Alcohol Consumption and Binge Drinking Among Adult Population: Evidence From the CHILILAB Health and Demographic Surveillance System in Vietnam.

CONTEXT: Alcohol contributes to severe social and health problems and is a major risk factor for noncommunicable diseases in Vietnam. Over the years, there has been an increase in consumption per capita as well as a rapid expansion of commercially prepared alcohol. OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of alcohol consumption and binge drinking in a random sample of people 15 years of age and older living in Chi Linh who were also a part of the Chi Linh Health and Demographic Surveillance System (CHILILAB HDSS) and to determine the association between alcohol use and sociodemographic characteristics. DESIGN: Data on alcohol consumption of 5438 people 15 years of age and older were extracted from the CHILILAB HDSS information collected in 2016. Descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression were utilized to assess the association between current drinkers and binge drinkers with socioeconomic groups. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of alcohol use 1 month prior to interview was 41.1%, which is composed of 75.1% males and 17.3% females. Among the 41% of alcohol drinkers, 31.7% reported binge drinking over the last 30 days. The proportion of binge drinking was also found to be higher among males than among females. The association between current drinkers, binge drinkers and gender, area of residence, education, and family income level was statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms that alcohol use among current and binge drinkers is common among males in Vietnam and that it is also a rising issue among females. Alcohol use is also associated with sociodemographic factors and income level. The results of this study provide evidence of harmful alcohol use among the Vietnamese population, which could help policy makers further advocate for the approval of the Vietnamese alcohol harm reduction law in the coming years. The results of this study reaffirm the need for public health strategies, including the formulation of laws and policies to reduce the harmful effects of alcohol consumption in Vietnam.

Community-Based Screening for Cervical Cancer Using Visual Inspection With Acetic Acid: Results and Lessons Learned From a Pilot Study in Vietnam.

CONTEXT: Vietnam still applies the opportunistic cytology-based screening model, which failed to have an impact on the increasing burden of cervical cancer in Vietnam. OBJECTIVES: To pilot a community-based screening model for cervical cancer using visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) in Vietnam by training midwife and assistant physician working at grassroots level of health care system. DESIGN: The study employed a pre-experimental design. SETTING: Cases from 2 provinces of Vietnam. PARTICIPANTS: The study trained 36 assistant physicians/midwives working at commune health centers to do VIA screening for cervical cancer and provided screening services for 1945 women 30 to 65 years of age. INTERVENTION: The pilot intervention had 2 aims: train health care workers to do VIA screening and assess the quality of screening services provided by the trained staffs by examining the diagnostics value of VIA. RESULTS: All selected health care workers were able to perform VIA screening method after training. Their VIA services had high diagnostic value: positive predicted value of 11.5% and negative predicted value of 99%; for the detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 2, the sensitivity of VIA is 100%, specificity of 67.0%, positive predicted value of 5.7%, and negative predicted value of 100%; for the detection of CIN 3, the sensitivity of VIA is 100%, specificity of 66.5%, positive predicted value of 3.8%, and negative predicted value of 100%. The diagnostic value of VIA is comparable with Papanicolaou test but requires far fewer resources and suitable with community-based setting. CONCLUSION: Local midwives and assistant physicians who currently work at commune health centers and district health centers can be trained to do VIA efficiently. Regarding to implications for policy and practice, VIA can offer significant advantages over Papanicolaou test in low-resource settings like Vietnam, particularly in terms of increased screening coverage, improved follow-up care, and overall program quality.