Cooking temperature, heat-generated carcinogens, and the risk of stomach and colorectal cancers.

Background: Food change due to cooking temperature and unrecognized heat-formed chemical carcinogens may impact on the risk of stomach and colo-rectal cancers. To test this hypothesis a case-control study was performed.

Methods: A total of 670 cases of stomach and colo-rectal cancers matched with 672 hospital controls for sex and -/+5 years age admitted to three hospitals in Hanoi city in the North Viet Nam from October 2006 to September 2007 were the subjects.

Development of a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire for dietary studies--focus on vitamin C intake.

The present work aimed to provide a basis for examination of intake of selected food items determined with a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (SQFFQ) and planned-food selection (PFS). From February to July of 2003, ninety one cancer patients and 90 matched (same sex and age within 5 years) non-cancer patients were directly interviewed by trained interviewers using the designed questionnaire at the inpatient-department of Viet Duc hospital, Ha Noi City, Viet Nam. Study subjects consumed more SQFFQ-food items than PFS-food items, so that the latter method might not accurately reflect dietary habits regarding estimation of nutrient intake, especially vitamins.

Gastric and colo-rectal cancer mortality in Viet Nam in the years 2005-2006.

Background: The International Collaborative Epidemiological Study of Host and Environmental Factors for Stomach and Colorectal Cancers in Southeast Asian Countries (SEACs) has been conducted in Viet Nam from 2003 to 2008 on a case-control basis. For further effective primary prevention, we examined gastric and colorectal cancer mortality nationwide in eight regions of Viet Nam in 2005-06.

Methods: Both demographic data and lists of all deaths in 2005-06 were obtained from all 10,769 commune health stations in Viet Nam.

Burden of premature mortality in rural Vietnam from 1999-2003: analyses from a Demographic Surveillance Site.

Background: Assessing the burden of disease contributes towards evidence-based allocation of limited health resources. However, such measures are not yet commonly available in Vietnam. Taking advantage of the FilaBavi Demographic Surveillance Site (FilaBavi DSS) in Vietnam, this study aimed to establish the feasibility of applying the Years of Life Lost (YLL) technique in the context of a defined DSS, and to estimate the importance of the principal causes of premature mortality in a rural area of Vietnam between 1999 and 2003.

Socio-economic status inequality and major causes of death in adults: a 5-year follow-up study in rural Vietnam.

Objectives: This study aimed to analyse the associations between cause-specific mortality in adults (aged 20 years and above) and socio-economic status (SES) in a rural setting of Vietnam during a time of economic transition.

Study Design: The study was carried out as part of the FilaBavi demographic surveillance system, with a dynamic cohort of 50,000 inhabitants from January 1999 to December 2003.

Methods: Causes of death in the adult population were derived using verbal autopsy.

Refining a probabilistic model for interpreting verbal autopsy data.

Objective: To build on the previously reported development of a Bayesian probabilistic model for interpreting verbal autopsy (VA) data, attempting to improve the model's performance in determining cause of death and to reassess it.

Design: An expert group of clinicians, coming from a wide range geographically and in terms of specialization, was convened. Over a four-day period the content of the previous probabilistic model was reviewed in detail and adjusted as necessary to reflect the group consensus.