with ethnic minority women. Communication training for health professionals could be included along with the nationwide implementation of written information to improve communication.

Assessment of the fear of COVID-19 and its impact on lung cancer screening participation among the Korean general population.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to assess the fear of COVID-19 and how much it affected the behaviors of the general population towards cancer screening. METHODS: The Korean National Cancer Screening Survey is an annual population-based, cross-sectional survey to investigate cancer screening rates of five major malignancies. We extracted data on 3,557 cancer-free respondents aged ≥40 years in 2020, including sociodemographic characteristics, comorbidities, family history of cancer, self-perceived general health status, attitudes towards screening, and fear of COVID-19 compared with lung cancer. We collected information on health check-ups participation including cancer screening with or without schedule during the pandemic and analyzed the participation rate according to the degree of fear of COVID-19. RESULTS: Among 3,557 respondents, 1,066 (29.97%) people were more worried by COVID-19 than by lung cancer. 2,392 (67.25%) did not participate in health check-ups, of which 573 (24.0%) had a schedule for health check-ups but did not receive. We observed a significant increase (P<0.05) in the proportion of non-participation with schedule when the fear of COVID-19 exceeds lung cancer. In multivariate logistic analysis, the respondents with more fear of COVID-19 compared with lung cancer showed decreased likelihood of attendance in health check-ups (OR, 0.84; 95% CI: 0.71-0.98). CONCLUSIONS: A considerable proportion of the general population perceived more fear of COVID-19 than lung cancer, which significantly hampered their engagement in regular medical check-ups including cancer screening. This finding highlights the need for providing appropriate information to the target population of lung cancer screening to minimize disruption in cancer prevention activities.