Ngo Thi Kim Yen et al 2014. Study on depressive symptoms among cancer patients in Da Nang City, Vietnam (Abstract)

Depression is a pathological condition that might complicate the clinical picture and seriously affect the quality of life of cancer patients.

The aims of this study were to examine the prevalence of depressive symptoms and associated factors among cancer patients in Da Nang city and to investigate health workers’ understanding of depressive symptoms and prevention of these symptoms for cancer patients.

This study used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods,  695 patients diagnosed with cancer, aged 18 and above, who were treated in three major hospitals in Da Nang city and 37 medical staff who were in charge of taking direct care for cancer patients were investigated. The 21-item shortened version of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) was used for measuring depressive symptoms among cancer patients in this study.

The proportion of cancer patients suffering from depressive symptoms was 35%, of which 22.5 were classified as having mild depressive symptoms, 12.4% had moderate depressive symptoms and 0.1% had severe depressive symptoms. There were associations between the prevalence of depressive symptoms and patients’ residence location and education level. The lack of knowledge and skills of health workers, work pressure and the lack of privacy in the hospital settings were shown to limit psychological interventions for patients.

Depressive symptoms were common among cancer patients in Danang city. More focus should be done regarding helping cancer patients to prevent and cope with depressive symptoms  in this population.

This research project was granted by co-funding support from Da Nang city Health Department and ICHR.

Nguyen Hoang Lan et al. 2012. Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Screening Program for Breast Cancer in Vietnam.

A pilot screening program for breast cancer with clinical breast examination (CBE) was conducted in Vietnam for the purpose of reducing from health burden from the breast cancer. However, the program has not yet been evaluated in term of its impact on costs and effectiveness for expanding the screening nationwide.

       The general objective of this thesis was to analyze cost-effectiveness of screening program for breast cancer with CBE in Vietnam. The thesis included three component studies to address three specific objectives of the thesis. The first study on cost of treatment for breast cancer in Central Vietnam introduced a methodology to estimate average direct medical cost of 5-year treatment course for specific patient groups. Total direct medical cost for a five-year treatment course was estimated at $975.01US per patient (range: $11.7 to $3955.4US). The second study applied methods of survival analysis aimed to identify survival probability up to 5 years following diagnosis of breast cancer patients and determined prognostic factors on mortality for breast cancer in Vietnam. The finding showed that overall survival rates at 5 years following diagnosis were 0.74 (95% CI: 0.71-0.77). Finally, a cost-effectiveness analysis of screening program for breast cancer with CBE in Vietnam was performed. A Markov model was designed using inputs from the prior two studies and available data sources in the country. The one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were conducted to investigate impact of the uncertainty of inputs on estimates. The study results suggested that the screening program for breast cancer with CBE women aged 40 to 55 in Vietnam is highly cost-effective in the light of World Health Organization’s threshold. The finding will assist health policy makers for nationwide

Research papers pulished

Lan, N. H., Laohasiriwong, W., Stewart, J. F., Tung, N. D., & Coyte, P. C. (2013). Cost of treatment for breast cancer in central Vietnam. Global health action, 6.