Prevalence of and risk factors associated with depression among nursing students acting on the frontline of COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study.

Introduction: The widespread devastation caused by the ongoing waves of COVID-19 imposed a significant burden on the healthcare labor force. At the frontline in the battle against the deadly COVID-19 virus, nursing students in Vietnam were at a much-increased risk of developing mental health conditions. This study aims to identify the prevalence of depression and its related factors, along with coping strategies used by nursing students in the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam. Materials and methods: The study was cross-sectional in nature, with convenient sampling at the epicenters of COVID-19 outbreaks in Vietnam (N = 191) from April to November 2021. After conducting a questionnaire pilot, the data was collected strictly using an internet-based approach. The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 items were used to identify the risk of depression among nursing students. The Chi-square test was used to assess the differences between coping strategies among nursing students. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to identify risk factors associated with depression. Findings: The percentage of nursing students affected by depression was 21.5%, and almost half of the nursing students (49.2%) had no coping strategies for dealing with mental health concerns. Among the remaining nursing students, video-based mental consultation was the most popular method (25.7%). Being females (AOR: 2.7, 95% CI: 1.1-6.7), collecting bio-samples (AOR: 2.9, 95% CI: 1.4-6.2), providing support to vaccination spots (AOR: 2.3, 95% CI: 1.1-5.1), and not vaccinating against COVID-19 (AOR: 3.1, 95% CI: 1.1-9.1) were found as risk factors for depression among nursing students. Conclusion: Our research revealed a significant number of nursing students suffering from depressive symptoms and underscoring the need for more effective methods of dealing with this condition. Depression management and coping skills focusing on female populations and those whose direct contacts with infectious sources should be implemented in the nursing curricula and continuous training credits. Those trainings, would support future nurses in handling crisis situations better.

An instrument for measuring job satisfaction (VIJS): A validation study for community pharmacists in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam.

BACKGROUND: Job satisfaction is one of the main factors creating and bringing about work motivation, productivity, and efficiency as well as decreasing job-hopping and job turnover. No previous studies have been conducted to assess job satisfaction for community pharmacists in Vietnam. OBJECTIVE: This research was conducted to develop and validate an instrument used to measure community pharmacists' job satisfaction in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 351 pharmacists participated in this survey. Data were analyzed using R software version 4.2.0. The final instrument (VIJS) has 34 items divided into six factors which were determined via a parallel analysis (including physical working conditions, work nature, income and other benefits, management policies and managers, relationships with coworkers and customers, and learning and advancement opportunities). VIJS's internal consistency was excellent (Cronbach's alpha = 0.97, Omega total = 0.98, split-half reliability = 0.985, and composite reliability>0.8). Two-week test-retest reliability results (intraclass correlation coefficient for the overall instrument: 0.97, for six factors: 0.865-0.938) demonstrated the consistency of the VIJS when the same test was repeated on the same sample (62 pharmacists) at different points in time. The Confirmatory Factor Analysis was employed to assess the construct validity. The VIJS was a good fit to a six-factor model (Chisq/df = 2.352, Comparative Fit Index = 0.937, Tucker-Lewis Index = 0.929, Standardized Root Mean Square Residual = 0.042, and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = 0.062). VIJS's good convergent and discriminant validity was demonstrated via Average Variance Extrated>0.5 and the Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio of correlations<0.85. CONCLUSIONS: The VIJS possesses good reliability and validity and can be used to measure community pharmacists' job satisfaction.

Availability, prices and affordability of essential medicines: A cross-sectional survey in Hanam province, Vietnam.

OBJECTIVE: To measure medicines' prices, availability, and affordability in Hanam, Vietnam. METHODS: The standardized methodology developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Health Action International was used to survey 30 essential medicines (EMs) in 30 public health facilities and 35 private medicine outlets in 2020. The availability of medicine was computed as the percentage of health facilities in which this medicine was found on the data-collection day. International reference prices (IRPs) from Management Sciences for Health (2015) were used to compute Median Price Ratio (MPR). The affordability of treatments for common diseases was computed as the number of days' wages of the lowest-paid unskilled government worker needed to purchase medicines prescribed at a standard dose. Statistic analysis was done using R software version 4.1.1. RESULTS: The mean availability of originator brands (OBs) and lowest-priced generics (LPGs) was 0.7%, 63.2% in the public sector, and 13.7%, 47.9% in the private sector, respectively. In private medicine outlets, the mean availability of both OBs and LPGs in urban areas was significantly higher than that in rural areas (p = 0.0013 and 0.0306, respectively). In the public sector, LPGs' prices were nearly equal to their IRPs (median MPRs = 0.95). In the private medicine outlets, OBs were generally sold at 6.24 times their IRPs while this figure for LPGs was 1.65. The affordability of LPGs in both sectors was good for all conditions, with standard treatments costing a day's wage or less. CONCLUSION: In both sectors, generic medicines were the predominant product type available. The availability of EMs was fairly high but still lower than WHO's benchmark. A national-scale study should be conducted to provide a comprehensive picture of the availability, prices, and affordability of EMs, thereby helping the government to identify the urgent priorities and improving access to EMs in Vietnam.

Access to essential medicines for children: a cross-sectional survey measuring medicine prices, availability and affordability in Hanam province, Vietnam.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the availability, prices and affordability of essential medicines for children (cEMs) in Hanam province, Vietnam. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: One city and five districts of Hanam province. PARTICIPANTS: 66 public health facilities and 66 private drugstores. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The standardised methodology of the WHO and Health Action International was used to investigate 30 paediatric essential medicines. For each medicine, data were collected for two products: the lowest-priced medicine (LPM) and the highest-priced medicine (HPM). The availability of medicine was computed as the percentage of facilities in which this medicine was found on the day of data collection. Median prices of individual medicines were reported in local currency. Affordability was calculated as the number of days' wages required for the lowest-paid unskilled government worker to purchase standard treatments for common diseases. Data were analysed using R software V.4.1.0. RESULTS: The mean availability of LPMs in the private sector (33.2%, SD=38.0%) was higher than that in the public sector (24.9%, SD=39.4%) (p<0.05). The mean availability of HPMs was extremely low in both sectors (11.3% and 5.8%, respectively). The mean availability of cEMs in urban areas was significantly higher than that in rural areas (36.5% and 31.6%, respectively, p<0.05). In the public sector, the prices of LPMs were nearly equal to the international reference prices (IRPs). In the private sector, LPMs were generally sold at 4.06 times their IRPs. However, in both sectors, the affordability of LPMs was reasonable for most conditions as standard treatments only cost a day's wage or less. CONCLUSION: The low availability was the main reason hindering access to cEMs in Hanam, especially in the countryside. A national study on cEMs should be conducted, and some practical policies should be promulgated to enhance access to cEMs.

Knowledge, attitude and practices of community pharmacists regarding COVID-19: A paper-based survey in Vietnam.

OBJECTIVE: To survey the knowledge, attitude, and practices of Vietnamese pharmacists regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: This cross-sectional, paper-based study was conducted from June to August 2020. A validated questionnaire (Cronbach's alpha = 0.84) was used to interview 1,023 pharmacists in nine provinces of Vietnam. Analysis of covariance was employed to identify factors associated with the knowledge of pharmacists. The best model was chosen by using the Bayesian Model Averaging method in R software version 4.0.4. RESULTS: The mean knowledge score was 12.02 ± 1.64 (range: 6-15), which indicated that 93.4% of pharmacists had good knowledge of COVID-19. There was no difference in the average score between males and females (p > 0.05). The multivariate linear regression model revealed that the knowledge was significantly associated with pharmacists' age, education level, and residence (p < 0.001). About attitude and practices, pharmacists daily sought and updated information on the COVID-19 pandemic through mass media and the internet (social network and online newspapers). Nearly 48% of them conceded that they communicated with customers when at least one person did not wear a face mask at the time of the COVID-19 outbreak. At medicine outlets, many measures were applied to protect pharmacists and customers, such as equipping pharmacists with face masks and hand sanitizers (95.0%), using glass shields (83.0%), and maintaining at least one-meter distance between two people (85.2%). CONCLUSION: The pharmacists' knowledge of COVID-19 transmission, symptoms, and prevention was good. Many useful measures against the spread of this perilous virus were applied in medicine outlets. However, pharmacists should restrict forgetting to wear face masks in communication with medicine purchasers. The government and health agencies should have practical remedies to reduce the significant differences in the COVID-19 knowledge of pharmacists among provinces and education-level groups.

Factors Associated With the Intention to Participate in Coronavirus Disease 2019 Frontline Prevention Activities Among Nursing Students in Vietnam: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior.

Introduction: Medical students have been serving as a key part of the frontline health workforce responding to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic globally. Their contribution is especially important in the resource-scarce settings of developing nations such as Vietnam. Yet, the intention of medical students, in particular, nursing students, to participate in COVID-19 frontline prevention activities has not been well-understood. This study aimed to examine factors associated with the intentionto participate in COVID-19 frontline prevention activities among Vietnamese nursing students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a total of 597 students in December 2020 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Information regarding the socioeconomic characteristics of participants, their source of COVID-19 related knowledge, and their perception and attitude toward participating in COVID-19 frontline activities [based on Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)] was collected. A hierarchical regression model was employed to examine the association between intentions of students and associated factors. Results: A positive intention to participate in COVID-19 frontline prevention activities was found (mean score of 25.3 over 35; SD = 4.4; min = 5; max = 35). Attitude toward behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) was found to be significantly associated with the intention of students. These variables explained the 37% variation in the intention of students in the model. Among three factors, subjective norm showed the strongest correlation with intention of students (ß = 0.358; p < 0.001). Obtaining information from official sources and community was also found to be positively correlated with intention to participate. Conclusion: Most of the respondents reported a positive intention to participate in COVID-19 frontline prevention activities. The findings suggested that the TPB was a good instrument to predict the intention to perform behavior among Vietnamese students. Enhancing the positive attitude of students, encouraging family and community supports, and providing adequately essential resources will contribute to optimizing the participation of students to confront COVID-19.