Professionally applied fluorides for preventing and arresting dental caries in low- and middle-income countries: Systematic review.

Objectives: This systematic review aimed to review the safety and effectiveness of professionally applied fluorides for preventing and arresting dental caries in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Methods: Randomized controlled trials conducted in LMICs, in which professionally applied fluorides were compared with placebo/no treatment/health education only or usual care with a minimum one-year follow-up period, were included. Any topically applied fluoride agents such as sodium fluoride (NaF), acidulated phosphate fluoride, silver diamine fluoride (SDF), and nano silver fluoride (NSF) were included.

Esophageal Mucosal Admittance: A New Technique to Diagnose Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease - Is It Feasible?

Purpose: Esophageal mucosal admittance (MA) is a promising diagnostic method for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). We conducted a study to describe the esophageal MA in patients with reflux symptoms and determine its diagnostic accuracy.

Patients And Methods: We recruited 92 patients with ambulatory pH-impedance monitoring, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, and MA measured by the tissue conductance meter.

Multilevel Analysis of 24-Hour Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, and Associated Factors among Police Officers in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Background: Due to long-hour outdoor working environment, policemen have been subjected to tremendous health risks including blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR). In tropical countries, the temperature is extremely harsh which may get peak at above 40 Celsius degrees or drops under 8 Celsius degrees. However, the existing data on the effects of weather variation on BP and HR among police task force has been scarce in Vietnam.

Timely immunization completion among children in Vietnam from 2000 to 2011: a multilevel analysis of individual and contextual factors.

Background: Since the beginning of 2014, there have been nearly 6,000 confirmed measles cases in northern Vietnam. Of these, more than 86% had neither been immunized nor was their vaccination status confirmed.

Objective: To establish the likelihood that children under five in Vietnam had 'timely immunization completion' (2000-2011) and identify factors that account for variations in timely immunization completion.

Establishing smoke-free hospitals in Vietnam: a pilot project.

In Vietnam, a pilot 'smoke-free hospital' model was implemented in nine hospitals in 2009-2010 to supply lessons learned that would facilitate a replication of this model elsewhere. This study aimed to assess smoking patterns among health professionals and to detect levels of second-hand smoke (SHS) exposure within hospital premises before and after the 'smoke-free hospital' model implementation. A pre- and post-intervention cross-sectional study was conducted in nine purposively selected hospitals.

Epidemiology of dengue fever in Hanoi from 2002 to 2010 and its meteorological determinants.

Background: Dengue fever (DF) is a growing public health problem in Vietnam. The disease burden in Vietnam has been increasing for decades. In Hanoi, in contrast to many other regions, extrinsic drivers such as weather have not been proved to be predictive of disease frequency, which limits the usefulness of such factors in an early warning system.

Influenza-like illness in a Vietnamese province: epidemiology in correlation with weather factors and determinants from the surveillance system.

Background: Seasonal influenza affects from 5 to 15% of the world's population annually and causes an estimated 250,000-500,000 deaths worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends 'sentinel surveillance' for influenza-like illness (ILI) because it is simple and calls for standardized methods at a relatively low cost that can be implemented throughout the world. In Vietnam, ILI is a key priority for public health also because of its annually recurring temporal pattern.

Knowledge of the health consequences of tobacco smoking: a cross-sectional survey of Vietnamese adults.

Background: Although substantial efforts have been made to curtail smoking in Vietnam, the 2010 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) revealed that the proportion of male adults currently smoking remains high at 47.4%.

Objectives: To determine the level of, and characteristics associated with, knowledge of the health consequences of smoking among Vietnamese adults.

Attitudes toward nonsmoking policies and tobacco tax increases: a cross-sectional study among Vietnamese adults.

Following the 2009 update of the 2005 Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Vietnam issued a new policy to ban smoking at workplaces and public places. This cross-sectional survey explored public attitudes toward this new regulation and provides evidence to inform future laws. Using stratified cluster sampling, 10 383 Vietnamese people older than 15 years were drawn from 11 142 selected households.

Social contexts of risk behaviors for HIV among male, unskilled, unregistered laborers in urban Vietnam.

In Vietnam there has been relatively little success in controlling the HIV epidemic, in part because the subpopulations most exposed to the virus are often difficult to engage in prevention research and programs. In this qualitative study we explored social contexts shaping HIV risk behaviors among Vietnamese men involved in unskilled, unregistered, and low-income labor in urban settings. Based on self-disclosed behaviors, it is clear that these men were at high risk of sexually transmitted infection (STI).

Smoking among Vietnamese medical students: prevalence, costs, and predictors.

This cross-sectional study investigated smoking patterns and predictors among Vietnamese medical students. In total, 4720 medical students from 3 universities, each located in South, Central, and North Vietnam, were interviewed using an adapted Global Youth Tobacco Survey Questionnaire. Ideas on smoking behavior and tobacco control derived from group discussions with students and from unstructured interviews with student managers and university directors.

Smoking among Vietnamese health professionals: knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and health care practice.

The study aimed to investigate smoking patterns and compare knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes, as well as explore predictors of smoking status among Vietnamese health professionals. A global survey questionnaire on tobacco use among health professionals by the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was adapted for data collection. Data from 2151 health workers from the 3 largest hospitals--each of which is located in South, Central, and North Vietnam, respectively--were collected using quantitative methods.