Perceived Barriers to Care Among People Who Use Drugs in Vietnam

Understanding how health literacy, depressive symptoms and family support for people who use drugs (PWUD) influence the perceived barriers to care is essential to helping them navigate healthcare challenges. Our study aims to explore this complex relationship among PWUD in Vietnam.

We utilised baseline data from an intervention trial conducted in three provinces of Vietnam. Multiple linear regression models were used to explore the relationships between health literacy, depressive symptoms, family support and perceived barriers to care. We also conducted interaction terms and the Wald test follow-up to investigate the effect of health literacy on the association between depressive symptoms, family support and barriers to care.

Among 690 PWUD, depressive symptom level was positively associated with perceived barriers (β = 0.273; SE = 0.049; p < 0.001), while family support for care (β = -0.116; SE = 0.060; p = 0.001) and health literacy level (β = -0.237; SE = 0.078; p < 0.001) were negatively associated with perceived barriers. The association between family support for care and perceived barriers was significantly stronger among PWUD with low health literacy compared to those with high health literacy levels (p = 0.024).

This study underscores the importance of developing an intervention that integrates mental health support, family involvement and health literacy training to ensure effective care, especially among PWUD with limited health literacy.