Stigma experienced by people living with HIV who are on methadone maintenance treatment and have symptoms of common mental disorders in Hanoi, Vietnam: a qualitative study

Background: Stigma around human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), injection drug use (IDU), and mental health disorders can be co-occurring and have different impacts on the well-being of people living with HIV (PWH) who use drugs and have mental health disorders. This stigma can come from society, health professionals, and internalized stigma. A person who has more than one health condition can experience overlapping health-related stigma and levels of stigma which can prevent them from receiving necessary support and healthcare, serving to intensify their experience with stigma. This study investigates HIV, drug use, and mental health stigmas in three dimensions (social, internalized, and professional) around PWH on methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) who have common mental disorders (CMDs) including depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders in Hanoi, Vietnam.Please check and confirm whether corresponding author's email id is correctly identified.The cooresponding author's email is correct Methods: We conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews (IDIs) (n = 21) and two focus group discussions (FGDs) (n = 10) with PWH receiving MMT who have CMD symptoms, their family members, clinic health care providers, and clinic directors. We applied thematic analysis using NVIVO software version 12.0, with themes based on IDI and FGD guides and emergent themes from interview transcripts. Results: The study found evidence of different stigmas towards HIV, IDU, and CMDs from the community, family, health care providers, and participants themselves. Community and family members were physically and emotionally distant from patients due to societal stigma around illicit drug use and fears of acquiring HIV. Participants often conflated stigmas around drug use and HIV, referring to these stigmas interchangeably. The internalized stigma around having HIV and injecting drugs made PWH on MMT hesitant to seek support for CMDs. These stigmas compounded to negatively impact participants’ health. Conclusions: Strategies to reduce stigma affecting PWH on MMT should concurrently address stigmas around HIV, drug addiction, and mental health. Future studies could explore approaches to address internalized stigma to improve self-esteem, mental health, and capacities to cope with stigma for PWH on MMT. Trial registration: NCT04790201, available at clinicaltrials.gov

Words Matter? Gender Disparities in Speeches, Evaluation and Competitive Performance

This dissertation consists of three main chapters exploring gender disparities in persuasion tactics, competitive performance, and evaluation patterns in the context of high-profile debate tournaments. The first chapter examines gender disparities in persuasion tactics and evaluation patterns in debate speech transcripts. The second chapter investigates the causal impact of the gender composition of committees on the success chances of female contestants. The final main chapter explores whether the gender of opponents causally affects the competitive performance of participants

Mangrove forest landcover changes in coastal Vietnam: A case study from 1973 to 2020 in Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces

Mangrove forests can ameliorate the impacts of typhoons and storms, but their extent is threatened by coastal development. The northern coast of Vietnam is especially vulnerable as typhoons frequently hit it during the monsoon season. However, temporal change information in mangrove cover distribution in this region is incomplete. Therefore, this study was undertaken to detect change in the spatial distribution of mangroves in Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces and identify reasons for the cover change. Landsat satellite images from 1973 to 2020 were analyzed using the NDVI method combined with visual interpretation to detect mangrove area change. Six LULC classes were categorized: mangrove forest, other forests, aquaculture, other land use, mudflat, and water. The mangrove cover in Nghe An province was estimated to be 66.5 ha in 1973 and increased to 323.0 ha in 2020. Mangrove cover in Thanh Hoa province was 366.1 ha in 1973, decreased to 61.7 ha in 1995, and rose to 791.1 ha in 2020. Aquaculture was the main reason for the loss of mangroves in both provinces. Overall, the percentage of mangrove loss from aquaculture was 42.5% for Nghe An province and 60.1% for Thanh Hoa province. Mangrove restoration efforts have contributed significantly to mangrove cover, with more than 1300 ha being planted by 2020. This study reveals that improving mangrove restoration success remains a challenge for these provinces, and further refinement of engineering techniques is needed to improve restoration outcomes

Frailty prevalence and association with health-related quality of life impairment among rural community-dwelling older adults in Vietnam

10.3390/ijerph16203869International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1620386

Depressive symptoms among elderly diabetic patients in Vietnam

10.2147/DMSO.S179071Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy11659-66

Assessment of nutritional status in older diabetic outpatients and related factors in Hanoi, Vietnam

10.2147/JMDH.S194155Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare12601-60

Health-related quality of life in elderly diabetic outpatients in Vietnam

10.2147/PPA.S162892Patient Preference and Adherence121347-135

Adopting open access in an emerging country: Is gender inequality a barrier in humanities and social sciences?

The participation of women in Vietnam's social sciences and humanities research has increased during the last several decades. However, they still face various challenges, such as the 'glass ceiling', social stereotypes, low recognition, and underrepresentation. The open-access (OA) movement, being advocated for connecting science and community and improving scientists' visibility, offers a viable platform to increase participation of female researchers. This research investigated participation of Vietnamese women in 3,122 Social Sciences & Humanities publications during 2008–2019. Results show a rapid increase in female authors during the period, rising from 47.27% to 71.43% of articles having one or more Vietnamese female author. However, the number of women as first authors remained lower than men, with only 397 publications having a female first author. Bayesian analysis showed that although the number of coauthors was positively associated with the likelihood to publish in an OA journal, there was a negative association between Vietnamese female author participation and the likelihood to publish OA, a finding that matched the effect of female contribution from other countries. These findings hint at the gender inequality induced by cultural and socio-economic factors, and we postulate that the influence of financial and other inequalities may limit the ability of women to take full advantage of OA publication to further their careers.SCOPUS: ar.jDecretOANoAutActifinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe