ObjectiveTo evaluate the association of salt consumption with blood pressure in Viet Nam, a developing country with a high level of salt consumption.Design and settingAnalysis of a nationally representative sample of Vietnamese adults 25–65 years of age who were surveyed using the World Health Organization STEPwise approach to Surveillance protocol. Participants who reported acute illness, pregnancy, or current use of antihypertensive medications were excluded. Daily salt consumption was estimated from fasting mid-morning spot urine samples. Associations of salt consumption with systolic blood pressure and prevalent hypertension were assessed using adjusted linear and generalized linear models. Interaction terms were tested to assess differences by age, smoking, alcohol consumption, and rural/urban status.ResultsThe analysis included 2,333 participants (mean age: 37 years, 46% male, 33% urban). The average estimated salt consumption was 10g/day. No associations of salt consumption with blood pressure or prevalent hypertension were observed at a national scale in men or women. The associations did not differ in subgroups defined by age, smoking, or alcohol consumption; however, associations differed between urban and rural participants (p-value for interaction of urban/rural status with salt consumption, p = 0.02), suggesting that higher salt consumption may be associated with higher systolic blood pressure in urban residents but lower systolic blood pressure in rural residents.ConclusionsAlthough there was no evidence of an association at a national level, associations of salt consumption with blood pressure differed between urban and rural residents in Viet Nam. The reasons for this differential association are not clear, and given the large rate of rural to urban migration experienced in Viet Nam, this topic warrants further investigation.

No abstract

Physician values influence a physician's clinical practice and level of medical professionalism. Currently, there is no psychometrically valid scale to assess physician values in Vietnam. This study assessed the initial validity and reliability of the Vietnamese Physician Professional Values Scale (VPPVS). Hartung's original Physician Values in Practice Scale (PVIPS) was translated from English into Vietnamese and adapted to reflect the cultural values of Vietnamese physicians. A sample of clinical experts reviewed the VPPVS to ensure face and content validity of the scale, resulting in a draft 37-item measure. A cross-sectional survey of 1086 physicians from Hanoi, Hue and Ho Chi Minh City completed a self-report survey, which included the draft of the VPPVS. Exploratory Factor Analysis was used to assess construct validity, resulting in 35 items assessing physician's professional values across five main factors: lifestyle, professionalism, prestige, management and finance. The final five-factor scale illustrated acceptable internal consistency, with Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranging from 0.73 to 0.86 and all item-total correlations >0.2. Limited floor or ceiling effects were found. This study supports the application of the VPPVS to measure medical professional values of Vietnamese physicians. Future studies should further assess the psychometric properties of the VPPVS using large samples.

No abstract

Background To describe the types of research being conducted and the availability of research ethics training and research ethics review in Thailand and Vietnam. Methods An English survey with four major domains, Research Area, Societal Conditions, Research Ethics, and Basic Information was translated into Thai and Vietnamese by native training partners from the NIH Fogarty Research Ethics Training Program. Setting/Participants The survey was administered in two modes - an online survey distributed via an email link in Thailand, and an onsite paper survey in Vietnam. Participants were Thai and Vietnamese trainees and investigators from prestigious universities. Results In Thailand, there were 363 respondents (9.3% online response rate); in Vietnam there were 117 survey participants. Among those who conduct research, 81% in Thailand and 92% percent in Vietnam reported that their research involves human subjects. Among human subject researchers, 83% in Thailand reported having ethics training, and among these, only 44% reported having formal training. In Vietnam, 66% reported having research ethics training; among them, 72% had formal training. Human subject research reported include clinical observations (26% from Thailand and 26% from Vietnam) and clinical interventions (29% from Thailand and 26% from Vietnam). Significant proportion of respondents reported that their institutions have guidelines (97% in Thailand; 89% from Vietnam) and have established Institutional Review Boards (92% in Thailand; 77% in Vietnam). 76% and 79% of respondents in Thailand and Vietnam respectively reported no experience in teaching research ethics. Lack of trained research ethics teachers (38% in Thailand and 59% in Vietnam), training materials (34% in Thailand; 43% in Vietnam), and an adequate curricular “delivery platform” (58% in Thailand; 49% in Vietnam) are most pressing issues. Conclusions We identified gaps in research ethics training in these two South East Asian countries undergoing rapid socioeconomic transition and identified future curricular focus opportunities.