Women's communication self-efficacy and expectations of primary male partners' cooperation in sexually transmitted infection treatment in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Effective control of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) depends on affected patients notifying their sexual partners, and partners following through with screening and treatment. Our study assessed high-risk-STI women's confidence in STI-diagnosis-related communications with their primary male partners in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and determined associated characteristics of the women and their partners. METHODS: We employed convenience and snowball sampling in a clinic-based setting to recruit 126 women from August to October 2013. All data were obtained from women's self-report. RESULTS: The proportions of participants who were "slightly confident" or "very confident" that they could disclose their STI positivity to partners, ask partners to have an STI examination or treatment, and give partners bacterial-STI medications were 70.3%, 62.1%, and 69.0%, respectively. The proportions who perceived that their partners would be "very likely" to have an STI examination and to take STI medications were 16.2% and 38.8%, respectively. Significantly lower self-efficacy was observed in women who had a lower education level, who had ever traded sex, or whose primary partners were not husbands or fiancés. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest potential for piloting STI-partner-targeted interventions. To be effective, these programs should improve women's self-efficacy and primary partners' cooperation with screening and treatment.

Self-reported oral health, oral hygiene, and oral HPV infection in at-risk women in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine the relationships among self-reported oral health, oral hygiene practices, and oral human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in women at risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. STUDY DESIGN: Convenience and referral sampling methods were used in a clinic-based setting to recruit 126 women aged 18-45 years between August and October 2013. Behavioral factors were self-reported. Oral-rinse samples were tested for HPV DNA of 2 low-risk and 13 high-risk genotypes. RESULTS: A higher unadjusted prevalence of oral HPV infection was associated with poorer self-rated overall oral health (P = .001), reported oral lesions or problems in the past year (P = .001), and reported a tooth loss not because of injury (P = .001). Higher unadjusted prevalence of oral HPV infection was also associated with two measures of oral hygiene: lower frequencies of toothbrushing per day (P = .047) and gargling without toothbrushing (P = .037). After adjusting for other factors in multivariable logistic regression models, poorer self-rated overall oral health remained statistically associated with oral HPV infection (P = .042); yet the frequency of tooth-brushing per day did not (P = .704). CONCLUSION: Results corroborate the association between self-reported poor oral health and oral HPV infection. The effect of oral hygiene on oral HPV infection remains inconclusive.