Alcohol Use, Risk Taking, Leisure Activities and Health Care Use Among Young People in Northern Vietnam

Alcohol consumption is associated with a wide range of health and social consequences. It is also associated with a number of risk taking behaviours. These include illicit drug use and unsafe sex.  Alcohol consumption appears to be increasing in Vietnam. The purpose of this paper is to examine the patterns of alcohol consumption and its relationship with a number of other risk taking behaviours amongst young people.  Information was also obtained concerning leisure activities and use of health care. The paper also sets out to examine possible gender differences in relation to alcohol consumption and risk behaviour and to propose the development and implementation of alcohol monitoring and prevention programs in Vietnam.  The study involved a cross-sectional, community survey using a standardised interview.  This was conducted during face-to-face interviews with 1,408 young people aged 10-19 years.  Respondents were recruited randomly through the lists of the households from 12 selected communes in three areas in Northern Vietnam. The findings presented here were part of a larger health risk behaviour survey.  Levels of alcohol use were low. Overall, 16.5% of participants were experienced drinkers, and only 4% of them were current drinkers. Males were significantly more likely than females to report drinking. This study also showed that rates of alcohol consumption were associated with age, education, geographical area, gender, tobacco smoking, involvement in violence, watching television, computer use and playing computer games, wearing safety helmets and use of health services. Alcohol consumption tended to increase with age for both males and females.  Alcohol and its effects on young people are clearly a growing public health issue in Vietnam.  Because of this, more detailed behavioral research should be conducted into the relationship between alcohol consumption and other risky behaviours amongst young people.  It is also recommended that alcohol harm reduction policies should be implemented and integrated into measures to reduce levels of other health problems such as HIV/AIDS and non communicable diseases. Such policies should ideally be evidence-based and evaluated

Insulin signaling and its application

The discovery of insulin in 1921 introduced a new branch of research into insulin activity and insulin resistance. Many discoveries in this field have been applied to diagnosing and treating diseases related to insulin resistance. In this mini-review, the authors attempt to synthesize the updated discoveries to unravel the related mechanisms and inform the development of novel applications. Firstly, we depict the insulin signaling pathway to explain the physiology of insulin action starting at the receptor sites of insulin and downstream the signaling of the insulin signaling pathway. Based on this, the next part will analyze the mechanisms of insulin resistance with two major provenances: the defects caused by receptors and the defects due to extra-receptor causes, but in this study, we focus on post-receptor causes. Finally, we discuss the recent applications including the diseases related to insulin resistance (obesity, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer) and the potential treatment of those based on insulin resistance mechanisms

Intimate partner violence against women in rural Vietnam - different socio-demographic factors are associated with different forms of violence: Need for new intervention guidelines?

Background: This population-based study investigated the different forms, magnitude and risk factors of men's violence against women in intimate relationships in a rural part of northern Vietnam and whether a difference in risk factors were at hand for the different forms of violence. Vietnam has undergone a rapid transition in the last 20 years, moving towards a more equal situation for men and women however, Confucian doctrine is still strong and little is known about men's violence against women within the Vietnamese family. Methods: This is a cross-sectional population-based study that used a questionnaire developed by the World Health Organisation for investigating women's health and violence against women in different settings. Face-to face structured interviewing was performed and 883 married women, aged 17 to 60 participated. Bi- and multivariate analyses was used for risk factor assessment. Results: The lifetime prevalence of physical violence was 30.9 percent and past year prevalence was 8.3 per cent, while the corresponding figures for physical and sexual violence combined was 32.7 and 9.2 percent. The lifetime prevalence was highest for psychological abuse ( 27.9 percent) as a single entity. In most cases the violence was of a severe nature and exercised as repeated acts over time. Woman's low educational level, husband's low education, low household income and the husband having more than one wife/partner were risk factors for lifetime and past year physical/sexual violence. The pattern of factors associated with psychological abuse alone was however different. Husband's low professional status and women's intermediate level of education appeared as risk factors. Conclusion: Men's violence against women in intimate relationships is commonly occurring in rural Vietnam. There is an obvious need of preventive and treatment activities. Our findings point at that pure psychological abuse is different from physical/sexual violence in terms of differing characteristics of the perpetrators and it might be that also different strategies are needed to reduce and prevent this violence

Intimate partner violence against women in rural Vietnam : Prevalance, risk factors, health effects and suggestions for interventions

Background: Vietnam has undergone a rapid transition in the past 20 years, moving towards a more equal situation for men and women. However, Confucian doctrine is still strong and little is known about men s violence against women within the Vietnamese family. Aim: To improve knowledge of intimate partner violence (IPV) in a Vietnamese context, by focusing on professionals and trusted community inhabitants explanations of the violence and their suggestions for preventive activities. Further, to present data on prevalence, risk factors and health effects and to suggest appropriate intervention and prevention activities. Method: Qualitative and quantitative data were collected in the rural district, Ba Vi in northern Vietnam in 2002. Five focus group discussions were held and face-to-face interviews following a questionnaire developed by WHO for violence research were performed. In the epidemiological part, 883 married/partnered women aged 17 60 were included. Bi- and multivariate analyses were undertaken, with effect modification analyses and calculation of attributable fractions and population attributable fractions. Main findings: In the explorative qualitative study, intimate partner violence was explained as interplay between individual and family-related factors and socio-cultural norms and practices where Confucian ideology exerted a strong influence (paper I). It further revealed that IPV was rarely discussed openly in the community and women subjected to violence kept silent. The epidemiological study revealed that out of the 883 married/partnered women, 30.9% had been subjected to physical violence in their lifetime, and 8.3% in the preceding year. For the combined exposure to physical and sexual violence, the corresponding figures were 32.7% and 9.2%. The most commonly occurring form was psychological abuse (lifetime 55.4%; past year 33.7%). Lifetime experience of sexual violence was reported by 6.6% of the women, and by 2.2% for previous year exposure. In the majority of cases, the violence was exerted as repeated acts (paper II). The risk factors found for lifetime and past year physical/sexual violence were women s low education, husbands low education, low household income and male polygamy. The pattern of factors associated with psychological abuse alone were husband s low professional status and women s intermediate level of education (paper II). Women who witnessed interparental violence during childhood were significantly more likely to report experience of physical and sexual intimate partner violence in their own relationship at adult age and they also displayed a more tolerant attitude towards violence (paper III). When health effects were investigated, itwas found that physical and sexual violence caused chronic pain, injuries and serious mental health problems such as sadness/depression and suicidal thoughts in exposed women (Paper IV). Conclusions: IPV is commonly occurring in rural Vietnam, more so among the low educated and in poorer households. Violence perpetration is a serious violation of women s human rights that causes long-term suffering in exposed women. These findings call for legal and policy actions. Collaboration between the health sector and other bodies at all levels, and with community leaders as spokesmen would help to improve openness and reduce society s tolerance of violence against women

Intimate partner violence against women, health effects and health care seeking in rural Vietnam

Background: Health effects and health care seeking were investigated among women in rural Vietnam exposed to physical and/or sexual violence from their partner in the past year. The study was conducted within the framework of the demographic surveillance site in Bavi District, Ha Tay Province in northern Vietnam. Methods: Face-to-face interviews based on a questionnaire developed by the WHO for use in violence research were conducted with 883 randomly selected women. Past-year violence and health effects were investigated in bi and multivariate analyses. Results: The prevalence of past-year physical and/or sexual violence was 9.2 (n 81). Women exposed to violence ran a considerably elevated risk of memory loss (OR 3.7; 1.87.5), pain or discomfort (OR 3.8; 2.36.3), sadness or depression (OR 4.5; 2.77.5) and having suicidal thoughts (OR 2.8; 1.047.3) compared with those with no violence experience in the past year, when adjusted for socio-demographic factors. Almost 50 (n 40) of the women exposed to violence reported injuries and, of those, 58 had to seek health care. Conclusions: Physical and/or sexual violence are common occurrences in Vietnam, associated with pain, injuries and mental health problems in exposed women. These results point to the need for a reliable health surveillance system, along with health care and support activities for victimised women, and policy initiatives to prevent this violence