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Background Limited evidence is available about the combination of multiple smoking cessation modalities in low- and middle-income countries. The study aimed to assess the feasibility of a smoking cessation intervention that integrates follow-up counselling phone calls and scheduled text messages with brief advice from physicians in Vietnam. Methods This was a single-arm intervention study. Smokers were referred to the study Quitline after brief advice by physicians at three rural district hospitals in Hanoi, Vietnam. Following referral, participants received nine counselling phone calls in 12 months and a scheduled text message service that lasted for three months. Participants who reported smoking cessation for at least 30 days at the 12-month follow-up were invited for a urinary cotinine test to confirm cessation. Results The Quitline centre had 431 referrals from participating hospitals. Among them, 221 (51.3%) were enrolled. After the baseline phone call, 141 (63.8%) participated in all 4 follow-up calls within the first month and 117 (52.9%) participated in all phone calls in 12 months. The median number of successful phone calls was 8 (interquartile range: 6 – 8). At the end of the study, 90 (40.7%) self-reported abstinence from smoking over the previous 30 days. Among them, 22 (24.4%) submitted a sample for cotinine test, of which 13 (59.1% of those tested) returned a negative result. The proportion of biochemically-verified quitters was 5.9%. Conclusions The integration of brief advice and referral from healthcare facilities, Quitline counselling phone calls, and scheduled text messaging was feasible in rural health facilities in northern Vietnam. Trial registration ACTRN12619000554167.

Background Attendance at healthcare facilities provides an opportunity for smoking cessation interventions. However, the smoking behaviours of patients seeking healthcare in Vietnam are not well-understood. We aimed to evaluate behaviours related to smoking among patients presenting to health facilities in Vietnam. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study in 4 provinces of Vietnam. Consecutive patients aged ≥15 years presenting to 46 health facilities were assessed. Current smokers were randomly selected to complete a full survey about smoking behaviour, quit attempts, and preparedness to quit. Results Among 11,245 patients who sought healthcare, the prevalence of current smoking was 18.6% (95% CI: 17.8–19.4%) overall, 34.6% (95% CI: 33.2–36.0%) among men and 1.1% (95% CI: 0.8–1.3%) among women. Current smokers who were asked about smoking by healthcare providers in the last 12 months were more likely to make quit attempts than those not asked (40.6% vs 31.8%, p = 0.017). Current smokers who attempted to quit in the past 12 months made limited use of cessation aids: counselling (1.9%) and nicotine replacement therapy (10%). A higher proportion of patients wanted to quit in the next month at national/provincial hospitals (30.3%) than those visiting district hospitals (11.3%, p p = 0.004). Conclusions Smoking is common among male patients presenting to healthcare facilities in Vietnam. Formal smoking cessation supports are generally not used or offered. This population is likely to benefit from routine smoking cessation interventions that are integrated within the routine healthcare delivery system.

Background: Close contacts of tuberculosis (TB) patients are at increased risk of developing tuberculosis. Although passive contact screening guidelines are incorporated in the national TB control program, currently it is unknown how frequent close contacts are screened for TB in Vietnam. This study assesses current contact screening practices in Vietnam and determines the proportion of household contacts screened of newly registered TB patients. Method. Survey of household contacts of smear-positive TB patients (index patients) registered for treatment in 2008 in three Vietnamese cities. Households were interviewed in 2010 about screening for TB since treatment registration date of the index patient. Results: We interviewed 4,118 household contacts of 1,091 identified index cases. Contact screening mainly relied on self-referral by household contacts. Of the 4,118 household contacts, 474 (11.5%) self-referred for TB screening, while this screening proportion was only 5.5% among contacts under 5 years old (16/293). Sputum examinations were performed in 374 (78.9%) of the screened contacts. Contact screening identified 27 cases of pulmonary TB (0.7%; or 656 cases/100,000 contacts), of which 20 were detected by sputum smear. Conclusions: The low proportion of household TB contacts screened for TB illustrates the limitations of passive contact screening as currently practiced in Vietnam. Children under 5 years of age are particularly neglected with this approach. Active contact screening with fixed follow-up times of close contacts of newly diagnosed TB patients should be considered in Vietnam, particularly in case of young children and drug-resistant TB. © 2014 Thanh et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Background In Vietnam, environmental pollution caused by small-scale domestic smelting of automobile batteries into lead ingot is a growing concern. The village of Nghia Lo is a smelting craft village located roughly 25 km southeast of Hanoi in the Red River Delta. Despite the concern of toxic metal exposure in the village, biomonitoring among susceptible populations, such as children, has not been previously conducted. The aim of this study was to determine the body burden of toxic metals in children residing in a smelting craft village. Methods Twenty children from Nghia Lo, Vietnam, ages 18 months to four years were selected for capillary whole blood and toenail biomonitoring. Whole blood lead levels (BLLs) were measured using a portable lead analyzer, and toenail levels of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, manganese, and mercury were analyzed with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Results The findings show that all of the 20 children had detectable BLLs, and every child had levels that exceeded the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guideline level of 5 μg/dL. Eighty percent of tested subjects had BLLs higher than 10 μg/dL. Five children (25%) had BLLs greater than 45 μg/dL, the level of recommended medical intervention. In addition to blood lead, all of the children had detectable levels of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, manganese, and mercury in toenail samples. Notably, average toenail lead, manganese, and mercury levels were 157 μg/g, 7.41 μg/g, and 2.63 μg/g respectively, well above levels previously reported in children. Significant Spearman’s rank correlations showed that there were relationships between blood and toenail lead levels (r = 0.65, p