Effectiveness of a Smartphone-Based Stress Management Program for Depression in Hospital Nurses During COVID-19 in Vietnam and Thailand: 2-Arm Parallel-Group Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, health care professionals experienced high levels of depression. However, extant research has not highlighted effective internet-based psychological interventions to improve the mental health in this population during the pandemic. It remains unclear whether self-guided, internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) programs are effective in improving the mental health of health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a smartphone-based iCBT stress management program for reducing the depression experienced by nurses in Vietnam and Thailand. METHODS: From March to April 2022, a 2-arm, parallel-group randomized controlled trial was implemented. One arm offered a 7-week self-guided iCBT program, and the other offered treatment as usual as a control arm. Full-time nurses were recruited from 6 hospitals: 2 hospitals in Vietnam and 4 hospitals in Thailand. The primary outcome of this program was the severity of depression measured by the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 items. Follow-up surveys were conducted to measure the change in depression severity at 3 months (July-August 2022) and at 6 months (October-November 2022) after baseline. Mixed modeling for repeated measures was used to test the effects of the intervention compared with the control for the follow-up. RESULTS: A total of 1203 nurses were included in this study: 602 in the intervention group and 601 in the control group. The follow-up rate at 3 and 6 months ranged from 85.7% (515/601) to 87.5% (527/602). The completion rate for the program was 68.1% (410/602). The group difference in depression was significant at the 3-month follow-up (coefficient=-0.92, 95% CI -1.66 to -0.18; P=.02) and nonsignificant at the 6-month follow-up (coefficient=-0.33, 95% CI -1.11 to 0.45; P=.41). The estimated effect sizes were -0.15 and -0.06 at the 3- and 6-month follow-ups, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that the smartphone-based iCBT program was effective in reducing depression at the 3-month follow-up among hospital nurses in Vietnam and Thailand during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the effect size was small, and therefore, these results may not be clinically meaningful. TRIAL REGISTRATION: UMIN Clinical Trials Registry UMIN000044145; https://center6.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000050128. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): RR2-10.20944/preprints202303.0450.v1.

The prevalence of anxiety and related factors among primary and secondary school teachers in Hanoi, Vietnam, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

The working conditions for teachers in Vietnam were characterized by increased workload and pressure, burdening teachers' well-being. The study aims to investigate anxiety prevalence and identify some related factors among primary and secondary school teachers in Hanoi after the first COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. This paper analyzed data of 481 teachers working at ten primary and secondary schools in Hanoi city. Anxiety was measured using the anxiety component of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scale 42 items. Multivariable logistics regression was performed to examine anxiety-related factors using SPSS 20.0 at a significant level p less than 0.05. The prevalence of anxiety symptoms was 42.4% and similar between primary and secondary school teachers. More secondary teachers reported moderate to severe anxiety symptoms than primary teachers did (31.6% and 27.7%). Primary school teachers who felt discomfort with their supervisor's assessment, high responsibility for student safety, and ever thinking of leaving their current job were more likely to report anxiety symptoms (OR (95%CI) = 2.8 (1.2-6.5), 3.6 (1.0-12.8), and 2.6 (1.3-5.4), respectively). Meanwhile, the discomfort of caring for many students or problematic students, repetitive work, and disagreement with coworkers were risk factors of anxiety among secondary school teachers (OR (95%CI) = 2.6 (1.2-5.8), 3.2 (1.1-9.2), 3.4 (1.3-8.8), and 3.7 (1.1-12.6), respectively). In conclusion, the prevalence of teachers with anxiety symptoms is on the rise, caused by the characteristics of the job and professional relationships. Tailored support for teachers in different grades is necessary to improve and prevent teachers' anxiety.

Psychometric properties and factor structure of the Vietnamese Copenhagen Burnout Inventory.

OBJECTIVES: This article examines the validity and reliability of the Vietnamese version of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI-V) among hospital nurses in Vietnam in 2022. METHODS: This article examined data from 587 nurses in two city hospitals in Vietnam in 2022. The reliability was determined via internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient) and test-retest reliability (Intraclass correlation coefficient). Factorial and construct validity of CBI-V were explored with confirmation factor analysis (CFA), exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and correlations with other mental health outcomes (measured by the depression, anxiety, and stress scale), job performance (Work Health Performance Questionnaires), work engagement (Utrecht work engagement), and quality of life (EQ-5D-5L). Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 20.0 and AMOS 20.0. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha coefficients of CBI-V's three subscales showed good internal consistency (from 0.87 to 0.91). CFA showed a good fit of the three-factor model with the current data. EFA results showed that all items were loaded in accordance with the CBI's original three constructs, excluding work burnout item 7, forming the fourth factor with a single item. All of CBI-V's three subscales correlated with other constructs in expected directions. CONCLUSION: The CBI-V showed good validity and reliability among hospital nurses. It can be a reliable tool to measure burnout among nurses in a low- and middle-income country in Vietnam during such a crisis as COVID-19. Future studies should examine the construct of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory in different occupation groups.

Psychological stress and associated factors among municipal solid waste collectors in Hanoi, Vietnam: A cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: In low and middle-income countries, the manually operated municipal waste collection system prominently depended on the performance of waste collectors (WC). Most of the literature has focused on the impact of waste collection tasks on WCs' physical health, while little was known about the psychological effects of work-related stress. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of psychological stress and related factors among waste collectors in Hanoi, Vietnam. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 802 WCs in 2017. The questionnaire included the 7-item Stress component of the 21-item Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale, and questions on demographics and work conditions. Descriptive and multivariate logistics regression analyses were conducted to examine the factors related to psychological stress among WCs. RESULTS: Results showed that 13.4% of WCs reported stress symptoms; among them, 3.3% of WCs experienced severe stress. Factors related to lower odds of self-reported psychological stress included self-perceived frequent exposure to high and low temperatures in the working environment (OR = 0.51 and 0.52, respectively). Factors associated with the increased likelihood of symptoms included frequent exposure to hot/flammable objects (OR = 2.41), working a night shift in the last three months (OR = 1.82), education lever lower than high school (OR = 1.82), and having an insufficient monthly income (OR = 1.99). CONCLUSION: The high percentage of workers with severe stress implies the need for mental health prevention and treatment for WCs who participated in this study.