Background: Monitoring self-medication practice, which refers to individuals using medicine without instructions of physicians, is critical to control its harmful effects. However, in Vietnam, evidence about self-medication among individuals in highland areas is constrained. This study examined self-medication practice among residents living in highland areas in Vietnam and determined associated factors. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in five highland provinces with 1000 individuals. Information about individual and household’s socioeconomic status and self-medication practice in the last 12 months was surveyed. Multivariate logistic and Poisson regressions were used to identify associated factors with self-medication. Results: 83.3% reported self-medication in the last 12 months, with the mean times of self-medication being 4.5 times (SD=4.1). Female (OR=0.62, p <0.01), ethnic minorities, higher number of members having health insurance in family (OR=0.82, p <0.01) and higher annual household income (OR=0.78, p <0.05) were associated with the lower likelihood of “Only buy medicines at pharmacy stores when having illness in the last 12 month”. Moreover, people who were females (OR=0.59, p <0.05), white-collar worker (OR=0.25, p <0.01) and had higher number of children in the family (OR=0.68, p <0.05) were less likely to practice self-medication. People who were ethnic minorities, white-collar worker (Coef.=−0.32, p <0.01) and higher number of members having health insurance in family had lower times of self-medication in the last 12 months compared to other groups. Meanwhile, individuals having higher number of members in the family (Coef.=0.07, p <0.01) and higher annual household income (Coef.=0.08, p <0.01) had highertimes of self-medication in the last 12 months. Conclusion: Residents in highland areas in Vietnam had a considerably high 12-month prevalence of self-medication. Medical products quality management and self-medication guideline are potential to maximize the effects of self-medication. Moreover, promoting the use of health insurance should also be concerned as a solution to address this issue.

Background. Antibiotic resistance (AR) remains a global crisis. However, the literature on public awareness about antibiotic use and AR in the highland provinces of Vietnam has been constrained. This study explores the awareness of antibiotic use and resistance among general people in highland provinces in Vietnam and detects associated factors. Methods. A cross-sectional study was performed in five highland provinces with 1000 households. Information about socioeconomic status and awareness regarding prescription medicine use, antibiotic use, and AR was surveyed. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify associated factors with awareness. Results. 64.2% of people were aware of prescription drugs. More than two-thirds (67.4%) of participants were aware of antibiotic use, of whom only 55.8% were aware of AR. Higher age, education, and family income were positively associated with being aware of prescription medicine, antibiotic, and AR. Females had a lower likelihood of being aware of prescription medicine (OR=0.64; 95%CI=0.45-0.90) compared to male counterparts. Those being freelancers were more likely to be aware of antibiotic resistance (OR=2.30; 95%CI=1.13-4.67) compared to those working in agriculture/fishery/forestry sector. Compared to Kinh ethnic, most ethnic minorities were less likely to be aware of prescription medicine, antibiotic, and AR. Conclusions. This study showed a low awareness regarding prescription medicine, antibiotic use, and AR among public people in the highland provinces of Vietnam. Further systemic and didactic educational interventions targeting females, low education, low income, ethnic minorities, and those working in agriculture/fishery/forestry sector in this setting should be performed and evaluated to improve the awareness about antibiotic use and resistance.

To examine the willingness to pay (WTP) for a quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained among advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients in Viet Nam and to analyze the factors affecting an individual's WTP. A cross-sectional, contingent valuation study was conducted among 400 NSCLC patients across 6 national hospitals in Viet Nam. Self-reported information was recorded from patients regarding their socio-demographic status, EQ-5D (EuroQol-5 dimensions) utility, EQ-5D vas, and WTP for 1 QALY gained. To explore the factors related to the WTP, Gamma Generalized Linear Model and multiple logistic regression tools were applied to analyze data. The overall mean and median of WTP/QALY among the NSCLC patients were USD $11,301 and USD $8002, respectively. Strong association was recorded between WTP/QALY amount and the patient's education, economic status, comorbidity status, and health utility. Government and policymakers should consider providing financial supports to disadvantaged groups to improve their access to life saving cancer treatment.

Background: Systematic review of outcome measurement instrument is a method for choosing researches and articles for our research and practice. Our purpose was defined the status of using quality of life or health-related quality of life instruments and to find out which articles can be applied to process of establishing utility score in Vietnam. Method: A systematic literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, SCOPUS, COCHRANCE, and GOOGLE SCHOLAR database at November 2016. The quality of reviews was assessed by using a specific checklist. Results: A total of 27 articles were included. Almost articles was conducted in the last 5-year. The instruments were used almost come from World Health Organization (WHOQOL instrument) and Euroqol (EQ-5D instrument). Only five articles mentioned using EQ-5D questionnaire as an instrument to interview participants. Two of them had assessed about the quality of life, and three remain articles used it as application into costing studies. Conclusion: Although instruments using to evaluation quality of life or health-related quality of life are not the same, but this area is paid attention of the researchers. Less articles use EQ-5D as an instruments and none of them could be representative for whole Vietnamese population.

There was a significant difference in total costs among the three hospitals in the 9- and 20-month treatment groups.