Abstract
Industrial workers are a vulnerable population for HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This cross-sectional study assessed the general knowledge about sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV transmission risk among 289 industrial workers in Northern Vietnam. Results indicated that most workers could identify common routes of HIV transmissions and were aware of common STIs. However, insufficient knowledge about HIV transmission via anal sex practices, as well as common signs and symptoms of STIs were observed. Gender, marital status, education, locality status and health information sources were associated with the knowledge. This study reveals a gap of knowledge about HIV and other STIs, and suggested further tailored education interventions to improve the knowledge and promote sexual health-seeking behaviors in industrial workers.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
UNAIDS. UNAIDS data 2020. Geneva: UNAIDS; 2019.
WHO. Report on global sexually transmitted infection surveillance, 2018. Geneva: WHO; 2018.
Viet Nam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control. The annual review of HIV control and prevention in 2019 and action plan in 2020. Hanoi: Ministry of Health; 2020.
Global Health Data Exchange. GBD Result Tool. 2020.
Pulerwitz J, Michaelis A, Weiss E, Brown L, Mahendra V. Reducing HIV-related stigma: lessons learned from Horizons research and programs. Public Health Rep. 2010;125(2):272–81.
Hoang CD, Tran BX, Pham MD, et al. HIV- and AIDS-related knowledge and attitude of residents in border regions of Vietnam. Harm Reduct J. 2019;16(1):11.
Son NV, Luan HD, Tuan HX, Cuong LM, Duong NTT, Kien VD. Trends and factors associated with comprehensive knowledge about HIV among women in Vietnam. Trop Med Infect Dis. 2020;5(2):91.
Nguyen TMT, Tran BX, Fleming M, et al. HIV knowledge and risk behaviors among drug users in three Vietnamese mountainous provinces. Subst Abus Treat Prevent Policy. 2019;14(1):3.
Platten M, Pham HN, Nguyen HV, Nguyen NT, Le GM. Knowledge of HIV and factors associated with attitudes towards HIV among final-year medical students at Hanoi medical university in Vietnam. BMC Public Health. 2014;14:265.
Vian T, Semrau K, Hamer DH, le Loan TT, Sabin LL. HIV-related knowledge and behaviors among most-at-risk populations in Vietnam. Open AIDS J. 2012;6:259–65.
Nguyen SH, Dang AK, Vu GT, et al. Lack of knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs): implications for STDs prevention and care among dermatology patients in an urban city in Vietnam. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019;16(6):1080.
Edvinsson A, Lundberg P, Schmidt A. Sexually transmitted diseases in Vietnam: knowledge, attitudes and beliefs among vocational students [Master Thesis], Department of Public Health and Caring Science, Uppsala University; 2011
Nigussie T, Yosef T. Knowledge of sexually transmitted infections and its associated factors among polytechnic college students in Southwest Ethiopia. Pan Afr Med J. 2020;37:68.
Tran BX, Vo T, Dang AK, et al. Charaterizincg unsafe sexual behavior among factory workers in the context of rapid industrialization in Northern Vietnam. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019;16(24):5085.
UNID. Industrial parks, special economics zones, eco industrial parks, innovation districts as strategies for industrial conpetitiveness economic zones in the Asean. Hanoi: UNIDO Country Office; 2015.
Shi L, Liu Y, Wang J, et al. HIV prevalence and incidence estimates among blood donors in five regions in China. Transfusion. 2020;60(1):117–25.
McFarland W, Gwanzura L, Bassett MT, et al. Prevalence and incidence of herpes simplex virus type 2 infection among male Zimbabwean factory workers. J Infect Dis. 1999;180(5):1459–65.
Mabathoana RS, Wyk CV, Adefuye AO. Factors influencing HIV risk-taking behaviours amongst textile factory workers living with HIV in Lesotho. Pan Afr Med J. 2019;33:166.
Nguyen VH, Dunne MP, Debattista J, Nguyen TH, Dao TM. Social contexts of risk behaviors for HIV among male, unskilled, unregistered laborers in urban Vietnam. Qual Health Res. 2012;22(7):871–9.
Duong LB, Linh TG, Thao NTP. Social protection for rural-urban migrants in Vietnam: current situation, challenges and opportunities. Brighton, United Kingdom; 2011.
Pham V, Nguyen H, le Tho H, et al. Evaluation of three adolescent sexual health programs in ha noi and khanh hoa province, Vietnam. AIDS Res Treat. 2012;2012:986978.
Tran BX, Vo T, Dang AK, et al. Knowledge towards cervical and breast cancers among industrial workers: results from a multisite study in Northern Vietnam. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019;16(21):4301.
Pham KTH, Nguyen LH, Vuong QH, et al. Health inequality between migrant and non-migrant workers in an industrial zone of Vietnam. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019;16(9):1502.
Tran BX, Vu GT, Pham KTH, et al. Depressive symptoms among industrial workers in Vietnam and correlated factors: a multi-site survey. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019;16(9):1642.
Schneider M, Chersich M, Temmerman M, Degomme O, Parry CD. The impact of alcohol on HIV prevention and treatment for South Africans in primary healthcare. Curationis. 2014;37(1):1137.
Bajaj S, Ramayanam S, Enebeli S, et al. Risk factors for sexually transmitted diseases in Canada and provincial variations. Soc Med. 2017;11:62–9.
Vu TMT, Boggiano VL, Tran BX, et al. Sexual risk behaviors of patients with HIV over the course of antiretroviral treatment in Northern Vietnam. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018;15(6):1106.
Bradley KA, DeBenedetti AF, Volk RJ, Williams EC, Frank D, Kivlahan DR. AUDIT-C as a brief screen for alcohol misuse in primary care. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2007;31(7):1208–17.
The Government of Vietnam. Decision No. 1246 / QD-TTg dated 14/8/2020 on approving the National Strategy to end AIDS epidemic by 2030. Hanoi, 2020.
Mullany LC, Maung C, Beyrer C. HIV knowledge, attitudes, and practices among Burmese migrant factory workers in Tak Province, Thailand. AIDS Care. 2003;15(1):63–70.
Chamratrithirong A, Ford K, Punpuing S, Prasartkul P. A workplace intervention program and the increase in HIV knowledge, perceived accessibility and use of condoms among young factory workers in Thailand. SAHARA J. 2017;14(1):132–9.
Karki TB. Correlation between knowledge, attitude and practices on HIV and AIDS: cases from the Kathmandu Valley. J Nepal Health Res Counc. 2014;12(26):24–9.
Liu H, Li M, Jin M, Jing F, Wang H, Chen K. Public awareness of three major infectious diseases in rural Zhejiang province, China: a cross-sectional study. BMC Infect Dis. 2013;13:192.
Newby KV, Wallace LM, French DP. How do young adults perceive the risk of chlamydia infection? A qualitative study. Br J Health Psychol. 2012;17(1):144–54.
Phuong NTN, Xuan LTT, Huong LT, et al. Knowledge of cervical cancer and human papillomavirus vaccines among child-bearing aged women in Hanoi, Vietnam. Asian Pac J Cancer Prevent. 2020;21(7):1951–7.
Le XTT, Nguyen PTN, Do TTT, et al. Intention to pay for HPV vaccination among women of childbearing age in Vietnam. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(9):3144.
Tran BX, Than PTQ, Doan TTN, et al. Knowledge, attitude, and practice on and willingness to pay for human papillomavirus vaccine: a cross-sectional study in Hanoi, Vietnam. Patient Prefer Adherence. 2018;12:945–54.
Nguyen QT, Tran TTT, Phan CTT, Pham TC. Housing for female factory workers: the association between renting accommodation and satisfaction with income and living conditions. AIMS Public Health. 2016;3(4):837–48.
Hirsch JS, Philbin MM, Smith DJ, Parker RG. From structural analysis to pragmatic action: the meso-level modifiable social determinants of HIV vulnerability for labor migrants. In: Kerrigan D, Barrington C, editors. Structural dynamics of HIV: risk, resilience and response. Cham: Springer; 2018. p. 19–43.
Huy NV, Khuyen LT, Ha PN. Factors associated with HIV testing among male motorbike taxi drivers in urban Vietnam. Glob Public Health. 2015;10(sup1):S56–69.
Le TTC, Nguyen QC, Tran HTT, Schwandt M, Lim HJ. Correlates of HIV infection among street-based and venue-based sex workers in Vietnam. Int J STD AIDS. 2015;27(12):1093–103.
Clatts MC, Goldsamt LA, Giang LM, Yu G. Sexual practices, partner concurrency and high rates of sexually transmissible infections among male sex workers in three cities in Vietnam. Sex Health. 2015;12(1):39–47.
Van Huy N, Dunne MP, Debattista J. Predictors of condom use behaviour among male street labourers in urban Vietnam using a modified Information-motivation-behavioral skills (IMB) model. Cult Health Sex. 2016;18(3):321–36.
le Kim AT, Pham LT, Vu LH, Schelling E. Health services for reproductive tract infections among female migrant workers in industrial zones in Ha Noi, Viet Nam: an in-depth assessment. Reprod Health. 2012;9:4.
Wilkins JR. Construction workers’ perceptions of health and safety training programmes. Constr Manag Econ. 2011;29(10):1017–26.
Spring B, Duncan JM, Janke EA, et al. Integrating technology into standard weight loss treatment: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2013;173(2):105–11.
Jerome G, Ivers LC. Community health workers in health systems strengthening: a qualitative evaluation from rural Haiti. AIDS. 2010;24(Suppl 1):S67–72.
Yang F, Wang Y, Yang C, Hu H, Xiong Z. Mobile health applications in self-management of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of their efficacy. BMC Pulm Med. 2018;18(1):147.
Dong X, Bollen J. Computational models of consumer confidence from large-scale online attention data: crowd-sourcing econometrics. PLoS ONE. 2015;10(3):39.
Funding
The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Conceptualization: BXT, RCMH; Methodology: HTD, TMTV; Formal analysis and investigation: HMV, CTN; Writing—original draft preparation: DNN, QNN; Writing—review and editing: CAL, CSHH; Supervision: BXT.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.
Ethical Approval
The Institutional Review Board of Youth Research Institute has permitted this study protocol (Code: 01a-QD/VNCTN).
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nguyen, D.N., Vu, H.M., Nguyen, Q.N. et al. Gaps of Knowledge about HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Industrial Workers in Northern Vietnam. AIDS Behav 26, 188–195 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-021-03370-1
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-021-03370-1