Risk Factors of Preterm Delivery in the Lao PDR: Hospital-Based Matched Case-Control Study.

Objective: To describe the risk factors among mothers in four central hospitals and two provincial hospitals in the Lao PDR, a lower-middle-income country in Southeast Asia.

Method: The study used a hospital-based matched case-control design study. Purposive sampling was used to select 320 mothers (80 cases and 240 controls) from the six hospitals.

Comparison of Nutrient Intake in Lao PDR by the Korean CAN-Pro and Thailand INMUCAL Analysis Programs.

A computer-based nutritional analysis program can help to identify the nutritional status of people and provide information for nutritional counseling, nutrition education, diet planning, and menu development. Although computer-based nutritional analysis has been conducted since the 1960s in developed countries, in developing countries nutritional analysis programs either do not exist or need improving. This study tests two analysis programs developed by different countries to compare the nutrition status data calculated by two different analysts to highlight the importance of developing an appropriate nutrition analysis tool.

Pregnancy health literacy among teenagers in Kaysone district, Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR.

Background: Pregnancy health literacy (PHL) among teenagers is considered a major protective factor for teenage pregnancy. In Lao PDR, 18% of girls aged 15-19 have begun childbearing and 15% of maternal deaths occur to teenage girls, particularly in rural areas.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe PHL and its related factors among teenagers in Kaysone district.

Perceptions and understandings of pregnancy, antenatal care and postpartum care among rural Lao women and their families.

Background: Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) has the highest maternal mortality rate (MMR) and infant mortality rate (IMR) due to traditional practice and beliefs on pregnancy, delivery and postpartum. The objective of this study was to get a better understanding of cultural beliefs and practices surrounding pregnancy, ANC and postpartum care among rural women in Lao PDR.

Methods: Eight focus group discussions and 52 interviews were carried out with delivered women, husbands, mothers, traditional birth attendants, head villagers, Lao Women's Union members and healthcare workers, in Khammouane and Champasack provinces in Lao PDR.

Perceptions and acceptability of pictorial health warning labels vs text only--a cross-sectional study in Lao PDR.

Background: In Lao PDR, health warnings were first introduced with printed warning messages on the side of the cigarette package in 1993 and again in 2004. Lao PDR same year ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) but has not yet implemented pictorial health warnings. This paper aims to examine the perception and opinion of policymakers on "text-only" and "pictorial" health warnings and to understand lay people's perceptions on current health warnings and their opinions on the recommended types of health warnings.

Data verification at health centers and district health offices in Xiengkhouang and Houaphanh Provinces, Lao PDR.

Background: Routine health information is an essential health system building block. In low and low-middle income countries however, concerns about the quality of routine administrative data have often undermined their use. The purpose of the present study was to verify the data availability, and consistency of six key maternal and child health indicators (first antenatal care, fourth antenatal care, skilled birth attendants, postnatal care, 'Bacillus Calmette Guerin and diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus third dose).

Predictors of premarital sexual activity among unmarried youth in Vientiane, Lao PDR: the role of parent-youth interactions and peer influence.

Research indicates that adolescents in low-income countries have an early sexual debut and engage in risky sexual behaviours. Few studies in low-income countries however, have explored the factors that influence young people's sexual behaviours. This study examined individual, family and peer-level factors associated with premarital sexual behaviours in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR).

Cross-sectional survey: smoking among medical, pharmacy, dental and nursing students, University of Health Sciences, Lao PDR.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of and attitudes to smoking among third year medical, pharmacy, dentistry and nursing students in Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR).

Design: A cross-sectional survey conducted among third year university level, health professional students. The survey used a self-administered questionnaire which was originally developed by WHO, and modified to suit the setting.

Adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) among people living with HIV (PLHIV): a cross-sectional survey to measure in Lao PDR.

Rationale: Since 2001, antiretroviral therapy (ART) for people living with HIV (PLHIV) has been available in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR). A key factor in the effectiveness of ART is good adherence to the prescribed regimen for both individual well-being and public health. Poor adherence can contribute to the emergence of drug resistant strains of the virus and transmission during risky behaviors.

Awareness and attitudes towards emergency contraceptive pills among young people in the entertainment places, Vientiane City, Lao PDR.

Background: Emergency Contraception is not officially available to the public sector in Laos. The potential of emergency contraception to prevent unwanted pregnancies is well documented in developed countries, but in Laos no studies of ECPs exist. This study aimed to assess knowledge of and attitudes towards emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) in Vientiane, the capital city of the Lao PDR.

Health policymakers' knowledge and opinions of physicians smoking and tobacco policy control in Lao PDR.

Background: In 2007, a regulation on smoke-free health facilities and institutions was adopted by the Lao government. Little is known about health policymakers' knowledge and opinions regarding tobacco policy control, including physicians' behaviour. This paper aims to describe the knowledge of Lao health policymakers and their opinions regarding physicians tobacco use and national smoking policy control.

Reasons rural Laotians choose home deliveries over delivery at health facilities: a qualitative study.

Background: Maternal mortality among poor rural women in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) is among the highest in Southeast Asia, in part because only 15% give birth at health facilities. This study explored why women and their families prefer home deliveries to deliveries at health facilities.

Methods: A qualitative study was conducted from December 2008 to February 2009 in two provinces of Lao PDR.

Defining and redefining harm reduction in the Lao context.

The response to drug use in Laos has focused on reducing opium supply (supply reduction) and rates of drug use (demand reduction). However, recently there is increased interest among government counterparts to discuss and develop broader responses to injecting drug use (IDU) including the introduction of harm reduction programs. The concept of harm reduction has just been introduced to Lao PDR and as yet there is no agreement on a definition of the concept.

Smoking among Lao medical doctors: challenges and opportunities for tobacco control.

Background: Smoking is an increasing threat to health in low-income and middle-income countries and doctors are recognised as important role models in anti-smoking campaigns.

Objectives: The study aimed to identify the smoking prevalence of medical doctors in Laos, their tobacco-related knowledge and attitudes, and their involvement in and capacity for tobacco prevention and control efforts.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional national survey by a researcher-administered, face-to-face questionnaire implemented at provincial health facilities throughout the central (including national capital), northern and southern regions of Laos in 2007.

Policy maker and provider knowledge and attitudes regarding the provision of emergency contraceptive pills within Lao PDR.

Background: The Ministry of Health (MOH) launched the National Reproductive Health Policy in 2005, which included recommendations regarding the use of emergency contraceptive pills (ECP). However, ECP have not yet been introduced officially in the public sector of the Lao PDR. Thus, their availability is limited.

Smoking prevalence, determinants, knowledge, attitudes and habits among Buddhist monks in Lao PDR.

Background: This cross-sectional study, the first of its kind, uses baseline data on smoking prevalence among Buddhist monks in Northern and Central provinces of Lao PDR.

Findings: Between March and September 2006, 390 monks were interviewed, using questionnaires, to assess smoking prevalence including determinants, knowledge and attitudes. Data entry was performed with Epi-Info (version 6.

A model for improving physician performance in developing countries: a three-year postgraduate training program in Laos.

The Faculty of Medical Sciences of the National University of Laos, in partnership with Health Frontiers, an American nonprofit organization, Case Western Reserve University of Cleveland, Ohio, and Khon Kaen University of Khon Kaen, Thailand, administer a postgraduate internal medicine training program for Lao physicians. Begun in 2001, the program admits six participants per year; participants complete clinical rotations in three hospitals in Vientiane, Laos, as well as one other clinical site. The goal of the program is to prepare a core group of local physicians to deliver healthcare, and train others according to an international standard of care.