Objectives: Vertebral fractures are associated with disability and mortality, but most vertebral fractures are asymptomatic. The present study aimed to determine the incidence of and develop a predictive nomogram for asymptomatic vertebral fractures in Vietnamese adults. Methods: This cohort study as a part of the Vietnam Osteoporosis Study involved 168 men and 287 women aged 50 years and older without a clinically diagnosed vertebral fracture. Their spine x-rays were taken at the recruitment and subsequent 2-year visit. Vertebral fractures were ascertained using the Genant’s semiquantitative method. We employed the Bayesian Model Averaging method to search for the optimal model for predicting asymptomatic vertebral fractures. A predictive nomogram was also developed to facilitate risk prediction. Results: During a median of 2.38 years of follow-up, 13 men and 16 women developed an asymptomatic vertebral fracture, yielding the overall incidence rate of 28 fractures per 1000 person-years, or 33 fractures/1000 personyears in men and 24 fractures/1000 person-years in women, respectively. Most asymptomatic vertebral fractures were moderate, almost 1.5 times more common than mild fractures. The optimal model for predicting incident asymptomatic vertebral fractures included age, male sex and lower femoral neck T-score. The area under the receiver’s operating characteristic curve was 0.91, with 95% CI ranging from 0.86 to 0.96. Conclusions Asymptomatic vertebral fractures were relatively common among adults in Vietnam. A simple model with sex, age and femoral neck T-score is helpful for selective screening of asymptomatic vertebral fractures in Vietnamese individuals.

Objectives: Vertebral fractures are associated with disability and mortality, but most vertebral fractures are asymptomatic. The present study aimed to determine the incidence of and develop a predictive nomogram for asymptomatic vertebral fractures in Vietnamese adults. Methods: This cohort study as a part of the Vietnam Osteoporosis Study involved 168 men and 287 women aged 50 years and older without a clinically diagnosed vertebral fracture. Their spine x-rays were taken at the recruitment and subsequent 2-year visit. Vertebral fractures were ascertained using the Genant’s semiquantitative method. We employed the Bayesian Model Averaging method to search for the optimal model for predicting asymptomatic vertebral fractures. A predictive nomogram was also developed to facilitate risk prediction. Results: During a median of 2.38 years of follow-up, 13 men and 16 women developed an asymptomatic vertebral fracture, yielding the overall incidence rate of 28 fractures per 1000 person-years, or 33 fractures/1000 personyears in men and 24 fractures/1000 person-years in women, respectively. Most asymptomatic vertebral fractures were moderate, almost 1.5 times more common than mild fractures. The optimal model for predicting incident asymptomatic vertebral fractures included age, male sex and lower femoral neck T-score. The area under the receiver’s operating characteristic curve was 0.91, with 95% CI ranging from 0.86 to 0.96. Conclusions Asymptomatic vertebral fractures were relatively common among adults in Vietnam. A simple model with sex, age and femoral neck T-score is helpful for selective screening of asymptomatic vertebral fractures in Vietnamese individuals.

Objectives: Vertebral fractures are associated with disability and mortality, but most vertebral fractures are asymptomatic. The present study aimed to determine the incidence of and develop a predictive nomogram for asymptomatic vertebral fractures in Vietnamese adults. Methods: This cohort study as a part of the Vietnam Osteoporosis Study involved 168 men and 287 women aged 50 years and older without a clinically diagnosed vertebral fracture. Their spine x-rays were taken at the recruitment and subsequent 2-year visit. Vertebral fractures were ascertained using the Genant’s semiquantitative method. We employed the Bayesian Model Averaging method to search for the optimal model for predicting asymptomatic vertebral fractures. A predictive nomogram was also developed to facilitate risk prediction. Results: During a median of 2.38 years of follow-up, 13 men and 16 women developed an asymptomatic vertebral fracture, yielding the overall incidence rate of 28 fractures per 1000 person-years, or 33 fractures/1000 personyears in men and 24 fractures/1000 person-years in women, respectively. Most asymptomatic vertebral fractures were moderate, almost 1.5 times more common than mild fractures. The optimal model for predicting incident asymptomatic vertebral fractures included age, male sex and lower femoral neck T-score. The area under the receiver’s operating characteristic curve was 0.91, with 95% CI ranging from 0.86 to 0.96. Conclusions Asymptomatic vertebral fractures were relatively common among adults in Vietnam. A simple model with sex, age and femoral neck T-score is helpful for selective screening of asymptomatic vertebral fractures in Vietnamese individuals.

Objectives: Vertebral fractures are associated with disability and mortality, but most vertebral fractures are asymptomatic. The present study aimed to determine the incidence of and develop a predictive nomogram for asymptomatic vertebral fractures in Vietnamese adults. Methods: This cohort study as a part of the Vietnam Osteoporosis Study involved 168 men and 287 women aged 50 years and older without a clinically diagnosed vertebral fracture. Their spine x-rays were taken at the recruitment and subsequent 2-year visit. Vertebral fractures were ascertained using the Genant’s semiquantitative method. We employed the Bayesian Model Averaging method to search for the optimal model for predicting asymptomatic vertebral fractures. A predictive nomogram was also developed to facilitate risk prediction. Results: During a median of 2.38 years of follow-up, 13 men and 16 women developed an asymptomatic vertebral fracture, yielding the overall incidence rate of 28 fractures per 1000 person-years, or 33 fractures/1000 personyears in men and 24 fractures/1000 person-years in women, respectively. Most asymptomatic vertebral fractures were moderate, almost 1.5 times more common than mild fractures. The optimal model for predicting incident asymptomatic vertebral fractures included age, male sex and lower femoral neck T-score. The area under the receiver’s operating characteristic curve was 0.91, with 95% CI ranging from 0.86 to 0.96. Conclusions Asymptomatic vertebral fractures were relatively common among adults in Vietnam. A simple model with sex, age and femoral neck T-score is helpful for selective screening of asymptomatic vertebral fractures in Vietnamese individuals.

Objectives: Vertebral fractures are associated with disability and mortality, but most vertebral fractures are asymptomatic. The present study aimed to determine the incidence of and develop a predictive nomogram for asymptomatic vertebral fractures in Vietnamese adults. Methods: This cohort study as a part of the Vietnam Osteoporosis Study involved 168 men and 287 women aged 50 years and older without a clinically diagnosed vertebral fracture. Their spine x-rays were taken at the recruitment and subsequent 2-year visit. Vertebral fractures were ascertained using the Genant’s semiquantitative method. We employed the Bayesian Model Averaging method to search for the optimal model for predicting asymptomatic vertebral fractures. A predictive nomogram was also developed to facilitate risk prediction. Results: During a median of 2.38 years of follow-up, 13 men and 16 women developed an asymptomatic vertebral fracture, yielding the overall incidence rate of 28 fractures per 1000 person-years, or 33 fractures/1000 personyears in men and 24 fractures/1000 person-years in women, respectively. Most asymptomatic vertebral fractures were moderate, almost 1.5 times more common than mild fractures. The optimal model for predicting incident asymptomatic vertebral fractures included age, male sex and lower femoral neck T-score. The area under the receiver’s operating characteristic curve was 0.91, with 95% CI ranging from 0.86 to 0.96. Conclusions Asymptomatic vertebral fractures were relatively common among adults in Vietnam. A simple model with sex, age and femoral neck T-score is helpful for selective screening of asymptomatic vertebral fractures in Vietnamese individuals.

Objectives: Vertebral fracture is both common and serious among adults, yet it often goes undiagnosed. This study aimed to develop a shape-based algorithm (SBA) for the automatic identification of vertebral fractures. Methods: The study included 144 participants (50 individuals with a fracture and 94 without a fracture) whose plain thoracolumbar spine X-rays were taken. Clinical diagnosis of vertebral fracture (grade 0 to 3) was made by rheumatologists using Genant’s semiquantitative method. The SBA algorithm was developed to determine the ratio of vertebral body height loss. Based on the ratio, SBA classifies a vertebra into 4 classes: 0 = normal, 1 = mild fracture, 2 = moderate fracture, 3 = severe fracture). The concordance between clinical diagnosis and SBAbased classification was assessed at both person and vertebra levels. Results: At the person level, the SBA achieved a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 62% (95% CI, 51%–72%). At the vertebra level, the SBA achieved a sensitivity of 84% (95% CI, 72%–93%), and a specificity of 88% (95% CI, 85%–90%). On average, the SBA took 0.3 s to assess each X-ray. Conclusions The SBA developed here is a fast and efficient tool that can be used to systematically screen for asymptomatic vertebral fractures and reduce the workload of healthcare professionals.

Four hundred and six soil samples collected from five schoolyards in Mai Trung Commune, Bac Giang Province, Northern Vietnam, from 2005 to 2007 were examined for helminth eggs using a sucrose centrifugal flotation method. The soils around latrines was found to be heavily contaminated with Ascaris sp. eggs. The contamination rate of Ascaris sp. eggs at each school and prevalence of ascariasis among the school children showed a positive correlation (P&It;0.05). This indicated that examination of soil from the area around latrines for Ascaris sp. eggs is a useful method to estimate the prevalence of ascariasis among school children.

This article describes Viet Nam Ministry of Health’s (VMoH) activities to prepare for and respond to the threat Zika virus (ZIKV), including the adaptation of existing surveillance systems to encompass ZIKV surveillance.

Objectives: This study was conducted to measure financial toxicity (FT) among patients with cancer in Vietnam using the COmprehensive Score for financial Toxicity (COST) and to describe the cost management strategies employed by these patients. Methods: This comprehensive cross-sectional study enrolled 634 patients from 2 specialized oncology hospitals in Vietnam. Using COST cut-off scores, FT was classified as none/mild (≥26), moderate (14-25), or severe (≤13). Cost management strategies, or coping mechanisms, were classified into 4 groups: lifestyle changes, financial resource strategies, treatment modifications, and support seeking. Results: The prevalence of FT was 91.8%, with 51.7% of participants demonstrating severe and 40.1% exhibiting moderate FT. Severe FT was significantly associated with female, low education level, unstable employment, low household economic status, and advanced cancer stage. The most common coping strategies were as follows: among lifestyle changes, reducing spending on basic items and leisure activities (78.7%) and cutting back on essential household expenses (66.4%); among financial resource strategies, borrowing money from relatives or friends (49.1%) and withdrawing funds from retirement or savings accounts (34.1%); within treatment modifications, switching treatment facilities or doctors due to cost concerns (9.3%); and within support seeking, obtaining help from welfare or community organizations (18.8%). All strategies were significantly more likely to be used by patients with severe FT. Conclusions FT was highly prevalent among patients with cancer. Most patients relied on lifestyle adjustments and coping strategies, underscoring the need for improved financial support systems to alleviate the economic burden associated with cancer care.

During a survey of fungal diversity of the order Hypocreales in Korea, two Acremonium isolates, CNUFC-1YSRS2-4 and CNUFC-GSNPF3-1, were isolated from soils collected on a bank of the Yeongsan River, Naju, and in a forest on the Mt. Daegak located on Sinsi Island, Gunsan, South Korea, respectively. Based on the morphological characteristics and sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer and D1/D2 domains of 28S ribosomal DNA, the isolates CNUFC-1YSRS2-4 and CNUFC-GSNPF3-1 were identified as A. variecolor and A. persicinum, respectively. These 2 species represent novel Hypocreales isolates in Korea.
Acremonium* ; DNA, Ribosomal ; Forests ; Hypocreales ; Jeollabuk-do ; Jeollanam-do ; Korea ; Rivers ; Sequence Analysis ; Soil*