PROVISION CAPACITY OF SERVICE DELIVERY FACILITIES FOR CHILDREN WITH HEARING LOSS IN HAI PHONG, VIETNAM

Objective: Hearing loss is a commonly occurring disability that affects 466 million people worldwide. This study aimed at determining the actual situations of early intervention delivery facilities for children with hearing loss. Out of this affected population, 7% are children (34 million) who, along with their families, grapple with the serious lifelong problems that accompany the disease. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with facilities investigated consisting of a school for the deaf, hospitals, an audiology center, and a social agency in Hai Phong province from January 2013 to December 2014. A sample composed of 353 children was also recruited. Results: The examined facilities suffer from shortcomings in provision capacity, which manifest in deficient materials, supplies and equipment, and human resources; the lack of interdisciplinary coordination of activities; inadequate community awareness; and the unaddressed need for early detection and intervention. The conditions of most of the children (98%) were detected by their families, and among those who were clinically diagnosed, the majority (76.8%) received such diagnosis at central hospitals. Hearing impairment among the children were detected, diagnosed, and subjected to intervention at a very late stage (on average, at ages 22.3, 34, and 32.5 months, respectively), thereby compelling up to 63.6% of the families to struggle with their children’s hearing loss. Conclusion: Solutions to current interventions are needed to enhance service delivery systems and guarantee early detection as well as timely and appropriate treatment

EFFECTIVENESS OF INITIAL SOLUTIONS INCORPORATED INTO EARLY INTERVENTION DELIVERY SYSTEMS FOR CHILDREN WITH HEARING LOSS: EVIDENCE FROM HAI PHONG, VIETNAM

Objective: Hearing loss is a serious disease that needs attention from society because of its considerable effects on the normal development of children. This study incorporated systematic solutions into early intervention delivery systems for children with hearing loss in Hai Phong, Vietnam, and evaluated the effectiveness of the strategies. Methods: This community intervention study, which was carried out from 2013 to 2014, involved a comparison of the early intervention delivery systems before and after the implementation of the proposed solutions. Results: Two years after the solutions were applied, the following results were derived: The availability of resources and the quality of service provision improved and access to and the use of services by families whose children suffer from hearing loss increased. The solutions also facilitated the creation of an early communal intervention program and significantly enhanced the situations of children with hearing loss as regards the average ages at which disease onset was suspected, the disease was definitively identified, hearing aid fitting was initiated, and language intervention was implemented (15.5, 21, 23.7, and 26.5 months, respectively). Finally, the solutions enabled detection, diagnosis, and early intervention at <12 and 24 months of age (p<0.001). Conclusion: The strategy of reinforcing intervention programs with general and comprehensive solutions can be expanded to other Vietnamese provinces grappling with similar problems

Validity of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire–Short Form for Application in Asian Countries: A Study in Vietnam

This is the first study in the Asia-Pacific region to examine the criterion validity of the self-reported International Physical Activity Questionnaire–Short form (IPAQ-SF) using accelerometers, in terms of achieving the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended physical activity guidelines for health benefits. Vietnamese adults aged 40–65 years (n = 240) wore an ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometer for at least 5 days and completed the Vietnamese version of the IPAQ-SF. Correlations between IPAQ-SF and accelerometer-measured physical activity intensities varied from.087 to.232. Mean difference in moderate–vigorous physical activity was 0.699 min/day (95% limits: [-107, 109]). Agreement on the classification of achieving the WHO’s physical activity guidelines was 69.16%. The IPAQ-SF identified 71.86% of adults who met the guidelines, whereas 56.09% of those not meeting the guidelines were classified correctly. The IPAQ-SF was found to have acceptable criterion validity and is a useful instrument to classify Vietnamese adults as achieving or not achieving the WHO’s physical activity guidelines for health benefits